I arrived home from my trip Sunday to find Steven working in the garage on this:
Meet Fluffy, the cat!
I smiled so big when I saw he made me this for me while I was out of town! What a sweetie!
Steven’s had a MIG welder for awhile, and recently purchased a TIG welder so he could weld some different types of metals (and expand his tool collection, of course!). He wanted to work on his TIG welding skillz, which requires a lot of coordination and practice, so he made Fluffy! Fluffy is composed entirely from random parts and pieces Steven’s saved from various assembly kits (hope we don’t need any of those pieces in the future, ha ha!).
As suspected, Data does NOT like having a sibling.
Data was actually scared to eat his dinner around Fluffy. Oops. Guess we need to keep them separated for awhile!
Minneapolis is a town I went to a few times as a kid. It was a (short?) three+ hour drive from my hometown, and I remember going with my family, as well as on school field trips there (I think I saw Phantom of the Opera and A Christmas Carol several times each in the Guthrie Theater).
But since I was young when I went, I hardly remember anything about the city, except for the theater. I was excited to visit Minneapolis again as an adult, and make more of an effort to understand where I was and what I was seeing. And it was great to do that with Bobbi!
Ha ha, however, if you read any of my Mexico trip recaps, you know I am not really in to planning out things these days, so I didn’t actually have anything in mind I wanted to see in Minneapolis. My #1 request to Bobbi was that we get a hotel with a hot tub. Which we did. And it was lovely to soak in after the race.
Then we had a big decision to make – should we take naps, or go do something? I mentioned the Mill City Museum that I saw during the race to Bobbi and asked if she wanted to check it out. If it ended up being lame, we’d only be out $11. Each. Ha ha.
But, it actually ended up being incredibly NOT lame, and really interesting! I know – who thought learning about flour milling would be interesting, at all?! Not I!
The way the facade of the mill is preserved is really neat:
You guys. This mill was a bit doomed. It opened in 1874 as the Washburn Mill and… exploded in 1878. Did you know flour was super explosive? Yeah, me either.
It was rebuilt in 1880, and lasted more than four years this time (well, the building did – there were still several accidents causing worker death and injury…). Actually, it lasted awhile. Washburn-Crosby became General Mills in 1928, and the building wasn’t destroyed again until 1928, by a fire.
It stayed open until 1965, then was abandoned… well, except for by some homeless people who decided to move in. Then they started a fire that burned down a lot of it in 1991. Apparently, the historical society already had plans to make it in to a museum, so they called the fire department during the fire and asked them to save as much of the facade as possible. Hence, it looking the way it does (I think it looks cool!). It opened as a museum in 2003.
So after learning that history, I had to get this magnet, which makes me giggle:
Hee hee hee.
Our admission included access to the gallery (derr), to the ruin courtyard, a ride in the Flour Tower (!!!) and a film viewing – Minneapolis in 19 Minutes Flat.
The Flour Tower tour was so cool! It kind of reminded me of the Tower of Terror is Disney World – minus the horizontal movement (and dropping, ha!). We were in a giant elevator with stadium seating, and it went up and down through the different levels of the mill to show us what went on on each floor!
I also didn’t realize this before, but milling was (is?) crazy complicated:
It involved moving the grain all over the building until it was finally the finished product. We just saw 5-6 rooms (with animation and video in most), but it gave a really good idea of what it was like to work in a mill (crazy labor intensive, for most people – like the guys who hauled 150+ pound bags on flour on to train cars all. day. long.).
Then the elevator took us to the top of the tower and we were actually in the building next door, where they took the grain to clean it (you know, get insects and rodents, etc. out – and yeah, they used to just dump that waste in the Mississippi River!). We got to see the equipment they used to clean the grain, and got a great view of the city!
Then we rode a different, all glass elevator back down and saw more exhibits, the funny (and educational) film, and we played in the water lab for a bit. Okay, I mostly played. Ha ha! The mill is located by the river because it used the power of Saint Anthony Falls to run, via giant turbines in the water. So there were all these water exhibits (meant for children) that I had to play with, to learn about powering the mill, the apron they built on the falls to control it, and about transferring logs down the river. Hee hee. Now there is only one mill in the Minneapolis area, and it’s powered by electricity.
