In addition to my excitement of being part of the Brooks Run Happy Team this year, I was invited to attend Camp Run Happy in Park City, Utah! This was the first year a live camp would take place and the team was ready for it. Over 100 team members from the US and Canada were in attendance. As you can imagine, it was an incredible experience. I wanted to share some, ok a lot of photos, as well as some of the highlights of this very short trip but very fun trip.
%20copy.png "Recap: Camp Run Happy cover")
.png "Camp Week is here cover")
Malaise and fatigue set in this week. I assume it's a combination of another very active weekend out of town and the stress of life. I pushed through my workouts and by Friday, I started to feel more like myself again. The heat and humidity returned with a vengeance and the hubs and I opted to stay home this weekend. Did I ever mention that we don't have AC at the lake house? Why would you?
I'm heading out early Sunday morning to beat the heat and meet the Trail Sisters for a run. I also have a job interview this week. I think the interview will be a good experience but I'm not sure it's a job that I want to take. The hubs reminded me that with a milestone birthday for both of us this year 'we are nearing the finish line'. That gave me pause, but I thought it was kind of a funny metaphor for where we are at in our lives!
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Wow, didn't July just fly by? And I unintentionally made a little poem...
Let's catch up over coffee! What are you having? The hubs brought me some Colectivo Co-Optiva, which is my favorite blend. With a scoop of GLG collagen and a splash of half and half, it's like heaven in a coffee mug.
What would you tell me over coffee? And can you stand one more Little Miss meme? I do love them.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I received a PRC of Now is Not the Time To Panic from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my unbiased review.
July sure flew by didn't it? Reading-wise, this month was a mixed bag of books for me while I waited for my library holds to come in. As usual, all 6 of them came in at once towards the end of the month. So stay tuned for my August reviews, as I furiously make my way through the pile. Meanwhile, I read a prerelease by a favorite author of mine, a quirky little read by another familiar author, a trashy thriller--who doesn't like those?, a novel about time travel from my Kindle TBR, and 2 books from my library holds. This was a very satisfying month of books!
I returned home on Monday night after my fun trip to Alabama to see Holly. I shared on my Runfessions post that even though I packed my running shoes, they never left the suitcase. We spent the entire weekend on the water, mostly waterskiing but also sunning and boating. It was so fun and just what I needed. While I knew that I was stressed from work and feeling burned out, I just didn't realize how much I needed a break.
I returned to work on Tuesday with a clear head and a different perspective. Later that day, I met with my medical director to discuss some patient care issues. I told her that I am starting to consider finding something different to do. Working in healthcare is more challenging than ever. A few years ago, we were all heroes. Now people come in after 'doing their own research'. They demand treatments and refuse vaccines, filing complaints against us if we don't give them what they want. There's also the increased volume of mental health issues that we are seeing and the lack of resources available to help our patients. The demands from upper management to see more patients, have high patient satisfaction scores, and provide good care are pushing everyone to the breaking point.
She and I discussed the 'talking points' that management throws at us in an effort to 'help us' deal with the stress of the job: find ways to cope and maintain work/life balance. I manage my stress just fine outside of the office! By this, I mean that I work out regularly, eat well and sleep well, and I work part-time. I'm fine when I'm not at work. It's not me, it's the job. She completely agreed with me. Unless that changes--which it won't--then I need to make a change. So stay tuned while I sort that out.
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| Lake Jordan sunset |
Didn't it seem like July just flew by? It's been a fun, busy month for me. Here we are, on the last Friday of the month, meeting to share our runfessions. I'm always grateful to Marcia for opening the runfessional every month and letting us cleanse our soles and our souls. As usual, I have a few things to share.
Can I just kick it off by runfessing how much I love these Little Miss and Little Mr memes?
.png "Little Miss Runfesstions cover")
This knee injury is so not my fault.
I blame the tree root that tripped me up a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the pain is getting worse. On Wednesday (see below), my run was rudely interrupted by searing pain in the base of my left knee, right below the knee cap. As the week went on, the pain lessened but any attempt to run (even to cross a street) made my knee angry again.
On Friday, I saw a PT, who happens to be a friend of mine and she concurred with what Dr. Skiba told me last week. She noted that my kneecap was out of alignment and taped it for me, using McConnell taping. This is a rigid tape as opposed to the stretchier Kinesio tape we runners like to use. I felt immediately better. She also said I could try to run. I'll probably need to keep taping it for a while until the bruise resolves, but she thinks I'll be able to go back to using my Rock Tape.
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| Friday's run |
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On my nightstand is a stack of running books, waiting to be read and reviewed. At the top of the pile was Running in the Midpack, a book I won in a giveaway sometime last year. I guess I haven't been in the mood to read another how-to-be a runner book and so it sat along with the other running advice books that I have yet to read. I was joking about my running TBR pile with Liz, a book blogger and fellow runner from Great Britain. She also had a copy in her TBR and suggested that we do tandem reviews. I strung her along for a few more months and she finally pinned me down. So my request is that after you read this review, you go over to her blog to read hers. She's a full time book reviewer, so her review will be very different from mine!
Throughout all my 30+ years of running, I've always been a middle-of-the-pack runner. In my early running years, I was pretty disappointed by the idea of being in the 'middle'. I'm a perfectionist and as much as I'm loathed to admit it, I always try to bring my best to whatever I do. So being a midpack runner did not fit with my drive to be the best. As an older and more experienced runner, I've grown comfortable with my place in the pack. After all, it's not about competing with others, it's about competing with myself. Right? At least that's what I tell myself.
