Comments (23)

By kilax, August 18, 2010 12:33 pm

Last year, after the vet showed us how awful Data’s teeth were, we shelled out the big bucks to get them cleaned. He came home with wonderful breath (although he was a bit loopy from the anesthesia) and we immediately bought a little cat toothbrush and toothpaste kit, promising ourselves we would keep his teeth clean.

Ha. Ha ha.

It’s over a year later now, and we are both noticing how awful Data’s breath is. You don’t want to sit within a five foot radius of him, in case he yawns (the same could be said about me and my stinky feet*). So we busted out the teeth cleaning kit for the first time this Sunday, after we had already tortured him by clipping his nails.

Data looks very enthusiastic, doesn’t he?

Steven started by holding him and attempting to use the brush. When that didn’t work, he resorted to using the finger brush and pinning Data on the floor.

I gave Data a big kiss this morning and his breath seemed better! Maybe it’s all in my head though.

What do you do to keep your pet’s teeth clean? Does your pet require any other special treatment?

*But maybe the radius should be extended to 10 feet? What do you think, Steven?

Comments (22)

By kilax, August 17, 2010 12:17 pm

CSN Stores has been really good to me – offering me a few giveaway and review opportunities! I almost always take them up on the offer because they have so much in their stores to choose from (dining room sets, workout equipment, and even pet supplies*). I have to let you in on a little secret though – I let Steven pick out the review items! He knows what we need around the house, and is really good at finding things online. So, should I be surprised that the last time I sent him an email telling him to pick a few things out within a certain price range, that he came back with a list of 12 product ideas, some with options? He was surprised to see that CSN sells equipment racks (we could use these for our AV shelves), rolling metal tool shelves (is this a birthday gift hint, Steven?) and extension cords (apparently, there is a lot to know about them).

Hmm. We’ll have to wait on a few of those items!

Of course, we decided to review a few more things that we need in the kitchen – the Pyrex Smart 6 Piece Mixing Bowl Set (for more bread making activities):

the Pyrex Four-Cup Measuring Cup with Plastic Lid (we only have one-cup measuring cups):

and a candy thermometer.

And I have my eyes on this waffle maker. I have another CSN review I can do, so maybe I will pick that!

I know we will love these items, especially the first two, since I already am a devoted Pyrex user.

Do you think you could use one of the items listed above? I would like to give one reader an item of their choice (from the three above) as well!

Giveaway Rules:

1. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment telling me which item you would prefer to have (the bowls, measuring cup or candy thermometer) and how you will use it.
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 Thursday, August 19. I will use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Friday, August 20th.
4. This giveaway is open to all readers.

*Sorry Data, maybe next time!

Comments (22)

By kilax, August 16, 2010 5:32 pm

I found an article on the Well blog today that really hit close to home – When Repeat Injuries Can’t Dim an Athlete’s Passion. The article tries to answer the question so many of my friends and family are wondering  – why do runners keep running when they repeatedly get injured?

We met up with friends this weekend, and after telling someone about my three stress fractures, they respectfully said, “I think your body is telling you it doesn’t want to run.” And I honestly disagreed. What they said to me doesn’t compute in my head.

Yeah, I am crazy.

The article was short and interesting. Here are their hypotheses about why athletes will not give up their sport of choice when they get injured:

1. They have a psychological problem. The athlete is compulsive, let’s their ego get in the way, and persists beyond all reason.
2. They don’t want to give up their social life. The athlete’s friends participate in the same sport and that sport has become part of their identity.
3. They don’t want to give up the pleasure of the sport. The sport produces a pleasurable experience at both the psychological and physiological level that makes it difficult to transition in to another sport.
4. They don’t want to give up winning. The athlete does really well in their event, often winning trophies/placing, and they don’t want to give that up.

I can relate to the first three of those, and I’d like to add another reason it’s hard to give up a sport – you rely on it to keep your body at a consistent weight! My weight goes way up when I stop running because I eat like I still am.

Have you ever suffered from injury that made you sit out on your favorite sport? Did you not want to give up and relate to any of the reasons above? Or did you move on to something else?

As fun as I think biking is, I am not sure if I could ever love it as much as I do running.  Even with my new pimp bike.

Okay, maybe I could. Maybe.

Comments (17)

By kilax, August 15, 2010 5:14 pm

My next race is the Chicago Half Marathon on September 12. I am also training for the Chicago Marathon on October 10.

