Two cat household
For a moment on Friday I thought we were going to become a two cat household!
While I was at the outlet mall with my mom and sister I received the photo above in a text from Steven. And this one too:
He said “All cats love the Datsun!”
Steven said the cat showed up at our garage, with no collar/tags. The cat hung out with Steven and my dad for a few hours while they worked on the car.
When I came home, it was still there! I figured after a few hours, someone would go looking for their lost cat, right? I held him for awhile, but then went to ask the neighbors if it was theirs. The cat followed me. The first neighbor said no, but the second neighbor said “Hey, that’s my cat!” while the cat ran in to the house. Uh… duh? It was so bizarre.
Of course, those are the neighbors that frequently have the cops come by to visit, so who knows what is going on in their house. Maybe the cat would have been better off in ours!
Have you ever found a stray pet and tried to find its home? Have you ever “lost” your pet?
I think one of our cats ran away. Maybe two of them did.
Not to be outdone, Data was helping in the garage too, but not at the same time:
Training Week 56
My next race is the Clear Water Outdoor’s 6th Annual Turkey Trot: 10K on November 20.
Day 386 | November 8, 2010: rest
Day 387 | November 9, 2010: 5.7 m run
Steven and I ran/biked at the Rollins Savanna – we ran 1.9 miles together, then he got on the bike and we completed 5.7 miles.
It surely didn’t feel like November weather – it was in the 50s!
The Rollins Savanna is one giant loop with no shade. It’s perfect for days like this when it’s a bit cooler and sunny, but not (too) windy.
We usually see deer and other wildlife when we run there:
Click to see larger
Click to see larger – I wonder what kind of birds those are!
This run felt really slow to me, but like I was working hard. I wonder if running on crushed limestone slows me down (compared to running on the sidewalk). Have you noticed that you are a faster runner on certain surfaces?
Distance: 5.7 | Start Temp: 59° | End Temp: 56° | Time: 57:48 | Avg Pace: 10:08 | 1: 10:10 | 2: 10:12 | 3: 10:23 | 4: 10:14 | 5: 10:05 | 6: 6:43
Day 388 | November 10, 2010: cross + yoga
Again, I had to force myself to do yoga, but it felt so good!
Recumbent Bike Time: 45:00 | Distance: 7.33 | Average Speed: 9.78 mph | Set on “Forest Ride”
Day 389 | November 11, 2010: 3.8 m run
Wow. This run was challenging.
Originally I had plans to do a long run, but Steven suggested I check out the Volo Bog, which is only 10 minutes from our house. Great idea! I wasn’t sure how far I’d be able to run there though – the website said they had a 2.75 mile trail, but that it was for hiking – I had no idea how rough the terrain would be.
Before my run, I checked out a .5 mile trail, mostly on raised platforms over water! I can’t wait to go back.
I got on to the trail, and sure enough, it was dirt and grass. Very beautiful, but uneven terrain, and difficult to run on (for this novice trail runner!). And I was too hot! (I wonder if it was more humid by the water?) I decided to cut the run short to just the 2.75 mile loop.
But then I accidentally got on to another loop that was a mile long. The trail signage was kind of confusing, and it turned out the 2.75 mile loop didn’t connect! So I ran on the road for the last quarter of a mile.
Most of the view looked like this though:
Very beautiful!
Distance: 5.7 | Start Temp: 59° | End Temp: 61° | Time: 38:41 | Avg Pace: 10:10 | 1: 10:29 | 2: 10:24 | 3: 10:15 | 4: 7:32
Day 390 | November 12, 2010: 5 m temp run
I ran a quick four miles around my neighborhood, followed by a cool-down mile. I was definitely pushing it for this run, but felt pretty good (except for the wind!).
