Reading List

 I just noticed that I got a comment from Kelly at Kelly's World about what other bloggers I read.  Sadly, many of my favorites have stopped blogging.  I think blogging quit being popular so some people stopped.  But to answer her question I'll make a list of some of them.

Stained Glass Butterfly

Believing in Myself

Life, Art, and Chocolate - I love her, but she doesn't post very much anymore.

of course Runs for Cookies

Shut up and Run was one of my most favorites, but she hasn't posted in FOREVER but I do follow her on instagram.

Firefly: Adventures of an accidental firefighter

Inside the Mountain's Skin

The last two talk more about hiking, which is something I want to do, but don't, so I live through their posts.  

Those are the ones that I read most, well, and Kelly's World, which is linked in the first paragraph.  I have others I follow, but they rarely post, or not at all anymore (like Life, Art, and Chocolate and Shut up and Run).  

When I used to have more time I'd actively look for new blogs when ones I read quit posting, but now I barely have time to keep up with the 6 regular posters and the other occasional ones I currently follow.  A long time ago, I'd get so wrapped up in the blog, I would go back to the beginning and read the whole thing.  (I'm pretty sure I've read all of Katie [Runs for Cookies] and MaryFran [Believing in Myself] that they have currently posted).  One person I read for a long time, we started running and blogging at the same time, we actually commented on each other's twitter (not that I twitter much) and instagram posts a lot and I felt we were sorta friends, but she disappeared a few years ago.  All of her social media stuff is gone, all of it.  I think she got harrassed some, and one of her last posts was about her husband asking for a divorce. I search for her every so often, but never find her.  

I found blogs extremely helpful to me when I first started running.  I surrounded my reading time with new runners (and old, like Katie at Runs for Cookies).  I connected with a lot of them, and would find new blogs.  I rarely comment, but I always felt like they were friends (even though they had no idea who I was) so as they started dropping away from blogging, I was sad to lose my "friends."  

MaryFran, Katie, Kelly, Stained Glass Butterfly (I don't know her real name, she's private) they are my friends.  About once a month or maybe a few times a month, I spend time with them and catch up.  They have no idea who I am (well, they do, I think everyone except Katie follows back) but I love reading about their lives and adventures, and if they talk about running, yay, if not, that's okay.  I have a couple new friends, but I'm just getting to know them.  We'll see if they stick around long enough for me to form a connection.*  

*Disclaimer: I am not crazy and I use "friend" facetiously, I know they are not friends, but I do enjoy reading their blogs.

900 days in a row (well, a week ago)

Things I should be doing instead of writing here . . . 

School, most importantly, I should be working on my school assignment for this week.  It is due on Wednesday, but my Wednesdays are really busy and I have a hair appt in the evening, so it needs to be done before Wednesday this week.  

Running, I need to go for a run.

Working.

I am working on losing the weight that I've gained in the last year, as you know.  I was pretty successful throughout January and February, but I faltered in March.  I did intermittent fasting a few years ago (or was it last year?) and it went okay, but I didn't like that I couldn't have my coffee until 10am, and it was into the summer and I wanted to eat before I ran, and I was running earlier because the summer gets warm so I stopped.  I was only doing 14 hours of fasting at that time. 

I decided to try it again after my failed March.  March wasn't a complete failure, I didn't really gain any weight, just quit losing, I did fluctuate a lot though and at some points did gain.  I only have one month until we go to Hawaii, and I am not happy with where I might be.  If I want to be where I want to be, I will have to lose 9 lbs, and that's not going to happen.  I've lost 6.5lbs since the beginning of January, which is amazing, but I wish it was more.  Even the 4lbs I have to lose to be almost happy, is probably a stretch for 38 days.  

I am doing the intermittent fasting a little different this time.  I am allowing myself to have a cup of coffee in the morning.  Coffee itself isn't against intermittent fasting rules, it's the creamer that I put in it that is.  I have been very careful about measuring my creamer for years, but it's still 90 calories (2tbsp coffeemate creamer and 1 tbsp half and half) that I'm not technically supposed to be having.  I started drinking tea, I have never liked tea, but decided to try to find something I like, and found one brand, Sweet and Spicy original tea, and I put a splash of half & half in it, but I miss my coffee, so I am not doing that as much even though the calories are much less.  

