Fun In July

Whelp.. it’s now the 10th of August. I’m a little behind in my recap of July.. but better late than never.

First I’ll talk about running. July ushered in my return to running from my foot injury. The last time I had run was back in the beginning of May when I ran the Frederick Running Festival 5K and half. Since then, I’ve had to defer/miss 3 races, including one this month that is actually this weekend. Because of those deferments, I am now disqualified from The B3 and King Crab Challenges for 2014. I’m a little sad, but that’s the way it goes when you get injured. At least the two challenge races I missed are allowing me to defer to next year, so I’ll attempt those challenges again in 2015. (For descriptions of these challenges, see my Races and Recaps page HERE)

May and June both had abysmal mileages (just 16 miles for 2 months combined!) So it wasn’t even worth recapping those months. BUT I am so glad to say I am back! Getting back into it was pretty worrisome. I was always listening to my body (sometimes a little too hard) to see if I had any inkling of a lingering or even new injury. My first trip out, I even had pain in the big toe of my OTHER foot.. which worried me, but it did go away in a couple of days. I’ve really been trying hard to take it slow and re-build the strength in my legs and joints. I’m still building, but I feel stronger every workout, and I’m back to pretty much my usual routine for all my workouts.

This is what it looks like when you finish a 4 mile hilly run in July..

In my long runs, I’ve remained consistent in keeping a 4:1 interval. At this point, I’m not sure if I will increase or decrease the interval time, but for now, this works for me. I really want to keep things slow and easy for the Dopey Challenge, and this includes running intervals- even on my smaller distance runs. I’ve been loosely sticking to my schedule, often running a little over my prescribed mileage. But I’m so happy I’ve finally been able to meet back up with my friends, and as they are training for their marathon in October, I have to adjust my mileage a little. This hasn’t been a big issue for me so far, though I am concerned about later in the year when I’m on vacation and/or running races on long run days. I guess I’ll take it as they come.

July running stats

Total miles run in July: 47.88

Total miles run in 2014: 331.42

In other news.. my garden is doing well.We’ve managed to produce zucchini, eggplant (though only 1,) green peppers, large and cherry tomatoes, and cucumber. Last weekend was August, but I managed to make a few yummy treats from out garden goodies.

cucumber and zucchini from the garden

have you ever seen a bigger zucchini?

zucchini chips!

lemon zucchini bread (more on this in a later post)

steamed zucchini with homemade spinach/basil pesto and homegrown tomatoes.. service w/ tilapia and a suddenly salad grain mix

homemade pickles!

my typical lunch.. served with homegrown cherry tomatoes and cucumber 🙂

Yup quite pleased with the veggies!

Other things we had going on in July included finally ordering our wedding picture prints (yeah, I know we’ve been married 10 months already!) We also spent a mini vacation downtown for Independence day and got to visit with the family at my Aunt’s pool.

gorgeous day at the inner harbor!

visiting the National Aquarium

crab!

beautiful evening from Federal Hill

fireworks!

 

family photo in the pool!

My husband’s been getting back into golf- bought himself a whole new set of clubs and a new pair of shoes. (he’s had the same equipment since high school.. 13 years ago!) He’s been getting out more on the course too. He’s not into running as much as I am, so I’m glad he’s taking up his hobby again.

the serious golfer at the range

putting around

I’ve been crazy busy at work- working on both my project (which has expanded to two instruments.. with twice the problems..ugh) and I’m also helping to mentor a student from a local high school magnet program called the Science and Math Academy. My husband is a mentor every ear, but didn’t get a student this year. (Guess no one was interested in the weather?) This is my first time with a student and it’s been interesting so far. Let’s just say, she’s going to be so far ahead when she gets to college in 2015. I can’t help but think about what a wonderful experience this is going to give her. So, it’s a little more demanding on my time, but I like doing it so far.

So what’s going on in August? Nothing crazy. I’m hoping to convince my husband to go to Hershey Park.. but he’s not huge on amusement parks, so not sure if we will “find time” for that. I plan on continuing my training and updating accordingly. I also want to write a post about my new Garmin 220.. as I’m finally using it! I have some recipe reviews to throw out there too that I just haven’t gotten around to doing yet. So there you have it.. I’ll leave you with my pug picture of the day.

pug in a blanket!