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By kilax, August 9, 2010 5:00 am

There was an interesting article about sibling relationships in USA Today last week titled “Having a sister can be good for your emotional health.” The information in the article was not earth-shattering, but it did make a few interesting points:

• Affectionate siblings have positive influences on each other no matter their age, gender, or how many years they are apart.
• Loving brothers and sisters promote behaviors such as kindness and generosity. They also protect against delinquency and depression.
• According to the study, having a sister prevents depression more than having a brother. This may be because girls are better at talking about problems or are more likely to take on a caregiver role.
• The study also found that siblings have twice as much influence than parents over performing good deeds — including volunteering, doing favors for others and being nice to people.
• Siblings who fight can have the opposite effect. Brothers and sisters who exhibit hostility toward each other are more likely to portray aggressive behaviors in other relationships.
• Sibling influence is stronger in families with two parents compared to one. A child with a single parent may become a “parent figure” to a younger sibling, which changes the typical brother or sister role.

So, basically, this is an iteration that we learn from the environment that we grow up in. Again, not earth-shattering, but interesting.

I am nosy curious, tell me about your relationship with your siblings. Did/do you feel any influence from them? Did you get along growing up? Do you now? If you are an only child, do you think you were influenced by your parents or peers more?

And we love polls…

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I have two brothers (older and younger) and a sister (younger). We mostly got along growing up, except for the occasional fight and relentless teasing of my younger sister. I definitely feel like I picked up a lot of cues on how to act from them. Not that we are at all the same person, but we do have some similar traits (hot temper, stubborn, giving, helpful, fun-loving, laid-back, etc.).

This picture is from 2007, but that’s the four of us – Anthony, me, Nick and Christina.

Now we all live completely different lives, so their influence is gone. It’s weird that you live with these people for however many years, and probably interact with them on a day to day basis, then once you move out of the house, you rarely see each other/communicate (and in my situation, that is just because I live in a different state than the three of them – they all still live near our hometown – I wonder what it would be like if I still lived in Iowa).

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By kilax, August 8, 2010 7:57 pm

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

Day 288 | August 2, 2010: 5 m run

On Monday I was at the McDonald’s Campus in Oak Brook for a conference so I decided to check out the surrounding paths. I felt like I started this run off on someone else’s legs – I took off, and fast, for how slow I’ve been running!

Ha. I quickly slowed down though (blaming it on the less than 6 hours of sleep!) I took a one-minute walk break at 3 miles, then huffed and puffed until I hit 5.

I still averaged a 9:50 pace, which I think is pretty good for this short of a run (and 80° temps). I wish that was my LONG run pace though!

Distance: 5.0 | Time: 49:16 | Avg Pace: 9:50 | 1: 9:54 | 2: 9:42 | 3: 9:43 | 4: 10:16 | 5: 9:34

Day 289 | August 3, 2010: rest

Day 290 | August 4, 2010: yoga

My body was feeling pretty tight, so I did the YogaWorks Beginners AM/PM DVD. Do you ever feel like you need to do some yoga or something to stretch out your tight body?

My left hamstring had been tight since the previous Saturday, and it was not until I got home to my yoga mat and foam roller that I could work on it! I need to start traveling with those things.

Last week when I was on my shopping spree at Kohl’s* there was a workout top I really wanted to buy but they only had in XS (I know you are surprised but that is not my size). I was in a different part of town on Wednesday and looked for the top in my size and found it**! Plus another top that was on sale for $5!*** Does anyone else love Kohl’s as much as I do?

*I got three workout tops, two shirts and a pair of capris with my $100 gift card and still had money on the gift card, PLUS they gave me $10 in Kohl’s cash.
**Well, it’s a big large, but oh well.
***And they gave me another $10 to spend at Kohl’s. They really know how to keep me coming back!

Day 291 | August 5, 2010: 3 m run

I was not looking forward to this run (even though it was perfect – low 80s with a breeze!!!). I originally planned on running 8, but just felt too exhausted. So, when we were running at the Rollins Savanna and Steven said his hip flexor hurt a bit, I was more than happy to take a walk break at 1.5 miles, and call it a day at 3. For him, you know. Ha ha.

Steven thought my gait was off when I started running. He said it looked like I was limping a bit with my left leg. My left hamstring did still hurt (in the area right above the back of my knee) but I don’t think I was overcompensating for it. Of course, I was thinking about how crazy it is that my right calf has not hurt at all, and when we were walking to warm up it got all tight. Sigh. What am I doing wrong? No really, please tell me – how can I keep my muscles from getting so tight?

