Archives for July 2016

July Favorites

July 30, 2016 filed under: monthly favorites

1. I think I first came across Momentum Jewelry Motivational Wraps on Instagram and I just love the look and the customizable messages. The wrap fabric is really soft and doesn’t chafe if you wear it while working out.

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2. It’s that time of the year aka summer where I really like a good smoothie. I am using this easy-to-follow formula to make my smoothies. I printed it out and taped it to the inside of my cabinet door, so that I always have it available.

3. One thing that regular running has shown me is that my feet are definitely prone to getting hot and puffy and that good moisture-wicking running socks are really important for my blister-susceptible toes. I really like the Balega running socks, because they seem to keep my feet (mostly) happy.

4. I’ve been raving about their day and night cream before, but I also really like Andalou’s Fruit Enzyme Mask. It came as an “extra” with one of night cream purchases I made a while ago and I really like it. It leaves your skin super-soft and I would definitely consider buying it on its own.

5. I said before that I am German and I don’t like beer, but I make one exception in the summer: Radler (Kölsch + Sprite). So refreshing. And since I can get German Kölsch at the local beer garden, it’s a real treat.

6. The Anti-gravity chair + backyard lounging is my favorite right now. Being able to sit on our deck in the evenings is one of the best summer to-dos I can think of.

What was one of your favorite things in July?

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What I bought at Trader Joe’s – Vol. 2

July 28, 2016 filed under: food, review, shopping, traderjoes

I am back with another installment of “What I bought at Trader Joe’s”. My weekly grocery run usually leads me to 3-4 different stores, but I’d say that I do the bulk of my shopping at TJ’s.
Some items I could also get at the regular supermarket, but comparing prices does make sense.
I am always a bit mind-boggled if the exact same (brand!) item – like my first recommended item below – is sold at such different prices at different stores. How is that possible?

So, here are some of my TJ’s recommendations for this month.

Kerrygold Grass-fed butter (8 oz – $3.19) ★★★★★ // dairy section

We don’t eat a whole lot of butter, but if we do, I swear by Kerrygold. Trader Joe’s has the lowest price on this 8 oz package (although prices have gone up, it used to be below $3), but it’s definitely worth the price. I usually buy the unsalted version (because salted butter is not really a thing in Europe, unless you make herb butter for a BBQ, and I don’t like a salty taste when I have bread with jam or cheese).

Trader Joe’s Costa Rican Tarrazu Medium Roast Coffee (13 oz – $6.99) ★★★★★ // pantry section

If we don’t splurge on Stumptown coffee, Tarrazu is our go-to alternative. At $6.99, it’s pretty affordable and the taste is great. I realized (with horror) that is not part of Trader Joe’s extensive “fair trade options”, which I also tend to buy to switch things up every once in a while.

Trader Joe’s Social Snackers (16 oz $2.69) ★★★★★ // shelf above freezer section

Stop buying the fancy Ritz crackers and switch to TJ’s social snackers, because these crackers are so much better! They’re crisp and oddly, less sweet?! I haven’t compared ingredients lists (maybe I should), but if I can taste such a distinct difference, I must be on to something.

Trader Joe’s Hot Italian Sausage (1 lb – $4.49) ★★★★★ // meat section

We love spaghetti with meatballs, but without the meatballs. Ha. We use these hot Italian sausages instead. They give the dish a little spicy kick. We cut them up in little pieces, cook them and then add them to the pasta sauce. Delicious!

Trader Joe’s Crumbled Goat Cheese (6 oz – $2.49) ★★★★★ // cheese section

Are you as big of a goat cheese fan as I am? I just love the creaminess and it never hurts to have a little bit of crumbled goat cheese in your fridge. It’s delicious on salads, with crackers or on a slice of bread. I love that this cheese is affordable and comes in a resealable container with a lid.

What did you pick up at Trader Joe’s this month?

* I am not affiliated with Trader Joe’s, nor have they endorsed, sponsored or paid for my reviews. I am just sharing my love for the store and its products, which bascially means free advertisement for them. Ha. All opinions are my own.

