May is drawing to a close and June is creeping in. Summer is here and I am filled with optimism and hope! Ok, maybe not 100% of the time, but at least part of the time. What better way to meet the summer than hopeful, right? And hopeful is how I am as I write June's goals. But first...May's recap.
May Goals:
Partial credit seems to be my theme for the past two months. I was about 50% successful with the May goals, just like April.
1) Lose 4# for racing weight: Ok, this is more than a fail. This was a move in the wrong direction. Somehow, I ended up 2 pounds heavier at the end of the month, though with looser pants. Maybe its because I have that tendency to put on weight when I exercise more. Or maybe it was a subconscious protest to the horrible message that "The Biggest Loser" seems to be sending out --so different than the show used to be in its first two seasons. Seriously? Now it seems to be advocating eating disorders and weight loss at any cost, including health and mental well being. But I digress. June needs to bring about the food journal once again, along side the exercise log. Sigh.
2) Decluttering: OK, the decluttering is moving right along. This month, my enthusiasm waned somewhat, but I stilled chugged along. I may not be turning cartwheels, but I'm liking how much more streamlined the love loft is looking. (say that 5 times fast)
3) 5 books from the bookshelf: Success! I have been meaning to share some of those books in posts, but never got around to it. Need to be better with that!
4) Run 100 miles this month: another fail. After my knee injury at the beginning of the month, I stuck to biking, swimming, and elliptical for 2 weeks. But that didn't seem to hurt my race performance, because --
5) Complete Half Marathon with PR: total success!! Yay!
6) 3 projects from the project box: half credit here. 2 done. More on that project box, later.
7) Do the switch from winter to summer clothes: Done and done. Took about 4 times as long as I thought it would.
8) Go See a Band with Friends: Success: Outdoor, free concert, nonetheless!
9) 6 more snail mail letters to friends: just in under the wire, completed last night!
10) Swim in the ocean twice: half credit. Swam once.
June Goals:
1) Start of the Triathlon Season!! First Sprint with PR: Ambitious, but I'm hoping to knock 15 minutes off my time from last year. (I have a better bike and some tri shorts to cut down transition times)
2) Do that food journal and drop those 2# I put on last month: I know I get more muscular when I train, but it's still more weight to carry around for however many miles the races are.
3) Another 5 books from the bookshelf
4) One mile swim in the pond, 50 mile ride on the bike, 15 mile run on the canal (not all on the same day)
5) Going to St Louis with Isabella this month -- see at least one blues band, go gambling, go on a riverboat, and get nice and drunk!
6) Continue decluttering
7) Go to niece's recitals and karate tournaments That IS, after all, the #1 reason I moved back here.
8) Finish going through cassette tape programs I have from all those years ago
9) Complete work correspondence course
10) Have a girl's movie nite with J and S
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
summer soundtrack
This week, MamaKat posted a prompt asking what is your "life anthem". I gotta be honest, lately I am brain dead by Wed night and pondering something like my life anthem is just way too much to expect.
But today, I got a big taste of what was, well maybe not my life ANTHEM, but definitely my life SOUNDTRACK circa 1992-1993. Today, I went to EarthFest, a free concert in Boston's Hatch Shell. The lineup included The Lemonheads, Seven Mary Three and Soul Asylum. (It also included Shawn Mullins, but due to delays in public transportation, I didn't get there until he was leaving the stage) As I sat on the ground, soaking up the sun, I was transported back in time.
Suddenly, I was running around Boston in ripped jeans and a flannel shirt, listening to grunge rock and drinking (shudder) sloe gin fizzes. (I am quite happy to report that my taste in clothing and beverages has improved considerably since that time. The music I still like)
Suddenly, I felt like I had JUST graduated from college. I was optimistic, ridiculously naive, and filled with a confidence that everything I wanted in life would just magically fall into place. And though the ME that was sitting on the grass today has had a few experiences that contradict that confident belief, singing along with my old life soundtrack made me feel a little bit more like the ME of 1992.
