The “L” Word
Sometimes to have a little good luck is the most brilliant plan. -Sam Waterston as Ben in Crimes and Misdemeanors Today I’m joining Kim (Kooky Runner) and Zenaida for their Tuesday Topics: “This week, Tuesday Topics falls on the 12th day of September. The 12th letter of the alphabet is “L” – write anything that comes to mind that begins with the letter ‘L’.” When my husband and I were dating, we lived in New York City. One night we went to a jazz club, and outside the club we ran into the pianist who was performing. My husband said, “Good luck tonight.” Afterwards, I admonished him. He’s a HIGHLY SKILLED performer! He doesn’t need luck! My husband responded “Everyone needs luck. There could be a problem with the sound system, or it could be too hot or too cold in there. There are all sorts of things that could go wrong that aren’t his fault.” Ever since then, I’ve understood that no matter how much you prepare, no matter how much knowledge and skill you have, a little bit of luck is the magic ingredient to success. Think of a race- you could have a perfect training cycle for a marathon, and then on race day it could be 100 degrees. Or you could get a stomach virus, or trip and break your foot. OR, you could have a cool, clear day with the wind at your back, and have the race of your life. My daughter is hard at work right now preparing for all-state auditions. She’s auditioning on flute for the concert band, and also on guitar for the jazz band. She told me she feels she has a shot at the jazz band, and I had to remind her, gently, that they only take ONE guitar player from the whole state and she’ll be competing with seniors. I told her to imagine how much better she’ll be in four years- that’s the level she’s competing against right now. She said “Yes, but all I need are five good minutes. If I have five good minutes” (the length of the audition, more or less) “and everyone else has five bad minutes, I can get in.” Now, if she weren’t practicing hard for this audition, I would say this is a very bad plan. But she is practicing, and having extra lessons. So I like her attitude! Why not go for it and hope for a little- or, in this case, a lot- of luck? Do you leave room in your life for luck? Or do you not believe in luck as a factor in success? Photo by Amy Reed on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- Sunrise Edition
Oh, hello there! Welcome to the Weekly Rundown, hosted as always by Kim and Deborah (thanks, ladies!) I started off the week cautious about my sore shin… but as the week wore on, I had no pain and it looks like everything is back to normal. I also had a revelation about running in the heat… read on for details! Monday Leg day at the gym!! First up, sled pushes and pulls: Ben Patrick (Knees Over Toes Guy) says you can do the sled six days a week- even though it’s weighted, it involves concentric as opposed to eccentric movements, so it’s okay to do every day. I’m not going to the gym six days a week! But I’ll do the sled as often as I can. After the sled I did squats, deadlifts, hamstring curls, tibialis raises, and abs. Last week I said that squats scare me, and Wendy had some great advice. She said if I get down low with a heavy weight and really can’t get back up, I can just let the bar slide off my back and drop it. GREAT point! I didn’t end up dropping the bar this week, but it did make me a little less scared. Tuesday I started off the morning at home with my pull up bar, and did assisted pull ups and negatives. Then back to the gym for upper body, but first the sled, of course! If I’m doing the sled before leg day, I do about ten minutes. On this day I did 20 minutes of pushing and pulling, and it gave me a little cardio workout. Then bench press, overhead shoulder press with dumbbells, and abs. Wednesday Today was the big day- our tile guy came to tile the backsplash!!! Ahem, he came at 8 am. This meant I had to get my run in very early, before taking my daughter to school. 4 miles mostly in the dark- the sun was coming up just as I finished. Guess what? It’s WAY easier to run in the dark! That is, if you live in South Florida and it’s September. It was sooooo much cooler! I used to run in the dark all the time, but have gotten away from it in recent years. I might have to rethink that. Oh, and here’s the finished backsplash: Thursday Leg Day #2! I started at home with tibialis raises and and goblet squats, then to the gym for- you guessed it- the sled. Then squats, calf raises and Bulgarian split squats. Friday Well, I didn’t HAVE to run super early today, but I just happened to wake up at 5 am so I got out for another dark 4 miler. Once again- so much easier. Then, in the evening I attended our first home football game! It was my daughter’s first game in the marching band, and they were looking good! Funny thing- we were playing the school where my husband teaches- it was an intra-family rivalry! Tragically, our team lost in overtime. Sadness! (My husband was secretly smug, grr.) Saturday Off! I was able to sleep in a little before going to work. After work I rushed home to see the second half of the Baylor game, and THEY lost! Now I’m suffering from football depression. Sunday On tap for today- 10 mile long run. Big decision- I want to start this run in the dark, but that means it won’t be a trail run (for reasons which I expect are obvious.) Cooler run… or trail? I think a cooler run will win out. In the afternoon- the first Dolphins game! Let’s see if they can get me out of my sad football rut. How was your week? Are you getting some cooler weather? High school, college, or pro football? – I like them all, but it’s been a while since I attended a live game! Where’s the instant replay? I want a better camera angle on that play! Ha ha… it was a different experience.
