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By kilax, July 31, 2009 7:22 pm

What’s your perfect summer day?

Have I asked this before? Probably. Well, my perfect summer day is a day on the river, eating food, swimming and napping – a day like today! We’re at my parent’s cabin on the Mississippi River this weekend for my birthday, and we had great warm weather today!

The newest issue of Runner’s World came right before we left last night and I enjoyed reading it on the tube (I can’t ride it yet because of my wrist).

When we got here last night I opened up the door to the bedroom we stay in and my sister and her boyfriend were sitting in the bed in the dark, waiting to surprise us! I didn’t know they were coming. I screamed when I saw her (because it’s creepy when someone is sitting on the bed and you don’t expect ANYONE to be there). I am happy we got to see them.

Steven, me, Christina and Will at the beach.

Steven made me Tori’s special vegan cupcakes for my birthday. So good! I heard my grandma made me a vegan cake too. I am on my way over there now to find out… nom nom nom.

I hope everyone else is having a great summer day! August 1st is always a bit depressing for me – I feel like it is the beginning of the end of summer, probably just because it is the day after my birthday.

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By kilax, July 30, 2009 7:05 am

…well, be careful what you say ANYWHERE, really, but I’ll get back to that.

This morning, I was riding the elevator with a man and a woman that I don’t know, when one started talking to the other about a building project that my team worked on. The woman asked the man, “Did your team work on that project?”

“Oh, no, no, no,” he defended himself. “I wasn’t involved, but it is my understanding that A LOT of effort went into the decision making.”

“Well, it sure doesn’t look like it!” she responded. The she went on a bit about her ideas for the design.

I had one of those internal dialogues like “should I say something?” The thing is, the project had SO MANY people involved that my team really struggled with it. We were trying to please many different people (all with different opinions!) at once. BUT, all of that doesn’t matter; I still think we did a good job.

So when the guy got off the elevator (after she ranted a bit more), I said, “MY team worked on that project…” kind of inviting her feedback, not that it mattered. The decision was made.

“Oh! Sorry! I just think…” blah blah blah. She went on again about how she liked things the way they were. I just kind of laughed to myself.

You have to be careful what you’re saying. You never know who you’re around!

Earlier this week, I was walking back from a job-site meeting with two coworkers, and I asked who would be managing the project after us. When one of them responded with the person’s name, I said, “Oh, great! It seems like he has a really good understanding of the project.”

Well, after I said that, they went on a bit about one of his coworkers they don’t like as much. And… guess who walked up behind us right after that? The guy who would be managing the project after us. Nice.

I think these conversations are best behind closed doors, and even then, I wonder…

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By kilax, July 29, 2009 5:11 am

When I got home last night from running in the park, I looked in my bra and I had about 10 bugs crawling all over my boobs.

Wow.

I asked Steven if it would be appropriate to take a picture to show you all and he said, “That would be absolutely INAPPROPRIATE.”

Sorry, you’ll have to use your imagination!

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By kilax, July 28, 2009 5:19 am

Steven sent me a text message yesterday with this image and said:

Data is missing an arm!

I am not sure why, but the text really made me laugh. I am still laughing about it today.

Sometimes you just need a good laugh to distract you from the things in life that are stressing you out. I get caught up in the little annoying things and forget that they are just little annoying things. Things that upset me but don’t really matter in the long run.

I am lucky to have someone in my life with such a fun sense of humor (meaning Steven, and well, Data too?).

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By kilax, July 27, 2009 5:34 am

Last night’s meet-up with Nilsa, Tori, Kevin and Sizzle was a total blast! It was my first time meeting both Nilsa and Sizzle. Nilsa and her husband were gracious enough to host us in their beautiful Chicago home and feed us wonderful food! Nilsa is so fresh and down to earth. I can imagine having lots of long conversations with her. And sizzle is so animated! She is a wonderful story teller and so much fun! I always feel refreshed and excited after meeting up with bloggers. I wish I could do it more often!

Tori, Me, Sizzle, Nilsa and Kevin in the front.

Steven chatted with SoMi all night. Just kidding. He loves meeting other bloggers too!

We had college friends over two weekends ago that made me feel the same way – stimulated by discussion, excited, and energetic. The thing is, we hardly EVER see them. Coordinating a visit with them takes a lot – it’s kind of stressful. But we always have so much fun with them then say, “Why don’t we see each other more often?!”

