running contemplation and vacation

Well, I haven't run since August 1st, and before that was July 25th.  Other than that one 3 mile run on the first, I've had a 3 week hiatus from running.  And let me tell you, I'm actually not missing it that much.  Oh, I get twinges of missing the long run, but again, it's as I'm driving down the freeway and the morning is so pretty and I see that stretch of road I ran 2 years ago.  Is this the end of my running career?  Honestly, I just don't know. 

When was the last run that I finished that I felt great after?  Well, actually, my last long run of 13 miles was pretty great.  And after running 6 miles under 9 min/miles was really great.  But I'm not really itching to get out there and run right now, not like last year with my sprained ankle. 

And to be honest again, my hip still aches sometimes.  It's stiff when I get up from being in one position for a long time, and the other day after a long drive, I tried to sit down "Indian style"  (did you know "Indian style" is no longer a thing, kids now call it "crisscross applesauce") and I couldn't get my leg in the right place, I had to let it stretch out a min before I could actually sit that way.  For the most part it doesn't bother me at all, I don't even notice it.  So I don't know what to do.

Last week not running was actually not hard to do at all.  I wasn't even home.  We went to Deer Lake for the week.  It was a nice, hot week, but very hazy.  There are a lot of wildfires right now, and the smoke from the haze has been awful throughout Washington.  We were a little further north than where I live, and my understanding is that most of the haze is coming from Canada fires, so even though it was hot, it felt cloudy.  We didn't see any stars, and that's normally something we do a lot of, stargazing, while we're there.  The sunsets were basically just a big red ball disappearing into a cloud of haze way above the horizon.  Also, Damian didn't go, he thought it would be too boring, and he didn't take the time off of work.  It was still a very good week though.

I thought about waking up to run this morning, but that didn't happen.  The first day after vacation is probably not the best day to try to drag myself out of bed at 4:30am to run.  I may try this afternoon . . . or tomorrow.  I haven't completely decided yet.

After the last run I did on the 1st, I wore heels and I think that may have caused more discomfort than anything else, so I've also committed to wearing flat shoes, which at the moment is a much harder commitment than not running.  ; )

Last week I did a lot of paddle boarding.  I was usually on the water about 10am for a half hour or longer and then a little "putting around" in the afternoon and then again in the evening for another half hour or longer.  I went up and down the edges of the lake both ways.  The farthest I went was 2 miles, once one way and the next day the other way.  That took me an hour to go 2 miles.  I really enjoyed it, a lot.  But . . . I have a fear of water that I can't see the bottom of . . . and of things touching me in the water.  I grew up swimming in a swimming pool, so lakes freak me out.  I never went very far out, but I know it was way over my head and most of the time I couldn't see what was beneath me.  I would have little moments of nervousness (I was going to say little panic attacks, but it wasn't that severe) thinking about falling in.  I didn't fall in, but often thought it would have been good for me to, to at least see that I would be fine.  I couldn't force myself to jump in though.  Maybe next time.  ; )

Well, I think I will end this post with a photo dump.  Here is my week in photos =)



Maddox was really good on the paddleboard

This was my spot all week when I wasn't in
or on the water.

I discovered I loved this hat.  I didn't get it out till the middle
of our trip, but it was fantastic!

lots of reading happened too



Maddox made friends with the neighbors

I found a turtle one morning under my paddleboard

Chris on the paddleboard

My Mom even tried it, but she couldn't stand up

This was my outfit all week, swimsuit on, coverup
over it while not in the water.

What passed for a sunset through the haze

It really wouldn't have been vacation without
wine on the water.  =)

We saw quite a lot of wildlife this year.  Turkeys while driving there,
a garden snake, a skink (lizard with a blue tail) and this moose.
He's in the tully's in the water.

We watched movies in the evening because there
were no stars.

sitting with my butt in the water on the last day
because it was so hot.

Last sunset of the week.

Oh, and we passed several sunflower fields

They were looking at the bees.

The last night (Saturday) was my mom's birthday and we went
back to their house.  We also got to watch some of the Perseid
Meteor Shower there. The haze was not as bad there.