Looking Back: September

Oh September, you devil you. Normally you are one of my favorite months, one full of vacations and adventures and great weather and friends. This year, you are not at the top of my list. September was a rough month for California. It was one of many wildfires; I read somewhere that there was a fire in almost every county (we have 59 of them). Also, on September 28th, this website posted the following information: "Since the beginning of 2020, over 3.7 million acres in California have burned from over 8,100 wildfires." According to Google, California is about 104 acres in size. Three and a half percent of the state has burned, and two places close to my heart (near my parents and near my brother) have gone up in smoke. 

As I type this, one of the biggest fires, the August complex, which is nearly one million acres in size (roughly the size of Switzerland), is still only 47% contained (according to CalFire). The one near my parents (the North Complex) is 78% contained and the one near my brother (the Glass fire) is only 5% contained. It is hard to find words sometimes. 

My Mom took this photo from her front yard.

But life goes on, doesn't it. While the state burns, we all still have to go to work each day, go out and find goodness in the world, go to Costco, etc. So, as always, here is what I did to "go about my day" in September. 

Running: As this is the way I keep sane, I had to try to do this as much as possible. I ended up running about 260 miles in September, including a couple of hiking trips. I have been running less days per week but more miles per day in an effort to still "quarantine" a little bit (less time out in the community) but to still stay healthy and have a little fun. 

Reading: This was an okay reading month for me. I only read one physical book; the rest were audiobooks. This was due to the fact that I did a hiking trip and instead of reading at night, I studied. Then when I was at home, I also studied and when not studying, tried to plan a couple of trips, which I will talk about in a few, so did not really read my book as much. My favorites this month were Wunderland and Shortest Way Home, although none of the books I read really wowed me. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood. 

Travel: The beginning of September was supposed to be spent in Belgium, Holland and surrounds, but as that did not pan out, a road trip to Oregon to stay with my friends up there was plan B. I usually do this every July, but this year things were a little different! I finally circumnavigated the Three Sisters, which I had been wanting to do for years but it was always too snowy in July. This year it was a record breaking heat year and was in the high 90s. Talk about a 180! 

After that was a visit to Mt. Rainier to hike parts of the Wonderland trail. Luckily the hiking days were smoke free, but on the drive from Oregon to Washington and then again from Washington back to California, the smoke was fierce and the AQI was over 600 at times (for those of you not familiar with AQI, a normal good air quality is under 50 and a so-so quality is under 100 and above 300 is, "Health warning of emergency conditions: everyone is more likely to be affected" according to AirNow.gov.) Definitely the view of the Oregon coast was not what it normally is (aka there wasn't one)! 

Mt. Rainier as seen from the west side. 

As I mentioned above, I also tried to plan a couple of trips. I had the week of September 21st off, and had a permit and plan to go and hike part of the John Muir Trail. However, at the beginning of the month, the National Parks were all closed due to the fires and on September 4th, a fire broke out near where I would be hiking, and is also now one of the largest ones in the state. My permit got canceled and so I also canceled my trip. This year has definitely been one of much flexibility and patience. 

Misc.: What else? The garden is now going over into winter mode; there are a few more straggler tomatoes and peppers and a few figs, but otherwise, its nearly bare. I am studying a lot, but am still not sure if my exam will get canceled (it is scheduled for December 5th). I am trying some new protein ball recipes for hiking trips, even though I am not sure when they will be. 

How was your September? What do you do when plans get changed? 

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Looking Back: March

Well hello! The month of March was one for the record books so I figured why not put some of my thoughts in writing?

Running: Despite many obstacles, I ran 180 miles in March. The month started out great; summer training was starting to ramp up, it was a little rainy, things were still "normal." Week two was a travel week for me, so it was slated for a low mileage week, but then the shit hit the fan. More on that later. The next Monday, the Bay Area went into a shelter in place and since then running has been a bit of a trial. It often looks like the photo below, which, as you can see, is nearly impossible to get 6 feet away from people.

Photo Credit: LA Times

Reading: In March I read 10 books; to be clear, 5 of them were audiobooks. As I am now running by myself and commuting to work and doing a lot of house and yard projects when I am home, all of the above translates to a lot of time going toward audiobooks. Oh and did I mention that the CFA Exam which was supposed to be in June was cancelled/postponed? So now studying is also postponed, so I have had lots of time to get to reading! My favorites for the month of March were This Tender Land, The Dearly Beloved and The Book Women of Troublesome Creek.