I figure that my goal for intermittent fasting is weight loss, not anything else.  So I use it more as a way to control my eating, especially my evening snacking/wine drinking.  I stop at 8pm and start at 11am (it's currently 10:20am and I'm starving).  This means that I'm mostly skipping breakfast, and stopping my snacking at night.  This is good because since the pandemic and working from home, I started staying up later, and that meant more evening hours to snack and drink.  Now I'm back to going to bed a little earlier so that I'm not tempted to get "one more glass of wine" or a snack (or both).

I am also doing 15 hours (16 is just soooo long), and I'm running before eating most days.  The running before eating is hard.  My runs have felt like I'm slogging most of the time.  I feel so slow, and the hills I've been running for years feel really hard.  But I'm still doing it.

It has helped my April.  I lost 2.5 lbs in April.  I suppose when you say it that way, it's huge.  I don't ever recall losing 2 lbs in one month. I am not very big, and I know that the smaller you are, the lower the weight lose numbers usually are, so I should be thrilled with my 2.5lbs gone (and I have a week left).  - I just looked through my "Scale Obsession" page, and I lost 2.5 lbs or more several times, but I still think it's hard and an accomplishment, especially now at age 44.

Speaking of running, a week ago on Sunday I hit a milestone.  900 days of running at least a mile.  I decided to try to write "900" and hope I got the "9" right, unlike my failed "365" that ended up "E65."  I can't tell you how many times I wrote "9" in the air with my finger to make sure I had the right direction.  😂

It was a beautiful day to hit 900 days.  The whole weekend was nice.  

I decided to try a different neighborhood than my "E65" run because I was hoping for a flatter route.  I was wrong, I probably ended up with a steeper hill, but the roads were closer together, so the uphill wasn't as long.  I'm not to the point where I could run 9 miles, so I didn't attempt it.  6 miles is my longest run in almost 9 months, so I just did 5 for this run.  

I do miss the longer runs, I think.  I should work on going higher, just to see if I want to.  But everytime I get going on Sunday I just don't feel like it.  I think I like the numbers on the paper, better than the actual running of them.  Although, I do like the feeling of accomplishment.  Maybe I'll work on it as the weather gets nicer, that's when I really enjoy the longer runs.  Running in the rain and wind isn't very fun.  

Well, I have 15 min before I can eat, and I do need to work on my "portfolio" for school.  (Who's ever heard of a portfolio for a counselor??) 

Long weekend

 Last week was Spring Break for Maddox and also my nephew in eastern WA.  It's pretty rare that they have spring break at the same time, Damian and my older nephew never did, back then I always tried to take the week off and do something with him, but as Damian got older I quit, and never started back up with Maddox.  Anyway, my dad and sister, Tami, took a 5 day weekend (Wed-Sun) and went to Long Beach.  I decided to crash their party and went over on Thursday.  I had my nephew in my room for the whole trip (which was fine because my aunt also decided to join them but didn't get her own room and stayed with them in their very small condo). 

I felt like I needed some time away.  I don't know if this trip was that time away, but it was fun to go.  We didn't do a lot, there's not a lot to do in Long Beach (I'm talking Long Beach, WA, a small town on the coast of WA, not Long Beach, CA).  

One thing about the ocean beaches in WA is that you can drive on them.  I grew up going to the Oregon coast (I grew up in WA, but my parents always went camping in Oregon . . . they do have better state parks) where driving on the beach is not allowed.  I see the benefits for people like my Dad who loves the ocean but can't really walk to the beach, or hang out in the windy, cool air for long, but I think the cars on the beach really ruin the experience.  You're always having to look out for the cars, and (at least at Long Beach) there's no where that doesn't have a bunch of cars with people.  Plus, the beach is full of tire tracks, and frankly, I just don't like it.  

You can't build a sand castle because the cars drive on the best sand, the sand that is slightly wet, because it is packed enough that the cars don't get stuck.  I honestly don't understand it, and think it's dangerous.  I'd rather ocean watch instead of car watch.  

Anyway, here are some pictures.  😊

I love this running picture! 

Maddox couldn't wait to get a kite and then fly it.

My nephew also got a kite, probably only because Maddox got one.  😂

Maddox insisted on walking next to the water even though the tide was coming in and it was quite muddy.

AJ didn't want anything to do with the muddy sand.

This week is supposed to be high 60s into 70s, so I'm excited for the warm weather.  I hope you all are doing good.