Distance: 3.0 | Time: 31:05 | Avg Pace: 10:21 | 1: 10:13 | 2: 10:41 | 3: 10:09

Day 292 | August 6, 2010: 5 m run

I made up Thursday’s 5 missing miles on Friday night. At 8:00. Right after dinner. It was mostly dark, and I had to keep my mouth closed the whole times so bugs wouldn’t fly in to it. And the whole after dinner thing? Had me running to the toilet at the 1.75 mile mark. At least I was close to home.

But, 5 miles finally does not feel like a long distance! It was so discouraging to be running up to 5 miles, when that used to be a “short” run. It’s starting to feel like an easy short run again. I even almost got in to full on “robot in the running groove” mode!

P.S. I know I should not be running on the sidewalk, but it is SO MUCH EASIER than the trails. So much.

I am putting the picture below in so my mother-in-law can see one of the new Kohl’s tops I got with the giftcard she sent me.

Distance: 5.0 | Time: 49:21 | Avg Pace: 9:51 | 1: 9:57 | 2: 10:00 | 3: 9:51 | 4: 9:48 | 5: 9:39

Day 293 | August 7, 2010: rest

Day 294 | August 8, 2010: 10 m run

In the morning we had perfect running weather – overcast, a bit rainy and only 70°!

Of course, I ran closer to 5:00, when it was sunny and 85°, because that’s how I roll.

Actually, my brother and his fiancee were in town for a car show, and I wanted to spend the morning with them, so I pushed my run back to the late afternoon.

Steven made sure to start with his helmet on:

(not sure why he came out of the bedroom wearing that – but he totally cracks me up!)

and end with one on too:

Ha ha.

We ran in our neighborhood again. We stopped for a 1-minute walk break at 3 miles, then stopped at home at 3.75 so Steven could get his bike and I could get more water and my MP3 player. Happily, it became very cloudy after we stopped and the sun was not as intense.

I really liked having Steven ride behind me while I ran. It was nice having him there, even though we didn’t talk too much. I was feeling really hot and thirsty. I took another 1-minute walk break at 6 miles, and kept asking Steven to fill up my water bottles. I think I drank about 32 ounces of water during this run, and I sure was feeling it in my stomach at about the 8 mile mark. The water wasn’t exactly sloshing around, but I could feel its presence. And it didn’t feel good.

I tried to keep good form throughout this 10-miler, but it was hard. It took awhile to get in to the groove (my left hamstring still aches), and then once I did, I just felt hot and blah. Oh well. I made it through! First double digit run in 3 months!!! It would have been nice to be a bit faster, but I am sure I will get there.

Ha. I thought my MP3 player was a bit tight!

(Another Kohl’s top – the $5 one – to show my mother-in-law)

Distance: 10.0 | Time: 1:53:02 | Avg Pace: 11:18 | 1: 10:50 | 2: 10:49 | 3: 11:08 | 4: 11:30 | 5: 11:31 | 6: 11:19 | 7: 11:43 | 8: 11:16 | 9: 11:31 | 10: 11:18

Week Summary: 23.00 miles

Next week, I am going to try to jump back in to the FIRST training plan, and start doing intervals and tempos again. I should also be almost caught up in the long run as well.

But, I think if I am planning on doing that, I should really make an effort to do more yoga and cross training. I’m just being lazy at this point.

I am thinking I may need to start wearing my Adrenaline 10s. The 9s are getting worn out! Think I land on the outside of my heal much (see pic below)? I think those inserts are pushing my feet that way.

Comments (13)

By kilax, August 7, 2010 6:19 am

What does Darth Data need to complete his costume*?!

These Darth Data photos are from October 2005

A lightsaber!

Erin gave me a catnip-stuffed felt lightsaber for my birthday! She got it on the Etsy shop “GEEKitty Gear.” I definitely recommend checking out this shop if you have a cat!

The little lightsaber is so cute (even though it’s a bit phallic) and detailed. I love it! Thank you, Erin!

And who knew that it comes with sound?

Okay, not really, I just had to demonstrate what big of dorks Steven and I are (he has his iPhone in his hand and is using some sort of lightsaber application).

What kind of toys does your pet like?

Data loves anything felt. He also loves these little foam balls, jingle bells and feathers.

*He does have a Darth helmet, he just does not have it on in these photos.

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By kilax, August 6, 2010 5:29 am

Are you crafty? Do you like to build/create/fix things?

