Comments (13)

By kilax, May 31, 2012 6:44 pm

Three house guests in Casa de Kim’s Married Name in one week! PAR-TAY!

1. Last Friday Mica spent the night before she left on a 6:00 am flight to South Korea! Steven and I had a lot of fun with Mica and her boyfriend and it left me wishing they lived closer. 
2. On Monday night my Aunt Sue called to say she was in the suburbs and wondered if she could stay over. Of course! That was a fun surprise! My only regret is that I had to work the next day. Boo hoo poopy poo. 
3. Tomorrow Gina arrives for a very jam-packed Girls’ (okay, and FakeMeats.com) Weekend. We have many plans – Deerfield’s Bakery, Six Flags Great America (never been!), HuHot, El Famous Burrito, Native Foods, the movies, cuddling on the couch, eating cookies, running… hmm, why do so many of those things have to do with food?! AND THE BIG BIG PLAN – Gina is going to be Fake Meats Girl #2. Oh yes. We will be marching in the Chicago Veggie Pride Parade at noon on Saturday at Grant Park with our Fake Meats Banner… and Fake Meats shirt (imagine that this is me and Gina, and imagine that Gina has an equally as awesome shorts tan line):

If you are going to be in Chicago on Saturday, come say hi at the FakeMeats.com table. I will be handing out FREE SAMPLES(!!!) and Fake Meats tattoos and… wait for it… wait for it… SCHWEET FAKE MEATS reusable grocery bags!

Metra approves of this bag

The Parade starts at 12:00 in Grant Park, then I will probably be at the Fake Meats booth from 1:00-4:00. So come say hi!

Somehow this turned in to a promotional blog post. Oopsie. What I really meant to say was, I need to take photos this weekend since I failed to with house guests #1 and #2. 

Who was your most recent house guest?

Let me know if you are going to come visit me at the Chicago Veggie Pride Parade this weekend!

Comments (11)

By kilax, May 27, 2012 5:27 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running related – a surprise decent time at the 10 Miler on Saturday! Social life related – kayaking, picnicking, and beach-bumming with Erin on Sunday! It was the perfect way to take advantage of the super hot day! And spend time with my best friend. I can’t wait to do it again!

Monday | May 21, 2012: 8 m run
Loc: Around Round Lake, Temp: 65°/63°, Time: 1:22:00, Pace: 10:15 avg, Difficulty: easy
Tuesday | May 22, 2012: 10 m run (last 4 with GRCers)
Loc: Rollins Savanna FP, Temp: 43°/46°, Time: 1:42:47, Pace: 10:17 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium
Wednesday | May 23, 2012: strength class
Strength: hurdle bars, medicine balls and dumbbells, Difficulty: medium
Thursday | May 24, 2012: strength
Strength: weighted bars and plyo Difficulty: medium/hard
Friday | May 25, 2012: 3 m run
Loc: neighborhood, Temp:74°/74°, Time: 29:06, Pace: 9:42, Difficulty: easy
Saturday | May 26, 2012: 10 m run + 3 m run
Loc: Elgin, Temp: 64°/62°, Time: 1:25:24, Pace: 8:32 avg, Difficulty: medium/hard
Loc: Neighborhood, Temp: 71°/71°, Time: 32:37, Pace: 10:52 avg, Difficulty: easy
Sunday | May 27, 2012: kayaking (with Erin)
Loc: Independence Grove, Temp: 81°/85°, Time: 1:04:32, Pace: 27:46 avg, Difficulty: easy

Lessons learned:

• No need to run when my body tells me not to. I set out to get a few miles in Sunday morning but was a bit stiff from my race. No need to run through that. 
• The front facing iPhone camera makes me look like caca. 
• A run can sometimes make a headache feel better!
• Sometimes a more adventurous run makes me more excited about running than just going out there and trying to run certain paces. 

Reminders for next week:

• Wear bug spray if your runs take you through the woods!

Comments (20)

By kilax, May 26, 2012 5:15 pm

Why did my first 10 miler (the Elgin Valley Fox Trot) have to be so hilly (and windy)? Why why why?

