And that's how you do a day off

 lake Coumshingaun

I am currently half lying across my couch as the tiredness sets in but it's cool because I had a great day off and up until about five minutes ago I was feeling great and full of energy.

Now I usually try to squeeze a bit more in on my days off than most people I know but occasionally I do take a day off properly just to shake things up. This was not one of those days.

My day off actually begins the night before because I like to try get in a crossfit class that night because I don't get down often enough. Unfortunately yesterday I was on lock up so it was almost twenty past 6 when I ran from the shop. Luckily I had been wearing half my workout gear all day (the vest and sports bra) so changing wasn't too much of a mission and I was in my car and on the road by 6.30 and I made it down just in time to start the class. 

It was a tough one but luckily for me it was beginners womens class so I was not the weakest one there so while I left there feeling wobbly, I was still feeling pretty good about myself.

I made my way up to my parents house to discover no one had made me dinner ( they usually do) and also that I didn't really have any dinner food with me so I cobbled together a few quick things before I reached that shaky stage of post workout hunger.

After that I threw myself on a couch with my book (sand by hugh howey) until I got sleepy (not very long after) and then I took my tired self to bed so I could battle with my need to sleep over my need to read.

I woke early this morning and promised myself I could read for a little while but I got so absorbed in the book it kind of turned into an hour. On the plus side I finished my book but on the downside I didn't manage to go food shopping before the class. I guess  I need to learn to prioritise. After a quick, what are you doing with the rest of your life, chat with my mum, I headed to the gym for another sweat-fest where  I emerged sweaty, wobbly and covered in chalk but feeling better for it and once I was less icky I headed out to food shop. 

After I went to town to do all of the important things like pay my rent, buy an ombar, get new bed covers and some essential new clothes. I headed back to my parents house but could not relax in the sun with nothing to read. A tragedy of first world proportions if I even heard one. Now I get to borrow books in work so I don't usually buy them and I even had other books awaiting me in my Waterford apartment but I seem to have awakened the reading fever again so I was twitchy without a good novel on my person. I felt ever so treacherous (and yet oh so good) buying myself a copy of fever (by megan abbott) that everyone seems to be talking about and was back at my parents place reading it in the swing chair in no time. 

I had already decided to do a second class before heading home and had heard they were heading to the lake (see photos above) and I thought it might be nice to get some sun as well. It's in the middle of the comeragh mountains, up some very twisty narrow roads and while I've been there many times I have never actually driven there and I probably wont be in a hurry to drive there again. I didn't want to get back to Waterford too late so I headed over there in my own car and tried to follow the few cars that had gone ahead of me but they drove very fast on the narrow roads and my poor car wasn't able for it. I did manage to catch up just in time for the scariest part of the drive where I followed a convoy of cars up these battered roads full of pot holes and loose stones that twisted and turned up the mountains and to add to the overall sense of fun, the cars ahead of me set off a sort of dust storm so most of the time I was driving half blind but afraid to slow down because I couldn't remember if the road turned off anywhere and I'd be screwed if I completely lost sight of the car ahead. I made it in the end but it's never good to arrive at your workout all sweaty. We were given a team workout with burpees, hill sprints, overhead swings and a lake swim ( I was very grateful I was exempt from the swimming bit. Something to do with the fact that I can't swim) It wasn't too bad, the workout was nicer than the drive there but I think that says more about the drive. We had three rounds and I sucked more than usual at running as my legs were like jelly running up the hill and my breathing just sounded dangerous so I'm guessing I'll be in a whole world of pain tomorrow. Once it was over I felt great and would have loved to have chilled out at the lake for a while but I didn't want to get back down too late so I headed off feeling apprehensive about my ability to actually find my way home.

I ended up taking a rather more scenic route home because I passed a signpost to a town I pass heading home and decided that made more sense and while it seemed like I'd never actually get to a bit of the road home that looked familiar, it was a lovely scenic drive. Now I have been fed and had several cups of tea and even put new sheets on the bed. That new book is glaring at me temptingly from the coffee table and so the battle continues between reading or sleep.