Travel: Now this is a story I never thought I would have to tell. Believe it or not, I did travel in March. On the 11th, I flew to...wait for it...New York City. I went for a work trip combined with my friend's wedding. My flight was basically empty. The Monday before I left , the Dow dropped over 2,000 points. The Wednesday that I flew, the Dow dropped another 1,400+. The first day in the NYC office, it dropped another 2,300 points and then on Friday the 13th, it went up 2,000 points. I would say that was the strangest week (at the time) market-wise, that I have ever been through. To top it off, our firm was starting to make people work from home and restaurants were half empty etc.

March 11: SFO-EWR

On Thursday, my friend who was getting married texted me to tell me that her wedding has been cancelled. So we make plans to still meet up for brunch on Sunday. On Friday, they start shutting down restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn. My friend says brunch is cancelled. I decided to get an earlier flight out and end up flying home on Saturday morning. On my flight home, most people are wearing masks.

Etc. & Misc.: I am still going into the office. Out of our team of 12, three of us are still going in. I am driving there (I usually take public transit) and back each day and am going grocery shopping every two weeks. Other than that, I am at home. I am taking runs by myself, all within 5 miles of my house. I am healthy and I have plenty of food. Since I do not have to study, I am getting a lot of yard work, housework and cleaning/culling projects out of the way early this year. I have not done my taxes yet.

I am still hopeful about having a garden, but am not going to go out to buy plants since that is not essential so I have ordered some online (we shall see!) and am attempting to plant some seeds this year. Also the trees (fig, peach, plum, orange, avocado, blueberry) are looking very good this year!

What was your favorite March read? What are you filling your extra time with? 

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Leuck and Glassman Win Bergen Peak Half Marathon

Nick Leuck dominated the grueling Bergen Peak Half Marathon on Saturday, Aug. 25, running the 13.1-mile trail race to the top of Bergen Peak in 1 hour, 56 minutes and 45 seconds. Leuck finished almost seven minutes ahead of second-place finisher Andrew Fields, who ran the race in 2:03:30. Kendra Glassman ran away from the women's field, completing the course in 2:09:49, well ahead of second-place woman Amanda Martin's 2:13:11 effort. Ninety-seven people competed in the race, which was the fourth event in the 2018 Evergreen Trail Racing Series, five races on challenging mountainous terrain in and around Evergreen put on by Evergreen Park & Recreation District (EPRD).   Results Find complete results here. Races Only one race remains in the 2018 Evergreen Trail Racing Series, the Fall EverGold 10-Miler on Oct. 6. The Fall EverGold is an out-and-back race in Lair O' the Bear Open Space Park in Idledale that takes runners along Bear Creek and up the mountain toward Pence Park before descending to the finish.   Learn More Register and get race details, start locations and course maps here.  For more information, contact Race Director Kendra Lind, klind@eprd.co or 720-880-1226.

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Ice Age: Rethinking Icing Injuries and Sore Muscles

I remember when I went to the nurse in high school for a medley of ailments, and it seemed like no matter what the symptom was, a pack of ice was the associated prescription. Headache? Put ice on it. Muscle pain? Put ice on it. The building was on fire? Throw ice on it. Okay, the last one was a pretty lame joke, but somehow ice became a panacea in my nurse's eyes. It seems that in the sport and exercise world, such is also the case.

Ice Baths for Recovery

I just started watching Game of Thrones,
and I couldn't resist using this meme...

The most common use of ice that I hear people tout is its recovery healing powers. Are torturous ice baths as effective as we make them out to be?

We have evidence of the early Egyptians using early forms of cryotherapy in 2,500 BCE to treat a medley of ailments. Fast forward to 2018 and you see people immersing themselves into futuristic-looking cryotherapy chambers filled with liquid nitrogen. As you can imagine, extensive research on the subject has been done since ancient Egyptian times.

