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By kilax, August 18, 2009 5:06 am

Data’s been a bit of a sh*tbox lately. He normally likes to “hide” behind things in the evening, and jump up at our legs playfully when we walk by, then run away. But lately, his attacks have been vicious. On Sunday morning, he jumped up on me and bit me in the thigh. When I was standing up! He left a mark.

I think he is stressed because he hasn’t had enough alone/free-time (hey, that is why I’ve been in a funk too!). But seriously, he needs to get over it (and so do I).

On Sunday, on our way to run some errands, we stopped at the animal shelter near our house. I had never been to the shelter before, but thought playing with some nice, grateful, cats for awhile would cheer me up!

Surprisingly, seeing all of the cats (over 300!) didn’t make me feel bad. They were all playing together, and a lot of people were there playing with them. What made me feel sad was seeing the dogs, alone in their kennels, begging for attention.

Anyway, one of the small tiger cats really liked me. She kept trying to crawl onto me, and play with me, and steal all of my attention.

My new friend.

Some of her fur was still on me when I got home, and I think someone noticed. Maybe Data was a bit jealous… but he was really well behaved for the rest of the day! That is, until nighttime came and he wanted to jump up on me again.

So, all I need to do to get a little lovin’ from him is spend time at the shelter everyday. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Just for fun, here are some photos of the sh*tbox from this summer:

6/26 – Thinking “what have they done?!?!”

6/26 – “Who the hell is this guy?!”

6/28 – Sharpening his “claws.”

6/26 – Scandalous!

7/11 – Think he’s comfortable?

7/11 – Vacuum Kitty!

7/12 – Showing us a new way to lay on the couch.

7/15 – Sleeping on a large pile of dirty laundry (we had 6 men stay over!).

7/17 – Data is not a big fan of Rock Band.

7/21 – Playing with a ribbon from Gina.

8/9 – Steven holds Data back from bothering me so I can sleep awhile longer.

8/14 – Relaxing in the sun.

Comments (8)

By kilax, August 17, 2009 6:26 pm

Thanks for being patient with me while I work through this funk.

I wanted to come up with something fresh to say, but the only things I can think of are inappropriate* – they’re not my story to tell, they’re work-related, they’re a rant about certain people, or they’re just too negative in general (you know, how Steven and I had to ask two separate neighbors on two separate occasions this weekend to be quiet at night because we could hear them in our bedroom).

Ironically, NOT talking about things with people is what got me in a funk in the first place. I think my immediate reaction when I have an issue is to talk it out with someone**. But when I can’t do that, I feel shut down and restricted, and consequently, stop talking about other things that are bothering me as well.

I don’t know why I have such a self-destructive nature, and I hate that I have to fight it. But, I take reassurance in knowing that this must be common. We all have our vices and bad habits that we are trying to break. It’s just important to know which to work on, and which are just quirks.

*Ah, one of those days you wish you had a private blog!
**Obviously. Aren’t a majority of bloggers like this?

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By kilax, August 16, 2009 10:01 am

Welcome to week 9 of marathon training! If you click on the activity link after the dates, it will take you to the Garmin connect website for full stats.

Day 57 | Monday, August 10: Rest

I spent Monday pondering whether I wanted to move down to Novice 1 Training or Novice 2 Training. I eventually choose Novice 2, because it had shorter mid-week runs, but in the meantime, I am NOT going to run pace runs until my leg feels better.

Funny side note – a woman saw my print-out of the two programs when she was walking by me to get off the train and said, “Oh! I’ve done those programs a few times!” I should have asked which she recommended!

Day 58 | Tuesday, August 11: Cross-Train

I went to the office gym during lunch and used the elliptical. I kind of worked up a sweat, but didn’t feel like I got much out of it. It just seems so… easy. Of course, I couldn’t pedal (?) backwards because that hurt my shin.

Elliptical Time: 30 mins | Distance: 2.59 miles

Day 59 | Wednesday, August 12: Run 4 miles Rest

I decided to give my shin one more day of rest, which eventually turned into two. I’ve had some pain in my left heal (which started last week, and feels like plantar fasciitis), and it was bothering me on Wednesday. Body, why do you fight me so?

