Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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6 running lessons from September

Hello, happy October!! Can you believe it? Does it feel like October to you yet? I still keep thinking it’s June, you guys. Our gradual shift in weather is beginning to convince me, though, and I am actually happy about that. I am on board with the ever-so-slightly cooler temps, the terribly slow-changing leaves, and a few pumpkin recipes. I feel grateful for how gently this new season has arrived.

I’m checking in to review fitness goals, etc.

September was a strong running month for me. I feel great overall. And along the way, a few good lessons were reinforced to me that you might find useful, too. 

001 Those Little Extras are Actually Big Essentials

I am fully convinced that the following rituals and healthy habits have not only kept me injury free since springtime but have also enhanced my general sense of well being:

  • dynamic warm-ups before each run (just 5-7 minutes)
  • deep, slow stretching after each run (breathe light into your muscles, haha!)
  • lifting weights 2-3 times per week (at MOST, and I am talking BABY weights, for maybe 20-30 minutes per session)
  • doing focused core strengthening and one-leg balancing moves when the mood strikes (your core includes a lot more than those flat upper abs, haha! Get strong in your lower belly, hips, & glutes to see a major improvement to running power as well as foot health.)
  • running in a fasted state more often but replenishing with a lot of nutrition pretty soon after a workout
  • spreading protein more evenly throughout the day
  • foam rolling my legs and massaging my feet while watching tv at night
  • YOGA (although I only did it a few times this past month, every time I did yoga it felt luscious and I was reminded to do it more often)
please enjoy my messy weights corner of the laundry garage xoxoxo

002 Adaptation is a Slow, Beautiful Process

What fun that some things that used to be difficult for me, now feel way easier. I am in love with that rush of energy from sprinting an 800m repeat until I can barely feel my feet, or of completing a solid tempo run with energy to spare. Chipping away at a mileage goal is great, but feeling the actual differences in my body is the big thrill. Not too long ago I was scared of certain SOS workouts that I now get excited about. And this will sound ridiculous, but the stronger I get, the higher up to my hip bone I can feel those long leg muscles. That’s crazy. Ha.

003 Quality of Thought is Just as Important as a Healthy Diet

I cannot tell you how many times last month I was having a pretty great run and nonchalantly allowed my thoughts to slip into a sad memory or a frustrating life problem or melodrama, and my body nearly shut down. My legs suddenly felt heavy, my heart rate spiked, and I became hyperfocused on my Garmin, which (naturally) was giving me lots of negative feedback, and it all would make me crazy for a few minutes. 

The funny thing to me is that, sure, running is not always about performance. Often we get out there just to feel better emotionally. And on those, days, I might let my heart and mind wander a bit more and indulge in some crying while sweating. But even then I do try to reign it into a prayerful conversation with God, rather than just have a pity party. And on those days I make sure to set the intention of “slow and easy, mellow effort, low heart rate, focus on relaxing.” It helps. 

On the days I need fast intervals or just want to feel strong and capable, I focus and keep my brain in a very happy lane. I keep the reigns pretty tight on my imagination and also select music and podcasts carefully to avoid a surprise bummer.

004 Inspiration Beats Intimidation

My friend Robin gently reminded me of this a few weeks ago. I have a good, natural tendency to cheer other people on with their goals. It feels great to me and also helps me stay connected to loved ones, like my little brother who recently crushed his half marathon in DC!! And I just love learning from other people’s journeys.

But since I am not personally racing any time soon, and also I am not the caliber of runner most of my friends are, I will sometimes get that dreaded “FOMO” and start thinking loser thoughts about myself. Robin helped me restore my positive attitude. She gave me the vocabulary to draw inspiration from others, rather than allow myself to feel intimidated but their accomplishments.

I love that. And I love Robin.

005 Small Efforts Add Up

This past month I ran a total of 205 miles, but never more than 13 in one day, and I stayed plenty busy the rest of my life too, while not running, ha! The month felt really easy. I think it’s noteworthy and exciting that we can gently increase our running volume each week (each day) while staying active, productive, healthy and happy in the rest of our beautiful lives. For all of September, I never once felt so drained that I could not do my housework, farm stuff, gardening, or hanging out with loved ones. I’m thankful for that. Just a good reminder that a little extra each day, especially at an easy pace, adds up.

