Summer Reading List

So, I'm one of those crazy people who decided, when they finally graduated from college, to head right back into a classroom as a teacher - an English teacher, no less. Whenever I tell people what subject I teach, I get the following response probably 80% of the time, "Oh wow. I hated my English teacher!"


I loved my English teachers, which might explain my subject choice. However, I love books more than anything. I actually have to impose "reading hours" upon myself so I make a conscious effort to not sit in my reading chair all day long and forget to eat or workout or spend time with my husband.


I also have a bit of a love affair with bookstores. When I studied in London, I would spend mornings wandering around bookstores while my classmates slept off their hangovers and afternoons underneath trees in Hyde Park Garden reading and dreaming. To this day, I love nothing more than walking into a bookstore without a reading list and just running my fingers along the spines of books.


After spending the last month reading and reviewing young adult novels, I decided to pick up a few new books today. I am super excited to dig into these tomorrow:

• Little Bee - Chris Cleave
• The Book of Lost Things - John Connelly
• Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
• Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

I only have about 45 books left on my Amazon Wishlist, so I'm sure I'll have plenty of books to keep me busy for the rest of the summer. :)


I did a quick run this morning. Here are the stats:

• Total Mileage: 3.04mi
• Total Time: 26:12
• Average Pace: 8:35min/mi

Looking forward to a 5-miler tomorrow morning and girls' night for the Bachelorette tomorrow night!

1. What was your favorite subject in high school?
2. What are you reading this summer? Any other book recommendations for me?

Lazy Sunday

Sunday looked a little bit like Monday (minus the 7 mile run):

When I wasn't reading out by the pool, I was introducing my mom to Green Monsters (I added fresh pineapple - whoah! Super yummy), organizing my "Recipes" page, and finally writing my "About Me" page. I'm also playing with the idea of my first giveaway in the next few weeks, but I need to decide what exactly I'm going to be giving away.

What are you favorite types of giveaways? Food products, dish-ware, books, videos, etc?

Track Star

Lest you think it has been all eating and no running around here, I logged a 7-mile run this morning. This is the longest run I've done in training so far and it felt awesome!

Run Stats:

• Total Mileage: 7mi
• Total Time: 1:01
• Average Pace: 8:45min/mi (whoohoo!! I think this is pretty great for a longer run!)

I was actually scheduled for an 8-mile run today, but since I missed last weekend's 7-miler due to my SI sprain, I didn't want to jump from 6 miles to 8 miles and risk another injury. Depending on how this week goes, I might do 9 miles next weekend. We'll see!

I am staying with my parents right now while Brian is out of town (again!) so I ran from their house to the local high school (~1.5mi) and then ran the track for 4 miles before heading back home. I haven't done any training on the track in a long time, but I compiled a list of pros and cons as I ran.

Pros

• Easier on the joints! The high school has an all-weather track and it felt nice on my knees and ankles. So springy!
• I could zone out and not worry about how far I had run and how much farther I still had to go. I knew I had to complete 4 miles, so I just set my Nike+ and ran until it told me to stop. Nice.
• I didn't have to carry my water with me. I've been wearing a hydration belt because the half-mary is an "eco" race and they are requiring that we carry our own water bottles. I don't mind the belt, but I definitely prefer not to wear it. At the track, I just set it down alongside the track and came back to it whenever I needed it. 

Cons

• Boring! Although it was nice to just zone out and run, it was also hard to ignore the fact I was just going around and around and around... Blah.
• No shade! I ran pretty early, but it was still getting pretty sunny by the time I hit the pavement to get back home. I forgot to put on any sunscreen (because I usually run on a pretty shady trail) and I definitely had a little sunburn on my shoulders when I get home.

In general though, it was a welcome change and allowed me to push my pace a little bit. I was happy!

I came home, did a little Yoga for Runners, and enjoyed this delicious breakfast:

Overnight Oatmeal Pancake topped with peanut butter and fresh berries, a Green Monster, some leftover coffee from earlier, and tons of H20, of course! In this GM:

• 1 cup spinach
• 1/2 banana
• handful of frozen peach slices
• 1/2 cup fruit juice (my parents had some V-8 Fusion, so I tossed that in)
• 1T chia seeds

The rest of my day liked a little bit like this (don't worry, I remembered sunscreen!):

For dinner, we had delicious grilled veggies, grilled ham and cheese panini with fresh basil and dijon vinaigrette, and fresh pineapple. Yum!

I am simply quivering in anticipation of tomorrow's World Cup Final match-up between Spain and Holland! Who are you rooting for? (I'll still pretend to like you if you say Holland!)

Here are some more questions for ya!

1. Where do you prefer to run? Track, trail, through the neighborhood?
2. Do you ever get bored with your route? What do you do to mix things up?