It is because we are also so busy and wrapped up in our own lives. We don’t always make the time to do fun get-togethers like this. We let our crazy schedules get in the way. Well, I do anyway.

I don’t want to be like this. But I don’t want to have a super packed schedule either. The month of July has been really stressful for me because all of our weekends have been packed with activities. Balance. It’s always about balance…

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By kilax, July 26, 2009 8:47 pm

Welcome to week 6 of marathon training! If you click on the activity links after the dates, it will take you to the Garmin connect website for full stats.

Day 36 | Monday, July 20: Cross-Train for 30 minutes

I finally did it – real cross-training! I went to the office gym during my lunch break and put in 30 minutes (6.2 miles) on the stationary bike. I am not a biker, so I have no idea if that is a decent pace or not. Maybe it isn’t, because I didn’t get sweaty enough to take a shower (read: I was too lazy to take a shower!).

Bike Time: 30 mins | Distance: 6.2 miles

Day 37 | Tuesday, July 21: Run 3 miles

On Tuesday I ran without music to try to become more in touch with my breathing and form/rhythm, but just ended up being frustrated with my breathing being off. What I thought would be an easy 3-miler felt difficult. My lower legs still hurt, despite stretching before running. Maybe I should stretch after running as well (rather than jumping into the shower immediately!).

I got pissed off when I uploaded the Garmin 405 and it didn’t send my stats to Garmin Connect. Ugh. Does that ever happen to you? Apparently the new firmware is supposed to help with that… ugh, if I ever figure out how to install it! When I connected on Sunday to upload Saturday’s run, Tuesday’s run miraculously appeared.

Distance: 3.00 | Time: 28.05 | 1: 9:38 | 2: 9:26 | 3: 8:58 | 4: 00:01

Day 38 | Wednesday, July 22: Run 5 miles

Lately, I have been having some problems waking up at 4:30, so I slept in until 5:30 on Wednesday, meaning I wouldn’t get home until 7:15… making it pretty late for dinner and a 5-miler. So I ran the 5-miler on one of the treadmills in the office gym (too pissed off at the Garmin to bring it and run outside, plus, it takes more time to run outside) during lunch. I was excited to be able to control my pace with the machine – I just sped it up every mile.

BUT, the shins were still bothering me. Mostly the left one. I was doing some reading, and found out that shin splints come from overtraining. Hmm. The remedy seems to be rest. Hmm. And icing and stretching. I will try that first.

Distance: 5:00 | Time: 46:54 | 1: 9:41 | 2: 9:31 | 3: 9:23 | 4: 9:14 | 5: 9:05

Day 39 | Thursday, July 23: Run 3 miles

Another lunch break workout. Jeez! That is three this week. You would think this made my evenings relaxing and quiet but it actually didn’t. Oh well. I felt happy during my hectic weeknights because I knew I got my run in.

My left shin hurt on and off again. I iced it after the run and that felt pretty good. I talked to a coworker who does marathons (14 so far!) about my shin and he thinks I need new shoes. Yeah… I was thinking that (Carol suggested it too in last week’s training post!). I got mine in March and have probably put 300 miles on them by now. I wear the Brooks Adrenaline GTS (does anyone else?). I am hoping someone will get me a pair for my birthday next week. In size 12. Normal width. The ones with the red accents. These:

This is my last 3-miler for awhile! Next week, I bump up to 4-milers, then 5-milers a four weeks after that. I won’t see another 3-miler until it’s almost marathon week!

Distance: 3:00 | Time: 28:33 | 1: 9:31 | 2: 9:31 | 3: 9:31

Day 40 | Friday, July 24: Rest

I was in Kansas City this weekend for a wedding so my grand plan was to bump my Saturday and Sunday runs up to Friday and Saturday because I figured I would be more likely to get them done that way (probably true). But I took Friday off to rest and iced my shin a bit. Maybe I should have ran – my schedule didn’t work well for it the next two days.

Day 41 | Saturday, July 25: Run 6 miles at marathon pace Run 4 miles

I went to Macken park with Steven and his parents and brother to do this run in the afternoon. I think it was close to 90° when we were there. I kept my pace up for 3 miles, then pretty much felt like I was going to keel over. So I slowed it down for the fourth mile, and decided that was enough for me. I didn’t want to make myself sick running in that heat. My shin did feel better while I was running though!

