October Coffee Date
Ooooh! It’s October, officially fall, and that means all you pumpkin naysayers can just be quiet! I’m joining Coco and Deborah for the Ultimate Coffee Date, drinking my favorite Earl Grey tea from one of my Halloween mugs (yes, I now have more than one! Why not?) If we were having a delicious Earl Grey tea together, the first thing I would tell you is that I have a new book by my favorite author. Oof! Good thing I’ve been working out, because this book is over 900 pages and it’s HEAVY. I don’t know why we continue the pretense that these mysteries are written by “Robert Galbraith” when everyone knows it’s a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling. I just love this series so much. In this one, Robin goes undercover to infiltrate a religious cult, and I’m enjoying it immensely. There’s nothing better than having a great book to read. The second thing I would talk about is, after my post about wanting a shoe with a wide toe box that’s not zero drop, Susanne sent me this article.. Altra has come out with a non-zero drop shoe! It was just released a few days ago- I DEFINITELY want to try it out! The last thing I would talk about over coffee/tea is, I have my TV sports viewing lined up for this weekend, and it’s going to be a good one! The Baylor game is on Saturday night, and I’m hoping the momentum from our incredible come-from-behind victory last week will carry forward. Then, Sunday morning is the Chicago marathon! GOOD LUCK LISA!! (and Des, and Galen…). I’ll be watching and rooting for all the runners. Lastly, the Dolphins game is Sunday afternoon. Ahem. I have no idea what happened last week, but this week we’re playing the Giants, so barring any major tragedies, we should be able to pull out a win. So that’s three things I’m excited about; it’s a pretty great week! What would you tell me over coffee? I think I’ve asked this question before, but do you have a very favorite author? Who else is watching the Chicago marathon on Sunday?
Spooky Life Updates
First of all, in case you missed it, check out my guest post on Elisabeth’s blog yesterday! I was so excited (and slightly intimidated) when Elisabeth reached out to me… really? Little old me? Elisabeth’s blog is incredible, and I’m really happy with how the post came out. Thanks, Elisabeth! One of the things that came up in the post is my love of waffles, and someone asked in the comment section for my favorite recipe. Well… I’m not sure anyone would really want my favorite recipe, but here it is: two cups of oats, two scoops of protein powder, one banana, two cups of water, salt and cinnamon. Blend it all up and voila! Waffle batter. However, if I really want to live it up, I make this recipe for pumpkin waffles. I still tweaked the recipe- used whole wheat flour, left out the sugar and used stevia instead, and substituted 1/2 cup of coffee… heh heh… for some of the soy milk. They were so good! Even my husband liked them, and he’s usually dubious about my “healthified” recipes. Anyway, on Sunday after I finished my pumpkin latte waffles, I got out the Halloween decorations! My first thought was, “WHO put that Christmas decoration in with the Halloween stuff?” Then I remembered… That’s our Snoopy “countdown to Christmas” ornament, and last year on December 26th my son suggested we start the countdown right away. I explained that the earliest you can set it is October 1st, and he said “Let’s put it in with the Halloween things and start the countdown on October 1st then!” Of course my son isn’t here to experience the start of the official countdown, but I sent him a picture. Just for the record- I really don’t want to start counting down the days till Christmas, because it reminds me that time is ticking away and eventually it will be December 26th, which is a very, very sad day! On the other hand, 84 days is a lot. I love this time of year. Now that it’s October, I can get out my new Halloween mug… The last thing in the world I needed is another holiday mug, but I couldn’t resist. Snoopy! Purple! Here’s the other side… I’ll be drinking lots of tea out of this mug during the month of October. Are you embracing the spooky season? Do you like holiday mugs? Is it too early to start the countdown to Christmas? – Yes. Yes it is.
