Weekly Rundown- SIGH!
Oh, hi there! Thanks for stopping by for the Weekly Rundown, hosted as alway by Kim and Deborah (thanks, ladies!) My week had some ups and downs… when we left off last week I was nursing a weird calf “situation.” I still hesitate to call it an injury, because there’s nowhere on the muscle that I can touch or push on that feels injured. It’s just a generalized painful pulling sensation. I spent all of the previous week walking and pool running to give it a rest. Let’s just see how this week went! Sunday After a whole week off of running, it was time to test the calf! I started off with walking a mile, and then ran 2 miles- and my calf felt PERFECT. Hooray!!! Monday I did a full body strength workout from Sally McRae’s app. Speaking of Sally McRae, she had a VERY rough time out at Western States on Saturday- she was vomiting and couldn’t take in any fuel for the last 40 miles of the race BUT SHE FINISHED ANYWAY. I can’t wait to hear the race recap on her podcast- it should be a good one. Tuesday Since my calf is obviously all better, I headed out for 4 miles. I walked the first mile, then set out to run 3. All was well until, about 2 miles into the run I felt my calf again, NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Once it again it was a painful pulling sensation- not as bad as it was before, but definitely there. I finished the 3 miles of running, but it was discouraging. After the run I did my plank routine, which includes reverse and side planks. Sigh. Wednesday Leg day at the gym! I did a 10 minute warmup on the stairclimber, then did my usual routine, which now consists of some moves from Sally McRae’s “Bulletproof Runner” workout, squats, Runner’s Touch,, and side planks with leg lifts. Thursday To give my calf an extra day off running, I started the day with a 3 mile walk. I averaged a 13:49 mile pace AND set a new mile walking PR of 13:37!!! Woohoo! If this keeps up, soon I’ll be walking faster than I’m running, ha ha! (Wait- that’s not funny.) Later, my son and I went to the gym for what he called a “brutal pull day.” When I asked him why it had to be “brutal,” he just looked at me blankly and said “Well otherwise, what’s the point?” Yep, it was brutal! We did lat pulldowns, rows, reverse flys, and biceps- working each muscle group to failure. Ouch. Friday Okay, let’s try this again. 1 mile walk and 3 miles of running. Again, my calf felt absolutely fine during the walk and for the first mile or so of the run- then I started to feel that pulling. It’s in a different place now- it used to start around my achilles and move up, now it starts up around the back of my knee and moves down. Well- different is good… I guess? I wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t finish the run, but it wasn’t good either. I followed this up with my planks again. And again, I can’t explain why I’ve gone off the deadbugs- I didn’t do them once this week! I just needed to switch things up. Saturday Off! And lots and lots of foam rolling. I don’t know what’s going on with my calf, but it just FEELS like something that could be rolled out. I’ve also been using a little spiky ball to (hopefully) release the fascia. SIGH. Sunday On tap- another run! Why not? Resting the calf didn’t fix it, so I might as well continue to run. I’m going to play around with some run/walk intervals and see if that helps. How was your week? Did you celebrate the 4th? – I apparently celebrated with a “brutal” gym day. What do you like better- planks or deadbugs? Or neither one? Top photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash
Ultimate Coffee Date
Hellooooooo! Once again it’s the first Friday of the month (that was fast!) so I’m linking up with Deborah and Coco for the Ultimate Coffee Date. If we were having coffee together, I would tell you… … that I’m feeling a little melancholy. I think it’s FOMO from not doing a 4th of July race. My husband decided to run a 5K at the last minute, and I considered it…. but my calf is still a little fragile. I decided to skip it, but then felt sad. Sigh I did go for a walk, and then went to the gym with my son. That was good, but “4th of July Gym Day” just doesn’t have the same feel as “4th of July 5K.” I tried to rally with a festive dinner- Impossible burgers for my husband and son, and sweet potato burgers for my daughter and me. It was fun, and yes those are 4th of July crackers on the table! They turned out to be the worst crackers in the world, though. They had little slips of paper with jokes on them, and mine were in french. When I complained, my daughter said “Well, some people speak french!” Yes, but these are obviously 4th of July crackers, to celebrate our country’s birthday. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that my jokes be in english. Speaking of our country…. I’ve decided to pretend I’m an alien from another planet, here to objectively observe the upcoming election. It’s so funny! These Americans have such strange voting customs! Look at these candidates! I can’t wait to see how this debacle plays out. Luckily I’ll be going back to my home planet afterwards, so I don’t have to deal with the fallout. Oh. Wait…. And now I’m finishing up the night watching fireworks through my living room window while the cats hide under the bed. Bombs bursting in air! Did you celebrate the 4th? Did you make a some fun food? Run a race? Did you watch fireworks? Top photo by Paul Weaver on Unsplash
Reading, and Some Book-ish Questions!
