Lazy W Marie

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

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friday 5 at the farm: early summer joys

Friday already? Yes, it’s Friday! Wow. We just accomplished another full-to-bursting work week and are sliding fast and furious toward the weekend. I couldn’t be happier. Actually, Handsome and I were just reflecting on how these past couple of weeks have been particularly satisfying. Filled with all sorts of boxes checked, obstacles demolished, attitudes refreshed. Prayers answered, too, let’s not forget that. We sure can’t take all the credit for being in a place of peace and contentment. Thankfully, the goodness around us far exceeds what we are capable of drumming up ourselves.

Real quick, how about a Friday 5 at the Farm?

Here are some things bringing me total and utter joy this week.

#1: Baby chicks are growing! Mama Hen and her little flock of six are happy and energetic. We love them.

#2: Some foot TLC, including new stretches and a topical anti-inflammatory. After a break that felt much longer than 3 days, I finally logged 8.2 glorious, humid miles between Thursday evening and Friday morning and am super grateful to be back at it.

#3: Homegrown salads! Every big bowl is layered with a variety of lettuces and greens, raw veggies, and farm fresh eggs. I could live on this meal. Actually, I kind of do.

#4: This overflowing trough garden and our new flat deck make me happy every single day. In the early morning hours, the light is lavender and pink and the birdsong is orchestral. By midday the dragonflies are buzzing low and I crave my best lawn chair and a good book for soaking up the sun in privacy. Early evening brings cooler temperatures and lacy shadows from those oak trees. And if we are lucky enough to step outside at night, we are rewarded with velvet black, diamond-crusted skies and lots of frog song. At any hour, I love to brush my hand across the globe basil planted here and bring the fragrance with me. Even my husband notices.

#5: An evening at Vacation Bible School with our Jedi OKC friends! Man that was fun. So many happy kids and so many stellar people making good things happen for them.

 

And with that, we are off to the next chapter. What daily gifts have brought you loads of utter and complete joy this week?

Carpe those diems, friends, they are rare and beautiful.

“I promise if you keep searching for everything
rare and beautiful in this world,
eventually you will become it.”
~T.K. White
XOXOXOXO

 

 

2nd of 7 simple improvements to my running lately

(UPDATES MADE ON JULY 20th)

This is part two of a seven-post series on things I’ve discovered to greatly improve my own running.

7 Simple Improvements to Running

  1. Dynamic Warm Ups before every single run, no matter what.
  2. Tweaks in Running Form (thanks again Mickey!)
  3. Longer, more mindful stretching cool-downs
  4. Abs, Glutes, & Hips! Actually all sorts of cross training, but especially core work.
  5. Diet Improvements, especially migrating toward the “Queen-Princess-Pauper” pattern.
  6. Intuitive Living, all the things we do daily to re-learn how to trust our own bodies
  7. Attitude and Outlook! Gratitude every day, for every mile, no matter what.

I shared part one last week, dynamic warm ups, and a bunch of you had great insights to share. Thank you! I really love having a wide circle of running friends and always welcome your input!

Full disclosure: As I refine this post on Monday evening, June 19th, I am on another unplanned running hiatus. That springtime injury which I have been sort of bragging about having resolved on my own? Ha! Well, this past weekend it flared up again, leaving me at a pretty distinct and painful limp. So between now and early Thursday morning, when I see my orthopedic doctor, no running at all. Very much a bummer. But I am determined to be smart and keep the long term recovery in mind this time. I will keep you posted.

Despite my recurring pain, I still think the following advice is sound.

Improving my running form did help me get back out there, and it helped me feel better day after day. Anyway. I don’t think you can find any good body of running information that doesn’t stress good form.

Spring 2015, another zombie bolt 5k, this one with an obstacle course that included a pond full of suds!

Running Form: Our friend Mickey is an avid runner, on a streak actually that as of July 20, 2017 is 964 days long, and he recently suggested I look closely at my running form to see if a couple of tweaks could reduce foot pain. He said to keep my stride shorter and lean forward a bit, so that my feet fall more or less beneath my hips. He described a way of “asking myself” how something might feel, and I just grooved that.

