A little of this and a little of that

14. July 2017 · 8 comments · Categories: cross training, injury · Tags: , , , ,

A little of this and a little of that

Hi there.

Happy Friday!

This photo popped up on my Facebook memories page. Baby Duncan! 8 years ago. He was only about 7 months old.baby-duncan

I’ve been home from Block Island now for over a week and trying to stay active without running as the toe slowly heals. I’ve been doing a little of this and a little of that. I made it to yoga 3 times in the last week and am loving it still. I’m working hard to hold that crow for a full 3 breaths. And I really think we all need to spend a few minutes every day inverted. (no pictures 🙁 I tend to shut my phone before I enter the studio.)

I live in a development with a community pool that I hardly ever use. I bought my home 17 years ago this month (I really can’t believe it’s been that long) and for the first 14 years I think I literally went once and only dipped my feet in. Then, in 2014 when my friend Jane talked me into doing that triathalon, I went twice to see if I could swim.

swim skirts are the bomb.

swim skirts are the bomb.

Well, this past week I have already gone twice and am discovering that it doesn’t matter that I’m not really a swimmer, I can stay afloat doing a doggie paddle/breast stroke hybrid and got 10 laps covered my first swim and 16 laps covered yesterday.

I have a silly shorts tan :)

I have a silly shorts tan 🙂

I definitely love to set goals and while I don’t love being out of my comfort zone, it feels great to get my heart rate up. If only the pool were deeper I’d try pool running. But it’s only 4ft 3in deep.

Dear toe: take your time healing. It's ok.

Dear toe: take your time healing. It’s ok.

I’m now 3 sessions into physical therapy and optimistic that this will help me heal faster.physical-therapy

I took my bike out once this week and it wasn’t until 10 minutes in that I realized I never reconnected the front brake after coming back from Block Island (the way the bike went into the bike rack meant removal of front wheel and that required the disconnection of the brake). OOpsie! Good thing I really use the back brake more than the front.biking-brake

I also managed one “power walk” this week. My toe felt really good on Sunday so I walked briskly for 3 miles.

Rocking the "shorts creep"

Rocking the “shorts creep”

And I went on a hike with my hiking group this past Wednesday.

we heard lots of frogs in this bog

we heard lots of frogs in this bog

IMG_1463

Getting ready to hike

Getting ready to hike

I keep fantasizing kayaking. I miss it. I wish I lived on a lake.

So a little yoga, a little swimming, a little walking, a little biking and a little hiking have helped me to Sweat Out the Small Stuff through the week.

Oh and I drove out to Pennsylvania to visit my dear friend Stef. We’ve known each other for 30+ years now! She has a labradoodle too—Bella. It was a great day of catching up.IMG_1430

And Duncan got a haircut!

I never grow weary of his before and after side-by-side photos

I never grow weary of his before and after side-by-side photos

I’m gearing to be back to running in the fall but for now I’ll keep doing a little of this and a little of that 🙂

How was your week?

Related posts:

  1. good news + bad news = just news
  2. injuries are a great opportunity to build mental toughness
  3. A What If, Weekend and PT Update

How to Sweat Out the Small Stuff Block Island Style

08. July 2017 · 8 comments · Categories: cross training, Uncategorized, vacation · Tags: , , , , ,

How to Sweat Out the Small Stuff Block Island Style

I spent 5 days on Block Island. It small island off the coast of Rhode Island. And Mr. SOTSS’s daughter K-Corn (my nickname for her) drew it so accurately here. It kinda looks like a duck.block-island-chalk

We were there to celebrate Mr. SOTSS’s dad’s 70th birthday and the 4th of July.

J-Beans (my nickname for Mr. SOTSS' other daughter) wearing her patriotic blue cat ears.

J-Beans (my nickname for Mr. SOTSS’ other daughter) wearing her patriotic blue cat ears.

The one thing I can say for certain is that there are no bad views anywhere.

adorable houses with flowers and picket fences

adorable houses with flowers and picket fences

There is only beauty out of each and every vista.

Heaven

Heaven

I would go for walks and take in the view only to turn around and see something even more beautiful.

I want to marry these flowers!

I want to marry these flowers!

So I figured since this blog is supposed to be about running and stress relief (and doing any exercise that makes you feel less stress really especially when unable to run) I would design this post to highlight that stuff. More »

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  1. numbers game (or completely useless post)
  2. My goals for the NYC Marathon
  3. good news + bad news = just news

I tried yoga and went back for more

06. May 2017 · 6 comments · Categories: cross training, injury · Tags: , , , , ,

I tried yoga and went back for more

This past Monday I went to a yoga class taught by a former colleague. It was a 60 minute power flow class based on the Baptiste Power Vinyasa style of yoga. After a warm up of stretches there are a series of pose sequences that get more challenging as the class goes on. We do a lot of core work toward the end of class before a nice cool down and savasana (basically laying like a “corpse” and removing all tension from your body for a few solid minutes….I almost fell asleep)

My colorful trio: water bottle, towel and mat.

My colorful trio: water bottle, towel and mat.

The room was warmed to around 80 degrees. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. I was really surprised by a lot.

I tried yoga and went back for more

photo: strenthwithinyoga.com

  1. I knew more poses than I thought (warrior, tree, child’s, downward dog)
  2. I always thought I wouldn’t be able to “sit still” for yoga but this class was perfect for me as we moved fairly quickly through sequences of poses.
  3. It was challenging! I loved hearing the instructor call out ways to get more out of the pose. Pull the belly in or squeeze the knees together, etc etc. I broke a sweat and felt my core working hard.
  4. I immediately found myself thinking of goals. I want to master crow pose. I want to be able to hop to the front of the mat from downward dog. I want to be able to move through the poses continuous without having to rearrange myself on the mat. (You’d be surprised how many times I found myself hanging off the front or side of my mat.)
  5. I was soaked when class was over—partly from the hot room—partly from working so hard.
Sweat Out the Small Stuff: Vinyasa Style!

