Halloween Recap
I know you were scared after yesterday’s post- “Oh no, are we really going to have to read 30 “deep” and “philosophical” posts from Jenny this month?” but not to worry! Here’s a regular old post about how our Halloween played out. It all started on Sunday- when I woke up, I decided to make muffins. I used this recipe from Nora Cooks for “Best Ever Vegan Apple Muffins.” They have apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a crumb topping. When I went to look for muffin tin liners, I discovered these Halloween-themed ones I had completely forgotten about. They came out very spooky-looking, and I considered it the kickoff to the Halloween festivities. When my daughter woke up she was excited. “You made muffins! They look awesome! You’re like a grandma!” Wait. What was that last part??? Anyway, in the afternoon while I watched the Dolphins game, I put together bags for trick-or-treaters. Over the years I had collected a weird assortment of little Halloween items, and I finally decided to get rid of them once and for all. I packed up treat bags with candy, pretzels, and little toys. Here they are, all ready for the kids! I’m no Nicole (full size chocolate bars? cans of soda?) but I felt like I did pretty well! The Big Day I wore my new Halloween hair clip to work! When my daughter saw it, she complimented me. I told her it came in a package of two; did she want the other one? She said, “No thanks- claw clips make you look old.” Sigh. My daughter and her friends were Pokemon characters for trick-or-treating (yes, they’re in high school, ha ha. Hard to tell from this photo.) Well… we got a record-low number of trick-or-treaters this year! Frankly, I blame our neighbors. Except for our house, our whole street was dark. I’m especially mad at our next-door neighbor. He put up an elaborate Halloween display, with light-up yard decorations and everything, which he turned on every night in October except for the 31st. I mean…. that’s like taking down your Christmas tree on December 23rd! The WHOLE POINT of Halloween is trick-or-treating on Halloween night! He’s so strange. I had 20 treat bags, which I planned to give out to the earliest (i.e. youngest) trick-or-treaters, and then I had a lot of loose candy. I didn’t even get through the treat bags- I had two left (so, eighteen trick-or-treaters in all.) Bummer! However, the kids who did come were excited with what I gave out- so, no regrets. Next up… Thanksgiving! How was your Halloween? Did you have your normal amount of trick-or-treaters? Claw clips… yay, or nay? Header photo by Nicolas Picard on Unsplash
NaBloPoMo2023- Make It Count
WOOHOO! It’s my favorite month! November has a little bit of everything- fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas prep… and once again I’m joining San for #NaBloPoMo2023. Let’s get the party started! This year, for NaBloPoMo, I want to focus on a topic that’s been on my mind a lot lately. The older I get, the more aware I am that our days are numbered. That sounds depressing, but it really isn’t. If our days were unlimited, there would be no reason to treasure them- but knowing that they’re finite makes me understand how unique and rare each one truly is. We might have one day left, or we might have thousands. But the fact is, we all have a finite number of days, so why waste a single precious one? How do we waste our days? Well, here’s a few things I’m guilty of: Comparing what I’m doing to something “better.” It’s so easy, on a hard day at work, to wish I were home sitting on the couch, snuggled with my cat reading a great book. But wait! Wouldn’t it be even better to be reading a great book on the deck of a cruise ship, holding a fancy drink with a little umbrella… but wait again! Maybe that’s not as good as a cruise to ALASKA- yes, that would be better… or maybe… The point is, you can always think of something “better” than what you’re currently doing. But why? Why compare one experience to another? A day at work (or spent cleaning out the garage, or going to the dentist) has just as much value as a day at the best party ever. We can’t afford to throw any of them away like that. Another way to waste a day is by letting other people bring us down. Here’s a little story: one morning a few weeks ago, my daughter couldn’t find her shoes and yelled at my husband meanly, saying he “lost” them (when the truth was, she left them in the middle of the living room and he moved them to vacuum.) Later in the day I texted him to ask how his day was going, and he replied that he was still really upset about the argument with our daughter. Really? That was HOURS ago! I’ve been through so many scenes like that with her, I guess I’m immune to them. I just can’t let an emotional 14-year-old dictate how my day is going to be. But that’s not to say I’ve never succumbed to those thoughts- there have been many days where I’m endlessly ruminating about someone’s comment or criticism. Why do we give other people so much power over us? A third way I’ve been known to waste my day is by not setting myself up for success ahead of time. It’s really hard to appreciate the day when you’re