Comments (56)

By kilax, May 29, 2011 6:01 pm

One of these days, I will figure out the mental game of running the marathon. Until then though, I do have my Chicago Marathon redemption – I finished the Madison Marathon in 5:01:36 – 36 minutes and 6 seconds faster than Chicago. A new PR (this is only my second full)!

I decided to run the Madison Marathon after not running my goal marathon two weeks ago. I am stubborn and trained so well, I wanted to run a damn marathon. So Steven encouraged me to find another. It had to be before Ragnar though – Madison was my best bet, despite knowing it is hillier than… something extremely hilly.

My blogger friend Tony picked up my bib for me (thank you thank you thank you!!!) and we drove to Madison late last night after a graduation party where I ate mostly crackers and fruit (smart, right?). I had been to Madison in college, but didn’t remember it well.

The start was extremely well organized and so easy to navigate – a big difference from how busy Chicago is. I lined up with the 4:15 pacer (and even ran in to a neighbor I met only once before on the way to the pace group).

I stuck with the pacer until mile 8 when I stopped to use the bathroom (couldn’t get it going in the am and ended up going to the bathroom twice more on course) and never caught up. I stuck with my pace for another mile, then started the walk run shuffle through the hills and humidity. It seems I hit the wall at mile 8. Funny, since I usually start feeling good then.

You know it’s bad when you can see the hills in the picture.

Notice it ends on an incline? You can see the full Garmin stats here.

I was able to see Steven at the start, twice on the course, and at the finish! And… Erin drove all the way up to Madison to run the last 6 miles (using the word “run” loosely here). I was so looking forward to seeing her at mile 20. I don’t think I can describe in words how nice it was to have here there during the last few miles, distracting me by talking to me, and encouraging me. I owe her big time. Thanks a million Erin!!!

I tried to give it my all at the end, but I knew I wouldn’t come in under 5:00.

Oh well!

I had to take my shoes off immediately after the race. It rained for the last 7ish miles, and while it felt great on my body, it worked wonders on my toes. I have a killer blister (funny thing – the only part of my body hurting was my bottom left foot, and my hips (from my water belt)).

I am happy the temps stayed in the 50s-60s though. The forecast had been up to 85 at one point! Madison was canceled last year because it got so hot. I was not ready for a death march in the heat again (I am looking at YOU, Chicago).

I still have so much to learn when it comes to marathons. I ran this awesome training runs at amazing paces (for me) then crashed and burned here. Erin brought up a good point – I slept in my bed the night before those, and ate my food the entire day before and morning of. And I did have a weird taper – my 20-miler was on 4/24! And I ran three 13-miler weekends in a row, then an 8-miler. Kind of bizarre.

Steven is such an awesome spectator! Thanks for chasing me around and being so encouraging babe!

And this race is awesome if you like hills. So well organized, tons of water stops, not much crowd support, but good enough. Beautiful course. Those hills though. And at mile 24, you can see the Capitol where you end, but it looks so far away. Very evil! Just kidding.

Comments (6)

By kilax, May 29, 2011 5:56 am

Day 582 | May 23, 2011: 8 m run + cross

It was too hot on Sunday to do my 8 mile run, so I got up at 4:00 am to do it on Monday before work (I got to try the new reflective vest and LED light I bought for the relay). It was in the low 60s but I was sweaty in a tank top! I really hope I get used to running in the heat this summer. I am totally a cold weather runner, but I need to figure out the heat, since we (kind of) have four seasons here.

My splits were very even! I am pleased with that. That was my goal for this run.

Distance: 8.0 |  Start Temp: 62° | End Temp: 63° | Time: 1:17:08 | Avg Pace: 9:38 | 1: 9:52 | 2: 9:38 | 3: 9:31 | 4: 9:39 | 5: 9:33 | 6: 9:34 | 7: 9:37 | 8: 9:38
Recumbent Bike Time: 25:00 | Distance: 4.10 | Set on “Manual,” Resistance Level 4.0

Day 583 | May 24, 2011: cross + strength class

During lunch I rode the bike in the gym, and after work, I went to my strength class. More medicine ball work and boxing! If you want to see a scary video of me and some classmates boxing, check it out here.