I have two crafty talents – baking:

“Happy Birthday” and “50” cookies for my mom’s 50th birthday

Reindeer Sugar Cookies!

and building models:

Click to see larger

(You can see the last architectural portfolio I created in college here.)

I had to build architectural models all five years in college, and even worked for an Italian Architect building them during the summer of 2006 (yikes, that was such a long time ago!).

What are your hidden talents?

I just found out that my sister can make BEAUTIFUL jewelry! She made me a bunch of earrings for my birthday! Here is a picture of one of them:

And we all know Steven is super handy. He made me a beautiful pencil case for our first holiday together, and we made this component rack for his closet together in 2005. I won’t mention that Steven is also good at destroying things too*. Ha!

*He wanted me to add that he “fixes what he breaks.” True, true.

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By kilax, August 5, 2010 5:00 am

The best thing about hotel rooms is that they have blackout shades – you pull those sweet babies closed at night, and you could wake up at 3:00 in the afternoon and still think it was the middle of the night. The room is pitch black (as long as you turn off the annoying alarm clock lights!).

Photo from here

I stayed at a hotel the last two nights for a work conference. I was really hoping the blackout shades would help me sleep better. I have not been sleeping well lately. I wake up every few hours and have crazy thoughts running through my head that sometimes make no sense but keep me awake, such as:

• Should I buy another pair of Adrenaline 9s before the marathon? (why would this thought come to me in the middle of the night?!)
• What if someone breaks in to my hotel room?* Should I swallow my engagement ring so they cannot steal it? How long would it take to poop it out?
• Will my contractor get their travel set up in time before airline prices rise?

You get the idea. I start thinking about something and cannot stop.

And the blackout shades did not help, obviously (if I was thinking about someone breaking in to my room?). I still woke up about 4 times each night, and only one of those times was to use the bathroom.

I have tried to cut back on drinking too much water in the evening, so I won’t have to get up during the night. I try to relax before bedtime. I try not to eat too much junk. But I am still waking up frequently. For about two months now.

I wonder if it is because of my early wake-up call of 4:30. Maybe my body is confused? Or maybe I am just subconsciously stressed out about stuff and think about it during the night.

Either way, it sucks. I hate waking up, because I feel like I cannot fall back asleep, even though I eventually do. And when I wake up, I feel like I am in the middle of a deep sleep.

Have you ever dealt with sleeping problems like this? How did you deal with them? Do you have blackout shades in your bedroom?

*Mom, I think this thought came to me because you told me the story about Nick’s friends and they guy harassing them in their hotel this weekend.

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By kilax, August 4, 2010 6:33 am

Like I said, I don’t normally write weekend recaps, but, I want to document my awesome birthday weekend, and share some photos with you!

First of all, thank you for all of the birthday wishes on Saturday! You are all too kind to me.

Warning: this reads like a “Dear Diary” post, so feel free to skip it!

So, our fun weekend began on Thursday night when Erin and Jason surprisingly showed up in our driveway! We drove from Round Lake, IL to Guttenberg, IA and got in to town after 9:00 pm. My parents only have one guest bedroom in their cabin, so we stayed in the “Blue Cabin” – the spare cabin my grandparents own for people to sleep in (my grandparents and aunt also have cabins/houses in Guttenberg). We dropped our bags off there, then hung out with my parents for a bit at their place. (Unfortunately?*) My dad figured out how to put old photographs on to a disk and watch them on TV, so Erin and Jason had to sit through that a bit (sorry).

We woke up early the next day to get a head start on the fun… but it was raining. So we sat around, eating food and playing Phase 10 until the sun sort of came out and we all went to the beach (at 4:00!).

We showed Erin and Jason how to drive jet skis – they never had before!

Erin and I swam a bit, but we got cold (the temperature was something lame like 70°) so we decided to climb up a big sand hill with my mom to warm up.

We may have been acting a bit goofy.

The guys eventually climbed up.

Then we went back, because my sister and her boyfriend had arrived. We took showers, and hung out and ate dinner with everyone and my mom’s parents.

Erin and I got up early the next day to go running. While we were running, my mom and dad went to the beach to set up a tent and claim their spots. It gets really crowded on the weekends. We went to the same beach on Friday and Saturday – I think there were 3 boats there on Friday and 10 or more on Saturday.

Thanks for setting everything up, Mom!

We lazed at the beach most of the day. Thankfully, it was much warmer, in the 80s! Erin tried tubing for the first time! My aunt and grandma came, and my brother showed up with his family, some friends and his ridiculous boat.