Currently | July

July 20, 2016 filed under: currently

wearing my new @momentumjewelry Motivate Wrap™ that I bought recently with a gift certificate that I received for my birthday. It just seemed fitting to get one with my word for the year ‘(just) breathe’ engraved.

loving my runs at the park. I’ve thought about branching out a bit (and maybe finding some new running paths around town), but it is really nice and convenient to just lace up your shoes and walk out the door and have the park right around the corner. I feel safe there running by myself and don’t have to worry about running on the streets with traffic or something.

drinking Radler with Cologne Früh Kölsch at the local Biergarten. The beer garden is such a nice place to hang out on a warm summer night.

enjoying our backyard. It’s so nice to finally have a quiet, private place to sit outside in the evenings. Hopefully, the plants that I bought to repel mosquitos and other insects will do their job. I might still have to use some “Off”, because I am a mosquito magnet (sadly).

eating all the watermelon. So delicious and refreshing.

celebrating a few more Red Sox wins! Yay!

breathing a sigh of relief that my Mom’s kidney surgery went well and that she’s on the path to recovery. She’s been in the hospital for just over a week and will go and stay at a rehabilitation center for three more weeks starting tomorrow (all covered by the health insurance. That’s German health care for you.)

feeling a little overwhelmed by everything I have to “get done” in the next three weeks (including work-related deadlines, work travel, and my first half-marathon *eek*).

reading Joyland by Stephen King for the #PostalBookclub

looking forward to my work trip to Colorado at the beginning of August. I am really excited about the workshop that I will be attending, but I also haven’t been to Colorado and am hoping to get to do a little bit of sight-seeing.

watching the RNC (because I just can’t look away). What an epic shit-storm. That’s all.

What are you eating? Watching? Feeling?

Recipe: Twisted overnight spelt-rye rolls

July 18, 2016 filed under: Germany, recipe

Tanja’s blog is a constant source of cooking inspiration and I have tried yet another one of her bread recipes, this time one for overnight spelt-rye rolls. Ever since I returned from my trip to Germany, the land of bread, – oh, just over three month ago – I’ve been missing the fresh rolls for breakfast. Ha, who am I kidding? I am ALWAYS missing German rolls and bread. So, this was the perfect recipe to try upon my return a couple of months ago and I am finally sharing the recipe.

I slightly changed the ingredient list, but they were super-easy to prepare and so tasty!

Twisted overnight spelt-rye rolls

Author: San

Prep time: 90 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 1 hour 45 mins

Serves: 8

Delicious fresh rolls for the weekend!

Ingredients

350g (12 oz) spelt flour
200g (7.5 oz) rye flour
10g (0.35 oz) salt
5g (0.18 oz) active dry-yeast
25g (o.9 oz) liquid honey
400g (14oz) lukewarm water

Instructions

The night before, mix the flour, salt and dry-yeast in a bowl. Add honey and water (I mix them together beforehand) and knead for 2 minutes on low, then 6 minutes on medium speed (I use my KitchenAid with kneading hook) until smooth. Cover with a kitchen towel and let sit for an hour at room temperature. Briefly knead again and then cover and put in the fridge over night.
The next morning, let the dough warm up at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes. Dust your countertop with flour and then carefully place the dough on the flour and loosely roll the dough into a 16-inch strand. Then divide into 8 pieces and slightly twist each piece.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and let the 8 rolls rise again for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 480°F and place a small bowl with water on the bottom.
Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake the rolls for 10 minutes. Then open the oven door to let built-up steam escape. Spray the rolls with a little bit of water and then bake for another 10-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Take out and let cool on an oven rack. Then enjoy when still slightly warm (although they’ll also keep well for a couple of days)! I love it with jam or gouda cheese.

July Link Love

July 15, 2016 filed under: link love

10 things NOT to do when you train for a half-marathon. O-kay!

I made this mushroom paella a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious!!

Overweight people judge distances to be further than they really are. “[…] psychologists call [this] the “action-specific theory of perception”: Basically, people perceive their environments relative to their ability to act in it. So you judge distances relative to your ability to cross them.” This is super-interesting!

