Training Week 310
Highlight of the Week: All the fun workouts with Gina!
Monday | September 21, 2015: 5 m run + 6 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 64°/67°, Time: 47:18, Pace: 9:27 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but irritated
Loc: trail to hood, Temp: 67°/65°, Time: 56:42 Pace: 9:26 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: surprisingly good
Strength: box, kettlebells and boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | September 22, 2015: rest day!
Wednesday | September 23, 2015: 10 m run (incl. 5 hill repeats, w/Gina) + 10 mins kettlebells (w/Gina)
Loc: Grant Woods FP, Temp: 58°/70°, Time: 1:40:58, Pace: 10:06 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: pretty good!
Thursday | September 24, 2015: 8.5 m run (w/Gina)
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 62°/67°, Time: 1:21:45, Pace: 9:37 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Friday | September 25, 2015: teaching strength class + 15.7 m ride (w/Gina)
Strength: box, kettlebells and boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: okay, but off
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 59°/61°, Time: 1:30:03 Pace: 10:05 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good!
Saturday | September 26, 2015: Big Hollow PTO 5K (+WU & CD w/Gina)
Loc: Fish Lake Rd, Temp: 65°/66°, Time: 23:02, Pace: 7:27 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: okay
Sunday | September 27, 2015: 21 m run (w/Gina and Steve (last 10 w/Steve))
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 62°/66°, Time: 3:33:10, Pace: 10:09 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: strong
Notes:
- What a great week! Gina’s been here since Tuesday night, so we got to run together four times (and with Steve, on Sunday)! On Thursday we went down to the city and ran a fun “city view” route so Gina could see all the cool Chicago vantage points. It’s such a treat to have her here! And I felt strong for all of my runs, which made me happy – the last time I saw her I wasn’t the best running partner (because I was getting over a stomach thing and it was crazy humid and a bit warm).
- I surpassed last year’s running mileage (1610.8) during today’s run (I’m at 1629). Yay! Now I am going after 2013’s mileage (1915.1).
- I am not signed up for any more races this year, but do have a few in mind (the 5K yesterday was one of them – we decided to run it midweek) – a few 5Ks, maybe a half marathon… maybe a marathon if I decide to lose some weight. But I will be content to keep running and not do any races, too.
- I’ve actually done some strength training at home the last three weeks (as opposed to just doing it while teaching class). I’d love to keep that going.
Big Hollow PTO 5K Race Report
Every year, there are a couple of 5Ks held on a quiet-ish, hilly road right by my house. And I’ve never been able to participate in one… which kind of kills me, ha ha.
So when I knew Gina would be in town this weekend, and that her training plan* called for a practice 5K the day before her 20-22 miler, I looked around for 5Ks and lo and behold, one of the super close ones was going on, and on the day we needed to do a 5K! YAY!!!!
It was the Big Hollow PTO, held to raise funds to support the PTO for the local grade and middle school. Even though I don’t have kids, I thought it was awesome the race went toward something that was going right back in to the community! And they had other fundraiser events going on for the race too – different raffles and games (sadly, we did not win the basket full of Lego sets we both wanted, darn).
I was hoping for amazing fall weather for Gina’s visit… like… cool temps. We’ve had BEAUTIFUL sunny days, and not crazy humidity, but it was a bit sunny and warm this morning for the race – 65°F and 90% humidity. Probably still better than what Gina is used to running in Texas! But during our warmup run from my house (so cool we could run to the race) I was feeling too hot and already had sweat dripping down my arms!
A little sunny on the course… some shade, too, though!
I was confident Gina could run a PR. She’s been putting in lots of miles to get ready for the NYC marathon, and for me, that has translated over to faster 5Ks (even without speedwork). I was hoping it would for her, too. I told her I thought she could run a 23:30 (her PR was 24:14). I also told her if she ran with me, she would have way positive splits <— truth. She said as long as she hit her time goal for races, she doesn’t care if she positive splits. She said she would try to chase me. I was hoping to run 7:30 average pace, which would be just under 23:30.
Yeah. You guys know me. I took off way too fast. Like I said I would – first mile in 7:06! Oops! The course had two out and backs, which aren’t my favorite, but it was nice I could see Gina that way, and see she was right behind me.
