It’s Fall! Florida Style.
Throw open the windows! Today we woke up to this: After months of heat and humidity, it feels like heaven. My favorite day of the whole year is the first time we get that fresh blast of cool, dry air. It reminds me of the first spring-like weather after a winter up north. Anything is possible! The world is my oyster! I am invincible! And running… it feels like we’ve been running with ankle weights that have suddenly been removed. I have a long run planned for tomorrow and I CANNOT WAIT. After all my grumbling about the weather, now I remember why we live in Florida. Just in time for our fall-ish weather, I’ve been listening to a podcast Stephany recommended, The Girl Next Door annual “Fall Extravaganza” episode. It’s not the style of podcast I normally listen to, but by the end I was feeling such strong fall vibes that I’m listening to last year’s Fall Extravaganza episode as well. The two hosts live in Arizona, and they talk about the differences between fall in the desert and fall in the midwest. I wonder if people who are transplanted out of traditional fall climates to places like Arizona and Florida have a special attachment to the idea of fall? I know the thought of colorful leaves, chilly weather and fires in the fireplace makes me nostalgic for my childhood. Whatever the reason, I go all out for fall, which you’ve probably noticed if you’ve been reading for a while. In addition to the pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin waffles, and pumpkin pasta I’ve been enjoying, here are some of my other fall favorites. Apples I know you can get apples year-round. But the variety now is incredible, and Sprouts has been having a sale on organic honeycrisp. YUM. My daughter always has fruit with her breakfast, and she’s been especially happy to have a honeycrisp apple (and I munch on a few pieces while I’m getting her breakfast together.) I also made this apple cake from Nora Cooks. You guys. I didn’t eat this myself, but it smelled amazing and my husband and daughter LOVED it. Highly recommend!!! Fall Candles This pumpkin clove candle from Anthropologie is my favorite candle ever. Mine is from last year, but I assume the new ones are the same (if they changed it, someone should be shot.) Even when I don’t have it lit, I catch a whiff of it every time I walk past and it makes me so happy. Fall deodorant Remember last year when I bought the Native Spiked Eggnog deodorant and bitterly regretted it? Well, I’m much more careful nowadays- no sweet scents in my deodorant! I figured I’d be safe with this one, and I was right: The funny thing is, they also mentioned this on The Girl Next Door Fall Extravaganza! I’m not the only one who likes it. You can tell I’m really into fall scents! Gretchen Rubin has an online quiz to discover your “most neglected” sense, and mine definitely is NOT smell. But taste isn’t far behind. Here’s another fall-ish meal I’ve made recently- Bean and Beer Chili. The recipe calls for one cup of beer, so I happily sipped the rest of the can while I cooked. Oh, those chips? Not exactly fall-related, but now that I’m (mostly) eliminating harmful oils from my diet, I’ve discovered these: They’re good! The bad news is they’re expensive, but I guess that’s also the good news. I don’t need to be eating chips all the time anyway, so I limit myself to a bag a week. And, in case you think all I care about are smells and tastes, let’s not forget about cozy socks! I have about… six pairs of Halloween and fall-themed cozy socks. These are my latest favorites: How about you- are you embracing all things fall? Do you like scented candles? How about cozy socks? And, very important question- apples or pumpkin?
Weekly Rundown- Into the Inferno
… the inferno that is South Florida in October, of course. I try not to complain too much about the weather in the summer, because everyone knows summers are hot. But this week was extra special- 96% humidity? Feels-like temps of 90 at 5:30 am? I am not on board with this. Hopefully this was summer’s last attempt to kill us before finally giving up. But there were still runs and workouts! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Let’s just see how this sweltering week played out… Monday Double workout day- I started with a leg day at home. Runner’s Touch, goblet squats, Bulgarian split squats, tibialis and calf raises… things I really don’t need the gym for. After I dropped my daughter off I did go to the gym. I pushed and pulled the sled for 10 minutes and then did a 3 mile treadmill run with hill repeats. Tuesday It’s funny- I’ll do anything I can to get out there and do a long run, in spite of the heat, in spite of schedule conflicts- I can overcome any challenges. But I had about 1000 excuses NOT to get out my pull up bar this morning. “My legs are sore- maybe I need a walk to flush them out instead.” Nice try- get out the bar. “My thumb has been hurting- maybe I shouldn’t risk it.” Hmm… get out the bar and get started, and you can stop if it hurts. SIGH. After a tremendous mental battle I got out the pull up bar. Even hanging from the bar is hard! Then I did negatives (ouch) and several sets of pull ups, assisted with the band. Will I ever be able to do an unassisted pull up? Honestly… probably not. But at least my back is stronger than if I weren’t trying at all. I also did overhead press (with 15 pound dumbbells) and rounded out the workout with core- planks and dead bugs. Wednesday 14 mile long run! ONCE AGAIN, I had to split it up because I had a doctor’s appointment. I ran 4 blissful miles in the dark before taking my daughter to school, then ran 10 more at a nearby park with a grassy trail. I’m trying to run as much as possible on grass, because apparently there are some big grassy sections in my race. On that subject, a couple people asked me recently when my