I even jumped up and joined the mosh pit for a while, confident that I wouldn't get flattened.
Oh, it's gonna be a great summer.
But today, I got a big taste of what was, well maybe not my life ANTHEM, but definitely my life SOUNDTRACK circa 1992-1993. Today, I went to EarthFest, a free concert in Boston's Hatch Shell. The lineup included The Lemonheads, Seven Mary Three and Soul Asylum. (It also included Shawn Mullins, but due to delays in public transportation, I didn't get there until he was leaving the stage) As I sat on the ground, soaking up the sun, I was transported back in time.
Suddenly, I was running around Boston in ripped jeans and a flannel shirt, listening to grunge rock and drinking (shudder) sloe gin fizzes. (I am quite happy to report that my taste in clothing and beverages has improved considerably since that time. The music I still like)
Suddenly, I felt like I had JUST graduated from college. I was optimistic, ridiculously naive, and filled with a confidence that everything I wanted in life would just magically fall into place. And though the ME that was sitting on the grass today has had a few experiences that contradict that confident belief, singing along with my old life soundtrack made me feel a little bit more like the ME of 1992.
I even jumped up and joined the mosh pit for a while, confident that I wouldn't get flattened.
Oh, it's gonna be a great summer.
The magic appeal of showers
Several weeks ago, I began something called "Adventures in Grooming". Then, like any kind of personal grooming task that takes time out of my precious day, I promptly abandoned it and went about my merry way. That's just me.
But since I am also the kind of person for whom once something is undertaken and abandoned, it will nag at me like a tiny mosquito, I have decided to jump right back in. Prompted, at least in part, because of a conversation I witnessed two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago, I was babysitting for my nieces. I arrived a bit early while my brother was still getting ready to go out. His wife said "Phew! You need to take a shower!" to which he reported "I know. I am. It's my third shower of the day." HIS THIRD SHOWER OF THE DAY. Then, my 10 year old niece came dancing in from outside and her mother told her that she needed to take a shower before going to bed. "Ok" she said. She turned to me and said "That will be my second shower of the day." HER SECOND SHOWER OF THE DAY AT AGE TEN. That is a family of four. They take --what -- 27 showers per day?
I'm not sure if any other country in the world is as obsessed with showers as we are in America. While I am a big fan of showering, I do feel that we take far too many of them. And we perceive showers as having far more power than they actual do.
For instance, there's the I-need-a-shower-to-wake-up-in-the-morning-shower. If somebody likes taking a shower in the morning, it makes them feel good, makes them smile more at their co-workers, then by all means, that somebody should take one. But they should stop using the word NEED. If their shower were to suddenly stop working I'm pretty confident that they'd wake up nonetheless. If it were difficult, they'd grab some coffee or other caffeinated beverage and bop off to work, grumbling all the way.
I know this to be true. I don't shower in the morning. I shower at night, after the gym, and go to bed with wet hair, waking up on a still damp pillow and shaking dreams of wrestling with SpongeBob out of my head. This may be directly related to my unsuccessful fight to end my caffeine addiction. But I can assure you, I do make it work every day morning shower-free.
Don't get me wrong -- the morning showers don't bother me per se. But I know many people who, like me, to to the gym after work and shower before bed. Only to get up in the morning and take another shower in the morning. Exactly WHAT are these people doing at night that makes them awake so grime covered and dirty that they need another shower before venturing out of the house? Or then, there are those who take it one step further: shower in the morning, shower after work, and shower after exercising. Maybe they need to see an endocrinologist instead.
