Random Thoughts Thursday 72
- Knitting update! I am finished with the washcloth order for my Grandma! I started on Friday May 1st and finished yesterday, May 13th. At first I was getting one done a day (they take about three hours each) then I slowed down at the end (which means I was sitting around less, and not knitting, ha ha). Next up: more washcloths (my mom requested some, and I’ll do some more monogrammed ones for my Grandma), a new scarf pattern, cactus push pin holders for Christina, a request for something from Gina, and that laptop sleeve (oops, that’s been in the queue awhile).
- More knitting news! My mom received the scarf I made her for Mother’s Day and loved it! She wore it to work and said she was excited to show it to a coworker who knits all the time. Errr… how about let’s not show it to someone who will see all the mistakes in it? Ha ha… sorta kidding. When I see my mom (tomorrow!) I’ll have to ask her what that coworker said!
- I’m CPR/AED recertified! Yay! What a long day though – I was in training at work from 8-4, then rode the train to the CPR training and rushed to get there for the 6-9 class. I slept well last night!
- Who else ate macaroni and cheese with hot dogs as a child? Who else still craves it from time to time, now? Me! And guilty! We have some vegan mac n’ chreese (<— not a typo) mixes from FakeMeats at home, and when I saw the vegan hot dogs at Target I knew the combo needed to happen. It was so good. I think it will hold me over from craving it for another year, though.
- I keep looking at my bird books but can’t figure out these species visiting our feeders. Fail.
Ha, I will forever recognize red-winged black birds, though!
The cat who wears a tie
When I was making Data’s upcoming annual vet appointment, the receptionist said to me, “Ooo, is that the cat who wears a tie?!”
Yes, yes it is. Hee hee.
For a few years, we’ve dressed Data in a tie for his vet appointments. If you can’t let your crazy cat lady flag fly at the vet’s office, where can you?!*
I told the receptionist it was indeed him, and that I would get him a new tie for his upcoming appointment.
I mean, his collection is so outdated:
I just haven’t seen any other cats wearing the faux white collar. It’s out. Skinny collars are in!
Hee hee, can’t wait to hear what they think of the new bowtie when we take him in next week. Honestly, having him wear that and having some conversation about it is a nice distraction from seeing him be uncomfortable in the vet’s office!
The other thing the receptionist said is “Wow! Data is getting old!” Yeah… their records have him at eleven years old. While his spirit and energy seems to be the same as when we adopted him in 2005, we are starting to notice very small changes in his health. I’m happy we have such a good vet to help us take care of him!
*Trick question! I let it fly everywhere!!!
Training Week 290
Highlight of the Week: Receiving positive feedback on a new strength workout for my class / doing two days of hill work and feeling strong.
Monday | May 4, 2015: 3 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 70°/68°, Time: 27:36, Pace: 9:12 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: annoyed with work
Strength: dumbbells/body weight mixed mode with resistance bands, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good
Tuesday | May 5, 2015: 5 m run (incl. 8 hill repeats) + 5 m run
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 47°, Time: 47:27, Pace: 9:29 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good, enjoyed the mist
Loc: hood, Temp: 46°/46°, Time: 48:26, Pace: 9:41 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: weak/tired/hungry?
Wednesday | May 6, 2015: rest
Thursday | May 7, 2015: 10 m run
Loc: MT to Nippersink FP, Temp: 45°/51°, Time: 1:44:15, Pace: 10:25 avg, Difficulty: medium then easy, Felt: heavy breathing at first
Friday | May 8, 2015: teaching strength class
Strength: dumbbells/body weight mixed mode with resistance bands, Difficulty: medium, Felt: okay
Saturday | May 9, 2015: 4 m run (incl. 6×400) + co-teaching Burn & Buff + hour walk (w/Anne)
Loc: hood, Temp: 49°/48°, Time: 35:31, Pace: 8:53 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: One dumbbell sets w/30 sec run/walk intervals x3, Difficulty: medium, Felt: okay
Sunday | May 10, 2015: 13 m run (incl. 8 hill climbs) + 20 m bike
Loc: Grant Woods FP, Temp: 42°/44°, Time: 2:15:25, Pace: 10:25 avg, Difficulty: good, Felt: mostly easy
Bike Time: 1:21:48, Pace: 14.7 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, sore saddle
Notes:
- May seems to be the month of the year when I start to cut back on my running – less and slower miles. While some people eagerly wait through winter to run in the summer, I tend to be the opposite. The winter sees my faster paces and most miles, and the spring and summer are when I seem to cut back – both because of heat and because it’s the end of the Wisconsin Half training cycle. I know I will slow down a lot as it gets hotter this summer, but I hope I keep up a higher weekly mileage than I have in the past! I don’t have any “goal” races on the calendar, but I do have endurance events I’d like to well prepared to do. And I just love a long, slow run, once a week… or more.
