Monday, March 7, 2022

Weekly Round Up: No News is No News

 


A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  In this week's edition there's no news on my job search and I'm ramping up the running again.

Well, I may not have an update on the job search situation but I do have a ton to say about it...look for a separate post in the next few days.

Food

Nothing new or notable.  Hubs cooked chicken parm for dinner one night;-)

I made us salmon bowls the next night (dressing from here but without the wasbi, air fried from frozen salmon, Costco stir fry veggies, rice, avocado, and sesame seeds and wonton for toppings.


And a round of chicken fajitas for Sunday dinner.

Workouts

I haven't said very much about running for a while, so hold on to your hats because that's about to change drastically.  This was the first week with a long run of more than 10k and my highest mileage week of 2022 so far @ 25.75 miles.

Monday: 4 miles treadmill

Tuesday: 3 miles treadmill

Thursday: don't fall asleep on me...3 miles treadmill

Friday: I was determined to get outside no matter what.  The temperature was under 20, which is colder than I will usually run outdoors in, but everything else was right: low wind, bright sunshine, and ice free roads.  The air was a touch harsh and I felt sluggish in the first mile, but my runner's spirit kicked up and I went all in.  I didn't have a plan other than to keep running faster, so I did 4 miles of negative splits, a cool down mile to get home at a very slow and relaxed pace, and then another quarter mile fast just to show off.  5.25 miles total.

Saturday: 7.25 miles with no weather drama.  I planned a hilly route, but I was much slower than the day before and the further I got the more I was tempted to change it up to avoid my giant hill in mile 3.  But also the further I got I was like I just couldn't look away so I kept going up.

Sunday: first tank top and shorts run of the year!!!  I was not planning to run but it was simply too nice to stay on the couch.  After the first mile my body told me that it did not appreciate running the day after a long run, so duly noted by I got 3.25 very slow miles.

Next week's long run will be 8 miles and we'll see where we go from here.  Fitness continues to run hot and cold...some days it's great and some days it's very meh.  The one thing that I've noticed is that my cadence has gotten lower since last fall.  I'm not sure why but that seems like something that I could figure out.
 
Watching

Still watching and enjoying The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on the treadmill.

For couples TV, the hubs and I gobbled up the entire season Toast of Tinseltown this weekend, which is a new spin off of one of our favorite silly shows, Toast of London.

Reading
 
I started rereading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, mostly because the lead character in The Maid reminded me so much of Eleanor.  My verdict on that is that The Maid steps too close to Eleanor - which isn't to say that The Maid wasn't a good book, but the similarity of the two characters has me raising my eyebrows.  Anyway, it had been long enough that I had forgotten the story of Eleanor and am enjoying the revisit.

Toward the end of the week my library hold on The Nothing Man came in.  I recently heard the author on the Sarah's Bookshelves podcast and even without having read her books it was a great listen.  It was good BUT the whole serial killer specializing in home invasions was freaking me out so I put it aside and went back to Eleanor.  But after seeing Stephany's review this morning I kind of feel like giving it another shot.  Stand by...

Speaking of Podcasts

There's a new season of The Dropout podcast!  (shoutout again to Stephany for bringing this to my attention).  The Dropout is about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, and season 2 covers the trial in an in-depth and not-boring way.

16 comments:

  1. On Saturday it was warm and only slightly drizzling and I should have gone for a run outside, but I did not, so the next time there isn't snow or ice on the ground (it snowed again today), I will remember this post and use it as inspiration to get outside.

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    1. Not to worry, spring really will get here sometime and the outside running will be there for the taking! We're back to snow here as well.

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  2. Well done on your runs, Birchie! 26 miles is a great weekly total.
    Nice working on ramping up on your long runs, too.
    I never pay attention to cadence, good point.

    I'll need to have a look at that Toast of London/Tinseltown. Thanks for the tip.

    Looking forward to your work update!

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    1. Thanks Catrina! Toast is a bit of an acquired taste, but it's one of our favorite couples shows. Anything that Matt Berry does we're down for.

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  3. I love Eleanor Oliphant! I am on the hold list for The Maid, but it will be a long time before I make it to the top of the queue.

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    1. Yes! I loved Eleanor the first time that I read it and I'm enjoying the repeat now. The Maid is a good book, it's just annoying that the characters are so similar.

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  4. I'm on the hold list for The Maid too. I tried reading two different fiction books lately and couldn't get in to either. Miss Benson's Beetle was good, but I am just really a non-fiction girl through and through. I need to stop fighting this and just embrace it?!

    Also looking forward to the work update!

    http://elisabeth-frost.com

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    1. 100% you have my permission to read whatever you want! It might be hard to believe, but there was a time when I hardly ever read fiction. Now I read a chapter or so most nights right before bed. But I'm very picky and if I don't love a book, I'll bail on it without regret.

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  5. Way to get back to the running!

    And your salmon bowl looks super delicious!

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    1. The salmon bowl is a really easy go-to for a quick dinner.

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  6. Very nice week with that mileage! I had similar thoughts to yours on the hill yesterday, only my "couldn't look away" thing was the inconsiderate headwind for almost a full mile. UGH, and it was cold! Thankfully, I was able to change directions (eventually) and the remainder of the run was uneventful.

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    1. I know, there are some days when the challenges are just fascinating. And then there are most other days when it's just like "c'mon isn't it enough that I got out of bed and went running????"

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  7. Ooh! You really ran a lot last week (yes, I'm jealous.) I hope you got more tank top/shorts weather this week!
    I really wish my library hold of The Maid would come in (I've been waiting forever.) I did read Eleanor Oliphant, so now i'm curious about the characters. I'm also torn on The Nothing Man- the premise is fascinating but also creepy. I'll see what you have to say next week!

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    1. I went back to The Nothing Man and I was glad that I did! Yes it was creepy and uncomfortable in places but I have mad respect for what she did with the story. I can't wait to read more of her books.

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  8. Interesting re: Eleanor Oliphant and The Maid. Have not read either, but both were on my list. Now, hmmm... which to read first?
    And sorry the weather was so uncooperative. :P Particularly when you really want to be outside!!

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    1. That's an interesting question! I'd vote for Eleanor first, just because I think it's the better book and of course it's the original. But both books were good so I'd vote for reading both.

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