Ok, I am obviously kidding. But I’ll also be honest: buying a hammock is one of the best things I’ve done for myself in a long time. Where has it been all my life?

I am not back to anything resembling a normal training schedule for me, and I actually think I’ll still be taking it easy for a little while longer (not because I feel like I have to but maybe because I actually want to! It can be nice to NOT have a rigid plan for a little while and maybe I should embrace it for the time being).
It’s not like I am not moving at all, but I am doing a lot less cardio and have swapped it for more walks. It’s actually nice to go for a little post-dinner walk through the neighborhood. Who knew?

Today is the last day of May, and tomorrow starts a new week, a new month, and I’ll start a new (smaller) set of trackers and a 4-week strength program.

Monday

• 15 Min Core Strength – Ben (9/14/24) — Core in Full Bloom/Blooming for Movement
• 20 Min Arms & Shoulders Strength – Rad (1/20/26)
• 15 Min AFO Power Flow: Green Day – Kirra (8/19/22) — Blooming into Self Care/The Streak
• 15 Min Soul Walk – Jon (1/6/23)

Tuesday

• 10 Min Pilates – Kristin (3/17/23) — Core in Full Bloom
• 30 Min Oasis Walk + Run – Becs (8/6/25) — Blooming in Movement
• 5 Min Post-Run Stretch – Becs (1/3/24) — Blooming into Self Care
• 10 Min Restorative – Chelsea (2/25/25) — The Streak

Wednesday

• 15 Min Pilates Express – Anna (2/7/26) — Core in Full Bloom
• 10 Min Upper Body Strength – Ben (2/14/26) — Blooming in Movement
• 10 min Restorative – Kristin (11/8/23) — The Streak

Thursday

• 10 Min Standing Core Strength – Rebecca (6/21/23) — Core in Full Bloom/Blooming in Movement
• 15 Min Yoga Flow – Anna (4/23/26) — The Streak
• 15 Min Extra Steps Walk: 2000 Steps – Joslyn Thompson Rule (5/19/26) — 500th walk

Friday

• 10 Min Arms & Shoulders Strength – Ben (10/11/25) — Blooming in Movement
• 10 Min Core Strength – Callie (4/12/22) — Core in Full Bloom
• 10 Min Full Body Stretch – Callie (11/30/25) — Blooming into Self Care
  
• 15 Min Disco Walk – Jon (11/5/24)
• 10 Min Savasana – Anna (7/28/21) — The Streak

Saturday

• 5 Min Pre-Run Warm Up – Leanne (8/14/25) — Blooming into Self Care
• 10 Min Core Strength – Katie (9/24/25) — Core in Full Bloom
• 10 Min Bodyweight Strength – Ben (9/15/25) Blooming in Movement
• 10 Min Focus Flow: Floor Poses – Kirra (3/27/26) — The Streak

Sunday

• 20 Min Restorative – Aditi (9/9/21) — The Streak
• 10 Min Breathing Meditation – Kirra (9/30/25)
• 15 Min 80s Walk – Joslyn (4/27/26)

Current Challenges + Trackers:

I was able to finish all my trackers for this month, although I did the minimum reuqired and missed one day of yoga. I am still pretty happy with the results. Sometimes, less is more and you can still accomplish something. Never forget that.

Streaker365 May Core in Full Bloom
Streaker365 May Blooming into SelfCare
Streaker365 May Walk/Run Outdoors Focus Tracker
Streaker365 May Blooming for Movement
Streaker365 May The Streak (Daily Yoga)

This week’s stats:

Walking: 19.5 mi
Strength: 90 min
Yoga/Pilates/Barre: 115 min
Warm up/Stretching: 20 min
Meditation: 10 min

I am linking up again for the Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah.

WE VOTED

I finally dropped off our ballots for the California gubernatorial primary today at the drop-off box at the local library. My vote was not an easy decision, but after talking to a few people about it, doing some more research, and also texting with Julie (because I know she’s really involved in the political process and I was curious how she felt about the long list of candidates), I finally made a decision. Now I am curious which two candidates will make it to the general election in November.

HUMMINGBIRD FRIENDS

We have hummingbirds again! When I cleaned up our patio to put up my new hammock two weeks ago, I came across my hummingbird feeder. It had brought me so much joy in our old backyard behind the duplex, and I don’t know why I hadn’t hung it up yet.

Maybe because I thought that our new backyard situation is not quite as appealing to birds because we don’t have a lot of plants except for our neighbors’ bushes (and I haven’t seen many birds around, other than the mourning doves that build their nests under the window awnings). I still decided to get the hummingbird feeder cleaned and filled, and hung it up on the patio. For five days, I didn’t see a single hummingbird and was sadly considering that we might not get any in our yard. But then last weekend, when I was enjoying my hammock, I heard the familiar humming sound and caught a flutter out of the corner of my eye. And sure enough, we finally had our first hummingbird visit. I’ve seen a couple more since then, and I do hope they’ll spread the word to their hummingbird friends. It’s so fun to have them around!

NICOLE’s BOOK

I finished Nicole‘s book. I started it in March and then took an unintentional break from reading, which happens when I am just too preoccupied with other things. I mentioned before, I know a lot of people read to relax, I need to be relaxed to read sometimes. Long story short: I took all afternoon today and finally finished the book, and I really, really enjoyed it. [Nicole, you’re such a good writer!] I was particularly thrilled that my name (and my dad’s name, which is Peter!) popped up towards the end of the book (they were mentioned as “two regular yoga students” at the main character’s yoga studio). I am sure Nicole chose names randomly for her book, but it was fun to see my own name pop up.

