So let’s talk running. I haven’t talked a lot about running in the past few blog posts, but my running has been going really well. As in… I have never been this fast. A friend and I ran a 15k (~9.3 mile) race last week, and we averaged a 7:45min/mile pace. I typically don’t even run that fast for a 5k, much less a 15k. And it’s crazy how it all seems relatively effortless. I’ve been trying to think what might have changed, and I’ve really only changed one thing since my running started improving so radically over the past few months. I (finally!!) took the advice of a naturopath doctor I went to two years ago who told me that my body had trouble processing B-12, and recommended a special B-12 supplement for people with the MTHFR genetic mutation (which apparently a big percentage of the population, including me, has). Since anemia is also a symptom of B-12 deficiency, maybe this supplement will also stop the on-and-off again anemia I’ve had forever? Regardless, the B complex vitamins affect energy levels strongly, so maybe my body finally has some methylated B-12 at its disposal and has energy to burn? So I’m speculating that the B-12 levels are what’s making the difference in my running.
Regardless, my friend and I had a great race last weekend!!
After the race in front of Lake Union… notice the Space Needle to the right of my head
Oh! And in other super-fun-fitness news, a new fitness studio opened up very near our house, and they offer a wide variety of classes. I was instantly intrigued by the boxing class they offered so I started taking that. Oh. My. Gosh. So much fun!! I literally love it! The hour long class just flies by without me noticing it. The first half of the class is warm-up/conditioning (so things like holding a plank pose, jumping rope, etc). The second half we get on our wrist wraps and gloves and hit heavy bags. HOW HAVE I NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE?? It is absolutely a blast! So now I’m trying to do that Monday evenings and Saturday mornings. I’ve done cardio kickboxing before, but this is actual boxing where they talk about keeping your hands in guard position to avoid getting hit by your opponent and stuff. It’s so much fun, and the instructor is so patient and helpful. I already bought my own wrist wraps and I feel like a ‘real’ boxer of the Simon and Garfunkel variety walking to class carrying them, even though in reality I’m completely a beginner and still forget not to pull my elbow back before going in for an uppercut and forget my footwork as soon as I start doing punching combinations. 🙂
Lest anyone think that I have a corner on the fitness-fun market, Mike faithfully goes to the gym twice a week and lifts very, very heavy weights. I tried to get him to come to boxing with me, but he literally can’t understand the joy of hitting something hard. I get out of work on Monday and can’t wait to get to boxing class where I can pound the living daylights out of a heavy bag, but Mike just doesn’t get that. He wants to go to the gym and deadlift and benchpress 150+ pounds, which sounds like a huge nightmare to me. So each to his own, right? 🙂
Since we’re on a fitness roll, I’ll continue on this theme for another paragraph. 🙂 Now that I’m a registered yoga teacher and a certified personal trainer, I have twice the continuing education credits to rack up every couple of years so that I can renew both. And before you ask… no, you can’t use the same credits for both. That would make life too easy. 🙂 So I’m currently taking a class for renewing the PT certification in Corrective Exercise. It’s a fascinating class and is making me a lot more aware of my own movements and the movements of those around me. I’m literally finding myself riding in the car with Mike and commenting on a jogger running by who has a hip hike and a knee abduction going on that probably indicates a tight IT band and a weak gluteus maximus. Mike patiently puts up with me. 🙂
Speaking of the nice weather (was I??), it has been amazing! The Saturday and Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend were really wet and windy and I got caught in a downpour during my long run. I literally walked in the door soaking wet.
Running in the rain. But with gorgeous purple flowers!
However, starting on Memorial Day the weather has just been wonderful! The weather has been in the high 70’s/low 80’s with just enough of a breeze to keep things cool and keep our house from overheating.
Watching sailboats on Lake Union last week with our neighbors!