Bike Time: 30:00 | Distance: 5.33 | Set on “Manual,” Resistance Level 5.0

Day 584 | May 25, 2011: rest

Day 585 | May 26, 2011: rest

Day 586 | May 27, 2011: 3.6 m run

I met Bobbi at the Rollins Savanna for a fun run! I love spending time with Bobbi. She is so upbeat and fun. We stood around and talked for about 30 minutes after our run. Ha. Maybe we should have run another loop!

Distance: 3.6 |  Temp: 51° | Time: 36:48 | Avg Pace: 10:13 | 1: 9:50 | 2: 10:28 | 3: 10:27 | 4: 6:02

Day 587 | May 28, 2011: yoga

I did 25 minutes of a yoga DVD. My right shin is a bit tight and I can’t get it stretched out!

Day 588 | May 29, 2011: 26.4 m run (Madison Marathon)

Aww, I have such a thoughtful husband (that vegan jerquee gives me gas!). I am racing today! Wish me luck!

Week Summary: 38.00 miles

My Friday run with Bobbi reminded me how much I have been missing running with friends. I am making a new commitment to getting out there with people!

Comments (18)

By kilax, May 27, 2011 5:46 pm

I won Kayla‘s Allied Medal Displays Giveaway and am now the proud owner of the “I Run This Town” display!

I choose this one because I love the cityscape and because of its long length – I plan on having more medals to put on it. I was surprised by how thick the medal rack was! It’s really sturdy (and easy to install*). If you are looking for a medal display, check out the other cool ones on the Allied Medal Displays site – there are a lot of other cool ones!

I put all my age group awards on the left, and general race awards on the right. Since I don’t have a medal for my half PR, I will put up gloves they gave us at that race.

Just kidding, I am not going to leave those up there.

Adam, since you are always interested in my photo editing, here is the before and after.

No marathon medals on this rack yet – Chicago has a special home, thanks to Erin:

I know I have asked you guys a thousand times, but where do you keep your race bibs and medals?

As you know, mine are all in my closet, including this medal rack (the Chicago frame is in our office). I like looking at them each morning. I just rearranged them too, in chronological order. Here’s a little collage of my closet wall, since I don’t have a camera that can get it all in one shot (they go from floor to ceiling).

*Not that it matters – Steven did it for me.

Comments (12)

By kilax, May 27, 2011 5:57 am

If you have or could have a vanity plate for your car, what does/would it say and mean?

(assuming a hypothetical car if you don’t have one)

You probably all know I drive the KIMBOT:

Ha! I wish. Here is my real car, which I love just as much as the Ferrari F430 (even though I am not very good at keeping it clean on the outside).

The KIMBOT plate has been transferred from Iowa to Illinois (and been through quite a bit):

No comment.

Kimbot is a random nickname my younger brother gave me and I thought it was funny so I used it. No one really calls me Kimbot, but you can, if you would like.

And who is this young fellow?

Could that be STEVEZ?

Okay, maybe young is the wrong word. That is Steven’s 1978 Datsun 280Z. He got the “STEVEZ” plate because it can be read like Steve’s Z (get it?). STEVENZ was already taken, bummer.

Can anyone read the vanity plate on my dad’s ’39 Chevy Coupe?

I don’t think I need to explain the meaning behind THAT.

Alright, enough car talk. Happy Friday!

Comments (18)

By kilax, May 26, 2011 6:26 pm

I had my first in-home meeting with my personal trainer (Brian of Essential Fitness) today to get all of my initial measurements – weight, body fat, body measurements, etc. I am so so so excited to be working one-on-one with Brian! We set up our first appointment for next week. I can’t wait.

It’s funny though. For someone who runs so frickin’ much, I sure do have a high body fat percentage and am well overweight. This is NOT a surprise to me, nor was Brian saying anything about this to make me feel bad.* Nor am I too worried about it! The whole point of me hiring a personal trainer is to get more fit, right? Of course I know I have room for improvement.

And that is the weird thing about me. When I see these high numbers and know I am in the overweight BMI** category, I don’t feel discouraged, I feel encouraged. I like knowing I have room for improvement! I know I haven’t reached my peak health and fitness level. I am just odd – I know most people would be upset if their body fat percentage was where mine is, but when I see those numbers, I think “Let’s work on bringing them down!”

So, we’ll see if that happens!

*This is my commentary, not his.
**Not that I take BMI that seriously.