I mean, I completely understand that sometimes we take showers for reasons other than getting clean. Just yesterday when I was simultaneously assaulted by allergies and a cold, I used the magical properties of shower to loosen the deep rattling in my chest so that I could --you know-breathe. And after a couple long training runs in 26 degree weather, the shower was less for rinsing sweat away and more for returning feeling to my hands and feet. (I was kind of like Luke Skywalker after Han Solo rescued him from that abominable snowman thing in The Empire Strikes Back and they put him in a big plastic water tank with an aqua-lung so as to rise his core body temperature? You know -- like that.) That wasn't the best shower of my life, though.
The best shower of my life was after a 15 day backpacking trip with Outward Bound. It was great. (The backpacking, not the shower. Though that was great, too)Fifteen days of backpacking around the desert in Utah. When I returned to the hotel after that great adventure, I basically dragged my red-dust covered ass into the bathroom and showered until the water ran clear. It was like being reborn!
I have friends who say: "I couldn't do that. I HAVE to have a shower EVERY day." I was backpacking around the desert! There was no water. "Oh, I'd FIND water!" they'd reply. I did find water. We used the water we found to fill our canteens so we could drink. "Oh, I'd FIND a way to shower." Really? Rolling around in a tiny, muddy, puddle? That sounds fantastic. "Oh, I'd do something." Give it up, man. There is no showering on backpacking trips in the desert. But there is the one wonderful shower at the end.
When I worked on the spinal cord unit, I had a patient tell me about the weird experience of taking his first shower after breaking his neck. "It was so weird...I couldn't feel the water below my shoulders. It took me a while to figure out that it also felt really good. So I just stayed in the shower for a long long time" He stayed there until one of the nurses came in and said "Hey! Stop hogging all the hot water! Leave some for everyone else."
I think that's great advice for us all.
But since I am also the kind of person for whom once something is undertaken and abandoned, it will nag at me like a tiny mosquito, I have decided to jump right back in. Prompted, at least in part, because of a conversation I witnessed two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago, I was babysitting for my nieces. I arrived a bit early while my brother was still getting ready to go out. His wife said "Phew! You need to take a shower!" to which he reported "I know. I am. It's my third shower of the day." HIS THIRD SHOWER OF THE DAY. Then, my 10 year old niece came dancing in from outside and her mother told her that she needed to take a shower before going to bed. "Ok" she said. She turned to me and said "That will be my second shower of the day." HER SECOND SHOWER OF THE DAY AT AGE TEN. That is a family of four. They take --what -- 27 showers per day?
I'm not sure if any other country in the world is as obsessed with showers as we are in America. While I am a big fan of showering, I do feel that we take far too many of them. And we perceive showers as having far more power than they actual do.
For instance, there's the I-need-a-shower-to-wake-up-in-the-morning-shower. If somebody likes taking a shower in the morning, it makes them feel good, makes them smile more at their co-workers, then by all means, that somebody should take one. But they should stop using the word NEED. If their shower were to suddenly stop working I'm pretty confident that they'd wake up nonetheless. If it were difficult, they'd grab some coffee or other caffeinated beverage and bop off to work, grumbling all the way.
I know this to be true. I don't shower in the morning. I shower at night, after the gym, and go to bed with wet hair, waking up on a still damp pillow and shaking dreams of wrestling with SpongeBob out of my head. This may be directly related to my unsuccessful fight to end my caffeine addiction. But I can assure you, I do make it work every day morning shower-free.
Don't get me wrong -- the morning showers don't bother me per se. But I know many people who, like me, to to the gym after work and shower before bed. Only to get up in the morning and take another shower in the morning. Exactly WHAT are these people doing at night that makes them awake so grime covered and dirty that they need another shower before venturing out of the house? Or then, there are those who take it one step further: shower in the morning, shower after work, and shower after exercising. Maybe they need to see an endocrinologist instead.