Day 60 | Thursday, August 13: Run 7 miles Rest

While waiting to get off the train, a stranger (who rides the same train to the same stop with me every night) asked how my leg was doing – he noticed my limp last week. He said, “First your arm, now your leg!” I told him my story, and it turns out he is a runner as well. He has run the Chicago Marathon, and ran track in college. He said he has to run shorter distances now, since he has kids, but is signed up for the same 5K I am doing on 9/13. I have a feeling this guy is fast. He also gave me some tips on how to stretch out my shin.

I probably could have run on Thursday, but I got a headache, then I got cranky and… I also felt afraid of what would happen during my run. I was afraid it would hurt a lot and I would have to take more time off, and not be able to run the 5K on Saturday. I guess I wanted to spend one more night in ignorance.

Day 61 | Friday, August 14: Rest Run 4 miles

I decided to try a “new to me” forest preserve – the Rollins Savanna – for my first attempted run. It has a 5.5 mile crushed granite loop on a mostly flat trail. I figured the crushed granite would be better for my crappy shin.

Steven came with me, and walked with me during my warm-up walk, then worked on his computer while I ran.

This was my first run with my new shoes, and I am making SURE to keep track of the mileage I put on them! My left shin and foot felt okay while I was running. There was no sharp pain, but running didn’t feel as easy as it usually does for me – as you can probably tell from my splits! It was really stinking hot on this trail. There was hardly any shade, and I was running around 9:30 am, with no clouds. I felt pretty blah the whole time. But, I liked the new trail and will probably go back.

This run made me realize that I am going to have to add a big chunk of time onto my race pace, and probably all of my training runs, until the weather gets cooler/I heal 100%/I lose 20 pounds.

Look mom, a REAL butterfly, NOT a made-up one!

I iced my shin for 30 minutes or so when I got home, and did a little prayer to the shin gods that it would feel great for Saturday’s 5K!

Distance: 4.00 | Time: 41:10 | 1: 9:43 | 2: 10:18 | 3: 10:22 | 4: 10:45

Day 62 | Saturday, August 15: Run 11 miles Rally for Autism 5K

This 5K totally kicked my butt. BUT, I still had fun, because I got to run it with Erin!

The race started at 9:00. (Side Note: Why would have you a race start at 9:00, in August? Wouldn’t you want it to start earlier, so the racers don’t fry in the sun? You would think… but hey, I picked this race, so I should have known what we were getting in to!) We did a little warm-up jog about 15 minutes before the race started. It felt pretty good, but I was already glistening in sweat when we got back to the start-line. Since it was so hot, and the course was completely open to the sun, we decided to aim for our first mile at 8:40. And hey – we pretty much did that!

But the heat caught up to us. It must have been about 85°, and it was intense. I felt pretty crappy, and I think Erin must have too. We decided to slow it down, but that wasn’t really enough, so we stopped and sped-walked once before the second mile, and twice after that! I am happy we slowed down, because I was struggling with the heat.

We finished with a decent time – 28:20, and placed 7th and 8th in our age group*, out of 41 – but it definitely wasn’t the race we thought it was going to be! We will have to save our 26:00 5K for sometime when it’s not so hot. And we’ll have to do it somewhere close to where Erin lives, since she was a trooper to drive all the way out to this race which was closer to my house.

Erin found that extra enthusiasm at the finish! Gotta love her!

Right after the finish line, they had people spraying down the runners with water. We both went for that… then immediately looked for some shade! I iced my leg for a bit, and we hung around for the awards (which were kind of pointless to listen to, because they weren’t giving the times – some sort of computer issue/human incompetency).

Some post-race shade.

We went out to brunch afterward with our cheerleaders/photographers/husbands. It was fun to chat with Erin and her husband, Jason! I hope the four of us can get together again soon!

Distance: 3.10 | Time: 28:41 | 1: 8:23 | 2: 9:11 | 3: 10:06 | 4: 00:59
* If I would have run this race two weeks ago, when I was 24, I would have placed first in that age group! Ha ha.