- My grand plans to ride outside this week were thwarted by a killer headache on Friday, the day I had time to drive to a safe trail and ride solo. Another indoor ride it was. My bike rode so smooth after getting tuned up! I can’t wait to take it outside next week! My dad is visiting and we have plans to ride together.
- I did hill repeats on a 40′ hill on Tuesday, and incorporated a 75′ hill in to my long run today. The hill got easier each time I went over it on my long run, so that’s promising! It’s not exactly what I will be running at the half in Kansas City, but it’s better than nothing! And there are quite a few other hills I can go run where I live. Might as well try as many as I can, ha ha!
Good morning…
… moon
… far away deer
… giant blinding orb in the sky sun
… baby geesers!!!
Side note: Each year, when the geese show up in the spring, I start asking Steven (in a whiny voice, ha ha), “When are we going to see the goslings?!” Each year, he tells me “not for at least a month.” This year the first time I asked him was in April, and he gave me the month answer. To which I said, “But I already waited a month to ask!” He was right though – the first time I saw them was today, in May!
… strange weeds that look like little palm trees that I never noticed until this year
… Mr. Creepy Crawly (he says he’s more of a “G’Day Mate!” kind of guy)
… hills
And not pictured:
- humidity (and corresponding heavy breathing and slower miles)
- runner with dog
- considerate cyclist
- two walkers
- walker with dog who gave me a rude look and didn’t say good morning back (sarcastic sorry for being on the sidewalk)
- morning bird who got the worm then dropped it when I startled him running by (sincere sorry)
- heron
- seagull
- baby rabbit
I’ve been a lazy morning runner the last few weeks, but I made sure to get out of bed “early” today and get my run in before it hits the mid 80s here this afternoon. No gracias!
Anyone else work out this morning to beat the heat?
It would be nice to cycle outside this afternoon… if we don’t get those storms they’re predicting!
Oh! And good morning to “in yo face feed me right meow” cat!
I swear I did hill repeats!
You know when you do hill repeats, and you’re all excited to upload your Garmin and see the elevation profile? And Garmin is all, “Silly human, you call those hills?! I am not even going to make little blips on the map for you!”
CRY.
Ha. Joke’s on YOU, Garmin. I have two apps on my phone that make those hills look like SUMTHIN’:
They count, right?! RIGHT?
Ha, they are nowhere near the course profile of what I am running for my next half:
but that is not the point of hill repeat training. I will take my long run to some hillier trails, with yes, longer than 40′ inclines.
It’s nice to be training for something without a time goal. My goal for this race is finish feeling strong. And not die in the heat. And hopefully not run too horribly big of a positive split.
I’ve turned in to this strange sort of runner that likes doing some sort of speedwork (repeats, tempos, hills) once a week. I know. It’s odd. I am trying not to question it too much, and just keep up with it. But changing what I am doing throughout the year is a big part of what’s making me stick with it – the week by week variety keeps it from getting stale. First I was focused on 5K training (no PR there), then half training (no PR there), and now, hills (not going for a PR, there). So… while my training hasn’t resulted in any PRs… running is about much more than that, to me. Overall, I just want to enjoy it. And I am really surprised that I am starting to with speed sessions. A bit. I still dread the heck out of them.
