What’s up with this: my legs have been exhausted lately. Even after two full days off, my legs are just slugging along at 50% of their normal get-up-and-go. I don’t think I’m overtraining. Ugh.
completed on Day 1
But in true me fashion, I continue running. I enjoy strides and intervals more than progression runs, that’s for sure! And goal pace isn’t too incredibly difficult. Hallelujah, because it’s a goal pace for a reason. The weather this week took a drastic turn towards frigid – 50s and rain which felt like 30° to me. Dramatic, huh? I had to find leggings and capris for my runs. Those short shorts weren’t doing it for me!
Speed shoes!
By the time strides rolled around on Thursday, the office felt like -20° and my patience had worn thin with the amount of cloud coverage. Back to the treadmill again.
As has become my routine, I did a switch from long run Saturday to Friday evening instead. AND I didn’t wait until the sun went down to keep cool! Straight from work was my motto so I would have no excuses.
slightly wind-blown hair
Wouldn’t you know this long run was amazing? Every time I think (read: doubt) I can accomplish my goal, I have a great run that reenforces the work I’ve been putting into it.
There are monthly themes, challenges, questions of the day, and many other ways to get involved with other runners, like yourself! The spirit of camaraderie can be tough to find lately – especially with many running events and races being cancelled or rescheduled still. For me, running improves my inner peace. And we could all use a little more peace in our lives!
Since November’s theme is Gratitude, we’ll be exploring ways to stay grateful in our daily lives and how running fosters a sense of gratefulness to be able to move our bodies. Disclaimer: you don’t have to be a runner to join My Favorite Run! Even if you just want to find a group of people who focus on mental health and the “why” of movement without all the running stuff, we can help! Our ambassadors (ahem, me) (and many others) (the “others” are much more knowledgeable than I) are available to facilitate discussion on tons of topics!
I truly believe My Favorite Run is a gamechanger in terms of what other apps offer for runners because many fail to recognize the internal component of movement, i.e. the mental awareness piece. People don’t always run to lose weight or win a medal or whatever other common misconceptions exist. Some run just to have a moment to themselves, to find peace in whatever struggle they’re battling, or to enjoy the outdoors, among many other reasons. For me, running has opened a door to connecting with myself and to help me focus on what I need vs what others may need from me. Running is powerful!
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I ask you –
What running apps do you subscribe to currently?
Why do you run or do any form of movement?
Share a time when being outdoors changed your whole day!
My cherry tomato plant is still thriving, even into November! Perhaps bucket planting is the way to go next year.
Tooth fairy time, round 2. In an unexpected turn of events, she let it be pulled out by her Papa. Shocking. I was no part of any of these festivities. Teeth – when they’re not in a mouth – gross me out. $2 later, we have a winner.
There was also a week of drug-free activities, aka Red Ribbon Week. I’m still a little confused by this and I believe many memes already exist but I’m going to say it anyway…no one (I repeat, no one) has ever offered me drugs. I was offered cigarettes a lot, but not like real, illegal drugs. Maybe cocaine was too rich then. Anyway, just say no.
I digress. One of the week’s dress up days consisted of pajama day! My workplace really needs to get it together. Since I got to take my mini to school that day, we stopped for coffee first. Because no pajama day is complete without a huge coffee.
Edit: I heard, errr read, about National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, a nonprofit that challenges writers to complete 50,000 words in the month of November (roughly 1667 words daily). So it’s like a running streak, but writing instead. If you’re reading this, then you may/may not know today is November 1st. The organization encourages writers to participate in the daily goal in order to complete a novel, but many use it to brainstorm blog posts, etc. Always up for a good writing task. Let’s see how this goes!
Hallelujah this week didn’t start out like the last one! But somehow, even after two full days off, my legs really weren’t feeling it Monday. I kept slowing down and adjusting the incline because nothing felt “comfortable” much less easy.
By the time speed workouts rolled around mid-week the wind was gusting to 40+ mph and I took it inside to the dreadmill. I’m so excited to run in this beautiful, fall-like weather if only the wind would cooperate.
There were lots of work-related activities to contend with, as well. Not to say it through off my schedule because it’s mostly flexible, but the fact it’s Halloween weekend helped me to decide to do my long run Friday night (again).
Thursday night carb-loading
8.13 at 10:37 avg pace. Garmin told me to pace between 10:55-11:55 so I’m secretly happy I never go that slow, but I don’t know if I’m selling myself short by not adhering to King Garmin. I make the rules around here! It was windy, for sure. Now I can enjoy a weekend full of spooky activities, like candy-crazed children and Halloween costume contests. Fun fun.
Week 10 starts on Monday. 5 more weeks until race day!
…one child at a time. Occasionally, ideas for posts arrive in the most unexpected ways. Hahah posts, get it, get it. Well, you’re about to!
