For those who follow along with my weekly workouts posts, it will come as no surprise that I’ve been having some hip flexor pain lately. What you may not know is that I had a similar injury two summers ago, in my other hip, and I’ve been thinking about that experience a lot lately as I try to figure out how to rest, recover, prevent further or future damage, and also get back on track with marathon training.
As the temperatures climb and the sun continues to shine, it feels like summer is finally here. It’s felt that way for a few weeks, actually, but there was a moment in May when I doubted it was coming. Now that it has, and I’m at the start of my first summer in a full time job, I’ve been thinking about what it is, other than free time or vacation or a summer internship, that makes the season special. What I realized is that to me, summer is a verb. It’s a state of mind and a way of living, and no matter what I’m doing day to day, I’ll be happy to be summering.
My blog is a wonderful outlet for sharing my running journey and new recipes, but can’t totally reflect my reality. I love running, and I am so excited to be kicking off my five months of training for the New York City Marathon in November. I enjoy creating new allergy free recipes, and only hope that I have time this summer to spend some time experimenting in the kitchen. Yet running and cooking together take only a couple of hours out of my day, and as for the rest of what I’m doing, I’m doing it as Alyssa, not as Renaissance Runner Girl. So where does that leave me and my blog? Right now, it has me thinking about where I personally leave off and the blogger begins, where the two overlap, and what I want the focus of this blog to be.
There are many reasons why I love a Maine vacation. Getting to run along the Atlantic. Goofing off by the Bean Boot. Eating all the delicious food, the burgers and baked goods, special meals out, and ice cream galore. But I think the best part is the feeling of being totally at peace, a feeling I had on our day in Kennebunkport and have had in the past in this place. To me, taking a vacation means truly getting away from everything that weighs you down in daily life, and for some reason, I was able to spend more moments doing just that in Maine than I have been anywhere else.
As I mentioned in my April monthly recap, one of the things I was looking forward to most this May was a trip to Maine. If I’m lucky, you’ll be reading these thoughts on taking a vacation when I’m already en route to my Maine getaway – or maybe even at our destination! I’ve decided that I’m actually going to take a short blogging break while I’m away, because I’d like to use the opportunity to unwind and disconnect not just from work (aka my day job as a lawyer) but also the other “work” that I do in my daily life.
This Sunday, after my runger finally stopped raging and I had not been the nicest person to be around for a few hours in the afternoon, I got to thinking about my relationship to food a year ago, or two or five or ten, as compared to what it currently is. There’s a huge difference between now and then, and I’m grateful for it, but change didn’t happen overnight. It was gradual over time, so that sometimes I’m still surprised when I realize how far I’ve come.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about plans and priorities, not just for organization’s sake but because I have a lot going on this spring and all the plans on the calendar reeled off in quick succession make it scary to think how fast the time will fly by. This weekend was the last for awhile with no major events. I had the happiest day on Saturday even though I wasn’t doing much of anything – running, baking and blogging, a burger and fries and ice cream with my boyfriend. I really need that kind of day once in awhile. I’m looking forward to everything that’s coming, but there is a certain amount of stress that accompanies it all, especially for a natural planner like me.
I’m thinking out loud today about a little phrase I’ve grown to believe in over the past few years. It particularly resonates during this first month of the year, when everyone is so determined to stick to their resolutions, or feeling guilty about already having broken them, or remorseful about having not made any at all. With all of the changes in my life in the past year, some expected and others taking me entirely by surprise, my mantra lately has been that “life happens while you’re making other plans” and even though I’ve since found out that these words I read somewhere years ago aren’t exactly quoted right, they ring true to me.
With all the people out there who are still resolved to stick to strict New Year’s resolutions centered around their eating habits, or those who have thrown in the towel because they slipped up once or twice, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about finding my balance with food.
Eggs, peas, carrots, and mushroom chicken sausage
renaissancerunnergirl 