Training Week 62 & 63
A training recap in not many words… not much going on!
Day 428 | December 20, 2010: cross
Recumbent Bike Time: 45:00 | Distance: 7.59 | Set on “Forest Ride”
Day 429-433 | December 21-25, 2010: rest (just being lazy)
Day 434 | December 26, 2010: cross
I went ice skating with my entire immediate family and my aunt Sue.
Nick (my older brother) and I helped each other learn how to “skate backwards.”
No one wanted to hold my hand.
Sue brushed me off every time I fell over – that would be twice. I had quite the bruise on one knee!
Day 435 | December 27, 2010: 3.25 m run
Distance: 3.25 | Start Temp: 6° | End Temp: 7° | Time: 34:13 | Avg Pace: 10:32 | 1: 10:34 | 2: 10:55 | 3: 10:19 | 4: 2:23
Day 436 | December 28, 2010: cross
Only a few wanted to go snowshoeing with me (Aunt Sue, Mom, Dad and me).
I think it’s really fun! Enough that I used a giftcard from my brother-in-law, Andrew, and holiday money to buy my own pair of snowshoes.
Day 437 | December 29, 2010: rest
Day 438 | December 30, 2010: 2.3 m run + cross
Andrew and I ran while Steven and his dad walked.
We ran 2.3 miles and walked about 1.7.
Steven’s dad got me new running shoes for Christmas!!!
Distance: 2.32 | Start Temp: 59° | End Temp: 61° | Time: 23:49 | Avg Pace: 10:16 | 1: 9:23 | 2: 10:57 | 3: 3:28
Day 439 | December 31, 2010: rest
Day 440 | January 1, 2011: 5 m run
Andrew and I decided to tackle the hills. True hills!
Distance: 5.0 | Start Temp: 29° | End Temp: 27° | Time: 57:47 | Avg Pace: 11:35 | 1: 10:21 | 2: 11:07 | 3: 12:12 | 4: 12:11 | 5: 12:05
Day 441 | January 2, 2011: rest
Summary: 10.55 miles
Why I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions/Goals
Because I never keep them. Last year’s goal – run 1010 miles. How far did I get?
Total – 843.85 (Off by 166.15)
| January – 78 | May – 51.1 | September – 90.2 |
| February – 76.15 | June – 1.5 | October – 88 |
| March – 91.35 | July – 68.4 | November – 84 |
| April – 74.5 | August – 110 | December – 30.65 |
So I won’t make any resolutions/goals this year. But I will say, of all the books I received for the holidays…
I should probably read these two first!
In all honesty, I wish making goals helped me achieve them, but it doesn’t. I’m way too easy going on myself. For example, I wanted to train really hard for a half marathon in March. I think I still want to run it, but will focus on May half marathons for “training hard.”
And I’m this way with life goals too (be nicer, swear less, be less compulsive, more patient, blah blah). Oh well. I figure if I am mostly happy on a daily basis, I shouldn’t be too worried about these goals!
Why I don't make New Year's Resolutions/Goals
Because I never keep them. Last year’s goal – run 1010 miles. How far did I get?
Total – 843.85 (Off by 166.15)
| January – 78 | May – 51.1 | September – 90.2 |
| February – 76.15 | June – 1.5 | October – 88 |
| March – 91.35 | July – 68.4 | November – 84 |
| April – 74.5 | August – 110 | December – 30.65 |
So I won’t make any resolutions/goals this year. But I will say, of all the books I received for the holidays…
I should probably read these two first!
In all honesty, I wish making goals helped me achieve them, but it doesn’t. I’m way too easy going on myself. For example, I wanted to train really hard for a half marathon in March. I think I still want to run it, but will focus on May half marathons for “training hard.”
And I’m this way with life goals too (be nicer, swear less, be less compulsive, more patient, blah blah). Oh well. I figure if I am mostly happy on a daily basis, I shouldn’t be too worried about these goals!
Friday Question #142
When you buy/receive new clothes, do you wash them before wearing them?
Weird question, right? Well, I don’t wash my new clothes. I just wear them. Steven washes his new clothes. I am in the minority on this one, right?
A few things I won’t be washing before wearing:
We returned that orange vest after everyone said it made me look puffy.
Did you get any new clothing items for the holidays?