really tired, or your back hurts or your stomach aches. There have been plenty of days where I’m at work thinking “I can’t wait for this to be over so I can go home and lie down.” Sometimes these things are unavoidable, but I can try to get enough sleep, eat well and do my back stretches every night so I’m not setting myself up for failure the next day. So my projects for the month of November are: 1) stop comparing what I’m doing to something “better”; 2) don’t let other people’s negativity bring me down; and 3) do everything possible to set myself up physically and mentally to have a good day. My theme for NaBLoPoMo2023 is “Every Day Counts.” I encourage you to join me! I’ll be doing some posts around these topics, and checking in regularly with updates on how I’m doing. Happy November, friends! Do you have any goals or projects for November? Header photo by Nelly Antoniadou on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- Easy and Breezy
Hello! Welcome to the Weekly Rundown, hosted as always by Kim and .Deborah- thanks, ladies! This was a cutback week for me, so no long run. After our great cool down the previous week, our temperatures were back up- but 80s instead of 90s, and breezy instead of muggy. It felt pretty good! Here’s how it all played out. Monday A sled-tread workout at the gym! I started by pushing and pulling the sled, then did a 3 mile treadmill run. I alternated one minute at a 4% incline, one minute easy, one minute at 5k pace, one minute easy… repeated for three miles. When I do the sled first I don’t feel like I need a running warmup- I just dive right into the workout. So a word about “5k pace.” I think one of the reasons I keep having shin problems when I do speedwork is that I’m being overly optimistic about my paces. I’ve been running at my old 5k pace, which isn’t my current 5k pace. I decided to humbly and realistically pick a pace and stick with it- easy to do on a treadmill. I’m hoping this approach to speedwork will work better for me. I have to do SOMETHING- otherwise I’m afraid I’ll just get slower and slower until I’m moving backwards. Tuesday Strength day at home. Runner’s Touch, squats, lunges, overhead dumbbell press and dead bugs. I don’t always mention it, but I do tibialis raises almost every day. So far, so good- my shins are feeling good. Wednesday 8 mile trail run! This run was so fun. I definitely didn’t need two bottles for an 8 mile run, but I wanted to try my double hydration vest again. In the past I haven’t liked it, but I would like to be able to carry two different beverages. I just ordered some Tailwind to try on my next long run, but that gets kind of gross if it’s all you have to drink (especially if it gets warm.) It wasn’t so bad! And the weather was warm- 80 degrees by the end- but breezy, so the heat wasn’t oppressive. Much better than 90 and humid. Thursday A 4 mile run that felt pretty good. And then… I got out my pull up bar for several sets of negatives. Yes, I was proud of myself! Upper body- I did it! At night there was a high school football game. To be honest, I didn’t want to go. I was tired after work and just wanted to stay home and relax. But there aren’t that many games left, and my daughter’s freshman year is speeding by. I don’t want to look back and regret that I missed anything, so I got my lazy ass off the couch and to the school. I’ve never seen this before, but the visiting team brought their band! They also performed at halftime, and then came over and sat with our band for part of the fourth quarter. They played some songs together and the kids LOVED it! It was so fun, AND our team won, AND that means we’re going to the playoffs! It was an exciting night- we returned home late and very happy. I’m so glad I went! Friday Wait a minute. Whose stupid idea was it to have a football game on THURSDAY NIGHT? This is terrible! We woke up at our usual time of 5:30 and I was not happy. I remember at the beginning of one of Matty’s classes on Peloton, he said “If you didn’t sleep well last night, skip this workout and go back to bed.” What a great idea, but I still had a daughter to get to school, and by that time I figured I might as well continue on to the gym. Sigh. I forged ahead and had a pretty good leg day- pushing and pulling the sled, squats, deadlifts… the usual. Saturday A lovely 5 mile run! Starting off in the dark with a full moon (I thought of Kim!) Ending in the daylight, but there were some nice clouds that kept this run from being too hot. Sunday Off! I’m loving my Sundays off. I get to sleep in, and since I work on Saturdays I like to have one morning at home with my family. At some point I’ll probably be switching my long runs back to Sundays, but for now I’m relishing my leisurely Sunday mornings. There will be waffles involved. So what’s up for next week? A planned 16 mile trail run, AAAAAAND…. Wednesday is November 1st, which means it’s time for NaBloPoMo! Once again I’ll be joining San and crew for 30 posts in 30 days for November. I’m excited about it! How was your weather this week- unusually warm or cold? Are you ready for Halloween? – I’m ready for trick-or-treaters!