Day 63 | Sunday, August 16: Cross-Train Umm…

My plan was to run 11 miles. Then after arguing discussing it with Steven, he convinced me to run 3-4, see how I felt, then decide whether or not to keep going. So, I got to the park, started walking and… my shin hurt so much while walking that I decided running shouldn’t even be in the picture. Major FAIL. I just got in my car and drove back home. And iced my shin when I got home, of course.

Week Summary: 8 Miles

Originally, I thought it was no big deal that I had to take off about 2 weeks for my shin to heal, because I am only now halfway through this 18-week training program, and figured the remaining 9 weeks would be smooth sailing.

I don’t think so. I don’t think my body wants me to be a runner right now.

I am not sure if there is a logistical, safe way for me to catch up with any training program since I am running so infrequently right now. I am seriously doubtful that I will be able to run this marathon in October, but I am going to see what my body will let me do.

Comments (16)

By kilax, August 9, 2009 3:24 pm

Welcome to week 8 of marathon training! If you click on the one activity link after the date, it will take you to the Garmin connect website for full stats.

Day 50 | Monday, August 3: Cross-train Rest

Yeah. I brought my gym bag to work, but since I was limping everywhere, I decided NOT to cross-train. Even though I wanted to.

Day 51 | Tuesday, August 4: Run 4 miles

This was my first run with Erin in what felt like FOREVER! I was super excited to run with her again. Unfortunately, I was a pretty lame running buddy. My shin felt somewhat better, but I still felt like a slow slug. We cut it short at about 3.85 miles. I hope we get a better run in together before our 5K on the 15th! Our goal is to run 8:20s and finish in under 26:00. Think we can do it?!

I noticed on Monday that the pain in my shin is starting to affect other parts of my body, like my left calf and right quad, since I am limping a lot. So… I decided to take Wednesday and Thursday off.

Distance: 3.85 | Time: 36:56 | 1: 9:22 | 2: 9:19 | 3: 9:56 | 4: 8:18

Day 52 | Wednesday, August 5: Run 7 miles Rest

Day 53 | Thursday, August 6: Run 4 miles Rest

Erin and I volunteered for PAWS at the Elvis is Alive 5K on Thursday. PAWS had us get there pretty early, so there was a lot of standing around before we finally set up the water tables and the race started. But that was okay, because it gave me a chance to chat with Erin (Okay, I was bitching a bit. Sorry Erin!).

It was fun to be on the other side of the aide station for once! I enjoyed watching the runners come in, and trying to hand them water (my coordination isn’t that good). A few of the people were wearing funny Elvis costumes and doing impressions.

I was surprised how quickly the race went by! It seemed like once the masses came in (after the super-speedy runners) it was non stop action. I really enjoyed volunteering and hope to again.

Yeah, this report is LAME. Check out Erin’s much more thorough (and entertaining report) here.

Day 54 | Friday, August 7: Rest

I picked up my new Brook Adrenalines on Friday. I ended up with blue, instead of red, but I still think they’re pretty.

I compared the tread on my old Adrenalines to my new ones… yeah., they were well past their prime. If you look at the picture below (and click on it to enlarge) you can see there is almost no tread left on the old pair on the right (especially in the two areas circled in white). Oops.

If I start running regularly again soon, I am going to by another pair and alternate between pair each time I run.

Day 55 | Saturday, August 8: Run 7 miles Cross-Train?

I tried to do Kenpo X (from the P90X series) with Steven – sort of a mixture of martial arts arm and leg moves. I did about half of it, because I struggled with balancing on my left leg and twisting it (and you know, I can’t do a lot with my right arm, because I am still recovering from that injury).

Day 56 | Sunday, August 9: Run 15 miles

I wanted to run my 15 miles, but since I was still limping around a bit on Saturday, I passed (okay, Steven told me that if I ran on Sunday I couldn’t whine to him about my leg all week because he didn’t think I should run, so I didn’t). I woke up Sunday only limping a bit, so I am taking that as a good sign.

Week Summary: 37 Almost 4 Miles

I am extremely frustrated with my body this week. Obviously.

I am thinking of switching to one of the novice level training programs if my shin doesn’t get better. Then I would only run 4 days a week, instead of 5. Maybe I would even have to cut that back to 3, and do some more cross-training. Lame.