Distance: 5.0 | Start Temp: 50° | End Temp: 50° | Time: 46:04 | Avg Pace: 9:12 | 1: 9:18 | 2: 9:01 | 3: 8:48 | 4: 8:38 | 5: 10:15
Day 391 | November 13, 2010: cross
My mom, dad, and I walked 1.7 miles on the new trail by our house. At 9:00 pm. In the dark. That wasn’t exactly how I wanted to show them the trail, but it worked! Unfortunately, it had rained that day and the trail was covered in mud! we couldn’t see it in the dark and were kind of slipping around.
Day 392 | November 14, 2010: 4 m run
I noticed that more of the trail by our house had been covered in black top so I ran back there to check it out. The trail doesn’t open for a year and I feel kind of bad using it. Would you use the trail if you lived near it? Do you think I should stay off of it?
It kind of looks like they want us to stay off of it, but I’ve seen plenty of other people on it. Hmm. Anyway – all of the trail is covered in black top now and some more work has been done on the bridge:
This run felt easy in the beginning, but toward the end, I felt my Red Robin lunch coming up and the hills were getting to me.
Stupid hills.
I should mention that I wore my muddy Adrenalines, because I thought the trail might still be covered in mud.
Distance: 4.0 | Start Temp: 46° | End Temp: 43° | Time: 38:08 | Avg Pace: 9:31 | 1: 9:31 | 2: 9:17 | 3: 9:23 | 4: 9:54
Week Summary: 18.5 miles
Let’s just call this a rest week and start over next week. I started this week off on a bad foot and never got back in to the swing of things.
Cold Weather Running Tips / Under Armour ColdGear Top Giveaway
Good thing I mentioned how we “don’t buy much” in my “green” post yesterday. Yeah. Because I spent yesterday afternoon at the outlet mall with my mom and sister and totally made that statement in to a lie.
Only a few of those bags are mine, but still, that’s a lot!
I rarely buy things for myself, but there were quite a few good deals out there – the main one being Under Armour ColdGear Compression Tops for $16.
Yes! $16! These things are normally $50 each! I love using them in the cold season as a base layer to keep my core warm. In the photo below, Steven and I have Under Armour ColdGear tops (mine is pink, his is black) on for the Thanksgiving Day 5K we ran last year – it had snowed that morning and it was in the low 30s – and we stayed warm!
The Under Armour outlet only had size large and extra-large for this price, but I grabbed a size large to giveaway! Here it is:
It’s a nice soft pink color!
Here are the details:
I think the top is an “older” model, which is why it was on sale. Works for me. And maybe, for you! See the giveaway details at the bottom of the post!
Do you like running in cold weather? I actually prefer it – I perform a lot better in the cold. Now that the temps have dropped, my pace has gotten faster!
I saw a great article in the November issue of Health on how to “Winter-Proof Your Run” (you can read the article here). The main tips in the article were:
- Dress like it’s 20° warmer – my favorite tip! You want to feel a bit chilly when you start running, because your body will warm you up as you get going. For minimal cold temps, start with a base layer of sweat-wicking fabric (like Under Armour ColdGear) and add a jacket and running tights. If it’s really cold, add another sweat-wicking layer, and pants on top of tights. Bring gloves and a hat, and even a balaclava face mask if you need it. And you can even find thicker socks to wear in the winter! Experiment and figure out what works for you.
- Warm up your muscles before you start your run – your muscles are less flexible when it’s cold so warm them up with a walk. And stretch inside, post-run, when your muscles are looser.
- You can run in the snow, but watch out for ice! – I learned this one the hard way last year. It’s safe to run in the snow (wear YakTrax if it is deep) but watch out for that ice – it hurts when you slip and fall!
A few of my tips regarding winter running:
- Just get out there and try it! You’ll never know if you like it unless you try it.
- Wear reflective gear if you have to run in the dark
- Re-think your hydration and fuel – I have had water bottles and Shot Bloks freeze in my pocket/on a belt. If you are running long, you may need to store them in your car or in a building.
- Sign up for a early spring race to keep you motivated! I am already signed up for a 5K in February, and am eying a half marathon in the end of March.
What are YOUR cold weather running tips?
