Juliana Moves

Happy Friday! I am really excited for my weekend ahead. I’ll be running and sleeping and volunteering and our fridge is absolutely full of yummy leftovers. The weather is gorgeous and the trees are turning all shades of orange and yellow and red. Patrick is out of town for the weekend, but I don’t mind having some chill girl time with Alaska!

I hope you are having a lovely autumn so far. I’ve been busy but in a good way! Don’t forget that you may have an election coming out. Here in VA we have one every year! Learn more at vote.org. 

Anyway, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve done one of these sooo here’s what I’ve been…

…Reading: A lot of nonfiction (+ some Dog Man books per a neighbor rec). On my list of recent reads: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Big Jim Begins by Dav Pilkey, and I’m currently working on The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green, Collaborations by Dav Pilkey, and An Economist Gets Lunch by Tyler Cowen.

I’ve been taking the train to work so that Patrick can have the car while he’s furloughed, so I’ve had more reading time than usual! Plus, I’ve just been enjoying it more and more. I really want to read The Great Gatsby but somehow we don’t have a copy?! The library has a decently long hold list for it. I have Slaughterhouse Five waiting for me at my local branch and I just need to go pick it up.

…Eating: This has been a particularly yummy week of eating, if I may say so myself. We had focaccia sandwiches, pumpkin turkey chili, veggie spaghetti, and I’m going to make butter chicken for dinner! SO GOOD.

…Using: Flannel sheets! We haven’t had the AC/heater running in quite some time. And, although Patrick may have made me close most of the windows, it’s still been cool enough in the house to change our bedsheets to flannel. It’s so cozy and warm. 

…Listening to: The same stuff over and over. I need some new music! 

…Trying: To sleep more. I got an off brand Oura ring this summer to track my sleep, and though I do agree that just because you can have data doesn’t mean you need it, I think it has been very useful to know much and well I slept and what impact that has on how I feel.

Unsurprisingly, the more I sleep, and the more days in a row I have of good sleep, the better I feel and the faster I recover. Rocket science!

…Running: I’m only a few weeks away from Richmond and I am excited! I have a fun lil trail race this weekend, a bigger (but silly) trail race next weekend, and then I am tapering. In both last year and this year’s Richmond training blocks, I’ve been doing speed workouts. Last year, I did them all on the W&OD as out and backs because I figured it was relatively flat and uninterrupted, and I’d be more likely to hit my paces.

I got pretty sick of that this time. Plus, my new job made it harder to be flexible and run in the daylight, so I pivoted. I started doing my workouts on the same routes I’d do other runs, including with hills (!!), and I figured my pace would drift a bit, but ultimately it might be closer to mimicking race day anyway. To my great surprise (and pleasure), I can usually hit the paces even on hillier terrain! It’s super satisfying.

…Excited: To listen to the new Boulder Boys episode on my run today. I’ve got 8 miles on the docket and the episode is 90 minutes long. PERFECT.

I hope you have a great weekend! Eat some Halloween candy.

Love,

JN