006 Gratitude Always

Every single run, even the ones when I tripped and bloodied my knees and elbows, ended with giving lots of thanks. And I think it matters.

Thanks for every single mile, for the health and strength to do it, for the freedom and safety, for the financial means to buy good shoes and have a car that drives me where I want to run, for the abundance of time to do something I love that greatly enhances my health, for the emotional release of it all, the mental sharpness and alone-time therapy running provides, the weather and scenery, just everything.

Sometimes after a run, I would thank God for answering my worries about a family member or for urging me to do something that day which maybe had not been on my radar yet. He talks to me, and I feel connected in these solitary hours. I am super duper, very extremely thankful.

What do you think of these lessons? Do they ring true for your running or for some other part of your healthy life?

October has already started strong for me, with a 10-mile easy run yesterday and 8 miles with my friend Sheila today, which included a really fun fartlek workout and breakfast together afterward. I am excited to chase a few goals leading up to Halloween, and the “run the year” finale is well within reach.

I have no idea about races any time soon, but whatever life brings I’ll hold these seven lessons close along the way.

Happy Running! Happy Everything!
XOXOXOXO

 

pumpkin-coconut soup, simplified

Ahhh soup weather. Oklahoma is finally enjoying a comfortable dip in both temperatures and humidity, so our windows are open and our menu is featuring soup here and there.

Last weekend our dear friends Mickey and Kellie joined us for a casual dinner of old-fashioned chicken and dumplings and newly developed pumpkin-coconut soup. (Food choices is a great idea around here, with a carnivore and a vegetable nut living under one roof.) Kellie brought the most glorious Autumn Harvest salad (pecans, goat cheese, and mustard vinaigrette!) and two substantial loaves of pumpkin bread. Just delicious. We did not purposefully coordinate our pumpkin theme, it just happened naturally. And it’s not the first time, either, ha!

Hashtag Themed Dinners.

Hashtag Menu-Forward.

Okay.

The boys feasted on chicken and dumplings. That pumpkin-coconut soup is one of my personal favorites, and Kellie liked it too. I was so happy. Since that experimental time a few Decembers ago, I have fooled around with the recipe a bit, simplified it actually, and today I’m sharing it all over again for a few people who asked about it on Instagram.

I ate these high-protein, vitamin-packed leftovers for a late lunch on Sunday,
following that delicious pie-sampling event at Savory Spice in OKC.
(I owe you that story too!) I felt totally reset after this lunch.
Supremely nourished, very comfortable. xoxo

Pumpkin-Coconut Soup is one of those “use what you have and then add things as the mood strikes you” type of recipes. Have fun!!

Here are the basics, I have typed in bold the ingredients that seem to set this soup apart:

  • olive oil and basic spices for sauteeing veggies of choice
  • spices like sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, ginger, cumin, curry powder, garlic, turmeric.
  • finely diced “trinity” type veggies like carrots, celery, garlic, etc (you might use onion)
  • 1 can pumpkin puree (15 ounces)
  • 1-2 cans crushed tomatoes (15 ounces)
  • 1/3 cup of full-fat coconut milk (maybe more)
  • chicken broth to the thinness of soup you like
  • shredded cooked chicken (I like breast meat, you do YOU)
  • seeds and fresh herbs for topping (we used sweet basil and roasted sunflower kernels this time, the only limit is your imagination!)

Easy, Intuitive Method, as all the best soups are made:

  • Probably your chicken is already cooked and ready to reheat and add to the soup, right? Ok. Have it coming to room temperature while you begin. 
  • Chop and sautee you trinity veggies, seasoning liberally as you go. Allow so much more time than you think, so the base can get nice and soft and mushy and flavorful. Low and slow. Simmery and sultry. Listen to either a TED talk or French music, to encourage the process.
  • Add the crushed tomatoes, pumpkin puree, and some of the coconut milk, stirring affectionately until it is all incorporated and simmering nicely again.
  • Eventually start adding chicken broth to achieve the thinness you like your soup that day, knowing it will reduce and thicken the longer it cooks. This time I added a full “box” of broth instead of just two cups, and I liked it a lot more.
  • Add the cooked chicken. Small, tender pieces are best.
  • Taste and see that the soup is good.
  • Give thanks for things like curry and fresh herbs that you suddenly remember having. 
  • Consider texting your husband to see if he can pick up some roasted pepitas on the way home from the City then decide against that because it’s not worth defending your use of the word “pepitas” over just “pumpkin seeds,” and anyway are TED talks even still a thing, babe? Decide with confidence that sunflower kernels will do great.

