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By kilax, April 22, 2012 6:39 pm

Highlight of the Week: Steven made homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Saturday. Oh wait, this is a running post.  Seeing a beautiful baby deer perfectly framed by an opening in the woods and lit by gorgeous sunlight during my Sunday run… and capturing a photograph of that moment.

Monday | April 16, 2012: rest
Tuesday | April 17, 2012: 7 m run
Loc: Neighborhood, Temp: 35°/34°, Time: 1:13:39, Pace: 10:32 avg, Difficulty: medium 
Wednesday | April 18, 2012: 10 m run (middle 5 miles with new GRC friend) + strength class
Loc: Mill. Trail to Nippersink FP and back, Temp: 71°/70°, Time: 1:31:24, Pace: 9:08 avg, Difficulty: medium
Strength: kettlebells, Difficulty: easy
Thursday | April 19, 2012: rest
Friday | April 20, 2012: 10 m run + strength
Loc: neighborhood, Temp: 43°/42°, Time: 1:44:03, Pace: 10:24, Difficulty: easy
Strength: free weights, core focus, Difficulty: medium/hard
Saturday | April 21, 2012: 6 m run
Loc: Neighborhood, Temp: 32°/39°, Time: 57:56, Pace: 9:39 avg, Difficulty: harder than it should have been
Sunday | April 22, 2012: 5 m run 
Loc: Grant Woods FP, Temp: 51°, Time: 44:53, Pace: 8:58 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium

Lessons learned:

• If the Garmin 405 freezes in the middle of a run, you can do a soft reset, and continue running with the same data from before the freeze. I hope I never have to use this information again. 
• If I want to do “first thing in the morning” runs, they are really going to feel the best if I have given myself 30-45 minutes to wake up.
• Do not eat a vegan hot dog before a run. 

Reminders for next week:

• Focus on keeping my arms closer to my body when running. 

Comments (12)

By kilax, April 22, 2012 6:27 pm

I was going to tack this on to the end of my weekly recap, but it was just too long. So… you get two posts today. Sorry! To make up for it, come back tomorrow for a sweet women’s running apparel giveaway…

Maggie just started a Runner Photo Challenge – check it out here, and participate! This week’s challenge: A picture of memorabilia (bib, shirt, medal, trophy, etc – can be just one thing or multiple things) from your favorite race. Include an explanation of why it’s your favorite race. 

Hands down, my favorite race is the New York City Marathon. And not because I PR’d, or because it was my best race ever, but because it showed me the true spirit of running, and the amount of support I have in my life.

I got in to the NYC Marathon via lottery. Opening Day was 4/27 last year. It was the same day my NYC bff (Gina) had her son, and a day before my grandpa passed away. I really felt like someone was watching over me that week. That is kind of hard to explain, since I am not very religious. But it’s just a feeling I had.

Everything said about how awesome the NYC Marathon is is true. The spectators, the race itself… the runners. I had a man from France, that I did not know, or could speak to, help me run the last few miles of the race. It’s just amazing that all of those people (from all over the world!) come together on race day.

And support. My sister and her boyfriend came from Iowa to watch me race. My NYC bff and her husband housed us and spectated. All of my family wore “Team KIMBOT” shirts that day, even though they couldn’t be there. I called my Chicago bff (Erin) when I finished and babbled/cried to her for a good 20 minutes. Bobbi was sending me encouraging texts during the race. A lot of my Facebook friends were really supportive. And Steven. I cannot believe he puts up with all this running. He is the best!

Anyway, the NYC Marathon was just a truly spectacular experience that reminded me why I love to run. I hope I get to try it again someday!

Opening Day for NYC is 4/25! Did any of you enter the lottery?

Comments (46)

By kilax, April 20, 2012 4:35 am

Do you often subscribe to new comments/replies on blogs? Or do you manually go back to see if someone has responded to what you wrote?

I never remember to go back, so I subscribe to a lot of comments. I have been searching for years for a plug-in that does this for my blog, but to no avail. Despite ilaxSTUDIO being a wordpress blog, because it is self-hosted, that feature is not included. 

BUT! I think I finally FINALLY FINALLY found a plug-in that will do this. So if you hit “Notify me of follow-up comments by email” before you submit your comment, you should get an email when someone else posts a comment. 

