Run to Rapid City Update #2

At the start of this year I was having a difficult time getting myself out the door for runs. I just didn’t know what kind of goal I wanted this year and without a goal, I wasn’t getting the miles in.

Well then an awesome woman named Kathy helped me out. She gave me a goal. I am running from my house in British Columbia to her house in South Dakota. It is a very long way!! It may actually take me years to get there, but it does the trick and gets me out the door:)

At the start of April I was in the Olallie State Park in Washington.

My goal was to make it to Ellenaburg, but I actually made it past there and Kittitas. I am now where Park Creek crosses the I90.

Unfortunately there is nothing here- not even a lake, so there’s no place to stop:(. I may be tempted to dip my feet into this creek as it’s quite the creek!

I really didn’t realize that it would take me so many months to just get through Washington State, but it will be okay as long as Kathy doesn’t move!🤣

Until next month!

AJ

Double Six

It was not the day I was expecting, but at least it was better than yesterday.

Exercise:

I started the day with my usual run with Dennis. We went out to the river and back and I have to admit this was probably the worst run I have had in quite a while! My legs never loosened up and Dennis said even my feet weren’t hitting the ground as they normally do- my toes were pointing out. I don’t know how that happened, but maybe I was trying to move any way I could.

It didn’t help on this run that my watch was acting really weird. My Garmin has been great since I got it in December and had only messed up once, but I guess today makes twice. It didn’t record one of the longest blocks and then when I got done it didn’t sync to the app or record my splits:(. It’s a good thing I’m old school and record my mileage in a book! Another 6.25km in the book:)

I had agreed to run with Sarah this afternoon too. I thought it would just be 3km or so, but it turned out she wanted to do 6km too. It wasn’t a tough run and I didn’t hurt on this one as she runs about s minute slower than me per kilometer, so it was just for mileage. I got another 6.12km in even though the weather tested us with a downpour!

Work:

Today was slightly better than yesterday. I was feeling a little rushed this morning as though I had already posted the daily work before I went out for my run, I had to solve some problems from yesterday. I have learned that I don’t like carryover from the previous day as it makes me feel behind. I did get caught up on marking student work and answering emails.

I stopped in at school and almost cried when I saw that my class looks like it does in August. I’m going to have to go in and set it up again:(

I had a bit of trouble finding WiFi, but once I did I feel like I was productive. I got all but two activities completed and in the queue for next week. I’ll finish off those last two after I check student work in the morning.

Cooking/Baking:

I don’t even know if this really counts as baking, but I had to share it because it was so yummy! I decided that since it was my weigh in day and I had run 12km it was a good day for my sweet treat. I have come to the realization that I need a sweet treat in my rotation as otherwise I just fall off the wagon big time. I love cinnamon buns and have not allowed myself to make any, but I found this Recipe for a Gluten Free Cinnamon Roll Mug Cake at Gluten Free Palate. I made it with oat, arrowroot and tapioca flours and it was delicious. I also made the glaze into a cream cheese icing and added raisins to the cake. It was just about an inch in the bottom of my big soup mug and it was just the right amount and tasted so good!! I need to remember this recipe!

Eating:

I had:

Rice cake with peanut butter

Grapes and almonds

Steak and Caesar salad

Veggies and hummus

Mug cake

More than I wanted to have, but at least I hit my panic number this morning so I am going in the right direction now:)

Entertainment:

I have no great book on the go right now so am spending my time on Scrabble Go- if you’re on it, let me know:)

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia as a Distraction

Today did not start off very well:(

Exercise:

I did the proFit BootCamp Kickboxing workout but forgot to factor in time for a shower, which I desperately needed, so I missed the last 8 minutes of the workout:(

I tried another workout after work that started off well, but quickly turned into yoga. It was a nice, but not what I was looking for.

I finally did an Instagram workout with a minute of jogging between each move.

It took a lot of tries to get the exercise in today.

Teaching:

I went to post my activities for the day and the first video wasn’t there. I quickly redid the video and uploaded it only to find the first video was there. Then halfway through the morning the kids and parents in the other class started saying they couldn’t open the video, so I spent an hour trying to get the video onto their site:(

I decided to go change my sheets at this point so that I could at least be successful at something.

I spent the rest of the morning planning for next week with my colleague.

I got to sit through an hour and ten minute staff meeting that did nothing but upset me. Supposedly now I am supposed to be teaching online but at the same time be calling small groups of students into the school to work with them as well. I haven’t decided if I want to cry or punch something:(

I finished the day by checking more student work.

knitting:

I started to knit on my shoulder again, but realized that this might not be the best idea with the day I’m having so I called my mom instead. It’s amazing how mom’s can tell a bad day just from your voice.