I mean, I completely understand that sometimes we take showers for reasons other than getting clean. Just yesterday when I was simultaneously assaulted by allergies and a cold, I used the magical properties of shower to loosen the deep rattling in my chest so that I could --you know-breathe. And after a couple long training runs in 26 degree weather, the shower was less for rinsing sweat away and more for returning feeling to my hands and feet. (I was kind of like Luke Skywalker after Han Solo rescued him from that abominable snowman thing in The Empire Strikes Back and they put him in a big plastic water tank with an aqua-lung so as to rise his core body temperature? You know -- like that.) That wasn't the best shower of my life, though.
The best shower of my life was after a 15 day backpacking trip with Outward Bound. It was great. (The backpacking, not the shower. Though that was great, too)Fifteen days of backpacking around the desert in Utah. When I returned to the hotel after that great adventure, I basically dragged my red-dust covered ass into the bathroom and showered until the water ran clear. It was like being reborn!
I have friends who say: "I couldn't do that. I HAVE to have a shower EVERY day." I was backpacking around the desert! There was no water. "Oh, I'd FIND water!" they'd reply. I did find water. We used the water we found to fill our canteens so we could drink. "Oh, I'd FIND a way to shower." Really? Rolling around in a tiny, muddy, puddle? That sounds fantastic. "Oh, I'd do something." Give it up, man. There is no showering on backpacking trips in the desert. But there is the one wonderful shower at the end.
When I worked on the spinal cord unit, I had a patient tell me about the weird experience of taking his first shower after breaking his neck. "It was so weird...I couldn't feel the water below my shoulders. It took me a while to figure out that it also felt really good. So I just stayed in the shower for a long long time" He stayed there until one of the nurses came in and said "Hey! Stop hogging all the hot water! Leave some for everyone else."
I think that's great advice for us all.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Tree Hugger
I don't understand it.
I love trees. Love, love, love, love, love, LOVE trees!
I love the strong majestic branches of southern live oaks, dripping with spanish moss. I love the impossibly tall douglas firs and sequoias of the west coast. I love fun loving, sway in the breeze palm fronds, the precise symmetry of maple leaves, the bright colors of cherry blossoms in Washington DC. I even love the spindly scrub pines of Cape Cod; they aren't the tallest or strongest of the trees, but they mesh with the unique charm of this sandy peninsula.
I am what you call a Tree Hugger. I have pictures sprinkled through my photo albums of me hugging a wide variety of trees throughout the country. I even have a bumper magnet on my jeep that reads "Trees are for Hugging."
So WHY are the trees trying to kill me with their pollen?
It's just not fair!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Bad Dates Texas Style, part 2
Ok, so before I so rudely interrupted myself last week, I was telling the story of Shan and my ill fated trip to The Longhorn in Texas.
Shan and I had just joined the "private club" and went to the closest bar to get beers. (MMMM Good, good beer!) We decided to do a lap before committing to a location. We wove our way around the dance floor, the second bar, the pool tables and the dart boards before deciding that the second bar was the most promising location. Perfect timing, too, as we were just draining our beers.
When we went to get more drinks, we were approached by two guys in their early 20's. They looked like typical east Texas guys: boots, plaid button up shirts, Wranglers with Skoal tobacco in the back left pocket, crew cuts. The blonde guy spoke first.
"Hey," he drawled, "my name is Scrotum."
Shan and I stared back, flabbergasted.
"Your NAME" Shan replied, "is SCROTUM??"
"Gee," I snickered, "That's subtle."
"Let me get this straight," Shan continued, "you are trying to convince us that your MOTHER named you SCROTUM. Why would she hate you so much when you were just born?"
Scrotum's friend stepped in. "No, not really. That was....a joke. Yeah, he's always making jokes. His name is really Kyle. I'm Lyle" (their names really didn't rhyme, but it's funnier that way)
"Ok. Nice to meet you." Shan and I turned to do another lap before committing to another location.
Lyle stopped us before we left. "Hey, could we ask you a question?"
"Um, sure."
Kyle (aka: Scrotum) took over: "Are you two..." he gestured between the two of us with his beer. He leaned in. "LESBIANS?" he finished in a stage-whisper.
