Day 60

I walked this morning and saw some lovely flowers. My legs felt a little heavy and my head hurt a little bit but it was pretty and I was getting it done. 

I listened to a lively World Cup podcast. Germany out Japan out. Most of the teams I’m cheering for are now out. 

Ha

Shame about Japan. 

I watched some triathlon videos today and wound up on a bike in the evening rewatching my favorite one. 

If you’d like to see a beautiful and crazy race check this out. 

I argued with my Shakespearean cookbook tonight. I maintain that you do not need to put nutmeg into everything and that a tansy sounds unpleasant. 

I drank 75 + oz today plus a coffee.

Day 59

 Day 59 was a Monday. This was actually good news for me because I was well rested and had all my gear cleaned and ready to hand. Often by Friday the week has fried me enough that I’m scrambling, but not this morning. 

Today I did the first one here. That took me up and down my add on route and up and down some hills. 

I finished feeling ok and completely out of water. 

I finally found the speed/effort record. I like this one and wondered where it was buried. 

I accidentally hit it last time but now I know where it is and I can include it with my metrics. 

Green is run. 

My coolest nature encounter of the morning was this owl that I originally thought was a hawk. 

My evening workout was a bike ride. 

I am particularly proud of myself for biking all the way back up the hill to the driveway after going back and forth on the flats for awhile. 

I read about a few Shakespearean era cookbooks that I’ve added to my Amazon cart. 

They look interesting and maybe useful for our Shakespeare blog. 

I drank about 77 oz of water plus a coffee and a kombucha. 

Day 58

Today I decided to work on another of my weak areas. 

I’ve had rotator cuff problems in the past and now when trying to do pushups or pull ups I feel a pop and some pain in my shoulders. 

So when we went to the gym I did a whole shoulder stability routine. This rope pull thing was my favorite part by far. 

It wasn’t until late at night that I got to my 2nd work out. 

Woo Pilates!

I read about Queen Elizabeth not loving having people watch her eat and King James loving it and being super social at table. 

Figures. 

I had about 72 oz of water plus a great orange cappuccino my husband made me and a pineapple juice and chili oil mocktail.

 

Day 57

It was raining when I left the house this morning. I remembered my rain coat and a slice of banana bread and a pack of sesame sticks and water. 

The car was nearly out of gas which kept me on edge. 

I drove up to Thurmont and found the group stretching in a parking lot. 

The rain stopped. 

Our coach (group B) never showed up but we headed out together with hope in our hearts. 

I forgot to start my watch when I started and stop it when I stopped. I got this nice recording of my drive out of the park afterwards. 😆 

I went back and deleted the whole workout then manually added in the time and distance. 

The park was quite nice and I chatted with some ladies about our gardens and kids and paces. 

That was nice. I was feeling cramps and tired when I started but it lightened up a lot once we got going. 

Today was Frederick Pride and we went down to the festivities. 

My head started hurting but we walked around for about 2 hours. 

In the car on the way back I was telling my husband that I was not looking forward to another workout after all that walking. He said that was a workout. 

So I checked my steps and discovered that indeed it was another 6000. 

So I spent the whole rest of the day on the couch resting. My head hurt but not terribly and the rest was super helpful. 

I took some ibuprofen and calcium and watched Tony Jaa avenge his elephant. 

I drank 77 oz of water plus a big oj and a hot chocolate with no sugar. 

I read about rabbit and gooseberries and started in htable settings. 

The rabbit section was an eye opener!

Look at this:

Day 56

Today a bunch of people were out running and walking their dogs and being out in nature generally. 

It looked but happily did not feel like proper summer. 

I got to feeling pretty rough by the afternoon, with back pain and bad cramps so I took some ibuprofen and calcium and as soon as they kicked in went for another long walk. 

I added a mile to the distance and got home in time to make dinner and then sit and NOT. 

At bare minimum I got my steps in. 

I read mostly through another feast menu that had a lemon cucumber salad I might try and a description of salad as both appetite producing and hangover preventing. 

I drank around 64 oz of water but a ton of oj. I went to Wegmans and got the Sumo citrus juice I think I had almost 20 oz of that plus a coffee in the morning. 

Period has fully begun and it’s kicking me around a bit. 

Day 55

I am delighted to say that my 2am trip to the medicine cabinet for my migraine pills resulted in a much better morning than I’d anticipated. 

I took a mile and a half recovery walk and enjoyed the nature. 

We are entering the week of bad now. My period should start tomorrow and I will probably be fighting headaches and anemia and all that jazz for a bit. But just now I’m ok and that’s good enough for me. 

I listened to a World Cup podcast. Smelled the skunk down by the creek. 

My evening workout was biking at the gym. My son went with me and we both tried new courses. His Wa in a spaceship and mine was in Egypt. 

I drank ok today. Not as much water but a coffee and a 16 oz smoothie and 68oz of water. 