Actually, this is just what you get when you say you will run a race without looking up any information about the actual race before signing up. As of this morning, I did not know what time the race started, where it started, if there was water on the course, or what the course was like. Thankfully, running club friends were picking me up, so I did not have to worry about getting there. 

Grayslake Running Club Friends (me in orange) – I look so tired because I got up at 2:30 am to drive Mica to the airport. We had a lot of fun and I was happy to spend time with her before she left for Korea for the summer!

I did look at the course on my phone and then saw an old blog post from someone saying it was hilly. Then on the ride down, my running club friends did confirm that Elgin is hilly. 

Yay…

Okay, it was not THAT bad. 

Driving down there was an interesting lightening show and really threatening clouds. But it never rained and the race started on time. It was actually decent enough weather for running – when we started it was 64° and it was 62° when we finished!

So enough blah blah blahing. After an beautifully sung national anthem, and an announcement by the race director (saying you cannot walk the course… huh?) we were off. 

No one in the club was doing a pace that I felt comfortable trying, so I decided to do one mile at a comfortable fast pace and see if I could keep that pace. The first few miles were in the 8:20s. I was already wondering if I could keep that up. Miles 4-5 were a giant downhill and I tried to speed up more because I had a feeling we would be going back up that hill (hated knowing that). I stayed about the same pace. I slowed down for miles 6-9 when I wondered when the hell I would ever have to turn around and go back up that hill.  

I really wanted to push the last mile (and it was downhill, thankfully), and was starting to get tired when this woman said to me “I’ve been pacing off of you for a few miles! Don’t slow down now!” So we raced to the end. The last mile was my fastest (7:52, all others were in the 8:00s). I felt like I was flying and my feet were burning. I am excited to see the official photos. 

My finish time was 1:25:22 for an overall 8:33 pace. 

Some things went really well for me on this race. I did a really good job running the tangents and my watch said I ran exactly 10.0. That helped with pacing. I took a GU before and at mile 5 and never felt hungry. I never stopped to walk. I took my handheld and didn’t have to slow down much for water. 

This course is really well run and has a lot of perks!

• You get to see some really cool houses in Elgin.
• You run through a zoo with bison!
• There are showers to use for free.
• There was a fun 80s/90s rock band at the end.
• Lots of awesome food for free and for sale, one free beer for every runner (did not get mine). 
• Free massages, vendors, etc. 
• AMAZING volunteers!

Cons:

• Hills
• Boring out and back from miles 4ish to 8ish (it was along the Prairie Path but not on it)

I had a lot of fun driving down with my running club, hanging out before and after the race, and driving back. I’ll have to do the whole club race thing again sometime.

Comments (16)

By kilax, May 25, 2012 6:32 am

Did you have a tree house growing up?

We sure did! If my memory serves me correctly, my dad and his dad built it for us. And now it has apparently been engulfed by trees and other wildlife:

Ha ha. Thanks for the pictures, Dad.

My most vivid memory of the tree house is the day my accident-prone younger brother decided to jump from the landing to the ground (you can guess where this is going). I am sure if he told the story, that I had jumped already and he was following me, or I was encouraging him to jump, or I pushed him… but anyway, the conclusion is that he jumped and broke his arm.* My mom was gardening at the end of the driveway (which was far away for a kid) so I ran to tell her what happened. Fun times.

*He also jumped off of a three foot stage once and broke his leg.

Comments (29)

By kilax, May 24, 2012 6:02 am

• I casually mentioned FakeMeats.com on Monday and realized I hadn’t mentioned it in awhile! FakeMeats.com is an online store that Steven started at the end of last year. We were always finding all of these unique vegetarian and vegan fake meats and treats products and Steven thought “wouldn’t it be neat if they were all available in one online store?” Hence, FakeMeats.com was born! There is a huge variety of products on the site – jerky, bacon flavored mayonnaise and popcorn, meat substitutes, sauces, rice mixes, TONS of stuff. And I even help Steven make product videos (check one out here)! Steven and I are going to have a table at the Chicago Veggie Pride Parade on June 2, which I will probably mention every day next week, but feel free to mark it in your calendar NOW! And please check out FakeMeats.com and tell your friends about it too!