A TRIAL RUN

Next week, I’ll be trying out a 5-day work week. As you might remember, I’ve been working a 4/10 schedule (10-hour days, Monday through Thursday) forever, and I have previously said that I would never, ever give up that schedule again, if I can help it. And I don’t think I (permanently) will because I don’t believe that it’s been causing me a lot of unnecessary stress. However, Jon suggested that I might want to try out if shorter workdays – and a little more time in the mornings and evenings during the summer months – might be a nice change of pace. I will admit that 10-hour days are pretty long if you factor in commute time, and there’s usually not much time for much else during my work week. Luckily, I have a “maxiflex schedule” (one of the last perks we have left), which means I can pretty much decide from week to week if I want to work standard 8-hour days or the longer 10-hour days. So, we’ll see how that goes.

20

Finally, Jon and I celebrated our 20th anniversary this week. I cannot wrap my head around this. 20 years is a long time. It feels like a long time, but it’s also like we „blinked“ and here we are,  20 years later. It’s quite surreal. But of course, it’s something to celebrate! Jon took me out for a fun (and delicious!) Sushi dinner, and I got us tickets for an MLB Red Sox game (we’re both Red Sox Fans). The Red Sox will play the Oakland Athletics here in Sacramento later this summer, and of course, we’ll have to take advantage! Since they’re an American League East Division team, we don’t get the opportunity to see them play very often.

We stayed in Wolkenstein at the same vacation rental (Apartment Wurdengeja) again as in previous years, which is located within walking distance of the slopes.It’s a three-bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, living room, and south-facing balcony with a view of the impressive Sella Group and the Sassolungo (Langkofel). Who wouldn’t want to wake up to this view every morning?

In the evenings, we were able to ski down all the way into the town –Wolkenstein’s elevation is 1500 m (5,100 feet) – and walk back to our apartment. It doesn’t get better than that.

We were super-lucky with the weather this year. We didn’t have any fresh snow (and as you can see there was almost no snow in the village), but the temperatures were cold enough for the current snow pack to hold. They did an amazing job preparing the slopes every night and it was sunny for most of the days.

I shared this information before, but as a refresher (or if you’re new here): The Dolomiti Superski is one of the largest ski areas in the world and consists of 12 ski resorts with 1,200 kilometers of slopes, 1,177 km of cross-country ski trails, 30 snow parks and 450 lifts, about half of which are directly connected to each other. They all can be used with a single ski pass, so we were able to ski in different resorts every single day.

I made a little map a couple of years ago (full version here), and I am sharing it again here, so you can see the 12 different resorts, the town we stayed in (blue dot),  and the different resorts/valleys – labeled 1 through 6 – we actually skied during our stay. The yellow triangle shows the location of our favorite ski lodge (Baita Panorama) where we usually stopped for a hot beverage at the end of the day before heading back to the apartment. 

On Sunday, our first day back on skis, we decided to spend the day in Plan de Gralba/Passo Sella (1). It’s a small resort with plenty of blue (easy) and a couple of red (intermediate) runs to get a feel for the skis again and trigger our muscle memory. My parents admitted they felt a little shaky for the first couple of hours, but felt much better after a few runs. (And yes, my parents are both in their mid-70s and still ski!). It was a beautiful, sunny day and everybody was in great spirits!

Wolkenstein is right around the corner from Cortina D’Ampezzo, where the Winter Olympics were held earlier this year. Competitions were spread out across the region. None were held in Val Gardena itself but the Olympic Torch passed through the area. A wooden torch sculpture was installed at the Dantercepies mountain station. It’s a commemorative piece marking a stop of the torch relay. Of course, we had to take a picture!

One of my friends joked that the torch looked like a giant piece of asparagus at first glance. Haha. I guess I can see that!

On Monday, my parents and my niece decided to take a rest day (maybe they overdid it a little bit on the first day), but the rest of us made it down the famous FIS World Cup slope Saslong (4) which hosts two World Cup races every year – a downhill and a Super G race.

We then decided to “hop over” on the other side of the valley and go up to Seceda (5). It is part of the Puez-Odle Nature Park, and offers a stunning view of the Odle Peaks (Geisler Spitzen). It was a little overcast for most of the day and pretty cold, but we had a great day of skiing.

In the evening, we went to St. Ulrich – another small town in Val Gardena, where my family used to stay during our vacations in the past – for a stroll through town and of course, we had to stop and visit “our friend” who has been guarding this store front since we were little girls.

Originally we had planned to have dinner at “Mar Dolomit“, the restaurant adjacent to the local indoor pool (at which we spent many hours as kids), but unfortunately, the restaurant was already closed for the season and we had to pivot. Luckily, someone recommended another pizza place nearby (which turned out to be a great pick!)

Over the course of the week, we alternated between yummy Brotzeit dinners at home and eating out a few times, and I really enjoyed this delicious authentic Italian pizza with arugula and fresh tomatoes.

On Tuesday, we went skiing on the Seiser Alm (Alpe de Suisi) (3), an Alpine plateau and the largest high-elevation Alpine meadow in Europe. It offers breath-taking views of the nearby Dolomite peaks, the Langkofel Group and the Schlern.

The access to Seiser Alm via gondola is in St. Ulrich/Ortisei. My parents and the kids drove the car over there in the morning and my sister, brother-in-law, and I took the ski bus.