My aunt, me and my grandma

My brother’s crazy boat

I somehow ended up giving jet ski rids to these random kids at the beach who really wanted to ride on them. I also gave my nephew and aunt a ride.

We left the beach a little after 4:00, cleaned up, and made a ton of awesome fried stuff for dinner – falafel, cauliflower, and zucchini. And of course, there was cake (and more photo viewing – sorry, again).

I’ll admit, when I saw this cake that my grandma made me, I thought “WTF is up with the frosting?!” She did it that way because the frosting has cream cheese in it, but the rest is vegan. Yum. I could almost eat that whole vegan half… I didn’t (this year).

Alright, you still with me? We stayed up quite late after eating cake. Steven, Erin, Jason and Christina’s boyfriend Will played Phase 10, while Christina and I sat on the couch being obnoxious and loud while making inappropriate jokes (my mother joined us later on).

We ate brunch with my parents and Christina and Will the next day, then went back to Round Lake. I was sad saying goodbye to Erin!** After she left though, we almost immediately turned around and drove down to Chicago to meet Gina and Steve!

I thought I would be too beat to engage in coherent conversation, but my energy came back as soon as we meet them, and we had a wonderful time! (I will not mention going to bed at 1:45 and feeling like ass the next day, though).

I would love for every weekend to be this fun.

I know this was all boring, so thanks for reading!

Does this look like your definition of a fun weekend? Would you want to go to a place like Guttenberg? Have you ever been jet skiing or tubing?

*Just teasing, dad.
**She was probably happy to get home and back to some sense of normalcy.

Comments (17)

By kilax, August 3, 2010 8:14 pm

I am at a work conference, and the speaker after dinner tonight was Bill Rancic. I didn’t know who he was until his speech, but apparently, he won season 1 of The Apprentice. Have you ever watched The Apprentice?

When I was searching for a picture of him on Google Images, some of the other suggested searches were “bill rancic hot,” “bill rancic shirtless” and “bill rancic shirt off.” Ha! I wondered why all of those women were taking their picture with him tonight.

I also saw a picture of his wedding:

Apparently he is married to Giuliana DePandi from E! News? Should I know who these people are? Was Joel McHale making fun of them at one point? That would be the only reason I would have heard of them.

Anyway, his speech was really good. I was sitting there listening and thinking, “I wish I was a good public speaker.” Maybe someday…

He was telling us his history, and how he became such a successful entrepreneur. He talked about how important it is to be creative, and confident, and blah blah blah… I believe in what he was saying, but all I could think was, I am NOT like that. I have no entrepreneurial tendencies. I don’t mind “working for the man” (obviously) and like knowing what path my work projects are on. I like the security of it all. I don’t do well with taking risks.

Are any of you entrepreneurial?

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By kilax, August 2, 2010 9:15 am

Have you ever met with someone for the first time and instantly clicked?

That was what I felt like when I finally got to met Gina in person last night, after knowing her online for over 4 years! I suppose, after knowing her for so long though, it wasn’t so much “instantly clicking” but just feeling like I was catching up with an old friend!

Me and Gina

Steven and I got back from our fun weekend* in Guttenberg with Erin and Jason yesterday around 4:00 then almost immediately turned around and drove down to Chicago to meet up with Gina and her husband Steve**. We went to dinner then hung out in their hotel lobby for quite a bit. It was one of those times where I knew it was getting too late and that I really needed to leave to make the long drive home, but just didn’t want to!

All four of us

Gina and Steve are both extremely friendly and have great sense of humor. And they’re so fun to talk to – we could relate about so many things and had a great time talking about NYC vs Chicago, our cats, cars, food, and so on.  Gina is super animated and funny, and she had all these cute little mannerisms that I would have never known about if I hadn’t met her in person. Now when we are sending emails back and forth I can picture her and imagine her Long Island accent. Ha ha.

Now I am just sad we don’t live closer.

I’ve asked this before but have you met any of your closest friends online?

I was saying to Gina last night, some people act all ashamed that they met people online (especially for dating) but I think it is a great way to meet people and share interests! And when you meet up with someone in person that you already know online, it’s completely different, because you have so much to talk about off the bat. It’s like you skip the whole awkward “figuring each other out” phase (usually, anyway).

*I will have to write a weekend recap – I rarely do that, but we had a lot of fun.
**We both teased the guys – do you think you can remember each others names?

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By kilax, August 1, 2010 11:59 pm

I am currently getting back in to running so I can run the Chicago Half Marathon and Chicago Marathon.

