Weekly Rundown- Adding the Sparkle Back
In one of my recent posts I said that my life is a little less “sparkly” when I’m not running. Well, this week I was able to add a little sparkle back! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Let’s just see how this week went from gray to sparkly… Sunday I started the day with a 50 minute pool run. Finally, a slightly interesting pool running photo: I’ve been doing exercises to strengthen my piriformis muscles, and I knew there’s a good one in Brad Beer’s book, You Can Run Pain Free. When I dug the book out, I remembered that he has four hip stability exercises, including the piriformis one, and I decided to do them all. I used to do them years ago, but then I stopped. Why did I stop??? I re-committed to doing them on a regular basis. Monday I started the day with the Caroline Girvan deadbug workout,, and then did a 30 minute pool run. Later in the day I did the four Brad Beer hip stability exercises again. I’m on a roll! Tuesday I started the day with Caroline’s deadbug workout, and then a 40 minute pool run. Later in the day I had my second dry needling treatment on my calf, and then later I just did the Brad Beer piriformis exercise. My hips were a little sore, and I was saving them up for leg day at the gym! Wednesday As planned, I hit the gym, and decided to do a full body workout, including (but not limited to) squats, bench press, and rows. I knew it would probably be my only gym day of the week so I wanted to make the most of it. Later in the day I decided to go for a walk. In my running shoes. And, well, guess what happened… I walked two miles and then broke into a cautious run. My calf has been feeling good, and I wanted to get some feedback before my next dry needling appointment. I did run/walk intervals for a mile and my calf felt perfect! Thursday Ha, the result of my full body workout at the gym was that my entire body was sore today. I knew I should do a pool run, but I just couldn’t- I felt like I would have a mental breakdown if I had to run around and around in the pool again. I did the Caroline Girvan deadbug workout and called it a day. Later I had my THIRD (and last?) dry needling treatment. She gave me the green light to try a little running (er, oops- I didn’t mention that I already did that.) Hooray! Friday Okay fine. I’ll get in the pool. My calf was sore from the treatment- which is completely normal- so I didn’t want to do anything to stress it out. 40 minute pool run. Later in the day I did the Brad Beer hip exercises- everything was still a little sore from the gym, but these exercises don’t use weights so I figured it was okay. Saturday Run #2! This time I walked a mile and then ran/walked for two. I’m CAUTIOUSLY optimistic. My calf didn’t hurt, but I’ve been down this road twice before. I take time off, the first couple runs back feel fine and then the pain returns. I’m not sure if the dry needling worked, or if my calf feels better because I took time off of running. Only time will tell! Sunday On tap for today- sleeping in. Later in the day I’ll do some strength, definitely including the hip stability exercises. I do remember why I stopped doing them now- they’re boring, and they make my hips sore. But I’m determined to keep up with them this time and see what happens. What makes your life sparkly? Have you heard of Brad Beer or read his book?- It’s a good one! Top photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
Friday Coffee Date
Helloooo! The photo above is from my “reading retreat,” which turned out to be a really fun day. You want to hear all about it, RIGHT??? Pour yourself a delicious cup of coffee or tea and I’ll fill you in. The day of my retreat was Wednesday. I don’t like working Saturdays, but I do love having Wednesdays off! I started the morning at the gym, because doesn’t every reading retreat start with some weightlifting? Just kidding… I’m sure most people would skip that part. After that I felt like I earned the right to be lazy for a while. I went to Starbucks, where I sat for almost TWO HOURS, sipping tea and finishing my book. I love it when I sit down to read, knowing that I can read until the book is done. After that I went to Barnes and Noble, where I browsed for a while. Then I got another cup of tea, and sat in the cafe working on my TBR list. When I say TBR, it implies that I have a nice, tidy list. The reality is, when I’ve been saying “I’ll put that on my TBR” it could mean I made a mental note of it, took a screenshot, or put it in my notes app. So now I took the time to go through my notes, the photos on my phone, and my memory (ahem, I don’t recommend that last one!) and made an ACTUAL LIST. In my planner! I’m pretty sure this method will work much, much better. I bought two books, stopped at the library on the way home for a third, and put a hold on one more book. I didn’t want to get too crazy, because one of my new books is a long one and I don’t want a flood of library holds coming in just as I start a 900 page book. The Soji Shimada is a classic in the Japanese locked-room mystery genre, and my library doesn’t have it. I bought the Ken Follett because although I want to read it (Engie has inspired me!) it’s hard for me to commit to starting such a long book. I know I’ll read it if I spent actual money on it! And, the Claudia Gray is the third book in a series written in the style of Jane Austin, where various characters from her books become involved in mysteries. These books are really fun, but there’s absolutely no reason for me to own a copy, and it was available at my library so I snatched it up. Overall it was a great day. I read, I browsed, I thought a lot about books- what I want to read next, how I’m going to schedule my reading for the rest of the summer, what book I want to bring with me to Texas, etc. My reading retreat was a success! What would you tell me over coffee? Does anyone else have a weekday off of work? Have you read any of these books? If you could buy three books right now, what would they be?