Funny running moment of the week: On Saturday, Erin and I saw a guy running in the NUDE (shoes only) on a forest preserve trail. With a lot of people on the trail. He came toward us and I saw he was holding a shirt or something by his crotch so I turned around when he passed, and sure enough – BARE butt. Ha! I wish I would have taken a picture. My mom told me I should ask Steven to reenact, but I didn’t even bother.

So… why was he running in the nude, is what I wonder. That’s how he likes to run? Something wrong with his pants? (My mom thought maybe he pooped them – ha!). Have you even seen anyone running in the nude?

Day 295 | August 9, 2010: strength + stretch

You guys aren’t going to believe it – I actually hauled my a$$ down to the office gym during lunch to do some strength and stretching moves. I was surprised I even remembered my locker combination!

Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb
Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb
Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb
Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @ 50 lb
Shoulder Press: 3 x 15 @ 20 lb
Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Arm Curl: 3 x 15 @ 25 lb
Pectoral Fly: 2 x 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb, 15 @ 130 lb

I think the MP3 player helped. Otherwise I would have been bored, bored, bored!

Day 296 | August 10, 2010: 5 m interval run – 2 x (4 x 400)

Tuesday marked two months until the Chicago Marathon and my first week back at the FIRST training plan. Back to speed work!

The schedule called for 2 sets of 4 x 400s, with warm-up, recovery intervals, and a cool-down. The recommend pace was 10K pace minus 45 seconds… yeah, we have not run a 10K in a long time and had no idea what our pace should be! So we decided to aim for a 8:45 overall pace.

And we mostly hit it! Of course, Jack (the Garmin) was being funky, so a lot of these times are for more than 400m (those marked with an asterisk*), but you get the idea.

We did walk a lot of the recovery intervals. It was just too freaking hot (upper 80s) and brutally sunny. You’ll have that.

I wore my Adrenaline 10s sans inserts to see how my legs felt. So far, so good.

So sweaty!

After the torture run, we attended the last free Tuesday night summer concert at Independence Grove. I was so sweaty I could feel sweat dripping down my butt. Steven did not think it was appropriate that I said that in public (in front of a young kid – I don’t think the kid heard me!).

Distance: 5.0 | Time: 52:14 | Avg Pace: 10:27

Day 297 | August 11, 2010: strength + stretch

Whoa. I actually made it down to the gym twice this week for strength. That’s impressive for me (especially since my chest and upper abs were KILLING me from Monday’s workout!).

Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb
Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb, 15 @ 130 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb
Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb
Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Lateral Raise: 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 37.5 lb
Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @ 50 lb
Shoulder Press: 3 x 15 @ 20 lb
Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb

Day 298 | August 12, 2010: 8 m run

Awesome run?

Well, it went really well until mile 3 when I drank some powerade and it made my stomach hurt. Then I kind of hit the wall at 6.75. Ugh.

I ran the first 5 miles with Steven riding the bike behind me. I walked a minute at mile 3 and ate some jelly beans. Then we stopped at the house at mile 5 so Steven could get off his bike and run the last 3 miles with me.

It surely went a lot better than I thought it would, considering the heat (and we started around 7:00, when it was starting to cool down), but I am disappointed that drinking powerade during the run bothered my stomach so much.

Distance: 8.0 | Time: 1:22:23 | Avg Pace: 10:17 | 1: 10:28 | 2: 10:06 | 3: 9:46 | 4: 10:17 | 5: 10:15 | 6: 10:30 | 7: 10:33 | 8: 10:22

Day 299 | August 13, 2010: rest

Day 300 | August 14, 2010: 12 m run + cross

I am trying to keep track of my walk breaks and how I am feeling, so I apologize for all the boring details!

Erin and I ran together at Busse Woods Forest Preserve. Neither of us had been there before, but we had been thinking about doing the supported 20-mile run there. The park is pretty! Lots of trees. Lots of trees = lots of shade = me likey.

Sorry for the blurry pic!

When I left my home in the morning, I was feeling pretty good about this run. I even saw a rainbow and figured that was a good sign!

We started off and I felt great. Maybe a little too great, because we took off and ran the first three miles around 10:00, which, unfortunately, is NOT my long run pace. I think I was just having so much fun talking to Erin that I was not paying attention to my feet. Oops.

We walked a minute at mile 3. I started to feel pretty blah and somewhat out of it around the 5 mile mark, so we walked two minutes at 6 miles, and I ate some pretzels and drank some water.