First, read this article. This is how it started: I found the below on Instagram and sent it to the one person in my life whom I knew 1000% wouldn’t report me to the authorities (or NSA) for thinking this concept is hilarious.
Credit: @sammichespsychmeds via Instagram
In true best friend fashion, Jason encouraged my wonky sense of humor by recalling where sending your child via postal service was actually a real thing. Of course it was!
Relatedly, I shipped a hoodie from TX to TN and it cost $15 which is only about $10 more than the hoodie cost. Hello, post office people. It really is a barrier to shipping anything with costs like that, but I continue to support them. Alas, I would never attempt to ship my precious mini anywhere; however, with the rising cost of airplane tickets I may consider it more than usual. Usually I never consider it.
Now I just want to make stork jokes. Stop it Kel. Too many times I’ve shared here my love for mailing cards, letters, etc. It’s my thing! Even on the radio one morning, the hosts were debating reasons why you shouldn’t mail thank you cards. They reasoned it’s an outdated medium and much easier to send a text or a video to say thank you. I don’t know about you, but I actually still have some family members without texting/videoing capabilities. She’s 93, I believe she can make her own rules. Would it be easier to send her videos? Absolutely! But do I get angry, unhappy, or put out by stamping a letter? No. I imagine the joy she feels from receiving a card is the same joy I receive when opening a card. Channel that joy and send someone a card today!
Standby for the cost of mailing a 55 lb package. It’s only coincidence that’s how much mini weighs.
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I ask you –
On a scale of always to never, how often do you use the postal service?
Did you know there was a time children were mailed?
Share your best ‘I wish I could’ve mailed someone’ story!
Corn. I like corn. Especially the sweet, buttery, salty corn I remember growing in my parent’s garden. But not corn on the cob. I’m that girl who cuts it off the cob. I don’t know why.
Anyone else eat pea salad? Only my mother and sister. And me! Not mini. She’ll eat plain sweet peas, but once you add additional ingredients, she abandons ship. More for me! I like to experiment with pea salad. In the photo below, I subbed pico for the traditional onion only. It was superb, in my opinion. And since I’m the only one eating it, here we are.
Keto is as restrictive as you make it. So when I’m on that proverbial wagon, I don’t eat much fruit. But I love fruit!! This is why…training season can be so much fun. I eat all the fruit I want. Besides kiwi, there’s not a fruit I don’t like. Some I don’t necessarily love – that’s ok, too. Peaches, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, bring it! In fact, I recently bought so many peaches I had to slice and freeze them because they would have rotted before I ate them all. Since I’m on a smoothie kick, I thought it was a great idea aka cost effective to buy several pounds worth of peaches. In my defense, several pounds of peaches really isn’t that many whole peaches. And I saved money. Take that.
Recently I tried cheese curds. Ugh. The word “curds” grosses me out. Which is probably why I’d never tried them. I remember living in Pensacola with my Navy friends and some would order cheese curds at Buffalo Wild Wings. They’d rave about how great they were; I would refuse to try them.
Bricktown Tap House
Fast forward a lot of years later and they were on the menu at a local restaurant near me. HOLY CRAP! Why didn’t I try these before?! They were amazing! It was like cheese wrapped in funnel cake batter. Heavenly! I’m a cheese curd convert.
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I ask you –
What’s a family food you grew up with? Was it yay or nay?
How much fruit do you eat daily?
Name fruit you do/don’t like. I forgot about pomegranates. I don’t like those at all.
It started off rough and that’s putting it mildly. From getting out of bed approximately 5 mins before my butt should be at work (like, in seat at work)….I’m just reminding myself my standards and work ethic are much more strenuous than anyone else’s expectations of me.
forced smile pre-run
So of course I still had that frantic mindset when it was time for Monday’s run. Nonetheless, I managed to keep it within the guidelines. It just wasn’t pretty and I wasn’t feeling it.
Then Tuesday came around and kicked me some more. Once again, my watch died in the night, but at least I awoke earlier than the day before. (Garmin was really failing me at this time.) In my positive, uplifting way, I never thought it would do it again so of course I didn’t set a secondary alarm. Anyway, after a chat with Garmin, some sort of sync issue was identified as the culprit. Fast forward to mid-day and a prescribed 63 min workout of speed intervals. I thought I did really well. Garmin said otherwise. As if it had some room to tell me I was being unproductive when it hadn’t done its job two nights in a row.
To throw water on a proverbial inferno, Strava happily informed me I ran over 6.5 miles during the workout with an avg pace of 5something. Right. Like that’s ever happened. Upon calibration, it was more like maybe 4 miles at a not-too-shabby 8-or so pace. Unproductive, my foot.
Just pretend there’s a photo here because, by this time, I was livid.