The Seiser Alm offers a nice round trip route, the Alpe di Siusi Ronda, and starts and ends at the top of the gondola. You never have to take off and carry your skis anywhere! Except for lunch, which we had at Baita Zallinger. My sister and I shared the bacon dumpling soup and the Kaiserschmarrn, which was absolutely amazing.

On Wednesday, we decided to spend the day at Edelweiss Valley(6) in Colfosco, which was only the next valley over. The weather was supposed to be a little volatile, so we wanted to be able to head home quickly if the weather was going to change. In the end, however, it was an all-round beautiful day and the weather played along.

Despite any fresh snow, the slopes were well groomed and offered perfect skiing conditions; hard but grippy! We even went down a black diamond!

As most days, we ended up at Baita Panorama at the end of the day to enjoy a hot (or cold) beverage.

On Thursday, my sister, my brother-in law, my nephew and I circumnavigated the Sella massif (2). My Mom and Dad had opted out of this long ski trip, and my niece also took a breather.

The loop is called the “Sellaronda” and can be done clockwise and counterclockwise. Thanks to well connected lift systems and slopes, you can ski about 18 miles of slopes in one day and you almost never have to actually get off your skis or pass any of the routes twice. It’s a really fun trip and can be easily done in a day.

Well, it wasn’t quite an “all-day” trip, as we were pretty quick and finished the loop in about four hours. We opted for a late lunch break at Baita Panorama. My sister and I split another bacon-dumpling soup (they’re just so good) and the waitress was really nice and served it in two separate bowls.

We did a couple more near-by runs before heading home in the early afternoon and decided to meet up with everyone to do a little last-minute (souvenir) shopping. We ended up having a quick dinner at home and then spontaneously decided to go and check out a local ice hockey game at the ice hockey ring in town. (Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go ice skating this time.)

Friday was our last day. We decided to spend the last day again in Plan de Gralba and make our way to the Friedrich August hut near the Sella Pass, a high mountain pass that separates South Tyrol from Trentino.

I had been thinking about renting a snowboard all week. I hadn’t been on the board for a long time and – to be honest – was a little wary: can I still do it? Can I keep up with the others on skis? I kept waffling about what to do, and finally my sister said: “I know you’re not going to rent a snowboard. You’re going to take your skis. I know you.”

Well, that was probably the nudge that I needed, because in that moment, I thought to myself, ‘now I’m definitely doing it.’ If I don’t try again now, I might never try again. So, I rented a snowboard for the day.

Of course, I had to ride one of the platter lift, first, which can be a little tricky on a snowboard, but I thought to myself, “What’s the worst that can happen? If I fall off, then at least I exit to the beginner’s slope!” Haha. (But I didn’t fall off, in fact, it went surprisingly well.)

We then took the Piz Sella gondola and I enjoyed the view for a moment, before I got up and – slowly but surely – made my way over to the Gran Paradiso lift, where we were to meet up with the others. They say skiing – and snowboarding – is like riding a bike: even if it’s been a long time, the body remembers how to do it. And it’s true. I did a few practice runs on the Gran Paradiso’s wide and gentle slope, and felt more and more confident on the snowboard again as the day went on!

I was a bit slower than I would have been on skis, and my sister was gracious to be my “guide” off the chair lifts (that can be a tricky situation when there are 6-8 people getting off at the same time and you’re stuck in the middle).

Snowboarding is definitely much more of a “workout” for me. I am a much better skier, so it takes way less effort for me. With a snowboard, it’s different. You have to constantly strap in and strap out with one boot. You also sit on your butt a lot more, and you have to push yourself up into standing position frequently. My main goal was to keep up with everyone and not have any bad tumbles on the last day (and I didn’t). I felt really good at the end, and I am so, so happy I gave snowboarding another shot!

We made the most of our last day and stayed on the mountain until the lifts closed. We might or might not have spent some extra time at the ski lodge drinking one (or two) last hot chocolate(s), and really squeezed every last minute out of this skiing vacation.

Our time in the Dolomites was amazing once again! Nobody got hurt, we had a lot of fun, and I am so thankful I got to spend this precious, quality time with my family in a place that is near and dear to all our hearts! Until next time, Val Gardena!

I’ve been taking it really easy this week (no cardio) and have been doing a lot of walking, yoga and meditation. I am not sure yet how long I will take a break from running and cycling. I mean, logically I know that I am probably ok to run, but I am trying to put less pressure on myself to do *everything* all the time, so taking a slower approach for a little bit – with more yoga and walking – probably cannot hurt. 

Monday

• 30 Min Pop Walk – Adrian (8/4/21) — Focus Tracker
• 45 Min 90s Walk – Jon (3/19/26)
• 20 Min Pool Swimming

• 10 Min Savasana – Kirra (6/26/24) — The Streak

I took a walk (to the local park + rose garden) and then to the pool in the afternoon because the weather was glorious.

Tuesday

• 10 Min Breathing Meditation – Anna (3/17/26)

• 15 Min 90s Pop Walk – Jon (9/16/25) 
• 10 Min Restorative – Denis (3/27/26) — The Streak

I had an easy and relaxing day at home. I slept in and only did a meditation in the morning. I also took a little after-dinner walk around our neighborhood, and I think I might make that a new thing. It’s nice to move around a little bit after eating, and it stays light longer, and the temps have just been so pleasant. 