I was impressed by the museum and found it super interesting! I would recommend it to anyone visiting the area. It has something for everyone (oh yeah, like the baking lab (WITH SAMPLES!!!) we missed because of our Flour Tower tour time – they were eating brownies when we got off the elevator!).
Of course, after visiting a museum about flour, we were pretty hungry. And for CARBS!!! We went to Pizza Lucé for dinner. Pizza Lucé has been a favorite stop of Bobbi’s after she does Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth (she loves the Baked Potato Pizza) , and she didn’t even realize it was a chain, or that they had so many vegan options. I went a bit crazy, and loved it!
Gah. Everything was SO. GOOD. I was in heaven. We were both in heaven. We left there very happy.
In fact, we were very happy with our trip! Everything worked out nicely – we got in to town at a decent time Friday night (8:30), found everything easily for the race, I was able to help Bobbi with navigation while she drove, and we enjoyed the museum and LOVED dinner. It was a great trip!
We got wild Saturday night – in our pajamas at 7:30 and asleep by 9:30 (I wanted to stay up to watch my boyfriend on SNL, but was exhausted, and wanted to make sure I could get up to do my speedwork in the am). We hit the road at 7:45 the next morning. It was a quick trip, but a lot of fun! I feel lucky I got to spend this time with Bobbi – our schedules have not linked up very well to hang out this year, and I miss her (despite our daily communication and seeing her at Efit class)! I need one-on-one time with my besties!
And more importantly, I can say I did my first race (and sadly, run) of the year with Bobbi!
Back in November, I asked Bobbi if she wanted to do something together for the holidays instead of exchange gifts, and she loved the idea. A race and girls’ weekend away? Hells yeah!
We decided we should do something in Minnesota (Bobbi’s home state) and Bobbi quickly found this 10 Mile* race.
The Hot Dash was accurately titled – it was in the mid 30s when we started and 40° when we finished – that’s hot to us! And so, so sunny! HEAT WAVE!!! We had a cold, strong wind from the northwest, but other than that, it was a beautiful day!
The race started at 9:00, which was awesome. I don’t dig a late start in the summer, but I can, in the winter – that meant we got to sleep in until 6:00! We had breakfast delivered to our room at 7:00 (both of us had oatmeal – and both of us decided it wasn’t enough pre-race food later, oops) and headed to the race around 7:30**. We easily found the parking garage and went to packet pickup (LOVE same day pickup!). I like the half zip they gave us, and really liked the orange race hat they were selling, so we both got them and wore them during the race!
The course started with an out and back on the east side of the Mississippi River, then crossed over to the west side of the river just before mile 7. There was a half mile out and back on the west side, then we ran south and crossed the Stone Arch Bridge (over the river again, back to the east side) before running north to the finish.
The first two miles were crowded, but it evened out quickly after that. Bobbi and I agreed that the first out and back was rather meh*** – some residential, but mostly industrial, with the turnaround in a park:
The most eventful part was a driver trying to exit their apartment complex on to race traffic during the second mile – they kept budging their car closer and closer to the runners as the course marshal yelled at them to stop. Yikes!
The course marshals were great (as were all the volunteers) – along with the ones protecting us from idiot drivers, there were many telling us where to turn, and warning us about icy spots.
We kept our splits fairly even in the first five miles – between 10:15-10:21 pace. Somehow we speed up to low 10:00s for miles 6 and 7 (surprising, since mile 6 included one of the only two hills – the other was in the park at the first turnaround). Oops.
Right before getting on a bridge to cross to the west side of the river
Shortly after that we both started to feel hungry and ate the gels we brought. The water stations were spread out unevenly – at miles 2.5, 4.5 and at 8 – it would have been nicer to have that last one closer to when we took our gels. I am sure if it was though, I would be saying it would have been nicer to have it closer to the end. Ha ha. And of course, I could have NOT been lazy and brought my own water – probably should have with the amount of sun we had! (I’ve been super lazy with hydration this winter and it’s time for that to end.)
I felt better after eating my Clif gel, and was digging the second part of the course. We were running next to the downtown Minneapolis area, and could actually SEE the river, which made it much more interesting for me.
