I am not a happy camper. I camp under duress for the love of my father but don’t think I’ve morphed into someone who willingly goes days without a shower, electricity and enjoys sleeping in a tent. Graduate school is proving to be difficult in unexpected ways and my kids are already out of school for the summer. Someone please call for help…after you read this of course.

I’m smiling because we are packing up to leave. #sorrynotsorry

WEEK OF JUNE 3, 2019

RUNNING

I’m having good days and bad days with running but I’m grateful for all the days I’m able to run. Honestly. Between my counseling classes at grad school and hearing about elite runner Gabe Grunewald’s death at only 32, I’m nothing but grateful. I’ve always had a sense of it since my mom died when I was 17 but, diving into my counseling program has given me an entirely new perspective in humility.

Running happy and with a sense of PRIDE for everyone in the LGBTQ community!

Tuesday: 800m sets on the track | 3:12 splits | 5.71 miles total

Wednesday: run warm up before strength and swim | 1.44 miles

Friday: long run | 9.1 miles

Sunday: 5311’s | 3x (5 min Z3, 3 min Z4, 1 min Z5, 1 min Z1) | 8.01 miles

Total = 24.26 miles

CYCLING

The one day I had to ride this week it poured and was about 60 degrees so I opted for the trainer. I got smart and put my road bike permanently on the trainer and I’m keeping my triathlon bike assembled and in the garage!

Thursday: 1 hour | 16.4 miles

SWIMMING + STRENGTH

As usual I had my one day of swimming and strength training with Antwan. My new fenix 5s plus has an app for strength training! Crazy, right? It actually counts your reps (by arm or leg movements), rest time in-between sets and overall workout time plus heart rate. I’m sure I’m not using it to its full capacity but having some data to build on is pretty cool.

And this is just a taste of the insanity that goes on during a strength training session for me. This rope/kettlebell pull was done as part of a circuit. I did this pull about 15 times.

CAMPING

Yeah, so I need to go into a camping weekend knowing that it will suck for me but be amazing for my kids and father. Sometimes I do good things people. Because there are too many ways in which I hate it, I will say there are a few things I love: spending time with my family, campfires and drinks around the campfires, SUP and kayaking on the nearby lake and spending more time in Vermont.

Don’t let the pictures of my husband fool you. He is a true diva and spent zero time in a tent and could barely handle being at the campsite because of the bugs…and also refused to apply bug spray. He wisely stayed at our nearby condo and brought me pescatarian meals. #blessed

COLLEGE

Getting a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is some heavy shit. In fact, it’s pretty hard for me to even shift gears here and go from writing about racism, sexism and white privilege to fitness and camping adventures. I seriously contemplated not doing a blog post this week but I needed the mental and emotional break.

The summer course I’m taking is Counseling Diverse Populations and my first two papers were on white privilege, sexism and racism. I have been immersed in some of the most eye-opening content you can imagine and have feelings of shame and despair, fear and hope, anger and deep love. It’s a roller coaster.

If you are white and for one moment you don’t think you benefit from white privilege, I beg you to read Peggy McIntosh’s Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack or one of Tim Wise’s many lectures. They have been life changing. Now the question is, what am I going to do with this information? I have some ideas.

One more suggestion (and I could give you 100) is to watch the Netflix series When They See Us about the Central Park Five. If you somehow have never heard of them it’s a group of black and hispanic boys, ages 14-16, who in 1989 were wrongfully convicted of beating and raping a white jogger in Central Park with almost zero evidence.

Now, more than ever, we need to tune into this reality and do something about it. We have an election coming up.

READING

I haven’t been able to read for pleasure since starting class, but I did make time about a month ago to mostly listen to the highly acclaimed book The Last Romantics. I don’t know who you people are that loved this book but it was one of the most boring, uninteresting stories I have ever wasted my time on. I kept listening because I thought something was going to happen. It never did.

Luckily, I snuck in one last amazing book Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman. A complete page turner and although I figured out what was going to happen, I could not put it down. It kept me guessing for a while but wholly interested the entire time. I highly suggest reading it on the beach or, should you find yourself unluckily by the camp fire, it just may save your sanity this summer.

TELEVISION

Oh there is SO much goodness on television right now! From season 2 of Handmaid’s Tale and Big Little Lies to How They See Us and My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, I’m so glad I made time to watch Always Be My Maybe with Ali Wong and Randall Park! Go watch it immediately. It’s hysterical, timely, a great story and Keanu Reeves may be the very best part of it.

What are you waiting for? Do you hate laughing?

RANDOM PICTURE OF THE WEEK

My favorite part of “camping” was dinner out at Jackson Gore!

Coincidentally, the same night we were there was the finish line of the B to VT bike race! These amazing cyclists rode 149 miles from Massachusetts to Vermont in one day with over 9,000 feet of elevation gain! I’m SO doing this next year. Who’s with me?

Here’s to the start of summer! I hope to see you on the other side…

How was your week?

Thoughts about camping?

Have you heard of Peggy McIntosh or Time Wise?

Seen any good tv lately?

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