Wednesday

• 15 Min Morning Yoga Flow – Chelsea (10/24/21) — The Streak
• 10 Min Core Strength – Emma (12/16/21) — Core in Full Bloom

• 5 Min Warm Up Walk – Kirsten (3/28/24) — Blooming in Self Care
• 30 Min Outdoor Walk

• 15 Min 90s Walk – Adrian (4/1/25) — Blooming for Movement/Focus Tracker
• 10 Min Sleep Meditation – Anna (5/23/24)

I took another post-dinner walk and really enjoyed Anna’s sleep meditation. 

Thursday

• 20 Min Morning Slow Flow – Anna (3/5/26) — The Streak/Blooming in Self Care
• 10 Min Barre: Core – Leanne (7/15/25) — Core in Full Bloom

• 20 Min 80s Walk – Susie (5/15/26) — Blooming for Movement

• 15 Min 90s Walk – Rebecca (2/10/29) — Focus Tracker

If you’re looking for a nice little slow morning flow, bookmark this one with Anna. It was a really nice and gentle way to get moving this morning. I also went for a 20-minute lunchtime walk, and another after-dinner walk in the evening. I usually do the bulk of my workouts in the morning, but it’s nice to spread out movement throughout the day.

Friday

• 20 Min Focus Flow: Core – Kristin (3/16/22) — The Streak/Core in Full Bloom
• 5 Min Core Stretch – Emma (1/7/22) — Blooming in Self Care
  
• 15 Min 80s Rock Walk – Jon (2/4/25)

I worked today (as you might remember, I am usually off on Fridays, but I made up a day from earlier this week), so I was up earlier than usual. I had scheduled a little yoga core session before work, and I was so thrilled when Michelle (YAY!) popped into my yoga class and joined me! It’s always more fun to work out with friends! 

Saturday

• 10 Min Yoga Flow – Denis (5/19/26) — The Streak
• 5 Min Full Body Strength Warm Up – Robin (12/30/21) — Blooming into Self Care
• 10 Min Core Strength – Robin (1/2/26) — Core in Full Bloom/Blooming for Movement
• 5 Min Core Stretch – Rebecca (1/9/23)
  
• 15 Min R & B Walk – Joslyn (1/6/26) — Focus Tracker

I really enjoyed Denis’ yoga flow and Joslyn’s R&B Walk after dinner.

Sunday

• 10 Min Pilates – Rebecca (4/26/26) — Blooming for Movement/Core in Full Bloom
• 20 Min Restorative – Kirra (11/2/23) — Serenity Sunday/The Streak
• 10 Min Peace Meditation – Ross (12/10/23) — Serenity Sunday
• 15 Min 90s Walk – Jess K (8/10/23)

I did a Pilates class in the afternoon and then joined the Streakers for Serenity Sunday – yoga and meditation. I also took my after-dinner walk around the neighborhood.

Current Challenges + Trackers:

I’ve been able to keep up with my trackers, but I’ll admit: I’ve done the minimum required.

Streaker365 May Core in Full Bloom
Streaker365 May Blooming into SelfCare
Streaker365 May Walk/Run Outdoors Focus Tracker
Streaker365 May Blooming for Movement
Streaker365 May The Streak (Daily Yoga)

This week’s stats:

Walking: 24.6 mi
Strength: 20 min
Swimming: 20 min
Yoga/Pilates/Barre: 125 min
Warm up/Stretching: 20 min
Meditation: 30 min

I am linking up again for the Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah.

BACK AT WORK

I was a little hesitant to return to work on Wednesday because that was where I had my health scare last week. Like I said, it happened towards the end of the day when I was alone in the office, because I am usually the last one in the office, so that was going to be the case again this week. But it’s not like I can stay home. I have a few theories of why what happened last week happened (stay tuned for a more detailed post about that), so I am trying to make some progressive changes at work, mainly by being more mindful about staying hydrated and not being sedentary all day.

Those changes are:

• use my standing desk more often (I did that for a while and then got lazy)
• use my Garmin alert to tell me when to stand up and move around/stretch
• keep my water bottle filled up (and keep sipping)
• take an actual break to eat lunch (are you also guilty of eating while working? Stop doing that.)
• go for a short lunch walk

RETAIL THERAPY

I bought a hammock last weekend. I was in a mopey mood because of not feeling that great and having to cancel my trip to Boston, and my brother in law (my sister’s husband) suggested in an off-hand comment that I should get a hammock and just take it easy for a little while. I don’t know if it was just a little joke to make me feel better, but it sparked something in me. I’d better not tell you for how long I’ve been thinking about buying a hammock. It’s a bit ridiculous. It’s not a HUGE expense, so I don’t really know why I haven’t gotten one before. I guess I just needed a spontaneous, random “permission” to finally spend the money. (Believe me, I am very aware how silly that sounds.) I only had the hammock for a few days and it’s already brought me so much joy. Needless to say, I am planning to spend a lot of time in it this summer.

CA PRIMARIES

You might – or might not – know that we’re having a primary election in June. We’re (sadly) voting to replace governor Gavin Newsom (his term is ending). 

California utilizes a top-two primary system where all candidates are listed on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of their partisan affiliations, advance to the general election. Consequently, it is possible that two candidates belonging to the same political party could win in a top-two primary and face off in the general election. Well, and a very crowded field of Democratic candidates risks splitting the vote so heavily that the top-two Republican candidates – who normally would not really stand a chance – could advance to the November ballot, completely locking the Democrats out of the general election.

It’s a complicated decision to make. I want to vote for the candidate that I think is right for the job, but might have to vote for my „second choice“ because of polling numbers. Currently, it does look like a Xavier Becerra (Democrat and served as Secretary of Health and Human Services under Biden) and Steve Hilton (Republican endorsed by Tr*mp) are leading the polls, Tom Steyer (progressive billionaire) is in third place. But obviously, we cannot elect a Republican in November. I know California had Republican governors before and we survived it, but in the current political climate, it would be devastating. 