So, those hills I mentioned? Yeah. They’re small little rollers that are a bit challenging on a 5K. I wasn’t sure how deep in to them we’d get – I was struggling to read the course map, and kept hoping it stopped before the hills. Nope! We got to run most of them! I tried to stay strong and keep the overall female in my sights. My second mile was 7:42. Eek!
Hills, hills, hills
During the second mile, we ran past a mark on the road that said “5K turn around” but kept going and for awhile I worried the course was long. Luckily, it was not, and my watch hit 2 miles right around their 2 mile sign. That spray paint must be from an old race! Phew!
I tried to keep booking it in the third mile. I saw race photographers and tried to have good form and not look like crapola and that helped me pick up the pace at the moment, but my third mile was still 7:54. Buah ha ha. And I had that coppery/blood taste in my mouth for most of the last two miles, too. Yuck.
I finished the last tenth in 00:23 (not accurate – my Garmin stats were a bit short) and was so happy to finish (in 23:02) then see Gina come in behind me in 23:35! A 39 second PR for her!!!! I’m so proud of her! I ran her first 5K with her (the NYCM Dash) in November 2011 and it’s been so fun to watch her running journey! I think she is a natural runner and has a lot of speed in her!
We ended up placing 2nd and 3rd overall, and 1st in our age groups! Fun! We love medals! Ha.
I saw a lot of people I knew at this race, which was fun. I saw a neighbor, who is on the PTO, running club friends, Chris and Sarah, and I saw Heather! We both didn’t know the other would be there, and it was so fun to see her and wish her good luck before she runs the Milwaukee Marathon next week!
This was definitely a small race, but well run. They didn’t have chip timing, so we started at the front. There were two water stops, the course was accurate, and we had a bike leading our way. The police were at the out and backs, which was great, and the course was closed. There was a weird thing with a car at the first out and back being on course, but I ran around it.
There was also a kid’s quarter mile and half mile race. And I think everyone got participation ribbons! They had ample food, water, and different vendors and kids games. They did a great job with it, and I’d like to do it again, if I get the opportunity!
Now, to see how that long run goes tomorrow…
*I helped her come up with this plan. She is signed up for the Dash and the NYC Marathon, which are on Saturday and Sunday, and the idea was to see how she feels running long after doing a 5K the day before.
Knitting expansion
Back in April, I picked up this cute tote to hold all my knitting gear, and couldn’t imagine how I’d EVER fill it.
Um, yeah… five months later…
It’s not like I went (too) crazy buying things. I actually received all this knitting gear from my snister:
She tried knitting for awhile and didn’t care for it, so I get all this!
And Mica sent me a bunch of circulars (the ones in the Ziploc bag and the fancy Knit Picks kit!), and Gina got me the cute orange case for my birthday:
Now, to use it all! I picked up yarn two weekends ago for a few projects – some washcloths and cowls for Gina for a silent auction,
Cowls are done!
I had to try this pattern – turned out looking super similar to the waffle pattern
some funky “sponge” yarn to make washcloths for my Grandma,
and yarn to make a birthday present for a friend. Now, what to do with all that extra yarn Christina gave me! Hmm…
Whatever I do, I better move fast, so Data gets his comfy spot back.
I’d actually really like to start knitting some holiday gifts, but I am not sure how I can work on them and NOT post them on the blog. That sounds really hard. Ha.
Two things (that make me smile) Tuesday
Thing 1 | There’s an older gentleman (in his 70s/80s?) I often see riding a bike in our neighborhood. The first time I saw him, I had a similar reaction to when I see anyone working out – “that’s so great he’s being active!” and “where is his helmet?!!??!?!” Ha.
Then I started seeing him time and time again (we must have a similar workout schedule). We started waving to each other. Then, about a month ago, he started wearing a helmet for all his rides (phew)!!! On one ride he was wearing a Cubs jersey – I thought that was really cute.
During my run yesterday, I saw him coming my way, and was getting ready to wave to him. I could tell he was about to turn a corner though, and thought maybe he didn’t see me. But he did! He actually slowed down at the corner, so he could wave, before he turned. Aww. That really made me smile!