Comments (25)

By kilax, May 26, 2011 6:51 am

My mom’s dad ran track in high school and always took a very active interest in my running.* After he passed away, I remembered there was this awesome picture of him breaking the tape in a race, and thought it would be cool to have it put on a t-shirt to wear at my next marathon.

Cool picture, right?!

I had been thinking about using PKstrong to design shirts for the Trolley Run (which never happened), so I decided to use them. I liked their website and thought it was easy to use, and they had been very responsive in the past when I was asking questions.

Something was wrong with their site when I was trying to design my shirt, but once I contacted them, they replied (on a weekend) and said they would design the shirt for me and send me a proof, and get it to me in a week (my request). They were very responsive and helpful, and the proof looked exactly like what I wanted (click to see larger):

I showed it to my sister, and we both agreed that it looked good, but that the “g” in grandpa looked like a “c.” I ordered it and hoped that it would be more legible when printed.

It came within a week like they promised (and the price was not bad – $25 for the shirt and it is Badger brand – nice quality) but the text was even worse. You could not read a single word because there was no white space in the letters. I was upset. I contacted PKstrong to let them know how bad the text turned out, and asked that they advise other people not to use that font on that shirt. They actually told me they would take that font off their site (which they have) and offered me a 10% discount on future orders. Again, great service. But I was surprised in the first place that the shirt turned out so bad and they still sent it to me. I am the one who picked the font out of a few options, so it is my fault for picking it, but, yeah, I was surprised.

Luckily, I didn’t run the marathon that weekend. Ha. It was rainy and windy and a white shirt would not have been a good idea (maybe it’s not a good idea at all since I sweat so much?). I asked my sister what she thought I could do to fix the shirt. She recommended going over the letters in another color. But when she visited last weekend, she had an even better idea.

She filled in missing white space in the letters with white paint.

Now you can actually read it!

Of course, it’s getting too warm to run in a t-shirt so now I am not sure when I will wear it. Maybe at the New York City Marathon?

Have you ever made a custom shirt (or article of clothing) for racing or something else? Who do you like to use – either local or online?

Erin heard good reviews of My Race Ragz so I may have to try them someday.

*He and my grandma both did/do, when I ran in middle school, and in these past few years. It is interesting that they are so supportive and interested, because there is another family member who is so opposed to my running that he has to bring it up every time he sees me.

Comments (19)

By kilax, May 25, 2011 4:32 pm

Alternatively titled “The Garden Project: I am a lazy smack.”

I am sure you have all been dying to know if Steven and I will give the garden another go this year (see last year’s garden posts here). Well, unfortunately, Steven remembers that we gardened and wants to do it again, despite me remembering what a pain in the a$$ it was Hells yes we are! This year, we are going to be smart about it though. Starting with having my dad till it for us:

Muah ha ha. Actually, I heard Steven tilled at least half of the garden, and then my dad finished it. Where was I? Pretending to exercise At the Petathlon with my mom and sister of course!

Okay, so seriously, the plan this year is a bit different. Last year was our first go and we planted a lot of different things. Some were successful, some weren’t. This year, we are going to plant the things we really liked, and one experimental crop. The cucumbers grew like rapid fire, and we liked them, so they are getting planted again. The green beans were a huge disappointment (so few grew) but dammit! I will not give up! We are planting a sh*t ton more and I hope I have more green beans than I know what to do with. Because I love me some fresh green beans. Tomatoes are an obvious – homegrown ones taste approximately 345893128 times better than the ones in the store, so they are getting planted (well, bought in plant form then planted). And the experimental crop will be sugar snap peas (is that right Steven?).

Doing the garden was so rewarding last year, but damn, I feel so so so so lazy right now. Like, really lazy. I don’t want to do anything. I am barely exercising. I am tired, and all I think about is sleep. All day long. Even when I get enough sleep on the weekends, I take naps (ahh). I sleep on the train to work; I sleep on the train ride home. Sleep sleep sleep is all that’s on my mind.

Time to SNAP out of that! Let’s get these little seeds planted* and see what happens this year!

Who else is planting crops this year?

What are you too lazy to do right now?