Thursday rolled around, but at least my watch was working properly at this point. I thought I was doing well with fueling, but I missed the mark that day. I ate breakfast, then got busy during the time I would normally eat pre-run. Note to self: 4 hours between food and runningis way too long. I slugged along, my legs hurt, and I couldn’t find a decent rhythm. Couple it with PMS = recipe for disaster.
In an effort to right the whole week’s wrongs and turn everything for good, I meticulously planned to complete my long run Friday night! Yes. Night run!
A little over 3 miles for my “long run”. It was a progression run, and although I feel like I did a great job, I don’t think it was exactly what the plan intended. Coupled with the fact my watch kind of gave up on me and wouldn’t register anything lower than a 10:34 pace, I’m just happy it’s done.
And I finally got a ‘you’re being productive’ message. Today I slept in and drank copious amounts of coffee. More than halfway through the training cycle now. Week 9 will be here soon!
My co-worker who hails from the great state of Oregon (according to her it’s a dumpster fire, but I’m trying to be positive) told me about the Multnomah Falls which is conveniently located less than 2 hours from Portland which is conveniently where my childhood best friend (you remember, Morgan from Oregon) lives. Anyway, she said it was gorgeous and I should visit. After perusing the photos online, I agree. Time to travel!
Also, there’s a diamond-mining quarry in Arkansas called the Crater of Diamonds State Park which is conveniently located less than an hour from where we usually do the great parent switcharoo. I know nothing about mining but think it could be fun! Especially if I discovered a huge gem! This isn’t really….well, not at all…a summertime activity. Maybe mid-winter instead.
Forgot to mention before these amazing cookies I found at Walmart of all places. I’ve never had good luck when purchasing cookies. My streak has ended!
They were so good I forgot to take photos until after I’d eaten 3 in about 2 minutes. If that. The coconut with the oats and pecans and chocolate chips, oh my gosh. And they were soft – I was very surprised because usually pre-packaged cookies are crunchy and I don’t love it.
Funny story: when I worked in Oklahoma at Anytime Fitness, my members knew my love for cookies and would bring them to me when they came to workout. I’d go through boxes a day. It’s all I ate. Surely it wasn’t the best image of a gym manager, but the joke was if I continued to politely offer them to members, then it was job security.
My self-discipline is the only real dumpster fire here.
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I ask you –
What other amazing places should be added to my travel list?
Have you been to either of the two I mentioned here?
Preference: chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter cookies?
My new phone screen! Sometimes we just need a reminder. And a little smile. Amazing what one small change can do to perk us up in this rather dismal world. Not always dismal. Just don’t watch the news.
I read a great quote: don’t mistake my free time for being available. Or something like that. You get the point, right? As a mom, human, type-A personality, it’s easy for me to fall into the trap of fully completing my calendar then dreading all the things I now have to do. Really, I think this is the norm. There lies an expectation to constantly be doing, going, succeeding, moving forward lest we be considered lazy, inconsiderate, sloth-like.
As I mentioned before in this POST, prioritizing what we want and need sometimes means saying no. Haha easier said than done.
Credit via Instagram
Cake reminded me of a few things. Specifically how the Navy has cake for literally every event. Change of command – let’s have cake. Promotion ceremony – the CS’s bake a cake. Suicide awareness month – we’re having cake. Cake makes everything better. Even suicide? Come on. (I am absolutely not making light of very real issues; I am making light of the preponderance of cake available at events dealing with personal trauma.)
As for priorities, sometimes balance is the goal. Other times, we eat cake until we’re stuffed and regret the decision dearly. I can’t be talking only to myself.
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I ask you-
When was the last time you changed your phone background?
If you had to choose only one, would you pick cookies, cake, or ice cream? This is hard for me because I adore ice cream, but I think I would have to pick cookies haha
Tell me what balance looks like for you! A cookie in each hand!
Fall is finally here! I’ve only been complaining about the heat for maybe 7 months. Holiday run with two bike riders. One of them crashed. You decide which.
Post-run smoothie happened again. Mini and I added half of a banana, a whole peach, vanilla yogurt, and some leftover iced chai tea latte. I thought it was good; she disagreed.
When in Rome, you know the rest. I have tons of hot/cold options at home, so I was forced to improvise when I decided to do what I kind of knew needed to be done…at work. Soda cans happen to be the perfect size and shape for “icing” my hamstrings/ACL/MCL in the office. Then I resurrected my lonely heating pad when I got home. Yeah, I know; I’ll make a doctor’s appointment soon.
9.80 miles in 1:45:00 for my long run which puts me right on track to hit my half marathon goal. The cold temperature was my absolute best friend! Surprisingly, I kept my jacket on the entire time…really I’d expected to warm up faster and toss it. Legs were a little numb at first, but it felt good on that hamstring issue I’m having.
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