2 1/2 Weeks with No Running

"No soda, coffee or any caffeine for a week. And only a cup of coffee a day after that."

"Boo."

"No running for two and a half weeks." 

"What? Seriously?"

"No running for two and a half weeks."

"I think I'll die."

That was really the conversation that I had with my doctor. She needed to go over it with me several times. "If you don't run for a few weeks, you will be able to for the rest of the summer. If, you don't take the time, you will not be able to run for the summer." And then I would say something about how she was killing me and how could I possibly take that long off, I would really die. 

I went to the doctor because I felt lightheaded and weak. I could stand for maybe twenty minutes. Usually that standing was slightly hunched over (more blood to the brain perhaps). My head hurt at times, my stomach hurt too and was nauseas. At the worst of it, I thought I would pass out. I almost wanted to pass out, because there would be hope that I would feel better when I woke up. There would be an answer to why I felt so bad and I would be on the mend. 

After I made the doctors appointment, my mom asked me if I was okay to drive there. I had not thought of that. It may not have been the brightest idea that I have had, but with the possibility of feeling better a short drive away, I had to go right then rather than taking the time to find a ride. I concentrated really hard and paid attention more than I ever have while driving. I was focused. 

And then I get there and I get diagnosed in three seconds. I don't know if anyone else is like me, but when there is such a quick answer, I am a mixture of thankful that I have an answer and curious about how they know so fast. "Do all of these symptoms match? How do you know that that is what it is?" Amazement, gratefulness, and questions. 

It turns out that even if you drink a lot of water, if you run far in the summer in the South, you gotta drink a lot more water. Dehydration. Not fun. And it took almost a week to feel better. That surprised me. I thought that I would drink a bunch of water, take a nap, and magically be well again. Sadly, that did not happen. I should have known when she gave me a note to be home from work for a few more days. 

Those days were an odd in between. I was lucid enough to not want to watch movies, but not with it enough to think about anything too hard. I had no energy and no concentration. There were emails (or blog posts) that I wanted to write, but nope, I did not have the brain power. I could not cook or bake much because I could not stand that long. And focus too. So I spent those days reading and taking naps and watching a little of the world cup. 

My first day back to work was funny. The first hour was fine. (except a drag to work early with no coffee.) Then the fatigue and dizzy all hit me at once. I was nearly in tears as I told my boss that I was not sure that I was going to make it. He made a joke about how it sounded like I was saying that I was not going to make it past the day, not that I just may need to go home. At that point, I really was not sure. I sunk into my chair (pretty literally). Then a few hours later, suddenly, I felt alright. And the day ended really well. The next day was pretty normal. And on and on. It was amazing! 

Here is your PSA to drink a lot of water and be good about drinking enough when exercising in heat/humidity.  I only have a few more days til I can run again! 

Making Granola

I like to make granola. It tastes good and is handy to have in the house. My first time making granola was before my wedding. Granola seemed like a good idea to have for a brunch. I was very nervous as I cooked those two batches about a week before the ceremony. I was hoping that it would turn out well and not really knowing what I was doing. I got lucky and people liked it!

Fast forward a while to this spring. I stumbled on a recipe from Lindsay Hamby for raw granola. Yum! I got to get out all of my "hippy stuff" as referred to by my husband. The granola had oats, chia seeds, flax seeds, coconut, coconut oil, honey and peanut butter. (Mine was not raw but it was delicious.)

For the granola I used:

1/3 cup of each: peanut butter, coconut oil, and honey

Mix that together.

Then I mixed 2 cups oats with a combined cup of flax seeds, almond slivers, chia seeds and unsweetened coconut. Then probably some more oats. 

Mix everything and enjoy! I kept half of it in the freezer for the time that it took us to consume the other half. 

I have experimented with several different granola recipes in the last year. It is fun to try out different ones, to see what we like and them to try other ones. Thankfully, I have yet to have found a dud. 

The latest granola is adapted from The Whole Tulip. 

Mix:

2 cups oats

1/4 flax seed meal

I think I added some unsweetened coconut flakes too.

Heat:

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup honey

Stir:

1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 tbsp salt to the warm mixture. Then stir everything. 

Bake at 275 for 25-30 minutes spread on a baking sheet with parchment paper. (Make sure it does not burn. Also, check the bottom, I noticed that the bottom side of the granola browned faster.) 

I have no idea how much 1/4 tbsp is of salt, perhaps I should have looked it up. I used shy of a teaspoon thinking that there are three in a tablespoon. (I did just look it up and was correct, 3 teaspoons to a tablespoon.)

Happy Granola-ing!

Keep it real

Running in the heat in North Carolina has taken some getting used to. It is hot and humid. You run and you are sticky pretty instantly. It means that you know you got a good work out, cause there is sweat involved. I read that you should expect to run up to 20 or 30 seconds a mile slower as you adjust to the heat. I am too competitive with myself for that. I have gone on a few runs without my running watch which is a nice change sometimes.