Chicago style
I always figured the first time I had Chicago style pizza was sometime after Steven moved to Chicagoland in 2003. But I was reading my Spain 2002 travel journal and found a very detailed section about me and my dad trying Chicago style pizza – in the Detroit airport, of all places! (Does that still count? Ha ha.)
As laughingly cringe-worthy as it is to read an old journal, it was encouraging to see what a sense of wonder I had about our travels. My excitement level was definitely cheesy, but so what?
Do you ever notice taglines on blogs? For a few years, mine has been “A sense of wonder is the most incredible gift you can share.”
I ran across that saying in a book my mom sent me when I was going through a tough time – Jim Henson’s Doodle Dreams.
The book is full of excellent life quotes, but that one always stuck with me the most. I interpret sense of wonder to mean curiosity and awe of the things you encounter, and I do believe that sharing that with someone else is a wonderful gift. Whether it’s while traveling, or just with day-to-day encounters… having an open and positive mind about what you encounter can lead you and whomever you are with to places you’ve never before imagined!
Okay, enough cheesiness. It’s just that reading that was a good reminder to me to keep that attitude!
And by the way… deep dish is my least favorite kind of pizza! But I like it when Steven makes it.
May the fourth be with you!
With Star Wars Day being an in-office day, I had to conceal my celebration*, a bit.
But I made sure 3PO and R2 are close to my heart!
Hee hee.
I’ve been a Star Wars fan for eighteen years – since the re-release of the originals in 1997. But! Never fear, we had VHS copies of the originals to watch, so I do know that Han shot first. Ha ha.
Have you ever become interested in a movie or series way after its prime?
It’s been fun to see my oldest nephew get in Star Wars, Back to the Future and Grease. Ha, it gives me something to talk to him about, because I definitely don’t keep up with SpongeBob SquarePants.
*Since I don’t have this
Training Week 289
Highlight of the Week: Giving it a go at the Wisconsin Half and learning a lot about myself as a runner / running someplace new.
Monday | April 27, 2015: 5 m run (incl. 6×400) + 15 m bike + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 50°/51°, Time: 43:00, Pace: 8:36 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Bike Time: 1:02:32, Pace: 14.4 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: okay (but sore butt!)
Strength: medicine balls, Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: good
Tuesday | April 28, 2015: 5 m run
Loc: White River Trail (Indy), Temp: 63°/62°, Time: 50:19, Pace: 10:04 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: happy to explore!
Wednesday | April 29, 2015: rest
Thursday | April 30, 2015: massage! felt so good!
Friday | May 1, 2015: teaching strength class + 3 m run
Strength: medicine balks, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 56°/56°, Time: 27:18, Pace: 9:05, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | May 2, 2015: Wisconsin Half Marathon (first 7+ w/Kelly)
Loc: Kenosha, Temp: 49°/65°, Time: 2:06:16, Pace: 9:38 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: meh, then better when I slowed
Sunday | May 4, 2015: 2 m photography walk w/Steven
Notes:
- After weeks of doing mile repeats and longer tempo workouts, it was refreshing to do some 400s on Monday. Dare I even call it… fun?!
- I forgot to mention this in my post about Indianapolis – it was such a nice surprise to see trees with leaves there! We don’t have much of that here, yet.
- Except the disgusting stinky trees that bloom in the spring in my neighborhood and make me gag as I run by them. Does anyone else have these trees around?
- When people say they’ve lost a toenail, to they mean it actually fell off on it’s own, or they removed it themselves (because it was no longer attached)? Because when I say it, I mean the latter.
- I had my road bike tuned up this week! Now I am all ready to ride outside! Let’s do this thing!
- I slept on my right side, with my right leg straight and left leg knee bent. Last week I woke up with a really sore right shoulder, and it’s still been a bit sore this week. I just figured it was from strength class, but maybe it’s from sleeping on it? And that makes me think that sleeping with my legs like that probably isn’t good for me either!
- Friday was my 100th run of the year! I’ve never tracked my workout stats this closely and it’s fun finding out random things like that.
