Posts Tagged ‘running’
« Older Entries |exploring fall on my feet
Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
My writing just isn’t prolific right now. Most of my thoughts remain in my head for the moment, tucked away until later. And that is okay. Instead, I find myself thoroughly exploring Fall.
It is difficult to be working all day long, knowing that the sunlight is getting ahead of you. When I finally get home from work, I have about 15 minutes before the sun has completely gone away, leaving behind the early evening settled in inky darkness. So I dash home and strap on my running shoes and make my way outside. Sometimes I go for a run, and sometimes I go for long, fast-paced walks—at least 3 miles and sometimes closer to 5.
I am actually really loving the rhythm of walking right now. And sometimes Craig joins me.
It’s fun to check out all the houses in the neighborhoods decorated and ready to go for Halloween. Strings of orange lights, decorative ghosts swaying in the breeze hanging from the trees, pumpkins piles on front stoops. Fall is everywhere. I can smell wood stove fires, the scent of cinnamon, and the distinctive taste of the crisp autumn air. The trees rustle in the wind and leaves swirl about my head as they lazily fall from the sky.
Soon it will be raking time; I give it another week or two. But for now, this time is still mine for exploring. And the weekend is finally here, so I can get out of the house and enjoy this breezy, 60°F day in the sunlight. The leaves are putting on a dazzling display.
So Craig and I are off for another long walk, ready for more Fall exploration.
Tags: autumn, exercise, gratitude, mindfulness, running, walking
Posted in Let's Get Physical, The Daily Balance | No Comments »
picking tomatillos
Friday, September 30th, 2011
I cannot believe that today is the last day of September. Wow. I also can’t believe that the garden is still going. I am just now starting to pick tomatillos!
Here is what the tomatillo plant looked like in mid-summer.
And now there are little hanging tomatillo lanterns with a tart green fruit inside.
I have been combing through cookbooks and websites to try to find fun tomatillo recipes. And I think tomorrow I am going to try for a tomatillo chicken stew.
I just think tomatillos are so elegant looking.
So fall is definitely here, but we are still having some fantastic warm temps in the 70s. I have been outside running or walking almost every night for the past 3 weeks. And we’ve also gotten our fair share of rain over the past weeks as well, which has greatly helped with growing grass. And now the tomatillos are ripe and ready to be picked. My own little fall harvest.
The garden is still doing its thing, and I take great comfort in that. It greatly helps with my denial that fall is here and that it is pitch black out by 7 p.m.
For reals.
Tags: autumn, exercise, gardening, gratitude, organic, running, tomatillo
Posted in The Daily Balance, The Growing Season | No Comments »
march has been one ferocious lion
Sunday, March 27th, 2011
The weekend is drawing to a close. It was been quite lovely to relax and recover at home. My back is feeling a lot better. I did cleaning and vacuuming yesterday while Craig attacked the dishes in the sink. I also managed 4 loads of laundry.
I did go running yesterday finally, and had a solid 5K on the treadmill. I didn’t do any serious work in the garden this weekend besides watering my blueberry bushes and seeds. I did pull away the leaf cover here and there to see what else is growing.
Up come the Fire of Love tulips!
These Fire of Love tulips are so cool because the leaves start out this amazing violet red color. And they are striped. As they grow and get more and more sun, the color on the leaves fades. But for now they look so wonderful bursting out of the soil in the front flower garden!
As for the Spring weather, well, it is ridiculously windy and chilly here in southern New Hampshire. The temp reached just 41°F today, but with the wind it felt so much colder. I was so content to just snuggle on the couch watching college basketball.
In Craig’s words: March went in like a lion, gave birth to a little lamb for a day, and then the lion went and ate the lamb.
That about sums it up.
Tags: gardening, running, spring, tulips
Posted in Household Management 101, The Growing Season | No Comments »
sweet sleep, how i love thee
Friday, March 4th, 2011
I know this isn’t rocket science. But… wait for it…
Getting more sleep makes you feel better.
I know, I know. Thank you. It’s astonishing. It’s profound. Genius.
How do I know this to be true? Because like an idiot, I have been depriving myself of sleep for months on end, tricking myself into staying up way later than I should.
Slowly over the course of the last 2 months, I have been working back up to getting the proper amount of sleep. All week long I’ve been averaging 7 hours of sleep a night, and I have just felt really GOOD. Firing on all cylinders.
But along came last night and I messed up. I goofed. I fell asleep after work and slept until midnight. Then I made the mistake of getting up to brush my teeth and get my things ready for work the next day.
I was back to bed about a half hour later, but then I was wide awake. I couldn’t for the life of me fall back asleep. I lay on my left side, I lay on my back, I lay on my right side. I turned over my pillow. I stretched and flexed my legs. Nothing worked.
I did fall asleep eventually, but it was at least a few hours later. And today I am kicking myself for throwing my sleep routine off. I think I only got 4 hours of real sleep in one stretch. So today I am tired.
It is so easy to give into sleep when it’s not “time.” In fact, I made a habit of doing that all last winter. But not this year! Usually when I am feeling tired after work, I force myself to go for a run and I definitely perk up after. Let this be a reminder to stick to that routine instead of doing the whole, “I’ll just curl up on the bed for a few minutes.”
It’s never for just a few minutes.
Tags: alone time, running, winter, winter hibernation
Posted in The Daily Balance | 2 Comments »
seriously icy
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
Happy, happy March to you!!! WE MADE IT! March is here!
You know what this means, right? March means SPRING! For reals.
But it is still very much winter here. I am still in my get up, go to work, come home, go running routine. But now I am so very curious to see how March plays out. Will it stay cold? Will the sidewalks soon be cleared from snow enough that I can start running outside? Will the lion-like winds continue all month? Will it suddenly warm up and *poof* the snow will be gone like it did last year? How long will it take the snow to melt? Will I ever see robins back in our yard? When? When? When?
Yeah, I am pretty much reaching my winter limit here in southern New Hampshire.
It snowed an awful mess of a storm on Friday. I volunteered to shovel the driveway and walkways after work. It was a heavy, wet, slushy snow. And then it snowed again on Sunday, leaving another 6″ of lighter, fluffy snow. I shoveled that, too.
Now it is Wednesday, and I am still sore from all that shoveling. Great workout! While the temps have warmed up to the upper 30s (ooooh! ahhhhh!) during the day, it still gets very cold and windy here at night.
What does all this mean?
ICE. Stupid amounts of thick, slippery ice coating our walkway.
Making it from the kitchen side door to the driveway in one piece has become a sport.
And if I go down, it’s not going to be pretty.
Tags: exercise, running, spring, treadmill, winter
Posted in Let's Get Physical, The Daily Balance | 4 Comments »