Comments (45)

By kilax, April 30, 2010 5:53 am

Do you collect anything? If so, what is it, how long have you been collecting it, and how did you get started collecting it? If not, have you ever thought about collecting anything? For either answer, is there anything you wish you collected?

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that sitting in my parent’s home, I have a massive collection of Barbie Dolls (still in the box), Star Wars Toys (some still in the box, but all from the 1997 and later re-release), and books. I am talking boxes upon boxes (the books are on shelves). These were just the toys that I loved from my childhood (Barbies) and teenage years (Star Wars) and most were gifts. Of course, I still do get random Star Wars things as gifts from time to time now. And do collect the Star Wars Hallmark Ornaments.

In my own home, I just seem to have amassed a collection of books and running shoes. I have really cut back on buying books though, and much of anything, in general. We just don’t have a lot of space! Or, a lot of money. Ha ha. I’m sure if I thought about it though, I could come up with a few things we have a “collection” of: DVDs, random parts for the Datsun* with more on the way, t-shirts from races…

You can kind of see our bookshelves in this picture of  our “loft”/office (from this post). I cut back  on buying books we only had a few empty shelves left – and when I realized I never reread them! I need to update this picture, now that I have a real chair for my desk!

In the future though, when I am a super billionaire, I would love to collect cars. The real, life-size ones, with running engines, that you can drive. Maybe I could have something like this sweet showroom we visited in Módena, Italy. Or maybe something like this from the Ferrari showroom in Maranello, Italy.

*I kid, I kid! They are mostly gone now anyway!

Comments (68)

By kilax, April 28, 2010 6:47 am

1. I’ve had a slight pain in my right shin since Sunday. It’s bad enough that I skipped my run last night (rode my bike behind Steven while he ran) and am planning on taking a few days off from any physical activity. Yes, and am hoping it feels well enough to run 13.1 miles on Saturday.

I wonder what I need to do differently. I only run three days a week. I run slow. I have two pairs of shoes I alternate between. Am I too heavy? Am I not stretching enough? Ugh. What is it? This morning, Steven said maybe my shin hurts because I land on the ball of my feet when I run (he thinks I am a front-foot striker – I think I am more of a mid-foot striker). Who knows.

Dear Shin Entire Body,

Maybe you haven’t been reading my blog (that’s understandable), but if you look over on the right sidebar, you will see I have a few races planned in the upcoming months. Specifically, a half marathon on the 1st, an 8K walk on the 8th, a 10K on the 23rd, and another half marathon on June 13th. Please cooperate with me – I really love to run.

Thanks,

Kim

2. I have a little running issue. Maybe you can pick up on it from the photo below (of me and puppet-man* at the Wisconsin Half Marathon last year):



The issue is in the chest region… the issue is, I nip out like CRAZY when I am running. Hot or cold. Day or night. Ha. This could get really vulgar soon so I will stop.

Any tips? For my last 5K, I wore two bras AND put kleenex in my bra AND wore two layers… yeah, I don’t want to do that again. I intend to wear ONE bra and ONE shirt.

And it’s not that the nipping out bothers ME, I just think it might be offensive to other people… and it really looks bad in photos!

Any pre-race advice for me on these two concerns? Anyone else annoyed that their body is falling apart?

I know I will get a lot of yes answers on that last question, at least! Quite a few of my blogger friends have injuries right now.

*I’m sorry I am re-posting this picture, Steven. It’s just the best example of the nippage. You will look much better at the end of the race this year!

Comments (30)

By kilax, April 27, 2010 5:17 am

Do you ever start to tell someone something, but then wonder if you already told them?

Of course, if you are a blogger, you may run in to a similar issue, where you start to tell someone something, but then wonder if they already read it. I picked up on this on Sunday, while I was talking to my grandma. She didn’t tell me she was reading, but it was obvious, because she already knew about half of the stuff I told her (and it wasn’t from talking to my parents).

The interesting thing is, there is so much we don’t write about on our blogs. Or, that I don’t write about, anyway! Did I tell you Steven did some autocross racing with Erin‘s husband, Jason on Sunday? Nah. Did I tell you Steven’s parents are coming to see our half marathon this weekend? Nope. Have I talked about how nervous I feel about being someone’s coach at work? Nah. There is a lot we leave out, so… it is important not to judge someone by a single glimpse into their life.