6 foods to eat instead of a multivitamin – I just had this discussion with my friend Silke that multivitamins and other supplements should not really be taken unless you have a diagnosed deficiency. Eat healthy instead.

My new blog friend Tara wrote about lessons learned from dancing and she’s so spot on. I want to take this even further and say that any sport can teach kids so many valuable social and life skills and that P.E. should take on a much more important role as part of a child’s education! (This clearly is a topic for a separate post and I have passionate feelings about it what with a Dad who was a P.E. teacher in high school and my own degree in Physical Education.)

Stop apologizing for being a slow runner. I’ve been told by people that I am fast (haha!), but in comparison to people who run an 8-minute mile, I feel so slow. It’s all relative, guys. You can only compete with your own self from yesterday.

Signs you’re financially stable. I think there is also a lot of “peace of mind” behind those signs. The more of those apply to you, the less worried you should be about your future.

Apologies are actions. Everyone needs to read this. I am one of those people who apologizes for everyone and everything, but a) I don’t have to apologize for something that wasn’t my fault and b) if I do have to apologize for something, the change in behavior must follow (otherwise apologies are just empty words without meaning.)

I need a grill ASAP and make these steak kebobs with chimichurri.

TotR | Davis Moo-nlight Run 10k Race Recap

July 13, 2016 filed under: fitness, linkup, running

I am linking up with Erika, Patty and Marcia for Tuesdays on the Run again.

This week I am bringing you the Davis Moo-nlight Run race recap. I decided a few weeks ago that I would throw in another 10k as part of my half-marathon training.

I was particularly intrigued by this race, because it was a) local and b) taking place in the evening… and you must know, I am mostly an afternoon/evening runner when the weather permits and an evening race sounded just perfect. Although it was a little bit of a gamble, because two weeks before the race the temperatures were in the triple digits and we could have easily ended up with a superhot weekend. Luckily, temperatures cooled down just in a time for race weekend and it was perfect, evening running weather (upper 70’s with a bit of a breeze).

This race is going on it’s 7th year and included a 5k, 10k, 10 mile and half-marathon loop course and a half-mile fun run for kids under 12. The Davis Moo-nlight Race is the final race in Part One of the NorCal Tour de FIT series.

Almost 2000 people had signed up for this race (1362 actually started), so it was significantly bigger than the last 10k I attended in Davis and it was really well organized.

There was plenty of (free) parking near the start line. I arrived 90 minutes before the race and had time to pick up my race packet (bib + supercute t-shirt), scout out the start and finish area, use the port-a-potty and get warmed up.

The 5k started at 7:15 p.m., the 10k, 10 mile and half-marathon races all started together at 7:00 p.m. The course was fun and looped twice through the finish area (which was cool, because of the people hanging out there and cheering us on!).

Mile 1 – I had a good, but slow start and a little trouble navigating in between hundreds of runners. It’s a little tough to find your pace when you’re navigating around people. (Pace 9:53)

Mile 2 – We had looped around and passed the start/finish area before crossing the freeway via the overpass – the only real incline on the course. I didn’t feel too strained going uphill, gained a little speed going down on the other side and I passed the first water stop without getting any water. (Pace 9:36)

Mile 3 – I was feeling pretty good and was hoping to make up a bit of time from the slow start. Only slowed down at the second water stop to take some water (Pace 9:17)

Mile 4 – I found a good grove and just wanted to keep going. (Pace 9:22)

Mile 5 – I was keeping pace with two other runners for a little while (I think they got a bit annoyed that I was right on their tails, or maybe I am just imagining things because I personally don’t like anyone tailing me, but I was comfortable and didn’t want to push harder just to pass them and then have them on my tail in return. Is there a race etiquette lesson here?). I did eventually find a good stride and did pass them at the end of mile 5. (Pace 9:13)

Mile 6 – I also made another slow-down at the third water stop right after the 5 mile marker and then we looped back over the freeway overpass towards the end. The closer we got to the end, the more “done” I felt, but I pushed myself to keep the pace to the finish line. (Pace 9:21)

I crossed the finish line at 59:01. My average pace was 9:30 and I didn’t beat my PR from last time, BUT yay for a negative split!