• Data’s bloodwork came back. It’s kind of inconclusive – he’s in the “gray zone.” I find this hilarious. Of course he is in the gray zone. Just look at him! All joking aside, the vet said Data does not have a pronounced thyroid issues but he’s not in the clear either, so to continue to keep an eye on his behavior (and note any changes) and get his blood work checked every year.

• Yesterday I met Emily for lunch at… you guessed it – Native Foods! Emily is a total sweetheart and cheerful and peppy (but not in an obnoxious way, ha ha). I need more people like here in my life! Sorry for all the “running advice” though, Emily! She is doing the Chicago Marathon this year (her first) and I was all “you should do this” “You should do that!” I bet that was not annoying…

• I’ve noticed that since I have been doing the more abbreviated training posts that I have talking about my runs more during the week. So far, I like it. I don’t feel like I have to talk about every workout (which would be boring for you) but I can talk about the fun ones.
• I’m not sure if I am getting much out of therapy. I go and I just end up complaining about stuff that is bothering me, then my therapist tells me I need to work on being positive (probably true). I’m thinking, “Yeah… but I don’t tell my friends this stuff. I thought I could tell it to you without you telling me I am being negative?” Anyway, I am not putting much work in to therapy and feeling really meh about it. Which probably means I should stick with it, but I would like to clear up some evenings so I will probably quit.
• A few weeks ago, Steven and I went to a local forest preserve to see the goslings. We noticed this goose walking toward us with a bit of a swagger. “Ooo,” I thought, “That goose has style!” No. That goose is injured. He has a broken wing. I felt so bad for him. And then I felt worse when the other geese starting attacking him when he walked by. Poor guy. We went back to the same forest preserve last week and saw him again. He is so lonely. It makes me so sad. What the heck is wrong with me?

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

The ShowerPill Giveaway winner is Katie. Katie, please email me your mailing address and I will send them your way.

Comments (23)

By kilax, May 23, 2012 5:30 pm

I keep forgetting I am running a race this Saturday!

The race wasn’t on my radar at all. In fact, I didn’t even know it existed! But a running club person posted about it on Facebook. If you have a team of ten from a running club you can compete for a trophy for overall fastest club. This person was looking for people to run.  

I let him know I wouldn’t be much help with the overall time but I could help with being one of ten people!

So. It will be my first 10-miler. I have no goals for this race. Hopefully I will not start out too fast with some of the speedy people from my running club. 

What race distances have you officially raced?

(It seems like I have asked this question before.) 

I’ve done 5K, 3.5 miler, 10K, Nautical 10 (11.5?), half marathon and marathon. Okay, I did a 4 miler but I don’t count it as racing. In fact, that Nautical 10 was not “raced” either.  Hence, why neither of these distances are listed on my right sidebar under PRs. And who knows if the 10-miler will go on that list. Ha ha. 

Comments (26)

By kilax, May 22, 2012 6:35 am

A special working from home edition of First World Problems! This post is not intended to make you hate me, I swear! (and the benefits of working from home far outweigh this list, for sure!)

1. I am not sure when to wake up in the am. When I go downtown I “like” to get up at 4:30 am so I can put in my 9 hours and catch a train that gets me home by 6:00 pm. But the less I work downtown, the harder it is to keep that 4:30 am schedule. Sometimes I schedule runs with friends to get me out of bed, but otherwise, I really like the extra sleep. But then I feel awful getting up at 4:30 after getting more sleep the day before. It’s so stupid! I wish I could take a later train on the one day I go in, but I have  class that day and have to get home for it in the evenings. This is actually kind of a serious issue I am struggling with. Any ideas? Just wake up at 4:30 every day?

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

2. I feel worthless when I sleep in until 6:30 and don’t exercise in the am. Even though I have plenty of time to workout in the evening, I feel bad for not doing it in the am (this morning I got up at 4:00 am and got 10 miles in – that made me feel better).

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

Photo from my run

3. Cat on my desk

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

4. I tend to jam pack my weeknights. At first I thought “I will be home all day with Steven, I can make plans with my friends in the evening!” That’s not very cool. First of all, working together ≠ hanging out (see #5 below). And secondly, I am exhausted when I have plans every night of the week. A few weeks ago that happened, and Steven was gone that Saturday night and I felt like I did not see him at all. So I have been trying not to do that to myself. 