Weekly Rundown- Runs, Rest, and Rejuvenation
Oh, hi! Thanks for stopping by for the Weekly Rundown, hosted as always by our friends Kim and Deborah. I was feeling a little burned out last week, so after my Sunday long run, this week I took it a little easier. But there were still plenty of runs and workouts, so let’s get right into it. Sunday 12 mile long run! I got out early and completed 7 miles before the sun was up; then I just had an easy 5 mile loop left. Great run. In other news, this was a very exciting day, because we adopted some new family members- two affectionate little rats named Kris and Lucy. I know some people don’t like rats, and I get it. If you told me about your pet snake (shudder) or tarantula (GAAAAAH!) I wouldn’t want to see a photo- so, to each his own. If you do want to see photos of the girls, check out this post. However, some people asked how the cats and rats are getting along. Charlotte is a huge scaredy-cat so she doesn’t go near them, but Muffin likes them… To be on the safe side, she’s only allowed in the room under close supervision. Monday No school today, so I was able to sleep a little later and do an upper-body workout at home. I got out this thing… and did several sets of negatives (ouch) and also did some extra hanging from the bar, which Wendy recommended to help increase my grip strength. I also did overhead press with dumbbells, abs, and called it a day. It was a nice way to start the week.. Tuesday I went to the gym for my “sled-tread” workout- pushed and pulled the sled for ten minutes, then ran 3 miles on the treadmill with hill repeats. Wednesday Back to the gym for leg day! I started with the sled, then did squats, deadlifts, tibialis raises and calf raises. Since it was my day off I had extra time so I did benchpress as well. It was nice to be at the gym and not have any time constraints. Thursday Wait- how many more weeks till we turn the clocks back? This time it was dark for my entire 4 mile run. Friday My legs were still sore from Wednesday’s workout, so I did a scaled-back leg day this time. First, sled pushes and pulls for 20 minutes… then all body weight exercises- Runner’s Touch, tibialis and calf raises, plank, and side plank with leg lifts (this one is still SO HARD on my left side!) Saturday 5 mile run before work! This run started in the dark but after a couple miles the sun was up. Later in the day I watched the Baylor game, or should we call it THE BEST GAME EVER. Baylor was losing 35-7 at the half and came back to win 36-35. I almost had a heart attack as UCF tried for- and missed- a field goal in the last three seconds. Never, ever give up! Go Bears! Sunday On tap for today- OFF! Sleeping in! Waffles! Dolphins Game! And… getting out my Halloween decs- it’s time! I enjoyed a cutback week, but I miss doing a long run- which means I’ll be ready to hit the ground running (literally) tomorrow morning. How was your week? Do you ever take cutback weeks? Who else is getting out Halloween decorations??? It’s officially Spooky Season!
Runfession Conundrums
Well, it’s the last Friday of the month, and that means it’s time to join Marcia for Runfessions! This month I have several running conundrums to share, so let’s get right into it. The first puzzler I’m grappling with is The Shoe Problem. I recently replaced my old New Balance 880s with a new pair of the same shoe: I’ve been wearing these since last April, and as a matter of fact these are the shoes I wore for my 50k. The problem is… I don’t really love them. But I don’t know what shoe I would like more. When I went to the running store last spring and gave them my requirements- neutral shoe, wide toe box, not zero drop- this was the best we could come up with. I really want to try the Altra Lone Peaks- but they’re zero drop, and the reason I don’t want a zero drop shoe is that I think it would aggravate my plantar fasciitis, which apparently is a permanent fixture in my life. GAAAH! I’m a little stuck here. Next up: running in the dark. Okay, I was a fool. These hot Florida runs have been killing me, and I finally started running early in the morning before the sun is up. WOW. It’s literally the difference between, well, night and day. Seriously, it’s 100 times easier. But the first problem with this is, races are not run at 5:30 am (did you know that?) Year ago I used to do all my running pre-dawn, and then I would go to a 5k that started at 7:30 and really suffer in the heat. I’m afraid if I run in the dark too much I’ll lose some of my heat acclimation. The second problem with running in the dark is, my big race this year is a trail race, and I’m obviously not training on the trails in the dark. My race isn’t until February, and it might be cool then and it might not. Any way you look at it, I’ll be doing some long runs in the heat. Trails=daylight=heat=misery. Sigh! I know- these aren’t the worst problems I could be dealing with. I’m not sick, I’m not injured, I have the time to train. Overall things are good! But these are the conundrums that are nagging at me right now. What are you grappling with these days? Are you happy with your shoes? Pleas let me know if you have any ideas for me!