Then we saw each other AGAIN (and waved) during my second run! Double feature!
Maybe one day we’ll actually talk to one another. Ha ha.
Thing 2 | There are two sets of sisters who take classes together at Essential Fitness (aka Efit, where I teach strength training classes). Isn’t that fun? I think it would be awesome to take a weekly fitness class with my snis, if we lived in the same town.
One time, we went rock climbing together!
Interestingly, one set of sisters work for the same place, and the other set have the same job, at different places! That’s kind of like me and my snis – we both have the same title of “Interior Designer,” (only one of us really is, and one of us really IS NOT) in different cities.
BONUS Thing 3 | I get to see my bestie, Gina, tonight! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!
Summer Enders, Fall Beginners!
Tomorrow is the last day of summer! Hurrah!
It seems like everyone has a different date that feels like the last day of summer for them – when school starts up, the last day of August, Labor Day, etc (is it the actual start of autumn for anyone?!). For me, it’s whenever my last trip to the Mississippi River in Guttenberg, Iowa is. I go there for fun in the sun (and on the sand and in the water) and when I feel like that is no longer an option because the weather will be too cool, I am ready for summer to be over*.
This year, it was Labor Day weekend, again. And it felt odd that Labor Day was so late in the month this year (September 7), but we had really great hot beach weather!
And… we had the same “summer enders” as last year! Yay!
I can’t put in to words how happy the relationship we and our families have with Gina, Steve, and Luca makes me feel. We clicked immediately with Gina and Steve when we first met them (in person**) in August of 2010. We enjoyed our time together so much that we started seeing each other a few times a year – traveling to their place in New York City, or them coming to ours in Chicagoland. We met a lot of their family in NYC. They met my sister and her husband, and Steven’s brother, on trips we took to NYC. They met my mom by chance in the Dallas airport. They met a lot of my family at Christina’s wedding. And more when they came to the river last year. We hung out with their family for the Dallas Marathon. We’ve met a lot of each other’s friends. And the KC trip was so much fun last year, we did it again this year, with our families. And that brings us up to this year’s river trip!
And now… you have a condensed history of our time together, ha ha.
I feel so much joy seeing them fit in seamlessly, with my family, and us, with theirs. I love that we all WANT to spend time with each other, and make sure it happens. And I am blown away that Gina and Steve and Luca drive all the way from Texas to Iowa (900 miles one way!) to hang out with all of us at the river!
Hee, hee, so, the KC trip itinerary was so successful in June, that we made another one for this trip, including activities and meals. We had several beach visits, another golf cart parade, a funicular visit, a half marathon, and lots of goofing around.
Training Week 309
Highlight of the Week: All the neat wildlife and beautiful scenery I saw on my runs and bike ride!
Monday | September 14, 2015: 8 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: to Nippersink FP, Temp: 80°/80°, Time: 1:25:00, Pace: 10:37 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: hot
Strength: box, kettlebells and boxing, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good
Tuesday | September 15, 2015: rest
Wednesday | September 16, 2015: 7 m run + 10 mins kettlebells
Loc: hood, Temp: 66°/57°, Time: 1:12:16, Pace: 10:19 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: sleepy, bored
Thursday | September 17, 2015: 5 m run (incl. 4×400)
Loc: hood, Temp: 74°/77°, Time: 47:29, Pace: 9:29 avg, Difficulty: easy-ish, Felt: good, hot, but not like death!
Friday | September 18, 2015: teaching strength class + 7 m run
Strength: box, kettlebells and boxing , Difficulty: easy, Felt: good but tired (didn’t sleep well)
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 71°/70°, Time: 1:09:19, Pace: 9:54, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | September 19, 2015: 15 m run
Loc: to Grayslake and back, Temp: 57°/60°, Time: 2:36:35, Pace: 10:26 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: decent enough, sore glutes from class
Sunday | September 20, 2015: 20.1 m ride (w/Julie & Michele) + 3 m run
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 47°/61°, Time: 2:03:14, Pace: 9.8 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, hungry
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 64°/64°, Time: 29:16, Pace: 9:45 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, thirsty
Notes:
- No more goulash for lunch before an afternoon run. Ouch – I had heartburn during my Monday run. Also on the do not eat before a run list: pickles (but can eat during, weird), Boca burgers, tortilla chips (sadness), cous cous, and yeah, anything with tomatoes.