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

5. If Steven is around me while I am working, he may begin to like me less. I have been struggling with work lately. Yesterday I almost started crying when Word kept effing up this file. That is all I will get in to about that. 

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

6. Less lunch dates with my friends downtown makes me sad. (previously seen on FWP #2)

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

7. Cat on my chair

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

8. I somehow thought I would magically lose weight because there would be less stress eating at home. There is less of it. But I am not losing weight because I still eat whatever I want. Okay, I can’t blame this on anything but me (see photo of me eating Twizzler above). Ha ha. 

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

9. I sometimes think about work when I am not working. It makes me feel very anxious. And kind of ruins that moment for me. Or sometimes a lot of that day.

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

10. Cat on my calls

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

Previous FWP posts: #1, #2

Comments (14)

By kilax, May 21, 2012 7:23 pm

Alternate title: I knew there was a practical reason I bought black running shoes. 

Have you ever noticed how google maps show trails along with roads?

Oh, I’ve noticed. Sometimes, this has done me really good, like when I am traveling and looking for someplace to run. I put in the address to google maps and pan around until I find a place that I want to research further to run. 

Sometimes this does not do me so good. Like today. The “trail” I saw turned out to not really be so much of a trail, and required running through grass as tall as me, crossing a stream, running in the mud, through poison ivy (“leaves of three, let it be,” right, Mom?), past branches with thorns on them, through swarms of mosquitoes… you get the idea. 

Yeah, I cannot say it did me good. But I can say it was awesome and exhilarating! Ha ha.

Curiosity (and boredom) has really got the best of me lately. We are limited to one running car at home, and when I choose to run after work, it is not practical for me to take the car somewhere – Steven needs it to drop off his FakeMeats.com packages at the post office. So lately I have been on multiple quests to see how many different running routes I can find that start at my house. Most of the routes so far have included some running on grass, groomed trails and road, but today’s route was very off the beaten path. In fact, I may have been trespassing… I hope not!

So awhile ago I noticed this “trail” on google maps that goes off of the trail near my home. I decided to hop on it and see how far I got. Not very far. I hit a stream right away. 

“I know there’s got to be a way to cross this stream!” I thought. And I found one. Yay for fallen trees covered in thorny branches. And beaver dams!

After traipsing through the woods, I found myself in more of an open prairie and was able to run at a normal pace again. 

Hola, tortuga amigo! 

Then I hit up some streets and planned on taking a normal loop home. But damn, I enjoyed that off-roading so much I decided to needed to follow the trail marker flags for part of a new trail going up near our home (I blame Steven for pointing these flags out to me the other day!). 

This was all fun and games, even when I inadvertently ran through mud and water that seeped through my shoes in to my socks. Oh well! (my “I love wet socks!” face:)

But then it happened again. Another stream. In fact, the same damn one, just at a different point! (my “what the what?!” face:)

This one was more difficult to figure out. It involved crawling through a tree cave,

climbing over another beaver dam (thanks, beavers!),

navigating some rocks,

and scaling a mud wall. Fun times! After that it was more run in the prairie. I am surprised I did not get muddier or more cut up! I wonder how many unseen mosquito bites I have though. 

So who wants to come do a crazy run with me?

As you can see from the map, it’s not even 20% crazy!

But I am 100% crazy. You have been warned. 

Comments (33)

By kilax, May 21, 2012 6:02 am

I’ll never have to take a shower again! MUAH HA HA!!!

Seriously, if one thing is true about me, it’s that I hate taking showers*. Okay TWO things that are true about me – I hate taking showers and I get really stinky when I work out. Like, really, really bad. I am not self conscious about many things, but this is one of them. 

So when ShowerPill contacted me about their Athletic Body Wipes, I kind of thought it was a joke that someone was playing on me. Like, someone made up a fake product, created a fake website, and a fake email, to send to me and tease me about the fact that I am so freaking stinky. Seriously… I thought this. 

But! It was not a joke! The ShowerPill does exist! It was created by three former college football teammates who made sure to supplement their body in every way possible to stay in tip top shape for their sport – but felt like they needed something more for their hygiene. So they created the ShowerPill, an individually packaged athletic body wipe. Apparently they named it after an inside joke after players who joked about wishing they could take a “pill” to clean themselves after a tough workout. I like the story behind the name!