It’s Been a Week…
Oof. It’s been a busy, busy week. All good things… like: The kitchen backsplash is done! I love it! But this meant having a stranger in the house, almost the entire day of my day off. Don’t get me wrong- I’m incredibly grateful to him. He did a great job- but still. It was stressful. Then, for two nights in a row I had to be at my daughter’s school. One for the “open house” where we meet their teachers, and the next night for a band parent meeting. I love all my daughter’s teachers! And the band meeting was about the upcoming trip to Rome. Yes, you read that right- my daughter is going to ROME in January. The band has a big trip once every four years, and it happens to fall on her freshman year. I know what you’re thinking. “Jenny, what exactly are you complaining about? That you got a new kitchen? That your daughter has incredible teachers? That she’s going on an amazing trip to Rome?” These are all great things! But I’m really scattered. At the risk of sounding incredibly neurotic, I don’t like being out at night. Once I’m home from work and dinner is done, I want to on the couch doing this: So, I’m ready for some serious quiet time… except that tomorrow night is the first home football game, GAAAAAH! Now, I don’t HAVE to go. A lot of parents don’t, but I know if I miss it, I’ll regret it. For various reasons I missed all but one of the football games my son’s junior year (he was in the marching band, like my daughter is now.) I vowed I would go to every game his senior year- and then everything was canceled because of Covid. I learned my lesson! I’ll be at the game tomorrow night. Wish me luck! And by the way, the kitchen saga is not over yet. We now have the issue of What To Do About The Floor. You’ll hear all about that next week! Do you consider yourself a homebody? – Ha, I do! I always have to gear myself up to go out, especially at night. Photo by Marissa Grootes on Unsplash
Reading and Eating, Pumpkin-Style
The first weekend of Pumpkin Palooza has come and gone! I think of Labor Day weekend as kind of the “Opening Ceremony” of Pumpkin Palooza, so I like to go all out. But first! I finished two great books: The Mimicking of Known Successes is a sci-fi mystery, which I first heard about from ccr in MA. The story is set on the planet Jupiter, which humans have colonized after destroying Earth. To be honest, the storyline was interesting but not amazing, but I LOVED the setting. The description of life on Jupiter was fascinating and so well done. I had an odd experience though- I didn’t read the description of this book at all, but dove right in without knowing much. About halfway through I realized I didn’t know if the narrator was male or female. For some reason I had vaguely been thinking male (their name is “Pleiti” which I would contend is gender-neutral) but when I realized I wasn’t sure, I flipped back to the beginning for clues- and I couldn’t find any. There was no mention of appearance or clothes- other than special scarves that shielded them from the harsh atmosphere- nothing that specified a gender. Finally I took a glance at the description on the inside jacket which describes it as “a cozy gaslamp mystery and sapphic romance.” Oh! I guess Pleiti is a woman. In a way I was disappointed that I found out- I was kind of enjoying reading the story and not knowing. It reminds me of a conversation I had with my son several years ago. We were at a store together and after we left I asked him “Do you think our cashier was a man or a woman? I couldn’t tell.” His response was, “Why does it matter?” Yes- why DOES it matter? On the subject of gender, Adichie’s Feminist Manifesto is so good. I think I’ve done a pretty good job with my daughter- never called her princess, or talked about her being “pretty”, and avoided any talk of “girls do this; boys do that.” But the other day she was telling me about a friend who liked a boy but didn’t want to tell him, because she didn’t want to be the one to initiate anything. I said “Yes, that’s a good idea. Let him initiate it.” WAIT. Why did I say that? It just goes to show- I need a check-in now and then. This book is FULL of wisdom, and it’s a very quick read. Now for the food! First breakfast of Pumpkin Palooza: pumpkin pancakes. I used this recipe from Running on Real Food. They’re made with chickpea flour! So they were a little odd, ha ha. But still delicious! I used my usual trick for pumpkin baked goods- take the amount of pumpkin spice the recipe calls for and double it, and add a pinch of cloves. The only thing I would say about this recipe is, there’s too much salt. Next time I would cut back a little, but I enjoyed these. For dinner I made this recipe for Pumpkin Pasta Bake from Nora Cooks. She uses an almond ricotta, but I made a tofu ricotta instead. And I topped it with Miyoko’s liquid plant-based mozzarella. We’ve been getting a lot of use from that cheese! This dish was good! The sauce has coconut milk (but it doesn’t taste like coconut) and pumpkin. We enjoyed this for THREE dinners- I love leftovers. Last year I ate so much pumpkin in early September that I got sick of it (ack!) In order to prevent that tragedy again, I’ll be taking a short break from pumpkin (after I eat my pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast today, heh heh!) Have you read either of these books? Do you think it’s obvious from the picture on the front that Mimicking is about two women? Do you like pumpkin baked goods?