Under Armour ColdGear Top Giveaway Rules:
- To enter the giveaway, leave a comment telling me where you prefer to do your winter running – indoors or outdoors – and why.
- To get an extra entry, link to the giveaway in your blog, and leave me another comment linking to your post.
- This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM CST on Wednesday November 17. I will use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Thursday November 18.
- This giveaway is open to all readers.
Friday Question #137
What do you do to live a “green” (environmentally-friendly) lifestyle? Is being “green” important to you?
Just so you know, I dislike the term “green,” but, so many people are using it now. Might as well get with the times.
Here are a few of the things Steven and I do:
- Take public transportation
- Share one car (first for economic reasons, though)
- Use re-usable shopping bags
- Use grocery store bags for Data’s litter – but collect the litter in the bag throughout the week, and store it in a container, rather than use one bag a day.
- Recycle more than we throw away!
- Re-use our food storage containers
- We re-use our own rubbermaid water bottles each day (thanks for the reminder, Amy!)
- Keep the heat low in our house (does that count? – again, being cheap) in the winter, and don’t run the AC all summer long
- Grow our own produce
- Don’t buy much, go out much, eat out much
- We never litter
- We don’t eat meat (first for ethical reasons)
- I don’t take many showers (Ha – that is a joke. I hate to take showers, and sometimes take baths, so that doesn’t count.)
Not these, but aren’t they cute?!
A peek at all of the food storage containers in our fridge
I know there is a lot we could do to improve. But I have to admit, being “green” isn’t always the first thing on my mind.
The Garden Project: Worth the cost?
As I mentioned in my last “Garden Project” post, we kept track of the cost of the garden, so we could add it all up when we were done, compare it to what we got out of the garden (and our time there) and see if it was all worth it. Here it is:
The total cost of the project was $150.45. We will receive $10 of that back (our garden deposit) and interestingly, about $71.85 of it was in investment supplies.
It’s hard to guesstimate how much time we spent at the garden. I blogged about it nearly every time we went there, so I am going to guess that total, between the two of us, we spent between 50-60 hours at the garden (that does count some times when there were two people there at once).
It’s a little bit easier to keep track of the produce we got, because I took pictures (it would have been easier to keep track of it as I was going along though – note for future):
July 11 – 2 cucumbers, green beans, 2 zucchini, onions and lettuce
July 16 – more cucumbers
July 24 – 1o cucumbers, 1 LARGE zucchini, a few green beans
July 29 – a zillion more cucumbers
August 13 – 4 zillion cucumbers, 1 zucchini, a bunch of onions, and our first TOMATOES!
August 22– MORE TOMATOES!, cucumbers, a few green beans, 1 zucchini, and some onions
September 13 – our ONLY pepper, cucumber, lots of tomatoes!
November 6 – a bunch of sweet potatoes
Wow. Looking at all of the pictures, I feel that the money, time and effort we put in was well worth it. And of course, you can’t even calculate the worth of the quality time I got to spend with Steven (barf).
Comparing the cost versus the produce we picked – do you think the Garden Project was worth it?
I think we could have picked a lot more if we hadn’t been gone so much in August and September.
Not a foodie
Despite the fact that I sometimes post pictures of the food we make at home, like Vegan Chicken Alfredo Pizza:
(Vegan Alfredo sauce, spinach, potato, onion, tomato and boca chicken topped with spices)
Acorn Squash fries (so so good):
and Kim’s (girl evolving) Meatless Meatballs:
I am not a foodie.
It’s hard to find a good description of a foodie online – I think because it means different things to different people. But this description gets kind of close:
a person having an enthusiastic interest in the preparation and consumption of good food
And that is NOT me.
I like to eat. I look forward to meals. I get excited about certain ones. But I do NOT enjoy cooking. I don’t find it relaxing. I find it stressful – I don’t know what I am doing. I look at recipes and feel overwhelmed. So, all of the food above? Made by Steven, except for the acorn squash fries – I could at least handle those.
Do you consider yourself to be a foodie?
Not related, but I had to post this funny picture of Data!