Now, one study done by Fonda and Sarabon (2013) did find that participants who utilized whole body cryotherapy reported feeling less sore than those with no intervention. While this is more qualitative rather than quantitative evidence, it does show the potential for a decrease in the perception of DOMS with cold immersion.

Hausswirth et. al. tested runners and also found a reduction in pain and subjective fatigue 24 and 48 hours after their runs in participants using cryotherapy chambers. While this is also a qualitative measurement, researchers also found an increase in strength when compared with the control group (2011).

Contrarily, Costello et. al. measured MVC (maximal voluntary contraction of a muscle) 24 hours after an eccentric exercise protocol and found no significant differences in muscle soreness in participants who were immersed in -110° C temperatures and those who weren't immersed (2012). 

Overall, the current body of research does seem to suggest that cold immersion can help reduce subjective measurements of fatigue and soreness in athletic populations, but the verdict is still mixed as far as I'm concerned. Many of the measurable, physiological markers of recovery were unchanged, but the participants simply reported feeling better. My thought process is that a lot of the attributed markers of recovery are due to a placebo effect. Effectively, if you feel like an ice bath helps you feel like you're being active in the recovery process, then keep on as you were. It may not be efficacious, but it's worth a try!

Ice Baths for Treating Injury

Going back to my high school nurse who would use ice as a cure-all, many people still assume that icing is the best protocol for soft tissue injuries. Let me start by saying that ice works as an anti-inflammatory and also a vasoconstrictor (meaning your blood vessels constrict). The downside here, is that we societally regard inflammation as a negative thing, when it is in fact your body's line of defense. Inflammation is necessary to jumpstart the healing process. The more blood flow you get to an area, the quicker the repairing process can start. Gary Reinl, author of the book "Iced" which covers this topic more in-depth, notes "the inflammatory cells remove debris and recruit cytokines and other growth factors toward the injury site." As such, swelling and inflammation are not symptoms to fear or reduce in this case. He goes on to say, "In a healthy healing process, a proliferative phase consisting of a mixture of inflammatory cells and fibroblasts naturally follows the inflammatory phase. The fibroblasts build a new extracellular matrix and persist into the final phase of repair, the maturation phase, where, if all goes well, functional tissue is laid down. The key point is that each phase of repair is necessary for the subsequent phase."

Additionally, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (my alma mater) noted that "…ice may not be the best treatment for aching muscles — in fact, it could even be detrimental to recovery" (2011). The British Journal of Medicine reached a similar conclusion, stating that "ice is commonly used after acute muscle strains but there are no clinical studies of its effectiveness" (2012).

Summing it All Up

Icing injuries has become a staple in workout and recovery protocols for people all across the globe for ages. As it turns out, the effectiveness as icing for both decreasing muscle soreness/damage and for aiding in the healing process of an injury seems to be unfounded. The body of research denouncing the usage of ice on both accounts seems to outweigh the papers that support its application.

I personally don't use ice in either instance, and I believe that rest, sleep and proper nutrition can be some of the most effective recovery strategies! Next time you go to jump into the ice bath or wrap an injury in a bag of ice, ask yourself why, and decide whether or not it's actually going to help you or potentially hinder you.





Works Cited:

1. Costello JT, Algar LA, Donnelly AE. Effects of whole body cryotherapy (−110°C) on proprioception and indices of muscle damage. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2012;22:190–198.
2. Fonda B, Sarabon N. Effects of whole-body cryotherapy on recovery after hamstring damaging exercise: a crossover study. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2013;23:e270–e278.
3. Hausswirth C, Schaal K, Le Meur Y, et al. Parasympathetic activity and blood catecholamine responses following a single partial-body cryostimulation and a whole-body cryostimulation. PLoS One. 2013;22:e72658. 
4. Reinl, Gary. Iced!: the Illusionary Treatment Option. Gary Reinl, 2014.
5. Van den Bekerom, Michel P.J et al. “What Is the Evidence for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation Therapy in the Treatment of Ankle Sprains in Adults?” Journal of Athletic Training 47.4 (2012): 435–443. Print.

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Looking Back: December & January & February

And before you know it, poof, a month has already gone by! And then, poof, another! I have been really slacking on posting, but I have been reading your updates when I get a chance; I am just not really commenting as much anymore. Here, in short form, is a summary of my past few months.