October Runfessions
WHERE did October go??? And why do the days speed by so alarmingly this time of year? Slow down, time! Well… it’s the last Friday of the month, which means we’re joining Marcia for Runfessions! I’ve got a few things to share… My biggest runfession is that after dithering vaguely for the last several months, it’s come to my attention that I’m running a 50 MILE RACE in February. ACK. Last week Lisa asked me two questions- what shoes am I planning to wear for the race, and what my longest long run will be in training. Um… great questions, and I didn’t have any great answers. For the shoe part, I’ve had my Altra FWD’s for a week now and I still love them. They’re not a trail shoe and my race is a trail race- but Florida trails aren’t that technical. For my race last year, I remember thinking trail shoes would have been nice, but I was also perfectly fine running that race in road shoes. I’ve thought about going back to REI and trying on some trail shoes, and I particularly want to try the Altra Lone Peaks- but on the other hand, if everything is going well, do I really want to start messing around with zero drop shoes now? I don’t know. So, how long WILL my longest long run be? Well, I’m not following a specific training plan. So far I’m doing the same thing I did last year while training for my 50k- three shorter runs a week and one long run. My long run topped out at 25 miles for that race. For this one, I’m going back and forth on doing back-to-back long runs. Some people recommend it, and some say it’s not necessary. I think it would be easier on my body to do a 20 mile run followed by a 10 mile run the next day, rather than one 30 mile run. The problem is, I don’t have two days off work in a row. I’m going to have to do some tricky maneuvering, but I think I can manage two back-to-backs. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day will work (boy, I’ll be the life of the party!) and I’ll figure out one other one. So that’s the plan… such as it is. Now that we’ve got that figured out (er, somewhat) I have one more runfession to share. Last week I ran 15 miles on my favorite trail, which is about a 25 minute drive from my house. This trail happens to be near a Trader Joe’s- and it’s a rule that anytime you’re near a Trader Joe’s, you have to go, especially during pumpkin season (everyone knows that!) My only complaint about this trail is that there’s no bathroom. So after my run I just wiped myself down and changed clothes in my car. I felt a little grubby, but figured I was fine to just pop quickly into Trader Joe’s. I whipped through the store, grabbing my favorites- almond butter, nuts, sparkling water… but when I got to the checkout and cashier asked if I found everything I needed, I had to tell her that I couldn’t find my soymilk. This led to a very involved discussion about the Trader Joe’s soymilk, why it’s better than any other soymilk (the only ingredients are organic soybeans and water) and when it might be back in stock. We ended up going over to the computer at the customer service desk to look it up- and somewhere during this conversation I realized I had no idea what I looked like. I could have had a huge smear of dirt across my forehead, or a branch stuck in my hair for all I knew. I got very self-conscious and got out of there as quickly as possible, so I could get in my car to look at myself in the rear-view mirror. Phew. No dirt on my face, and although I wasn’t exactly having a great hair day, there were no branches in there. Note to self: next time, at least take a quick glance in the mirror! Well, that’s it for this month. Have you tried the new Altras? Do you ever wear a zero drop shoe? Do you ever do errands after a run but before you shower? – I’m not a fan of this, but I’ll do it if I have to!