I love it when cats have their tongue stuck out – too cute!
I stink at video games
We decided to play Lego Star Wars for the Wii last night, and guess what? I really stink at it. It’s a game meant for 10 year-olds, and I can’t even figure it out. I had to go online and find instructions on where to go in some of the levels.
Video game playing FAIL. I guess I will just stick to Rock Band (and believe me, I am not even that good at that!).
Are you good at playing video games? Which game system and games do you like?
It’s funny, I was being a whiny baby last night told Steven I was sick of watching movies – that I didn’t find it relaxing – and wanted to do something different, so we played wii. That kind of seems like a regressive movement to me. Ha. At least it’s something different and requires some movement! We rarely play our Wii – we mostly use it to watch Netflix movies.
Commenting IV
Just documenting that commenting turned itself off again.
I am so effing sick of this. I cannot figure it out.
I am noticing it happens every two weeks, on Tuesdays, if that means anything.
Update: I talked to my hosting service and they are the ones turning commenting off, because of “spam,” but they won’t tell me much about it. Great.
The old code didn’t work so I used this:
UPDATE wp_posts SET comment_status = ‘open’;
Comments closed on purpose.
Goodbye old running shoes
What do you think is in this bag that I am taking to work today?
Something that warrants this face:
Yikes. Maybe nothing warrants that face. And I should especially rethink putting it on a public blog.
The bag has three old pairs of running shoes in it. I mentioned two weeks ago that I was going to recycle three pairs of shoes. I put the shoes in a bag in the garage and they just sat there. I wasn’t very active about looking in to a way to get rid of them… but it was sure on Steven’s mind! I told him I would look in to it last week, then, lo and behold, I saw a posting on our internal work website last Thursday asking people to bring old shoes in for the Nike program that turns old shoes in to turf on playgrounds (which I have mentioned before here). At that point I had no excuse!
I think the reason I wasn’t looking in to it (because sheer laziness) was that I feel bummed getting rid of these shoes. They have history!
My first pair of running shoes are in there – the Asics GT-2110s:
Those were good shoes. I ran my first 5Ks (in 2007 and 2008) in them. And never had any injuries. Goodbye Asics GT-2110s!
Next are the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 9s. My first pair of Adrenalines.
I ran our first half marathon in these, and kicked butt.
That doesn’t even look like me! Who is that girl?! Damn. I want my legs to look like THAT again. Less with the arm flailing while running though.
I always thought these were kind of ugly, and as you can see on the left shoe, the shoelace eating monster got to them (that would be Data). But they were still good shoes. Ta ta!
Any my third pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 9s.
I am on the fence with these. They were so pretty. I loved the red and the design at the toe of the shoe. But I wore these for most of this summer with those stupid Spenco inserts, and those things were a pain. Can you tell how much the heel wore down on these?
Good riddance.
I still have my second pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 9s* at home (they are my “muddy running shoes”),
my Brooks Adrenaline GTS10s* that I wore for the marathon (and a lot of other races, actually),
a pair of Asics (GT-1120s) in my gym locker at work, and my new Asics Gel-Cumulus 12s.
Phew. I feel better now, after writing all of this. Ha. What a waste of time though – this post and looking through all of my old pictures took me an hour! At least I have them well documented so I can go back and see them if I want to.
Do you get sad about getting rid of old running/athletic shoes? Or not at all? Do you think I am losing it?!
Funny note: I took pictures of these shoes at home this morning, but they were too dark so I retook them on the train. Think the other passengers thought I was being a weird-o?
*Even though the guy at the shoe store told me I should get rid of all my Adrenalines and not even wear them for walking!
Training Week 55
My next race is the Clear Water Outdoor’s 6th Annual Turkey Trot: 10K on November 20.