After one particular run, I wanted to post a picture to Facebook of myself. (I don't have the picture anymore or I would have included it.) The funny thing about taking that picture is that I took a few. I wanted to look tired but not dead. Then I posted it to Facebook with the hashtag #keepitreal. It was difficult to post a picture that is not normal me, but it instead, sweaty tired me. That was hard and felt exposed. But then I thought about it for a minute and I looked at the picture and it was staged too. I wanted it to look a bit tired, I had tried to take the picture in that way. So the keep it real picture was really a fake. I took it down. Some people had commented and liked it. I wanted it to be a help and inspiration for people to work hard and not have to look great the whole time, to be real. Hopefully a  few people got that message. I took it down cause I looked tired on purpose. I did not feel completely like that. So a fake in being real. Oh geez!

My Green Thumb

When we were talking about moving and finding an apartment, I got really excited that we were going to have a patio. I was going to research all sorts of plant gardens and vertical or stacked gardening and it was going to be amazing.

Then we moved in. And I discovered that although it is nice to sit on the patio, it is not possible for plants to grow on it because the sunlight does not make it to the inside of the railing. So what do you do?! Hang pots over the side! It's perfect. It is even working out that because the plants are over the side, the rain waters them for me. Green thumb win.

Because were were able to start the plant plan so early this year, we started with seeds. There was a pack of Italian herbs (basil, parsley, thyme, oregano) and a pack of cilantro. I have three hanging pots. The one on the left is basil, the middle is cilantro, and the right is everything else.

We bought the seeds at the beginning of April. (I was really excited about it and did not want to miss out on getting to start from seeds.) Towards the end of April, I planted my pots. A weekish later, I got nervous. There were no plants. So I planted all of the rest of the seeds. :) As it turns out, it may have been too much. But they worked! The seeds worked! After thinning them the first time, I still counted 35 basil plants. Ooops! I thinned the other plants some too. The parsley was threatening to take over the thyme area, so I moved the thyme safely into it's own pot that sits on the railing. It is doing well. All of the plants are doing well!

It is amazing that you plant seeds. And then wait. And wait. And see. When the plants first started coming up, I was worried that maybe they were just weeds that had blown in. I got made fun of a bit for that idea. "ha, weeds that happen to all be the same, and are different in different pots." Nope, I have a green thumb! And planted a patio herb garden. Hooray!

How hard to wait on the seeds though. I wonder if the first rough was a dud or if I just got impatient. Then I planted all of the seeds. (perhaps too many but too many is better than none.) And then I was still nervous and had a plan to go buy plants to plant if they did not come up in a few weeks.

The situation is a fun one and probably a pretty good faith lesson. There are lots of things, happens, growth opportunities, and adventures that are very exciting. And they take a little bit of work upfront. And then there is waiting. It is hard not to jump ahead and worry in seasons of waiting. (waiting on God, circumstances, or new opportunities) Waiting is hard. Not being in control can be hard too. There is nothing that I can do to make sure that the seeds grew, just hope for the best and wait. And wait some more. And then tadah! Jack in the bean stalk style, I have basil galore!

Running Like a Rockstar

About a month ago, I was in Greenville, South Carolina. It was a great place! As a bonus, they have a  path along a river. There used to be railroad tracks but not those are a beautiful path. There is even a huge waterfall. I loved it so much, I even ran two days in a row. On the second day, there was an organized run going on too. It was a smallish, sort of informal run to promote running for members of the police department I think. (I'm not really sure.) What I do know is that there were police officers stationed on the roads each time the path crossed a road. They would kindly stop traffic, and I would run across. It was amazing! Rockstar running for sure.

Sometimes around as I am running by businesses by my house, there are landscapers out mowing and trimming. When I run by, they will stop or point the stream of grass in another direction. I appreciate the gesture so that I am not hit with grass and sticks. At the same time, I feel a little bad for interrupting their work.

This may be the year that I run a marathon. Charlotte has one in November, there are others in the area around that time too. What an exciting idea!

Tough Like a Girl

I have been thinking lately about being strong. I was running up a long hill during the 12th mile of a half marathon a few weeks ago. I did not like the hill, it was tiring, but I kept going at a good pace. I felt strong. 

I am girly. I run with a pink running watch. My favorite running top is pink. I like flowers. I like colors. I like sparkly lip gloss. 

It made me think about feminine strength. Strong does not mean masculine. Being girly and being strong are not mutually exclusive. Also, I said "tough like a girl," not "tough for a girl." It's an important distinction.  One time, someone told me that I drove well "for a girl." What?! I nearly kicked them out of the car. 

Views from the Mountain

There was snow here in North Carolina. The best part about it (comical part?) is how they plow the snow. There are plows, I have seen them. I am sure there are not many. So when it snowed last week, they plowed. The funny part is that they don't get the snow to the side of the road, they just kind of pick a spot. That means that you can be driving down the street and there will be a pile of snow coming up in your lane, no warning, just there. It makes you pay attention for sure. There was a pile of snow in the middle (literally) of the driveway to get out of the shopping complex. I am intrigued.