December quickie: In December I ran 164 miles to bring my 2017 total to 2,505 for the year, which got me to my 2,400 mile goal. I climbed 29,800 ft, which also bagged me my 450k climbing goal for the year.  I read 6 books, for a total of 94 books. My favorite for December was The Alice Network, which I talked about in my Best of 2017 book post. I traveled home for the holidays.

Running: In January I ran 204 miles and climbed 28,900 ft. In February I ran 210 miles and climbed 23,300 ft. This year I have lowered some of my goals a bit, as I have some more important things on the agenda, but I would still like to break the 2,000 mile / 400,000 ft climbing goal. I seem to be on track so far.

Sunset Speed Work at Lake Merritt

Point Reyes Sunrise Run

Lately a typical running week is three or four runs: a short trail run during the week, one session of road/speed work during the week, a "long" trail on the weekend and sometimes a once a week catch up road run with a friend who is training for her first full running half marathon (she has done a half before but walked a lot of it). This seems to be a good variation while still putting in enough miles but spending less time than if I did all trail runs. I still struggle to find a balance at times (and sleep is often the loser), but it'll get there!

Reading: In January, I started 6 books and put three of them down right away, for a net total of three books. I have started to be better about ditching books that don't catch my interest before I get to the halfway point. This time, I even ditched a couple in the first couple of chapters! In February, I had a better month, and read four books (no rejects!) which were all pretty good. My goal this year is one book per week, or 52 books. So far, I am a little bit behind, but I will likely catch up in August and September, when I generally have most of my vacation time.

Some of my favorites from the past two months were:

Beartown by Fredrik Backman (****)
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (****)
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (****)
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter (*****)

Travel: You know that buzzer sound when you get an answer wrong on Family Feud? That pretty much sums up my travel for the past two months. A big fat BEEEEEEP. Nothing. Okay, so not totally nothing, I guess, but mostly local. I went to Auburn for a nice hike with the family and I spent a fun game night at a friend's house, but I have slept in my own bed every single night so far this year. After spending virtually no Saturdays in my own bed from August - November of last year, it feels a little strange. Plus I have to wash the sheets more often now.

Auburn Hike with the Fam

Well, that's the last three months in a nutshell! Before I go, I want to give a quick shout out to my friend Lisa, who besides my Mom (hi Mom!) is one of the few people who reads this. After what I would say was a difficult pregnancy, she recently had a baby boy! Congrats Lisa!

What have you been up to for the past few months? What book should I add to my list? In what month do you travel the most?

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Looking Back: November

November to me means the beginning of many things: the rainy season, the holidays, the  end of the year. It is always strange when it hits you that this year is almost over! Then you start to reflect on what has happened over the last year and it all seems to be a bit surreal at times! Here are the stats.

Running: In November I ran 172.7 miles and climbed 34,108 feet. Most of my mileage was due to a couple of longer runs on the weekends as well as one race, the Quad Dipsea (QD), which has become sort of an annual tradition. The QD is a two time out and back which has about 2,500 feet of climbing for each out and each back, for a total of almost 10,000 feet. This is always held the weekend after Thanksgiving and is an excellent way to burn off those turkey calories. I also biked 41.8 miles, which brings the yearly total to 268.8 which is an average of about 5.6 miles or one round trip commute per week.

Reading: I did not read as many books in November, most likely for a few reasons. One, my audio-book reading time goes down when I am not in the car or running alone and I did not really do much of either. For real books, I have been getting regular old hard backs from the library, which by the way never have as long of a hold period as the eBooks. However, other things in life are taking up precious reading time, so I have not been doing as much reading of the real books either. Here is the list in order of preference (audio-books in italics). I ended up reading 5 books.

The Last Days of Night****
Refugee****
Behold the Dreamers***
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls***
The Impossible Fortress***

Travel: This month I did not stray too far from home, mostly because it was the holidays and I hosted so I stayed around for that, and then I had the Quad Dipsea one weekend so I stayed around for that. Otherwise, I did a quick weekend trip to Pomona to go to the NHRA drag race finals, which were a lot of fun even though my guy did not end up winning. Also, I did go to Marin county for runs with friends and to do the annual volunteering gig with my brother, where we sweep the course of the North Face 50 mile race. After doing it for four years in a row, we finally earned a new radio handle this year. We will heretofore be known as: Menudo!

