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By kilax, November 29, 2010 1:47 pm

Confession – I have been struggling to find the holiday spirit this year.

Data has been too, despite dressing up in his favorite new costume from Tori. Please excuse the rude thought bubble from Data, Tori. He actually didn’t mind the hat when I was holding  him.

It’s frustrating. It usually comes so naturally to me. But this year, I’ve been having many ups and downs and been feeling very anxious in general. My head just hasn’t been in the game with anything – work, running, relationships, life – I feel like I am living in a fog sometimes. Going through the motions, blah blah blah. We’ve been living in an unstable state of limbo and it’s hard.

Anyway.

I think I finally started to find the holiday spirit over Thanksgiving and the weekend. I felt it when:

• Drinking a Soy Chai Tea Latte at Panera and seeing the restaurant decorated for the holidays. Festive!
• Talking to my mom and sister about their crazy Black Friday adventures. Emphasis on the crazy.
• Talking to Steven about getting a real holiday tree. Yay!
• Eating “holiday” food with loved ones. No need for a belt.
• Laughing uncontrollably with loved ones. Making ridiculous* (mostly inappropriate) jokes.







Well, that was a photo fail. We took about 30 photos and we are screwing around in all of them. From left to right, my younger brother’s fiancee, Amber, my older brother’s wife, Courtney, my sister Christina, and me. I think Amber is still getting used to the crazy.

• (Before this weekend) Buying gifts for family and friends. Can’t wait to gift them!
• (Before this weekend) Working on the family holiday card.

Does the “holiday spirit” come naturally to you? What makes you feel festive/helps you find the holiday spirit?

Hopefully I can continue to snap out of this funk I have been in. But if you see less of me here, know that I am okay, just keeping my “grinchy-ness” to myself!

*That’s ridic, with an “i,” Chris.

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By kilax, November 23, 2010 5:39 am

For the LIFE of me, I cannot get our kitchen stove top clean. And it’s making me lose my mind. I was so frustrated last night, I decided to make a video of something I actually know how to do – fold a fitted sheet.

I will show you how to go from this:

to this:

What household tricks do you know how to do?

Did you already know how to fold a fitted sheet? Was this “video” helpful? Should I never make another video?

Can you tell I seem annoyed in the video? I was… about the stove top.

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By kilax, November 23, 2010 4:54 am

It’s a Tuesday. For the past six weeks my web host has turned off my comments and changed my WordPress Discussion settings every other Tuesday (they’ve done it three times). Did it happen again this morning?

Unfortunately, yes. I even woke up early to take care of it.

Maybe when I talk to them this time, they will actually do something about it. They wouldn’t last time.

Probably Not.

Comments purposefully turned off.

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By kilax, November 22, 2010 9:10 pm

Yeah?

Yeah?

No.

Can’t say I didn’t try.

Don’t worry Christina, I didn’t stretch your belt out!

Can you tell I just got done working out and still have a sports bra on? Ha! Note: those are NOT leggings I wear as clothes. They are leggings I wear as WORKOUT clothes!

Back story: I drew my sister’s name for holiday gifts this year. She selected some clothes for me to give her, and this belt was one of the things she selected. It’s still at my house, so… fair game for a quick try?

Oh duh, she had this sweater open when she modeled it. D’oh.

Uh… me not so good at following by example.

Who is the fashionista in your family? Can you guess who it is in mine…?

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By kilax, November 22, 2010 5:23 am

What do you think of waist belts? Have you been wearing them?

My sister scored a ton of them when she was visiting a week ago. I asked her to send me some pictures of her with them on. Isn’t she cute? They look good on her!

I noticed Erin was wearing one when I saw her on Friday and she looked really cute too.

I wonder if they would look good on me? Hmm…

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By kilax, November 21, 2010 2:22 pm

My next race is the Rotary Santa 5K Run on December 4th. This is the week of the Clear Water Outdoor’s 6th Annual Turkey Trot: 10K.

Day 393 | November 15, 2010: yoga

Steven and I did the YogaWorks Beginners DVD. I forgot how much I laugh when I do yoga with Steven… because we are screwing around. Yoga isn’t supposed to be funny, is it? Are you able to focus when you do yoga at home with someone else?