Here is my list:

1. Work in the garden
2. Clean our house
3. Care about my diet
4. Figure out that dental bill thing from a few months ago…
5. Work on the model airplane with Steven
6. Be any sort of interesting wife at all
7. Put up with other people’s sh*t
8. Finish a book within a month
9. Write posts for my blog
10. Go shopping for groceries

Apparently, I am not too lazy to:

1. Write long emails to my friends
2. Skype with friends Gina and Steve (they’re in NYC)
3. Sign up for races I shouldn’t be running
4. Buy a Soy Chai Latte at Starbucks
5. Get an EKG
6. Watch lots of movies
7. Nag Steven about all sorts of things (travel to KC and NYC, taking Data to the vet, do this, do that, blah blah blah)
8. Buy stuff on amazon.com

Items that are questionable (sometimes lazy, sometimes not):

1. Strength training
2. Working on the running club’s 5K website
3. Reading blogs
4. Exercising in general
5. Running

*Maybe Friday or Monday?

Comments (28)

By kilax, May 24, 2011 6:21 am

I’ve been spending the last month cleaning out my personal email by unsubscribing to all the random emails I get and don’t care about (Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret, Livestrong*, etc.) as well as deleting folders and emails. Some of the companies make it kind of cumbersome to unsubscribe (you have to read through a bunch of crap and select different options instead of just clicking “unsubscribe me”) but I have been diligent in trying to figure it out.

Until today, none of the companies made it funny when I unsubscribed, but Groupon takes the cake for that. They present this video when you unsubscribe, asking you if you want to punish “Derrick – the guy who thought you’d enjoy receiving Groupon emails.”

The audio didn’t work, but basically, this guy says something to Derrick, punches him then walks away.

Then they ask you to resubscribe to make it up to Derrick.

I thought it was clever and it made me laugh. I won’t be resubscibing though. I don’t like how they changed their emails to make you click through to their site to see the deal. Too much work! It’s like all those blogs with the summary (abbreviated) feed in reader – too much work for me to click through. If you don’t catch me with your title and first paragraph, I probably won’t be reading it.

Do you unsubscribe to mass emails or just delete them out of your inbox? Are you less likely to read a blog that uses an summary (abbreviated) feed in reader?

*Actually, they make it really confusing to unsubscribe so I am not sure if I did that one or not.

Comments (15)

By kilax, May 22, 2011 8:34 pm

Day 575 | May 16, 2011: yoga

Wow. I do not even remember the last time I did yoga (how many times have I written that on this blog?). I did the YogaWorks Beginners DVD, and it felt more challenging that it used to. No surprise there!

Day 576 | May 17, 2011: 5 m run + strength class (= bad idea!!!)

Well, I am NOT doing that again – running then going straight to my strength class. I was wiped out, in a really bad way. And not many people were at the strength class, because they were doing the club speedwork session (this is the one night it was on a Tuesday, it will be on Wednesday the rest of the summer), so I was partnered up with the trainer and didn’t get much of a break! We worked with medicine balls and did some boxing. My heart was beating really hard during the boxing part, and, yeah – I was out of it.

And the run before? So windy. Why? WHY?! Why must it be so windy all the time?! I just want to cry, when I am running in to the wind. I am so over it. So over it. I also had a major GI issue that pretty much demoralized me. But I won’t go in to the details. Let’s just say it is a very good thing I had another part of shorts in the car.

Wah.

Distance: 5.0 |  Temp: 61° | Time: 48:48 | Avg Pace: 9:45 | 1: 9:28 | 2: 9:56 | 3: 9:52 | 4: 9:39 | 5: 9:48

I should mention, in the morning, I met with the Ragnar Madison to Chicago relay team! I am running with Erin and her work running group. I will be running Leg 8 – 6.7 miles, 2.5 miles and 9.9 miles, for a total of 19.1 miles!

Day 577 | May 18, 2011: cross

Recumbent Bike Time: 40:00 | Distance: 6.83 | Set on “Manual,” Resistance Level 5.0

Day 578 | May 19, 2011: cross

Recumbent Bike Time: 30:00 | Distance: 5.32 | Set on “Manual,” Resistance Level 6.0

Day 579 | May 20, 2011: 3 m run + 4 m run

For some reason, I got it in my head that I needed to do a two-a-day to prepare for the relay – even though I was telling Erin all week that I didn’t think it was a good idea. Well, it wasn’t a good idea. The first run was hot and my right calf/shin was bothering me on the second one. I should have just done one quality long run! Steven rode his bike with me during the first run, so it was at least nice to have company! I think I have been feeling the runny blahs because I have been running so much by myself (I haven’t been able to meet with the club to run).

