sidebar | life and training 10.14 – 10.20

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIBLING.

My old hag of a sister turned 34 on Monday, and while I wasn’t there to terrorize her, I am thankfully able now to carry forth with my trip next week as planned thanks to some good fortune reimbursement for my evacuation to Gainesville. So, delayed terrorization. But terrorization regardless.

Last week was entirely about grounding, getting back into routine, and putting Helene and Milton in the rearview mirror as much as possible. Admittedly, that process is hard – there’s always hovering trauma after a hurricane no matter how quickly the cleanup crews assess and regroup, no matter how many businesses reopen and operations lift back to standard. Most everywhere has power at this point, and folks I talk to have more or less completed the bulk of their cleanup (even though rubble piles remain scattered at the edge of driveways and along the roads). Moods are stabilizing, conversations shifting away from the storms and into Halloween and the holidays and the day-to-day comings and goings of life.

Still, there remain signs of abnormality. The tree on my gym roof still hangs out up there – funny, because on Facebook I saw an advertisement for a rental in my complex, and I wonder how much a fallen tree will divert any potential tenant from signing a lease. Branches are stacked along the medians. Store inventories haven’t quite caught up, so empty shelves still dominate the grocers. Events cancelled (including, I’d imagine, the Enchant village that usually occurs at Tropicana Field) or diverted to other areas.

And, of course, a lingering stress and anxiety amongst most of us. Healing isn’t linear. Hurricane season is unpredictable – we’ve experienced November hurricanes before, and no one will breathe out until the temperatures are consistently cooler and the tropics show no signs of agitation for a few weeks. One of my coworkers and I agreed that we just don’t feel settled yet. I still ask regular customers at my job How did you fare during the storm?, and a few I usually saw haven’t come back, which makes me wonder.

Basically, we’re all looking over our shoulders still, wondering when the next disturbance might swirl up into a catastrophic event. Above all, hoping that it doesn’t.

Considering the gradual regeneration of businesses this week, my schedule was a bit out of whack, but I had some nice little adventures. Two study sessions: one at Shortwave, the other at Oxford Exchange later in the week. I’ve mentally pushed back my exam goal for sometime in November, hopefully before Thanksgiving.

Saturday I decided to take myself on a solo date after I finished a fun cake project (look for the result in the next couple weeks! IT’S SO DAMN CUTE). Wandered first over to Florida Avenue Brewing for a pumpkin beer. They usually serve food there but a) lost most of their inventory after Milton’s power outages and b) were planning to switch over their menu in November anyway, so they opted to just stop food until that swap occurred. Understandable, but I was quite hangry so I basically guzzled down the brew before heading to The C House for lunch. Gorgeous space, lovely menu: I enjoyed the fish tacos and a side of fries. Their selections are more expansive for dinner, but the brunch offerings are pretty varied and the charcuterie boards, from what I saw, are gorgeously presented.

Oh, I did buy a Swiffer on Monday so I could properly mop my house. FUCKING AMAZING. 10/10 would recommend if you hate mopping like I do.

Looking forward to this week, I’m hoping to set some running goals and get a couple races on my calendar. I’m still tossing around St. Pete Runfest for a 10K, and of course have the Turkey Trot on my radar as well. I think doing so will aid in the re-stabilization process post-hurricanes.

This week I also hope to shoot my Thanksgiving tablescape for you guys! Last year I kinda copped out on my menu/guide but I really want to put forth more effort this year to offer some tips and aesthetic inspiration for your own tables. I’m working pretty hard to create a nice menu, including the recipe I’m testing today. Fingers crossed it all goes well.

Have a wonderful week, beautiful people. Here’s a couple funnies to get you smiling a little on this Monday.

The Fuck We Cooking This Week?

…A cozy, rich seafood Thanksgiving main.

…Spooky Halloween cookies.

…An INSANE Thanksgiving pie.

A Few Things I’m Digging

Soup Sundays…Aside from the hurricane weeks, I’ve been visiting my mom most Sundays to make soup and bread for lunch/dinner. It’s a nice little tradition that feels even comfier with the temperatures cooling off.

Potato chips…Still on my thinly sliced fried potato kick. Anything with ripples: right now I have Wavy Lays in my pantry. Dangerous.

Face mask…Lately I’ve been buying the Que Bella lavender face mask. I notice I break out less when I’m consistent with use and it smells quite calming.

Favorite Fall Cookies

Rounding up some of the tastiest autumn cookie recipes FMG has to offer. Bake em up for any gathering, Halloween, or just for the fuck of it. Got one more under my belt, too, so stay tuned!

Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bourbon Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Salted Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Halloween Monster Cookies

Pumpkin Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crinkly Maple Glazed Peanut Butter Cookies

Lil Monster Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Maple Bourbon Glazed White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Week in Training

Monday, 10.14: 6 miles, 10:15 pace + 15 minute lift

Really applied myself to getting back into routine. Wrenched my ass out of bed at 4:15, out the door by 4:30 for speedwork. A decent workout, legs were certainly not into it at first and my GPS wasn’t accurate for the first couple miles, but I did the thing and felt pretty good. 2 mile warmup, 600 (2:47), 400 (1:44), 300 (1:15), 200 (:49.9), 100 (24.9), then a 2.3ish mile cooldown. Will be doing modified strength workouts since I don’t have a gym right now, but I do own some dumbbells that’ll come to use.

Strength:

• 3 x 12 front squat 50#
• 3 x 10 shoulder press 15#
• 3 x 10 ea. single leg deadlift 40#
• 50 crunches

Tuesday, 10.15: 4.21 miles, 10:43 pace

A little stickier this morning, but not so bad. Legs were quite stiff and I was groggy from being jarred awake during a dream.

Wednesday, 10.16: 5 miles, 10:15 pace

The cold front hadn’t quite started to move through this morning, so just a short little stride session at the end of this run to keep it interesting. 4 x 50m max with a 5:22 top speed, not too shabby. Maybe one day I’ll sink down into the 4s but it’ll take time.

Thursday, 10.17: 6.2 miles, 9:45 pace + 11 minute lift

GLORIOUS morning! Thoroughly enjoyed my run, all bundled up and toasty, even though my paces weren’t what I was necessarily hoping. Still had a great time. 2 mile warmup, 2 mile push (8:04, 7:45), 2 x 200m (:51.6, :51.4), 1.7ish mile cooldown.

Strength:

• 3 x 12 plie squat 50#
• 3 x 10 ea. balanced row 25#
• 3 x 20 leg drop 25#

Friday, 10.18: 4 miles, 11:05 pace

Another lovely and VERY windy morning, I think more blustery than yesterday.

Saturday, 10.19: 10 miles, 10:47 pace

More wind, another pleasant morning. Much warmer than the previous couple days but still quite comfy, and cozy enough to bundle up afterwards.

Sunday, 10.20: 5 mile walk (1:19:20)

Total running mileage: 35.4