While watching sailboats, I got friendly with a couple of ducks…
Piper of course loves the sun, and quite frankly Mike and I are loving it too. We have been grilling at least once a week for the past month… we’ve already grilled our standard favorites multiple times. We’ve grilled lots of corn, potatoes, and kale, and have also done some sweet potatoes and a pepper and onion mix. And for the carnivores among us, we have also done chicken and beef franks and hamburgers. And all of our leftover food always gets eaten! Every last nibble. Yum!! We are definitely enjoying the grill so far this summer!
The first time we grilled franks this summer, I was trying to explain to Mike the trick to making sure they got brown all the way around and Mike just looked at me like I was crazy.
I paused. “Do you already know how to do this?”
“I know how to do everything,” Mike replied, somewhat imperiously. “There are multiple ways to do things and I know them all.”
Well, you can’t get much more of a grill master than that. 😉
So, while our summer is off to a great start, it has been busy! Mike was in California on business part of last week and thought he was going to be gone this week as well but it’s been pushed out so it will be next week instead. So with the unpredictability of his travel it’s really difficult to plan anything. That’s been a little draining for him, and my job has been really busy which has been a little draining for me. I basically got promoted to senior level right when we had a department-wide reorganization and, being one of the few senior engineers in the department, I’m expected to be one of the driving forces in the new organization. Hmm… tall order! 🙂
Basically I think Mike and I are ready for a vacation but haven’t really decided how to handle that since Piper basically needs daily injections. I think a perfect example of where we’re at mentally is when I was making Mike scrambled eggs and toast for dinner tonight. When I cracked the eggs, they seemed thinner-shelled than normal, and I said, “hmm”. Mike instantly picked up on that.
“Is there something wrong with the eggs?”
“No, no,” I assured him. “They’re fine.”
Mike looked at me, kind of tired and 100% not convinced. “Can I have a normal egg? I’m not in the mood to weather a weird egg.”
And that’s where we are at, I think. Totally fine but not in the mood to weather any weird eggs. 🙂
In frivolous, uninteresting news, I got a bright pink workout tank top on sale. I mean really bright pink. Like… almost iridescent. It looked fine online, but… in person it’s a little intense. When I wear it I feel like I’m basically screaming for people to look at me, which I don’t really like. Also, I was doing sit-ups while wearing it, and the towel I had underneath my back turned pink. So basically I now know that I can’t wash it with anything else or it will bleed neon pink over everything. #firstworldproblems! What is the lesson for me to learn here? 😉 Don’t buy workout shirts on sale? At least not sight unseen? Or only buy innocuous colors that can’t bleed over anything? (Incidentally, I’ve tried that, but then I end up with pale grey shirts that I have to worry about everything else bleeding other colors onto. At least the neon pink shirt holds its own… I have no fear that it will turn any other color in the laundry other than that extremely loud boisterous neon pink.
In other frivolous news, I read an article that eating pickles and pickle juice after running helps rebalance sodium levels. Apparently vinegar is also really good for helping lower inflammation in your body after a run. Any excuse to eat pickles and pickle juice, right? Am I right?? Well, Mike doesn’t think so. Mike can’t stand pickles and isn’t a fan of this new trend I’m trying. He claims I smell like pickles the rest of the day. One day I came home from boxing and ate some pickles and Mike, always creative in coming up with less-than-flattering nicknames, pronounced me a “boxing pickle-nose”. So that’s my current nickname around the house. Lucky me. I still don’t have as many nicknames as Piper though. I literally couldn’t count all of them. I think the only reason Piper hasn’t learned the entire English language is because she’s kept busy just keeping track of all of the new nicknames we have been giving her over the years.
In other news, one of our rose bushes died over the winter, so a month ago Mike put in a new one.
Can you guess which one Mike put in? If you guessed the super thriving looking white one, you are RIGHT!
One more thing this guy can do… grow roses…
Already Wednesday evening… on to the weekend! Mike and I have a cooking class this weekend which should be fun called “Cooking without Recipes”. I think that’s the next step for me in my cooking development… relying less on recipes.
I hope everyone is enjoying the start to the summer!
Puget Sound from my office building… gorgeous!
rainydayrunner 