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By kilax, October 30, 2013 6:44 am

Going to my hometown in Iowa for Halloween has turned in to an accidental tradition – we happened to be there in 2010, and decided to go out to the bars with my siblings and mom. We had so much fun that we went back in 2011 and 2012 in themed group costumes, and did the same this past weekend. It’s so fun to dress up as a theme with a group – we really get a kick out of the response from other bar goers. 

This year was a bit different. 

But first! Our theme!

Arrr! Pirates!

Wench #3, Deck Boy, Captain Todd, Wench #1, Wench #2 and First Mate/Billy Gay Cyrus

Okay, okay. I have to admit, I was inspired: 

I SUCK at coming up with costume ideas. Just plain suck. And we start thinking about it really early in the year. Steven and I always hope to do something culturally relevant/current, and it never works out, hence “Mariachi” band in 2011, gorilla and bananas in 2012, and pirates in 2013. If we can’t be culturally current, we can be fun, right?  

Luckily, Christina and Will were able to make it this year! We missed them in 2012. And Christina is super crafty, so, huge bonus to have her in our group! Hee hee. Christina and I went through a few iterations of costume ideas (with her doing most all of the research), and when we decided we didn’t have enough time/energy to make something… we went with the next best thing. Store bought. Ha ha. 

Christina did most all of the hard work, collecting things at Goodwill and various other places. I ordered a parrot. And somehow, was lucky enough to have Bobbi gift me a BUNCH of new pirate stuff! I love her. 

I wasn’t sure how it would all come together, but had COMPLETE trust in Christina. We all just left it to her to style us, and she did a great job. I was really excited with how the costumes turned out!

And let’s not forget that my brothers came out in costume too…

Gah, they crack me up. Here’s the whole group, including Amber (Fresh Step’s wife), our WIT (Wench In Training) and my grandma (who stayed home in case anyone needed to be bailed):

Alright. Enough freakin’ intro. So why was this year so different? Well, in the past, we’ve left the house around 8:30 pm, and we go to several bars and enjoy seeing everyone in costume (and they’re usually out that early!). That is a lot of the fun of going out – people watching! I hardly even drink (I had one drink the whole night, this year).  

This year, we got out about 9:30 pm, and… nada. Hardly ANYONE was dressed up. And it was later in the evening, already! Sigh. The bad thing is, Christina and Steven both asked me about this – if I thought other people would be dressed up this past weekend. In my mind, yes! The weekend before Halloween is the one to dress up and go out. Not the weekend after! But, I guess that was the plan, for a lot of people. We saw a few signs that said “costume party Nov 2.” Um, no, I will be listening to holiday music then. Thankyouverymuch.

Would you ever dress up for a Halloween party that was after Oct 31?

Christina explained to me that we were in a college town, and the college kids drink at home, then go out to the bars later* (so that they spend less money overall). She said we just needed to wait. She could see local people on her Facebook feed, in costume. They were out there! Somewhere! Ha ha. But I turned in to a pumpkin. After hanging out at a bar so loud I couldn’t hear the person next to me talk, I was kind of done. Which is sad, because Christina was right! When we were outside between 11:30-midnight, all the costumed people were coming out, and we started getting some fun comments on our costumes. 

Now you all know – I am a party pooper. 

Sigh. You probably already knew!

I still had a blast! Getting ready is a HUGE part of the fun! We all meet at my Grandma’s to assemble our costumes and hang out and eat pizza before we go. 

Spending that time with my parents, siblings, and grandma is a treat. It’s rare that we are all together, just hangout out and goofing around like this. 

So. I will hopefully be back next year. Halloween will be on a Friday. Does that mean we have to get there early so we can go out on Friday? Does that mean the 5K I do won’t be the same weekend?! AHH! Decisions! Running always trumps… right?!

Hee hee hee. So I have seen a lot of comments from people who think Halloween is stupid and dressing up is lame. What do you think? I never started doing it, as an adult, until 2010. And man, we have a blast. It’s so fun to hang out and see everyone’s costumes! 

*And they probably go out on 10/31, as well. 

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By kilax, October 29, 2013 6:03 am

My dad’s goal 5K was this Saturday, in Cedar Falls, IA – the Run, Walk and Roll for a Drug Free Community 5K! 

Heh heh heh. Dad can’t catch a break – his first 5K was all trail, and his sub-30:00 goal 5K race was partially on grass! Hmm, maybe he is just meant to be an off-road dude* because he SMASHED his goal and ran a 29:13 and placed third in his age group!

Dad said next year we’ll have to run in costumes and he will be Santa.

Yay! I am so proud of my dad. He trained well for this race. He ran several times a week, did a few runs over the 5K distance, and a few runs at race pace. He also biked and ran the race course to become familiar with it. Is my dad becoming an obssessive runner dude? I think so! Do I like it? No, I love it. Ha ha. 

