Looking Back/Looking Ahead (And, SHU!)
Let’s take a look back at February (SINCE IT’S ALMOST OVER, WHAT???) It feels like a month where not a lot happened. Or, it feels kind of like a month where things happened to me, but not one where I made things happen. For example… The Olympics were an exciting part of the month- except that I was a very passive observer this time around. Every night I would turn on NBC and enjoy whatever they were showing, but I didn’t plan any watching or do any deep dives into the athletes. I didn’t plan any special meals around the games, and I didn’t even remember to wear my Olympics tank top once! Oops. We didn’t have any trips or special events, other than Foxy’s birthday (but- I think if I’m holding up my cat’s birthday as a Big Event of the month, well then there’s something wrong with my life). There are two things I can point to as highlights of the month- my long run of 26.2 miles, and then two weeks later my 50K run. Those will have to count as my “little adventures” of the month (one of my goals for the year) because I don’t have anything else. HOWEVER. March is looking VERY exciting and eventful. Let’s start with the big, obvious event- on Mach 21st I turn SIXTY (egads) and it’s the day of my big goal race, where I plan to run 60 miles. That’s obviously the focal point of the month. My husband and I also celebrate our wedding anniversary on March 4th, and my daughter has an action-packed month. The band has MPA (what we used to just call “contest”), where they are adjudicated on the music they’ve been preparing for months. She also has her spring break, AND the band is going on a trip to New Orleans! I definitely include her events as part of my month, because they affect my schedule tremendously. THEN, at the end of the month Paul and Isabel- my son and his fiancee- are coming to stay for a week!!! This is a big deal, as it will be the first time Isabel will be here. It will only be the second time my husband has met her (he just met her briefly at graduation in May) and the first time my daughter is meeting her. I know! It’s crazy that we know her so little, and they’re getting married this summer. So, this will be an important visit for all of us. On the subject of planning… I saw SHU! I went to a talk she gave at a local library. She presented ideas from her book and led a mini-planning session. It was fun to see her in action. The participants ranged from young women barely out of college, to a woman with a three-month-old baby, to several older women. She managed to engage everyone and keep us all on track- which is hard when you have group participation activities. It also gave me a chance to re-think some of my goals, and add some goals in a new category, Family. Was February an eventful month for you? Do you have anything big coming up in March?
FIGS!!!
It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for Tuesday Topics, which I host with Jenn from Runs With Pugs. This week is a free topic, so I’m talking about FIGS (Elisabeth’s Finding Joy in Gratitude Collective). I don’t want FIGS to end with February! Can’t we keep it going? We won’t ask Elisabeth to keep doing the FIG roundups, because that’s a lot of work for her. But we can keep looking for and posting about FIGS, right??? This week, I had an unusually large amount of FIG-ish moments. Little things, like looking up at the moon and noticing that it looked like a smile, feeling a light breeze on my skin, or appreciating the whiff of bergamot in my tea. It was like I was hyper-aware of small pleasures. Of course there were bigger FIGS as well, like… THE WEATHER. I’m sorry. I’m very sorry to anyone experiencing yet another winter storm or cold temperatures. I was sitting in Starbucks yesterday and the man next to me was talking on the phone- I heard him say “I’m in Florida- people are happy here.” It reminded me to appreciate our great weather while we have it! We’re having a few days of lovely cool mornings and beautiful afternoons: NICOLE’S BOOK. I’m almost done! Here’s the funny thing- if I didn’t know who wrote it, but you told me it was someone I knew, I would immediately guess Nicole. There are Nicole-isms on every page, and I love it! Yes, it’s a romance, which I don’t normally read (wouldn’t it be EVEN BETTER if Michelle’s ex-husband were found with a knife in his back, and she had to solve the crime… no, stop it, Jenny! It’s a ROMANCE!) I love that the main character is my age (ahem, almost) and has a teenage daughter. AND, the story takes place around Christmas! It’s fun, and relatable, and a page-turner. Here’s the other thing I love. In this post, Nicole talked about how turning 50 gave a certain amount of urgency to her life, as in, don’t put off those big dreams because we don’t know how much time we have left. I love the fact that when I’m holding Inhale Exhale, I’m holding Nicole’s “big dream” in my hand. Writing and publishing a book is a huge, daunting task, and SHE DID IT. THE CATS. Muffin is doing so well. Here she is… so close to cuddling on the couch with Foxy and Sylvie. SLEEP. On Sunday, while the Olympics were coming to a close, I had my own personal Olympics of sleep. I slept until 9 am, and THEN, I fell asleep on the couch in the afternoon and slept for two more hours. This, my friends, is how Sundays should always be. Join us next week —> What does “springing forward” mean for your mindset this year? Link Up With Tuesday Topics Welcome back to Tuesday Topics, as Jenny, from Runners Fly joins Jenn at Runs With Pugs to co-host this link-up! Please join us every week for a new topic! Write on our weekly prompt or choose your own topic! Make sure to add your post to the link up, link back to your hosts, and comment on the other shared posts! You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter Top photo by Heather Barnes on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- Going Long
