Ladies Run yesterday!

I finished in 1:01:36 and was very pleased with that!  It was a nice course.

More to follow...

Awesome Rhap

Last night we went to see Jef Neve perform three Gershwin pieces with the Leuven Alumni Orchestra - and it was awesome!  Jef is an incredibly talented jazz pianist and composer - and he just won an Oscar for the music score in the movie "The Artist" (along with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra). 

We had great seats.  Jef has what you would call in Dutch "pretoogjes" - eyes that sparkle with fun, and it was clear that he was having a lot of fun last night. 

He played Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", "Variations on I've Got Rhythm", and "Rialto Ragtime" as an encore.   Rhapsody in Blue is an amazing piece of music (if you've ever flown United Airlines you've heard bits of it - it's the music they play while you are boarding the plane) - here is an old recording with Gershwin himself performing it: 

The parts where it sounds like the pianist is having the most fun are actually incredibly difficult to play! 

So after getting to bed much later than usual for me (but for a very good reason!), this afternoon I have the Ladies Run 10 K to do here in Leuven - so it's turned out to be a busy weekend.  More on that tomorrow probably...  Have a good Sunday!  

Finally

We finally got a break - for one day we are having beautiful, sunny, warm spring weather.  By this evening there will be rain again and by the weekend it will be considerably colder (yeah, just in time for the Ladies Run, but "oh well") ...

So of course I went for a run today - there was no way I was going to go to the gym on such a gorgeous day!  Just an easy 7 km to the big park, around the lake and back.  Glorious.

Hope you are having a good start to the week, too!

Proof

All I needed today was proof - proof for myself that I can still run 10K.  I haven't done that distance in a while and though I know in my head I can manage it, I needed to feel it in my legs - it's just 2 weeks til the Ladies Run 10K and I want to feel confident that I will be able to manage it comfortably.

So that was my goal today and it was on the treadmill at the gym because of the very stormy weather we have been having (hail, wind, rain - not my favorite!)  So I went, split it up into 4 segments and ran it.  And got my proof! 

I certainly won't be running a PR two weeks from now (it took me 70 minutes today) but at least I know I can do it with no problem and enjoy the event.  And that is a weight off my mind!  Now just keeping my fingers crossed that the weather improves a little bit by then...

TGIF and some food for thought

My run yesterday went well, so I guess the sore leg can officially be catalogued as a fluke - phew!  I ran to the Finnish track and did 4 loops and then ran back home which makes 6 km.  I wasn't really loving all the wind, but I was so happy my leg felt good that it didn't bother me too much!

Today I went to the gym for 25 min on the elliptical followed by the new Body Balance class.  Oh my, it was a killer - seriously, I had to take ibuprofen this afternoon because my hip was hurting so much.  I am seriously thinking that I need to stop taking this class because I hate feeling crippled afterwards.  What is the point of that???  I am starting to think I would be better to do something that doesn't make me hurt so much.  Duh, right?  I guess I am just slow sometimes...

Yay - it's Friday - pizza night!  I am trying a new pizza dough recipe (from my giant green Mark Bittman vegetarian cookbook which I love) because I totally forgot to buy fresh yeast.  Luckily I had some dried in my cupboard, and it wasn't too old ;-)

Since I can't share my pizza with you, I will leave you with some food for thought, a line in a Sheryl Crow song that I heard today and stuck in my mind:

It's not getting what you want, it's wanting what you've got.

Which reminds me of Joni Mitchell's words of wisdom:

You don't know what you've got til it's gone.

Definitely words to live by...and a good reminder to appreciate things! 

Have a happy Friday and a great weekend! 

Time to say goodbye

More than 17 years ago, when I was pregnant with my first child, I had a terrible craving for hot buttered toast one day.  I had lived in Belgium for a few years then and didn't own a toaster.  So I remember going out on my lunch break from work one day, buying a toaster and having the most delicious toast for lunch in our little rented house.  I was always happy about buying that toaster and it always reminded me of that time of my life.  And it made lots of toast for our big family over the years!

Well, lately, that toaster hasn't been working so well anymore.  It burns the toast on one side and doesn't do anything to the other side.  So I decided it was time to say goodbye to my old toaster and get a new one, even though I was dreading it - yes, I confess, I was emotionally attached that that toaster!

My middle son came with me for moral support and we chose one that really wasn't so very different from the old one (except for looking a lot more modern and less beat up), brought it home, and tried it out.  It made good toast.  So I put the old one in the trash, wondering if this new one will also last 17 years - til my oldest child is 34 and I am 62.  We shall see...

A fluke?

Thanks for all the suggestions!  In the end I went to the gym and decided I would do my usual routine unless the leg hurt.  The first thing was a hill walk on the treadmill - the leg was fine.  I was thinking maybe it was just a fluke? 

Then I did upper body weights - of course, no problem there!  Then the elliptical - also okay.  What a relief!  Finally I stretched everything out really good.

Today I am going to do yoga - this week's free class on Yoga Today is a beginner's sun salutation class.  I am thinking that will give me a good stretch.  Then tomorrow I'll try a run again.  We shall see - fingers crossed!