Ah, it was such a nice day! In the morning I ran 24 miles (!!!) Yes, my hamstring held up. It was achy in the beginning, and never stopped aching- but it also didn’t get any worse. The weather was just about the best we could hope for in April-not TOO hot.
Then in the afternoon I curled up on the couch for my mini-reading retreat!
My laptop was there because I like to livestream WFMT, the Chicago classical music station. I had it playing quietly in the background, and yes, that IS a blanket with our cats on it! But don’t worry- the real Muffin joined me as well.
As a matter of fact, we had a lovely couch nap together, which cut into my reading time. But I still read 100 pages of Pillars of the Earth; I finally finished the introduction to Resonance (ha! Am I really going to finish this 450 page book? The introduction was 43 pages long); and I read the poems in section one of Whale Day.
I got up periodically to empty the dishwasher, fold laundry, tidy up, etc. (that’s the problem with doing a reading retreat at home- there are still chores) but it was good for me- I didn’t want my legs to get too stiff. I also went for a walk after dinner and caught part of the sunset.
I was a lovely day, and I don’t want it to end!
What would you do if you had a whole day to yourself?
18 Responses
Lovely! I’d go for a run (in an ideal world where I could run) and snuggle with Willa the cat and read!
Great minds think alike, Liz!
Ahh that sounds so nice! I really should listen to more classical music like that in the background. I really like it but I always seem to forget about it! This whole day sounds amazing. I had a pretty “meh” Wednesday- something stressful that made me a bit nervous at work (a 1.5 hour long meeting I had to facilitate for the first time w/ lots of important people and I just felt…blah and exhausted by the end), then a long personal appt involving talking, then several long work calls with MORE talking…. by the end of the day I felt like I just wanted to go sit in a quiet, dark room in silence and not talk to ANYONE. Instead, I went to a 7 pm Academics Awards night at Asher’s school in a full auditorium. Haha! Oh well, it was really nice and obviously I’m glad I went (and didn’t opt to skip it to sit in a dark room). hehe. But your day sounds perfect! Even puttering about doing chores sounds nice to me, honestly! I kind of like doing that in a nice, quiet, empty house.
Kae, it sounds like our Wednesdays were polar opposites. Your day really does sound long and stressful. Glad you didn’t miss the award ceremony because you were sitting in a dark room, but that would have been my instinct as well. Every time there’s some kind of event at NIGHT, after a long work day, I don’t want to go. But then afterwards I’m always glad I did.
Yesterday wins a gold star for being a perfect day. 24 miles!!! As I remember your goal was 20, so it seems like the hay is in the barn for 50 miles!!! And then you had the rest of the day snuggled up on the couch with a “belly up” Muffin!
I’m kind of in a reading slump. I just finished We Were the Lucky Ones, which I adored, but I don’t have a line of “OMG I can’t wait to read that” books lined up. My next reading mission is that I’m auditioning a two book clubs, so I’ve got a mystery to read for one and a memoir for the other.
Ooh! That’s a fun mission. Are these in-person book clubs? I want to hear more!
What a perfect day! And wow, 24 miles, that’s huge!
I love an afternoon spent reading, I am going to try to do my own mini-retreat this weekend, although I won’t be alone, it will still be nice.
Just tell everyone not to bother you! I want to do more mini-retreats in the future, but it’s unlikely I’ll be all alone. I hope you get lots of reading in!
Yay for 24 miles! Now you’re one step closer to race day! I’m pretty sure 24 miles on the trails would take me about 8 hours so that would be most of my day if I had the whole day to myself haha, but it definitely would be a good use of a day. But ideally it would be warm enough so I could spend some time in the pool afterwards!
I think your trails are more difficult than mine, and of course there are NO hills here. Still, the whole escapade took me 5 hours so it was a lot. I felt like I spent too much time refilling bottles at my “aid station” (aka, the car) but then, I’ll be spending time at aid stations during the race so it was probably accurate.
Wow, Jenny 24 miles! And it felt good to you <3
Your afternoon–reading, music, kitty cuddles, light chores, and all–sounds idyllic! (I'm going to channel you next week when exams are done!)
The fact that you ran 24 miles on a random weekday is crazy to me. You are reading retreat sounds lovely (I hear you about the chores though). I hope the loveliness continues into the weekend!
go for a hike, go out to lunch, binge watch some Netflix, read
A run, a nap, a few chores, and time to read – all sound like wonderful activities. If I have a day to myself (usually I have Fridays to myself, but I’ll be traveling a lot of Fridays in the coming months for Mini’s travel basketball), I like to workout, attend daily mass, write, and then write some more. I avoid doing groceries or laundry if I can help it. Then the girls have therapy and Coach and I often manage to have an early date in the shape of dinner out or we might even get to meet up with friends. I’m glad to hear your hamstring didn’t get worse or interfere with your long run. That sunset is amazing.
I’m glad your run went well! That must be a confidence booster. A nap with a cat sounds so delightful! I rarely feel sleepy when reading at night before bed, but I nearly always doze off when I read during the afternoon. I am not sure why that is the case, though!
I haven’t had a shouldless day in quite some time. I was supposed to have one in early March but we had a snow storm so Paul was home with me and I was very sick! I need to schedule one, maybe for May. I would go for a run, get a massage and do lots of reading and would definitely nap!
Trail runs! Naps! Fuzzy blankets! Books! Snuggles (admittedly I don’t have a cat, but I’d just substitute one of my favourite humans).
YES PLEASE. I’m so glad you got to have such an amazing day, Jenny.
I’m so glad you had such a good day! We all deserve these once in a while, don’t we? I have one every Friday, my husband and daughter are at work and I have the day off. Well, my daughter works from home, but still, I can read or go out or whatever. Somehow, the day always seems to fly by and I fill it up with things that need to be done, and I never have much time to just sit with a book and a cup of tea. Hopefully one day soon…I have a bunch to do tomorrow, but I think I will make a bit of time for myself in there as well.
Wow, 24 miles with an ache in your hamstring. Dedicated runners like you are amazing and inspiring.
I love this! What a lovely day. I didn’t read as much as I’d hoped on my reading retreat (and ended up going home earlier than I expected because the cats were just out of sorts and I think we needed to be back home). But it was nice to have a low-key few days where my only goal was to read a lot! And I finished one book and am halfway through another so I consider it a win.