Sweat Out the Small Stuff: Vinyasa Style!

I went again last night for my second class to see if I would still feel as positive about the class and I did! I’m excited to continue this practice and hope to be able to attend 2 classes a week. There’s something so wonderful about discovering new ways of moving my body and staying fit.

IMG_9626I started hiking every Wednesday with a local hiking group every Wednesday night and immediately became addicted. I hated missing out on the hikes for the 6 weeks my toe was injured. I’m hoping yoga will be a similar addition and help me focus on stretch and strength combined with the mental aspect it brings as well.

Just doing some glute work at home with an audience

Just doing some glute work at home with an audience

So my toe was feeling so good I actually forgot I had ever injured it until yesterday when I guess I started out a little too briskly on my brisk walk, combined with the damp weather i found it achy and sore. But after yoga it felt better and today it seems back to “normal”. I’m assuming this will happen a lot over the next month or so as I completely heal. My other foot, however, is feeling a bit sore and achy from spending so many weeks compensating so I’ve been icing it.

My goal is to try and run just a short distance next week and work my way up to 3 miles by next weekend. I’ll have to see what my body wants but I’m optimistic.

In other news Duncan has been displeased about the rainy weather we’ve hadIMG_9614And after 2 years Mr. SOTSS finally finished renovating his bathroom so for his birthday I framed some photos that i’ve taken over the years all based around a water theme to decorate.

The large photo is from our trip to Lake Louise in Banff, Canada. The small ones are from a sailing trip to Port Jefferson Long Island, Cape May, New Jersey and Lake George in New York

The large photo is from our trip to Lake Louise in Banff, Canada. The small ones are from a sailing trip to Port Jefferson Long Island, Cape May, New Jersey and Lake George in New York

And yesterday my beautiful niece turned 17 and passed her road test!

I miss this....She used to want to hold my hand all the time.

I miss this….She used to want to hold my hand all the time.

And now she's all grown up.

And now she’s all grown up.

It always makes me feel like I’m “growing” or “evolving” as a human when I go through something crappy only to discover something wonderful. From discovering running after feeling stuck in my grief over the loss of my husband, to discovering yoga while on running hiatus. There is ALWAYS something to be grateful for and there is ALWAYS something to bring positivity.

**Thank you to those who have commented here and on my Instagram posts as well with such kind words of encouragement and advice over the last 6 weeks as I’ve been working through this toe injury. It means a lot.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Have you ever tried yoga? Do you like it? Favorite pose?

Currently tree pose for me but I can’t wait to master crow.

 

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  1. What a weekend
  2. Sickness happens
  3. testing out new shoes and a twisted knee in my sleep

My favorite color is October

01. October 2014 · Write a comment · Categories: cross training, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , ,

Hello.

Saw this posted on Facebook today. #absolutely

photo 3

I was planning on running yesterday morning but still have some soreness on the bottom of my foot. It’s almost gone but with a half marathon 12 days from now I decided to err on the side of caution and go to the gym at lunch for a short cross training session of the rowing machine and bike.

So I packed up my gym stuff in this handy dandy 2011 NYC marathon recovery bag. 🙂 swag in action.

photo 1

13 minutes on the rower followed by a killer 20 min on the stair master. I was drenched with sweat. And actually felt good about the decision to cross train.

photo 5

This morning I got up super early to take the doodle to our local park. With me being away for a week and then having a busy long weekend I hadn’t taken him in over 2 weeks. He was so happy to reclaim his territory. And I was happy to see the beginning signs of autumn.

photo 2

pretty soon the green will turn orange and red and yellow

On our way to my favorite place. Gonna lift my leg on everything!

On our way to my favorite place. Gonna lift my leg on everything!

Tomorrow if my foot is ok I am going to try for an 8-10 mile run. If it isn’t ok I’ll wait until the weekend. Last chance long run opportunity before the Staten Island half marathon. I’m not really worried about finishing. I just want to work on keeping a consistent effort for 2 hours or more. Lately I have been peetering out to quickly. Mostly because I am not accepting that my average pace has slowed since being injured and I start out too fast.

I told you that my favorite month is October because it’s my birthday month AND i love Autumn. But I forgot to share with you another reason it’s an important month to me. It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. First I wanted to give a shout out to my dear friend Nicole!

1456011_10202518000572958_1440111951_n

She’s a survivor! Hard to believe that with a newborn she went through a double mastectomy, chemo and reconstruction all while continuing to work and care for her family. (She owns a pet-sitting company and I met her when Duncan was just a puppy and I was looking for a dog walker.) Her diagnosis really shook me. After my husband died so young from cancer I sort of went through this irrational notion that I paid my dues and nobody close to me would ever be sick again. So when my 36 year old friend was faced with cancer I was knocked back into reality and reminded that I’m not excused from from it. I also wanted to share this link. Meggan is a runner I met last year while on that photo shoot in Charleston, SC for the Dicks Sporting Goods Every Runner Has a Reason campaign. She has been battling breast cancer for 6 years. I didn’t even know it at first. She’s so amazingly strong and brave. I’m wearing my Power in Pink shirt today to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Power in Pink!

Power in Pink!

I’m almost done with my recap of day 2 of Ragnar Napa. It’ll probably be up tonight. Thanks for being patient. =)

 

I’m assuming most of my readership is female (well except for this guy). Are you up to date with your mammos? Do you do self-exams? 

Do you acknowledge any awareness months?

I make a big deal in May for Melanoma Awareness Month as well as this month’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

No related posts.

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