My older brother, Nick, also participated, and did a run/walk for the race, and placed first in his age group! Nick cracks me the eff up. He ran this race with me in 2010 and 2011 on NO training, and basically did the same thing, this year. I just love that he gets out there and does it!

ALSO! I must share with you, that my brother and dad both supinate, like I do. Sigh. They have it bad on their right foot, I have it bad on my left. Runs in the family? (har de har har)

So if you recall, this is the race where I was not sure if I would pace my dad, or “race.” My dad told me he would let me know the day of the race. So, while Steven was driving us there the night before, I looked up my times for the past three years – 28:34 in 2010, 27:21 in 2011,  and 26:18 in 2012. I told Steven I thought I could run a 25:00, or faster. He said I had to run something in the 25s, since I took a minute off my time each year, and needed to sandbag it for next year, and run something in the 24s, then. Ha ha. 

We all met 45 minutes before race start to get our packets, warm-up, etc. SO much of our family came to spectate – Steven, my mom, Christina and Will, Nick’s wife and his two kids. Very cool that they were out early, on a coldish (41°F and windy) morning to watch us run! I feel so grateful they came!

Gosh! I am really dragging this out. Okay. Time to cut to the chase. So I ask Dad if he wants me to pace him, and he says, “No, give em, hell.” Hee hee. 

So I took off at the start!

The silly, bumpy grassy hill made me feel a bit weird in the beginning, but after that, I was good to go. Well, minus someone running with their dog, and him jumping on my back legs. Ha ha. Luckily, I didn’t fall! But I ran a decent sub 8:00 pace for the first downhill half (even had some deer cross in front of me in the woods) and a little over 8:00 pace on the uphill on the way back. It’s fun that the course is out and back, because I got to see Dad and Nick and give them high fives, and cheer other runners on. 

I ended up running 23:53** which was fourth overall, and first female overall. That was pretty neat, to finish first female!

After I finished, I put my jacket on and ran back out, with my oldest nephew, to run my dad in to the finish, then my brother. Running with my nephew was a lot of fun. We put a mile in together, and he was gassed at the end. I kept reminding him that we didn’t have to sprint. Ha ha ha. Is that the only speed kids have?

After we all finished, we hung around for awards and massages (well, massage, for me). 

Every single year that I have done this race, I have won a door prize! And all three of us won door prizes this year!

And that is one of MANY reasons I keep doing this race! It’s inexpensive, for a great cause (proceeds go toward a substance abuse and mental healthy counseling clinic), it’s a small field, they have awesome food after, the people are super nice, and the timing usually works out. 

Oh! And this year, since I placed first overall, I also got a $25 gift card to HyVee! Woo effin’ hoo! We always stop there when we go to Iowa anyway. FREE FOODZ!!!

I really hope I am able to do this race next year, too! It usually coincides with my younger brother’s birthday, and all of us going out for Halloween***. It’s a great weekend to go back to my hometown!

Time to find another race for Dad, right? He said he is done racing this year. I don’t think so… he mentioned dressing like Santa, hmm…

*Ha! In the running world, and driving world.
**Gah! My cursed 5K PR record from 2011 that I never beat in 2012 (but finally did in 2013).
***Pictures coming later this week! 

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By kilax, October 28, 2013 6:05 am

Highlight of the Week: Participating in the same 5K as my dad and older brother, in my home town! I am so proud of them! And very thankful that so much of our family came to spectate!

Monday | October 21, 2013: 5 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 46°/43°, Time: 47:56, Pace: 9:36 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: Body bars, Difficulty: medium, Felt: super hyper
Tuesday | October 22, 2013: rest (incl. 2.6 m walk w/Steven)
Wednesday | October 23, 2013: 5.2 m run (w/Bobbi)
Loc: hood, Temp: 41°/40°, Time: 51:44, Pace: 9:57 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: awful from eating too much that day
Thursday | October 24, 2013: rest
Friday | October 25, 2013: teaching strength class + 16 m run (first 3 w/Bobbi) + 1.4 m Red Ribbon Run (at Yvonne’s school)
Strength: Body bars, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 28°/33°, Time: 2:52:32, Pace: 10:47, Difficulty: easy, Felt: sooooo not in the mood/MEH
Saturday | October 26, 2013: Run, Walk and Roll 5K + 1 mile of running in Dad and Nick
Loc: Cedar Falls, Temp: 41°, Time: 23:52, Pace: 7:54 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: GREAT!
Sunday | October 27, 2013: 10.5 m run (w/Dad while he biked)
Loc: Cedar Falls, Temp: 22°/31°, Time: 1:49:42, Pace: 10:27 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: like I should be running faster than that