We kept going, and I was feeling sort of good. At the turnaround point, I asked some nice TnT people if I could fill up one of my water bottles with their water cooler. I brought three 8-ounce bottles for the run, and I had used all but one. The TnT people were super nice and told me to go for it. We kept running, and walked a minute at 9 and I still had a water left. But I ran out by mile 10, and when we passed a pump we stopped to try to fill – no luck. So… we walked for two minutes, in the hot sun, which had just appeared (it was supposed to rain, and never did, but we were enjoying that it was cloudy – but not enjoying the temps in the 80s!). Then I tried to keep running and had to walk another two minutes during mile 11. And I had to steal water from Erin.

Stupid sun!

Ugh. I was beat. My body felt mostly okay (jello quads by mile 10, heavy legs) but the heat was really getting to me. I felt so thirsty again. And I felt bad, because Erin was doing great and my pace was all over and I don’t think I was really talking coherently. She’s nice to stick with me!

When you get worn out at the end of a long run, do you start to get kind of… delirious and out of it? I sure do.

I finally got to the car and ended the 12 miles and got my bike to ride with Erin on her last 4. The sun was still out, and I felt crappy even on the bike! Jeez, what was that about?

But we did pass the nude guy that I mentioned above, and I found that humorous.

Erin finished really great for being in the awful sun and we sat in the shade for awhile. I drank two powerades and ate some grapes. I finally felt better after we had sat for awhile.

Erin recommended drinking something with electrolytes the day before a run. What do you guys do to stay hydrated? I drink about 120 ounces of water a day, if not more. Shouldn’t that be enough?

Ha ha. During our run, I said “I am not sure how I can run 26 miles if I cannot run 12 well.” But Erin had felt the same way a few weeks ago then had a great run at a longer distance. So… blaming it on the weather.

And I still had a lot of fun running and talking to Erin! What a treat!

(Can you tell I wrote this after the run – I think a bit of the incoherent-ness is in this post!)

(Oh yeah, during our run, we were talking about blisters that you get on the top/end of your long toe. We both had old ones during the run. At one point, I told Erin I could really feel my blister. See below. No wonder I felt that!)

Distance: 12.0 | Time: 2:09:00 | Avg Pace: 10:45 | 1: 10:24 | 2: 10:04 | 3: 9:53 | 4: 10:30 | 5: 10:11 | 6: 10:30 | 7: 11:14 | 8: 10:31 | 9: 10:36 | 10: 11:01 | 11: 11:52 | 12: 12:10
Bike Time: 57:47 | Distance: 4.00 | Average Speed: 4.1 mph

Day 301 | August 15, 2010: cross + yoga

Steven and I rode our bikes 11 miles at the Moraine Hills State Park, then had a little picnic lunch.

We haven’t been to this state park since November! But it’s really close to our house (just over 10 miles!) and really beautiful. Just a bit on the hilly side though. My quads were burning. I am pretty certain I will not be running there anytime soon!

And some of the hills were actually kind of scary to ride down. But scary in a fun way.

That’s me shaking my fist at the “Hill” sign.

We went to a BBQ at Steven’s friend’s house on Saturday and they sent us home with leftover homemade seitan, so Steven used it to make some yummy sandwiches for our picnic. Kind of makes me* want to make seitan again.

After we got home (and walked Data and sat on our porch for a bit) I did the YogaWorks Beginners AM/PM DVD to try to stretch out my tight legs.

*I should say us – Steven would be the one making it.

Bike Time: 1:00:15 | Distance: 11.00 | Average Speed: 11.0 mph

Week Summary: 25.00 miles

I am actually really pleased with my workouts this week! I felt like I got a good balance of running, strength, cross, and a bit of yoga.

I just wish I could figure out why I’ve been starting to feel so blah during my runs. Is it just an endurance issue? Or am I not fueling properly? Am I not eating enough pre-run? What do you eat the day before a long run?

Comments (13)

By kilax, August 14, 2010 5:56 am

Does anyone else find it funny that the Round Lake police station is on Bacon Road?

Why were we at the police station? That’s where our garden is, remember?

I know, I haven’t written about it in awhile and you wondered if I gave up. Hmm. Not going to answer that.

The last time we were there was July 29th. We went back yesterday, and oops, it’s overgrown again:

Ugh. I told Steven we will have to wait until it rains then pull all the weeds out when the ground is nice and wet.

The same things are still growing – cucumbers and zucchini. The zucchini look like they are reaching their end though.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that our grape tomatoes are growing! (Please ignore the weeds in the photos!)