Me and the broski, North Face 50 mile sweeps

 

Sunset over the Farallon Islands, Marin Headlands -- NF50 sweep

Sun setting on the Pomona Raceway. NHRA Finals.

Etc.: The garden is dead. I was thinking of planting some winter things, but am not sure I will get to it in time (or maybe I am already to late). So now it's just raking time, although I did buy a fun toy, a leaf blower, so I will probably have some fun with that in the coming days! Although I have never really used one before... Wish me luck!

San Francisco at dusk from the Vallejo steps.

What happened to you in November? How was your Thanksgiving?

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Looking Back: October

October was the month of tying up some loose ends. I got my hair cut, got my oil changed and went to the doctor. I met friends I had not seen in months for a drink. I only slept in my own bed one Saturday in October, and I did not get to bed that Saturday until midnight. It was a productive month, but sometimes when you are in the midst of it, it just feels hectic. 

Running: I ran 196 miles in October and climbed 36,400 feet. Hopefully this will help prepare me for the race I have on Thanksgiving weekend! I also biked about 50 miles, which brings my grand total to 227 out of my goal of 180. Even though I have surpassed my goal, I plan to continue to bike until it starts to rain a lot, which will probably be in December. I also did one yoga session, which is a lot lower than my goal of one per week. 

Maybe due to the heat, the sunsets have been fabulous. See San Francisco in the distance.

A short trip to my parents neck of the woods.

Reading: In October, I spent most of the month getting through two books, which took me a long time. They were both good, but they were just not quick reads for me. Otherwise, I did listen to a lot of audio books (in italics). The total number of books I read in October was seven, three of which were audio books. Here they are, starting with my favorite.

Strangers in Their Own Land****
Salt to the Sea****
Norse Mythology****
Little House on the Prairie**** (re-read)
Eligible***
Truth and Beauty***
The Magician's Assistant**

Travel: The first day of the month found me in South Lake Tahoe, getting in just a little more high altitude fun before the snow sets in again. This year I only went to the Sierras once in July and there was still so much snow it was hard to go on the trails. I had to return once more while the snow was sparse! However, I have a feeling this winter is also going to be a snowy one!

Midtown Manhattan

San Francisco, filled with smoke.

I also went up to my parents house, unfortunately for a memorial for my friend's father. In addition, another friend of mine from high school just passed away, so it was also a chance to pay our respects to her while I was there. It wasn't the most pleasant reason, but it was good to see some of my high school friends. Lastly, I had a work trip to New York, which I tacked an extra weekend onto so that I could visit with some friends there. It was great to be in the city in the fall; however, it was so warm that the colors had not really shown up yet, which I was really looking forward to!

Tahoe area, view from Mt. Tallac, - approximately 9,800 ft.

Etc: Other than the above, I finally ripped out most of my garden and am contemplating planting some winter items. Holiday planning has started, and the weather has been, in typical Bay Area fashion, in the high 80s most days. Go figure. I went wine tasting at the end of the month and am happy to say that the Napa area seems generally better than I had expected.

October is the month for canning!

What fun things did you do in October? Has Autumn struck yet in your neck of the woods? What is your favorite thing about Autumn?

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Looking Back: September

For the first couple of weeks in September I was traveling, and then the remaining weekends were spent doing weekend trips, so I was barely home all month! Here are how the totals added up:

Running: A lot of my running miles this month were due to the fact that I hiked the Kungsleden, a long distance trail in Sweden, and I am counting those miles! I ended up running 336 miles, 225 of which were due to the Kungsleden. In addition, I completed 36.4 miles on the bike, bringing my total to 177 miles out of my goal of 180 miles. I am slacking a bit on the Yoga front, and only did one session, out of my goal of 4 times per month.

Teusajaure Lake, along the Kungsleden, Sweden

Reading: Once again, I did not read as much as I thought I would, as I was on vacation for the better part of the month. However, as it was in August, I did a lot of hiking and by the end of the day on these days, I was pretty tired and reading was not really a priority. However, I ended up reading eight books and most of them were pretty good! Here they are, in order of preference (audio books are in italics).