Lyle stood behind Kyle, looking like a labrador retriever waiting for us to throw the tennis ball. "Do you know what lesbians are?"
I burst into laughter, spewing Kyle and Lyle with a mouthful of beer.
"Well, that's really two questions, isn't it?" replied Shan. "To answer -- (1) yes, we both are familiar with the term lesbian. We lived in big cities before moving here. We've seen many lesbians in our travels. I'm friends with a few..."
"As am I!" I interjected.
"...but no, neither one of us is, in fact, a lesbian, to answer your second question. Will that be all, gentleman? Good." She grabbed my arm and pulled me away before Kyle or Lyle could ask any more inane questions.
Then we just decided to keep doing laps for the rest of the night, laughing and waving at our friends every time we passed the second bar. During one of the laps, Lyle had a moment of bravado.
"Hey!" he said. "You girls want to get out of this lame place? We have a fishing cabin about 20 minutes away. We could go there and party!"
I fielded this one: "Thanks for the offer, but no. That sounds like a very, very bad idea."
Kyle reeled forward. "WHORES!" he shouted. Lyle spun him around and lead him back to the pool tables.
The smart thing to do at this point would have been to leave. Immediately. But I had finished three beers and Shan had downed four. Neither of us were in any condition to drive. We needed to stay long enough to sober up. As it turns out, that was enough time for things to get much, much worse.
to be continued....
Shan and I had just joined the "private club" and went to the closest bar to get beers. (MMMM Good, good beer!) We decided to do a lap before committing to a location. We wove our way around the dance floor, the second bar, the pool tables and the dart boards before deciding that the second bar was the most promising location. Perfect timing, too, as we were just draining our beers.
When we went to get more drinks, we were approached by two guys in their early 20's. They looked like typical east Texas guys: boots, plaid button up shirts, Wranglers with Skoal tobacco in the back left pocket, crew cuts. The blonde guy spoke first.
"Hey," he drawled, "my name is Scrotum."
Shan and I stared back, flabbergasted.
"Your NAME" Shan replied, "is SCROTUM??"
"Gee," I snickered, "That's subtle."
"Let me get this straight," Shan continued, "you are trying to convince us that your MOTHER named you SCROTUM. Why would she hate you so much when you were just born?"
Scrotum's friend stepped in. "No, not really. That was....a joke. Yeah, he's always making jokes. His name is really Kyle. I'm Lyle" (their names really didn't rhyme, but it's funnier that way)
"Ok. Nice to meet you." Shan and I turned to do another lap before committing to another location.
Lyle stopped us before we left. "Hey, could we ask you a question?"
"Um, sure."
Kyle (aka: Scrotum) took over: "Are you two..." he gestured between the two of us with his beer. He leaned in. "LESBIANS?" he finished in a stage-whisper.
Lyle stood behind Kyle, looking like a labrador retriever waiting for us to throw the tennis ball. "Do you know what lesbians are?"
I burst into laughter, spewing Kyle and Lyle with a mouthful of beer.
"Well, that's really two questions, isn't it?" replied Shan. "To answer -- (1) yes, we both are familiar with the term lesbian. We lived in big cities before moving here. We've seen many lesbians in our travels. I'm friends with a few..."
"As am I!" I interjected.
"...but no, neither one of us is, in fact, a lesbian, to answer your second question. Will that be all, gentleman? Good." She grabbed my arm and pulled me away before Kyle or Lyle could ask any more inane questions.
Then we just decided to keep doing laps for the rest of the night, laughing and waving at our friends every time we passed the second bar. During one of the laps, Lyle had a moment of bravado.
"Hey!" he said. "You girls want to get out of this lame place? We have a fishing cabin about 20 minutes away. We could go there and party!"
I fielded this one: "Thanks for the offer, but no. That sounds like a very, very bad idea."
Kyle reeled forward. "WHORES!" he shouted. Lyle spun him around and lead him back to the pool tables.
