I'm bad at balance

I don't know if this is a marker of adulthood or just how my brain happens to function, but I've really found I can't seem to maintain more than one hobby at a time.

Over the last few months, writing has become my primary interest. Once I broke through the self-imposed barrier of being too afraid to start, I've been...well, a little obsessed. Sitting down and losing myself in the story for two or three hours feels so wonderful after years of doing barely anything; it feels like it did years ago, when it was fun and effortless and care-free.

Speaking of writing, I was really moved by people's response to my post about getting back into it. I'm not sure why I have such weak faith in my friends that I imagined that, at best, they wouldn't care or, at worst, would be judgmental. Once I finish this draft and want to look for beta readers, I'll try to keep a more generous perspective on that.

But for some reason, reigniting my writing in August put a damper on my workouts. Maybe I just have limited bandwidth; it's not like the issue is time so much as mental energy.

My August calendar was quite disappointing on the running front, but it seems like August is historically a bit of a fallback month for me, so I'm brushing it off. I can feel really proud about reading three books and completing nearly 15 hours of writing.

I tend to run in the mornings and write in the afternoons, but for some reason doing both on the same day is just too much to think about! When I wrote out my September calendar, I separated my days and made time for both, and I intend to be better about sticking to that.

This week I finally scraped myself off the couch and got three good runs, a long walk, and a strength workout under my belt.

September's off to a good start!

And, if I plan to run a birthday half in February as usual, it's about time to start thinking about serious training. Right now three miles is a slog, but I also know I can build back up without too much drama.

In other news, Zoe celebrated her first birthday (or, you know, we celebrated based on the vet's best guess). I baked her a puppy-safe cake and she seemed to enjoy it.

We also recently took her to the dog park for the first time to see how she'd do. She was the only one in the small dogs area, but she loved having the freedom to run around and she didn't seem bothered by the big dogs on the other side of the fence. I intend to make it more of a habit to bring her during the week.

It's hard to believe fall 2023 is here. I'm making the most of the last gorgeous days of late summer before proper running weather and colorful leaves return. Matt and I have another little getaway planned for next month and are tentatively planning some bigger trips in 2024...but more on that if and when they come to fruition.

Ali