WHATSAPP CIRCLE VIDEOS

Have you seen/used the circle video feature in Whatsapp? They’re officially called “Instant Video Notes“, which let you record and send short, 60-second video clips directly in your chats. These videos play automatically on mute, and are captured in a distinctive circular frame. My cousin has been sending me these little video messages from his runs (and I’ve been sending him some back) and it’s been so motivating to see these little blips pop up in my messages. Makes me smile every single time.

MY OWALA WATER BOTTLE

Owalas are the new Stanley Cups. You heard it here first. I swear I wasn’t influenced. I bought an Owala* bottle on a whim with Tanja, when she was here to visit in early March, and had previously not even heard of it… and then, BAM, when I returned from my trip to Germany, Owalas were suddenly EVERYWHERE. I mean, I am not surprised. They’re pretty cool water bottles with a so-called „FreeSip“ feature; a built-in straw and wide-mouth opening on the same lid. They’re leakproof, come in pretty colors and keep my water cool. What else would you possibly want? Oh, it matches my Mepal* Lunch Pot (which I also love).

BONUS NOTE

Today is Tanja‘s birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sweet friend, so happy you were born! I wish I could celebrate with you in person today! I hope you have the best day!

*not an ad. I bought these things with my own money. 

photo credit: @hayleymurrayphoto

TL;DR: I had a little bit of a health scare earlier last week and had to cancel my trip to Boston over the weekend. I was super-bummed, but I am alright.

I probably wasn’t the most pleasant to be around the last few days. I was moping around the house all weekend because I was actually supposed to be in Boston. Remember that I had made plans to finally meet up again with my long-time friend Cathy from Sydney, Australia? And in Boston of all places! Our friendship was supposed to come full circle.

It’s wild to think that we’ve known each other since we were teenagers and that we’ve kept up all these years. We started out as pen friends back in the day – pre-Internet – and initially bonded over our mutual love for New Kids on the Block, who are from Boston, in case you didn’t know. Hence, the full circle moment, because without NKOTB, we probably would have never connected, and to meet up in Boston would have been a dream come true. I don’t think it can be taken for granted that our friendship survived this long, especially because it was all based on letter writing for such a long time.

But I didn’t go to Boston.

We had been counting down the days to this reunion for weeks. Then, things went awry earlier last week, when I had a little health scare and had to cancel my trip at the last minute. 

(BTW, this is the second year in a row that I had to cancel a fun trip to see friends, and I am very much over it.) 

So what happened?

I mentioned it in my Weekly Run Down post yesterday: I had a wonderful early morning run on Tuesday morning and felt great. I went to work, had a normal day, and was about to wrap up in the late afternoon, when – out of the blue – I suddenly experienced heart palpitations, chest pressure, and lightheadedness. I was the last one at the office and got a bit anxious. I’ve never passed out before but I imagined that this was what it would feel like shortly before you do.

Don’t worry, I did not pass out. The whole episode lasted for maybe 10-15 minutes until I started to feel better and was able to leave and drive home. 

You’re probably wondering why I didn’t go straight to the ER. Let me explain.

A little backstory

The main reason was that I had heart palpitations before (in 2019 for the first time) and had gotten an echocardiogram and stress test done at the time, with no unusual results. However, episodes of chest pressure/discomfort persisted. In late 2021, during another episode, I went to the ER to get checked out again. 

I spent 9 hours at the ER. They did the whole workup: ECG, echocardiogram, MRI, and troponin test (which is a protein found in heart muscle cells that is released into the bloodstream when the heart is damaged, such as during a heart attack), and ruled out any heart issues. Again.  

I distinctly remember that the discharge nurse brought me the good news and then asked if I still had chest pressure, as if the positive results of my tests had miraculously cured the symptom. When I answered in the affirmative, they basically shrugged their shoulders and suggested following up with my primary care physician. Unfortunately, my PCP didn’t really take me seriously because, after all, my heart was fine!

I finally pushed for a referral to a gastroenterologist. I got an endoscopy done in early 2022 (no unusual results), and the GI doctor suspected my symptoms were related to GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disorder). I didn’t really have typical symptoms of heartburn (like burning or acid regurgitation), but I did have stomach pressure and chest discomfort on and off, and I had read that low stomach acid can mimic the same symptoms as excess stomach acid. So, I presented my theory that my symptoms were rather caused by low stomach acid (hypochlorhydria) and inquired about a stomach acid test (and there are more sophisticated ones than the baking soda test, which I have done repeatedly at home and which is why I suspected hypochlorhydria in the first place).

I was instantly dismissed. The GI doctor said there was no such thing as low stomach acid, he didn’t know about hydrochloric acid (HCl) supplements, for that matter, and insisted I should just do a round of PPI (acid blocker) treatment. It was very frustrating. I ended up taking PPIs for two weeks, and they temporarily relieved some of my symptoms (which was to be expected), but it ultimately didn’t get to the root of the problem. Unfortunately, sometimes doctors just aim to mask problems, not fix them.

I had pretty much managed my symptoms on my own for the last few years through dietary changes and occasional supplementation with HCl. I had occasional episodes (multiple days) of chest pressure/discomfort and also many weeks of no symptoms. It was hard to pinpoint what triggered the episodes that did happen. Jon believes it’s at least partially stress-related, which I am willing to consider. I feel like I do a lot to keep myself happy and healthy, and I usually don’t feel particularly stressed, but I do have a Type A personality, and I can see how this could sometimes trigger physical responses when my body says “enough”.