Trivia:

I ended the night by playing trivia online. It’s not as much fun as at the pub but it at least got my mind off my day.

I knew:

Who was Frasier’s ex wife?

Lilith

What did the scarecrow ask for in The Wizard of Oz?

A brain

Who was the star of the Honeymooners?

Jackie Gleason

Which comedian was never a staff member of Saturday Night Live?

Jim Carrey

What is America’s official sport?

Baseball

Where are three of the four largest hotels in the world?

Las Vegas

Which company makes the Stratocaster?

Fender

Well I’m going to go hide under my covers and hope tomorrow is better!

Have fun!

AJ

Mellow Monday

I like how Mondays and Fridays are a little quieter for me right now. It makes the start of the week much easier.

House:

I got my grocery shopping done first thing this morning. I still have way too much food in that fridge though!

Teaching:

I got the work for the day posted before I grocery shopped so then afterwards I spent a few hours returning emails and checking children’s work. I’m happy I see that more of the kids are reading on RAZ Kids now!

This afternoon I had an introductory lesson on how to use Microsoft Teams. I figure I may st some point need to talk to my students directly.

I ended the day with more email and assignment checking. Oh the funnies moment was when a student said he had built an alarm circuit fo his STEM project. This is the kid who literally can’t stand still. That’s the biggest problem with this is that I feel like I’m marking parents, not kids.

Exercise:

I tried to do a kickboxing class this morning but was interrupted by work, but this afternoon I got out for a run through Bert Flynn with Sarah. I hadn’t thought about how busy it would be though. The park is be one way, but still way too many people!

Reading:

I jut finished The almost Eligible Lord in London by Grace Burrowes. It was a great historical romance that I really enjoyed. I wanted to spend my day reading it, not working!

Eating:

I’ve had an egg

almonds and a mandarin

Chef’s salad

Grapes

Meatloaf

Well I think I’ll go take my turn on Scrabble Go and then go to sleep.

Have fun!

AJ

Solitary Sunday

It was supposed to pour down rain all weekend, so I was prepared with a plan, but then it was sunny all weekend🤷🏼‍♀️

Exercise:

Dennis dragged me out to do another part of the PoCo trail. I really hadn’t thought there were any parts left that I hadn’t done! We ran out from a new spot, but once again I was super surprised how close we really were to a part we run all the time. I always think there’s at least 8km between these sections, when it turns out there’s only about 3-4.

The morning was gorgeous and I once again ran in a t shirt, capris and gloves. I really like this combo as my hands stay warmer.

My right knee was niggling at me, but otherwise I was surprised there weren’t more problems.

I was so happy when we got to 5km at the bottom of the hill, but Dennis made me go up the hill because, “it’s good for me”.😖😖

Another ten kilometers closer to South Dakota:)

This evening I did some weights. It was a little different as I didn’t have much floor space, but I did:

High knees, bicep curls, front kicks, tricep kickbacks, side kicks, shoulder press, jog, front raises, toe taps, upright rows/ bent over rows, fast feet, reverse flies, jumping jacks, crunches, skipping, full sit ups, high knees, Russian twists, front kicks, bicycle crunches, side kicks, reverse crunches, jog, plank, toe taps, standing ab crunches, and fast feet.

I stopped there as I figured my legs had done enough for the day!

Knitting:

I spent the time after coffee finishing the cowl for my secretary. It was easy to do and she really likes the looks of it.

The pattern is a free pattern on Ravelry called Floridian by Cascade yarns. I did this in Sirdar DK baby cotton. It took two skeins.

It feels great and will be machine washable so a good knit to give away.

Now I just have to wait for it to finish blocking.

Watching:

I finished the Great Canadian BakingShow this evening. It was such a great show I hated to see it come to an end. I’m even more disappointed that Netflix doesn’t seem to have any other shows like this:(

Well I’m back to my newest book. I hope you had s lovely Sunday!

Have fun!

AJ

Stretching My Skills with Sally

Baking (Stretching My Skills with Sally):

Last year I tried a few of Sally’s Baking Challenge items and quite enjoyed the challenge of trying new things. Most of the people in my life asked why I was doing this, thankfully there are people like Abbey! I was talking with Abbey of Three Cats and a Girl and we decided to both try these challenges and then link up to talk about our results, so please check out her attempts too. I was really interested in doing this because I knew she would be doing the recipes as called for while I would need to convert them to gluten free and dairy free. I should say that I change as little as possible and just sub in gf and df ingredients to see if the recipe will still work.

For April the challenge was flatbread!

I had actually forgotten about it so was praying hard that I had all the ingredients I needed at home.

And thankfully I did!