We definitely slowed down, though! Our last three miles were our slowest, ha ha – 10:26, 11:02 and 11:21. Oops – started out too fast!
I enjoyed running across the Stone Arch Bridge in the last mile. I mentioned to Bobbi that I thought it would be a really cool place to train. You could see so much from it!
The black building jutting out of the light pole on the right is the Guthrie Theater – a place I went a few times as a kid.
They announced our names right before we crossed the finish line, which I always think is fun (our final time was 1:45:40). I was really looking forward to the finish line food. I had run 18 miles the day before and didn’t replenish correctly after that and… was feeling it! I scarfed down my banana, chips and cinnamon raisin bread.
After we picked up our checked bags we went to check out the post race celebration area. There was free beer, some hot dish (for sale), and a beard contest, lumberjack contest and lumberjill (not sure if that’s a word or not) contest.
We got there as the beard contest was underway, so we missed it. Darn! But! We did see some fine beards on course, as well as some funny lumberjack costumes! It’s always fun to see people get in to the spirit of the race! Ha ha, which writing this, I wonder if I really did! I didn’t take the race super seriously – running long the day before, not fueling properly, not really doing any research on the race… oops. I just wanted to run with Bobbi and have a good time, which we did! There’s something to be said for doing a race just for the fun of it (and as a way to explore an area you’ve never run in before!) – that’s what I prefer most of my races to be!
*The race was actually called something else (with a St Patrick’s Day theme) when Bobbi found it, then got re-branded as the “Hot Dash” before we signed up. It’s run by the same people who do the Twin Cities Marathon (and other races) and was very well done. There was a 5K option for this race, too.
**Bobbi’s mom set up a hotel for us, and it was a great location from the city – just a few miles away and easy to get to!
***The newly named race promoted a new course, too. I wonder if this is the course from the old race, and what people who had done it before thought of the new course.
Highlight of the Week: Racing in a new state, with Bobbi! And having a decent long run (with Kelly!) despite the cold and high winds.
Monday | March 2, 2015: 10 m run (first 8 w/Kelly) Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 10°/7°, Time: 1:33:42, Pace: 9:22 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: really good
Strength: Kettlbells & Bench, + boxing, Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: okay Tuesday | March 3, 2015: 5 m run Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 26°/25°, Time: 52:03, Pace: 10:24 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: surprised by the rapid snowfall Wednesday | March 4, 2015:3.2 m run + 10 m bike
Loc: hood, Temp: 18°, Time: 29:02, Pace: 9:04 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: surprisingly good
Bike Time: 34:22, Pace: 17.5 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good/normal bike boredom Thursday | March 5, 2015: rest Friday | March 6, 2015: teaching strength class + 18 m run (last 12 w/Kelly) Strength: Ketllebells & Bench, + boxing, Difficulty: medium, Felt: okay
Loc: hood, Temp: 2°/18°, Time: 2:56:57, Pace: 9:48, Difficulty: easy to medium, Felt: good until the last 2, then tired Saturday | March 7, 2015:Hot Dash 10 Mile w/Bobbi (+1 mile WU before) Loc: Minneapolis, Temp: 36°/40°, Time: 1:45:40, Pace: 10:34 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: okay Sunday | March 8, 2015:7 m run (incl. 4×400 & 4×800) Loc: Minneapolis hotel treadmill, Time: 1:04:02, Pace: 9:09 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: okay
Notes:
On Monday I was thinking about how I hadn’t ordered any running shoes in awhile, so I decided to look on Amazon for fun to see how much they were and HOLY COW my size and style was $43!!! Can you believe I only ordered two pairs? Ha ha.
I originally intended to do my long run Tuesday morning, before work. I thought it would be better to do it then, than the day before the 10 mile race (like I ended up doing). I was all set – I started running at 4:00 am and Kelly was going to meet me at 5:00 am for her long run… and then snow started coming down thick and fast around 4:30. I couldn’t see, I doubted cars could see me, and the roads were SLICK. So I called it. Ugh. Kind of weird to start off thinking you’re doing 18-20 and end up with 5! I am happy it still worked out on Friday for Kelly to meet me for our long runs!
I realized it a few days late, but Monday was my two year anniversary teaching strength training classes at Efit!