- When I run really early in the morning, I try hard not to wake up Data so he won’t think it’s time to eat (and I won’t feel guilty for not feeding him yet). I was almost successful on Wednesday. I was about to head out the door when I heard him come down the stairs. Sigh. Then he was waiting for me on the couch when I came back for bathroom break #1. Then at the window for bathroom break #2. I gave in and gave him some dry food. Ha ha.
- Ugh, those bathroom breaks! I’ve changed my diet a bit and my stomach is not… very happy. Just so gassy (TMI). It’ll get used to it soon.
- I thought this CNN interview (pdf here) with Dean Karnazes was fun to read. I especially love his favorite quote about running – “Quem corre porgosto, não cansa” (Who runs for pleasure, never tires). That may be mine now, too!
- I tend to run the same routes during the week since Steven and I share a car and I don’t want to take it all the time to run someplace different (in case he needs it). Luckily, I have trails and forest preserves nearby that I can get to by foot. With all of that being said, I am looking forward to some runs in different places this week! It’s nice to switch things up from time to time.
- Here are some photos to back up the “highlight of the week” mentioned above!
Random Thoughts Thursday 76
- My younger brother and his wife received the blanket for James yesterday and sent me a very nice thank you and a few pictures of James using it!!! Made my day!
- I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but when I show pictures of someone’s kids on here, or write a post that says a lot about something me and another person did, or has pictures of them in I’m not sure if they will like, I get their permission to post it. This is my blog space, not theirs, and I’d totally get if they didn’t want their stuff on here! Everything is not for everyone to see. (And I appreciate my friends and family reviewing the stuff I send them.)
- For my next knitting project, I am making some washcloths and cowls to donate for a silent auction and 5K event Gina’s running club is hosting on October 10 for a young girl in their town (in Texas) battling leukemia. If you are crafty and want to donate something for the auction (or work for a business that can donate online services or gift cards) let me know and I will connect you with her! I finished the washcloths last night! Gina requested Christmassy colors and I like how they turned out!
- (Town)house improvements continue, and we recently replaced an old La-Z-Boy couch with some chairs. I really like the pattern – they’re muted enough but with a tiny pop of color that isn’t obnoxious. And Data likes that they’re gray. Although at first I think he thought he wasn’t supposed to sit on them, and was trying to sneak around to do it, which was humorous!
- As part of an anniversary gift, Gina and Steve gave us the Dallas Starbucks mug! Our collection expands! Ha ha, I know, it’s pretty small (for the Starbucks mugs), but I have a bit of a mug problem in general, so that’s okay!
- I hit a one-year streak in practicing Spanish every day, in the DuoLingo app! Once I completed the app in the spring, I’ve been more in a maintenance mode. I would really like to become fluent in Spanish over the next few years. I think that will require classes, a language partner/tutor, and using Spanish in my community. Which sounds exciting, but like a lot of work, so we’ll see what happens with that! (Probably… not much.)
Sarcasm
I like it when…
… I’m brushing my teeth and get toothpaste on the outfit I’m going to wear to work
… I pull things out of the washing machine to put in the dryer, and they fall on the floor
… I reschedule a work meeting to meet a specific person’s schedule (per their request), and they are a no show
… I put something on my desk, and it rolls right off
… I’m serving cous cous and get it all over the counter and floor
… I’m knitting and find a knot in the yarn
… the same guy without a muffler on his car visits our neighbor at 11:00 pm, 1:00 am and 3:00 am (all in the same night) and keeps his car running
… the train conductor punches my ticket, then I (try to) take a nap, then he wakes me up 20 minutes later to ask to punch my ticket again
… I tell someone I don’t want to talk about a specific topic and they keep bringing it up
… I turn off every setting I can find to get my phone to stop playing music off the cloud, and it still does it
Eh, life is pretty good!!!