To beat my PR, I would have had to be at an average 9:26 pace, which I definitely beat for most of the race, but that didn’t make up for the first two miles, which were quite a bit slower. I didn’t really think about the fact that with so many people at the start line, it would be difficult to get out of the crowd and find my pace. I also had to slow down a bit at the two water stations (which I planned to do as practice for the upcoming half-marathon – eek!) and I realize that I have a lot to learn. Those are all things I have to pay more attention to when I plan out my race pace, although to be honest, I didn’t really set out for a new PR in this race (but a little surprise would have been nice, of course).

I’m still pretty happy with my overall finish. I came in 4th in my age group (4/32), 35th in my gender group (35/206) and 88th overall (88/359).

I picked up my finisher medal (love it!), scored a few freebies, and then headed home and picked up a veggie pizza on the way. I think I earned it! :)

I don’t have any photos from the course and I am still waiting to see if any professional photos of me were taken by the race photographer. However, I already checked the website and they charge $13 for a single low resolution digital image (the cheapest option). Is that common? It seems like a lot and I am not sure – depending on the quality of the shot and if there actually is one of me – if I want to shell out the money.

Do you get professional photos from your races? Do they always cost that much? (If I recall, at the Berkeley Half-Marathon event last year, photos were free – maybe partly paid for by the sign-up fee?)

Here are the Davis Moo-nlight Run Pros & Cons:

Pros:

+ Evening race!

+ Very well organized

+ Plenty of near-by free parking (it’s in an industrial area with lots of large offices + parking lots)

+ Easy race day packet pick up (I hate when you have to pick up your packet beforehand)

+ Course was a mix of street and green belt through East Davis

+ Great course markings

+ Great tech shirt

+ Instant results checking after race

Cons:

+ No medals for 5k and 10k participants (unless you pay an extra $5 for a finisher medal – which I am glad I did though!)

+ Race photos not free :(

This race was really fun and I am definitely considering doing it again next year, especially because it’s local for me and doesn’t need much planning!

Have you participated in an evening race?

That time when iron deficiency landed me in the hospital

July 11, 2016 filed under: about me, fitness, food

A re-tweet of one of Lora‘s older posts about the importance of iron for runners prompted me to tell you about my personal experience with iron deficiency anemia many year ago. It was not directly related to running or at least, I think it wasn’t, but maybe it was? Not sure, just read on, because it’s still an important topic to talk about.

Anemia is defined as “a condition that develops when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a main part of red blood cells and binds oxygen. If you have too few or abnormal red blood cells, or your hemoglobin is abnormal or low, the cells in your body will not get enough oxygen.” (from WebMD)

Anemia can be caused by different conditions, in my case it was caused by a shortage of the element iron in my body. Bone marrow needs iron to make hemoglobin. Without adequate iron, your body can’t produce enough hemoglobin for red blood cells and without red blood cells, it can’t distribute oxygen through your body.

You can easily see how that can become a problem. If your body doesn’t get enough oxygen, things will start to decline or shut down. The first signs of anemia are common every-day symptoms that aren’t easy to catch until they get severe or occur in acute combination: fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, headache, coldness in your hands and feet, pale skin, and overall weakness.

I experienced extreme fatigue, dizziness, and shortness of breath when I was diagnosed. It was shortly before Christmas and I was working for the (German) postal service (my student job at the time) and, in case you don’t know, in most German cities mail is still delivered by bike. It’s a physically demanding job (because your bike is loaded with literally pounds and pounds of mail), especially in the winter. I also had been battling a cold, so I wasn’t necessarily surprised to feel overall weak and tired. I did get concerned though when going up a flight of stairs in my parents’ house left me gasping for air at the top of the stairs. That just didn’t feel right.