Dad, Will and I signed up for RAGBRAI this week! Dad and I are riding Wednesday and Thursday, and Will is riding Thursday.
Gina got in to the NYC Marathon via lottery this week! I am so stoked for her! To this day, NYC is still my favorite marathon, and I bet it will have even more meaning for Gina, since she grew up there!
I am super stoked that I raced in a new state this weekend, and that I got to race with Bobbi!
I signed up for a 5K in Iowa on April 4th, and won’t do the one I was planning on this Saturday. The new one is flat, flat, FLAT!!! (But has a TON more people – around 1500!)
Once we booked our tickets to Mexico, I started getting really serious with my Duolingo usage (currently on a 170 day streak!). I wanted to re-learn as much Spanish as possible before our trip. I knew I’d probably be around a lot of people who spoke English, but I wanted to give my Spanish a whirl. Why not, right?
Ha, the only problem was that I practiced by listening to the app and writing in Spanish (in the app and with friends, sometimes). Not so much spoken. So… there were a few funny incidences in Mexico, when my brain didn’t work fast enough. Or, almost worked right, but not quite.
There was that time Gina and I were looking at swimsuit covers in Cozuhel and I asked the sales clerk if I could buy two for a certain price. “Quiero comprar un vestido en rojo por mi hermano!” Ha. Ha ha. The sales clerk definitely laughed (in a nice way) that I said I wanted to buy it for my brother (hermano), not my sister (hermana). Oops! “¿Tu hermana, sí?” Yep, I meant my sister. But like Gina said, someone might go in and buy one for their brother (not my brothers)!
The time I couldn’t remember the word for tip, so just guessed and said tipo. Um, that would be type, Kim. It took the waiter awhile to figure out that one (“¿incluye el tipo?” made NO sense). He finally said “¿propina?” Ha ha. I remembered the word after a few days!
There was that time I thought I was doing really well with my Spanish, reserving una mesa por cinco at Babe’s, when the hostess asked for my nombre and I got really confused and thought she wanted my phone number. No, Kim, nombre = name. She didn’t say número.
But you know what? She didn’t give up on me! And that is what I liked, and noticed a lot – even though I was making mistakes with my Spanish, people were patient with me, and let me try, which made me feel empowered to keep trying.
There were quite a few times when I was practicing before the trip that Duolingo taught me a word I didn’t think I would use (or didn’t teach me one I thought I would need) and it actually came up in Mexico…
Like, escalera. Ladder. Why yes indeed, I did have a half English / half Spanish conversation with the man giving me a tattoo on the beach and ladders came up. “¿Cómo se dice escalera en inglés?” “Ladder.” “Ladder, like leather?” Ha ha. So I tried to explain ladder vs. leather pronunciation. Luckily, as someone said to me when I told them this story, “lather” didn’t come up. (This guy also wanted to know the English word for “little people”… interesting conversation indeed.)
The Duolingo app also wanted me to know the word for chain, cadena. Gah, it took me forever to remember that one. And while I did not speak it while I was there, yes, we passed una cadena on every walk to the beach or Fifth Avenue and I always thought about how good it was I learned that word. Ha ha.
It was also very important to Duolingo that I knew tijeras, scissors. When the heck would I need to know that? Oh yes, when the security on the way home stops me because of the knitting scissors in my bag!
Duolingo retaught me spoon (cuchara) and knife (cuchillo) but never fork (tenedor). I didn’t memorize tenedor before I left and was worried I would have to ask for one (just kidding… I didn’t really worry about that). Know what I did have to ask for? Tres cucharas, to share sherbet with Steven and Luca on our date night. It made me laugh so hard that I used the word I learned, not the other one. Duolingo, how did you know?!
Speaking of Steven, he didn’t learn any Spanish for the trip (he took German in college) but he did a fantastic job with it there. He asked me a lot of questions about what words were, and memorized them. I would tell him how to ask a question in Spanish (then he’d ask it), then I would tell him what the person said (more or less, of course) and how to answer back. It was fun to share my (very limited) knowledge with him!
And it took both of us awhile after we got back to stop saying hola and gracias to people! I still say sí, all the time, like I did before.