If this is the truth, this will save me SO MUCH TIME in responding to comments. Because right now, I respond on my blog, then copy and paste that response in to an email. 

Yeah. 

Time consuming. 

Also, this will let all of you interact with one another. A few times people have commented on other people’s comments… and there is no way for that person to see the response unless they come back to the blog. 

So do me a favor and let me know (in a comment in this post) if you are going to check “Notify me of follow-up comments by email” and I will respond and you can let me know if it works. If you check this button, you will probably get an email confirming you are subscribing, which takes you to the wordpress subscription page, then you will get comment emails. 

If I find out this does work, I will probably quit manually replying to comments via email. You will be able to subscribe if you want to see my reply/other people’s comments. 

I also added a sidebar for email subscriptions. I think most people use Reader, or some other RSS aggregate, but someone was asking me about this awhile ago… maybe this is what they were looking for. 

Comments (25)

By kilax, April 19, 2012 6:29 am

• Something about the photos Steven has been taking for my end of April fashion post give me the impression he is getting a bit tired of taking them. I just can’t pinpoint what it is…

• April fashion post wise, yesterday was the first time I changed out of what I was wearing from the photo. I had a jean skirt on, but it was quite cold in our house so I put on sweat pants and a fleece jacket. Today was the first time I wore an outfit I have worn before (in March) – the outfit I had in mind for today just didn’t quite work out. I am still having fun trying to be creative with my wardrobe, but sometimes the things I imagine look good in my head really don’t when I try them on.
• I thought you guys would like to know that I found some shorts. Erin took me shopping on Saturday. I tried shorts on a Gap, Eddie Bauer and Old Navy (in that order). I have to admit, I was disappointed when the very first ones we tried on at the Gap were not winners. But! I like the Eddie Bauer ones. And they were only $16.99 each, holla! Ignore the fact that my shirt is too tight (also ignore that I have this shirt on in the photo above, and while you are at it, ignore how tired I look in those pics – I did just wake up from a nap when Steven took them on Sunday):

• We had wine to celebrate our shopping success. I am still a lightweight. But! My 20-miler the next day was a success.

• I worked from home yesterday and decided to take a nap during my lunch break. Even thought it was during my allotted lunch break, it felt wrong. And it didn’t really make me feel any better. But damn, I am so tired lately! The only thing that seems to give me energy is moving (working out, standing up, etc.). Maybe next time during lunch I will take Data on a walk. In the meantime, I can always count on him to be my nap buddy.

• A few weeks ago, when Steven was working from home (and I was downtown) he heard some derphole drive through our neighborhood and crash in to something. This tree. Wth. That tree is right before the curved part of the street, as in, you should be slowing down to follow the curve. What the heck was this guy doing? I was impressed that he stayed there and called the cops, but I am still sad that we have one less tree in our already cookie cutter young (tree) suburban neighborhood.

Other Random Thoughts Thursday Posts: XIV, XIII, XII, XI, X, IX, VIII, VII, VI, V, IV, III, II, I.

Comments (29)

By kilax, April 18, 2012 9:18 pm

Do you guys track the mileage on your running/exercise shoes?

I started tracking mileage when I got my first pair of Asics Gel Cumulus in October of 2010. If you are really bored, you can look at my shoe mileage stats way down on my right sidebar, and here. 

I am lucky if I make it close to 300 miles on a pair of shoes. I wear them down really fast. I severely supinate, especially on my left foot – and that shoe gets worn down really quickly. Tracking the mileage has really helped clue me in to when I need to rotate in a new pair of shoes and swap out the old ones. 

Tuesday was a new shoe day! Wow! The shoes felt so cushion-y!

Actually, the felt a bit stiff. They will feel good on the next run. 

I embarrassingly have a lot of pairs of Asics. The photo below does not include the two pairs in other locations and the one pair in the mail… shh…

I am usually alternating between at least two pairs for running, if not more. Then I use them for other things when I am done with them. 

How many pairs of running/exercise shoes do you alternate between?

I gotta say, I love the Asics Gel cushioning. It rocks my world. I am a very happy Asics girl. 

Comments (36)

By kilax, April 17, 2012 5:40 am

1. My Verizon MIFI device (which theoretically allows me to use the internet on my netbook on my commute home) sometimes just doesn’t work. For most of the hour and 20 minute train ride home.  It infuriates me to no end. I needs my internets.