And some of the other tomatoes are growing too. Yeah, we’re a little late with the tomatoes. I hope they turn red soon.

So, what did we end up with? Lots of cucumbers, two zucchini, onions and a few tomatoes. I’ll be sharing some of those cucumbers at work.

Since this is our first summer gardening, I didn’t know what to expect. To me, it seems like we have had really intense sun and temperatures that dry up the crops, sometimes coupled with really intense storms that wash everything out. If we end up doing this next year, I will be interested in following the weather patterns to see how things are the same/different.

Have you had any extreme weather where you live?

There has been a lot of flooding and unusually high temperatures in the mid-west this summer. It’s very different than last year’s cool and mild summer!

Comments (22)

By kilax, August 13, 2010 9:16 am

Is it totally dorky that I am super excited my sister, Christina, is in NYC and was on the Today Show this morning?

That’s her, holding the “Wake up in the morning feeling like Al Roker” sign – Ke$ha was there, so it’s a spin on her Tik Tok song. You can see her at the 2:30 point in the video below (if you are in reader, you may have to click through to see it):

I have been excited ALL week to watch the Today Show today! I even woke up earlier than my alarm this morning, I was so excited.

Unfortunately, I had to sit through an AWFUL interview with Linday Lohan’s mother (wow – she is f*cked up) to watch for Christina. But it was worth it! I had tears in my eyes when I saw her on screen! Ha. I’m so lame.

Have you ever been to NYC?

I went there in February of 2005 for an architecture trip (pictures here). Christina is there now for an interior design trip! I loved it NYC, and knew she would too! She is having such a great time, I am so excited for her.

I really want to go back to NYC. Especially to visit Gina!

Side note: that vid was available on the Today Show website a few minutes after the performance aired – how cool is that?!

*In the audience!

Comments (25)

By kilax, August 13, 2010 5:34 am

When you were a kid, what did you want to be “when you grew up”? What do you do now? What do you want to be “when you grow up” now (the second time)?

I may have asked this before, but it’s interesting, so I will ask it again!

Yesterday, while Erin and I were walking to the park to each lunch, the Blue Angels flew overhead (they were practicing for the Chicago Air & Water Show this weekend) and made quite some noise… so I had to tell her how I wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid.

I remember even thinking about joining the Air Force! I told Erin though, there is no way that would work for me – I do not like taking orders, ha ha!

So I went to school for architecture. And now I run interior projects for the federal government.

When I grow up again though, I think it would be fun to be a tour guide!

Comments (35)

By kilax, August 12, 2010 6:40 am

Well, let me tell you – if you don’t sweat enough you might never get to see the design on this workout tank:

You can ‘t see it very well (click to see larger) – but in the picture on the right, the words “the competition” have appeared on the woman’s shirt becuase she sweat enough.

I was reading this WSJ article about new clothing design technologies, and I had to laugh when I got to the part about ViewSport athletic wear (they make clothes for men and women). They advertise that “when you workout, the ViewSPORT sweat activated technology reveals a design which is only apparent when your sweat comes in contact with the fabric.”

And a quote from Ben Wood, the Chief Executive:

The whole point is to demonstrate how hard you are working out.

Does more sweat = working out harder?

Some people don’t sweat that much. I know in the winter I am covered in sweat and Steven is still dry, even if we ran the same amount. Of course, it’s completely different in the summer – everyone is covered in sweat, right? Right?!

Either way, it’s an interesting concept. I can see how it would be fun. They mentioned one user’s experience:

Laura Klein, of Pittsford, N.Y., wears a shirt and tank top from ViewSPORT to her spinning classes. “It keeps you motivated,” she says. “You want to see the design.” Other gym members have asked her where she got the shirt, she says. In one Pilates class, “they made me kind of stand and model the shirt,” she says.

Ha ha.

I would definitely be one of those people who had the design show up right away. I am a sweaty girl (when working out… and sometimes when not working out). Good thing I love to sweat!*

How much do you sweat? Would you wear these shirts?

*Too bad I cannot figure out how to make my workout clothes NOT smell like A$$. Any tips?!?!

Comments (23)

By kilax, August 11, 2010 5:07 am

Even though the official end of summer is more than a month away, there are a few things that make me feel like summer is ending:

1. My birthday – it’s the last day of July, so all of my life, August 1st has felt like the end of summer and time to dread going back to school (it’s gotten better now that I am working).
2. Cicadas – I don’t know what it is about their song, but it makes me feel like summer is ending.
3. Back to school sales. Everyone talking about going back to school.
4. Shorter days (less daylight) – what happened to it being light out until 9:00?!
5. The end of fun summer events – the free Tuesday night concert series we were attending ended last night (until next summer).