When I went to the doctor, he did my blood work and checked some other things. I am naturally a fair skinned person and it was in the middle of winter, so my paleness didn’t stand out to me in particular, but my doctor checked the insides of my eyes (pull down your lower eye-lid and have a look!) and the inside of my eye was basically white (it’s not supposed to be white, the tissue inside your eyes is usually well circulated with blood).

The next day, I was told that my iron levels were dangerously low and that my body was circulating only half the blood of a healthy human being. A person of my weight usually has 4+ liters of blood and I had less than 2 liters. I was told that I should practically not move (and just breathe) until I would be admitted to the hospital for further testing (and a blood transfusion – hooray!).

Scary sh*t, you guys.

When I was admitted a day later, the doctors at the hospital asked me a regular slew of questions about conditions that can lead to or make you susceptible to iron deficiency.

Are you a vegetarian or eat an iron-deficient, unbalanced diet? (No.)

(Just FYI, I am in no way saying that living a vegetarian lifestyle automatically means that you suffer from malnutrition or that it will make you iron deficient, but I was told that iron from plants alone isn’t as easily absorbed as from red meat sources and therefore you have to really pay attention to your nutritional needs if you’re omitting a big part of a whole food group – which was not the case for me.)

Do you have a heavy period where you lose a lot of blood? (No.)

Do you have any blood in your stool or urine (from internal bleeding)? (No.)

Did you donate blood recently? (No.)

Do you have any chronic infections or diseases? (No.)

I am surprised nobody asked me if I was an athlete (because I was finishing up my physical education degree at the time and was regularly active and working out). Athletes have an increased energy and oxygen turnover and therefore the need for iron is basically doubled for physically active people. Athletes also lose some extra iron due to sweating. Although I was by no means an athlete on an extreme workout schedule, I wonder if the physical activity was partly to blame? Plus, I was working a physically demanding job at the time.

Anyhow, I got a bed at the hospital for a few days, more tests were ordered, I received two blood transfusion and I breathed a big sigh of relief when the doctor told me that it wasn’t leukemia. (Good grief, I didn’t even think that far as a possible cause for the anemia.) I underwent a colonoscopy to rule out any intestinal issues (the colonoscopy was no fun, but not as bad as I expected either) and was eventually sent home without any definitive explanations for my low iron levels.

To this day, I don’t know what caused my iron deficiency and why it got that bad. Part of me wishes that I had an answer, part of me is thankful that there wasn’t any bad diagnosis hiding behind it. Maybe it was an unlucky combination of things, maybe my body is just extra slow in absorbing iron. I was on iron supplements for years and years to get my levels up again and I’ve been getting my iron levels checked regularly and paying close attention to my fatigue levels, inside-eye-skin color, and nutrition ever since.

The best food sources of iron are red meat (don’t mind a good steak every once in a while!), legumes, nuts and seeds, leafy greens, and dried fruits (all of which I had been eating before my deficiency diagnosis, just in case you were wondering!). And partnering these foods with others that are rich in vitamin C can also help boost the absorption of iron.

I am not on supplements anymore at this point and I advise that if you feel fatigued and suspect an iron deficiency yourself, please get that confirmed by a doctor. You shouldn’t take iron supplements unless you’re really deficient. It takes a long time for the body to build up iron (because it can only absorb it in small amounts) and it doesn’t easily get rid off excess iron, therefore adding more iron to your system (when you’re not deficient) can lead to an iron build up in your tissue and organs that can be unhealthy. Find out what the true cause for your fatigue is.

However, iron deficiency can happen to anyone, so awareness is key.

Oh, and of course, eat a balanced diet. Here’s a list of good sources of iron. ( Meat contains both heme-iron and non-heme iron. Heme-iron is easier to absorb, but there are plenty of plant-based foods that contain high amounts of non-heme iron, too, in case you are a vegetarian.)

Phew. This got much longer than expected. Thanks for reading if you made it all the way down here. Also, I apologize, but the whole ordeal was not photographically documented because it was the era before smartphones, Instagram, and the ”OMG-I’m- taking-pictures-of-everything”-mentality. Ha. I am officially old.