Day 281 | July 26, 2010: rest

Day 282 | July 27, 2010: 7 m run

On this Tuesday it had been 4 weeks since I started running again and I finally felt like my body was starting to cooperate with me. Even though it was about 86° and sunny out, I felt like I was flying, and felt pretty good! I averaged a 10:15 pace for 7 miles (and had almost negative splits) which is actually a faster pace than I would want to run the marathon (would hope for 10:30s).

Steven and I went to Independence Grove again to run then go to the free Tuesday night concert (this week is was an Elvis-ish/Johnny Cash-type band). We ran 3 miles, walked 1 minute, then ran 2 more miles, and walked another minute. Steven stopped at 5 miles, and I did the 7. I actually found it harder to keep the pace up when he wasn’t running with me! I think because I was focusing more on my breathing and how hard it felt.

I was pooped.

Just kidding!

I felt good, but wanted to lay down instead of sit up like a normal person during our picnic.

Ha, when we were looking for a place to lay down our blanket, Steven said we had to find something “away from people” because he was really stinky. Ditto. I know now my summer sweat smells like corn chips (so does Steven’s, strangely). TMI? Nah. Maybe TMI would be telling you I am always hungry for corn chips after I run now. Seriously. I’ve been thinking about buying some to keep in my car.

Am I the only one who has different smelling sweat in the summer than in the winter? Is anyone going to answer that weird-o question?

Distance: 7.0 | Time: 1:11:51 | Avg Pace: 10:15 | 1: 10:31 | 2: 10:19 | 3: 10:14 | 4: 10:25 | 5: 10:01 | 6: 10:18 | 7: 9:57

Day 283 | July 28, 2010: rest

Well, I planned on doing yoga when I got home, but I had a headache and… I had a $100 Kohl’s gift card waiting for me from my in-laws! I had to go buy some new running tops!

Day 284 | July 29, 2010: 5 m run

I thought we were being smart, getting to the Nippersink Forest Preserve at about 8:00 am, when it was only about 75°, but the bright sun was still brutal, and we were about half awake (as Steven is demonstrating in the photo below)…

… so, the run was tough. We took a 2-minute walk break in the middle of the third mile, and stopped at the car once to get water. I was planning on running 7, but felt spent at 5.

Wow, so much shade.

At least I got to wear one of my new Kohl’s tops I got the night before!

Distance: 5.0 | Time: 52:19 | Avg Pace: 10:27 | 1: 10:15 | 2: 10:18 | 3: 11:09 | 4: 10:25 | 5: 10:09

Day 285 | July 30, 2010: rest

Day 286 | July 31, 2010: 8 m run + cross

I didn’t know I was going to get to run with Erin on Saturday (my birthday!) and it was an awesome surprise!

We tried to be extra diligent and go to bed “early” the night before our run so we would be well rested. We even had my mom drive us to where we were sleeping so the boys could continue to play a game at my parent’s cabin and we could go to bed. Oops, we ended up talking until the boys got back! Ha ha!

But, we still got up early (well, what felt early) and made it out the door at 7:30, right as the clouds were parting and the sun came up.

We ran from where we were staying, along the local highway, and in to town.

There is a path that goes along the river. It’s pretty, but there’s no shade!

We ran along the river for quite some time, took a one-minute walk break at 3 miles, and turned in to town shortly thereafter. We could literally run down the middle of the streets and there were no cars there to bother us!

We ran around the streets until we got back to the highway. We took another one-minute walk break at 6 (both were my request, I should note), then ran to a turnaround point where I got on my (new!!!) bike and Erin kept running for 5 more miles.

It was fun running with Erin and showing her all of the stuff in town. Even though it’s a small town, it’s cute! And I really think running with her helped my pace. We averaged around 10:22 for 8 miles! I think that is pretty good for a warm summer morning (upper 70s?). I wish we could run together more often!

After our run, we spent the day at the beach! Perfect post-run reward!

Distance: 8.0 | Time: 1:23:04 | Avg Pace: 10:22 | 1: 10:31 | 2: 10:20 | 3: 10:17 | 4: 10:20 | 5: 10:08 | 6: 10:13 | 7: 10:23 | 8: 10:45
Bike Time: 58:50 | Distance: 5.01 | Average Speed: 5.1 mph

Day 287 | August 1, 2010: rest

Week Summary: 20.0 miles

I had a feeling this was going to be a “3-run” week. I was too busy to fit anything else in. Oops.