Born a Crime****
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper****
The Kitchen House****
A Man Called Ove****
The Nix****
Another Brooklyn***
Do Not Say We Have Nothing***
The Association of Small Bombs**

Travel: As stated above, for my yearly vacation this year I went to above the Arctic Circle in Sweden, where I hiked the Kungsleden trail. In addition, I spent a couple of days in Stockholm, running and exploring and hanging out. It was kind of funny to be in the land of people who look just like me, as most of my travels have been to places where I tend to stick out like a sore thumb!  I also went to Santa Cruz for a day at the beach with the folks, Napa for some wine tasting with friends, and to Tahoe for a weekend in the mountains! This was definitely a "last hurrah of summer" month and as you can see, I am trying to make the most of the good weather while it lasts!

Lake Aloha, South Lake Tahoe, CA

Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA

Hagaparken Lake, Stockholm, Sweden

Etc.: The garden went a bit wild while I was on vacation and the zuchinnis are so hard they will probably last in my compost for several years. In addition, I have about 4 zillion tomatoes, but have not been home long enough to can them yet! That is definitely something I need to get a move on with, as I definitely do not want them to go to waste! I also had a few figs (eaten!) and many cucumbers and CORN! Hurray for corn. It was so sweet and good and fresh!

Get in my belly!

What did you do this September? What is your favorite vacation activity? Do you have any good recent book recommendations?

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Looking Back: August

August was a good month! As usual, it was filled with lots of outdoor activities, family and friends! I love summer!

Running: In August I clocked 197 miles. About 122 of those were in the Wind River Range, and another 31.5 of them were from the Tamalpa Headlands 50k. Other than that, I actually had a couple of "easy" weeks! I actually biked about 41.6 miles though, which brings me to a total of about 141 miles, which is 78% of my 180 mile goal for this year! This month I kind of fell short on the yoga front, and I only did 2 sessions.

Reading: I thought I would read a lot on the hiking trip, but usually we were so tired that we went right to bed (sometimes as early as 7 pm). So, that plus the driving took out about 10 days of reading. However, thanks to audio books, I did "read" 5 books in August (sorted by preference / audio books in italics).

Her Every Fear ****
Think Like a Freak ****
Dreamland Burning ****
The Light of Paris ***
The Body of Death ***

Travel: I was not really home for even one weekend in August! The first two were spent in Wyoming; the third near San Jose and the last in Marin County at my grandma's 85th birthday! It was a busy month of events and travel.

Haystack Mountain, Wind River Range, WY

Wind River: Looking northeast from Chimney Rock @ 12,000 ft

The Eclipse. I didn't look at it, I swear!

SF Giants game with Dad

SF Giants game with Dad

Etc.: The garden is in full swing. I have tomatoes coming out of my ears! Speaking of ears, the corn has ears now too! I am not sure when they will be ready to pick, but it's so exciting to have a new vegetable in the backyard. Also ripening are the figs, cucumbers and zucchini. Still pending potatoes (maybe) and hot peppers. Interestingly, this year I had a lot of volunteer squash and tomatoes (aka, they replanted themselves from seeds from last year) and they are actually bearing fruits! I have canned regular tomatoes and tomato salsa and will probably do another batch of canning next month, likely tomato sauce and/or more plain tomatoes.

I think this qualifies as a plethora.

Snack Time! 

How was your August? What is your favorite in-season fruit or vegetable?

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Looking Back: July

“Warm, mellow summer. The glowing sunbeams make every nerve tingle. The new needles of the pines and fir are nearly full grown and shine gloriously.”  - John Muir

Running: I had a couple of pretty substantial weeks of running, bringing the total in July to 238 miles and about 40,800 feet of climbing. In addition, I am finally getting back on the bike, and logged about 65 miles this month. Last month, I also did about 20 miles. My goal was to ride to work once a week, which is about 5 miles. However, for the first half of the year, I basically did not ride at all. So now I have to maintain an average of about 10 miles per week or 40 miles a month, which I am on track to do if I keep it up!

I have also been doing yoga 1 - 2 times per week (this one). The yoga and the biking are definitely making my legs more heavy when I run, but I think that's mostly because this is the first month of doing all of it together. Hopefully my body will get accustomed to all the different activities and it will be stronger rather than more tired!