The recipe only requires yeast, sugar, water, flour, oil and salt. My recipe was only different in that I used Bob’s redmill All Purpose Gluten Free flour.

I found the recipe very quick to put together and boy is that ever lucky!

For the first batch I made the batter, spread it into two long baguette styles on a cookie sheet and threw it in the oven for fifteen minutes. Well they were flat and well done:(

I have to admit I’ve been binge watching The Great Canadian Baking Show and it must be rubbing off on me as I actually redid the flatbread.

The second time I left the two “baguettes” to ride for the 45 minutes called for in the recipe and they did turn out better.

I have definitely eaten more than I should have!

It is so cool that when Kathy read about Abbey’s and my challenge she decided to join us so make sure you go read about her flatbread adventures too:)

Thanks Abbey and Kathy for taking on this challenge with me:)

Reading:

I did finish Always a Bridesmaid by Cindi Madsen today and I really enjoyed it. I may have been unduly influenced by the cute puppies in the story, but it was a lighthearted story that made me giggle out loud a few times. I also love the strong friendship group in the book. The conflict was annoying, but I guess it can be forgiven as every book has to have one and it was short and not overly dramatic.

I would recommend this book, but would definitely read the first in the series beforehand.

My mom just finished it too, so o should ask what she thought of it.

Exercise:

With the rain this morning I was glad not to have to run!

I did force myself to stop watching baking and go do 38 minutes of yoga.

I was thinking that I’m unmotivated to get healthy right now because we can’t go out, but as I was finishing up my yoga, I was thinking that maybe I need to turn it around and say I have tons of time at home to get healthy!

I do think I need to maybe change it up so I am running one day and working out the other because I’m feeling like I’m not doing very much exercise right now:(

Knitting:

I did some more knitting on the Floridian cowl and am now 2/3 done so hopefully you will see a finished product tomorrow!

Eating:

1/2 banana with Pb

Shrimp plate

Caesar salad (with lettuce from the garden-YUM!!)

Flatbread

Not exactly what I was planning. I’m proud of the breakfast and the salad, but the rest needs help!

Well I have a run in the morning so I’m off to bed.

Have fun!

AJ

Friday social:)

It was a nice day, except for the blisters!

Teaching:

Today I had my first light day. I responded to emails and assessed the work that had been uploaded and was done by noon (of course I started at 7 so I could get my five hours in).

Exercise:

I decided I really wanted to just be able to relax when I got home from the social tonight so I did my workout before my run for a change. I did another online bootcamp workout and it was making me sweaty for sure! It took me until the tenth round to figure out we were doing a countdown!🙄. The worst part was the blister I now have on my hand from the band:(

I had arranged to meet up with Dennis for our run at 12:30. I was really unsure what to eat for lunch before running, but I’m happy to say that a mandarin orange, strawberries and almonds worked well. Dennis was suffering with his allergies again and I found the humidity quite dreadful, but we managed 7km from the rec centre, around the river and back again. I am actually surprised it was only 7km as I really thought it was going to be more than 10km!

I definitely felt the tired legs from working out first as I didn’t hit a decent pace until my watch clicked to 5km. I guess I can blame the pre-run workout, the humidity and the dumb blister on my foot that just isn’t healing:(

I am obviously running more now as I can really tell the difference between trail and road shoes. I had thought we would be on the road so wore those shoes but we were mainly on trails and I really noticed the lack of stability and grip. Does this mean I am a real runner now 🤣🤪

Socializing:

I met up with the ladies from work for our social distanced Friday social tonight. I fully admit to being an introvert, but even I need some social time each week and I throughly enjoy these two hours. We don’t say anything important but it is nice to catch up with everyone.

Eating:

I had better go back to telling you what I’m eating as I’m feeling roly poly lately. Today I had:

2 slices (homemade and tiny so they equal one slice) of bread with Pb and cheese

Mandarin orange, 8 strawberries, 10 almonds

corn chips and salsa (one of the girls brought them for me as she brought baked goods for everyone else)

shrimp

It’s not quite what I want, but maybe I can get it right over the weekend!

House:

I got my plants watered, my laundry done, my bike tires inflated, and my dishes done- I’m a happy camper!

Knitting:

I worked on the Floridian cowl again and got another pattern repeat done so I think I am exactly halfway through the cowl now.

Reading:

I’m reading a very entertaining book but am not done yet. So far it has excellent banter. I also have continued listening to the Semi Attached Couple while I’m knitting. I had to give up on the podcasts as the hosts’ stupidity was driving me crazy!!!

Well I’m going back to my baking shows!

Have fun!

AJ

Breathe A Little Easier

It was a better day!