The smart thing to do at this point would have been to leave. Immediately. But I had finished three beers and Shan had downed four. Neither of us were in any condition to drive. We needed to stay long enough to sober up. As it turns out, that was enough time for things to get much, much worse.
to be continued....
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Decluttering and depollinating
Summer has officially started: everything is covered in a yellowy-green dusty pollen and I found a tick in my hair today. BOO!
And since today is Monday, even though its Tuesday, its time comment on the decluttering. (Which, incidentally, has taken a back seat to de-pollinating) Focusing on the living room this week:
May 18: I had finished a book and put it in the donation bag.
May 19: After going through the storage area in my parent's house, I have a bag of hats in the living room. (I know...a bag of hats is not normal. I never claimed to be) But I pulled a hat out that I will never wear and put that in a different donation bag.
May 20: I went through one of the baskets under the coffee table and threw away a bumper sticker I had received for making a donation to some cause. I will never put this bumper sticker on my car. I will, however, put it in the trash. Today.
May 21: Went through the magazine basket and pulled out three to bring to the gym.
May 22: I had a pile of continuing education brochures I received in the mail. I put them in my work bag to post on the cont. ed bulletin board.
May 23: I moved some notebooks from the coffee table to more appropriate place -- the bedside table, which now is roomier after taking care of the bedroom last week. And then, since moving things seems like CHEATING, I took a box of chocolates I had received as a gift and brought them to a birthday party as a little treat.
May 24: I went through the video tape/ DVD basket and took out an exercise video for a charity sale somebody at work is organizing.
The living room, in its new configuration, looks neat and tidy. On to the office area next week!
And since today is Monday, even though its Tuesday, its time comment on the decluttering. (Which, incidentally, has taken a back seat to de-pollinating) Focusing on the living room this week:
May 18: I had finished a book and put it in the donation bag.
May 19: After going through the storage area in my parent's house, I have a bag of hats in the living room. (I know...a bag of hats is not normal. I never claimed to be) But I pulled a hat out that I will never wear and put that in a different donation bag.
May 20: I went through one of the baskets under the coffee table and threw away a bumper sticker I had received for making a donation to some cause. I will never put this bumper sticker on my car. I will, however, put it in the trash. Today.
May 21: Went through the magazine basket and pulled out three to bring to the gym.
May 22: I had a pile of continuing education brochures I received in the mail. I put them in my work bag to post on the cont. ed bulletin board.
May 23: I moved some notebooks from the coffee table to more appropriate place -- the bedside table, which now is roomier after taking care of the bedroom last week. And then, since moving things seems like CHEATING, I took a box of chocolates I had received as a gift and brought them to a birthday party as a little treat.
May 24: I went through the video tape/ DVD basket and took out an exercise video for a charity sale somebody at work is organizing.
The living room, in its new configuration, looks neat and tidy. On to the office area next week!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Memorial Day Weekend
Yay! Memorial Day Weekend! I haven't been posting, but that's because I've been busy doing summery stuff! Even though today is Monday, this week, Monday is Sunday, Tuesday is Monday, Wednesday is Tuesday, and so on. Just so today, I can gush about how wonderful life is (I'm in that kind of mood).
I got just about everything done that I wanted to accomplish this weekend with two glaring exceptions: (1) I did not take the hard top off the jeep. (seriously - what is wrong with me) and (2) I did not make it up to the Arts Festival in Marshfield. Which is a bummer, 'cause I was told Steve Tyler made an appearance there, and that's always exciting. I've seen him a few times around and he is even stranger looking in real life than he is on TV or in pictures. I'm not sure how this is even possible, but it's true. (Interestingly, I once, saw Liv Tyler in Whole Foods and she is even more gorgeous in real life than on film, but she has the exact same features of her reptilian dad) But, whatever.
