Weekend recap – Murph, shopping & some living history

Hi there!

Have you recovered from the long weekend? Did you have to go back to work yesterday?

Ugh.

Tuesdays after a long weekend are the WORST!

Yes, I’m aware it’s Wednesday and yes, it really should be Wine Wednesday but hey, things happen.

So, Wine Wednesday has been canceled this week.

Oh, um, I mean, feel free to drink wine without me. 😉

So, Saturday was my first Memorial Day Murph workout.

If you’re not familiar, Murph is the workout in honor of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, who was killed in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005. From the CrossFit page: “This workout was one of Mike’s favorites and he’d named it “Body Armor.” From here on, it will be referred to as “Murph” in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.”

LT Michael Murphy

The workout is as follows:

1 mile run

100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 air squats

1 mile run

 (the pull ups, push ups and squats may be broken down any way we chose)

There were about 80 people that showed up at the box on Saturday so they broke us into 4 heats. I was in heat 3.

I’ll tell you what – I really felt like I should have been doing something watching heats 1 and 2 working away while waiting for our start time!

Finishing up the first mile

 

I finished in 56:55.

I broke it up into 5/5/5/5/5/5.

5 pull ups/5 squats/5 push ups/5 squats/5 push ups/5 squats

Got through 14 rounds before I had to use a band for my pull ups. (psst – that’s 70 pull ups without a band!!!)  Amazingly enough, my hands didn’t shred but they were bleeding a little. Yeah, explain that one!

Afterwards, there was a BBQ at the home of one of the athletes. There was LOTS of bacon!

On Sunday, my body realized what I had done on Saturday and rejected the idea of me getting out of bed.

So, we – meaning me – took it easy and didn’t do much.

Except for when we went out and BOUGHT A NEW REFRIGERATOR!!!

I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THIS IS IN MY HOUSE!!!

Delivery is Friday!!!!

I totally would have carried it out of the store except for, well, it’s heavy and my pecs hurt and I was pretty sure my legs weren’t going to stand for it.

So, delivery it is.

Have I ever mentioned that I’m impatient?

*sigh*

Is it Friday yet?

On Monday, we went back in time with a trip to Colonial Williamsburg.

They were offering free admission to all active and retired military servicemembers and their families, as well as to veterans with a copy of their DD-214.

That’s such an amazing deal!!!

The weather was beautiful, there were plenty of people but it wasn’t overly crowded, and we had a lovely time.

Our favorite part was watching them make bricks for a building project they are working on.

I’ll share photos once we have the time to get them off the SD card and on to the computer. 🙂

We ended the day with some wine tasting at the Williamsburg Winery.  Because, you KNOW I never turn down an opportunity to taste some wine. 🙂

Talk to me: What did you do over the weekend? Did you participate in Murph? Did you take advantage of any excellent sales? Are you impatient?

– jennifer

A caged kitty, do I need new shoes?, and the best meat sauce you’ll ever eat.

Hello, hello!

Another Tuesday, another caged kitty.

This time it’s Molly’s turn. She’s going in for her annual exam and teeth cleaning! She’s really not that excited about it. She pretty much cussed me out the whole way. She’s a potty mouth.

Breakfast this morning was the apple cinnamon version of overnight refrigerator oatmeal.

I add blueberries and some chopped walnuts to give it a little extra oomph. Oh, and fyi – frozen blueberries are still REALLY cold even after they’ve defrosted enough to eat. Just in case you didn’t already know.

So, last night, I noticed that the top of my right foot was a little swollen.  Yes, that’s the same foot with the plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, and ankle tendonitis.

I know.  I need a new foot.

You’ll be happy to know that my plantar fasciitis and heel spurs are no longer bothering my and I’m pretty certain my tendonitis flare-up is pretty much a flare-down at this point. But, what is up with the top of my foot?! I didn’t drop anything on it and I don’t remember banging it on anything.

Could it be my shoes?

Could ALL of the problems I’ve had of late be a result of my running shoes?

I used to wear the Saucony ProGrid Ride 5 and then I started to go to a more minimal shoe. There was nothing wrong with the Rides, btw. I just wanted to try to get away from a heel strike – seemingly for the benefit of my running! I first bought the Skechers GoRun to alternate with my Rides to slowly work my way into more of a mid-foot strike. That seemed to go well so I decided to get the Skechers Go Run 2 and I changed my Rides to the Saucony Kinvara 3.

I should say that I LOVE both pairs of those shoes. They are SO COMFORTABLE and I don’t have any toe box issues. I apparently spread my piggies a LOT when I run and if there isn’t enough room, I get toe cramps. Not. Fun. Both the Go Run 2s and the Kinvaras have PLENTY of room in the toe box. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that they both just look awesome, too.

Hmmm…clearly I prefer to take pictures of the Skechers while they are on my feet

But, was I ready for a drop from 8mm to 4mm? It doesn’t seem like much. I mean, a 4 mm difference is about the width of a CD case. Really? It’s a little mind-boggling to think that something so small could cause problems so huge.

I had various issues before. I’m a marathon runner – I’m DESTINED to have issues. But, they’ve really cropped up since I made the switch. And honestly, I never would have even considered it if my running buddy wasn’t also having issues and she recently bought a pair of slightly minimal shoes and she actually wondered aloud if it was the shoes. Now, the question is, do I press on with the shoes that I have and hope that my body “falls into proper form” or do I go back to the Rides?

Oh, so I made the most AMAZING meat sauce last night. I found the recipe over at PaleOMG. Let me tell you something.

O. M. G.

Stop licking the screen. This is mine. Make your own. (click the photo for the recipe)

This is now my go-to meat sauce. Thank you, Juli!

I put it over sweet potato waffle fries.

Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful

I know. Strange. Don’t judge me.

So. Flippin. Good.

You can put it on what you want.

I didn’t change a single thing about the recipe.

Juli wins.

Questions

1. Does your cat like going to the vet?

2. Have you made the switch to a more minimal running shoe? Did you have any issues or injuries as a result?

3. Why are you not already shopping for the ingredients for that meat sauce?

– jennifer