Reading: In July, I did a lot of driving and quite a few solo runs and bike rides. What this ended up translating to was more "reading" in the form of audiobooks! I read a total of 11 books, 5 of which were audiobooks (in italics). There were some pretty good ones. I have listed them below in order of preference (with books from my own shelf in bold). I have noticed one thing: my liking an audiobook can depend a lot on whether or not I like the narrator, which isn't really fair to the author. Also, I tend to not pay as much attention when I am listening to a book versus reading it myself, especially since usually I am driving or doing something else at the same time rather than focusing only on the book. However, it is a great way to get two times as many books read!

My First Summer in the Sierra***** (see review here)
These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine 1881 - 1901****
Everything You Want Me To Be****
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town****
The Mothers***
Silver Bay***
Everything, Everything***
By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept***
The Reason For God**
Fortune's Rocks**
My Brilliant Friend**

Travel: What a great month! I actually had a couple of weekends at home, which is very odd for a July, but I am not complaining! I got to finally do some things around the house, as well as prepping for my next trip, which is in August. However, I did spend some time in Oregon, as I always do in July, and I also went on a camping trip to Mammoth, which was a little different than expected due to the heavy amount of snow in the Sierras this year. Let's just say that running was superseded by slip-sliding, hiking and route finding and the camp site that we wanted was still located on a closed road. It was still a lot of fun and the high Sierras were beautiful covered in snow and ice.

Thousand Island Lake, CA

Emerald Lake, CA

Garnet Lake, CA

Garnet Lake, CA

Shadow Lake, CA

Devils Postpile, CA

Smith Rock State Park, OR

Mt. Washington, OR

Etc.: So far in the garden there are some ripe tomatoes and a few cucumbers, but I think that a rat is eating my zucchini as I keep finding chewed nubs. Darn it, varmit. So I am just starting to be able to have tomato salads and to have a once in a while cucumber snack. I also had some potatoes that were sprouting eyes, so I planted them last week for a "fall planting." We shall see if they take! And the corn is growing! No ears yet, but it's getting taller!

Corn (on the left), end of July. Tomatoes in the background on the right.

Where did you go in July? What is your favorite summer read so far? Do you have anything fun planned for the rest of the summer?

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Looking Back: June

June is a transitional month, one of warm days and long nights. It is a month where your 5 am run is barely even in the dark. It is a month of planning days and weekends and weeks in the future.

Running: Although this was not my highest mileage week, it was a monumental one, in which I finished a 100 mile race near Bryce Canyon in Utah! In the past several months, I was starting to get a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to do it. However, in the weeks before, and definitely once I started the race, I knew I was going to see that finish line by hook or by crook. I ended up the month with 196 miles, 100 of them due to the race, and I climbed about 30,000 feet.

Reading: Due to a bit of travel as well as an increase of audio book time, I ended up reading 8 books in June. Many of them were just so-so, but there were a few standouts, such as Small Great Things, which is about racial issues, and To the Bright Edge of the World, a story about Alaskan exploration.

The Bones of Paris ***
The Aviators Wife ***
Small Great Things ****
Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? ***
To The Bright Edge of the World ****
American Sniper ***
Minding Frankie ***
Evicted ***

Travel: I feel like I was barely home in June, as I spent two weekends in Santa Cruz and one in Bryce Canyon. The Santa Cruz trips were full of visiting and walking and seaside views, while the Bryce trip was hot and sweaty and beautiful in an entirely different way. I will let a few photos do the talking for this.

Holy hot, batman! Bryce, UT (photo credit: E.V.)

Willis Creek, UT (photo credit: C.A.)

  

Fall Creek, Felton, CA

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Etc.: What else is happening? Not much! The garden is growing, but the yard is not mowing itself unfortunately, so most of my spare time has been spent just barely keeping things from looking like a hillbilly lives at my house!

Purposeful cucumbers and volunteer tomatoes -- mid June

Plums! Mid June

Tomato Jungle and volunteer squash -- Mid June

Corn, I hope. Beginning of June

Radish! Get out the salt!

Tomato Ladder, beginning of June

What did you do in June? What was your favorite book? Have you done anything new or exciting lately?

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