Day 394 | November 16, 2010: strength + stretch

Day 395 | November 17, 2010: 3.2 m run

After a week of FOUR runs in the daylight, running in the dark was a bit of a downer. BUT – I got to run with Steven! We ran 2 miles, then walked for three minutes, then he ran to 2.75 miles and I ran to 3.2 miles.

I didn’t mind stopping to walk, but I was wearing an Under Armour ColdGear top, and when you stop for too long in those, your sweat gets REALLY cold. I found out that three minutes might be too long to stop (and it was 42° – pretty warm!).

Distance: 3.23 | Start Temp: 43° | End Temp: 42° | Time: 33:52 | Avg Pace: 10:29 | 1: 10:15 | 2: 10:44 | 3: 10:57 | 4: 1:55

Day 396 | November 18, 2010: 4.3 m tempo run

I ran 3 fast miles and a 1.3 mile cool-down, in this ridiculous outfit:

The last time I ran in the low 30s/high 20s, I was too cold in an Under Armour ColdGear top and a tee over, so I added a sweatshirt this time. But it was just a bit too much. I actually bought it to be my throwaway sweater for the Chicago Marathon. Yeah. Didn’t need that!

Distance: 4.30 | Start Temp: 28° | End Temp: 28° | Time: 40:18 | Avg Pace: 9:22 | 1: 9:07 | 2: 9:02 | 3: 8:55 | 4: 10:16 | 5: 2:56

Day 397 | November 19, 2010: rest

Day 398 | November 20, 2010: yoga + 10K walk + cross

I did 25 minutes of yoga in the morning, to warm up for the 10k walk. Wow. My muscles felt so tight. It was like I had lost all of my flexibility. My neck was sore and tight like it used to get. Weird.

The 10K walk with Bobbi and Tori in Lake Geneva, WI was a lot of fun! Walking and chatting with friends is so relaxing.

Late in the afternoon, I went roller skating with Erin and Kate! So. Much. Fun! I think the skates were a bit too big though… I might be getting a blister on the bottom of my foot. Ha ha.

I will definitely be going back. Definitely!

Day 399 | November 21, 2010: 13 m run

I went to the trail head of the Des Plaines River Trail to do a long-ish run.

If you click on the picture, you can see that it says “0” for the trail marker.

The trail starts on the Wisconsin border, about 30 minutes from our house. I hadn’t run that part of the trail yet and was excited to see new scenery… but it was foggy and the trees are all bare. Oh well.

I did get to run by some moving trains and that was kind of exhilirating. It made me want to speed up.

This run went really well until mile 9. At that point, I started to see a blurry and shaky, kind of “electric” line in the far outside of my right eye. It made me feel disoriented and dizzy. I sat down at a bench in the 10th mile to try to make it go away. But I could only sit for a few minutes until my tech tee started to get too cold. It eventually went away, but  felt sick and dizzy – like how you feel when you take too hot of a bath. I had to stop the run short at 13 miles and walk the last mile to the car.

I’m confused by this. I drank enough water, ate two servings of malt-o-meal (+ a banana!) at breakfast, and also had two snacks on the run. Maybe the headband was making me too hot? Whatever. I felt better after an hour or so.

Run stats: I wore the Asics Cumulus 12s. I drank 32 ounces of water during the run (most of the water was in the last few miles when I felt so awful). I ate a pack of Sharkies (first time – yum!) at mile 4 and a Mint Chocolate GU at mile 8.  I walked 1-minute at miles 4, 8 and 12. I stopped to take a few photos, to rest on a bench around 10.5, then use the bathroom right after.  I wore bermudas, a long sleeved tech tee, gloves and a headband. I took the gloves on and off a few times.  This outfit felt just right. I listened to a rock station for the first 7 miles, and pop music on my MP3 for the last 7 miles.

Distance: 13.0 | Start Temp: 45° | End Temp: 48° | Time: 2:12:13 | Avg Pace: 10:10 | 1: 10:19 | 2: 10:26 | 3: 10:23 | 4: 9:50 | 5: 10:20 | 6: 10:02 | 7: 10:11 | 8: 9:58 | 9: 10:15 | 10: 9:45 | 11: 9:39 | 12: 9:59 | 10:57

Week Summary: 20.5 miles

This week I tried to write out my work outs in advance so I could fit everything in, and it would be more “balanced.” That didn’t exactly work. Maybe next week? (Riiiiiiiiiight, the week with the holiday in it… if I work out at all while traveling, I consider that a BIG accomplishment).

