Sunday Funday

This is going to be brief but I'm staying true with my daily posts! It's been an incredibly lazy day. I stayed in bed until 10am, watched random TV until at least noon and then wandered around town for awhile. I had things on my to-do list and I basically ignored every single one. There is a part of me that's proud of that move because it's rare for me to turn off my Type A side.

My sister arrives from the US in the morning. She's only here until Friday morning yet I still have full-time, full-gas work. I was stressing when I thinking about juggling it all. 

Then I decided to change my approach. When people come visit me, I feel like I have to create the perfect holiday. It takes its toll on me and rarely leaves me happy. So for this trip, all that's out the window. Instead, I'm going to try and focus on making it an enjoyable week for me that gets to include my sister. I won't ignore all my needs in an attempt to make someone else happy. I've got a few plans in place to keep all the plates spinning (waking up extra early) but otherwise, I plan for us to decide our days together and just flow as it comes. I won't be acting like the tour guide and that takes so much pressure off me. 

So far, I haven't even vacuumed and mopped. Apparently what she sees is what she's getting when it comes to my life. And I'm fine with that. 

Bouncing Back

I'm alive, I'm human, and I feel motivated and energized. Today's been full gas from the start, but at least physically I had the energy to take it as it comes. I've had a day chocked full of conference calls, a lunch meeting and work.work.work. Much of this is because I put things off all week due to travel and sheer exhaustion. It all caught up with me today.

It seems like slowing down yesterday was the wise move. I did crawl into bed last night and look at my Fitbit and think, "I really should have gotten out and walked yesterday." Mentally, slowing down isn't my strongest skill. But I slept for about 10 1/2 hours (WHAT?!) and woke up without an alarm this morning feeling much better. Able to actually tackle the day, which I think would have been impossible if I didn't take yesterday so easy.

Today, I keep trying to find time to squeeze in a workout or to go for a walk, but that hasn't happened yet, and the sun will set soon. So instead of writing more, I'm going to lace up my sneakers, download a podcast and get the first bit of movement and fresh air since Sunday.

Recovery Week

I'm home and that makes me happy. I've tried to approach this week with recovery and focus. Work is extremely busy right now but it is a long season and I know it is up to me to avoid burnout. I can't afford to burn out or hit the wall, so I'm trying to do little things every day to stay healthy and happy.

Journaling. Every morning when I wake up, I write in the Five-Minute Journal. I do it again when I head to bed. Doing this consistently means I can spot patterns, both positive and negative ones, and then come up with game plans to compensate. One thing I noticed was that I kept feeling like I lost track of the day with all the emails and work. So I changed how I approached my day. This week, I only do emails and random work tasks for the first hour, then I focus on specific projects for the next few hours, and finally I close the day with more emails. It seems to be helping.

Meditating. When the New Year kicked off, my life was incredibly stressful. I felt like I was drowning in work and it started to bleed into all parts of my life. I have used Headspace off and on for a few years and I decided I needed to prioritize daily meditation to become calmer. After doing it every day for three weeks, I began to notice a marked difference in how my brain worked. I have more control over thoughts and emotions and that's huge.  I've now done over 6 weeks straight and I'm loving it.

Getting outside. Even in the Belgian rain, I'm making myself take a lunch break and go for a walk. I listen to a podcast (currently listening to the Tim Ferriss Show or the Lively Show a lot) and make myself stop thinking about work. It means I'm more focused and efficient in my afternoon.

Stopping work between 5-6pm. I work on a global project and our headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia. This means their 5pm is 11pm for me. People kept emailing, calling and whatsapping all evening long. It wasn't healthy and meant I never disconnected. Now, unless it is vital or an emergency, I'm getting better at not responding. It also trains other people to be more aware of the time zone difference.

No more dieting. I've been on a diet for months, ever since the foot surgery. I can't lose the weight I gained. I went over a month of not eating any treats and basically only eating salads. I increased my workouts significantly. I focused on drinking water. I upped my step count to 12,500. Guess what happened. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Maybe it is all the work stress and my body still recovering from the bone damage from the surgery, but whatever is happening isn't related to calories. It doesn't matter how few or many I eat, my body stays the exact same weight. So for this week, I decided I didn't care. I would focus on working out and eating healthy, but that's it. No more obsessing.

I'll be home this weekend and it's the first weekend or day off that I've had since the first of January. I desperately need it and look forward to being lazy and catching up on brainless TV and maybe even reading a book.

