Birthday Coffee Date
Yep! It’s my birthday (today as I’m writing this- March 21st.) I love birthdays, so even though I’m not doing anything super-celebratory, I’m enjoying the day. No need for the dumpster fire coffee mug this week! Things are going well. Grab yourself a nice, hot beverage and I’ll tell you all about it. First things first! I signed up for a race!!! Sweat, Swat ‘n Swear on May 26th. If we can ignore the name- which seems a little ominous- it sounds like a great race. I’m doing the 50K distance (there’s also a 10K and 25K) and it’s on the west coast of Florida, north of Tampa. My life has meaning again! I’m really excited about this, and it gives me plenty of time to get my ankle 100% healed. And, it’s “only” a 50K. I know that sounds ridiculous, but there really is a big difference between 50K and 50 miles (like, 20 miles worth of difference.) I was all mentally geared up for a 50 mile race, so 50K seems easy. At least it does right now- I’m sure it won’t be easy while I’m actually running it. But as long as my ankle cooperates, I can do it. Let’s move on to birthday week! Because of the way everyone’s schedules worked out, I feel like I celebrated my birthday for days. Tuesday was the only night my husband was free, so we went out for dinner and delicious beers. When they served the beers my husband said “Aren’t you going to take a picture?” Well… it’s the same place we went for our anniversary a couple weeks ago, and I got another IPA sampler, so it looks almost identical to that picture… but okay! Here it is. Again, we both ordered the only vegan thing on the menu, which fortunately is a very tasty tofu and broccoli stir fry. Fun night! On to Birthday Eve. Okay- Birthday Eve isn’t normally a thing, but this year my birthday is on Thursday- a work day- and Wednesday is my day off. So I took myself out for a little Birthday Eve celebration. I went to Barnes and Noble, where I sat and read magazines and drank tea for a long time. And then I browsed, but this time I was actually determined to buy something! A client gave me $50 as a birthday gift, and I decided to buy books with it. This was actually easier said than done, because while I love browsing, it kills me to spend money on something I could get from the library. I finally picked out two unusual-sounding mysteries… and decided to spend the last $15 ordering Nevil Shute’s The Breaking Wave from Amazon. My actual birthday was spent at work, but as we know, every day counts! I enjoyed the day. Even though we don’t make a big deal over birthdays, my husband and I both believe that everyone should have presents to open on their special day- so he got me a book light (for my new favorite pastime of reading in bed) and two tank tops. And he cooked dinner (best present of all!) What would your ideal birthday celebration be? Do you like browsing in bookstores? Do you buy books or get them from the library? Anyone else have a March birthday? Top photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
Reading and Eating
Hello and welcome to Wednesday’s Reads and Eats! I had some good ones this week. Let’s start with this book… I REALLY enjoyed it. As a matter of fact I enjoyed it so much I stayed up way past my bedtime reading it (come on! If you’re at the last 50 pages of a murder mystery, you can’t put it down.) This is the same guy who wrote Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone, which I also enjoyed- but I liked this one more. It’s a murder mystery set ON A TRAIN! What’s not to love? Just like the last one, the plot got a little convoluted- but it all made sense, and followed the “fair play” rules of the classic whodunit. Since I’m making “Reading and Eating” a weekly feature, and I don’t usually get through more than one book a week, I’ve decided to include any blog posts or articles I especially enjoyed. I always like Marc and Angel, but somehow this article, “10 Daily Habits that Often Waste 90 Percent of our Time” particularly hit home. So many quotes seemed like they were speaking directly to me: Patience is not about waiting, it’s the ability to maintain a positive outlook while working hard for what you believe in. Effort is never wasted, even when it leads to disappointing results. (Wait! Were Marc and Angel at my race last month? Have they been spying on me???) The “10 Daily Habits” to avoid include: Change Nothing and Expect Different Results, Keep Waiting for the Right Time (“we forget that paths were made by walking, not waiting”) and Refuse to Accept Necessary Risks. This article is definitely worth a read. Okay, FOOD! Well, it was a lackluster week of eating. EXCEPT FOR SUNDAY! To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day I made Irish Soda Bread and Vegan Irish Stew, both from Nora Cooks. You know how bread is so addictive, and once you start eating it, it’s hard to stop? Well, I’m convinced that if the only bread in the entire world were Irish Soda Bread, we wouldn’t have that problem. I always want to make it on St. Patrick’s Day, and then I remember that we don’t really like it. You wouldn’t want to eat it plain, that’s for sure. It was a good tool for sopping up the stew though: Especially since I messed up the recipe. At the end you’re supposed to add a slurry of cornstarch and water- well yes, that would have been good! Except that I forgot to do that. I was wondering why the stew was so… soupy. I also forgot to add parsley. I used seitan instead of the Gardein product that Nora recommended, and in spite of all the ways I tried to ruin it, it still tasted good. There was a bottle of Guinness in the stew, and my husband drank one for the occasion, but I skipped it because I knew I would be having a drink the next two nights (more on that coming up later this week!). I know, so boring- but I knew I wouldn’t feel good if I drank three nights in a row. Did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? What are you reading now? Header photo by Richard Bell on Unsplash
Bob and Brad Massage Gun Review