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Ok, that title should be the start of a joke... do you remember my fall on the trails from a few weeks ago? The one where I thought I broke my finger? Well, the finger ended up being fine, but my knee has been giving me some trouble since then. With a 5k on Sunday that I wasn't planning on DNSing, I finally broke down and taped my knee, following instructions on YouTube. My knee felt so much better! But on Tuesday, when I returned to the pool, I had pain with some of the pool running movements. I contacted our sports medicine department at my work and the athletic trainer was kind enough to schedule me with Dr. Skiba on Thursday. I am happy to report that he doesn't think anything serious is wrong with my knee except for a bone bruise. He did tell me that it could take several months to resolve. But he and his AT approved of my tape job, so I ordered another box of RockTape to prepare myself for some more taping!
I'm really lucky to have access to Dr. Skiba. He was the medical consultant for the Breaking 2 project, which was sponsored by Nike back in 2017. If you haven't seen the documentary, it is well worth a watch. I refer a lot of my patients to Dr. Skiba and I've always wanted to meet him, but obviously not as a patient! He could not be nicer and more down-to-earth. We talked briefly about that project and he said he really enjoyed working with Eliud and the other two runners. It's pretty exciting having such a well-regarded and knowledgeable sports medicine provider available locally!
Disclaimer: I received a PRC of Carrie Soto is Back from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my review. This post contains affiliate links.
I don't normally have a 'theme' for my monthly reads, but reflecting on the books I read in June, I'd say that each book I read is woman-centric. In fact, each of the books has a strong woman (or 2 or 3) as the main character. I'm happy to see such strong representation, in light of what has happened in the US over the past couple of weeks!
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| Thursday's Strength Session |
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Let's catch up over coffee! What are you having? Today I'm having a local roast, Granville, from Metropolis Coffee. We used to live on Granville when we lived in Chicago, so I just couldn't pass this one up! I learned that Metropolis has opened a cafe in Edgewater, right down the street from our old apartment building. Such good memories and every time I have a cup of this delicious blend, it takes me back. What a great neighborhood!
Anyway, I've got my usual GLG collagen and a splash of half and half to make everything just right!
So what would you tell me over coffee?
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| I was doing such a good job of avoiding all the tree roots, too! |
It's that time of the month again, that time we all wait for...it's time to Runfess! Do you runfess? On the last Friday of every month, Marcia opens up the Runfessional so we can cleanse our soles. And our souls. Quite often it's both. As always, I have plenty to runfess, so let's get to it...
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About 10 years ago, I was finishing up a yoga class, talking about running with one of the other participants. Another woman came up to us and joined in the conversation. She turned to me and told me that I should enjoy running now because, after menopause, I wouldn't be able to run anymore. I didn't hear the rest of what she said because I was so stunned at this declaration. I looked at her as she spoke and realized that she was exactly what I didn't want to become in my older years. I was still feeling great. I couldn't imagine that happening to me. I vowed that it wouldn't.
For sure, in my mid-50s, there was a period of time when I really struggled with my endurance. Fortunately, my strength workouts never suffered. I adjusted my expectations, cutting back running to 3 days per week and adding run/walk intervals into my runs to help me complete those long distances. I continued strength training and added a day of CrossFit to my weekly regimen. I also began to adjust my diet, finding that more protein and fewer refined carbs gave me more endurance and stable blood sugars. After a few years, things settled down for me and to this day, I continue to enjoy running the way I did prior to menopause. Albeit, a little bit slower.
A friend sent me a copy of Dr. Stacy Sims' new book, Next Level. Sims is an exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist who studies female athletes and performance. Next Level is geared to woman experiencing perimenopause and menopause. It's an amazing read--empowering and oh so helpful. I feel as if I have found my new training bible.
The heat was on this week! We broke long-standing records for high temperatures. We also had a crazy bad thunderstorm on Monday. The tornado warning sirens went off 4 times. Thankfully not much damage happened and we didn't lose power. It's been a wild weather ride this year, hasn't it?
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| Wednesday's steamy run |
I really felt out of sorts this week for all kinds of reasons. The weather was pretty blah--lots of rain and cool, cloudy conditions. I've had to switch up my workout schedule for the summer, which isn't a big deal but made me feel like a rigid old person who can't roll with the changes. And oh, my job...it was a tough week on top of a string of tough weeks. Let's just say that I'm underpaid and overworked and leave it at that. I'm so close to retirement but I'm not ready to leave just yet...we shall see how things go. At this point in my life, I'm not sure I want to start something new. Trying to focus on the good and leave the day behind me when I walk out the door.
Speaking of good, the hubs and I saw Top Gun Maverick on the IMAX this week and it left me breathless! When have you ever seen a sequel that is better than the original? And 36 years later? I know technology has improved but Tom Cruise was as good as he's ever been. He also looked like he was having a great time throughout the movie. Oh and he looked good, too! I want to see it again. And if you haven't, you need to!
Let's catch up over coffee! What are you having? I've got my usual Dunkin' with a scoop of GLG collagen and a splash of half and half. We tried to buy some Colectivo last weekend in Madison but the line was too long. Sigh...
What would you tell me over coffee?