Oops. Where did THAT come from? I actually wanted to write about this blurb I read in the May issue of SELF yesterday. I do have the “I can’t remember if I told you or not” problem. Sure, I think blogging messes with it a little bit, but I really think it is the HUGE amount of emails I write, confusing my brain about what was shared via the written word and what was shared in person. Anyway, the SELF blurb said:

Ever start a story, only to hear, “You mentioned that already!”? There’s a reason it’s hard to remember whom you’ve told what: the self-focus required to relay an anecdote disrupts memory processes that usually link the story and the listener in your head, Psychological Science finds. Keep your audience straight by saying a pal’s name as you speak.

Okay, so that explains what is going on when you are telling an anecdote, but what about the rest of the time? Is this just one of those signs that I am turning in to an old lady? Or is it a sign that I am too connected in too many different ways… and my mind is confused?

Comments (50)

By kilax, April 26, 2010 5:06 am

Have you heard of CSN stores? I’ve actually seen them advertised on many blogs and looked at their sites a lot! They sell a huge variety of things – speaker stands, stability balls, home decor… the list could go on and on!

My favorite site of theirs however, is cookware.com. I like to browse and imagine what I would buy if I had a HUGE kitchen (and a lot of money)!

Maybe YOU have room in your kitchen for the Calphalon Contemporary Nonstick 10″ and 12″ Combo Set?

CSN contacted me about giving something away, and I thought these pans would be perfect! Calphalon is great for cooking in – especially since these are NON-STICK. And I don’t know about you, but we cook in a pan almost every night, so it helps to have more than one!

Thank you for offering this giveaway, CSN!

Giveaway Rules:

1. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment telling me what you would cook in these pans.
2. To get an extra entry, link to the giveaway in your blog, and leave me another comment linking to your post.
3. This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM CST on Sunday, May 2nd. I will probably use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Monday, May 3rd.
4. This giveaway is open to US readers.

Comments (25)

By kilax, April 25, 2010 6:37 am

My next race is the Wisconsin Half Marathon on May 1.

Day 183 | April 19, 2010: strength

Even though I felt great during my 12-mile run the day before, my legs were a bit sore the day afterward! So I stuck to a really basic arm workout. I hadn’t been in the office gym since the previous Tuesday, and was surprised to see all new carpet and the machines all rearranged! It took me awhile to find what I was looking for!

Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 65 lb
Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @ 50 lb
Lateral Raise: 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 37.5 lb
Shoulder Press: 2 x 15 @ 20 lb
Lat Pulldown: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Arm Curl: 2 x 15 @ 25 lb
Rope Pushdowns: 2 x 15 @ 30 lb

Day 184 | April 20, 2010: 6 m interval run

Steven and I ran 6 x 800s in the park near our house (which is conveniently an oval shape, and 1/2-mile around). It felt like it had been a while since we did intervals, but they went really well. We started with a 1-mile warm-up, then did the 800s around 4:45 with 400 recoveries and a 1/2-mile cool-down. Something tells me I could be running a bit faster. BUT, I would rather stay injury-free right now!

I wore these cute socks that I won in Kalli‘s giveaway!

Distance: 6.0 | Time: 59:43 | 800s @ 4:45, 4:47, 4:50, 4:39, 4:44, 4:38

Day 185 | April 21, 2010: cross

I snuck down to the gym and did a quick (recumbent) bike workout during my lunch break. I tried to take it easy, since my legs were still feeling sore from the long run the Sunday before.

Bike Time: 30:00 | Distance: 4.40 (Resistant set on 5.0)

Day 186 | April 22, 2010: 6 m tempo run (2 + 4)

What a great run. I told Steven I felt like I could have gone about four more miles! He noted that he’s been enjoying the speed workouts. He feels like doing intervals and tempo runs is a better way to work on speed that just trying to go all out, which is what we did last year. He thinks it is a lot easier on the body. I have to agree!

We did a 6-mile tempo run at the Nippersink Forest Preserve (it’s only 2 miles from our house!). We ran a 2-mile warm-up, 2 miles at tempo and a 2-mile cool-down. I ran with my new hydration belt – the Amphipod RunLite 4.

I bought this one because it holds four bottles and is adjustable. AND you can take the water bottles off to hold as many as you want. I really liked it on the first run! I ran with two bottles and they didn’t leak and the belt didn’t bounce! Woo-hoo!

Oops, I thought my shoe was rubbing!

Distance: 6.0 | Time: 1:00:46 | 1: 10:24 | 2: 10:24 | 3: 9:46 | 4: 9:39 | 5: 10:16 | 6: 10:14

Day 187 | April 23, 2010: cross

Steven and I were running some errands on the way to try archery and ended up with what we thought was a lot of free time, so we stopped at the Half Day Forest Preserve to check it out (we probably walked about 1.5 miles0. It has trails, sports and picnic areas and connects with the Des Plaines River Trail that we ran on last Sunday. Of course, when I saw it connected with the Des Plaines River Trail, I immediately started imagining running from forest preserve to forest preserve during long runs this summer. Fun!