I learned in my reading both that the English of the late 1500s often skipped breakfast as it was considered by some to be unhealthy, and that a standard dinner in a big house had 20 plus dishes per course!

And even a small 2 course meal always had a custard and a tart. 

Day 54

 I went swimming this morning. I also did a few laps of water walking. Today I tried using goggles and a swim cap. I’ve never used a swim cap and was hoping to keep water out of my ears. That worked ok. I need to adjust. The goggles were great. I’m working on getting my breathing right. I did 300 yards. 

It’s Wednesday and Wednesday is a group run day. Our usual group coach was out and my group (B for badass apparently) missed her. Our substitute coach took off fast and lost us all by halfway. We were spaced out so far that she had to come running back and try to find the stragglers. 

Nevertheless we ran in neighborhoods and along crowded streets. 

My time is longer than it should be because at the end of the run I went straight into the store for a cold drink. 

And while standing in line looked down at my watch. It was asking me if I was done working out. 

I got a headache either from the heat or from the fact that I’m a few days off of my period. 

I went home drinking the whole way. 

I had about 77 oz of water plus a coffee plus a kombucha. 

I read a number of vegetarian friendly Shakespearean recipes. They put sugar and eggs in every single thing. 

My gracious. 

Day 53

This morning I got up extra early to walk as my husband had to be at a medical thing by 7:15. 

It was dark and drippy. 

Then this evening I went to the pool for some water walking and laps. 

I took it easy on myself with the laps. I added 50 yards but I only did strokes where my head was above the water. 

I read the rest of the kitchen equipment chapter and got into a very pork heavy feast menu. Meh

Today I drank a tea and 74 oz of water. 

I’m tired and my back almost seized up on me today at work. 

I took some magnesium so I’m hoping I’ll sleep better. 

 

Day 52

 Day 52 started out with a run. I did 4x 4 min with 2 min recovery walks. This took me finally over the 2 mile mark which made me pretty happy.

I was also happy to be back in the woods as the Good Lord intended. 

Happy but also hot and tired. 

I was tired and there were rolling storms in the evening so I didn’t go back out once I got home. 

I did Pilates and my neck, spine, shoulders, and hip all cracked and popped. 

I guess Pilates was overdue. 

I watched some beautiful running videos after, to relax and be inspired. 

I read about Tudor kitchen equipment and drank 85 oz water plus a cup of coffee today. 

Day 51

It’s Father’s Day today so we went out for a fun golf brunch. 

When we got home it was around 1 and 87 so hot ish. 

I’m super sore from my fall yesterday. Surprisingly it’s mostly my shoulder and back that ache. My hands are cut up but I’d expected that. 

I went for a hike and felt a bit better after the movement.

For the next workout we went to the gym. 

Some of that was a little much for my shoulder. 

 It was still fun going to work out with my husband. 

Although it is folly to follow that man. 

I think I’m lifting like 1/8th of what he’s doing. 

 I read a number of Shakespeare salads and fruit dishes tonight and pondered the applicability and availability of ambergris for stewing apples. 

I drank about 74 oz of water and a nonalcoholic mojito with no or nearly no sugar today. 

Day 50

This morning I got up what felt like very early(because I didn’t get a ton of sleep) to do the Saturday group run.

It was supposed to be 1.4 miles but we went out faster than expected and we wound up doing 2.38 by my tracker.

I’m so not used to running on pavement that my knees felt a little stocky in the first interval and I straight up tripped on a crack in the sidewalk later and skinned my knees and shoulder and my hands. 

I’m a little worried about my pinky but I think it’s just bruised. It’s got full range of motion but it hurts.

Like a gazelle. 

So embarrassing!

On the other had I did it. 

I was pretty beat up mentally and physically and after a long shower I went to bed. I slept for about 3 hours. 

Then we went out for another World Cup bar. 

This time we went to an Irish place in Sliver Spring. 

For my afternoon workout I took my husband on a not terribly nature rich hike. 

We found a Mount Airy rock and chatted. 

On the way back we hit that beautiful golden hour of light. 

My reading landed me on a Shakespearean era recipe that I very much want to try. It’s a cauliflower with nutmeg and cream thing. 

I drank about 85 oz of water and felt thirsty anyway. 

I also had an excellent tea at the Irish place. 

Day 49

 It is Juneteenth and we have the day off. I therefore slept in and didn’t get out onto the trails until 8 something or other. 

My charming husband joined me much to my delight and we talked about our weeks (stressful) and our ambitions for the long weekend (optimistic) and the World Cup (woo!). 

I got to drinking water very quickly and think it’s going to be a good day for volume. 

We had a fun day going to a sports bar to cheer at the US v Aus and then we worked on projects. 

I worked on making a lid for our cold plunge. 

I had bardic and preformed a song in the theme of fairy. 

Then left after the first half to get home and do Pilates and reading before it got any later. 

I drank 82 plus oz water plus a green tea and most of a elderflower tea. 

