Ultimate Coffee Date!
It’s the first Friday of the month, which means I’m linking up with Coco and Deborah for the Ultimate Coffee Date! I’m drinking Earl Grey tea (obviously) out of my favorite mug, which was a Secret Santa gift from Birchie a couple years ago. The big news this week is that my son Paul, and future daughter-in-law, Isabel are here!!! So far I’ve failed to take any decent photos- here’s one they sent from the airplane. We’re still getting to know Isabel, but she’s a very lovely person. She helped me make a cake for Muffin’s birthday! Yes, Muffin turned six on April 1st. We decided to make a carrot cake, but then my son said we obviously needed to turn them into muffins. Um- if you put cake batter into muffin tins, that’s called “cupcakes.” He said “They’re muffins until you put frosting on them!” Yes, Muffin would have licked all the frosting off if I hadn’t stopped her. Since it was her birthday, I gave her a little frosting on her own plate. The last thing I would share over coffee is, in an impetuous and optimistic moment, I signed up for the 2027 Hungryland Ultra! This is the same race I just ran. Registration for next year’s race opened April 1st, and they offered a discount on the first day. Okay, I’ll do it! Next year it falls on the day before my birthday, but if I run a fifth loop, bringing my mileage up to 71, I’ll still be running on March 21st. Pretty cool, right? Well, either cool, or crazy, depending on your perspective. What would you tell me over coffee? Do you like making carrot cake? – I HATE grating the carrots! Luckily Isabel was happy to take on that task. Top photo by Henny Kasa on Unsplash
Random Updates
Hey there! I have various things to share today. The first is, we finally got the results from my race! Remember, this was a timed race (33 hours) where people could run as many 14.3 mile loops as they wanted. Guess what- one guy used the entire time and ran… 143 miles. WOW. Twelve people completed 100 miles. Sadly, my friend Ralph was listed as a DNF (noooo! What happened, Ralph?) I officially completed four loops, which was 57.2 miles (ran extra on my own afterwards to make it to 60). There were eleven people who completed four loops and I was fifth!!! I’m in the top half! I’m happy with that, and my time was 15:29. Nineteen people came out to run one loop, and some ran two or three. So if you live in the area and are interested in a low-pressure but fun trail race, check out Hungryland Ultra. You don’t have to run an actual ultra to participate. There are also race photos! Okay, enough about the race. We’re in the homestretch of cleaning the house, as my son and his fiancee (Paul and Isabel) arrive TONIGHT! One thing I did yesterday was clean out the refrigerator, and it turns out we have an olive problem. Apparently, over the last six months or so, anytime we needed olives for any reason- a recipe, charcuterie board, or a martini- we went out and bought a jar of olives without checking to see if we already had any. As a result, we now have an entire OLIVE SECTION in the newly cleaned fridge- with six half-empty jars. We will now be putting olives on everything! Like, I made this recipe from Nora Cooks for skillet enchiladas. This was part of a food prep afternoon, where, inspired by Stephany, I also made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies… … and waffles. My son requested them for breakfast, and it’s easier to pull them out of the freezer than to get out the waffle maker in the morning. Recipe also from Nora. Let’s move on to reading. I just finished this: You know how, when I read a romance, I say “It was good, but wouldn’t it have been even better if they had discovered a dead body and had to solve the crime?” WELL… In The Bone Collector, Lincoln Rhyme is a former detective who was injured on a case and is now a quadriplegic. Unhappy and bitter, he’s thinking of ending his life. He meets police officer Amanda Sachs, and the two of them have a connection and attraction to each other. It gives off strong vibes of Jojo Moyes Me Before You, except… GUESS WHAT… the two of them team up to SOLVE A CRIME!!! It’s my dream come true! I really enjoyed this book. Rhyme and Sachs search for a serial killer who is committing some gruesome murders (warning- not for the faint of heart). There’s a lot of analysis of forensic evidence, since that’s Rhyme’s specialty (and one of the few things he can still do). There are some gripping scenes and a big twist at the end. I enjoyed it so much, I ran straight to the library to get the second book in the series. Link Up With Tuesday Topics Welcome back to Tuesday Topics, as Jenny, from Runners Fly joins Jenn at Runs With Pugs to co-host this link-up! Please join us every week for a new topic! Write on our weekly prompt or choose your own topic! Make sure to add your post to the link up, link back to your hosts, and comment on the other shared posts! Next week’s topic: How do you add more joy or fun into your workouts? You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter
Weekly Rundown- Non-Running Edition
Man, this is going to be boring! I really haven’t done much since my EPIC ADVENTURE last Saturday. I didn’t have any specific recovery plan for this week, figuring I would play it by ear. The lack of workouts isn’t stopping me from joining Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Rundown though! Here’s how the week played out. Monday OFF. It was my second day off work and second full recovery day. There was lots of this: Tuesday Sigh! All good things must come to an end, and it was back to work. In the morning I did Adriene’s yoga for lower back mobility. Wednesday I started the day with Adriene’s yoga for hips and lower back release. Later in the day I walked for 30 minutes. Thursday It was a triple yoga day! In the morning I did Adriene’s yoga for lower back pain. Later in the day I did her lower back mobility routine again, as well as her quad release. Ooh, I needed this one- my quads are STILL sore from Saturday! Friday I walked for an hour while talking to my son! No photo because I was still talking to him as I returned home and puttered around the house. We had a LOT to say! He and his finacee arrive on Tuesday, and we can’t wait to see them. More cat snuggles! This was the first time Muffin condescended to lie on the same couch as Sylvie. I like how she has her back turned though, ha ha. And look how big Sylvie is getting! She’s still a baby, but when she stretches out she looks so long. Saturday Frantic cleaning. My “Make the House Great Again” project has devolved into “Make the House Okay Again.” I’ve really been slacking off, but it will be… okay. Not great. I also did yoga for quad release again. My quads are almost back to normal. Sunday Oh tap for today- more cleaning. My daughter dyed her hair again, and also managed to dye the entire bathroom dark purple… then she left on a band trip to New Orleans. SIGH. I’ll also do some food prep, and get out for a nice walk. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll feel like running again soon! How was your week? Are you training for anything right now? Top photo by Junseong Lee on Unsplash
March Runfessions
Well, no one really understands how this happened, but it’s the last Friday of March (WHAT) so it’s time to join Marcia for Runfessions. Let’s get started! The first thing I would runfess is that I haven’t run since my race on Saturday, and I’m not missing it one bit! It feels good to sleep in a little, do some yoga, and go for a nice walk. Eventually I’ll feel the itch to start running, but until then I’m just enjoying a recovery period. While I’m feeling pretty good physically, I’ll runfess that I’m still a little out of it, mentally. After my race I took two days off work, and when I went back on Tuesday I felt so odd- like I had forgotten how to talk to people. It’s as if I went on a trip to another planet, and couldn’t remember how to behave back on Earth. Don’t worry- I got through the day, but it took a little more effort to appear normal. Next up is a big one. Once I’ve recovered fully, I’m going to prioritize strength training for several months. The reason is…. I want to look good for my son’s wedding. THERE, I said it. My daughter will be THRILLED that I’m finally hitting the gym for aesthetic reasons- she’s baffled that I don’t prioritize my appearance more. The problem is, this can be a slippery slope for me. In the past when I’ve gotten too focused on how my body looks, it’s led to some very bad things. I have to proceed with caution here, but as Gretchen Rubin likes to say, we can both accept ourselves and expect more from ourselves. I’m hoping to strike that balance. I have an entire post on this coming soon! Lastly, I’ll runfess… well this isn’t really a runfession. It’s a statement of fact- I think this was my best birthday ever! I ran my age in miles, had an incredible experience, AND received these thoughtful and hilarious cards!! Thanks to everyone who reached out! I appreciate all the support and encouragement so, so much. Our blogging community is the best! Do you have a “best” birthday memory? Did March fly by for you? – I don’t know what happened to this month!