Overall, my symptoms felt manageable, albeit uncomfortable sometimes, mainly because I also didn’t have palpitations for a long time. Chest discomfort is one thing; having it accompanied by palpitations and dizziness is another. Even if it’s not cardiac-related, it FEELS like it is cardiac-related.

Fast forward to last week.

The chest pressure lingered, and I still felt a little shaky on Wednesday (not eating probably didn’t help). On Thursday morning, I called my doctor’s office to see if I could get a same-day appointment. Luckily, they could get me in right away. I saw a very nice, young nurse practitioner, and she was very attentive and very thorough. After I told her my history, she reassured me that she didn’t think anything was wrong with my heart, but she ordered an ECG, a lab test (for cholesterol and troponin), and also a chest X-ray to be sure. As predicted, all tests were negative. In fact, she said, based on my results, I had a very low risk of any cardiac events.

She still suggested considering getting a heart monitor for a few weeks, just to see if anything popped up on a long-term ECG (although she was pretty sure it wouldn’t), and she was also open to my theory that my symptoms might be caused by gastrointestinal issues. It felt good that someone was finally listening to me. Unfortunately, she’s not my PCP, and I probably won’t see her again for a follow-up, but at least someone was taking me seriously. The other doctors so far have been of no use. They say my heart is fine and that is that. Of course, that is very reassuring, but also very frustrating.

Is it silly to expect someone to be interested in getting to the bottom of these scary, but apparently relatively harmless, symptoms?

I’ve still been experiencing light chest discomfort the last few days, and I’ve done a bit more research this weekend. I will share more about that with you, if you’re interested, but for now, let me just say: it’s been a huge bummer that I had to cancel my trip to Boston because of this.

Cathy and I ended up video chatting yesterday afternoon, and it was lovely to at least connect “in person” this way. We talked for two hours. The conversation flowed easily, even though we hadn’t actually spoken in a few years (just texted for the most part), and it just confirmed once again that friendship knows no distance and that with some people, you can just pick up where you left off. I know we would have had the best time this weekend in Boston. Hopefully, there’ll be another chance to meet up in the future.

This week I got sidelined. The photo above was taken before it happened. I had a great run Tuesday morning before work and then I had a bit of a medical situation in the late afternoon when I was still at work: heart palpitations, dizzy spell, chest pressure. And while everything checked out ok (my heart is perfectly fine), it’s been a bit unsettling. (I can tell you more about my health journey in a different post.)

Not surprisingly, I’ve been feeling a little out of it for most of the week and haven’t been to work either and so working out also pretty much stopped. As I was feeling better towards the end of the week, I did restart a little bit of yoga and meditation and went for a couple of walks, but other than that, I am keeping things easy for now.

Monday

• 10 Min Breathing Meditation – Anna (3/17/26)
• 10 Min Pilates – Anna (2/19/26) — Core in Full Bloom
• 10 Min Arms & Shoulders Strength – Ben (12/6/25) — Blooming for Movement 
• 15 Min Morning Yoga Flow – Chelsea (5/29/24) — The Streak/Blooming into Self Care
• 30 Min Outdoor Walking

Tuesday

• 10 Min Daily Meditation – Denis (5/10/26)
• 5 Min Pre-Run Warm Up – Matt (5/14/25)
• 30 Min Pop Run – Adrian (11/19/22) — Blooming in Movement/Focus Tracker
• 10 Min Focus Flow: For Runners – Kristin (6/7/23) — The Streak 

Wednesday

• 10 Min Morning Meditation – Aditi (4/4/26) 

Thursday

• 20 Min Calming Meditation – Anna (4/26/22) 
• 10 Min Focus Flow: Core – Chelsea (2/23/25) — The Streak/Core in Full Bloom

Friday

• 20 Min Restorative – Kristin (7/27/23) — The Streak

Saturday

• 10 Min Core Strength – Selena (4/27/25) — Core in Full Bloom
• 10 Min Focus Flow: Healthy Back – Nico (5/14/26) — The Streak
• 10 Min Meditation for Anxiety – Anna (5/16/26) — Blooming in Self Care
• 20 Min Hip Hop Walk – Adrian (7/29/22) — Focus Tracker/Blooming in Movement

Sunday

• 20 Min Restorative – Denis (7/18/21) — The Streak/Serenity Sunday
• 10 Min Relaxing Meditation – Anna (2/1/24) — Blooming into Self Care/Serenity Sunday
• 30 Min 90s Walk – Adrian (8/4/21) — Focus Tracker/Blooming for Movement

Current Challenges + Trackers:

Streaker365 May Core in Full Bloom
Streaker365 May Blooming into SelfCare
Streaker365 May Walk/Run Outdoors Focus Tracker
Streaker365 May Blooming for Movement
Streaker365 May The Streak (Daily Yoga)

This week’s stats:

Running: 3.3 mi
Walking: 12.4 mi
Strength: 20 min
Yoga/Pilates/Barre: 95 min
Warm up/Stretching: 5 min
Meditation: 70 min

I am linking up again for the Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah.

I am a bit behind with blogging (and reading) again, can you tell? So you’ll get a quick belated recap for March and April.

