I'm Smoked

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It's a silly title for this post and I'll probably get all kinds of spam from smoking websites. But let me explain. When he's tired, which is pretty much all of the time, my dad likes to tell everyone how he's 'smoked'. So much so, that it's become an ongoing joke in my family. When someone is tired, we say we are 'smoked'. 

Yep, I'm smoked. 

Not stoked. 

I haven't bounced back from the Blue Springs Trail Race I ran a few weeks ago. I took it easy the week after the race and I don't think I've been pushing myself excessively. My body is telling me something different. If I want running to feel good again, I need to listen to my body and give it a little more rest. You can imagine this isn't making me happy. Let's hope it's not long before I'm feeling light on my feet again.

Mini Book Reviews: May 2024

Disclaimer: I received copies of Wait and Housemates from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

What a great month of reading!!! I didn't expect to read this many books, but May has 31 days and some of these books were unputdownable! 

I often get asked how I pick the books I review here. TBH, I don't always plan what I'm going to read. I have a goal of reading my NetGalley books prior to their publication date, so those are always on my list. If a book I have on hold at the library comes in, that gets added to the pile. But there are also books that land on my radar...maybe it's a fellow book blogger who makes a recommendation, like Leaving or Nuclear War. Fellow running blogger Darlene recommended To the Gorge, and that was a must read. 

As I always say, so many books, so little time! I hope you find something here that you might want to read.

 

What A Week!

I was home this week to work on continuing education. In the past, I would travel to attend an in-person conference, but my CME allowance has been cut substantially. My pediatric nurse practitioner professional organization allows members to attend their annual conference virtually, so I did that, which was a much more affordable option. The conference content didn't disappoint and I was able to obtain over 20 CME hours. I even spent one of the days sitting outside on my deck while watching lectures--it sure beats sitting in a conference hall! I also liked scheduling my sessions around my workouts. 

My week wasn't without some bumps in the road, though. On Sunday, I was scratching an itch behind my ear and felt a sharp pain. I asked my hubs to look at it and he told me it was a pimple. I had him snap a photo and sure enough, I had a tick bite behind my ear. I didn't see a tick in the lesion--hopefully, I dislodged it when I scratched it. Just to be safe, on Monday, I contacted one of my partners at work and asked her to call in an antibiotic for Lyme disease prophylaxis. The area behind my ear hurt for several days and it was a good reminder that I need to apply repellant not only to my arms and legs but also to my neck and behind my ears. And to wear a hat!

On Friday, I drove my parents downtown to Northwestern University Medical Center so my dad could see a neuro-ophthalmologist. A few weeks ago, he woke up in the middle of the night with a sharp pain on the left side of his head. The next morning, he had double vision. I sent him to the ER, where they did a CT scan and an MRI, which showed no pathology. Since he's still been having issues, his local neurologist recommended he see the specialist. The good news is that he said my dad didn't have a stroke and that the double vision should resolve soon. I'm so glad for the positive diagnosis. We were stuck in heavy traffic both in and out of the city, which gave us a lot of time to catch up. It was nice to spend the day with them.

I Can Do Hard Things

I think this is my new mantra. Last weekend's trail race (did you read my recap?) really forced me to dig deep and keep going when I wanted to give up. That strategy came in handy this week when I did the full Murph workout at CrossFit. 

I'm so grateful for what my body lets me do and what my mind pushes me through.

Race Recap: Blue Springs Trail Race

Earlier this spring, I had plans to run 'Run From the Taxman', a trail race on the Lapham Peak segment of the Ice Age Trail. I put the race on my calendar. After seeing a friend's Facebook post about completing the race, I realized that I put the race on the wrong date. Having trained for it, but having to miss it because of my mistake made me so upset. That same friend reached out to me with information on the upcoming Blue Springs Trail Race. Part of the Golden Kettle Race Series, this race offered 3 distances: a short course of 4-ish miles, a mid-course of 6.3-ish miles, and a long course of 13.5-ish miles. 

I immediately signed up for the long course and triple checked the date on my calendar. I hoped that nothing would prevent me from lining up to run this one!

The Make-up Race

It was race week and I was ready! I had some great runs leading up to Saturday but I didn't push myself too hard. I wanted to keep my legs fresh. I did notice an area of concern--my left glute is not firing. I noticed it on Sunday. My right glute was really sore after my run and while I was running, I felt like it was doing all the work. At my race on Saturday, I stumbled way more than I should have--catching my left toe and nearly falling multiple times. I didn't fall, thankfully--that would have been tragic on this trail, as it's really rocky and rooty. But it reinforced that I need to get back to basics with some posterior chain work, focusing on that side.

This week I learned that I received a complimentary entry to the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon from Brooks! The race is November 9. I've always wanted to run this one and November is a good time of year for a long distance race. A couple other teammates will be joining me.  I keep saying I'm done with long distance road racing, but here I go again.  People who've done it say it's a 'fast course'. We'll see about that!

Don't Worry, Run Happy!

The family drama I wrote about last week spilled into this week. I keep wishing it would go away, but I don't think that is going to happen. Thank goodness for running and my workouts. I was able to sweat out a lot of my stress again. We had beautiful weather for most of the week, and I fully enjoyed my trail runs. There's just something about being in nature that makes me so happy!