Pi(e) Week!
A quick and easy 3.14 run to kick off Pi Week! In the absence of races, it’s fun to make up our own little challenges, right? My second run of the week was supposed to be a “double Pi’” run and… I had ONE JOB on this run, and that was to stop my watch at 6.28! Sheesh!!! Oh well… it was a fun run. I guess that’s why I forgot to stop. Let’s talk about PIE. Here are some pie moments from our house this past year: There was Thanksgiving, where we had three pies for the four of us. We like pie. Then there was this beauty from the 4th of July! I’m clearly not an expert pie baker, but this came out really well- we used this recipe. But we don’t only eat dessert. One of our favorite meals is deep dish pizzas, recipe from the same website. By the way, I make all my food vegan! Let me know if you have any questions about how to vegan-ize a recipe. Also, I don’t eat sugar. That’s the real reason for two pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving- one of them has no sugar. (The rest of the family doesn’t follow this particular restriction, or as they would call it, craziness.) So what’s up for Sunday? The family has requested an apple pie, and I’ll make a pie with no sugar for myself… still have to do some research on that one. And we’ll have our deep dish pizza (pies.) More fun Pi runs coming up this week! Anyone celebrating Pi Day, or do you not care? What’s your favorite pie?
Weekly Rundown- “Ouch” Edition
Oh hello! This week started out innocently enough. I decided to make it a cutback week for running, since the last several weeks I had increased mileage. You’d think I’d feel good- nice and rested- but my body decided to fall apart in several minor, temporary, and extremely annoying ways. SIGH! I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for this week’s rundown. Let’s get to it! Monday Day off as usual. I did do the Somatic Movement exercises for plantar fasciitis every day this week. Tuesday Things started off normally with a three mile run, followed by Runner’s Touch exercise. So far, so good! Wednesday Last Wednesday I had a fun 5 mile trail run, but this was a cutback week so I just ran 2 miles. Then… I decided to do squats and deadlifts. I had taken a short break from doing strength training with actual weights (as opposed to bodyweight exercises) and I decided it was time to put plates on the bar again. This was the start of my downward spiral… Thursday Woke up with crazy, crazy bad DOMS from the weights. Well, that’s to be expected, but it was really unpleasant. We all know how crippling that leg DOMS can be! Luckily it didn’t keep me from running- as a matter of fact, it felt better while I ran but then came back with a vengeance as soon as I stopped. Followed this three mile run with pushups. I also woke up with a very stiff neck, I assume from the way I slept. It was so painful that it gave me a headache as the day went on, AND one of my wrists was bothering me. Not sure if it was from planks, pushups, or work (I’m a massage therapist.) Between the legs, neck, head, and wrist, I was not having a good day. Friday Day off from running. Legs and glutes were STILL sore from weights on Wednesday. I did the Gauntlet Plank workout and called it a day. Saturday Although I didn’t think it was possible, my neck was even worse. Luckily I could still run! I did three miles without turning my head at all. My wrist still hurt, and since as I mentioned I’m a massage therapist, I can’t mess around with that. I need my wrists! I abandoned all planks and pushups (for now) and did pullups instead. These didn’t bother my wrist or my neck, as long as I was careful to look straight ahead. Sunday All I needed was a trail run and all would be well! I hoped. Last week I had such a fun adventure, but since this was a cutback week I only ran five miles. It somehow didn’t feel as epic as last week’s run, but it was way better than nothing! I did have one little incident though… As I was getting ready to start my run, I suddenly heard a loud “OINK.” What in the world?… I looked down the trail and saw a large… PIG. I reached for my phone to take a picture, but it ran into the bushes before I could get a chance. Do we even have feral pigs in Florida? Are they dangerous??? These are the questions I pondered during my run. When I got home I looked it up and the answers are yes, and yes. But since only five people have been killed by wild pigs since the 1800s, I don’t think they’re too aggressive. Still, it reminded me that my trails are on the edge of the Everglades, and there is wildlife out there, even if I don’t usually see it. What’s the most unusual animal you’ve seen on a run? (That pig was mine, for sure!) Anyone have any miracle cures for a neck spasm? I forced myself to sleep on my back all night last night, and that helped a lot.
Seize the (Fri)day!