I’ve been reading up on what to do about my shin. Everything I read says to “quit running then build mileage back up slowly.” Does anyone know if they mean building weekly mileage up slowly, or building per-run mileage up slowly? What I am asking is if I can still do my long runs, but run less that week overall, or if I need to only do short distance runs.

Comments (24)

By kilax, August 7, 2009 12:45 pm

I am temporarily leaving my foggy/quiet state of mind to tell you that there has been a surveillance camera permanently installed my office’s break room.

To find out who is stealing people’s lunches.

I am serious.

Does anyone else find this hilarious?

Surprisingly, I have not yet been a victim. No one seems interested in my veggie sticks, hummus, and vegan hot dogs!

Comments Off on Why it’s quiet here

By kilax, August 6, 2009 12:35 pm

I’ve been feeling so overwhelmed with work/life lately that I haven’t been talking about it. I don’t feel like it helps, and I don’t feel like talking. Instead I’ve just been shutting down.

I keep hoping that the next new week will be the one that allows me to relax and recharge, but it never is.

You would think that now, with my bad shin keeping me from running, I would feel relaxed, but I just feel frustrated. I am in so much pain when I walk, especially when I go up and down stairs, that I just want to give up.

So, I am sharing this just to explain where I am right now – in a pretty frustrated state of mind. So I’ve been keeping it quiet. Don’t worry about me… just don’t expect to hear much from me… winky winky smiley face.

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By kilax, August 3, 2009 12:46 pm

I’ve had a myriad of customer service issues over the last year (and currently) that I haven’t mentioned here. Any extra time thinking about it makes me feel even more infuriated, so I try to avoid it.

But this weekend, Steven and I were sharing customer service horror stories with my mom, and it got us all thinking – what is the deal with people NOT returning business-related phone calls? Ever?

I don’t get it. I leave a message with my info, you call me back in about a day. It’s that simple. It’s a business relationship, and that is what I expect. Unless your message said you are out, and left another person to contact, I expect to be called back.

So why am I not? How do people get away with NEVER returning business phone calls? Why do I have to call back, again and again and again?

It makes me even more upset, when I am just trying to be an easy-going customer to begin with. It makes me more likely to turn into a difficult customer, and I don’t want to be THAT customer.

What has happened to good customer service? Maybe someone has a good customer service story to cheer me up? Or maybe you’ll just join in my rant!

Comments (17)

By kilax, August 2, 2009 10:17 pm

Welcome to week 7 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 43 | Monday, July 27: Cross-train for 40 minutes

Why did biking 4 miles take me forty minutes? I can run faster than that! I must have had the resistance set very high, because I really worked up a sweat and felt sore afterward!

Bike Time: 39:34 mins | Distance: 4.0 miles

Day 44 | Tuesday, July 28: Run 4 miles/Run 7 miles

4 miles at the office gym during lunch… 7 miles at the park in the evening.

My body DID NOT like that.

I tried to save some time later in the week by combining my Tuesday and Wednesday runs. The first one wasn’t so bad – my left shin just hurt. I iced it after.

The second run was just bad. My legs felt like garbage. Bugs were sticking to me like crazy. The park smelled. My bra was digging into my back*. My hydration belt was digging into my side. My left side itched so I pulled my earphone cord out of my shirt and all it did from then on was get caught in my elbow.

I was so angry.

The good news is, Steven ran 3.2 miles of the second run with me, after doing P90x Ploymetrics. That’s awesome. Oh, and I didn’t have to poo during my run. Woo hoo!

Distance: 4.00 | Time: 37:31 | 1: 9:31 | 2: 9:23 | 3: 9:23 | 4: 9:14
Distance: 7.00 | Time: 1:07:16 | 1: 9:45 | 2: 9:45 | 3: 9:37 | 4: 9:46 | 5: 9:30 | 6: 9:27 | 7: 9:20 | 8: 00:02
*I think I have discovered which bra is giving me issues, so that is good.

Day 45 | Wednesday, July 29: Run 4 Miles

My shin was so sore on Wednesday, I was limping all over the place and people kept asking me what was wrong. The only time the pain felt better is when I was moving “fast” – speed walking or running slowly.