PERSONAL

• Read 2 books a month.
  Yeah, no. I barely read anything in March and April. I know a lot of people read to relax, I need to be relaxed to read sometimes, if that makes sense?
• Use facemasks weekly when I do my Sunday meditation.
  Haha. Fail.
• Prioritize sleep and rest.
  I averaged 7:02 hours in March and hit my sleep goal of 7.5 hours in April. Woo! I am suspecting that it happened because I was on vacation. Let’s see if I can keep it up. My sleep score was pretty good overall, with only a couple of low scores and some very high ones.

• Regular walks with a friend (virtually or in person).
  Yes! I continued my biweekly (virtual or in person) walks with friends and co-worker during my lunchtime (except for the time when I was in Germany).
• Find a running group, book club, or knitting group locally.
  No progress made on that front. 

HEALTH/WELLNESS

• Complete (another) 365 Peloton Streak.
  I am keeping my streak going and have earned a “blue dot” for 1895 consecutive days.
• Half Marathon Training
  I finished 10 weeks of training and had a successful race on March 15. I have not started a new training plan yet.
• Hit a weekly (not daily) average step count.
  Yes, I exceeded my (average) daily step goal in March by 1000+ steps; I averaged 9,190 steps/day in March. I didn’t quite hit my goal in April (6,384 steps), but I am still on track if averaged over the first four months of 2026 (9,067 steps/day).

• Keep up my yoga streak.
  I missed only one day of daily yoga in March and completed my tracker in April.

RELATIONSHIPS

• Date nights with Jon once a month.
  No real date nights, but we did go out to dinner for my birthday (with Tanja in tow).
• Go skiing with my family.
  I left for Germany at the end of March and we went to the Dolomites in early April! It was such a blast. I am hoping to share a recap soon.
• Reach out to friends more.
  I’ve been trying to respond to all my messages in a timely manner, and I was lucky to see some friends in person when I was in Germany. Some of these friends, I hadn’t seen in a while, some (old) friends not for years, but we were able to seamlessly reconnect.
• Continue monthly Teams Calls with Ingrid. 
  Because of my upcoming travel, we didn’t have a Teams Call in March, but we spoke on the phone twice, and we finally had another face-to-face call in late April.

HOME

• Estate Planning
  We set up additional beneficiaries for our financial accounts, but we still have to meet with a trust attorney.
• Declutter/organize garage
  Nope.

WORK

• Keep advocating for myself.
  No more real “progress” made here in March or April, but I have a mid-year performance review coming up in May and I am hoping to strategize a bit with my (new) supervisor for the second half of this year.
• Establish Deepen some (new) work-friend relationships.
  I continue to socialize more with two women in my office and we chat regularly and go for lunchtime walks together. It’s been nice getting to know each other better.

BONUS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• I finished our taxes and paid what we owed before I left for my trip to Germany.
• I finished and handed off a few tasks for various work projects before going on vacation.
• My sister and I organized an amazing birthday party when I was home and I got to see so many people that I hadn’t seen in years. It was superspecial.

How was your March and April?

Although I am often “physically” alone when I work out, I never truly work out alone because I often connect with Tanja, the #BCBabes¹, occasionally other friends in my Streakers365 group, and with my family. It’s nice to know someone is always just “on the other side of the screen”. This week, I met up with my mom, sister and cousin for a virtual Mother’s Day Run. We couldn’t be together in person, but we were able to connect through our workouts and via FaceTime later.

Monday

• 10 Min Daily Meditation – Denis (4/26/26)
• 10 Min Standing Core Strength – Rebecca (4/6/26) — Core in Full Bloom
• 20 Min Full Body Strength – Ben (5/1/26) — Blooming for Movement
• 10 Min Focus Flow: For Runners – Zacharias (5/1/26) — The Streak
• 30 Min Earth Day Walk – Mariana (4/21/26)

I started my week with a strength workout – a core and a full body strength class. I also enjoyed a yoga flow for runners. During my lunch break, I took Mariana’s Earth Day Walk, and it was lovely. I highly recommend it.  

Tuesday

• 10 Min Relaxing Meditation – Denis (4/7/26)
• 5 Min Get to Know Me Warm Up Ride – Olivia (5/25/25)
• 45 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride – Olivia (5/4/25) — Boost Your Base
• 5 Min Post Ride Stretch – Olivia (1/21/25)
• 5 Min Core Strength – Ben (5/1/26) — Core in Full Bloom/Blooming for Movement
• 10 Min Savasana Yoga – Denis (5/20/22) — The Streak

I spent my morning with Olivia with a warm up, a 45-minute Power Zone Endurance ride, and a cool down.  I also did a quick core strength class and a savasana yoga session in the evening. 

Wednesday

• 10 Min Calming Meditation – Anna (10/14/25) — Blooming into Self Care
• 10 Min Standing Core – Rebecca (9/11/24) — Core in Full Bloom
• 20 Min Chest & Back Strength – Ben (4/21/26) — Blooming for Movement
• 10 Min Focus Flow: Hamstrings – Anna (6/18/24) — The Streak

Today was for some core, chest & back strength. I think I’ll be a little sore tomorrow. 

Thursday

• 10 Min Patience Meditation – Kristin (4/13/23) — Blooming for Self Care
• 5 Min Pre-Run Warm Up – Matt (5/14/25)
• 30 Min Pop Run – Adrian (1/8/23) — Blooming for Movement
• 10 Min Focus Flow: For Runners – Kristin (6/7/23) — The Streak
• 53 Min Outdoor Walking

It’s light enough in the morning for me to go for a run outdoors, and today I finally made it out the door at 6:15 a.m. I only had time for a quick 30-minute run and a quick yoga flow, but I am glad I made it outside. The early mornings are so beautiful right now. 