Unfortunately, we didn’t have all of the free time that I thought we did. Even though we only had 30 minutes to drive, it ended up taking about an hour and a half, and we were late to meeting Erin and her husband, Jason, to try archery. Boo. I hate being late. But when the max speed on the highway is 15 mph between stopping, what are you supposed to do? I wish I had a hover car that turned into an airplane.

Anyway, we finally met up with Erin and Jason and went to the archery place. They showed us how it is done. Do I look like I know what I am doing in the picture below?

Ha! I don’t! I have discovered yet another sport that I have no natural talent in. I was telling Erin that I am hoping someday to find a sport, or something, that I am naturally talented in… or even, just good at after practice!

I thought archery was a lot of fun though. I can see getting pretty addicted to it, even obsessed with it (remember my bowling obsession of two summers ago?). Have you ever felt like you were addicted to a sport or activity?

It was super nice of Erin and Jason to be patient and show us how to do this. I hope we can go again!

Day 188 | April 24, 2010: 6 m run

Our training schedule called for 5-6 miles “easy” but I think I took us on more of a “half marathon pace” than easy. Oh well. It’s good practice, right? And, I am consistent! Check out my first four miles below (before the “finish strong” speed-up).

We went to the Sun Lake Forest Preserve to check it out. It has a 2.5 mile loop. It is really open, with hardly any shaded spots. It was okay for an overcast day like it was, but we were sweating because it was so humid! I cannot imagine what it would be like in the open sun.

So, are you guys getting sick of seeing all the pics of the forest preserves around our house?! I hope not, because here are some more…

Before the run

Our running partners!

After the run – we both removed a layer

Distance: 6.0 | Time: 1:00:48 | 1: 10:14 | 2: 10:13 | 3: 10:13 | 4: 10:14 | 5: 10:02 | 6: 9:47

Day 189 | April 25, 2010: rest

I am pretty sure this will end up being a rest day, but I can update it later if I need to!

Week Summary: 18.00 miles

This was a great week of runs. I feel ready for the half marathon next Saturday!

Notice that I didn’t do any two-a-days this week? And that I cut back quite a bit? Yeah… I think I am overdoing it and getting NOWHERE. And I am pretty sure my metabolism is all confused. I have no idea how much to eat anymore and am completely out of touch with what my body wants. So, I am going to stick to running and try to fit in cross/strength/yoga when I can, but not really beat myself up if I don’t. And HOPE that I can get to some sort of balance point with my eating.

This is kind of funny, but I was bored last night and googled my maiden name. I found some middle school track race I did in 1999 and DO NOT remember AT ALL. Apparently I ran an 800 in 3:10.26. Yeah, it isn’t amazing but I wonder if I could do that now.

Kind of funny though, I have been running on and off for at least 10 years.

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By kilax, April 24, 2010 12:09 pm

I finally got a haircut yesterday. Since my mom helped fund the haircut, I had Steven take a picture of me with his iPhone so I could send her a pic.

“Are you sure you want to take the picture in front of Lowe’s?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “Why not?!”

Here is what my mom said:

Oh, you look beautiful, like a movie star. I didn’t know Lowe’s cuts hair. Ha Ha, just kidding. You’re welcome, Love momba lamba.

I thought it was too funny that she said something about Lowe’s!

I went the whole “maybe if I cut it short I will take care of it and make an effort in the morning” route. I hope I do! I am so sick of being zombie-woman at work. I am sick of hearing
“you look so tired” and “are you okay?”

Do you communicate with your parents/family via email?

I don’t send long emails to my parents (I prefer to call my mom), but we do communicate back and forth. Steven and I have a lot of fun taking pictures of random stuff on his iPhone to send to my mom. Last week we found her doppelganger, so of course, we had to be sneaky, and take pictures of her to send to my mom.

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By kilax, April 23, 2010 5:11 am

If you could travel in to the future, and see how your life unfolds, but NOT be able to change it, would you want to?* Or would you pass up the opportunity and just live day by day?

You know, I think I wouldn’t want to know what my future unfolds, IF I couldn’t change it. I would hate losing the element of surprise of every day life! I would hate living my life knowing that no matter what I do, I am stuck with a certain destiny. I like to believe I am in some sort of control of my outcome.