I ran these 4 miles with my neighbor, Fritz, and his daughter, Maya, who was in the stroller. We took it nice and slow. At one point, Maya said, “Move Daddy, move!” Ha ha. He said, “We are, honey!” Ha ha. It was nice to run with Fritz. He distracted me from the pain in my shin, and offered to give me a massage later if I need it (he and his wife are licensed massage therapists).

So… I think I am chafing on my back and under my armpit. I have some nasty sore spots. Time to start using the Body Glide!

Wonderful chafing by my armpit. Hurts more than it looks!

Distance: 4.00 | Time: 41:36 | 1: 10:16 | 2: 10:28 | 3: 10:30 | 4: 10:19 | 5: 00:01

Day 46 | Thursday, July 30: Rest

Day 47 | Friday, July 31: Rest

Day 48 | Saturday, August 1: Run 7 miles at marathon pace

My dad rode his bike with me while I ran these 7 miles. I lubed up with the Body Glide before hand, so I didn’t have any chafing issues. Woo-hoo! And, my shin didn’t hurt too much (I still iced it after, just in case)! I think the two days of rest helped.

But, I was pretty slow for a “race pace” run. I averaged under 9:10 a mile. I think I should adjust my race pace to about 9:15 miles. When I was running with my dad, I told him the only way I would be able to keep up a 9-minute mile during the marathon would be if I lost about 15 pounds. We’ll see about that! Ha ha!

It was fun to run with my dad. I don’t see him often, and rarely get him all to myself, so it was a nice hour for me to blab.

Check out the new running outfit my parents got me for my birthday! Isn’t it cute? I haven’t worn it running yet, but I love it. It’s from Kohl’s. I am surprised how nice of running outfits they have.

A new running outfit from my parents!

Distance: 7.00 | Time: 1:04:00 | 1: 9:06 | 2: 9:01 | 3: 8:57 | 4: 9:00 | 5: 9:10 | 6: 9:19 | 7: 9:22 | 8: 00:02

Day 49 | Sunday, August 2: Run 14 miles

My longest run ever (both distance and time-wise) but also my slowest MOST PAINFUL run ever.

The shin pain came back with a vengeance, almost as soon as I stopped running Saturday. It usually only hurts when I am moving, but it actually hurt while I was sleeping Saturday night. Of course, I still got up to run in the morning anyway…

My dad came along on his bike again. I am not sure if he knew what a long, slow bike ride he was in for!

We ran from my parent’s cabin to the downtown area and back. It was such a slow, hot, long, painful run. I stopped 4 or 5 times to go to the bathroom and get water. Every time I took off after running I limped for quite a bit. I really expected the limping to go away, but it took a long time.

We ran along the Mississippi River.

We ran by the Lock & Dam No. 10.

My dad carried all of my junk for me in the child carrier on his back. I wish he could ride with me along the marathon like that. It was really convenient. For me.

I look like I am running faster than I really am. I felt like I was walking, more than running, during this 14-miler.

Every muscle in my body felt sore when I was done. I hurt just taking my clothes off to take a shower.

Thanks for sticking with me, daddy. I love you!

So many things were wrong with this run. I was up too late. I woke up too late. I ate crap all weekend. It was too hot. I was dehydrated. My shin hurt. I just WAS NOT prepared. As a result – major run FAIL. I am sad about this run.

Distance: 14.00 | Time: 2:33:48 | 1: 9:58 | 2: 10:15 | 3: 10:58 | 4: 11:03 | 5: 10:35 | 6: 11:04 | 7: 10:58 | 8: 10:49 | 9: 10:52 | 10: 11:06 | 11: 11:21 | 12: 11:42 | 13: 11:57 | 14: 11:03 | 15: 00:01 

Week Summary: 36 Miles

This week was… hard. My body (shin) is in a huge amount of pain. I may have to cut back to running 4 or 3 days a week, and slower, until it gets better. I plan on buying/ordering new shoes right away, but I don’t know how much that will help. I am not sure what to do.

I’m feeling really bummed about my pain and my slow running.