Distance: 3.0 |  Start Temp: 67° |  End Temp: 69° | Time: 28:50 | Avg Pace: 9:35 | 1: 9:31 | 2: 9:33 | 3: 9:42
Distance: 4.0 | Start Temp: 69° |  End Temp: 66° | Time: 38:32 | Avg Pace: 9:37 | 1: 9:23 | 2: 9:33 | 3: 9:48 | 4: 9:45 | 5: 9:45

Day 580 | May 21, 2011: cross

I attended SELF Magazine’s Workout in the Park with my mom, sister, Erin, and my sister’s friend Abby. This is actually the third year I have done this workout – in 2009 I did it with my friend Diane, and last year my mom and I did it together. It’s fun – they set up a main stage and have different 20-minute workouts you can try. There are also yoga classes and a toning zone that you can sign up for, and a bunch of booths with freebies and advertisements.

It only rained a little bit – we were modeling our umbrellas!

This year I tried four classes on the main stage – Sexy Stretch, Top It Off, Masala Bhangra and Retro-Robics. My favorite was Masala Bhangra. It’s an Indian inspired dancing workout! I am not very good at it, but the instructor was really good at teaching the steps and it was fun to try.  I also really like the instructor from Top It Off. She has been there the last three years and is high energy and fun! All of the instructors that come are local Chicago instructors from Crunch Gym.

We also tried a yoga class called BodyART that I didn’t really care for. It was more cardio yoga, and less stretching. We had a great view during class though:

We also got a ton of freebies. And I got to try on the Asics Kayanos! They felt really good.

I really have fun at this workout. It’s only $15 (I think?), you get a free SELF subscription when you sign up, get to try a bunch of classes and get a bunch of freebies! Even though they seem to repeat the classes, I still like it. I will probably be there again next year!

Day 581 | May 22, 2011: cross

My mom and sister and I participated in our local no-kill animal shelter’s (Save-A-Pet) annual Petathlon – a 1-mile walk or 5K to raise money for the shelter. My sister had a donation page and raised over $150 (some of it from blogger friends – thank you!).

A lot of people brought their dogs to participate! I was surprised by how well behaved they were. It was fun to see them all.

The shelter had local animal businesses there, as well as fun games for the pets, and a tie-dye station!

I can’t wait to see how it turns out tomorrow!

We arrived at 12:00 and checked out all the booths, and did the walk at 1:20.

I was happy the walk was shaded – it was in the high 80s and I was hot!

Afterward, there was lunch included with your entry (I had a vegan hot dog!). It was a nice event put on by the shelter. I was happy we could participate and help the animals out! Our entry fee ($35) will feed one animal for a month!

Week Summary: 12.00 miles

I feel like I got back in to the workout groove this week! I did want to do another long run on Sunday, but I was waiting for the temps to go down (high 80s? no thanks!), and by the time they did, we had a crazy thunderstorm. Guess I will be getting up early on Monday!

Comments (22)

By kilax, May 19, 2011 12:04 pm

My doctor called me* with my EKG results today and they were different than what I was expecting. She said my heart beat is on the slower side (I was totally expecting it to be high, as I often feel like it’s very rapid). A typical heart beat is 60-80 beats per minute (bpm) and mine is about 53 bpm. She said this is not unusual for women in good shape (me?) and we discussed my exercise routine. I even saw this on wikipedia:

The typical healthy resting heart rate in adults is 60–80 bpm, with rates below 60 bpm referred to as bradycardia, and rates above 100 bpm referred to as tachycardia. Note however that conditioned athletes** often have resting heart rates below 60 bpm.

So, I am not worried. At all. However, she does want me to have a consultation with a cardiologist, to make sure that my exercise level is why my heart rate is lower. So, time to make another appointment… yay. Looks like I will be meeting my health insurance deductible again this year!

If you are interested in seeing the actual EKG, here it is. Click to see larger!

Maybe I was doing the thumbs up too early? (This picture is from Friday’s appointment).

*Actually, I called to ask if she even had them yet, then she had to track them down, then she called me.
**I don’t think of myself as a “conditioned athlete” but this makes me feel better.