- April recap time! I ran 180.2 miles in April, and (indoor) cycled 50.5. I taught nine strength classes and one fitness boxing class. I did one strength session on my own. Weekend classes really quieted down in April. I bet May and the summer will be similar.
Wisconsin Half Marathon Race Report 2015
Well, that didn’t go quite how I expected. But I am totally fine with how it did go!
Looking at my previous two years at this race, where I’d tried to race something I was too heavy for, and started to slow down around mile 7, I figured that is what would happen to me again today. I figured we would stick to our 8:23-ish pace for those 7 miles, then I would tell Kelly to go ahead and get a kickarse PR, then I would slow down to a 9:00 minute mile and finish under 2:00 hours.
Um… not quite. Ha ha.
We stuck to pace for 5 miles. At that point, I told Kelly I could feel I was slowing down, and for her to go ahead a bit if she wanted. She said she really needed to stop and use the restroom. She stopped, I adjusted my ponytail that was making me nuts (this was after I ditched a hat that made me nuts!) and ran ahead slowly. She caught me and I figured we’d run a bit slower for her to catch her breath. We ran just over 9:00 for mile 6. Okay, good, I was thinking. We’ll speed back up in the 8:00s again now.
But by this point, we were on the horribly pot-hoely out and back part of the course (seeing people on the out and back is fun… thinking you’re gonna trip? not so fun), and all of a sudden, everything on me felt so heavy. Even my arms felt heavy. It was odd.
The sun was out at full force. We had another mile just over 9:00. “Dammit,” I thought, “I am totally screwing up her race again, like last year!” Gah. I don’t want to be that friend who makes you go out way too fast then you have to slow way down to finish the race. Sigh. But that was me today.
Kelly went ahead at mile 7. I was confident she would go ahead and PR, and I felt good I wasn’t holding her back anymore (although I did appreciate sharing my misery with her – I can run faster with a friend by my side).
I slowed down a bit, to a 9:19 mile for mile 8. “Oops!” I thought to myself, “gotta keep it towards 9:00s, Kim, to come in under 2:00.” I hoped Hanna catching up with me would make me get back on track. Ha ha, no! It was nice to chat (and to meet her) though!
I stopped and had my water bottle filled up just after mile 9. That slowed down my pace. I started seeing splits in the 10s! What the heck?
But… I was smiling. My body was happy I slowed down. The sun was beating down on me and slowing down was just what I needed to do, unfortunately.
The last two miles got even slower (in the 11:00s!). I never walked, but had to stop and get water AGAIN. Rachel caught up with me and said she was feeling the same. And said, “I don’t think we’re recovered from that ultra.” Nah…
I saw Kelly on the out and back by the finish and was so happy to see her and know she was going to PR! When I (eventually) got close to the finish I tried really hard to make sure I didn’t look like death. Because I didn’t entirely feel like it, just had nothing left to give. Steven said he could totally tell I was trying to look happy! Ha, did it work?!
Because I was SO happy to be finished and have that over with! The last three years I’ve set a fast goal for this race in the winter, then gained weight and still went for the goal at the race. It’s a horrible cycle, and kind of horrible to do that to the people I run it with!
But, I know Kelly doesn’t care and is happy for our time we run together. I am too. And she did PR today! I’m so proud of her. Sigh. I am going to miss her so much when she moves next month. Yeah. Haven’t mentioned it before because I am ignoring it… anyway.
Me? I ran a 2:06:16. Hee hee. A good half marathon time, for sure, but a horrible way to execute it, I know! I’ll make it a goal not to do THAT again this year. I need to be more honest with what I can do with the weight I am at!
Steven had a lot of fun taking photos at the race. R2D2 was a hit! When he had the balloon on the ground near the end, he said little kids were coming up to give it hugs, and one kid even said “R2D2, I love you!” Awww.
Our friend Pablo helped Steven take photos, and his wife and son hung out with him, too! We saw a ton of people from the studio, Rachel and her crew (ha, Kelly and I were on a “team” with them – our team name was “Four Swiss Misses and a Bratwurst,” since we had four ladies and one man), and a few people from the running club. Oh! And I saw Kelly cheering people on! That was a nice surprise. Oh! And seeing Ian at the turnaround, as well!