Notes:

• Do you feel like you have a good grasp of your exercise limitations? I feel like I do when it comes to cardio respiratory. But man, every once in awhile, I overdo a strength workout, and it’s especially embarrassing, when I am the one who designed it! Ha ha.  I design the workouts I teach to be whole body, but sometimes I leave class with one area of my body really sore. Or two areas. Ha ha. This week, it was my glutes and my left ITB. The funny thing is, I talked to the other students who took my class, and they were sore in different areas! We all have our weaknesses to work on! Also, damn you, DOMS.
• Yeah, so those Tuesday and Thursday unplanned rest days (Wednesday is supposed to be my new rest day) are due to the soreness from Monday’s class (I hope that’s what it is). I woke up in the middle of Monday night, with a low intensity throb in my left ITB. I got up and iced it. The same thing happened Wednesday night, and Friday after my run. So, running doesn’t make it feel better. I got a mini massage in my left leg after the 5K on Saturday, and that made it feel better! I hope to get a longer massage this week. 
• I felt frustrated in the middle of the week. I felt cranky from not working out. And annoyed with my body. But after a somewhat shitty long run on Friday, I just felt happy that I could run at all. That I can be active. Gah. I haven’t had to sit out a few months since summer of 2010 (due to stress fractures) but MAN, did that ever suck, and whenever I feel pissy about my workouts, I think back to that and remember to be grateful I can move at all. 
• So! The mopiness was over for the weekend! Which is great, because I got to spend it in my hometown, working out with my family! My dad, older brother and I all ran the same 5K on Saturday, then my dad rode his bike with me during my run on Sunday. 
• Oh! Almost forgot! What was I thinking volunteering to run with middle schoolers on Friday? That is speedwork! Those kids are fast! Ha ha!

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By kilax, October 25, 2013 10:06 am

I’m having a moody end of the week, then felt especially odd after seeing the results of a horrible accident on my run this morning… so when my run was over I decided to cheer myself up by getting a Starbucks drink and “paying it forward” to the car behind me. You know, paying for their drink, too. Have you ever “paid it forward” like that?

The barista was super excited I was doing this. “Do you know them?” “Oh, you are just doing this to be a sweetie!” “You are such a sweetie!” “This makes me so happy! You are our second car today to do this!” “I am probably more happy than the person getting the free drink.” “Thank you!!!”

Ha ha. 

So I left hoping that doing that for the car behind me made them feel good and have a good start to their day. It made me feel better, like I wanted. 

Then I was all wait a minute…

I walk by people asking for money, every time I go to Chicago… and I don’t give anything to them. Yet, I choose to encourage someone’s expensive drink habit (I am definitely guilty!) by paying $5 for it? Hmm. 

It’s two different things. It is. But I guess it just made me think I should be kinder in all aspects of my life. 

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By kilax, October 24, 2013 4:07 pm

Heh heh.

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By kilax, October 23, 2013 6:55 am

I can’t stop thinking about this tattoo that I first saw on Facebook, then later found on this site:

I don’t have any tattoos right now. I’ve thought about getting one for years – something either Star Wars or running related – but could never think of one that was the right “fit” for me.  Then I saw this picture. And I just keep thinking about it, and how much I like the “keep running” phrase! Was it meant to be? Ha ha. 

So I am considering getting a tattoo after my marathon, if it goes well, as a celebration. Just considering it. I think I’d actually like a tattoo on my shoulder area (I really like my muscular shoulders/back) but am not sure if a running tattoo makes sense on that part of my body. 

Anyway. Just thinking out loud. Or in writing. Or something. 

Do you have any tattoos? Of what? And where?

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By kilax, October 22, 2013 6:23 am

Do you or your partner talk in your sleep? What are some of the silly things you have said?

Steven and I both do. Sometimes what we said was so ridiculous we remember it first thing in the morning. And sometimes, it’s later in the day, or a few days later. 

Luckily, last night, I was awake, so I sent Steven a few emails:

Gah, still laughing. Steven laughed when he read the emails, too. He said he remembered saying that stuff.

And I am not trying to make fun of him! I do it too! A few times in the past several months, I have fallen asleep before Steven, then woken up* to the lights still on and insisted there was writing on the walls or ceiling. Yet, I can never make out what it says. Maybe, “You’re crazy! Go back to bed!”? Ha ha ha. 

*So maybe that is NOT sleep talking, if I am slightly awake. Oops. 

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By kilax, October 21, 2013 5:38 pm

… they hurt you.

As I was running by a park today, some kids yelled out “fat” at me. A couple of months ago, my neighbor yelled at me about my weight while I was running by. 