A Week in Limbo

I arrived home last Sunday and knew I was leaving Saturday. It’s always an awkward adjustment when you already know you leave so soon. I don’t feel home, but I don’t feel anywhere else. It is strange, off-putting and probably a huge reason why I never got around to grocery shoppin

While I ate delivery or take out basically every night (and one night I just ate a bag of potato chips), I still tried to prioritize me and grabbed a few moments before racing begins, and I lose nearly all resemblance of a private, ‘normal’ life.

Every morning, even if I was waking up at 6:15 am, I stayed in bed for a few extras moments to simply enjoy it. While I get to stay in some lovely hotels, nowhere is as good as my own bed. So, I’d stay in bed and read through the news, a quick glance at Instagram, journal and then do a 10-minute Headspace meditation session. Grabbing this me time meant I felt centered and calm before checking my email and the craziness began. I also tried to work out daily.

The Roommate strongly encouraged (left cash on the table before he left) getting a massage. A new place opened near the apartment, so I had no excuse. I escaped over lunch and had one of the best sports massages in years. It was one of those grit your teeth, but it felt so good types of massages. I spend a lot of time folded into small airplane seats, driving a car or sitting in front of a computer. My body and head are better when I get into a routine of body work, and I’m going to try and prioritize a monthly massage. Biweekly if I’m home. 

I even made it to the movies one night with a girlfriend and saw LaLaLand. I liked it, truly enjoyed certain moments, but it wasn’t the best thing I’d ever seen.

The week was full gas, full gas, full gas. I was working 12-15 hour days all week, so on Saturday; I tried to get basic life back in order before hitting the road that afternoon. Trash, downloading movies, paying bills and cleaning up for when the roommate passes back through.

I'm in route to Dubai--a wonderful race with great weather, an amazing hotel, and a solid race buffet. I like starting the season this way.

Day in the Life: Solo Weekend at Home

I feel like no one day is the same in my life--it doesn't matter if I'm at a race or at home--it always comes with a great deal of fluctuation. When I'm at home on the weekends, I could still be covering a race remotely, the Roommate could be in town or I am flying solo with a fairly wide open weekend. This past weekend was the latter and I absolutely loved it. Here is a quick recap of my Sunday:

8:45am--Woke up without my alarm. Still listening to my body and letting it sleep as much as it wants to recover from all the travel and the hard season. I am a morning person by nature, so sometimes my heart jumps when I see how late it is. Immediately after waking up, I did a 10-minute Headspace session. I go in and out of consistency with mediating, yet I always believe it's an add. Then I did some quick journaling, something I've been fairly consistent with for a few years now. Finally, I headed into the kitchen and made some coffee. 

9:15am--After catching up on some blogs, I hopped in the shower. The sun was shining and I wanted to get outside. On Sundays in Belgium, lots and lots of places are closed. I searched on my phone to see if the organic market was opened and I was surprised to see it was.

10:00am--Out the door and heading for the market. Before shopping, I enjoyed an espresso and a juice with ginger, spinach and a few other things. Then I just wandered around aimlessly. I came home with zucchini, squash, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, rainbow chard, cauliflower, cucumbers and fresh eggs.

10:45am--With it so sunny, I just wandered around town for a bit. I wanted to see where was opened and I just enjoy getting a little lost.

11:30am--Swung my Delhaize, my real grocery store, and got the other things I need for the next few days. I hit the road again on Saturday.

12:15pm--Headed home and dropped off my groceries. A few emails had come in while I was out, so I tackled those.

1:15pm--I'm going back to the States on Saturday for a wedding and I see this as an opportunity to utilize the US mail system. So much cheaper than mailing things internationally! Many friends have had babies recently and I want to send them a little something from Belgium, so I went to my favorite linen and lace shop and grabbed some gifts to mail when I get to New York.

3:00pm--Decided it was wine time and sat outside at my neighborhood bar with a crisp glass of white wine.

4:10pm--After going home and changing, I headed to a canal to fish. Such a strange hobby for a female, I know. Despite trying three different places, the fish simply weren't biting.

5:45pm--Discouraged, I headed home.

6:10pm--Sat outside on my patio and did some reading.

7:30pm--Dinner for one. Zucchini noodles with tomato sauce, ground beef, pickled red onions and a bunch of basil.

8:10pm--Watched a very brainless movie on Netflix (Mono) which left me feeling stupider than when I started it. I didn't finish it.

9:45pm--Climbed into bed. I did a little more journaling, caught up on social media and then watched trashy reality TV (Real Housewives of New York). Probably fell asleep a little after 11pm.