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

2. Fairly soon, I will no longer be able to justify buying Starbucks Soy Chai Lattes because “I’m cold.” Until next fall…

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

3. We forgot to bring our bags to ALDI last night. Don’t worry. We fit mostly everything in that box (Strawberries were 99¢, holla!).

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

4. It’s too windy to take Data on walks. He just wants to go back inside once he realizes how windy it is (notice that the outside light is all crooked from the wind). 

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

5. Speaking of WINDY, I put my actual camera on a trash can Sunday and set the timer to take a picture and the camera fell on the ground and got a dent.

Then I set it up again and it tipped over again and got this funny picture (and some good ones too):

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

6. I’ve found so many cute things to wear lately… that I have run out of hangers in my closet. 

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

7. Steven won’t respond to the funny selfies I sent him via text. Steven! I am your wife! Pretend I am funny! And cute! 

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

8. My trainer posted pictures of my Wednesday class after I posted my Sunday recap. Damn! I could have used that instead of the posed one! Thanks to Bobbi for taking my posed pictures. 

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

9. When I play fetch with Data, he doesn’t bring the ball all the way back to me. WTH Data?! WTH?!

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

10. Since I am only downtown a few days a week I have a hard time fitting in lunch dates with my friends.  Because I am working from home the rest of the week (photo below is from lunch with Erin yesterday). 

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

Alright, tell me your first world problems!!!

Things must not be that bad if I only came up with ten on my list (of course, I came up with 3-4 things during my run this morning, but I will just keep them to myself)!

Previous FWP posts: 1

Comments (30)

By kilax, April 16, 2012 5:17 pm

Ha ha ha. The title is kind of funny, because Dates is our nickname for Data. I am not talking about senior citizens going on dates. I make me laugh. Moving on…

When my parents surprised me by visiting in March, my mom commented on how skinny Data is. I told her that Data is in perfect health and the vet has commended him on his weight for the past few years (after he lost a pound or two per the vet’s recommendation). I politely told my mother she wasn’t used to seeing a fit cat, since their cats are more… robust. 

Ha ha. 

But I did ask the vet during Data’s routine check up on Friday if we should be concerned about his weight. 

And yikes, I am happy we asked – Data has lost a pound over the past year. That’s 10%* of his body weight. We haven’t changed his diet. He’s been getting fed the same amount of food for the past few years. What is wrong with Dates?! 

The vet said Data is a senior cat now (at the old age of 8) and that thyroid issues are common for senior cats… so maybe Data has a thyroid issue. And maybe that is why he’s lost a pound. 

This was all a surprise to me! I didn’t think Data was “senior.” I think he’s a hyper little punk. 

Anyway, I am going to take him in next week for blood work (and a teeth cleaning, boo yah). Until then, he’ll be enjoying a bit more food at breakfast and dinner.

So there you have it. A lot of information about my cat that you never cared to read. 

Where does your pet fall on the health chart?

From here

I can say, Data is the only one in the family who has an issue with being underweight. But he might not be the only one with a thyroid problem! I found out recently that quite a few of the women in my family have thyroid issues. Could that explain why I hit the wall every afternoon, can’t stop yawning and feel like I could fall asleep at any moment? It surely couldn’t be my poor diet, or all the running I do… (<– sarcasm).

*Or something, I am not so good at math these days. 

Comments (21)

By kilax, April 15, 2012 12:34 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running with friends of course (all of my runs this week were with other people), but also, running a 20 miler for fun. Bobbi‘s birthday is today, and I set up a little (okay, LONG) fun run for her with running club friends participating. She had 18 to do, and I started a bit early with my friend Yvonne who wanted to do 20, so it was nice to get an easy 20 in. I guess what was nice was to know I can do it. I am not sure how nice it will feel tomorrow! I have a date with the foam roller today. And the couch. And some vegan ice cream. And other healthy stuff. I swear! 

