Sunday, January 25, 2015

Sunday Salon #1: Running and Reading

Happy weekend, friends!  Instead of the Sunday Post meme, I'm switching over to Sunday Salon, which from what I can tell is a bit more fluid and widely-known.  Not that many of you care.  This is more an explanation for my non-blogger readers who may be unfamiliar with both (but also may not care).  :)

ANYWAY, this particular Sunday I am hangin' out in my jammies with my menfolk.  I was supposed to be taking a day trip to visit a friend, but icy road conditions have left me stranded.  So pancake breakfast and PJ snuggles it is!

Speaking of icy, it occurred to me that I never posted here about my latest running adventures--and while not book-related, I do like to mention them from time to time, as my half marathon post got such a positive response last September.  On January 10, I participated in the Winter Warrior half marathon relay with my friend Amanda and her husband.  The race started at 4pm and it was a balmy -5 degrees with the wind chill.  I only had to run two 2.6 mile legs of the race, but do you know what it feels like to run 5.2 miles in a -5 degree wind?  Please enjoy this really attractive picture of me trying to get feeling back into my toes in between my two legs of the race:

That said, we actually had a really great time, and I have plans to run the entire 13.1 miles on my own in the same race next year.  Woohoo!

I also just signed up for my second half marathon--yes, redemption after my less-than-ideal first half will be mine!  I'll be doing the first inaugural Mystic Half Marathon near my hometown turf in Mystic, CT on May 31.  Training starts in early March, and I can't wait.  It is going to be awesome to do this race in the area where I grew up!

Okay then, enough about running.  Let's talk books!  After a week of overabundant reading options, I managed to finish The Girl on the Train and The Last Breath.  Still working on Moby Dick here and there.  Just starting Dead Wake, I did pick up The Book of Unknown Americans from the library, and I also have One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis that I need to start for a February book tour.  So, still lots of reading happening over here these days!  These snowy conditions sure do help by making me want to stay inside and read.

Alrighty, back to my family time.  Enjoy your Sunday, readers!  What are you up to today?

18 comments:

  1. Moby Dick, eh? Good for you. Not sure if I'll have enough gumption to get through that one.

    http://www.readerbuzz.blogspot.com

    Reply
    Replies
    1. I'm trying! It keeps getting put off as other books make it on to my list. Hoping I find time to finish this month.

  2. Sorry about the icy roads, but I hope you have a great snuggly Sunday. :) We're hunkered down with books and Friends on Netflix until it's time to pick up the boy this afternoon. Isn't it hellish having too many reading choices? :)

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Ah yes, it's just so hard!! What's a girl to do?...

  3. Pancakes and PJs sound great to me. Read Moby Dick so many times as a student, I'm not sure I will return to it. Other books you are reading, I don't know.

    Reply
    Replies
    1. I feel like I have such a different opinion of books when I read them as a student vs. for fun. I've gone back and read several that I was required to read in school (To Kill a Mockingbird, Wuthering Heights, etc) and I feel like I usually enjoy them more when read on my own time.

  4. Yikes on the frigid half marathon relay! Fun photo though ;-)

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Haha, thanks! No race photographers for this event, so it's one of the only ones I have...lol.

  5. Brrr! I can't imagine running around in that weather. When it's that cold I sprint to my car but that's about it, lol.

    Enjoy your snuggly day :D

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Honestly, since the race I have been running outside less...without the race as a goal, it is harder to motivate in subzero weather!

  6. I once ran in a race in January, in the cold in southeastern Pennsylvania, but I don't know if it was that cold. That was probably about 10 to 15 years ago now and I believe that was the only one I ever did. I guess I wasn't that impressed with running in the cold...and I'm still not. Sadly, it means I'm not one for doing much exercise-wise when it's winter...

    ....soooo what I'm not up to to today is running. Yes, I do go outside...to get a salad for lunch. I'm reading Sunday Salon posts (and welcome, by the way) and maybe a science fiction book, Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie, later, but we'll see. It's more likely a nap will happen when my wife goes to a play practice.

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Ah, I think if my first race was in January in the northeast, I probably would have stopped at that point too! Haha.

  7. I am in such awe of people who run and like it!

    Reply
    Replies
    1. I used to feel the same! I caught the running bug about 8 years ago, and it stuck. If my high school self saw me now, she would laugh very hard.

  8. Sunday snuggles are the best!
    My dad grew up in Maine and would run long distances in the winter in shorts, what the heck?!

    Reply
    Replies
    1. In shorts???? Okay, he wins. That's CRAZY.

  9. I finished Girl on the Train but haven't written a review yet, and may never get to it now! I'm reading an ARC of The Half Brother by Holly LeCraw for Library Journal, which I am enjoying during a snow day (while we still have power, fingers crossed).

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Hope you didn't lose power! We are considering getting a generator soon...a few too many harsh storms going on these days.

 
Imagination Designs