by Sam Tackeff | Aug 4, 2014 | Fitness
Hello! I’m not quite sure how the weekend is over, but I thought I’d check in here for a fitness update, and use my little corner of the internet as an added source of accountability. I have a habit of signing up for things and then worrying about them later, which is terrible for my wallet, but great for unlocking fitness achievements that my normal brain would be wary of. Somewhere along the line I looked at my fall racing schedule which had become a tad crowded, and I thought that I’d better start actually *training* for these races.
Some of the highlights of my upcoming season include: Sharon Sprint Tri, the 200 mile Reach the Beach relay, the B.A.A. Half Marathon, Tufts 10k, and the Savannah Rock n Roll Marathon. Yep, that makes me tired even thinking about it! Knowing me, I’ll stuff in a few 5k’s in there as well, and another triathlon if I can manage it. As a self described reluctant runner, for the past few years I’ve been using racing as my race training, but I decided this year I’d at least make a go of running during the week, and I’ve taken advantage of our office track workouts to get some speed in.
Knowing that I have a good amount of miles to get in in the next few months, I finally found a new pair of sneakers to add to my rotation – these bright and happy Mizuno Wave Sayonaras from Heartbreak Hill Running Company. I knew I wanted a neutral-ish shoe with a little bit more padding than my usual minimal options, and so I tried on about 20 different pairs of shoes, and ended up with these. (For those curious, these are actually mens – I wear a mens 10 on my ski feet, which limits my color options, but the turquoise and orange are right up my alley!)
Here are my workouts from last week. I’m on a three month streak walking 10,000 steps a day, so none of my rest days are fully rest days, but I have a good base of walking to make that doable:
Monday: 10k steps (rest)
Tuesday: Track workout! 8 x 400 (1:30 rests). Mile and a half warm up and cool down at faster than normal pace. (Running with officemates at their leisurely pace is simply additional speed work for me!)
Wednesday: OLY class! Worked on cleans, hovering around 95.
Thursday: 10k steps (skipped a short run) (a.k.a. team potluck)
Friday: 10k steps (rest)
Saturday: 7.2 miles long and slow + 3 mile walk (overshot route, had to get home)
Sunday: 10k steps (rest)
Definitely some swimming and biking missing, but I’m back on the wagon this week, and hoping to get in a slightly more varied set of workouts!
by Sam Tackeff | Jul 31, 2014 | Books
Ahoy! Let’s talk about summer reading. I *love* a good reading competition, even if the competition is with myself. A few years ago, I challenged myself to read through the BBC Big Read list, and have been slowly ticking off all the great books that I managed to miss out on – who knew that I’d love Jane Eyre so much, or Dune, or Steven King! I also have a b. goal of also reading all of the Man Booker winners, a literary prize given over the past 45 years to the best original English language novel published in UK. (This year, in a startling turn in the book world, the prize was also open to foreign authors, with four Americans making the long list.) Every year, the committee releases a long list, which is then narrowed down to a six book short list, and a final winner. A few weeks ago, a friend mentioned reading through the long list, and given that I was stalled in my summer reading, I’ve taken up this challenge as well.
Now, this attempt might face a few complications – I’ve had a little bit of trouble sourcing all of the books on the list, and The Dog hasn’t been published yet. I’ve gone ahead and requested most of the titles at the library, but knowing my luck, they’ll all arrive at once. I’m also committed to purchasing a fair number at independent bookstores, and given that the Harvard Bookstore has a 15% off fiction deal during summer Fridays, I have a few of these on my shelf already. Onward!
To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris (Viking)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North, by Richard Flanagan (Chatto & Windus)
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler (Serpent’s Tail)
The Blazing World, by Siri Hustvedt (Sceptre)
J, by Howard Jacobson (Jonathan Cape)
The Wake, by Paul Kingsnorth (Unbound)
The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell (Sceptre)
The Lives of Others, by Neel Mukherjee (Chatto & Windus)
Us, by David Nicholls (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Dog, by Joseph O’Neill (Fourth Estate)
Orfeo, by Richard Powers (Atlantic Books)
How to be Both, by Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton)
History of the Rain, by Niall Williams (Bloomsbury)
The first book I grabbed was Richard Powers’ Orfeo, a book which I’d classify as primarily about music (and a seventy year old man accused of committing bioterrorism). Honestly, it was one of the books I thought I’d struggle to get through, so I decided that I might as well get it over with. Aside from a few eye rolls in the first twenty pages, I’ve actually been enjoying it!
Anyone else up for the challenge?
by Sam Tackeff | Jul 23, 2014 | Salads, Vegetables
You guys, it’s hot around here. It’s hard not to feel sluggish. And back when I was bragging a few weeks ago that the extra air conditioners didn’t raise the electric bill? Well, I lied. Or at least this month we ran them harder than ever. Today I woke up at 5:05 to make my way to November Project, and going back on my verbal with a coworker, promptly fell back asleep. The heat made me do it! I spent part of the day racked with guilt, and then got over it to go to my favorite class of the week – olympic lifting at my gym. We worked on snatch balances and power snatching. Snatches are my most dreaded lift – more reason to practice them! I’m always looking to bring power to the lift, execute an efficient bar path, and reduce my tendency of muscling up the weight, which *surprise, surprise* doesn’t work when you aim to lift heavier!
When it’s blazing hot outside, it’s doubly hot in my kitchen, so if anything is going to be cooked, it has to be quick! Here’s my dinner tonight.
Summer Scallop Salad
I’m always on the lookout for light summer salads with seafood of any kind. Some of my favorites are Greek salad with grilled shrimp, Niçoise salad with the addition of smoked fish, and this scallop salad, which is equally good with scallops, shrimp, mussels, or lobster.
Serves 2
scallops 9 or 10 large
olive oil
tomato 1 large
cucumber 1 medium
romaine lettuce a few cups per person
assorted antipasti (optional) olives, gigande beans, crisped prosciutto, corn, feta, roasted peppers are all good!
lemon 1
olive oil
chopped fresh herbs (a handful of dill, basil)
Season scallops with salt and pepper. Heat a few glugs olive oil in a large skillet until shimmering. Add scallops, and cook over high heat until browned on the bottom, about two to three minutes. While they are cooking, go ahead and slice up a cucumber, and cut a tomato into wedges. Turn the scallops and cook for another minute, then take out of the pan immediately to avoid overcooking them! I like arranging this salad on a plate. Layer the bottom with romaine lettuce, and sprinkle on fresh herbs. Add the cucumber and tomato. Add on any extra antipasti (tonight I went for kalamata olives and gigande beans from the Whole Foods Antipasti bar). Drizzle with olive oil, squeeze the lemon wedge over top, and season, if you’d like, with a little bit of extra salt and pepper.
Some reading:
Good coaches and trainers don’t let their athletes work irresponsibly through injury. Great post by Alyssa Royse on why she kicked an athlete out of her gym.
The Man Booker Long List has been released! I’m likely going to team up with some other voracious readers to work my way through the list this summer. Anyone else in?
Also:
I’m currently signed up for B.A.A. Half, and Newton Chilly Half. Should I add Hampton Rock Fest to the mix? (Home turf race!) Maybe Newburyport Half? Do I even like running??