If you read fitness blogs, you’ve probably been seeing a lot of posts lately about Bob and Brad’s massage gun. A few weeks ago, the Bob and Brad team sent me an email asking if they could send me their Bob and Brad C2 Pro Massage Gun in return for a review. Why yes- I would be HAPPY to review your massage gun! The Bob and Brad massage gun was actually on my Christmas list, but I ended up getting an air fryer instead (that air fryer, by the way, is seriously underutilized. But that’s a post for another day.) The reason I haven’t owned a massage gun before is that I have access to one at work. That’s fine, but it’s obviously more convenient to have one at home. The Bob and Brad massage gun comes in a nice little case… and has the option of five different heads. One of the heads has a heat/cold option. That’s the one I tried out first, but while I appreciated the hot or cold feature, I like a more targeted massage, so I prefer this head: The massage gun comes with a pamphlet explaining how to use it, but Bob and Brad also have some videos on their Youtube channel that are more helpful. You can find two of them here and here. Here’s something Bob and Brad don’t talk about- in addition to moving the massage gun up and down, or across the muscle, you can also find a tender spot, hold the gun steady there, and contract and release the muscle. I received the gun after my ankle injury, so I’ve mostly been using it on my calf. I use it to warm up the area before doing my stretches and mobility exercises. I’ve also heard of people using it to activate muscles before a run, and of course it’s great to use on tight muscles after running. When I’m running more regularly again, I’ll report back on all the ways I’m using it. So- do you NEED a massage gun? Honestly… no. I think it has a similar effect as a foam roller, so if you have one of those and use it regularly, you’re just fine. BUT, I would rather use the massage gun than the foam roller (I should probably be using both, but let’s not get too crazy.) It feels really good, and I can sit on the couch watching TV while I massage my stiff calf muscles. I think the Bob and Brad massage gun is very reasonably priced, and if you haven’t seen Bob and Brad’s free videos on Youtube, check them out immediately! I’m currently doing the mobility exercises from this video and the ankle strengthening videos from this one.. If you are interested in purchasing this massage gun, use discount code PRC2PRO10 for 10% off. Bob and Brad! The two most famous physical therapists on the internet. (In their opinion, of course.) I’m linking up with Jenn and Zenaida for their Tuesday topics- today they’re talking about their spring running schedules. Do you use a massage gun or foam roller? Which one do you like more?
Weekly Rundown- Getting Unstuck
One of the worst things about being injured is, it’s so boring. I’m tired of talking about my ankle, but of course the week was all about my ankle, once again. I’m joining Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Rundown, but I’m also tired of talking about my workouts, so I’ll summarize the week thusly: I worked out every day except Saturday. My cardio alternated between stairclimber and treadmill, and I did some strength. One day I walked outside (top photo.) Two of the days I sprinkled in some 30 second running intervals! Shoutout to Darlene, who recently recovered from her own ankle sprain. She told me that at first running would feel “weird and scary.” YES, IT DID! But I did it anyway. On Wednesday I was determined to join Kim for her “Week of Pi.” I eked out 3.14 miles on the treadmill, and it was a comedy of errors. Since I was mostly walking, it took a while, and my treadmill cut me off after 30 minutes. I restarted it but then accidentally hit the emergency stop button ten minutes later. I restarted it AGAIN and cobbled together 3.14 miles, the hard way. But I enjoyed the challenge. (Happy belated birthday to Kim!!!) Okay, okay… let’s talk about the ankle (when this is all over I never want to talk about ankles again.) After making a lot of improvement the first few weeks, this week I felt stuck. My ankle is better than it was, but still slightly swollen, achy, and has a limited range of motion. I went to my sports chiropractor on Wednesday and Friday, and he used several therapies to get my ankle moving again, including a Marc Pro machine that sends weird twitches through your muscles that’s supposed to help drain out excess fluid. He also gave me some mobility exercises to increase range of motion. On a less happy note, in my last post, I shared that the race I was hoping to do- a 50 miler at the end of April- is now sold out. I was waiting to register until I was more confident that I could run it, and it went from 25 spots available on Tuesday night, to sold out on Wednesday morning. At first I was really upset, and was scheming to run it anyway. I emailed the race director and he said he’ll open up a waitlist next week. OR, the 100 mile race still has spots open- I could register for that and only run the first 50 miles… or maybe they would let me drop down to the lower distance if I’m on the waitlist… But then I started to feel like I’m trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. As Darlene said, ” You will run it if it’s meant to be.” (Hmm, I’m starting to think I should just hire Darlene as my life coach!) Maybe I’m trying to force this too much. My ankle isn’t even fully recovered and I’m determined to run a 50 mile race in six weeks? I’ll still put my name on the waitlist, but I also found some other races in May that are possibilities. They’re 50K, not 50 miles, which is a bummer, but I think I have to “unstick” my mind from the fact that I have to run a 50 mile race this year. It might not happen, and in that case I’ll just have to try again next year. So that was my week of getting unstuck, mentally and physically! I also grudgingly enjoyed the later sunsets… Do you ever get bored with your workouts? – It’s hard to get excited about the stairclimber and treadmill, over and over again. Are you adjusted to the time change? – I am now, but we had a rough start to the week!