Shoe update:

During Thursday’s run, I felt like the padding was wearing down in the Asics Gel Cumulus 12s. It may be because I was wearing a pair of socks I don’t normally wear though! They felt fine on Sunday’s run.

I decided with these shoes (and all others moving forward) I will keep track of the mileage I put on them on my blog sidebar (on the right). At this point I am just tracking miles run, not walked.

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By kilax, November 20, 2010 8:51 pm

This morning I walked the Clear Water Outdoor 6th Annual Turkey Trot 10K (what a title!) in Lake Geneva, WI, with Bobbi and Tori. Maybe we should just call it the Turkey Trot Gabfest 10K, because that’s basically what it was! When else* do I get almost 4.5 uninterrupted hours (includes the drive) to chat with my girlfriends?

Do you ever walk races with your friends? I have done quite a few this year. It’s fun!

Me, Turkey Tom, Tori and Bobbi

Oops. Maybe we were chatting a bit too much! We walked for about an hour and 40 minutes and missed the cut-off for official finish times! Ha! That doesn’t bother me. I was having too much fun, and I always have Garmin proof that I was there.

And honestly, there were some big hills. I would rather be chatting with my girlfriends that almost tripping down steep hills while running them!

Hills never look as big in the pictures.

It was pretty chilly this morning (in the low 30s) but I never felt too cold. Probably because I was talking so much! And taking in all of the beautiful landscape. The 10K was in Big Foot Beach State Park, right next to the lake.

We even walked by the lake at one point.

Maybe I can go to the beach there next year!

We received a little tree to plant at the end – I thought that was a neat touch.

And we had some special surprise visitors… but I am sure Tori will want to mention that!

Overall, this was a very fun race. Maybe I will do it again next year! And it was only $10! And the tech tee was an additional $10. I don’t have many long-sleeved ones, so I got one. I really like it!

*Actually, earlier this evening with Erin and Kate too! Yay! But you will see that in tomorrow’s post.

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By kilax, November 20, 2010 8:21 pm

Facebook just auto-tagged some* photos for me. How. Awesome. Is. That?!

Click to see larger.

Finally, Facebook! A useful feature.

I also noticed there is an option to upload higher-res photos now, but that it takes “10x” longer. Hmm.

What do you guys think about sharing photos on Facebook? Creepy or cool?

I don’t mind sharing them, since I put them on the internet anyway…

*not all

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By kilax, November 19, 2010 5:24 am

What fashion fads from the past would you like to ban from ever making a comeback?

1. Shoulder Pads



Ha ha, okay, not EXACTLY like that, but this picture is funny. I was thinking more along these lines.

2. Leggings with Stirrups



3. Skorts

Oh wait, I just bought the equivalent of a running skort last weekend. And I am doing almost the same pose in it! At least it’s a “skirt” in the back too!

I know it’s too late – these things are already back in style – the images I found were from current fashion.

It’s funny that I can remember hating wearing shoulder pads and leggings with stirrups when I was a young girl. You would think I wouldn’t have an answer to this question since I am kind of young (now) and not in to fashion… but there you go!

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By kilax, November 18, 2010 11:48 am

The company I work for is really big on allowing employees to telework (work from home). In my particular group, most employees work from home at least one day a week. I will be eligible to participate in that program in the end of December! YAY!

This morning, I learned about a teleworking pilot program where an entire division (about 40 people) of an orgranization worked from home for 3 months, every day of the week. The pilot was a huge success, and my company’s leader wants to push for people to work from home more than one day a week.

Here is what I thought was really interesting about the pilot program – the employees were required to spend the time they weren’t commuting on a wellness initiative. That could be walking, yoga, biking, running… you get the idea – some sort of physical activity.

When I heard that, I thought “holy crap – that would be a lot of exercise for me!” My door-to-door one-way commute is an hour and 45 minutes. That is three and a half hours of commuting in a day! Imagine how much I could work out. Ha.

Metra, I love you and all, but we spend TOO much time together!

I think that is a really cool idea, to encourage wellness in employees. After I heard it though, it just reminded me how depressing it is that I spend that much time a day commuting. Blah.

How long is your commute (to school/work/wherever you go)? What would you do with that time if you didn’t have to spend it commuting?