This was a big week! I had a LONG long run, and everything was geared towards that. There was also lots of Olympics watching, and a little extra sleeping. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Here we go… Monday In the morning I did Caroline Girvan’s stellar abs workout, and later in the day I got out for a 4 mile run. Still enjoying a slight morning sleep-in and running after work. Tuesday Saving my legs for a big effort… I did an upper body strength workout. Wednesday Today was the day! I ran 31 miles, the longest run I’ve ever done, outside of a race. It was actually fun (for the most part). I did the first 10 miles on the roads (because it was dark) and then moved to the trail. I had a cooler in my car with water, extra gels, potato chips, crackers, and my new favorite long run fuel- a Monster energy drink. I looped back to my “aid station” after miles 10, 18, and 26. Overall it went really well! No stomach issues, and nothing hurt- other than legs that were quite fatigued by the end. Thursday This was mostly a rest day. In the morning I opted to sleep as late as possible, and after work I had to take Sylvie to the vet for her second round of shots (kittens need a lot of shots! I didn’t know this before I adopted her- I’ve always gotten cats who already had their shots taken care of). At night I did Adriene’s yoga for lower back pain. My low back has actually been pretty great lately- but I still love the way this routine stretches out my low back and hip flexors. And- I had to stay up to watch the women’s figure skating! Alysa Liu!!! Friday I started the day with Adriene’s morning hip release. Then later in the afternoon I walked for 45 minutes. My quads and hip flexors are still sore, but this walk felt great. Saturday I did my hip stability exercises, and got out for a 4 mile run later in the day. When I first started running, my legs felt off. But then they kind of settled into the run, and it ended up being pretty good. Sunday Definitely sleeping in! Then… time to get some strength in. Wednesday long runs are hard because the whole week feels like I’m either getting ready for the run, or recovering from it. Also- Olympics! So sad that it’s ending! I loved having something to watch every day and there were so many fun events. Boohoo. How was your week? Are you sad the Olympics are over?
BOOKS!!!
So many good books to talk about! Let’s start off with the book I got my husband for Valentine’s Day: Oh. It’s You (Love Poems by Cats). I think this is my favorite poem in the book: Let’s analyze this one! I love how the weight management food was “angrily” horked up on the, apparently, brand new carpet that was just unfurled. A+, cat! (The author of this collection is actually Francesco Marciuliano). Moving on- it’s time to talk about Sky Daddy. The main character in this book is a young woman who has a sexual attraction to airplanes, an obsession so intense that she believes her destiny is to “marry” one, i.e. die in plane crash. I know! That sounds so weird, it’s terrible. But that’s not all the book is about. It seems to me that this woman has Asperger’s. and to be clear I’m not just calling “Aspergers” because of the plane thing. I’m looking at how she takes things very literally, fails to pick up on social cues, and is continuously watching to see how other people do things. This story is about how she manages a job, friendships, dating, all while attempting to keep her airplane obsession a secret. This character is so likable, and you’re rooting really hard for her. Even the airplane obsession- well, we all have our things. Hers is a little weirder than most, but we can get past that. The book is funny and touching. For a long time I could not figure out how the author was going to end it in a satisfying way, but she does! Highly recommend. Next I read this: It’s a police procedural, and the main character has… Asperger’s. Does every book have a main character with Asperger’s??? This time, it’s woven into the story, as in he and the people around him are aware of his diagnosis. George is a brilliant detective, but incredibly irritating to his coworkers because of his lack of social skills. The mystery- who killed the dentist- is interesting but not fascinating. The more interesting parts of this book for me were the glimpses into George’s personal life, his relationships with his father and coworkers. There are more books in this series, and I would be happy to read on… eventually. I have so many good books waiting for me, I don’t want to repeat any authors right now. Speaking of books waiting for me… GUESS WHAT JUST ARRIVED!!!! I’m so excited! I feel like everyone has read this but me, and I want to get in on the fun. I’m diving into it as soon as I finish this post (and I can already say that I read and loved the first paragraph). Have I convinced you to read Sky Daddy? If you have a cat, how often do they throw up?- Foxy and Sylvie never throw up. Muffin will throw up if I give her a little too much food, and it’s almost always on the carpet. Top photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash