sidebar | life and training 10.10 – 10.16

Holla at my sister for turning 32 on Friday and not finding any excessive gray hairs!

I realize I haven’t really spoken all that much about my family. Largely, I respect their privacy and don’t think everything needs to be common knowledge: transparency and oversharing are two very different concepts.

My mom, my sister, and I form a cohesive unit. Us three really came together right before my parents divorced – when that actually happened, my sister was in college and I finishing off high school. My sister and I ebbed and flowed in our closeness before I too went to university, and I can’t even identify when we started liking each other again. That sounds a bit harsh, but for a time we didn’t really talk a lot or see one another. My only guess is when my mom had her pacemaker surgery and perhaps both of us grew up in some sense and realized that we needed one another, and to remain a strong family unit.

Now, she lives in Pennsylvania and I’m in Florida, but we text each other stupid and serious shit often and J and I are visiting for a Thanksgiving celebration in mid-November. I should probably think of a belated birthday present to get her by then. My original idea was a plane ticket to fly her home for actual Thanksgiving, but scheduling didn’t work the way we wanted to, so now I have to pick my own brain to figure out something nice. I’ve a few ideas…

That’s a bit of a Karbach lowdown. There’s plenty more, but yeah, my sister is aight. Hope you had a great birthday, bro, if you read this.

Honestly, I’m kind of shocked I haven’t found a gray hair yet with how intense my stress levels have been. Most of it is self-imposed, a combination of feeling behind and being overall impatient with what I perceive to be very slow progress with where I want to be in life. With anxiety, keeping proper perspective is difficult: logic is oft clouded by emotion.

By Sunday this week, I started feeling a bit more settled and caught up. I still blame my recent travels and Hurricane Ian for the discombobulation, and maybe I’m becoming far enough removed that routine feels natural again. I’m quite excited to start prepping for Thanksgiving even though I’m startled by how fast this month is going. And this year, really. I’ve nailed down a few “deadline” dates for content, and have started testing several of my recipes – including one of the mains, which you saw if you’re hanging out with me on Instagram!

Otherwise I had a pretty quiet week. Lots of home time, cozy pants, and candles. We’re supposed to cool down later in the week, including one night with a 52 low! I’m sure I’ve mentioned this prior, but Florida cold is a different breed than the chill of drier climates. 52 will probably feel like 45 or so, especially since I haven’t dealt with it yet this year. Coffee and tea are going to taste especially lovely after a bout outside: the humidity really seeps into your bones, particularly when coupled with the inevitable sweat from running.

While we’re on the topic of hunkering down, find below a few of my favorites for when I need to burrow. Hope you enjoy your week!

Cozy Day Edit

A few essentials when the weather is, your mood is, or both are crummy,

The Fuck We Eating This Week?

Cheesy, savory vegetarian enchiladas…

A hearty winter stew that belongs on your Thanksgiving table…

A savory mushroom breakfast bake…

Creamy, spicy soup…

The best chickpea meatballs imagineable slathered in a white wine gravy…

A molten cookie pie filled with chocolate and spice…

Deez seasoned nuts for snacking…

A Few Things I’m Digging

Sangria…Caramel Pumpkin Sangria might be in my top 5 drinks that I’ve created for FMG. May have enjoyed a bit too much this past weekend…

Candle…Threshold Vanilla Pumpkin stucco candle is definitely my favorite of the collection. Fragrant, warming, and the crackling wick makes the room feel so cozy.

House shoes…Really love wearing my Allbirds Wool Loungers whenever I’m at home. They’re very soft and supportive and give my feet a break from the hard floor.

Yogurt... I know plenty of people shit on flavored yogurts but I enjoy them as an evening snack, and Dannon’s Light n’ Fit Greek Salted Caramel is a new favorite with my cereal and fruit. Just enough of a treat without going overboard.

Shops and Wish List

Fashion

Target…Rolling out all the cozy sweaters now. Bought the crewneck pullover in brown and later the green one as well. Needed a new short sleeve black tee and also took advantage of the 5-for-$20 on the Arden brand underwear. All of the varieties are so soft and cute. Also finally snapped up one of the open layering cardigans after it’s been falling in and out of stock for weeks.

Kitchen & Dining

Eden & Ash…This brand has popped up more than once on my IG feed and their Stockholm matte flatware was just what I sought to refresh my tablescape and prepare for Thanksgiving (yikes). Snagged the dinner spoon and fork, and the dessert spoon.

Anthropologie…Really need a new set of salad tongs so planning to pick up their gold streamlined serving set before my Thanksgiving recipe tests really swing into existence.

Target…I may have mentioned this last week but I wanted a new casserole dish since I’ve liked 0 of the ones I had in the past, so I bought the stoneware baker and so far have really liked it! Feels sturdy and ample size for all of my projects.

Fitness

Tone It Up…I’m a big fan of their protein cookies as midmorning snacks, but since Nuun stopped carrying my beloved pre-workout I decided to buy TIU’s Energy Booster to try. I don’t like most pre-workouts they often contain mega swole pumper tingly shit that I’m not interested in. This one seems to be fairly minimal ingredients-wise and more focused on electrolytes, hydration, and light caffeine (100mg) as opposed to mega swole pumper tingly shit.

Week in Training

Monday, 10.10: 11.09 miles, 11:21 pace

Certainly toastier than it has been, my ass left a big sweat print on the bench I always sit on! Not used to that what with our past couple weeks of lovely weather, so this run felt harder than most of late.

Tuesday, 10.11: 8.03 miles, 10:51 pace

Really overwhelmed, nervous, and stimulated upon wakening. Run helped, but my energy was very off the rest of the day.

Wednesday, 10.12: 10.03 miles, 11:26 pace + 37 minute legs & shoulders

Rough go with a 73 dew point and uncooperative lungs.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 deadlift 120#
• 3 x 10 ea. leaning side raise 15#
• 3 x 12 sumo squat 65#
• 3 x 10 hammer front raise 30#
• 3 x 10 leg press 190#
• 3 x 10 shoulder press 25/20#
• Some core work I didn’t write down

Thursday, 10.13: 9.34 miles, 11:08 pace + 35 minutes chest & tris

Felt much better today despite a big honking blister on my little toe. That shit hurts and it’s in such a weird spot I don’t quite know how it managed to pop up.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 ea. single arm triceps extension 20#
• 3 x 10 leg-up narrow press 25#
• 3 x 10 chest fly 25#
• 3 x 8 press down 41#
• 3 x 10 face pull 49# (not chest or tris but I felt like doing them)
• 3 x 12 ea. oblique bends 40#
• Various core exercises to finish

Friday, 10.14: 3.2 miles, 11:19 pace + 1.61 mile walk (25 minutes)

3.2 miles in honor of my sister’s 32nd birthday! Wasn’t planning to run but decided I was feeling like something short, probably because my routine was a bit thrown from not working Thursday. Ended short of home and walked the rest of the way to get my hour of exercise in for the day!

Saturday, 10.15: 11.06 miles, 11:08 pace + 35 minute legs and other shit

Felt decent, ran into some folks I’ve shared some miles with in the past (I don’t really seek out group runs so I didn’t trot with them this time), though it definitely got warm by the end and I was quite sweaty. Strength training was a mashup of various disorganized exercises, just going off intuition and what I felt like doing.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 bent arm reverse fly 20#
• 3 x 10 goblet diamond squat 60#
• 3 x 10 pullapart 20#
• 3 x 10 ea. cable leg extension 28/32#
• 3 x 15 bridge 50#
• 3 x 10 narrow row 65#
• Core exercises

Sunday, 10.16: 4.12 mile walk (1:05:00)

Total running mileage: 52.7