Distance: 4:00 | Time: 36:31 | 1: 8:48 | 2: 8:39 | 3: 8:58 | 4: 10:03 | 5: 00:01

Day 42 | Sunday, July 26: Run 9 miles Rest

Here is what my Sunday was like – wake up (still exhausted from wedding the night before) and eat with Steven’s family then catch plane to Chicago. Drive to party in Chicago. Drive home where friend is spending the night on the way back to Toronto. My schedule just killed me. I wanted to get up early and run before we left for our flight home, but I knew I needed the extra sleep with my crazy schedule. Instead of feeling bummed about it, I will look at it from the perspective that I am giving my shins extra rest.

Week Summary: 26 Miles 15 Miles

This is the first week I haven’t met my training schedule. I shortened my Saturday run and completely missed my Sunday run. I do need to be more flexible with my schedule, but… of course, I am bummed I didn’t get my mileage in. It was probably bound to happen with the way our schedule has been packed. Do you struggle with running while out of town? This is the first time I have had a problem with it, but I’ve only been out of town twice during training!

This weekend, Steven’s mom brought up her concern about the hilly terrain on the course. Check out the elevation… I don’t have any reason to be worried… right?

No, seriously, those hills are going to SLOW ME DOWN. Hopefully I can finish under 4:30. But I know it may be killer and I may have to adjust.

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By kilax, July 22, 2009 9:57 pm

The site:

My website went down on Sunday because my domain did not get renewed. I am  not sure what the mix-up was, because I normally get a bill for it, and I don’t think I did this year. I contacted my web host right away, who fixed and it said it would take “24-72” hours to come back up. 72 hours later, when it STILL didn’t work, they said they just had to point the domain name to the root folder to fix the issue. Why didn’t they do that in the first place?!?!

Thank you to everyone who asked me about it. I really appreciated your concern and inquiries! It was nice to know my friends wondered where I was… but frustrating that I could not do anything about it!

Update: Thanks to Lindsay and Etta for pointing out the comments were not working. Ugh. This is giving me a headache and making me really frustrated. I had to go back in and turn on comments and pings on EVERY post.

The Missed Blogiversary:

Yesterday was my four year blogging anniversary, and I missed it. Poo poo. Oh well.

The movie:

I am hoping to write a review of Food Inc. soon. I can happily tell you that I did not find it horribly graphic, but that I was disturbed.

The wrist:

I saw the orthopedic specialist on Friday. He pressed his fingers into my wrist, asking “Does this hurt?” until he finally got a “YES!!!!” or two out of me.

He told me that because the pain is more general, it is likely torn ligaments that are trying to heal, and have scar tissue on them that need to be stretched back out. He gave me a new brace to wear (with velcro straps THANK HEAVENS) for another month. He told me to wear it during the day, taking it off a few times to move my wrist back and forth. If I don’t gain full mobility in my wrist in a month, I need to go back to the doctor so he can try to pinpoint the exact ligaments (muscles?) that are still giving me problems.

As you can see from the photo, I cannot move my right wrist back very far. The doctor measured it, and I could only get it to go back 38 degrees. My wrist doesn’t hurt as much anymore, but I am a bit creeped out by how limited the motion in it is. I keep saying to Steven, “Maybe I could never bend my right wrist back that far…”

That’s as far back as I can get the right wrist to go, even when I push on it with my other hand.

Oh, and since I am talking about it, I just want to add a little detail to the story of how this all happened. Some people mentioned that this incident reminded them of the motherly warning, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.” Well, I want to let you know that the FIRST thing my mom said to me when I got to the beach (because she went on the first boat trip over) was, “Kim! I am surprised you didn’t go straight to that slide to try it out! Are you going to?!?!”

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By kilax, July 19, 2009 9:45 pm

Welcome to week 5 of marathon training! If you click on the activity links after the dates, it will take you to the Garmin connect website for full stats.

Day 29 | Monday, July 13: Cross-train for 30 minutes

For cross-training, I took Data on a walk…

Not convinced? Me either. I think I am going to start working out in the office gym on Mondays. Then I can still relax when I get home, but actually have exercised.