Some people really believe in destiny, and that there is a path laid out for them. What do you think? I am a believer that everything happens by chance, and if that something is meant to happen, it happens! I also don’t believe in sole mates. I think there are many compatible fits for many people – it just matters where you are when you are ready to meet that person.

*This question inspired by watching The Time Traveler’s Wife last night.

Comments (49)

By kilax, April 22, 2010 5:36 am

Have you ever been in a situation where two different people are constantly complaining about one another to you?

It can be draining.

I think that in these sorts of situations, the complainer really wants you to agree with them, or even add fuel to the fire and back them up. It’s not like they are complaining about someone you don’t know! They want to see if you can relate and agree.

But I just want to stay neutral (ideally, I want to stay out of it, but that’s not going to happen). I want to stay uninvolved. I just want to stay out of it.

Any tips on how to stay neutral in this situation? Or, what would you do?

When I write vague bullshit like this, I wonder if I will know what I was talking about if I go back and re-read it in a few years.

Comments (51)

By kilax, April 20, 2010 4:51 am

We haven’t tackled the fruit pizza recipe for about a year and a half. It’s a time consuming project, but oh so worth it.

I’ve actually posted the recipe for this in the comments section here, but I thought I would show you the step-by-step!

It’s basically a GIANT sugar cookie, with a creamy base spread on it, topped by your choice of fruit, then covered in glaze. Sounds wonderful, right? Separately, these ingredients don’t sound that spectacular, but once they come together, it’s like an orgasm a wonderful explosion of flavor in your mouth.

The base is made of cream cheese, whipped cream, powdered sugar and vanilla, but as you will see, I made one half of one of these vegan (yes, we made two – but the recipe below is for one pizza) by using pudding for half of the base.

Ingredients:

Your favorite homemade sugar cookie recipe or 1 (18 oz.) pkg. Pillsbury sugar cookie dough
Fruit of your choice (I usually use strawberries, kiwis, pineapple, blueberries and raspberries )

BASE:
4 oz. cool whip
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1/3 c. powdered sugar
1 T. vanilla
To veganize it: skip the cool whip, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Use 2 packages of JELL-O vanilla instant pudding. Only add 1 1/2 c. soy milk total so it is thick.

GLAZE:
½ c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
Pinch of salt
½ c. water
½ c. orange juice
½ c. lemon juice

Directions:

1. Roll cookie dough out until it is about 1/4 thick. Put it on a lightly-greased large pizza pan or cookie sheet. Follow baking instructions (takes a bit longer since it is so big); cool.



We made one pizza in a pizza tin and the other on a sheet, so the second one had to be trimmed. Don’t bother trying to get the shape right when it goes into the oven – make it a bit big then trim it. Who knows, you might end up with a big cookie smile.



2. Cut up fruit while the cookie is baking (warning: cutting up the fruit takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!!).



For two pizzas, we used 2/3 of a pineapple, 3 kiwis, half a bag each of blueberries and raspberries, and bits of 3 boxes of strawberries (there were leftovers – we’re picky about which pieces we use). I recommend fresh fruit, but I did have to buy some frozen this time.



3. Blend cream cheese, cool whip, powdered sugar and vanilla, and spread over crust. OR, make pudding mix and spread over crust.



Non-vegan base



Vegan base



4. Place fruit on base mixture.

Here’s a little animation for you!





5. For the glaze, mix dry ingredients together, gradually add water and juices, heat over medium heat to boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Cool and pour over pizza. Cool pizza in the fridge a bit (if you can wait!) then serve.

Be careful not to “brush” the glaze on, because it smears the colors of the fruit together!

Data wants to help. Sorry Data. You don’t have a hairnet on.

Like I said, very time-consuming*, but worth it for a great treat!

Does this sound good to you? What fruit would you put on it?

*It took Steven and me about 3 hours to make two of these. But I enjoyed it!

Comments (26)

By kilax, April 18, 2010 6:41 pm

My next race is the Wisconsin Half Marathon on May 1.

Day 176 | April 12, 2010: cross

I switched up my cross training by using the recumbent bike instead of the upright one. I think I actually got sweatier (because my back was against the seat?) and felt more tired in my legs.

Which type of bike do you prefer – upright or recumbent (or other)?

Bike Time: 45:00 | Distance: 7.34 (Set on “Ozark Trail”)

Day 177 | April 13, 2010: strength + cross

I’ve been feeling really blah about strength lately. I just haven’t felt like doing it! I think it is the whole gym scene. Maybe I should see if feel more in to it at home.

Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb
Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Lateral Raise: 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 37.5 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @40 lb, 20 @15 lb
Seated Leg Press: 2 x 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb
Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb
Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 70 lb
Shin Developer: 3 x 20 @ 10 lb

Steven had a sore foot on Tuesday, so we decided to do some low-impact cross training – aka our first bike ride of the season!

We packed up the car and headed over to Singing Hills Forest Preserve (which is very close to our home).

A local trail – the Millennium Trail – runs through the forest preserve, and will eventually come through our neighborhood! I can’t wait to just be able to hop on the trail. Right now, it comes to an abrupt end.

It was a chilly and bumpy ride. Most of the trail is crushed granite/limestone/who knows what and there were tons of horse hoof prints that had become huge bumps in the ground. I still enjoyed getting out on a real bike though.

Well, not that my bike is a fancy street bike or anything. This is just some random bike my dad found for me!

Speaking of my dad – hey, WHEN are you putting the bike rack on my car?! I am tired of shoving the bikes into the back of the Kimbot.

Bike Time: 35:34 | Distance: 4.75

Day 178 | April 14, 2010: 4 m run

Four words for four miles: hot, hilly, hard, and annoying.

Hot and hilly are self-explanatory. Hard is for the lunch I felt like I was going to throw up, and annoying for all the bugs in the air (one of the downfalls of running at dusk).

We ran on the Millennium trail again. I hope those huge bumps in the trail get smoothed out somehow!

Distance: 4.0 | Time: 40:28 | 1: 10:27 | 2: 10:09 | 3: 10:03 | 4: 9:44

Day 179 | April 15, 2010: rest

Day 180 | April 16, 2010: 5 m run

Steven and I ran 5 miles in the Grant Woods Forest Preserve. It was a really hard run for me. My legs felt like bricks in the beginning. My right calf was sore, the inside of my left knee hurt, I felt like I couldn’t breathe… blah blah blah, it was not my day! And to make it “worse,” we discovered most of this trail is hills.

Here’s the elevation map… I zoomed in so it would look really dramatic!

But, my legs warmed up at about three miles (finally) and we took a new part of the trail that took us threw a lovely area with tall skinny trees. It was beautiful.

Distance: 5.0 | Time: 52:14 | 1: 10:36 | 2: 10:30 | 3: 10:34 | 4: 10:20 | 5: 10:10

Day 181 | April 17, 2010: rest

Day 182 | April 18, 2010: 12 m run

For our last long run before the half marathon, we ran on the Des Plaines River Trail, starting at the Independence Grove Forest Preserve. We ran 3 miles south and back, then 3 miles north and back. It was my first time running on the Des Plaines River Trail and the changing scenery made the run fly by. A lot of the trail was wooded, but there were some open parts too. I can’t wait to go back and explore more.

We started running at 8:00 am, sort of to “practice” getting up early for the half marathon (which starts at 7:00). I felt great during the run (after my legs warmed up) but Steven had issues digesting his breakfast, then with being dehydrated. So now we know to wake up earlier to eat on race day, and to bring more water. Despite stopping to walk a bit about every 3 miles, we were still pretty close to goal pace (average 10:48, will go for 10:00-10:30 on race day). And it was about 40° when we started and in the high 40s when we ended. That would be great race day weather.

There was a half marathon running on the north side of the trail when we got there for the second half of our run. It was funny to see all the racers go by and not be racing with them for once! The people at the race water station offered us water, and I asked if it was okay if we took some even though we weren’t running. They were very nice and said yes. Okay, I was a little dehydrated too… ugh, it is because I don’t have a frickin’ hydration belt that fits me. I bought one too small because I was anxious to have one and they didn’t have my size. Lesson learned.

My during-run fuel

My post-run fuel (shared the pb with Steven)

Distance: 12.0 | Time: 2:09:46 | 1: 10:35 | 2: 10:15 | 3: 10:31 | 4: 12:00 | 5: 10:31 | 6: 10:25 | 7: 11:41 | 8: 10:32 | 9: 10:31 | 10: 11:15 | 11: 11:03 | 12: 10:21

Week Summary: 21.00 miles

I kind of had an off-week, exercise-wise. I definitely was not feeling strength or yoga, and my first two runs were awful (mostly from eating too much, I am sure). I hope this week is better – although with being in training at work Mon-Wed, things could get hectic. We’ll just have to see!

If you’ve been reading this, you know I have been whining about my heel for quite some time now. I have been icing it, rolling it, blah blah blah… nothing. On Monday this week, I remembered I had these heel pads that the doctor gave me last year. I put them in my work shoes on Monday, and did not wake up with heel-pain Tues-Fri… then did on Saturday and Sunday, days after I didn’t have the heel pads in. Hmm.