Daily life | My work week

July 7, 2016 filed under: about me, daily life

This is a new installment of my “daily life”-posts. It’s been a little while. I thought you might be interested to hear what a typical work week looks like for me.

As you may or may not know, I work a flex schedule at work, which means that I don’t work the usual 9-5 five-day schedule.

I work a 4-10 flex schedule, which means I have a four-day work week (yay!) but work 10+ hour days, which means I am usually out of the house for about 12 hours (including commute, lunch break, and all). While it takes some getting used to (my work days are pretty long and there is not much else that is getting done during these four days than work, eat, sleep, repeat), I have really come to like my schedule and and having a three-day weekend every week is simply glorious! I wouldn’t change it for the world (unless I’d be forced to).

Having the four day work week has multiple advantages for me. First, it’s given me the opportunity to work the occasional Friday and easily build up some comp time; or ‘extra-vacation time’, as I like to call it. I only get 12 days of vacation per year (my European readers’ jaws probably dropped to the floor in horror just now, while my American readers probably think this is a pretty decent amount of time). Let me just tell you that it’s not really that much time off, if your family lives halfway around the world and when you’re faced with an at least 11+ hour- long flight just to go and see them. Well, and everybody knows that going to Europe for only a few days, or even one full week, is just silly nonsense. When you take travel time and jet lag into account, you gotta go at least for two weeks (if not longer). So, having the option to work the four-day schedule gives me the flexibility to work some extra days and build up some more vacation time to go and see my family, but I also have the option to take advantage of a long weekend to go on shorter trips here and there with J without having to take extra time off.

My employer is also really flexible and lets me move around my hours as I please. There are certain “core hours”, that I am supposed to be available, but if I have to leave early one day or get in a little late on another, I can just make up that time on a different day. I can also shift my “day off” and occasionally take a different day off during the week, if need be.

One more reason why – despite all the hassle I’ve endured in my eight years at this job – I love my work place and have fought hard (and have waited very patiently) to stay here.

I usually get to work around 7:00 a.m. and I am usually the first one in the office. I am also frequently the last one to leave (unless one of my co-workers is around who works really odd hours – sometimes he doesn’t come in before the early afternoon). I enjoy the ‘quiet time’ that I get at the beginning and end of each work day.

I am also lucky to not be stuck in cubicle land, but to share a corner office (yes, with two sides of windows!) with one other co-worker. We’re on the 5th floor, we have a beautiful view, oh, and did I mention that I work on a College Campus? I love it.
I have a nice workstation with a height-adjustable desk and two big monitors (and seriously, I wouldn’t know what to do without them anymore!). And on top of that, I like what I do (most of the time) and the people I work with. It’s a pretty sweet arrangement, if you ask me.

The only downside is that I wish my work- and therefore my home – was closer to the beach. Ha! You can’t have everything, right?

Do you have a 9-5 job, do you work a flex schedule, or do you work really odd hours? What’s your workspace like? Tell me in the comments!

This post is part of my ‘daily life‘ series where I talk about how we do things around here! Find the last post here.

TotR | How do you choose your races?

July 5, 2016 filed under: fitness, linkup, running

I’m linking up with Erika, Patty and Marcia again for Tuesdays on the Run and today we’re talking about the thought process behind choosing races.

Again, since I don’t have much race experience yet, this is a difficult question to answer. When I signed up for my first 10k last year, I signed up because my friend Susi dared me to do this with her. It was a local (to her home) race and it was really just all about being able to say “we did this”. I didn’t really anticipate races to become a regular thing.

However, the racing bug definitely bit me after that first 10k and prompted me to put 4 races (maybe more) on my 2016 calendar.

For most races that I’ve considered (and participated in) so far, the following criteria in order of (current) importance were employed (these might change in the future):

+ Date. Does it fit into my schedule and do I have time to train for it? I like to set new goal races to keep me motivated to train throughout the year (yes, I admit, I like having a goal on the horizon to work towards.)

+ Location. I’ve been choosing races close to home so far, or within driving distance, but I have yet to do a destination race.