I had for so long thought that in order to run well I had to run hard and aggressively. What a refreshing idea that shorter, sweeter, softer strides could get me a pretty good workout and protect my feet, too.

I guess I had at some point realized that heel strike was not ideal but over-corrected to running nearly on my tip toes. At least during speed work, which was largely my focus during the weeks I first noticed that injury. Lots of ill-aligned, high-impact, sloppy landings on the balls of my feet must surely have put unhealthy pressure on my arches, which caused me to twist my feet away from the pain, which then made my knee ligaments tight, etcetera.

The hip bone’s connected to the knee bone. The knee bone’s connected to the foot bone!

So Mickey’s advice to relax my leg reach and try to land my feet under my hips was super helpful.

Also: Relax your upper body and pump your arms lightly if at all (unless it’s a speed day), especially your hands, pretending to hold a potato chip between your finger and thumb, and tilt only slightly forward. Then see about tightening your glutes and belly (CORE!!) so much that your could hold a $100 bill between your cheeks as you run. Ha! The first time i read that I laughed so hard. But it helps, and it’s great reinforcement for all the core work we know we should be doing.

Before we get too worried about having to keep track of a million details while running (running should mostly be relaxing, right?) let me suggest what works for me, when it does work:

Just use your warm up miles or so to get in a groove. Find your pace and settle in, getting your posture and stride and everything comfortable, then stop thinking about it. Maybe when your Garmin beeps a mile or every other mile, do a little mental sweep of your body to see if you’re okay. You probably are.

That photo of me above was taken two years ago, back when I wasn’t overthinking anything and my body responded well. I was happy and comfortable and had no idea about my pace or anything. Sometimes I think I should have just kept running and never tried to get better, ha!

By the way. A bonus benefit of improving my form recently was a slightly better “easy effort” pace. Again, while it lasted. This past weekend I happened to be sprinting when the sharp pain returned, so who knows.

Hopefully by Thursday I will be armed with some good doctor’s visit info to share.

Side note: We met Mickey and his wife Kellie through Trisha and her husband Brad. So many great people in our life! We are very grateful.

Gotta go. I hope this helps, and I really hope that if you have some insight you will feel encouraged to share it!

Happy running, and stay safe!
XOXOXOXO

scaling back & happy about it

Does anybody else have the disease where you cannot just learn and enjoy a simple skill without wanting to launch it into a massive community effort, or maybe a career, or under the right circumstances… a life calling? I for sure have that. It took me many years to admit it to myself, and I could do lots of armchair self-analysis to explain how I got to this point (hello leaving the public work force and still feeling guilty 17 year later)…

…But the bottom line is that I’m withdrawing from the Farmers’ Market and textiles business for a while. And yes, I definitely use the word “business” loosely here. Generously. Ironically. With loads of rainbows in my eyes and that haze of imagination around my head.

Why can’t I just have yoga deck and occasionally enjoy it with friends without brainstorming how to develop it into a yoga retreat space?

Why can’t I just cultivate the max amount of fruits, herbs, eggs and veggies that our family will eat without thinking I am morally obligated to sell enough to pay off our house?

Case in point: I made a gorgeous, decadent small batch of jelly yesterday from plums grown here on the farm and basically thought my name should be Smuckers. I agonized for three and a half hours over the economics of scale and what was wrong with me. See what I mean?

Why can’t I just sew gifts for people here and there without thinking I need to make an apron name for myself and compete with Jessie Steele or, more recently, the PW herself? Ha. Yeah, I know she doesn’t sit at home and sew those herself, but you get the idea. It’s a defeating train of thought and ultimately a grand waste of time and energy.

The thing is, none of these impulses are borne of wanting to fill a gap, not exactly. I mean maybe just a little. Really, it’s that my daily and weekly and monthly routines are so indulgent, so extravagant and satisfying, that keeping it all to myself feels weird. And yet, adding a variety of outbound, money-focused projects to the mix is just too much. It spoils everything.