Is there anything that makes YOU feel like summer is ending?

Ha. You know what ISN’T making me feel like summer is ending?! These RIDICULOUSLY hot days.

And believe me, I will ride summer out for as long as I can… it just feels like it is ending.

Here are some pictures from the concert we attended last night. The singers/musicians stand up on this circular platform, and people sit/stand/dance all around them. The group last night was called “Libido Funk Circus.” They played/sung a lot of popular songs – even some Lady Gaga. Ha!

Last night 3500 people attended!

We sit far away since we smell… interesting after running.

Our view – the band is in the very back of the photo.

Steven made yummy sandwiches. And we stayed as long as we could until the mosquitoes ate us up. Aww. I will miss these free concerts. Until next summer!

Comments (14)

By Steven, August 10, 2010 5:23 am

This is Steven’s first guest post!

This is a bread recipe I have been working on for several months. It started as a quest to find the perfect whole wheat bread recipe and turned into a weekly project. I tried a few different recipes, but after a few let-downs I decided to make my own recipe.

When the recipe got pretty close to the final version, I decided to convert it to weights (instead of volume), so I could make it the same every time and eventually share the recipe. So when Kim asked me if I needed anything for the kitchen for her upcoming CSN product review, I said “ooh, ooh get a kitchen scale!” Then I spent a few hours learning about scales and searching through all of the scales on the CSN website. I decided to get the Cuisinart KML-15 digital scale. The main features I was looking for were its 11 lb capacity, its ability to display ounces or grams, and the “tare” feature which lets you weigh ingredients one at a time as you add them to the bowl. Overall the scale is very nice, and I love it, but it does turn off too quickly when I’m not using it. When I turn it back on it resets itself to zero, which is frustrating if I am opening a new bag of flour or I just got distracted while I am in the middle measuring something. I contacted Cuisinart and they said there was nothing I could do to “fix” this. I just have to remember to tap it every once in a while to keep it from turning off!

So here is the recipe. This is a hearty, rich and tasty whole wheat bread that is great for sandwiches, toast, for a slice with butter, or just a just plain slice for a snack:

Honey Flax Wheat Bread
Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

• 11 oz (2 cup) whole wheat flour
• 14 fl oz (1¾ cup) hot water
• 6 fl oz (¾ cup) warm soy milk
• 1 oz (2 tbsp) sugar
• 1/4 oz (2 ¼ tsp or 1 packet) active dry yeast
• 24 oz (4¼ cup) bread flour
• 3/4 oz (1 tbsp) salt
• 1 oz (5 tbsp) milled flax seed
• 3 fl oz (6 tbsp) honey
• 4 fl oz (½ cup) vegetable oil
• 1 tsp wheat bran (or seeds, flax, whatever – just for looks and texture)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix the hot water and whole wheat flour together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 4 or more hours.
2. In a small bowl (when step #1 is done), mix the sugar with the warmed milk and proof the yeast.
3. In a large bowl combine the bread flour, salt, and ground flax.



4. Add the yeast/milk, honey, and oil to the soaked whole wheat and mix until even. Add the bread flour mixture and mix until combined into workable dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 to 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough should be tacky.



5. Place the ball of dough in a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise until doubled in size – 60 to 90 minutes.



6. Prepare 2 loaf pans with a light coating of oil. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half (about 2 lbs each). Shape each half into a loaf and place them into the prepared pans. (This is the video I used to learn how to shape sandwich loaves) Cover the pans loosely with plastic, and set aside to rise again until doubled in size – 60 for 90 minutes.



7. Preheat the oven to 375º.
8. Wet the top of each loaf with a wet paper towel, and sprinkle the wheat bran over the tops of the loaves. Press them in lightly with your dry hand. If you want a split-top loaf, use a sharp knife to slice to top of your loaf lengthwise ¼ – ½ inch deep.



9. Place the loaves in the oven, and bake for approximately 40 minutes until the internal temperature of the loaf is around 190º. Remove the loaves from the oven and let rest for a few minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack.
10. Wait 20 minutes for the loaves to cool, if you can, then slice and enjoy. You can also freeze a loaf and thaw to enjoy later.

Do you have any favorite bread recipes? Have you ever made homemade bread this way (without using a bread maker)?