Happy New Year everyone!!!
I don’t have New Year’s Eve plans, and I don’t make resolutions, but I would love to hear yours, if you have either!
Variance
It was 6°F when I went running on Monday (in Iowa).
I had to up the contrast on this photo – check out how it was before.
And 60°F when I went running today (in Missouri).
I can not describe in words how happy I was to arrive in Missouri and see that there was NO SNOW. I do not mind running in the cold, but on the snow? No thanks.
Is it too early to be sick of the snow?!
Christmas Cactus
Our Christmas Cactus was beautiful…
… but not so smart. It bloomed in the end of November!
So I saved these pictures to share with you, closer to Christmas.
Happy Holidays Everyone!!!
Friday Question #141
Do you send out a holiday card? What kind of card do you send out?
We (being me and Steven) actually haven’t sent out a holiday card at all the three years we have been married. I would love to do one of those photo cards someday. We’ll see.
We still do a holiday card with my family though. We (my family) have been doing one every year, since I was born (and I am sure since before) and you can see almost all of them here. I love the one where we’re all in a tree and my dad is cutting the tree down with a chainsaw.
This year’s card went back to our photo style roots – something ridiculous involving a car (look at the link and you’ll understand what I mean).
A young kid driving a car, in fact.
The photo above is the scan I did of the card that arrived in the mail, but here is the clean version I sent my dad to use:
Obviously, there has been some photoshopping done to this card, and not just to make it look like it was moving.
We took the truck picture against a blank brick background:
Notice my sister and her boyfriend are missing, the kids are missing, and Courtney and Nick have different faces in the photo above than in the final photo. Yeah, I added all of those things in. Fun Times.
Attack Cat / Live, Laugh, Love Necklace Giveaway Winner
(Data doesn’t know how to play nicely)
You can watch this video to see how he feels about the monkey.
What does your pet destroy?
Data has a tendency to destroy stuffed animals, anything made of felt, anything made of fleece, couch pillows, most of his toys, Steven’s expensive shoes, the Garmin watch… Okay, he didn’t destroy all of those things, but the Garmin watch does have bite marks in the band. And some of our couch pillows are missing their corners because he chewed them off.
Data is not the only one who had fun yesterday. Steven also had a fun time destroying things – cake:
Barney:
and a Red Robin burger (although that’s a pic of my burger):
And I can FINALLY tell you what I got Steven for his birthday – an Intro to Road-Racing Class through the DriveTech Racing School. It’s actually a groupon that Erin pointed out to me, because she bought it for her husband too! They take a class, then get to drive a Porsche Boxster, Corvette, or Formula car on the track for 15 minutes.
I also bought Steven a fleece jacket and a sweater, but that is not very exciting!
Thanks for all of your comments yesterday, wishing Steven a happy birthday! He felt really honored that so many people left him birthday wishes, and he left a thank you comment in there.
The winner of the Live, Laugh, Love Necklace is #20 – Stephany! Stephany, please email me your mailing address and I will send the necklace your way!
12/22
Do you know what December 22nd is?
It’s three days until Christmas Steven’s Birthday!
And this year, it’s his 30th Birthday!!!
I have a fun day planned for us (after I get off work at noon), including the shooting range*:
dinner (Red Robin is just a suggestion):
cake (better pictures to come later):
awesome gifts ( I wish I could tell you what they are), and the option for bowling or a movie. Or whatever!
Happy Birthday Steven!
Oh, Data wanted to say something too…
*I guess you can do your Dirty Harry impression Steven, since it is your birthday, after all!
Helper Cat
Whoa, blog post overload! Ha. Sometimes I have nothing to say… sometimes, I have a lot to say.
Need assistance wrapping gifts? Just call “Helper Cat” to the rescue!”
Helper Cat specializes in eating ribbon,
Mom, please excuse the cat slobber on your gift!
and generally looking clueless. Um… that is all.
Helper Cat is not ever supposed to get on the dining room table, but if that is where the presents are, that is where Helper Cat has to be. It’s a rule Helper Cat is willing to break.
We are FINALLY done wrapping gifts.
Oh wait. I still have to wrap Steven’s. And he has to wrap mine. Wah!
Are you done wrapping gifts? Shopping?
Have I already asked those questions? Am I losing my mind?
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! 🙂
