Running Is My Sweat Therapy

Over the weekend I purchased a dress at Title Nine. The bag my purchase came home in had the following quote:

“Sometimes sweat is the best form of therapy.”

-Samantha Dunn

What a great quote. It is definitely my form of therapy. I love coming home from work, debriefing about my day with Chris, throwing on my running clothes, grabbing whatever book I am currently reading, and revving up the treadmill for a long run. It helps me decompress from my day, relax a bit, mentally jump into the book I am reading, and sweat it all out.

Often I can have a dilemma in my head, and while running I resolve the dilemma in my thought. Or I break down an idea into an actionable plan, and determine what steps to take to make that plan happen. I can be in the middle of my run and have to pause it to make notes because even though I will not even be thinking about the problem a solution will come to me in the midst of sweat dripping out my pores.

I have not always felt that way. I have only been running consistently for the last 5 years. Before that I did not really have an exercise regimen that I followed. Some might say that I am pretty hard-core now. But, I do not care. It is my therapy. It keeps me sane. It allows my mind to process, synthesize, and resolve questions in my thought.

Sweat = therapy.

Have a great holiday weekend, sweat and all!

Charcuterie: Mmm and Nom Nom

Posted by random olio

A few of my co-workers and I were talking about the rise of the term “charcuterie” in restaurants and food carts. Charcuterie: the art of making sausages and other cured, smoked, and preserved meats. I am seeing quite a list of newer places in Portland that have the main focus of charcuterie, bread, and cheese. To name a few: Olympic Provisions, Chop Butchery, Portland Meat Collective, and a new food cart called: Cheese & Crack.

Chris and I have been exploring the world of charcuterie for a while. But, before I tell you about that, can I just tell you for a second that I never announced we were having charcuterie, because I never knew cured and smoked meats with our cheese and crackers was charcuterie! Nor did I not have the slightest idea how to pronounce it. We even had fun (during the work conversation I mentioned above) trying to pronounce it correctly. Maybe I will just call it cheese & crack. Now that I can remember!

last night’s charcuterie with cheese

We often on the weekend relax around plates of different types of cheeses, crackers, charcuterie, and fruit and enjoy the multitude of flavors. What I love about it is that a little actually goes a long way. It is the strong and different flavors that make this meal so amazingly enticing. For me it is also the best of both worlds – salty and sweet. A sliced pear, on top of a slice of smoked gouda on a salty cracker. Mmm and Nom Nom. A perfect way to end a day of exercise, adventures, sun, and play. It is how we often end a full day.

What about you? Do you dabble in charcuterie?

Little Green Monsters

Posted by random olio

Back in February, I posted a blog about Green Smoothies. For the past few years I have started my day with a green smoothie.

Last week a Facebook friend posted a link to a blog about kids and green smoothies. I had to watch the video included in the blog a few times. Specifically I loved watching the little boy and his intense desire to have his green smoothie. He looks like a little gentleman in a toddler’s body. I hope my kids are as enamored with green smoothies as these two precious little ones. You will also want to try the “Green Monster Chocolate Smoothie” recipe posted at the above blog link. We made it yesterday morning and this morning and are enjoying it. It gives us another option to our usual green/fruit smoothie. It consists of spinach, kale, peanut butter, chocolate almond milk, ice, and a banana. (We did not have any kale so we doubled the amount of spinach).

For background click the above link, and here is a direct view of the video:

A note about green smoothies. Buy a Vita-Mix. We literally went through about 10 blenders in a short amount of time (all that eventually died through electrical smoking) and we finally dropped the money for a Vita-Mix. It is worth every penny.

Cheeseburgers and Staples

Posted by random olio

I just finished reading: “It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita” by Heather Armstrong. I could not stop saying: “Chris, Chris, I have to read this to you.” I might have to write about this book a few times because of just how blunt and hilarious Heather writes. Sometimes it is that potty humor that makes her funny, and sometimes it is in that I-relate-that-would-be-me kind of way.

In her book she takes you from trying to conceive, to her pregnancy, to the first 9 months of her baby girl’s life. She talks about her struggles with staying sane (literally) and what moms go through to not lose it. Maybe I can relate more right now because I am thinking so much about motherhood, but if you are a mother, or are thinking about taking that step, or just want a good laugh, then read on.

“An then, in what was one of the most memorable moments of the pregnancy, the ultrasound technician pointed to an unrecognizable shadow on the monitor and said, “See that cheeseburger? That means it’s a girl.” And then he circled her cheeseburger for emphasis. Jon had been holding my hand to give me strength to hold my pee, but right then he let go and cupped his tear-stained face, “You have a very important job,” he said, looking at me with the eyes I had fallen in love with. “You’re going to have to teach our daughter about her cheeseburger.” Page 39

I love this. It just made me smile. The next excerpt I want to share has to do with breast-feeding and what it feels like for a woman to breast feed. Men, yes please keep reading. I think it is worth it for you to know her explanation. Not that you do not respect women for what they have to go through to breast feed a child, but her description I think will take your respect to a new level.

“The only way to describe it to a man is to suggest that he lay out his naked penis on a chopping block, place a manual stapler on the sacred helmet head, and bang it a couple hundred staples. The first two staples might hurt a little, but after that it just becomes numb, right? And by the eighty-eighth staple you’re like, AREN’T YOU FULL YET? But then the comparison really fails because a man doesn’t have two penises, and after stapling the first boob the baby moves again on to the other boob and the happy stapling begins ALL OVER AGAIN.” Page 83

I have more to share, but I think I will save it for another post. The other ideas are more for the soft side of parenting, but I thought I would first start with cheeseburgers and staples. Go. Read. Her. Book.

Running, Vacation, and Turtles

Posted by random olio

Happy Monday! I just got back from a week of vacation and so rolling out of bed this morning was not easy. I had a wonderfully relaxing time. Sleeping, eating, floating on the lake, waterskiing, playing with my niece and nephew, having good conversations with family, meeting new people, time with my hubby, and getting upgraded to First Class on my flight home. All good. All fun. All on vacation. One of the things I loved were my runs while away. I have been thinking about running a 1/2 marathon. Currently I am running 6-8 miles a day. On the treadmill. While reading. It makes me a bit apprehensive when I have no choice but to run outside. What will it be like? Will I be able to handle just listening to music, and not reading while I run? I was happily surprised this time. I never stopped. I never got tired. I ran mostly 7 miles a day, with hills, 90 degree temperatures plus humidity.

view from my run

view from run #2

What made me do it? My Nike+ app. The Nike+ app lets you listen to music while running, tracks your run, and talks to you when you hit each mile marker. I know. I know. It is a simple thing an app can do. I just have never used it. It changed my run. The app told me how fast I was going and how far I had gone and knowing that pushed me to run harder and faster. Last summer without the app, I found I would randomly walk, or feel tired. This time having the ability to compete against myself meant I ran better. Thank you, Nike.

baby turtle run day 1

medium-sized turtle day #6

These are the turtles I found in the middle of the road during my run. On my second loop they were not to be found and no smooshed turtle either, so they had crossed the road unharmed. So grateful for my runs, my view, my music, and my Nike+ app!

Have a great week!