This summer has been a rough one for running. Even though I got the good news from my podiatrist that my toe wasn't broken, I did still have a pretty nasty bone bruise that took almost a full month to heal. 

On top of that, we had record-breaking heat for almost the entire month of July. That left me doing lots of cross training and zero running. 

The heat has finally broken a bit now, and with my toe all healed, it's been nice to get back to some running over the last couple of weeks.

Right before I hurt my toe back in June, I had run 3.5 miles. It was my longest run since before I was pregnant, and I had been so disappointed when I was laid up with another injury because I felt like my progress was halted again. 

But just this week, I managed to work myself back to 3.5 miles again. It was slow. All my times are slow these days, but it was something. 

There's a 5K I'm hoping to do with my son in the running stroller in October. Knowing that I can manage three miles already is a good sign. I will definitely need to work on my endurance to be able to run with my heavy toddler in a stroller over that distance, but I still have some time for that. 

I'm also hoping to be able to run a few 5Ks and maybe even a five miler on my own later this fall. At this point, the five miler seems maybe a bit ambitious, but we'll see how things go this fall. 

Over the next couple of weeks, my focus is going to be on getting some of my running endurance back. If after a couple of weeks getting comfortable at the 5K distance, I'll see about starting to gradual add on the miles. 

I really miss racing and running in general, so I'm trying to focus on building back slowly to avoid any more injuries, so that I can actually run some of the races I have my eye on this fall. 

We got back from a trip to the beach a couple weeks ago, and while we were there, I got in a couple of great stroller runs and one really lovely solo run. And then I hurt my toe, and I haven't been able to run since. 

I've been slowly increasing the distance I can go with the running stroller over the last few months. Running with a stroller is no joke. Throw a 23 pound baby and some hills into the mix, and I was huffing and puffing after barely a mile. 

I was really looking forward to some flat boardwalk stroller running. With the super hot summer we've been having, even the early morning runs were still pretty challenging. But it was nice to get out, and see some different scenery on our runs. And my child only protested slightly when I needed to take walk breaks. 

I also got in one glorious and lovely run by myself at the beach. With the blistering hot weather, it's been pretty much impossible for me to run over my lunch breaks these days, so it was nice to have a morning where someone else could stay with the kiddo and I could get some much needed solo run time. 

My endurance had been slowly coming back. The week before our beach trip, I did a 3.5 miler. It's a distance I never thought much of before, but these days every slight uptick in mileage is a big win in my book. 

But then the morning I got back from my wonderful solo run, I bashed my pinky toe into a baseboard at our beach house, and I haven't been able to run since. 

I've only been able to wear open-toed shoes (thank goodness it's summer). I got it X-rayed at urgent care when we got back and the doctor told me it was broken, which unfortunately was what I expected given the amount of swelling and discoloration. 

They taped it and gave me a walking shoe and told me to follow up with an orthopedic. 

I left a message for mine, but then the following day, urgent care called me back and told me the radiologist reviewed my X-rays and actually didn't see a break. So maybe it's not broken.

It's been a few weeks now and my toe definitely feels better. I think I'm going to still follow up with the orthopedist even though urgent care told me I didn't need to. 

I still haven't tried to put on a closed toed shoe and I definitely haven't attempt to run. 

I've taken two full weeks off any sort of exercise, and my toe does mainly seem to be doing better. It's less swollen, but if I push on it where the "break" looks like it was in the X-ray it definitely still hurts. 

So just when I was making some major progress on the running front, I have a stupid injury and I'm back to not running. We'll see how long this injury sidelines me. I'm hoping not for too long. I really, really would like to race in the fall, and good fall race times come from tough summer training runs. 

I'm definitely still adjusting to not having as much free time to read as I used to, especially now that the weather is warmer and I'm used to spending the summer months sitting at the pool with a good book. My days at the pool look a bit different now, and there's definitely no sitting and reading. 

But I still managed to read a few good books in May. 

Four Stars

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the first book with Molly the Maid, and I was excited to see her back to her crime-solving ways in this follow up. When a famous author drops dead at a speaking event at her hotel, Molly is yet again a suspect, but so are many other people. Molly works to uncover the identity and motive of the true killer. Just like the first book this was fun and fast and a really enjoyable read.

Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was introduced to Sophie Wan at the Gaithersburg Book Festival, and when she did a reading from the book and I found myself laughing out loud, I knew I wanted to read it. The rest of the book didn't disappoint either. It was a fun read about three friends in China who are all largely unhappy with their place in the world. One is engaged to marry into a wealthy family and the friends plan a heist to steal the traditional wedding gifts. I enjoyed the story of the women, and I even came to like some of the more problematic male characters in the book.

Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be by Becky Kennedy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's weird to rate a parenting book, but raising kids is hard and there are a million theories on approaches to how to not mess up your kids. I liked the general premise of this book -- that children act out not because they're bad, but because they're dealing with some inside emotion that they haven't yet learned how to manage and that a parent's job is to help teach them how to regulate those emotions so they have vital coping skills for when they're older and life throws tough stuff at them.

The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I took an unintentional short break from the Kate Burkholder series because I forgot to put this book on hold at the library for like a full month, but I was excited to dive back in to the next mystery with one of my favorite detectives. In this book, Kate investigates a murder in Amish County only to uncover that it has ties to a cold case from the 1970s. This book had a slightly different twist than some of the others that I've read in this series, and I really liked it, but don't want to say more for the spoiler.

Three Stars

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I didn't love this book as much as Fortune's first book, it was still an enjoyable and easy read. Fern's mom owns a lake resort that gives major Dirty Dancing vibes. When she's killed in a car accident the resort passes to Fern. Fern's moved to Toronto and has no desire to go back to her sleepy lake town, but she knows she has to sort out what to do with the resort. When she arrives she finds Will, a man she met one day 10 years ago checking in. Fern's ex also works at the resort. Things are awkward, but the tension makes for a good story. I struggled with both Will and Fern's characters at points, which is why this is only 3.5 stars, but overall it was still a fun summer read.