I also went for a nice lunchtime walk with my co-worker later in the day. 

Friday

• 10 Min Mental Health Meditation – Anna (5/19/23) — Blooming for Self-Care
• 5 Min Warm Up Ride – Denis (9/5/23)
• 45 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride – Christian (5/6/25) — Boost Your Base
• 5 Min Cool Down Ride – Matt (4/17/24)
• 10 Min Focus Flow: For Riders – Denis (2/25/25) — The Streak

I slept in this morning (my body craved rest) and only did a morning meditation after I woke up, but motivation hit me in the late afternoon, and I hopped on the bike for a 45-minute Power Zone Endurance Ride. There were some long Zone 3 intervals, and I struggled a bit at the end, but I did finish the class. I definitely needed that cool down ride to catch my breath and the focus flow for riders to stretch my muscles afterwards.

Saturday

• 30 Min Bootcamp – Jess S (4/28/26)
• 5 Min Cool Down Ride – Bradley (1/1/26)
• 30 Min Mental Health Awareness Slow Flow – Anna (5/21/24) — Blooming into Self Care
• 10 Min Core Strength – Callie (6/20/25) — Core in Full Bloom

My friend and fellow BCBabe Sherry, who is also one of the admins in our Streakers365 Group, scheduled a Swarm Bootcamp for this morning, and of course, I had to join! It was a sweaty, but good workout with Jess Sims. I also added a Mental Health Awareness Flow and 10 minutes of core strength to my stack. 

Sunday

• 5 Min Pre-Run Warm Up – Matt (514/25)
• 45 Min 90s Run – Adrian (8/12/25) — Blooming for Movement

I coordinated with my mom, sister and cousin today that we’d do a virtual Mother’s Day Run together. It didn’t quite work out to do it at the exact same time (the time difference can make things difficult), but we all committed to moving our body #separatebuttogether today! I loved connecting this way with them on Mother’s Day!

I also joined some Streakers365 peeps for Serenity Sunday in the afternoon. I love this little self care ritual to wrap up my weekend!

• 20 Min Restorative – Anna (12/17/20) — The Streak/Serenity Sunday
• 10 Min Patience Meditation – Kristin (1/26/23) — Blooming into Self Care/Serenity Sunday

Current Challenges + Trackers:

Streaker365 May Core in Full Bloom
Streaker365 May Blooming into SelfCare
Streaker365 May Walk/Run Outdoors Focus Tracker
Streaker365 May Blooming for Movement
Streaker365 May The Streak (Daily Yoga

This week’s stats:

Running: 11.1 mi
Cycling: 38.1 mi
Walking: 25.9 mi
Bootcamp: 30 min
Strength: 85 min
Yoga/Pilates/Barre: 100 min
Warm up/Stretching: 35 min
Meditation: 60 min

I am linking up again for the Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah.

1. aka Bootcamp Babes (a small “subgroup” of Peloton Streakers who started doing Bootcamp Classes (Bike + Strength) together) ↩︎

photo credit: @gaellemarcel via Unsplash

While I am working on some trip recaps (why do they always take me forever to write?), I thought I’d pop in here for a quick life update, lest you think I’ve completely disappeared. Grab a beverage and settle in. 

Re-entry has been rough.

I am always a little physically jet-lagged when I return from a trip overseas, but even more emotionally jet-lagged, and it takes me a little while to get back into my life here. Usually, it helps to just throw myself back into a routine, and it did, but I feel like daily life has swallowed me whole since my return three weeks ago. My work weeks have been super-busy, and I’ve been catching myself postponing things to the weekend, which then proceeds to *poof* evaporate into thin air and leaves me wondering on a Sunday night, “where the heck did the time go?”. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

This is not an excuse, not a complaint, just a simple acknowledgement of how time perception feels to me right now and how it impacts my time management. I don’t know what to do about it. I hope this is just a phase.

We’re still dealing with my mother-in-law’s estate. 

It’s been almost a year since her passing, and the estate has still not been dissolved. For us, it’s more of an emotional burden, as we’re not directly involved in the execution of her trust/will (my brother-in-law is the executor, Jon is just a beneficiary), but this has been a much more drawn-out process than anticipated. (Mainly because I feel like my brother-in-law has other priorities and hasn’t pushed things along, and he also hasn’t accepted help and doesn’t communicate well with us. So, that’s fun.)

Work has been busy

Do you have co-workers on a project that swing between “oh, we have all the time in the world” and then a sudden shift to “we have no time, we have to get things accomplished NOW!”? Yeah, and unfortunately, I am always in the position where I can’t make unilateral decisions (to move my part of the work forward) but have to check back with other people. It can be a little frustrating and stressful at times, but I guess it‘s not uncommon.

I’ve been distracting myself with silly shows.

As you know, I don’t usually listen to podcasts, I don’t really watch any series, and (sadly) I haven’t picked up a book in a while, but I’ve enjoyed watching absolutely ridiculous reality TV (90-day fiancé). I think I am so intrigued/fascinated by this show because I married a foreigner myself, but we had such a completely different experience. What is with ALL THE DRAMA? And why do I find it so entertaining? 

Snack Hack

Also, on a totally random note: have you had the Maui Monk Pretzel Braids from Stellar? (They give them out as snacks on Southwest flights.) I really like them and tried to find them in stores. I finally did at Sprouts, but the bag (12 oz) is $5.99. Well, here’s a tip: go buy a bag of the sweet onion pretzel twists at Trader Joe’s. You can thank me later.