Day 379 | November 1, 2010: strength + yoga
I did a quick strength workout during lunch, and the YogaWorks Beginners DVD at home after dinner. I put on my workout clothes as soon as I got home, to make sure I actually did yoga. The trick seemed to work! What tricks do you use to encourage yourself to exercise?
| 1 Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb | 5 Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb |
| 2 Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb | 6 Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb |
| 3 Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @ 50 lb | 7 Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb |
| 4 Shoulder Press: 3 x 15 @ 20 lb | 8 Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb, 15 @ 130 lb |
Day 380 | November 2, 2010: cross
Recumbent Bike Time: 45:00 | Distance: 7.22 | Average Speed: 9.6 mph | Set on “Forest Ride”
Day 381 | November 3, 2010: 5 m tempo run + strength
Visibility when running in the dark is key!
I ran a quick 4 miles then followed up with a 1 mile cool-down. I counted our walk on the new trail as a “warm-up” for this run. Here’s a video of the trail for those of you who like videos:
My right ankle felt sore, like it was bruised, since Saturday, which is why I waited until Wednesday to run. It must have just been a bruise, because it went away by Friday.
Distance: 5.0 | Start Temp: 50° | End Temp: 42° | Time: 47:07 | Avg Pace: 9:25 | 1: 9:16 | 2: 9:19 | 3: 9:11 | 4: 9:05 | 5: 10:12
Strength + Stretch (done during my lunch break):
| 1 Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb | 7 Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb |
| 2 Arm Curl: 3 x 15 @ 25 lb | 8 Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb |
| 3 Pectoral Fly: 2 x 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb | 9 Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb |
| 4 Shoulder Press 3 x 15 @ 20 lb | 10 Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb, 15 @ 130 lb |
| 5 Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb | 11 Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb |
| 6 Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @ 50 lb |
Day 382 | November 4, 2010: cross
Bike Time: 45:00 | Distance: 7.71 | Average Speed: 10.28 mph | Set on “Forest Ride”
Day 383 | November 5, 2010: 5 m run
bbbbbbnmbbbb <— Data typed that. Thanks Data.
Steven rode his bike with me for the first 1.25 miles of this run, then went back to the house because it was too cold. It was kind of cold – 30°F. I wore capris, Under Armour long-sleeved cold gear, a shirt over, a head band and gloves and felt okay. I think a jacket might have been nice to have on.
I ate too much candy at work during the day and was feeling it. I got a bad side stitch a mile 1 – I cannot remember the last time I had one! And my stomach cramped up for the entire run. And I threw up a bit on my shirt. I took a picture of that, but I’ll spare you.
Lesson learned – no more candy.
This is what our “backyard” looks like. I didn’t run there. I am just a poser!
It was dark for most of this run. I was all excited to get home early and run in the day light, but my train was 20 minutes late. So I could only see where I was running for a little bit. Sigh. I am not sure if I like running in the dark this year. And this run was before Daylight Savings Time ended!
Distance: 5.0 | Start Temp: 33° | End Temp: 30° | Time: 49:38 | Avg Pace: 9:55 | 1: 9:54 | 2: 10:06 | 3: 9:49 | 4: 10:04 | 5: 9:41
Day 384 | November 6, 2010: cross
Steven and I took a 3.8 mile walk to explore the new trail by our house. I am surprised by how much of it is already laid out! The black top continues past our house quite a bit, then stops at about a 3/4th of a mile. Then we had to walk through the brush for a bit (maybe 1/10th of a mile) but caught right back up with the crushed limestone portion of the trail, which continued all the way to 1.85 miles. At that point, it stopped at a huge drop-off where they are going to build a bridge. The construction people left their tools out and had some strings set up to indicate where the bridge will go:
Taking this walk made me SO SO SO SO SO excited for the trail to be completed… in a year. I can’t wait! There are some very interesting parts that go through the forest. And… it’s quite hilly (for Illinois – it starts at our house at about 794 ft above sea level, tops at 809 and goes all the way down to 747)! It should be challenging! Here is the exaggerated elevation profile:
Here is one of my favorite photos of the trail:
And a gallery of photos below if you want to see more. If you click on them they get larger, but in this window. I wish I knew how to do some sort of scroll over pop-up thing!