I read all about Ale and the horror of beer and especially the adulterating hops. 

Day 48

This morning it was raining and storming. I went to the gym and did the bike and the rowing machine. 

I tried a new rowing game that was ridiculous. 

When I got home from work I went for my usual round in the woods but had good company. 

It was weirdly windy but that kept the heat down. 

I drank about 77 oz water plus 2 coffees. 

In my book there were a number of vegetarian or highly adaptable recipes (onion soup and spinach bread or sourdough). 

Day 47

 Because it’s Wednesday I did not run in the morning. 

Because today is the first day of summer break I did not even get out of bed till nearly 7. 

Ah the luxury!

I went to the gym and went swimming this morning. All lanes were in use and some even had 2 folks. 

I reserved a lane in the 6-7ft depth and had to displace a lady 🙁

I am working on my crawl stroke (slowly!) and give myself a good deal of time in the water before starting them. This morning I decided to watch the other swimmers and just go slow. On the out lap that worked ok. On the back lap I aspirated some water and spend most of the rest of the morning coughing. 

/facepalm. 

It was nice to give my feet a break and feel super fresh from the water. I will swim more. 

Today was the group run day. 

I told Meg she should stay home until her knee looks better but I dutifully went after work. 

I had a great time. Luckily some cloud cover moved in just as we got going. 

It was plenty hot but there was the breeze on an incoming storm the whole time and there as wonderful. 

I feel like I could absolutely get used to swimming in the morning and possibly get used to running in the evening. 

Really I just want to do it all in the morning. 

It’s possible that when this is over I will alternate mornings between swimming and running. 

I could build myself a little triathlon training plan with those two. 

lol

I’m nothing but ambition with my current runners high.

Today I read mostly about wine and I drank a fair bit of water. Aprox 85 oz probably a little more. 

Day 46

I often say good morning to the horses when I pass them. 

This morning one of the gray mares looked up at me when I said hello and walked over. 

She stuck her head through the fence and I got to start my day feeling the velvet of horse muzzle. 

My ever undying horse girl heart rang with joy. 

I thought today I would spice things up with some more videos. 

Behold a beautiful walk in the woods. 

I am taking my husbands wishes for me to lift weights seriously here. 

After celebratory last day of school pizza (dominoes pineapple and ice cream at jimmi cone (none for me)) I went off to the gym dressed in my 90s goth fit and did the circuit room and the bike. 

My daughter is very interested in getting swole. 

It’s not top of my list but I must say I’d be delighted with a pull up or two and some significant improvements in my explosive strength wouldn’t go amiss. 

Overall though I’m most interested in injury prevention and recovery. 

I drank well today. 

I had an oj and about 80 oz of water. 

Most of what I read was about brewing rather than cooking. 

I might try the metheglyn recipe. We’ve done mead before and this is pretty similar. 

Day 45

This morning was cool and bright. I officially switched over to the other 5K training program, which this week will look like this:

I even remembered to go back up the hill with the kitchen trash before the kids got up. 

Happy trash day everybody. 

Because my daughter is doing the training program too once she got home from school, I took her on the same round. 

I got a nice Amazon delivery of fun toe socks to try out. 

They are very colorful. 

I walked and yelled out cues to her every 2 or 3 minutes. 

There she is across the field far far away. 

I was all excited to show her the beautiful woods and relieved that it was less hot. 

She ran with her dad last, and they did pavement which has the advantage of flat but is often in full sun and boring. 

Of course she fell in the gravel and skinned up her knee today. 

Perhaps she will not love the trails as I do. 

Poor girl. 

I read well more than 10 pages and have 3 new Shakespearean recipes I want to try out. 

I drank not so well today. 

A big green tea and somewhere between 70-75 oz because I left my bottle behind twice. 

I was thirsty without it. 

Day 44

 Day 44 started in North Carolina with busy family stuff. I carried my sisters 1 year old grandson around the hotel and wandered the halls behind him as he walked. Then we went to see my grandparents and aunt and uncle. 

Then we drove for 4 plus hours to get home. 

I didn’t work out in the morning either inside or out. 

So as soon as we got home and got a load of laundry down, I headed out the door to get a hike in. 

It was scout 3 o’clock and fairly hot and humid but I did pass 3 mountain bikers. 

I love how shaded this area is. 

I listened to a World Cup podcast and got my steps in. 

My feet hurt and were hot. 

I decided that I would very much like 

to swim. 

So as soon as I got back to my house I grabbed a swim suit and headed to my gym. 

I did 15-20 min of laps and treading water then the same again in the circuit room. 

My husband asked me recently how we were going to get me weight training. 

I’ve got pretty low bone density and it could help that. I’ve decided that he is right and I need to make room for more gym days. 

We shall see. 

I read 1 more pages of dining with Shakespeare. 

Today I drank 72 plus oz of water plus 2 cups of coffee 

I’m also ending my fist week of a slight calorie deficit  we shall see for that as well