race is. Well, that’s a GREAT question! I’m running the Forgotten Florida 50 mile (eep) and it was supposed to be February 3rd, but they sent an email this week saying that it had to be rescheduled to February 17th. Luckily that date works for me! Unfortunately it means I won’t be at the Ft. Lauderdale half marathon that my husband and Darlene are doing the same weekend. I think I speak for all three of us when I say we’re hoping for some decent weather. Thursday I decided to do a recovery run. I walked a mile and then ran two miles. This run left me questioning my plan of eventually doing back-to-back long runs- it was so hard to get moving. As a matter of fact it left me questioning my life choices in general, specifically my decision to move to Florida twenty years ago. I followed this run with some planking- inspired by the people doing “Coretober,” I’m trying to get in some core work every day. Friday You know what’s not hot? The gym! I did a leg day consisting of sled pushes and pulls, squats, deadlifts, tibialis and calf raises, and rounded things off with benchpress and abs. Someone asked me last week if I’ve increased my weights dramatically lately- no, it just looks like it! My gym got two new power rack setups, with the really big 10 and 25 pounds weights. I love it because now I look much more bad-ass. Saturday 5 mile run. Grr. To make things a little more pleasant, I used my Orange Mud hydration vest so I could drizzle cold water over my head. It helped! Sunday On tap for today: OFF! Sleeping late, waffles, Dolphins game. Possibly putting up outdoor Halloween decs if I can stand the heat. AND THEN… We have a cool front coming our way!!! Right now the forecasted low for Tuesday morning is 56 (in other words, heaven.) I have a continuous 15 mile long run planned for Wednesday, and if we don’t get this cool down I’m going to be extremely angry, or cry. Or both. Keep your fingers crossed for me! Header photo by Andy Watkins on Unsplash
Friday Fun
Hooray! It’s Friday! This Friday is especially festive because the kids don’t have school, which means I can sleep a little later. Before we head into the weekend I have a few topics to discuss… starting with a controversy in our house. Does anyone else think the Cologuard box is really cute? You know, the Cologuard commercials where the little box is walking around and doing cute things like putting cucumber circles over his eyes and sitting in the movie theater with a box of popcorn? Every time those commercials come on, I have to stop everything I’m doing and watch. I’ll exclaim, “Look! Now he’s riding on the bus! Now he’s wearing goggles!” I want to do the Cologuard test, just so I can have that little box show up on my doorstep. My husband thinks I’m completely insane. He claims no one else in the world loves the Cologuard box like I do, but I don’t believe it. Thoughts? Let’s move on. Speaking of insanity, we’ve had a situation here. We discovered that our new pet rats found a way to get out of their cage, and into the guinea pig cage. We would find them literally snuggled up with the guinea pigs. Now, this sounds really cute, but I think the rats enjoyed this more than the guinea pigs. The rats were eating the guinea pig food, AND let’s examine the fact that the rats could get out of their cage. They weren’t actually GOING anywhere, other than to visit the guinea pigs, but strangely, I was not on board with the whole situation. We have two cats and it was only a matter of time before something really bad happened. I spent hours yesterday reinforcing the entire rat cage with chicken wire. The rats now seem secure- if a little sad that they can’t get out to visit their friends- and the guinea pigs are much happier. Lastly… let’s talk about the weather. At 5:45 this morning when I went out for my run, it was 80 degrees. But did it feel like 80? Oh, no, no, no. Because of the 90% humidity, it felt like 87 degrees. Not okay, universe… not okay. Instead of cooing down, I feel like it’s getting hotter and hotter. But let’s look ahead a little… What is that I see on Tuesday morning??? It starts with a “5”!!! And highs in the 70s- could it really be true? I’ve had my hopes dashed too many times by a cool front that never materialized, but I’m allowing myself the teensiest bit of hope that cooler weather is coming our way.
Reading and Eating
Well, reading-wise there’s not much to report. I’m still reading The Running Grave, and it will take me a while. This book is so heavy I just prop it up on two pillows. Normally I don’t read 900 page books, but in this case I’m loving it. It’s so good, I don’t want it to ever end! On the eating front, Pumpkin Palooza continues! Here’s a recent dinner of pumpkin soup, salad, and homemade bread from this recipe. It’s been a while since I’ve made this bread, and I forgot how easy and delicious it is. Last week after my long run, I was craving oatmeal: I cooked it with a scoop of chocolate protein powder and topped it with toasted coconut and sunflower seeds. YUM. On the subject of that long run, after the first 4 mile segment I munched on one of these cookies while taking my daughter to school (and prior to finishing the last 9 miles.) Last month San shared the recipe for Easy Healthy Breakfast Cookies. They were the perfect mid-run fuel. On the subject of cookies! I do believe it’s time for The Perfect Fall Cookie, which Susanne shared last year. I know many people made them, including myself. Just remind me- did anyone tweak the recipe? Did we add more fall spices? I want to make them this weekend! Well, I’m getting ready for my long run tomorrow morning (14 miles!) I have all my gear out, including another breakfast cookie. And ice- I will be bringing lots of ice. Do you have a favorite fall cookie? Do you like oatmeal? What’s your favorite oatmeal topping/mix in?- I love oatmeal!