Teaching:

Another day spent on FreshGrade. I responded to all assignments which definitely takes up the most time. I also got the rest of the activities for next week imputed. I actually had enough time to sit down and breathe and I didn’t feel so crazed. I heard back from one parent who hasn’t posted anything and I emailed another. I hope I hear back from that family too as I really don’t want to have to put forward anyone’s name to the school.

Shopping:

I got to go pick up my new bike tire pump today. It was my first experience of curbside pickup and was quite lovely! I want this all the time!

Eating:

I wasn’t too bad, but I did go get ice cream as a reward for finally doing my taxes. I know I shouldn’t reward myself with food, but there’s not much else you can do right now. The ice cream was definitely worth it- mango!

Cooking:

I had to admit my sourdough starter was a flop so I poured it out and got my mom’s recipe from my brother. It will have to wait until I get potatoes and flour, but I’m excited to try again.

Knitting:

I have gotten 1/3 of the secretary’s cowl done and one pattern of the second sweater shoulder. Good enough for one day!

Family:

I have spoken to my nephew and brother today. My nephew seems to really like calling me and chatting lately so I am completely taking advantage of this fad while it lasts!!!

Watching:

Tonight I discovered theCanadian Baking Show and I’m going back to it now.

Have fun!

AJ

First This Way, Then That Way

I would just really like answers, though I suppose that’s asking for too much right now.

Exercise:

I went for my run this morning even though I didn’t want to go in the rain, but I am so close to being caught up on mileage, that I had to go! It was much slower than normal, but I’m going to blame that on the slippery wooden pier that I added in so I wouldn’t have to run the parking lot at the end🤣

This evening I did a new workout on YouTube that a parent recommended to me. It was fabulous! I have not been that sweaty of a mess in a while. It had a ton of abs at the start, then a ten minute cardio bootcamp component and then yoga, so I got it all in. I think I’m going to feel those ab exercises tomorrow!

Teaching:

Today was a day of being on FreshGrade. I responded to the assignments at the start and end of the day as I am trying to keep up on them so they don’t overwhelm me. I spent the rest of the day creating activities for next week. At one point I had to go change my shirt because I was doing a video for a different day. (I did put on my newest handknit so they could all see it😜). I also had to send a video to a parent today telling her I was still her teacher and to get to work. Mom said she started the day by bursting into tears and saying she didn’t want mom to be her teacher anymore and she wanted to go back to school right now 🤣🤣🤣🤣I feel for some of these parents!

I watched the webinar at noon but I think that will be my last one unless it’s on FreshGrade or something I use. My brain is hurting too much from all of this learning and I’m working longer hours than I do when I go to school!

Knitting:

Tonight I have been working on a cowl for my secretary, but I’ve just had to tink back so it might be time to quit for the night.

Well that’s my spectacularly exciting day (sarcastic voice).

Have fun!

AJ

Ugh Not Again!

It was a pretty good day:)

Exercise:

I met up with Dennis to do another part of the dyke. I thought we would do five km out and five back, but his knee was bugging him so we turned at 2.75km. We still made 5.4km so that’s perfectly fine with me. I was surprised that this part of the dyke was actually much closer to the part we regularly run than I was expecting. Nice to know that I could do a giant loop if I ever felt like it:)

This evening I just did a few an exercises as my body wasn’t feeling up for much.

Teaching:

Today again felt a little bit calmer. I checked work that was submitted and planned with Liane for next week. We are hoping that now that we know how to copy lessons to each other, the prep process will go much faster. I guess we shall see over tomorrow and Thursday.

Medical:

I had called my doctor to see if I should go for my standing lab tests and she said yes. I kept an eye on the app and went just before lunch when the wait was only twelve minutes. My results are already in and once again I have a low platelet count and a low iron count. That iron infusion didn’t even last me three months. So I guess I’ll be dealing with the low iron thing again. Hopefully I get an infusion before I’m crazy low again. Everyone keeps asking how I feel, but I’m the last person to ask that as (my mom will tell you) I just keep pushing to do everything no matter how I feel🤣. The worst part of the iron test, other than the results, is how much my arm hurts afterwards!

Knitting:

I finally got one shoulder done! 🎊🎉. Tomorrow I will start on the other. The pattern repeat is getting slightly easier though I definitely have to concentrate or else I end up having to tink:(

Games:

My friend introduced me to Scrabble Go today and boy is it fun!!

Eating:

I had away better eating day today and I think it’s because I thought it out last night. I’ll have to continue to do that!

Shopping:

I gave in and did some online shopping tonight. I got a bicycle tire pump and some Nuun andHobey Stingers for running. Really exciting, huh🤣🤣. It is amazing g how quickly you can spend money online though!!

Well I’m going to go curl up with a book.

Have fun!

AJ