So this no-running thing has its advantages. I went from almost solely running to branching out into other activities I previously ignored because (1) they seemed burdensome (equipment, etc.) and (2) I would have to learn how to do them more efficiently. It was easier to stick to my solo sport--until I had to deal with an injury. After a recent appointment with my favorite orthopedist (only a very injury-prone person gets to claim a "favorite"), Larry Collins, I was convinced I needed to get clip-in pedals and cycling shoes for my bike, and ride "clipless." I don't understand this terminology; it contradicts itself. But whatever. The point is, I need to keep my foot flat, rather than bending it and putting pressure on the ball of my foot, and cycling shoes don't really bend. So despite the expense, I decided it would be a good investment for longterm cross-training. One thing that has always put me off about cycling is the cost of everything--bike aside (w...

Iron Girl Recap A few weeks ago, I ran the Iron Girl half marathon in Clearwater. This was the last "big" race I'd planned for the spring, so I wanted to do well, but I also hadn't been training to PR (I guess I never really do). And since my sister had planned to bring her family out to spectate, we decided we'd attempt to have my four-year-old niece, Evie, run across the finish line with me. (We tried this once before , but I was too close to a marathon PR to slow down, so I left her trailing behind me.) Because this was a smaller race and a women's-only race, I wasn't too worried about being a disruption to the race. So my focus during the race was on Evie--and it's a good thing I had a focus other than time, because, as it turned out, my watch wasn't charged, and it wasn't going to last my whole race. But in my experience, this lack of knowing, of constantly monitoring my pace, has served me well during races. (In fact, during last year...

Now that we're well into spring, I may as well post about winter. That is, Florida winter. So here's a three-in-one. I missed the Gasparilla half marathon--the local race I look forward to all year. And it was for a silly reason. I had trained well and felt good the week prior to the race, but at a bootcamp class the Wednesday before the race, I did an exercise the totally killed my hamstrings, only I didn't know it until the next day. And they weren't just sore; I could hardly straighten my legs to walk, let alone use my hamstrings to propel me on a run. But feeling this kind of extreme soreness is not unusual for me after this particular bootcamp class; it's certainly happened before. So I thought by the time Sunday rolled around, I'd be fine. But then as Friday passed, and soon Saturday, I was far less confident that I'd be healed in time to race Sunday. I did everything I could think of to expedite healing: massages, smelly muscle rubs, foam roller, st...

Monday night, I had the delightful opportunity to be among the  Tampa Bay Bloggers  on a tasting event* at  Ulele  (pronounced yoo-LAY-lee), a newish restaurant along Tampa's River Walk, which is in a revitalization phase. The restaurant, which opened this past fall, has already received several significant commendations:  One of the Top 100 Restaurants in the U.S. (by Open Table),  One of the Best New Restaurants in Florida (by  Florida Trend ); Best Overall Restaurant (by Yelp Tampa Bay); and, its most recent achievement,  the  #7 spot for Top 50 Restaurants in Tampa Bay , as scored by Laura Reiley of the  Tampa Bay Times .  So I felt honored to eat there, and I'd been wanting to go since it opened, but reservations were always difficult to get. When I saw the call for bloggers to attend this event, I jumped at the opportunity! Fortunately, I was chosen--among may others: That's a lot of hungry bloggers! A...

The past two weeks have been challenging for me. Two Fridays ago I had a tonsillectomy, which I did because I started developing tonsil stones over the past year or so, which coincided with this mysterious pain I'd been having. I got a couple of opinions from recommended ENTs, and they both said a tonsillectomy was the next logical step. While I wasn't eager to undergo a significant surgery--one that is particularly difficult on an adult--I needed to find the cause behind my pain so I could refocus on my life without being constantly sidetracked by the pain. The actual surgery went every well, and even my healing process was as good as it could have been. But it was a true two weeks before I felt close to normal again, and during the first week in particular, The first two days were actually easier than the rest of the first week; I had my mom with me, and other family came to visit the day after, and we even went out to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant , which serves (delicio...

I've been wanting to make almond milk from scratch for some time, but it always seemed like too much work. But when I came across this recipe on Oh She Glows , I thought, this is doable. As always, I made a couple of exceptions: I didn't have a nut-milk bag, and I didn't use vanilla, because buying dried vanilla beans is expensive! I thought the flavors from the dates and cinnamon would be plenty. I soaked my raw almonds--and dates, which is suggested if they are not very soft to start with--for about five hours. The recipe doesn't say how much water to soak them in, but I just made sure they were well covered with water. (You can also soak them over night.) Then I drained and rinsed the soaked almonds and dates. I then blended the almonds and dates with 3.5 cups of water on high for about a minute.  Next, I thought I would use my fine-mesh strainer plus a cheesecloth to strain the liquid from the pulp, but the cheesecloth turned out to be more troub...

I promised a post on 2015 goals. Before I do that, I want to look back on 2014's list of goals  to see how they panned out (I'm scared!): 2014's Goals in Review Work on relieving anxiety . This one gets a "halfway met," because while I feel I tried to work on it, I didn't get very far and still was overcome with crippling anxiety at times. By the very end of the year, though, I felt my best. Do speed work . Not met. Not close. Visit a new place . Sadly, no. I traveled, but to the same places I've been. Do more yoga . Nope. I did do some, but I had a really hard time finding a studio that felt like my yoga home. The only place I really looked forward to was Curtis Hixon Park, which has yoga in the park each Sunday. There's just something more freeing being outside, in a an unconfined area. Perhaps I'm just lacking discipline. Eat less sugar . Met! I had very few cupcakes this year. And I didn't replace them with anything else. One w...