A few people from the Efit crew – we had quite a few more!
This was my seventh year running this half. I’ve run it every year since the inaugural, and will continue to. I will just try not to have wild ass goals next year. Ha.
Now, this seems a bit Debbie Downer, but like I said, I am completely cool with it all, and Kelly is happy with a PR (especially with the silly cold she has). But let’s end with some positives, right?
- I didn’t fall this year! I was very careful with my footing.
- I got to run this race for free, since I am (a version of) a race ambassador. I have been the last two years, and gotten a free entry then too, but have paid for my BiL to run it both times (as a gift).
- There was no wind in the beginning and a nice breeze at times when we needed it (it was 49° when we started and 65° when we finished, so we definitely needed it).
- I got to cheer lots of friends in to the finish, and chat with lots of friends, too!
- Someone told me they liked my tattoo!
- The medal and ribbon are really cool this year! I love that it has the course map on it. I heart maps.
- Steven seemed to be having a good time, and we ran some fun errands after the race. It was nice to have him there and spend the time together!
Until next year, Wisconsin…
Finally finished
With this darn scarf!
It felt like it took for-freaking-ever! I think it felt that way because:
- I didn’t care to work with this yarn (Patons Metallic in Blue Steel*). It kept snagging on my fingers and that was making me bonkers. It was also easy to accidentally knit through the metallic mesh, revealing the black yarn underneath it.
- This was my first time using this pattern, and I didn’t fully understand it until I’d been working on it a few days. With patterns I’ve used a few times, I become familiar with what the stitches should look like as I am working on it, and it’s easier to fix mistakes because I can tell something is amiss. Er… not so much the case here, at first! The end of the scarf is definitely prettier than the start, but you can’t tell by looking at it… from far away… if you have bad eyesight.
- I was eager to finish this and start something new. Mica was telling me she heard that a hat may be a better beginner knitting project than a scarf, because it goes faster. I think I would agree (although I haven’t made a hat yet). I want things to move quickly, apparently.
All in all, it didn’t take too terribly long – I started it on a Wednesday morning and finished it on a Thursday night a week later. And although I kind of hated it when I was working on it, and thought it was fug, I actually liked it a lot when I tried on the finished product! I hope my mom does too! It’ll ship off to her today for Mother’s Day. I will laugh if today happens to be the one day she reads my blog and sees this!
It’s actually my maternal grandmother’s fault that I was so eager to get this scarf finished and start something new. Ha ha. She called me last Friday and was raving about how much she loves the dishcloths I made her, and asked if she could pay me to make some for her to use as gifts for her friends! Sure thing! Dishcloths are fun and quick to make! And this meant I could go get some fun new yarn colors to try:
Note: she asked for six washcloths and I bought enough yarn for fourteen, ha! (that yarn on the top is to make a scarf like the one above for her).
Of course, I am not going to make my grandma pay me for labor, but I think I will ask for a few dollars to cover the yarn (it was on sale, woo hoo!).
This is getting hella long but I have to share this tidbit about my grandmother. For as long as I can remember, she’s always had a damp washcloth inside of a plastic bag, in her purse. Whenever we were sticky as kids, there she was, to clean our hands and faces. Why does she still carry it? Ha, because my cousins’ ages are staggered enough that she is still looking over very young children, to this day!
So I was thinking of that when I first made her the monogrammed washcloths. But I knew she would use them for dishes, because she prefers a washcloth to wash dishes… and thinks it’s an abomination (slight exaggeration, written jokingly) that we use a sponge at our house. She actually asked me last Friday, “So does this mean you are using washcloths at home now to do your dishes?” “Er… no, grandma, I haven’t made myself any yet…” Ha ha ha. “Oh. I suppose you put most things in the dishwasher, anyway.” Buuuuuuuuuuuuurn. Ha!
*Totally missed opportunity to do a Zoolander face when posing for these photos, ha ha.
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! 🙂