Day 30 | Tuesday, July 14: Run 3 miles

I was so happy to get to run with Erin again. I am really starting to love working out during lunch, and was really frustrated that I couldn’t last week (because of my wrist, I could not get a sports bra on without assistance). We ran three easy miles down past Adler Planetarium and back. I think these may be my first negative splits ever!

Erin ran the Napa-to-Sonoma Half Marathon today, with Holly! I can’t wait to read both of their race recaps. Erin is staying in California all week after the race, and I am a bit sad I won’t get to run with my lunch buddy next week! But I know she will be having a great time, and that makes me feel better.

Distance: 3.01 miles | Time: 27:49 | 1: 9:29 | 2: 9:12 | 3: 9:02 | 4: 00:03

Day 31 | Wednesday, July 15: Rest

Day 32 | Thursday, July 16: Run 6 miles

Six uneventful miles… I think I stopped once for water and once to go poo. I wasn’t really feeling this run. I felt okay (somewhat sore calves), but my mind wasn’t into it.

Distance: 6.00 miles | Time: 58:06 | 1: 9:44 | 2: 9:52 | 3: 9:58 | 4: 9:48 | 5: 9:32 | 6: 9:08 | 7: 00:01

Day 33 | Friday, July 17: Run 3 miles

I ended up running these three miles with my neighbor, Fritz, which was great because my mp3 player was taking a break (I had to wash the armband, it got SO stinky!). He vented a bit about work, and it was nice to listen to someone else and have a distraction from my own thoughts. Does that ever make you feel better? It does for me. It helps me put things into perspective.

Distance: 3.00 miles | Time: 28:43 | 1:9:37 | 2: 9:22 | 3: 9:42 | 00:02

Day 34 | Saturday, July 18: Run 6 miles

I was so happy Saturday wasn’t a pace run! I stayed up too late the night before playing Rock Band, and I felt completely wiped. My legs didn’t warm up until mile 4.

I was hungry the entire time I was running. I usually don’t eat before my morning runs, even if they are “long-ish.” Do you?

Distance: 6.00 miles | Time: 57:44 | 1: 9:58 | 2: 9:51 | 3: 9:47 | 4: 9:47 | 5: 9:20 | 6: 8:58 | 7: 00:02

Day 35 | Sunday, July 19: Run 12 miles

I didn’t get out to run until after 6:00 pm. Ugh. But it was a good, slow, run at the park, in surprisingly cool temps. Steven came with me and read a book while I ran.

Distance: 12.01 | Time: 1:58:11 | 1: 10:09 | 2: 10:05 | 3: 9:57 | 4: 9:55 | 5: 9:50 | 6: 10:09 | 7: 9:48 | 8: 9:55 | 9: 9:37 | 10: 9:37 | 11: 9:34 | 12: 9:27 | 13: 00:02

Week Summary: 30 Miles

The good news about this week? I started my runs out slower. The bad news? That was because my lower legs hurt – shins and calves. They would feel sore for the first few miles of each run then finally warm up. Any advice for me?

Bad news number 2? My bra decided to attack me this week. Check out the scratches on my back:

I wear the Moving Comfort Dori bra. I haven’t had any problems with them before, so I am wondering what is going on. These scratches hurt and BURN when I am taking a shower. Which sports bras (if applicable) do you like?

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By kilax, July 17, 2009 11:52 am

If you could design any new ride or attraction for Walt Disney World, what would it be?

We were watching Contact last night, and when we got to the part where Ellie’s character is traveling through the “wormhole,” I thought that would make a really cool ride! It could be built like the Star Wars Flight Simulator.

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By kilax, July 16, 2009 5:35 pm

I hate that I wear my heart on my sleeve, therefore making every emotion I am feeling obvious.

Last week, a coworker said, “Hey! You seem happy today.” I was happy that day. The last few times she’d seen me, I’d been very stressed or sad.

Yesterday, I ran into my mentor in the hallway of my building. I just said hello, and from that, he asked “what’s wrong?” He could hear the stress and panic in my voice.

And the worst example – a few of my college friends are visiting this weekend, and one just called me and said, “It seemed like you are kind of stressed out in the last few emails you sent. You seem worried about what we will do while we are there and what we will eat. We just want to see you and relax! We can just sit on the couch all weekend and eat whatever, it doesn’t matter!”

I wanted to cry when she called. She was trying to reassure me, but knowing that my stress was so obvious just made me feel worse.