Maybe I should just open a hippie commune.

I am kidding!

Mostly.

Enough for now. I just wanted to check in and say that, despite so many enthusiastic Facebook posts and private conversations lately, I will not be at any local farmers’ markets this summer. Nor am I likely to do a bunch of sewing unless you contact me privately for a special project. I have my hands full at the farm and am also happy to see some family changes coming down the road, for which I want to keep my time open.

Life is beautiful. So beautiful I just want to share it more often. That’s all.

Love you, friends. Thank you as always for checking in. I hope that however you spend it, you have the most satisfying day.

Carpe Diem
XOXOXOXO

1st of 7 simple improvements to my running lately

Howdy and a very happy Motivation Monday to you!

I have been reflecting a bit on what changes recently have made the biggest improvements to my running and overall well-being.

After doing lots (and I mean LOTS) of reading and podcast stalking as well as quizzing my running friends about their habits then experimenting with all of this information in my own ways, I have felt better and better. These past few months have been a delicious learning curve for which I am so thankful, despite a couple of injuries and missed races.

Looking at all of this I see seven distinct changes or additions to my routine, seven things I think will stick around a long time. Five of these are outward or straight up physical; two are more in my head or even… spiritual.

I am a sucker for lists and reflections like this from other people, so hopefully you’ll find this interesting. My plan is to write a separate post about each one, beginning tonight with the first, dynamic warm ups.

7 Simple Improvements to Running

  1. Dynamic Warm Ups before every single run, no matter what.
  2. Tweaks in Running Form (thanks again Mickey!)
  3. Longer, more mindful stretching cool-downs
  4. Abs, Glutes, & Hips! Actually all sorts of cross training, but especially core work.
  5. Diet Improvements, especially migrating toward the “Queen-Princess-Pauper” pattern.
  6. Intuitive Living, all the things we do daily to re-learn how to trust our own bodies
  7. Attitude and Outlook! Gratitude every day, for every mile, no matter what.

 

Dynamic Warm Ups:

The very first event I ever ran was in the autumn of 2012, a 5k Zombie Bolt, which I convinced my then brand-new friend Trisha to run also. It was SUCH fun and definitely had a lot to do with me getting hooked on running, on races, just all of it. I also got a bit hooked on Trisha. She is a spectacular human being.

This day was also my first introduction to dynamic warm ups, though I didn’t know they were called that: As we walked around before the actual run, I noticed two men dressed head to toe in neon running gear, performing these wild leg swings and exaggerated high knee kicks, plus a series of other bizarre activities that were completely foreign to me. “Umm, what the heck? Do they think this is the Olympics? That’s so dumb.”

I sort of thought it was dumb and was also secretly fascinated. I assumed they were just very serious runners and was happy that we were just there for some zombies and silliness.

With Trisha in 2012. We had so much fun that day!!
A zombie scared me and I ran off course.

The moment stuck with me, and five years later I finally understand what the heck they were doing: They were giving their bodies a simple dynamic warm up to prevent injury. Because YES even a quick little 3-mile run has the potential to do some damage to a cold, stiff body, and injuries can plant you on the couch quickly. No runner, whether serious or not, likes to be kept from running.

In recent weeks I have discovered that most runner neglect this to their own peril. I have also learned that had I been doing more warming up I might have avoided some ligament strains.

My warm up routine is based on one I found by Kara Goucher:

  • Leg swings
  • Lateral twisting squats
  • Butt kicks
  • High knees
  • Fire hydrants
  • etc.

It only takes a few minutes. And besides waking up my joints and large muscles, this ritual also helps me feel excited for the run. I check in with my body overall (injuries, energy level, gratitude for a million healthy things) then mentally set my intention for whatever miles are planned (am I angry, sad, happy, do I have a decision to make and pray about, a party or menu to plan, did I dream something weird last night that needs to be sorted out, etc), and I get my music going. These pre-run minutes have become wonderfully fruitful.