I DID get the apartment reconfigured from winter furniture placement to summer furniture placement. (Winter is for maximum heat while sleeping, summer is for maximum breeze and ligh blockage so I don't wake up at the crack of dawn --literally-- every day)
I went to my friends' kids' birthday party and not only jumped in the inflatable jumpy-thing, but played on the twirly see-saw thing. Therefore establishing myself as completely immature for the summer. (Always important for maximum summer fun)
I ran the Run to Remember half marathon yesterday, thereby officially starting the summer race season for me. (and by RACE, I mean something to finish, not something to win) My goal was for a PR in this race, though, and I did accomplish that. The gun time was 2:09:30; the chip time will be posted sometime this week, but its probably around 2:07. I'm pleasantly surprised, as I did not get much running in this month after my ill-fated work-related knee injury. I did a lot of biking and eliptical work, but running just hurt, so minimal running. However, I did fine in the race. Better than fine. (I know 9:45 min mile is nothing to get all excited about, but it is a personal best for me, sadly enough) Strange, I'm a physical therapist and I am forever telling my patients to lay off the running for a couple weeks after an injury, assuring them that they will not lose ground as they heal. But when I take my own advice, I'm FLOORED that it actually works. Go figure.
I went on the first annual Memorial Day Paddle and Picnic. (We came up with that name after the picnic aspect of the event where wine was served) A day of kayaking around Tully Lake with friends in perfect weather. So I got another Memorial Day weekend tradition. (though I have to tell you, sitting in a kayak all day isn't exactly the best thing to do the day after a half marathon)
Summer is here, race season has begun, and I have three short months to sandwich as much fun in as possible.
Happy summer everyone!
I got just about everything done that I wanted to accomplish this weekend with two glaring exceptions: (1) I did not take the hard top off the jeep. (seriously - what is wrong with me) and (2) I did not make it up to the Arts Festival in Marshfield. Which is a bummer, 'cause I was told Steve Tyler made an appearance there, and that's always exciting. I've seen him a few times around and he is even stranger looking in real life than he is on TV or in pictures. I'm not sure how this is even possible, but it's true. (Interestingly, I once, saw Liv Tyler in Whole Foods and she is even more gorgeous in real life than on film, but she has the exact same features of her reptilian dad) But, whatever.
I DID get the apartment reconfigured from winter furniture placement to summer furniture placement. (Winter is for maximum heat while sleeping, summer is for maximum breeze and ligh blockage so I don't wake up at the crack of dawn --literally-- every day)
I went to my friends' kids' birthday party and not only jumped in the inflatable jumpy-thing, but played on the twirly see-saw thing. Therefore establishing myself as completely immature for the summer. (Always important for maximum summer fun)
I ran the Run to Remember half marathon yesterday, thereby officially starting the summer race season for me. (and by RACE, I mean something to finish, not something to win) My goal was for a PR in this race, though, and I did accomplish that. The gun time was 2:09:30; the chip time will be posted sometime this week, but its probably around 2:07. I'm pleasantly surprised, as I did not get much running in this month after my ill-fated work-related knee injury. I did a lot of biking and eliptical work, but running just hurt, so minimal running. However, I did fine in the race. Better than fine. (I know 9:45 min mile is nothing to get all excited about, but it is a personal best for me, sadly enough) Strange, I'm a physical therapist and I am forever telling my patients to lay off the running for a couple weeks after an injury, assuring them that they will not lose ground as they heal. But when I take my own advice, I'm FLOORED that it actually works. Go figure.
I went on the first annual Memorial Day Paddle and Picnic. (We came up with that name after the picnic aspect of the event where wine was served) A day of kayaking around Tully Lake with friends in perfect weather. So I got another Memorial Day weekend tradition. (though I have to tell you, sitting in a kayak all day isn't exactly the best thing to do the day after a half marathon)
Summer is here, race season has begun, and I have three short months to sandwich as much fun in as possible.
Happy summer everyone!
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