Week in Photos

Great week. Super great week. This was the slowest week I've had in months and I think I did well enjoying it to its fullest. Soon life will get super intense all over again. I'm trying to enjoy the slower times, but sometimes it doesn't come that easy for me. I think constantly traveling and working such long hours at races actually gives me energy. That's why I love my job so much. Where other people would be drained, I thrive. 

So coming home after weeks on the move can be an adjustment. Thanks to some absolutely amazing weather in Belgium this week, it made disconnecting and actually being social really enjoyable.

My Saturday afternoon was me multitasking sporting events.  But I got to do it from my sofa in my super cozy apartment....possibly in sweats. The Belgium-Ireland game on the real TV and the Tour de Suisse TT on my computer. I also got ahead on a month's worth of expenses.

On Sunday, I headed up to Brussels for a quick adventure with some visiting Americans. My friend Sara was on a short trip around Europe with one of her coworkers. With only a few hours, I tried to give them a great taste of Belgium. We drank kriek, ate mussels and fries with mayonnaise, went to an ancient bar that served some ridiculous number of Belgian beers, saw Manneken Pis and obviously ate chocolate.

I've been desperate to get the apartment back in shape, especially my patio, after being gone for months. I ignore this space all winter but during the warmer months, I love sitting out here in the morning with coffee and music. On Monday, I went and bought a bunch of flowers at the bloemenmarkt. I managed to do it all in Dutch. I always feel proud when I piece it all together and manage to function in this bizarre foreign language. And finally I'm turning this space back into something I enjoy.

Next up is figuring out a better way to deal with the never ending water that drains there, but that's a project for next week. I already started it, but it's been a total fail so far and I've already been to the Hubo (Dutch Lowe's) three times.  Hopefully four times is a charm. Or maybe I should stop with the DIY projects?

Got a last minute invite to dinner, so spent Tuesday night out on the town. It was such a fun night with good food, booze and American conversation. Football, country music, fishing and such. And a pass through the famed Dulle Griet. It was probably the first warm summer night. Combined with how late the sun stays up right now, everything came together. Perfect way to enjoy this magical city.

On Thursday and Friday, a girlfriend came and stayed with me.  It was great to have someone to share with all the sun and good foods.

For both of those days, the weather was amazing. Hot and abundant sunshine--two things we don't get much of here. This is a country that knows when the sun shines, you drop everything and get outside. It'll be gone soon. So we aimed to be walking and outside as much as possible. On Friday afternoon, we headed to a neighborhood park with some rose, blankets and books. What you can't see in this picture is the clouds are starting to look ominous overhead. 

It poured on the walk home and we looked like drowned rats. Her mother asked if we had gone swimming.....

This upcoming week is going to be a totally different animal. My mother and nephew arrive tomorrow. A few days in Gent and then we are heading to the start of the Tour de France. All of this while juggling work.  The combination makes me a little stressed. When it is just me, I can handle the weird schedule that is my life. I know that I might work hard all morning, have a slow afternoon and then an evening of conference calls and more work. That's my normal and I actually thrive in that environment. But it is such an unconventional schedule. Most people are more creatures of habit and I watch them bristle and get uncomfortable when trying to deal with my world. Especially when they are on vacation.

“Fingers crossed it all goes well. A 13-year-old enjoys his first trip to Europe to the utmost and I’m able to balance family and work. It is hard than it sounds when you are someone who usually only has to think for one.....Again, fingers crossed.”

Time at Home

For the past few years, I've been on the road nearly every other week. This year has been a little different up to this point. I've actually been home more than gone. It's been amazing and challenging all at once. My road routine is so ingrained that I've struggled with finding a home routine. Surprisingly, this has meant fewer workouts, less walking and much more eating and drinking. It's been both lovely and shameful. 

Time to discover new fancy bars in town. 

When I'm on the road, I have little control over my eating habits. So while home, the Roommate and I make a feast. We both see every night as such a treat that doesn't include a hotel buffet that we go all out, more than we should. 

Bon Appetit's Chick pea stew. A trusted favorite. 

But all of that is coming to a close. After a quick weekend trip to Copenhagen, I start shutting up the apartment for over a month. It's back on the road, back to living out of my suitcase and back to having no control over my schedule or eats. A large part of me is very eager to get going. I'm hoping it is the change I need to get back in my rhythm with exercise, eating and drinking.

Au Bon Vivant is a gem of a food truck. 

“Apparently for me, chaos leads to structure.”