My son is a senior in high school and has been doing school virtually all year. He plays in the band, and the band director has managed to have two outdoor, masked, socially distanced concerts. They’re voluntary, and my son has done both of them. For the second one he mentioned that the music wasn’t very interesting and the band didn’t sound good, and I asked him if he was sorry he did it. He said no, because it could be his last chance to play in his high school band. I pointed out that there will be one last concert in the spring and he said “Well, it’s scheduled, but there’s no guarantee it will actually happen.” Ah… he’s embraced the “Post-Covid Mindset.” On a recent trail run, I decided to run without headphones so I could just think, and my brain definitely took advantage of that opportunity! At one point I could see the lights from our high school’s football field in the distance, and I got sad about my son’s senior year. Normally the band plays at football games. Even though I really enjoy attending the games, last year I only went to one. My schedule was busy and I had all sorts of reasons for not going, but I also didn’t try as hard as I could have. That’s okay, I thought. I’ll go to every single game next year! Well. We all know what happened. There was no “next year.” If I could go back in time, I would have gone to every game when I had the chance! Who would have thought everything would be canceled like this? That’s the biggest lesson I learned from Covid. Don’t just think you can do it tomorrow. Don’t put off getting that crown because you assume the dentist will still be there next month (this actually happened to me last spring.) Do it today! On this trail run I took a few chances, not knowing exactly where I would end up or how long it would take me. But it was a beautiful day and… I didn’t want to wait until next time. I could have waited until I was ready to run a little further, but now I know that the only thing guaranteed is what’s happening right now- so we have to lean in and embrace every experience while we can. Happy Friday! Let’s make it amazing.
Miles, Cats, and Finding Your Purpose
At the end of January, Chris McClung did a podcast episode called “Back to the Basics, 5 Pillars of Long Term Running Success.” According to him, the five pillars are: Consistency, Maintaining a Stress/Rest Balance, Weekly Strides, Strength/Mobility, and… Finding your Running Purpose. Chris has done entire episodes on creating your statement of purpose, which he deems necessary if you want to set and achieve big goals. But he wants you to really delve deep- your statement of purpose should be something that gets you out of bed on those hard mornings, or gets you through the last miles of a marathon when you want to quit. He wants you to dig so deep, in fact, that I’m still working on my statement of purpose. You should reject anything that’s extrinsic, such as “I run so my kids will be proud of me.” (Your kids will still be proud of you even if you don’t run!) Or “I run to lose weight.” (You can lose weight in other ways, and what if you don’t lose as much weight as you want- would you stop running?) He wants you to figure out what it is, deep inside of you, that makes you run. After plugging up the holes in our fence, we’ve recently started letting our cat outside in the backyard- a development that she’s thrilled with. She spends hours out there, running back and forth, chasing butterflies, and exploring. While I watched her run today, I thought about how it’s in her nature to run, just as it’s in the butterflies nature to fly, and thought, “Hmm! Maybe that’s my statement of purpose! I run because it’s satisfying something deep in my nature.” That sounded good- running connects me to the world and other creatures in this fundamental way. But wait! Flashback to many, many years ago, when I was in high school and was telling my dad how many miles I ran that day, how many I wanted to run the next day, and the next day after that… and he said “Why are you so obsessed with miles? Why don’t you just run until you’re tired, and then stop?” Wait. What? Why would I do that? That would be CRAZY! Everyone keeps track of their miles… right? I can’t even imagine running without logging the miles. Counting the miles, comparing it to last week and last month, planning mileage for the upcoming week… not to mention checking my pace on my Garmin, and charting the progress from my speedwork. It’s all part of running, and I love that part. But then… if my statement of purpose is to run free in nature like my ancestors (and my cat) why does it matter how fast and far I’m going? Because it does matter. So obviously my statement of purpose goes beyond that primal urge to run. Maybe it also taps into that desire we all have to improve ourselves. We constantly want to build on the progress we’ve made to get to the next level, and the next level after that. When people reassess monthly goals, you never hear anyone say “Last month was perfect! March will be more of the same!” There’s always the desire to make it better. You can see why my running statement of purpose is a work in progress. Anyone have any insights as to why you run? I mean, there are lots of other ways to keep fit, that don’t involve being out in the cold, ice, rain, heat, and subjecting ourselves to potential injuries. What is it that makes you love running?