Trail Running, Garden Planning & Sausage Stuffing

Amy Cissell
April 4, 2011
Adventures of a Domestic Goddess, Gin, Cheese & Other Necessities, Run Away!
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Such a busy weekend! I need another entire weekend to recover. Unfortunately, my job requires that I show up in order to be paid. Lame, right?

Anyways – on to the weekend recap – now with photos!

Friday started out busy – I got up at the same time as the architect, and headed to yoga. Now, I’ve been regularly attending yoga since late December, but haven’t been to any classes but Yin and the early morning Yin + Vinyasa. The Vinyasa portion of that class is the last 10 minutes or so of the class and although it definitely gets my heart rate up, the class is not as physically challenging as other yoga classes (it’s definitely mentally challenging, though).

ANYWAYS – I went to a Hatha class on Friday morning for 75 minutes. And it was fairly challenging, but not so much that I was forced into child’s pose to weep in despair or anything. I am still having some balance issues with the right foot post-surgery, and since I’m terribly hyper-extended in my knees anyways, that always makes things more difficult. BUT, since I’ve been working on my standing up straight skills (really!), I was able to do extended side angle and actually keep my legs straight but not hyper extended! Yay! (I was not able to match that achievement with Triangle pose, but baby steps, you know.)

After my great yoga practice, I changed into my running gear & headed up to the Zoo for a bit of a trail run. I hadn’t run in Washington Park in ages, and had forgotten a) how much I love those trails and b) where half of the trails go. Washington Park is not the place for a novice trail runner with a poor sense of direction, unless that person is planning on doing a simple out & back (and maybe not even then – it’s pretty easy to get lost).

I did a five mile run in just under 60 minutes, and was super pleased with myself. I ran two miles before needing my first tiny walk break, which is a new trail record for me, and both the distance and the elapses times were also new records! The only bad thing about the run is that I could feel my toes hitting the end of my shoe on the downhills, and by the time I finished, they were so sore.

I drove home real fast and showered and headed out to my volunteer job. It was then that I realized the only thing I’d eaten all day was the smoothie I picked up after yoga. I ran across the street to grab a Clif bar or something, but unfortunately, nothing like that existed. So I got a Diet Snapple. Because apparently I decided that calories were unnecessary after the 2.25 hours of exercise.

Friday night I enjoyed some much deserved relaxation:

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Saturday was another busy day! I got up decently early again (before 8!) and after coffee and scrambled eggs courtesy the architect, I headed to Leach Botanical Gardens for a Naturescape Planning class. The class was really interesting. I learned a lot and have some great ideas for planning the landscaping around my house! (I’m taking a Site Planning class in a couple of weeks that should help even more.) The best part of the class (besides the free plant at the end!) was the field trip, though. I’d never been to Leach before, and it was really beautiful. So many things growing and blooming! The sun even peaked through periodically for us.

After my class, I drove through the hail to the sunshine and had my second “learn to stand up straight” appointment. It went well! My skills in standing up straight have improved. I have more exercises to work on, and two more appointments before I’m unleashed on the world to go stand up straight in all sorts of places.

Saturday afternoon, I wrote a paper for school, and then downloaded Sketch-Up and did my best to learn how to use it so I could start working on my landscaping plan. So far, I have learned how to draw squares. And that’s about it. Fortunately, the architect (of course) already has the site in Sketch-up and is willing to share with me, so I can start on the landscaping segments.

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Sunday I had plans to go for a run with my neighbor, but was so sore from Friday’s exercise shenanigans and had shin splints, so I ditched on the running part of our plans & just did the brunch. At brunch, I had a training plan revelation (that’s another whole post later this week).

Before brunch, I helped the architect get all set up to bottle our latest beer, and after the run made sausage.

The sausage making took WAAAY longer than I thought it would, but I think it may have been worth it. I will do a whole sausage post with what I’ve learned and waay more pictures.