Do I actually feel different while running after doing this? YES! Much looser and sort of… yummy. Even my upper body feels more relaxed. Another measurable benefit is that after that injury I was able to inch back into a sturdy weekly mileage using these warm ups. A mile or two the first day, then more and more, steadily, comfortably. It was like heaven. Right now I am running maybe 33-40 miles per week, always warming up first, and feel great.

Okay, confession: If I am at a public trail or in a parking lot, sometimes I feel goofy doing the warm up, like maybe someone will notice and regard me the way I regarded those guys five years ago, “GAH! Does she think she’s in the Olympics? That’s so dumb!” But oh well. I would rather look silly to a stranger than be sad on the couch, nursing a preventable injury.

So that is my first improvement lately, and I am pretty happy about the results. See you soon for thoughts on running form.

“If you don’t have time for the little things,
you don’t have time for running.”
~Janae Jacobs
XOXOXOXO

 

 

 

going by feel

I had scribbled this down in my notebook a full week before it all clicked. Our friends Mickey and Kellie visited the farm on Memorial Day, and together with my sister Angela and brother Philip we all luxuriated in some pretty great conversation. As the golden hour grew purple and the honeybees were going to bed, we explored the vegetable garden together. I was pulling errant weeds, and Kellie asked how to tell the weeds from the plants. Our visit was nearing an end, so I just tried to answer briefly. You know that feeling when starting a brand new conversation would have been too much? But she and I had shared thoughtful vibrations about so many other things, how I wished to explore this with her that night!

Private note: This has both of my grandfathers wrapped up in its sentences: My paternal Grandpa Dunaway who was a sharp-witted, light-hearted writer and has always been my personal Will Rogers (also son to Papa Joe the slightly famous beekeeper), and my maternal Grandpa Rex, who you know by now was the world’s best gardening mentor and given to much puttering in exactly his own style.

bare-handed & going by feel

Assuming all basic safety from garter snakes, burrowing frogs, and other deadly creatures, the best way to pull weeds is bare-handed. After a brief re-acquaintance between the inner edge of the forefinger, the first pad of the thumb, and the exact dimensions of every upwardly mobile green thing in the garden, the task becomes commonplace, an easy old dance, even more familiar (and I will say more useful) than riding a bike.

The fuzzy, round barrel chest of a cucumber vine is easy to distinguish from the skinny weeds growing thick against it, though the weeds are also fuzzy. Another fuzzy-stemmed neighbor, the tomato plant (blunt and wounded thanks to a llama without borders) has a somewhat squared off base, and is woodier. Alpha and well rooted. Vastly different except for the green and the fuzz.

The gardener should be able to go at the task with eyes closed, flicking gingerly from one thread of life to the next, deciding which can stay and which should be plucked out. Just a swift, underhanded twist of that well informed forefinger, and the cooperating palm is filled with chlorophyll and potential energy, one tiny decision at a time.

If, in a fit of momentum, the gardener grazes too near a bed of arugula, crushing a few leaves or maybe even uprooting a thread like seedling or two, then the sharp, peppery fragrance will announce the misstep quickly. A friendly alarm to redirect, so that no more than a trace of food is lost. And even that bit of green will find its way to a happy chicken’s belly.

This is one of my favorite things about easy gardening moments. Pulling weeds bare handed and getting really up close and personal with every shape and texture, usually with my eyes closed.

And it points gently to so many Universal messages I have been receiving lately. Messages about being quiet, going about my work more privately, relaxing into the moment so much that I can keep moving with my eyes closed. Trust and steady movement, knowing that nothing is wasted. Believing that every detail in this complex life is beautiful and useful. Acknowledging that as different as I feel from people near me, we have some things in common.

Most of all, the message that it’s okay to operate by instinct once you are informed and practiced. That is exciting. 

I love you and miss you Grandpa Dunaway, I love you and miss you Grandpa Rex, and I love you too Kellie. I am so happy to know you better and better.

Go by feel and trust in Love
XOXOXOXO

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