I don’t know what it is about this neighborhood… but these people seriously crack me up. Really. This makes me laugh. Their comments mean nothing to me. In fact, they say more about them, than me. The words don’t make me sad about me, but they do make me sad for the people saying them.  I really hope saying them gave them whatever feeling they were after, because I was not affected*. 

Kind of interesting that this happened today, as Anne and I were discussing bullying earlier in the day, and how we dealt with it in high school. I became an independent loner (in high school). And I really liked how I turned out. Still, I would wish that experience on no one!

*Except to be inspired to write this post. 

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By kilax, October 21, 2013 6:20 am

There’s a route through a neighborhood I seem to run quite often with a group of friends. It’s about two miles, and the road just winds and winds. We all agree, that despite each other’s wonderful company, man, do those two miles ever seem to drag!

Well, as a group we almost always run in the street, including on that route. When I run solo or double, I prefer the sidewalk, unless it’s covered in snow or super uneven.

So, I’d never run that route before, on the sidewalk. Always on the road. But during yesterday’s long run, I made it part of my route, and took the sidewalk.

Holy crap! It’s like I was on a new route! Being closer to the homes meant I was paying closer attention to them and what was going on between them and the street – the (Halloween!) decorations, the cars in the driveway (or blocking the sidewalk, grr), and especially the lines in the sidewalk.

Why the lines in the sidewalk? Well, first of all, since I hadn’t run the route on the sidewalk before (and since it was dark), I was watching for uneven spots. And secondly, the lines made me feel like I was making measurable progress. Running this route on the road always felt like I was on some endless winding path, but passing the lines in the sidewalk and crossing side streets told my brain I was making progress. It made the route seem shorter! So interesting (maybe only to me)!

Oh course, I do all my deep (ha ha) thinking on my early am long runs, and I started thinking about how the lines in the sidewalk – the “progress lines” – reminded me of how the best way to meet a goal is with little bits of progress, here and there. Not all leaps. Not all sprinting. Small and measurable.

If I was really cheesy I would talk about SMART goals and how uneven spots in the sidewalks could be “rough patches” in your progress, but haha, I won’t go there!

And, I promise, I am not trying to make this about running. I just happened to think about it then. 

Anyway. 

When do you do your “deep” thinking?

It’s kind of funny for me to call it deep, but, I guess it is my deepest thinking (ha ha) and it happens when I am running solo, especially in the dark. I think it’s because I am free of distractions, and my body is going on autopilot, so my brain just gets to wonder and ponder. 

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By kilax, October 20, 2013 11:19 am

Highlight of the Week: An easy, stress & pain-free long run that made me feel (more) confident about my upcoming marathon.

Monday | October 14, 2013: 4.1 m run (w/Adam) + teaching strength class
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 38°/39°, Time: 36:36, Pace: 8:56 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: cautious of the ankle/knee, but good!
Strength: Kettlebell & Step + Boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | October 15, 2013: 5 m run (w/Bobbi)
Loc: hood, Temp: 58°/58°, Time: 49:29, Pace: 9:54 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Wednesday | October 16, 2013: rest
Thursday | October 17, 2013: 7.1 m run (5 miles w/Adam)
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 48°/48°, Time: 1:04:53, Pace: 9:09 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, a bit of heartburn or something
Friday | October 18, 2013: teaching strength class + 5 m run
Strength: Kettlebell & Step + Boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 48°/49°, Time: 44:22, Pace: 8:52, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good
Saturday | October 19, 2013: 2.5 m run (Efit Social Walk/Run)
Loc: Independence Grove, Temp: 39°/41°, Time: 24:40, Pace: 9:53 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: not in the mood
Sunday | October 20, 2013: 20 m run (incl. 11 w/Bobbi)
Loc: Around Grayslake, incl. Rollins Savanna & Millennium Trail, Temp: 37°/43°, Time: 3:24:52, Pace: 10:15 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: energetic

Notes:

• So, I seem to have conditioned my body to think it wants to go #2 during my morning run. Okay, okay. This is my own fault. I normally go awhile after I wake up, and if I wake up and just go run… what do I expect? It’s just sooooo annoying. To me. And probably the people I am running with, too!
• UGH. Wednesday was my last day of furlough and taking it as a rest day made me soooo antsy, but my body needed it. I think Wednesdays will be my new rest days, anyway.
• My last ankle roll (10/12) immediately caused a kinetic chain reaction of pain up to my left knee. So I really had to take it easy this week, and ice the knee and let it rest. I even went out for one run, ran a tenth of a mile, and stopped, since it was being so weird. UGH! STUPID ACORNS AND APPLES AND OTHER CRAP FALLING FROM TREES!!!! Ha ha. I was super happy that my run on Sunday felt great. 
•  I passed last year’s running mileage this week. Woo hoo! Where are you at with your yearly goals?