The soup is now complete and ready to slurp decadently. Maybe drizzle more coconut milk on top, then garnish in every fancy way you crave. Just know that you will want to lick the bowl clean. It’s warm and filling and the vitamins explode into your bloodstream in the most magnificent, joyful, life-affirming way. I like it served hot alongside a cold, crunchy salad and warm sourdough bread, but who wouldn’t?

I am pretty basic in that way, ha. 

Okay, happy soup weather to you! I hope you try this and find your own twists and ways to make it perfect for you and your people. Please send me the details you discover. Soup will be on the Lazy W menu again soon, and I love all kinds of variations.

And what TED talks are you watching lately? 

“Just as food eaten without appetite is a tedious nourishment,
so does study without zeal damage the memory
by not assimilating what it absorbs.”
~Leonardo da Vinci
XOXOXO

 

a different mustard seed parable

Friends, here is a Mustard Seed parable for you to soak in. But probably not the one you already know. One of the hundreds of delicious little treasures I want to share with you from The Book of Joy is a new way to think of grief and how it connects us to each other.

This story is a Buddhist fable shared by the Dalai Lama. I’m just going to quiet the short paragraph directly from the book:

“A woman lost her child and was inconsolable in her grief, carrying her dead child throughout the land, begging for someone to help heal her child. When she came to the Buddha, she begged him to help her. He told him he could help her if she would collect mustard seeds for the medicine. She eagerly agreed, but then the Buddha explained that the mustard seeds needed to come from a home that had not been touched by death. When the woman visited each house in search of the mustard seeds that might heal her son, she discovered there was no house that had not suffered the loss fo a parent, or a spouse, or a child. Seeing that her suffering was not unique, she was able to bury her child in the forest and release her grief.”

It doesn’t have to be death, though that is a loss that will eventually unite all of us and possibly the one we all fear the most. I can easily think of several bright, terrifying moments of grief in my own life that have actually softened the more I looked around and saw that other people had lived through the same, or worse. Usually much worse. I bet you would agree.

Seeing that her suffering was not unique, she was able to release her grief.

There’s a lot of comfort available in a loving community. And if we can open up enough, there’s a lot of healing and learning that can happen too. How do people survive trauma? How do they make sense of tragedy? How do they cope, and how do they thrive despite their circumstances and mistakes?

In friendships where I feel comfortable sharing the darkest chapters of our family’s story, and when I can be steady-nerved enough to listen to other people’s darkest chapters, God always shows up. He always showers this peaceful, soothing veil over all the chaos and fear. He answers by reminding me that we are not alone. We are neither the first nor the last to be terrified, and His Love accomplishes actual miracles. 

Things are hardly ever as bad as they feel when we think we are alone. When we think our suffering is unique.

Relax a little, into some trusted community. Dare to open up to other people’s suffering, if only to realize how not unique your own suffering is. Then let all of that emotion turn into compassion. And let that compassion turn to hope. 

Check in again soon for more about community (Ubuntu, in the African tradition) and a couple of delicious mustard seed recipes. I wanted to include all of this together, but it’s just so much.

Happy Sunday friends. Thank you for checking in.

“A person is a person through other persons.”
~Archbishop Desmond Tutu
XOXOXO

 

 

friday 5 at the farm: highlights from the week

Five Stories & Memories Worth Keeping from Labor Day Week, 2018:

#1 Nourished

We welcomed September with a Polish feast at our beloved Sperrys’ home.

Pierogis (first for me!), kielbasa, sauerkraut, a big crunchy green salad, and then dessert…

Dessert may not have been authentically Polish, but I guarantee nobody cared. It was called “Banoffee Pie,” and it has changed our lives.

It’s a prebaked pie shell filled with slices of banana, which are drowned in a sea of homemade caramel, and all of it is then topped with a thick cloud of homemade whipped cream, and then some grated dark chocolate because Kellie loves us a lot. I googled the recipe and discovered that sometimes they are made on a shortbread crust, which I am sure is delicious as well. We ate it fresh that night with Kellie and Mickey; then we nibbled leftovers greedily for two full days. It’s one of those desserts that gets better with a little time in the refrigerator. Yum!