Sometimes, instead of cursing and getting mad about the small things that bug me, I’ll sarcastically say “I like it when insert whatever meaningless thing is making me mad here” to try to make it … what? Funny? Make me feel like I have some control over things, or at least, how I react?
Ha, sometimes it works. And sometimes I just need to curse. The important thing is knowing when which is appropriate!
What’s your sarcastic “I like it when…”?
The streak LIVES!!!
There was a time this year when I thought I wouldn’t be able to run the Wisconsin Half Marathon in 2016 because of a conflicting important event that I absolutely intend on attending. I was sad at the thought of missing the race. Which seems silly, but I was. The Wisconsin Half Marathon holds a special place in my heart – it was the first half marathon I ever ran (and with Steven!) and it was the inaugural race year. I’ve run it every year since, and 2016 would be my 8th year!
Luckily, the date changed for the other event, so I can attend both. YAY! The streak lives on!
Frosty 2013
My Wisconsin Half Marathon race streak is tied with the Frosty Footrace 5K – 7 years so far, at each.
| Frosty Footrace 5K | Wisconsin Half Marathon | |
| 2009 | 27:53 | 1:57:47 |
| 2010 | 25:55 | 2:19:11 |
| 2011 | 25:00 | 2:05:21 |
| 2012 | 24:00 | 2:06:11 |
| 2013 | 23:27 | 1:51:15 |
| 2014 | 26:48 | 2:06:53 |
| 2015 | 22:58 | 2:06:16 |
Streak consistent? Yes. Pace consistent? Err…
I bet that is not a very long streak compared to other bloggers who’ve been running consistently much longer than me!
As in years past, I have a custom coupon code for any local (or non local, come join us!!!) peeps who want to run the Wisconsin Half or Full Marathon. Use WMKIM16 for $5 off either event. Registration opens today!
I wonder if that cheese man will be on the medal this year?
In full disclosure, if 10 people use my code, I will get a free race entry.
It’s funny to be thinking about a race that’s in May of next year, in September! But this race, and yes, the Frosty Footrace, are the only two I always plan to do ahead, and try as hard as I can not to miss! I wonder what year the streak will finally break?!
Basketweave baby blanket
36,750 stitches later… and the basketweave baby blanket for James is done!
I started knitting this blanket on August 8th, then took a week off from it to make this blanket, then traveled three weekends in a row (and didn’t work on it much) so… I guess it didn’t take me THAT long to make it (I finished it yesterday morning, September 13th). But the next time I knit a baby blanket, I’ll have the goal of having it done for the baby shower. Not AFTER the baby arrives. Oops!
I chose this basketweave pattern from a baby blanket book my mom gave me. The book has other cool and (way) more complicated patterns I’ll have to try when I’m a better knitter. I’m happy I chose this simple, timeless pattern that was easy to knit and fix mistakes in. Gotta get it right for baby James!
The color of this blanket is hard to capture. I used a stitch counter and would take a picture of it with the blanket each time I stopped work (to keep track of where I was in case the counter got bumped, which happened a few times) and the variance in color of the pictures is bizarro – some look super light green, some are true to color, and some look like day old guac (ha). But the color is closest to this:
I used two and a quarter skeins of Baby Bee Sweet Delight Yarn in 94 Pea Pod for the blanket. I actually returned the two extra skeins I bought (but then bought a bunch of other yarn… oops?).
The blanket is about 32″ x 32″. Ha – I would measure it as I was getting close to the end and tell Steven “I think I only have 24 rows left!” Then knit 16 rows and tell him, again “I think I only have 24 rows left!” I swear, this thing was shrinking as I worked on it (twss?).
But I am happy with how it turned out, and hope my brother and his wife find it useful! And I hope they send me a photo of James using it, hee hee.
Hi! I’m Kim, a 40-something-year-old living in northeastern Illinois with my husband Steven, and our cats, Khaleesi, Apollo, Starbuck, and Eddard aka Ned. My current main hobbies are running, painting rocks, flying, reading, and eating. I follow a vegan lifestyle and work in an account management role. I write about a variety of topics and consider this a “life” blog – a place I can share anything that’s on my mind. Please visit the “About” page to get a better idea of who I am! 🙂