Monday | April 9, 2012: rest
Tuesday | April 10, 2012: 6.2 m run (with GRC friend Pete) + 9.15 m run with Bobbi and Sara
Loc: Warren Township High School, Temp: 35°/34°, Time: 54:29, Pace: 8:48 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium
Loc: Half Day Forest Preserve, Temp: 42°/39°, Time: 1:29:28, Pace: 9:46 avg, Difficulty: easy
Wednesday | April 11, 2012: strength class
Strength: medicine balls/core focus, Difficulty: hard
Thursday | April 12, 2012: 5.1 m run (with GRC friend Pete)
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 30°/31°, Time: 45:49, Pace: 9:00 avg, Difficulty: easy
Friday | April 13, 2012: strength 
Strength: resistance bands and free weights, Difficulty: medium
Saturday | April 14, 2012: 7.3 m run (includes WU, 5K, CD (w/GRC friend Yvonne))
Loc: Independence Grove, Temp: 57°/62°, Difficulty: medium
Sunday | April 15, 2012: 20.1 m run (with Bobbi and other GRC friends)
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 62°/72°, Time: 3:32:16, Pace: 10:34 avg, Difficulty: easy

Lessons learned:

• Doubles are feasible (see: Tuesday) – not smart – but feasible! I had two runs on Tuesday due to poor planning/FOMO, but it was a fun day!
• Don’t plan on doing a run after strength workout, because I am NOT going to want to do it. 
• No more racing – I need to lose weight and get my mental game together. 
• I need more than my handheld on a run longer than 10 miles when it’s humid.
• I hate the 20-30 mph winds (Sunday) but they actually make the humidity more bearable. How’s that for positivity?!

Reminders for next week:

• Get more sleep, so I don’t feel dead each day between 2:00-3:00 pm. I set up a daily reminder in my phone to foam roll and that really worked, so I might set up a “GO TO BED!” timer. 

Comments (24)

By kilax, April 14, 2012 11:54 am

This morning I decided to run a local race – the Take a Step for Kids 5K (also a 10K). I thought I could try for a PR since I had been trying to have more fun with running lately. I thought maybe if I went in without all the anxiety I could do it. 

Nope. Ha ha. 24:25. My 5K times this year have gotten progressively slower – 24:00, 24:03, 24:25?!

It is time for a break from racing*. 

I am not in the right mental or physical shape to do it!

I know if I lost about 10-15 pounds running faster would be a lot easier. But I don’t really want to stress myself out about losing weight right now. So it if happens it happens. 

I’ll just keep running for fun. 

Because I am having fun. Even today. I ran the first 1.5 miles with my running club friend Yvonne. I felt great when I was with her but then mentally fell apart when we split and decided I didn’t care enough to push it. 

But I got to see Yvonne and Bobbi both come in at the finish with 10K PRs! And Yvonne and I both placed in our age groups  (first for her, second for me – first place in my age group (20-29) was 9 seconds in front of me!). 

*Not to be confused with running races, ha ha.

Comments (32)

By kilax, April 12, 2012 4:17 am

• I am getting in to the waist belt craze, you know, a couple years late, like normal. I keep picking up size large belts and thinking “Wow! This belt is too big! I must be getting smaller!” Uhh… no, Kim. It is because you are wearing it at your waist and not your hips. Ha ha ha!
• Speaking of belts, I need some ideas for how to store mine. Where do you put yours?

• This is my awesome leg tan as of last Sunday. Oh yeah… As Steven said to me “Calling them ‘sexy tan lines’ does not make them sexy.” Ha!

• I decided I must have these shoes. They are in style, right?
• I have an unhealthy obsession with banana chips. When we were in Iowa for my dad’s retirement party, I bought a huge bag of them in bulk. The bag lasted 6 days. Then I saw banana chips at ALDI on Monday and bought four bags. I wish I would have bought more.

• Also on Monday, I happened upon the clearance Easter candy section at Target and found these bad boys (Brach’s Jelly Chicks & Rabbits). I bought two bags in case they turned out to be awesome. They did. I wish I would have bought more.

• What is the point of these hanger strap things in t-shirts? You are not tricking me in to thinking your clothes are high quality, H&M!

• I wasted 30 minutes last night (when I should have been sleeping) ironing a (impossible to iron) shirt (that I don’t even like) so I could wear it today and use it in my April fashion challenge. Here is the kicker – I am working from home today. Only Steven and my therapist will see me. Steven saw me ironing and said “Ooo, are you dressing up for me tomorrow?” I am not sure if fashion is worth the frustration of ironing a cotton top that is made of a zillion pieces. 

Other Random Thoughts Thursday Posts: XIII, XII, XI, X, IX, VIII, VII, VI, V, IV, III, II, I.