Today’s post is dedicated to a single book, and some thoughts, feelings and questions surrounding it. The book is Stephen King’s 11/22/63. I’ve never read any Stephen King before, because I don’t like horror stories. And when I say that, I don’t mean they scare me; the problem is they don’t scare me. And if it’s not scary, then it just seems… pretty silly. What? There’s a giant spider terrorizing a town? That’s… the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Obviously Stephen King is known for his horror novels, but I recently became aware that he now writes NON-horror books, and that I’ve been missing out on an incredible author. When my sister was here, she recommended 11/22/63 and described it as “fascinating.” Shortly after she left, I bought the book I don’t usually buy books- I get them from the library if I can. But I felt like I would be spending a lot of time with this one- it’s 849 pages- and I wanted to own it. Because it’s so long, I also didn’t want to deal with a hardcover version from the library. I started the book on a rainy day, while I sat in Starbucks sipping my tea. My sister and I had this text exchange: I know I’m a dying breed, but I just love reading physical books. In spite of the weight, it’s such a pleasure to hold it in my hands. I love putting the bookmark in, and seeing how much I’ve read and how much is still to go. I feel like I have a relationship with not just the author and the story, but with the physical book as well. Okay, you might be thinking, but what is this book ABOUT??? The premise is, the main character- Jake, a high school English teacher- discovers a portal that takes him back in time to 1958, and he embarks upon a mission to stop the assassination of JFK. Now, I don’t mind time travel. The one thing that drives me nuts is the inevitable part of the story where the character can’t figure out what’s going on- “Why is everyone dressed so funny? How did that building get there? It wasn’t there yesterday!” Meanwhile, you, the reader, are screaming with impatience, “YOU WENT BACK IN TIME!!!” I hate that part. Luckily King really is a great storyteller, so he managed to minimize that aspect as much as possible. . Fairly quickly, Jake is ensconced in the past and putting an elaborate plan in motion. I’m a little over halfway through the book, and we’re now up to 1962. One of the things I’m loving is the description of life in the 1960s. That decade has a special place in my heart- I was a kid in the 70s, a teenager in the 80s, but I was born in 1966. I don’t exactly remember anything from the first four years of my life- only little snippets- but I feel like I ALMOST remember it. It might just be the photos from when I was a baby and toddler, with my parents in their 60s clothing, or the fact that my parents would occasionally talk about the day JFK was assassinated. I just feel like the 60s is a decade tickling at the edges of my memory, and I always love reading about it. I’ll talk more about the book next week after I’ve finished it. But for now I can say I’m enjoying it VERY much. And now for the book-ish questions! 1. Do you like horror movies and books? Do you think they’re scary, or silly? 2. Do you like the experience of holding a physical book? Or do you prefer the convenience of a kindle? 3. Are there any specific decades you love reading about?
Mid Year/Mid Summer Check- In
Happy Halfway Day! July 2 marks the halfway point of the year. And, we’re almost halfway through the summer here. I know that seems crazy to those of you who just recently finished school, but we’re in the fifth week of our ten week summer vacation. I always think of July 4th as the “official” halfway point of the summer, which makes me a little sad. I don’t want summer to end! And… I had some goals for the summer. I declared it to be the summer of strength and speed, and almost right away I got derailed by a stupid calf issue. Why does this always happen to me??? It’s like the universe wants me to run very slowly, sigh. So now we’re at the halfway point (almost) and I feel like I’m starting all over again. The good news is, I ran on Sunday and my calf felt absolutely fine. I’m proceeding cautiously, but I’ll incorporate some gentle speed work into my runs for the rest of the summer. Seriously, I have to do SOMETHING, otherwise soon I’ll be running backwards. The calf issue did cause me to have an epiphany though. Since I had to walk instead of run, I decided to track my walking pace and try to improve it. This was actually kind of fun- much more fun than just going out to walk for 45 minutes, with no pace goal. This approach made me understand the problem I’ve had all along with strength training.- I don’t set any specific goals. I think I would enjoy strength training much more if I had concrete goals, rather than just vaguely saying “I’ll do strength two or three times a week.” So for the second half of the summer I’m going to set some goals for weight and reps. For a review of yearly goals, my first thought was, seriously, “Wait- did I have any?” Then I remembered that I decided to set monthly goals instead, which I did for a couple months and then forgot all about it. Maybe I should rethink that strategy! The one yearly goal I always have is to read 50 books, and I always fall just short. THIS year however, I’m ahead of my goal- I’ve read 30 books at the halfway point! For a brief, exciting moment I envisioned myself finishing the year with 60 books. Then I remembered my reading always takes a hit during NaBloPoMo, and I’m sure this year my TV viewing of the Olympics will seriously eat into my reading time. Still- this very well could be the year I reach my 50 book goal. Do you like to reassess your goals at “Halfway Day?” Are there any goals you’ve changed or added so far this year?