Reading and Eating
I don’t know why this is happening, but I’ve been loving every single book I’ve read lately. Maybe it’s because I’m getting better at reading reviews, or more discerning. I’m not tempted to read a book that everyone else seems to love if I can tell it’s not for me. OR, maybe it’s just luck. Anyway, I finished two books this week: The Agatha Christie was a reread, as always. There isn’t an Agatha Christie I haven’t read, but since I read most of them in my teens and 20s, sometimes I can read one again without remembering the twist. This was happily one of those times! I got inspired to read this particular one from Stephany (I hope she enjoys it as well!) The Iris Murdoch book- just in case you think I’ve changed my mind am in now into horror- does NOT involve an actual severed head. It’s a story about marriage, infidelity, and “love,” although I would question that last word- more like “infatuation” and “passion.” I love Iris Murdoch’s writing- the people get themselves into some preposterous situations, and yet I find myself thinking “yes, I can see why he did that.” It was also funny, AND was written in the 1960s, which is my new favorite decade to read about. Eating! Well, there’s not much to report. We’ve somehow been managing to eat a dinner every night, but it hasn’t been exciting. I did, however, make donuts! This requires a bit of a backstory. Several years ago, we “cruelly” ruined my daughter’s 4th of July by forcing her to spend the day in the car driving up to Tallahassee. We had to pick my son up from camp, and she was too young to stay alone. I tried to make the trip as festive as possible, but she wasn’t having it. Then we suggested celebrating on a different day, but of course she pointed out that THE 4TH OF JULY HAS TO BE ON JULY 4Th. We tried to get around that by celebrating a few days later and calling it “July 4th Day.” She still wasn’t convinced, so I pulled out all the stops and made donuts. Hence, the July 4th Day Donut Tradition was born. This year, “July 4th Day” fell on Sunday the 14th, because that was the day I had enough time to make donuts. I’m talking about yeasted donuts, which have to rise, then are cut into the donut shapes, and then deep fried. When you only deep fry donuts once a year, it’s VERY hard to get it right. But, it didn’t matter. They all tasted good with a nice glaze on top, and everyone was happy. Phew, done with that task for another year. If you’re reading this on Wednesday, I’m on my “reading retreat” right now!!! I’ll be back with an update on Friday. Have you ever made fried donuts? What are you reading now? Top photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
Summer Thoughts, and a Reading Retreat
It’s interesting, the different ways people are experiencing summer. For some of us, it’s whizzing by too fast and we can see the end in sight. Others feel like summer has just begun, and in Anne’s last post she said “I’ve noticed that my life does not really change in rhythm when summer begins.” Like most people with school-age children, I DEFINITELY notice a change of rhythm in the summer. And, I’ve been enjoying it immensely. I don’t have to get up in the dark! There’s no rushing in the morning to get a lunch packed and my daughter to school. I can stay up later at night reading! I love it. There are some details about the summer that I’m not loving, however. One is the lack of running. This is the second week of no running because of my calf issue, and even before that running was sporadic (and, sometimes painful.) I’m lucky that I’m still able to do everything else, like walk (ho hum) pool run (arg) the stair climber (ARG!) and weightlifting (sigh.) Seriously, I’m glad I can be active, but my life just seems a little less “sparkly” without running. The other little, pesky irritation about summer is that, while I’m glad everyone is home, it’s just that, well, everyone is HOME. Sometimes the houses feels a little crowded. I don’t mind it at dinner and in the evening- then it feels cozy to have everyone here. But during the school year I’m used to having a little more time to myself, particularly on my Wednesdays off. Last week I read this article on Modern Mrs. Darcy: “7 Tips for Planning Your Own Personal Reader’s Retreat”. Ooooh! I want my own personal reader’s retreat! Unfortunately I can’t do anything extreme like check into a hotel for the weekend, or lock myself in the bedroom for two days. But I’m declaring this Wednesday my “Day of Reading,” aka a mini-reading retreat. Contrary to what the photo at the top of this post implies, I will NOT be reading on the beach, because that would be terrible. My plans for the day include 1) finish the book I’m currently reading, 2) go through my TBR and pick a few books to read next, 3) visit the bookstore and library, where I will browse and return home with a new stack of books. All of this will be done comfortably inside with the AC blasting away. I had some big running plans for the summer, but when I look back on it I’ll think of it as the “Summer of Reading.” I’ll take that as my second choice, happily. How would you plan a “reading retreat” for yourself? If you had to call this the “Summer of —-” what would you say? Top photo by Link Hoang on Unsplash