Evenings with the Sperrys are so great. We always eat well, which is sharing a meal, which is different than just grabbing a bite with someone. We laugh a ton. And we have deep and meandering, free-form conversations about anything and everything, all four of us. It’s pretty great.

Complete with so many pup cuddles, too. We are in love with their three dogs. This time, after dinner we joined them for a walk around the block. Don’t you love it when your friendships begin to include not just the big, orchestrated events but also the simpler pleasures and routines in life? 

#2 Season of Transition

Pool Season 2018 has been winding down. Every week, we have tried to spend as much time out there as possible. Whether we were in the thick of a tropical heat wave or hunkering down beneath more heavy rain, the pool has been surprisingly comfortable. But those temperature swings and the growing algae are making it all unmanageable. So Labor Day Week is very likely pool closing week at the W.

We are thankful to have been swimming for so many consecutive months this year. It’s been a lot of fun, especially with Bill the Rodeo Inflata-Bull. Ha! In fact, on Wednesday afternoon Jess (our youngest) brought a friend to the farm. They had a pretty entertaining competition over who could stay on longest. It seems there is a technique to not just staying on, but also to the getting on in the first place. If Summer 2019 includes more chlorine rodeo fun, we may have to agree upon a scoring system.  

P.S. I often tell the kids when I snap photos of them visiting the farm, that I will not share the photos online, haha! This is really tragic because they are all gorgeous kids and always take such fun and interesting photos! Anyway.  Please enjoy, instead, a photo of our dinner table garden bouquet and Jessica’s homemade pumpkin pie. Absolutely delicious! She altered the recipe in a few ways, and everyone loved it! 

#3 Back to Work

Having enjoyed so much time off together in August, this first week of Septemeber, although slightly shortened thanks to Labor Day, felt weird without Handsome at home.

The shift in weather definitely enhanced the overall feeling of a new season. It’s almost like back to school, although those particular autumn routines are far in our household’s past. Each “workday” for me this week has been packed with productivity, and my energy has been good and steady. I am noticing that Virgo draw toward deep cleaning and lots of order. I just miss our late lunches and easy afternoons, chilling together. xoxo It was another very good staycation. 

#4 Wet, Unfueled Run & God’s Timing

I had planned on a 12 mile run for early this morning. I ate a good dinner Thursday night and slept well. Unfortunately, we woke up to not just the predicted rain, but flash flood warnings. I normally would eat a bite of peanut butter toast or something before a run that long, but given the time crunch, I decided to just get to the trail asap and grab as many miles as possible, then see what the day might hold. (Treadmill finish is always an option.)

I ran and ran, giving thanks for the excellent glycogen stores from last night’s chicken and broccoli-rice, clicking off one mile at a time. The rain stayed soft and gentle, with lots of black clouds but no lightning and no floods. So I kept running. Eventually, I hit 9 miles at that easy pace then got really tired and really hungry, haha. Then the asphalt got slippery, so all of that together meant that I slowed down quite a bit. The morning finished with exactly 11 miles, injury free, ha! 

This story is worth remembering because YES we can do more than we are prepared to do and because YES if God’s timing can be trusted with the big miracles in life, then surely His timing can also be trusted with little things. One mile at a time.

#5 Thoughts on Loop

I almost cannot stop thinking about a few topics:

  • Adaptogens and adaptation, not just in health and fitness but in all areas of life. Humans are so adaptable! 
  • Will I ever be able to grow zucchini again without squash bugs making me crazy? (spoiler alert, unlikely)
  • The fine line between prayer and meditation and how slow-paced running is definitely related
  • The movie Interstellar (which I haven’t seen in a couple of years but the themes are always with me)
  • Granola, mostly pumpkin infused with lots of coconut, nuts & seeds, and dark chocolate
  • Exactly what to plant in the two big rubber troughs flanking the barn mural

Regarding those trough planters in the above photo: I have some ideas but would love your suggestions! They are both filled almost to the top with well rotted manure, they get eastern exposure, and they are some of the first things you see before parking your car along the gravel drive. I would love some ideas for year round liveliness or at least seasonal color. Thanks!!