Day 385 | November 7, 2010: 14 m run + yoga
This 14-miler started out as a fun, stop-and-go, exploratory run. I started at Independence Grove and headed north on the Des Plaines River Trail. After running for 3.5 miles, everything I was seeing was all new to me – hence the buttload of photos!
I stopped to take in the scenery and take a photos. Yes, I even take these silly running shots:
They actually help me see how effed up my form is – I tend to have my legs bending out at the knee a lot. Pretty sure that is NOT good.
I took about 200 photos. Do you think I just need to put my camera away and run? I like doing exploratory runs like this, but I wonder if I should be more “serious.”
I just included this image because if you click on it to make it larger, you can see some of the roller coasters at Six Flags Great America in the photo (toward the middle under the power lines)!
There were so many people on the trail! It’s crazy that I saw no one during my last long run in Iowa. I saw over 100 bikers, at least 10 runners, a few walkers, and even some guy on weird roller skate things and some horseback riders!
I was loving the first 8-9 miles of this run. It felt great and easy!
But this run was also “exploratory” for another reason – I was trying nuun electrolyte tabs, as well as taking two GUs, instead of one (to avoid the mid-run slump). I can say that I was VERY happy with the GUs (especially Chocolate Outrage – it tasted SO GOOD cold) but NOT with the nuun. I took 16 ounces of it, and 8 ounces of water, which I thought would be enough liquid. During my last 12-miler, I only drank 16 ounces of water! But the nuun made me feel more dehydrated and extremely thirsty. I ran out of liquid at 10.5 miles and was struggling to make it back to the car. And what made it even worse is that I was running by water… so, so thirsty!
I tried to mentally tough it out for the last 3 miles, but I failed. I even switched from podcasts to music to pump me up – it was only partially successful. I stopped a few times. At least my body felt good!
I wonder what this would look like with leaves on the trees!
So, for my next long run, I will probably make sure to drink LOTS of water the day before (didn’t drank as much on Saturday as I normally do on the weekdays) and only take 8 ounces of nuun, to give it another shot. Otherwise, one of you will be receiving the rest of it!
Run stats: I wore the Asics Cumulus 12s. I drank 8 ounces of water during the run, and 16 ounces of water with Tri-Berry nuun. I ate a Chocolate Outrage GU at mile 5, and a Jet Blackberry GU at mile 9. I walked 1-minutes at miles 5, 9 and 12. I stopped A LOT to take a pictures. I wore capris, Under Armour Cold Gear, and a long-sleeved top. I wore gloves and a head band. I took the gloves off at .5 miles, but put them back on at mile 6. I took the gloves and the headband off at mile 12. I think this outfit was too hot for the end of the run, and I should have removed the top layer. My lips were chapped toward the middle of the run – I put chapstick on at mile 9 but it was too late. And annoyingly, I kept having to adjust the hydration belt for some reason.
The good news is, I wore the Moving Comfort Juno bra, and it’s a bid padded s0… less nipping! Hooray Moving Comfort! Two Thumps Up! Plus, no chafing (I used vaseline)!
I did the YogaWorks Beginners DVD late at night. It felt really good. My muscles were getting sore toward the end of the day!
Distance: 14.0 | Start Temp: 36° | End Temp: 52° | Time: 2:30:49 | Avg Pace: 10:46 | 1: 10:40 | 2: 10:47 | 3: 10:52 | 4: 10:44 | 5: 10:38 | 6: 11:01 | 7: 10:27 | 8: 10:47 | 9: 10:41 | 10: 11:23 | 11: 10:36 | 12: 10:20 | 13: 10:28 | 14: 11:17
Week Summary: 24.0 miles
This was another good week, getting workouts in. But again, I think it is crazy that I have to work out during lunch and sometimes at night to get everything done that I want to. I need more time in the day!
Even though I don’t particularly care for yoga, I can tell I am becoming more flexible! I can bend forward further when touching my toes, and my heels are getting closer in the ground in downward facing dog. That’s encouragement to keep working at it!
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! 🙂
