When the flu hit me in Charleston I felt like death on two legs. I still toured around the city and enjoyed my stay on the houseboat despite the fever chills, but getting back to running has been more painful. Stiffness, muscle soreness, fatigue, and a persistent cough all have plagued me for days, so I've been focusing on a few tips to help with recovery and getting back to running fitness.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is on Monday, and I know several people who always participate in a "Day of Service" activity. The idea is that MLK Jr. Day should be a "Day On, Not a Day Off" - and while I don't have the day off work on Monday I've got a little free time in the morning so I'm looking for ways to participate.
The other day I posted photos from a recent 6 month old baby milestone session. What a fun session! I loved it so much, but I keep coming back to a few photos that I didn't share in the original post. These images didn't make the final cut but they just make me so happy with all their goofy outtakes. This is by far my best blooper reel yet, and I wanted to share with you some of the fun. Note these aren't final polished photos, but enjoy the spirit of the blooper photos!
Anyone who knows me knows I have a not-so-secret obsession with tiny houses. And no, I don't mean "small, quaint cottage in the rolling English countryside" kinda tiny but I mean tiny houses! Like 200 square foot kinda tiny. Think tiny like "just enough room for McCrae, Ryder and me to pack together like sardines with my running/backpacking/hiking/soccer/climbing/yoga/biking/photography equipment and barely be able to turn around" kinda tiny. Possibly even unreasonably tiny. I have my reasons for my love of tiny houses, and I even explored one form of tiny house living in Charleston!
SLED DOG FAIL! Ryder doesn't want you to watch this video - Poor Ryder has been the laughingstock of the household the past few days. He's a spoiled snow dog who loves to pull on his leash when we're out hiking and backpacking, so I figured it might be fun to do a little sledding with him. I didn't have a sled so I grabbed a lid from a plastic bin and headed out with precious poopsie. Too bad he just whined and crawled into my lap. Useless snow dog.
Snow in North Carolina can really put a crimp in training runs. Most of the powdery snow has already melted or been trampled into a thick sheet of ice so running is treacherous - so much so that as I write this I just watched a neighbor's kid face-plant on the street (it's fine; the kid is okay - they got up and just kept running. Good kid).
I love a good challenge. Last October I participated in a "Write 31 Days" challenge, but that wasn't painful enough so I added a 31 day running challenge on top of it. I might have been a couple posts short of 31 with the writing challenge, but I nailed the running challenge! It's been a couple months though and it's a fresh new year, so I think it's time for another challenge.
I did a poor job climbing this morning. I know now that I simply can't go two weeks without climbing and expect to maintain fitness. These are still baby muscles - arms, shoulders, and even fingers unused to the load of all my mass against gravity. It's not fair to my body to go so long without climbing.