The box came with 10 individually packed wipes. Each wipe is folded, and the instructions are to keep it folded as you clean different body parts, but use each fold on a different part and flip, fold over and repeat.  

I will admit. I was doubtful about the ShowerPill’s effectiveness until I tried it. I went on a seven mile run, got all nice and sweaty and came in and gave it a try. And lo and behold I really liked it. 

Like, really liked. Much better than baby wipes**, which I usually drag around with me, which leave me feeling kind of sticky and not so fresh after a workout. 

The ShowerPill didn’t leave a weird residue and cleaned me up really quick. And I didn’t feel weird putting my street clothes back on. I actually felt fresh. And Steven even smelled me and said it left me smelling good. That is the nicest compliment he has ever given me!

He even used one after his workout!

I can think of a lot of times I would have liked to have these. Ragnar, after a blogger meetup followed by a Metra ride, any run that involves socializing after… I have been trying to find a way to hide my stink for years and I think I finally found it! I think I am going to take these when I go camping in June. Well, if I don’t use them all first. 

ShowerPill is offering a 10% discount off of their product on Amazon if you use the code RUNNERS2. This code is good until May 27.

I think reviews are kind of lame without a giveaway, so I am sponsoring a giveaway of one 10 pack from Amazon with my own money.

ShowerPill Athletic Body Wipes Giveaway Rules

1. One reader will receive a 10 pack of ShowerPill Athletic Body Wipes. 
2. Required to enter the giveaway: tell me when you think you will use the ShowerPill.
3. This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM CST on Wednesday May 23.  I will announce the winner on Thursday May 24. 
4. This giveaway is open to US Readers. 

Note: ShowerPill provided this product for me to review, but these thoughts are my own. 

*but I love baths, but baths take longer…
**Steven and I were talking about the difference between these and baby wipes. Baby wipes are a bit more moist and leave a sticky feeling (imo). These are moist as well, but leave me feeling fresher.

Comments (11)

By kilax, May 20, 2012 1:11 pm

Highlight of the Week: Brian (my trainer, Essential Fitness LLC) hosted a health walk/run on Saturday and Steven came with me! It was nice – we have not worked out together in awhile. 

Monday | May 14, 2012: rest
Tuesday | May 15, 2012: 9 m run
Loc: Around Round Lake, Temp: 84°/73°, Time: 1:35:14, Pace: 10:34 avg, Difficulty: medium
Wednesday | May 16, 2012: strength class
Strength: dumbbell circuit and core work, Difficulty: medium/hard
Thursday | May 17, 2012: 7 m run
Loc: Around Round Lake, Temp: 69°/66°, Time: 1:14:15, Pace: 10:36 avg, Difficulty: medium
Friday | May 18, 2012: strength + walk (w/Steven)
Strength: dumbbells and core, Difficulty: medium/hard
Saturday | May 19, 2012: 3 m run + walk (w/Steven)
Loc: Neighborhood, Temp: 54°/58°, Time: 28:55, Pace: 9:38 avg, Difficulty: medium
Loc: Independence Grove, Temp: 80s, Time: 40:47, Pace: 16:21 avg, Difficulty: easy
Sunday | May 20, 2012: 15.4 m bike
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 87°/89°, Time: 1:19:58, Pace: 11.5 avg, Difficulty: easy

Lessons learned:

• Be really careful scratching my bare back when I run. I accidentally clawed myself pretty good the previous week, and it hurt all this week.
• My runs on Tuesday and Thursday were pretty difficult because I had some strange heartburn from who knows what. Ugh, lesson… figure out what gave me that heartburn?
• Eating a vanilla GU seemed to provide temporary relief from heart burn. Who knew?
• Be careful not to kick things accidentally (I kicked Steven’s sandal. My Morton’s toe(nail) turned blue right away. It hurt for days.)

Reminders for next week:

• Keep on running slow in the heat. It’s okay. 
• Don’t feel bad about replacing a run with cross training when it’s so damn hot. 
• Stop planning on running after working out with Brian! THIS IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. 
• Don’t forget your bike gloves for rides!!!!!!