Off-Schedule but Chugging along

Weeks where a holiday happens in the middle just throw me off, so last week with the 4th on a Wednesday, I wasn't sure which way was up most of the week. Plus I also took Friday off because my mom came into town. So I was all confused all week. I still managed some solid workouts in spite of my wonky schedule.

But before I jump into my week - in case you missed it, here is last week's other blog post (I'm still catching up!):

Recent Snapshots: Family Photos

Workout Summary

Since my mom visited over the long weekend, we spent a ton of time swimming, both in the pool and the ocean. The ocean water is perfect for swimming right now! The waves are small and the water is warm. It's also good for paddleboarding.

I planned to run on Saturday, but was tired from the day before (so much time in the water) and my left achilles was tight and sore (I need to get to Stretch Zone and get a massage soon!), so I skipped my run. 

In general, running was better this week with a few days of cooler temps (80 on Friday and 70 on Sunday) during my runs. Because of that, I found that my easy pace picked up a bit. All of this summer slogging is definitely paying off! I'm pretty happy to be seeing some progress, and I'm fairly certain this is the most, and the most consistent, progress I've seen since 2015. 

So in spite of a few missed workouts, things continue to go well with this training reboot. Sure, I get off schedule sometimes, but it's summer and I'm not specifically training for anything yet. As long as I maintain my current base (which I am), I'll be ready to go at the end of August. 

In other news...

I've had a somewhat successful week in work and creativity. I picked up a new freelance client in the health and wellness space (my favorite!), and I'll be live as a mentor on a career and user experience site soon as well (just have to send in all of my files to get my profile live). That's in addition to the mentoring work I already do on my own and through Springboard.

I also decided it's high time I get a new DSLR camera. I used to do a ton of volunteer photography for animal rescues before my son was born, as well as other types of product photography. But my camera is now so old and used that my iPhone camera is better than it. Not awesome.

Last week, a local rescue organization contacted me to take pictures of their dogs, so I took that as a sign that I finally needed to get back into photography. So, I finally bought a new camera this week (next up - a waterproof one so I can get cool pics in the ocean).  

In the past month, I've kickstarted getting back into jewelry design with a formal certificate program and now I'm moving back toward photography and volunteer work. Maybe I'll be able to rediscover my artistic side after all. I still have some other goals like getting better at watercolor, using alcohol ink and figuring out resin...but baby steps. I'm feeling good because I'm actually doing something instead of just thinking about it.

How was your week? Did you do anything fun for the 4th? What are your hobbies and passions (other than running, of course)?

As always, I'm linking up with HoHoRuns and Taking the Long Way Home for the Weekly Wrap series.