Bonus Content:

Friends, we have a few huge miracles brewing, from several areas of life. We have for so many months asked for prayer, and we appreciate every single one.

Now we are in a season of giving thanks. Giving thanks for the present moment, for the hope that keeps us moving, and for the ever increasing evidence that God is working behind the scenes in supernatural ways.

Please keep it up! And please know that we are thrilled to send you Love and pray for you every time you need it. Just let me know.

Tomorrow is Jocelyn’s 23rd birthday. I am so happy and so grateful, I keep catching myself giggling and weeping over it all. 

God is good. Life is beautiful. The whole adventure is just amazing.

Happy September!! Talk again soon!

XOXOXOXO

the trouble with having a lot of words in your mouth & fingers

About a week ago I issued a mild rant on Facebook about how shiveringly cold the stores all seem to be during the summer months. Like, I had been grabbing a few groceries and stopping for farm supplies and maybe caught pneumonia. My fingers were numb, you guys, and dark blue. Full disclosure: Being out and about immediately following a sweaty run makes it all worse, and I had forgotten to bring along dry clothes and warm layers, but still. Facebook complaining is fun. Everyone agreed with me on how bitter cold the stores are. I felt vindicated.

Then this past Thursday morning, I prepared for the situation. I set out for my sweaty miles and subsequent errands with dry clothes and a cozy zip-up jacket in tow. I felt like the smartest adulting adult in town, prepared for the arctic retail world. 

Around noon that day, I walked into Sam’s to grab desserts for a party that night. (I have not even told you all about Handsome’s birthday week!) As I entered, the woman attending membership cards and such asked me whether the jacket was a return, or did it belong to me. I launched into a detailed, flowering, and informative discourse about how cold I had been last week, about how in fact my teeth were chattering, and how happy I was to have remembered a jacket this go-round. Obviously, she was about to agree with me, right, and complain a little about the air conditioning or the heat then say good job for remembering a jacket and dry shirt?

Instead, there was an awkward pause, so obviously I filled it with more words.

“It’s just so hot outside, you see, and so cold in here.”

She was non-plussed, just looking at me, not blinking really. Just standing there in her reasonable, climate-appropriate clothing and blue vest with pockets.

“All. you had. to say. is that. it’s yours.” She spoke this plain sentence so carefully that I could see it being diagrammed in the (very cold) air between us.

“Oh, ok, yes, it’s mine.” My voice wavered, having lost all the storytelling enthusiasm from a moment ago. I won’t bother lying to you, friends, it hurt my feelings a little. Did she not agree about how cold it always is in there? Or did she not care? Did I smell bad from sweating profusely? Did I remind her of a mortal enemy?

Which is why I haven’t been blogging much. I have scads of amazing stories to tell you guys, truly amazing ones, stories way better than this, but I literally never know where to start or how to stop or exactly how many details you want. They are all important to me, but what do you want to know?

Do you care about the exact contrast between orange butterflies and hot pink zinnias? Or do you care to read about the drifts of basil I am loving or the hyacinth bean vines that bring everything full circle, or the honeybees? Do you crave to know about how the horses drive me crazy in equal proportion to how much I love them? Or how much my heart is breaking for our friends whose life is recently turned upside down? 

Do you want to know how my fitness experiment went in August, or could you use some killer salad ideas? The Book of Joy probably warrants a straight up Lazy W podcast, I am not even kidding you about that. And all the millions of ways that God has been tending to our needs and desires just astound me. I am shivering more from the thrill of all that than from the cold grocery stores lately. This gradual build-up of strong summer energy and the full moon last week and the beginning of a new season of life, parenthood, sibling relationships, books worth reading and why running is actually really important to me. My gosh, the reasons for not writing have nothing with having nothing to write about.

Meanwhile, my paper spiral notebooks are overflowing with daily entries. The farm is thriving. Our marriage is enjoying a burst of life and flavor that make me crave that bubblegum with a juicy center. Gratitude seems too pale a word for it all. And the days slip past too quickly, even with the yet unanswered prayers keeping us grounded and humbled. Thank you for listening. Don’t forget your jacket, ok?

“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.”
~Allen Ginsberg, quoted in On Being a Writer
XOXOXOXO