+ Sign-up fee. Yes, unfortunately that has to be taken into consideration. Running is a fairly cheap form of exercise, until you start signing up for races. Ha! I was quite shocked to learn how expensive some races are (but then again, a lot of planning goes into races, so I guess I understand that the full package comes with a steeper price and that the bigger the race, the higher the price). But this, plus any associated travel expenses must be taken into account, especially since this is a hobby that my husband does not (yet) share.

+ Distance. I’ve only done 10ks so far and have my first half coming up soon, but I would also consider 5ks and 10-milers at this point.

+ Practicalities. Does the race start really early? I am usually not an early morning runner, so if the race has a later start date (say, 8 a.m. or later) or takes place in the evening, I am all for it. And then, what’s the temperature that time of year? (We have very hot summers where we live, so temperature will play an important role in my decision making process.)

+ Race swag. I can’t deny that t-shirts and medals kind of get me excited. I’ve only collected two t-shirts and two medals so far, but I think I can already tell that I am more of a medal person. I was very excited about t-shirts first (because, hey, look, I have a t-shirt which means I ran this race!), but I can see how with time, t-shirts will become less exciting swag items. They’re fine and all, but a) you never know what they look like (beforehand) and how they’ll fit and b) I’d rather pick my workout shirts myself. I’d much rather earn a finisher’s medal for participating. I mean, that is something that you can display on your wall and which will hold memories for years to come.

+ Size of race. Not that important to me yet, I have done a small one, a bigger one, and a virtual race and they were all fun in their own ways, but this might become a factor in the future.

+ Have I already done it? I haven’t participated in enough races for that to be a deciding factor, although I am contemplating if I’d re-race the ones that I ran this year again next year.

In terms of the races themselves, I prefer races that a) promise nice scenery on my run and/or b) are organized for a good cause (one that in the best case scenario I can personally identify with). I’d love for at least a portion of the sign-up fee to be used to make a difference in someone’s life.

I know a lot of people go into races with the goal to set a new PR and I can see how that can be a motivating factor. Well, maybe that is something I’ll consider down the road (with more races to show for), but for now, I am mostly just signing up with the intent to finish and have fun.

Hello July

July 4, 2016 filed under: about me

Happy 4th of July, everyone! I hope you had a nice and long weekend. We definitely had a nice weekend. We got to hang out in our backyard (I’ve wanted to have a backyard/patio for years!) and went out to the local brewery around the corner for blonde ales and yummy food. We’re not too much into 4th of July celebration activities this year, so we’re just laying low today as well, but that’s fine by me. We’re watching Red Sox baseball and enjoying the day off. I was going to go for a morning run this morning, but I badly bumped my toe on our metal bed frame on Saturday and had to take an unexpected break. Ugh. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

I am as always stunned that I am writing yet another monthly welcome post. June went by quickly. July is going to be somewhat busy and hot – summer has definitely arrived here in the Central Valley.

+ My Mom will have to have surgery next week and any and all good vibes would be appreciated. I hate being far away when a family member is in the hospital. My nephew got his tonsils removed two weeks ago and even though I know that was also a standard procedure, I wanted to be there so badly.

+ I’ll be running my first half-marathon this month (WHAT?). I know, I can’t believe it’s that time already.

+ I also will be running another 10k this coming weekend. That is, if my toe heals up nicely until then.

+ I have tons to do at work and will be preparing for a workshop in Colorado which will be happening at the beginning of August. I am thrilled, because the workshop will be right up my alley. I’ve been doing a lot of tasks at work lately that are challenging, but not really what I’d like to be doing, so I am really looking foward to being able to go to this workshop and hopefully do a bit of networking and collaborating with other colleagues on a subject that I am actually excited about.

+ Germany made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA European Soccer Championship. Did you watch the game against Italy on Saturday? Holy crap, what a nail-biter. I think I died a little. Germany finally won 6-5 on penalty kicks (which by the way they totally deserved, because they really played the better game. No bias here.). I hope they can finish this up this week!

What’s going on with you in July?