I am still continuing with the app, and have seriously thought about getting a tutor or taking a class to work on my skillz! Spanish is fun to learn! “¡Me gustan las reglas dela lengua!” I like the rules of the language… as I told our boat driver in Tulum after he mentioned how hard it is to learn English. Yeah, I said a bunch of messed up stuff to them in Spanish too. Ha ha. I could keep going and going with this post…
The day I come back from my girls’ weekend with Bobbi!
The start of Daylight Saving Time. Dun, dun dun…
Slim chance, I know, but is anyone else NOT looking forward to more daylight in the evenings?
Nah?
Didn’t think so.
I was just liking seeing this at the end of my morning runs:
THE SUN RISING.
Oh well. It’ll come back soon enough.
I do strangely enjoy darkness at night – it makes me feel like I can be lazy and it’s okay. If the sun’s out, I feel like I should be outside, doing something.
But… I’ve mentioned that before. The shift to spring is something I struggle with each year. trgfffffffffffffhyuj <—– ha ha, a message from Data. Apparently he thinks I’ve written about this enough before! (Or just wants to be fed?)
Guys! I just found out about this awesome 5K training plan! And my older brother, of all people, told me about it.
In fact, he developed it! Here it is!
Of course, you’ll need to swap out your own dates for your race. Nick, my brother, is considering a April 4th race, so he wouldn’t get drunk on April 3rd, then he will drink the two NOS energy drinks before the race on April 4th. If you were considering a race this Saturday, March 7th, for example, you would make sure to not get drunk the night of the 6th, then drink the two NOS energy drinks before your race on the 7th.
I have to admit, I did question this a bit, but Nick has the credentials to back up his expertise:
Well, there ya go! I should give this a try for the 5K I am considering on March 14th*! It sounds a lot easier than actually training!
Ha ha ha. The full story is that Nick mentioned he wanted to do a 5K when he was in town for mine two weekends ago, so I found one in our hometown on April 4th, and asked him if he needed help with a training plan. To which he replied with all this. Ha! Only… I am laughing, but he is NOT joking. Which makes it even funnier, to me. He did give me permission to share his awesome training plan, and even offered to answer questions!
*I think I would rather race this flat course in Iowa on April 4th than my course out here on March 14th. We’ll see what happens!
Day 7! Our last full day in Playa del Carmen. Cry!
Funny that this was well over two weeks ago on February 11th! I’ve been enjoying reviewing my photos and writing these recaps. I like having this sort of thing documented, even if it’s only interesting to me. Ha ha. Anyway…
I think this was Steven’s favorite day in Mexico, because… we spent the morning driving a dune buggy in the jungle!
One time when I was running in Playacar I saw a bunch of people drive by on dune buggies and was all “OMG I NEED TO DO THAT.” I got back and told Steven about it and he had the same reaction. Luckily, we were able to get a tour booked for our last full morning in Playa del Carmen!
Similar to our snorkel adventure, we didn’t really know what this excursion included (or, when it would be over). We read this blog review of it the night before and freaked out – in a good way and a bad way. Good because, we’d get to see a cenote! We had no idea the tour would include that when we signed up – we had been trying to figure out how to visit a cenote, and here was our answer! And, bad because it sounded like an all day excursion, including a visit to a village to hand out candy (???), and stopping at a place for lunch that did not serve vegan food (heaven forbid I miss a meal!).
It was very clear on the website that your clothes were going to get trashed, and that you’d be muddy and want something covering your face. I was worried about this, because I stopped to get bandannas before the trip, but couldn’t find any. Happily, the tour guides had bandannas and goggles (which they pronounce “googles,” hee hee, because they were French) for us. And fortunately, we found out the tour would be over by 1:00 (because I wanted to spend our last afternoon at the beach!!!).
This business is run out of the owners’ home in Playacar. The husband leads the tour from one buggy with an assistant, and the five other buggies follow him. We happened to be on a tour with a family from Canada – the mom and dad, and their three kids and partners. What a fun trip to take with your family (to Mexico) and what a fun excursion to do together. We found out they had been to Playa del Carmen many times before. I can see why people keep coming back!
For the first part of the tour, we drove on the highway to get gas. It was amusing to be driving a little dune buggy on the highway! I wonder if the other cars think it’s odd, or if it’s just another normal commute sighting?
After we got gas, the tour guide (how awesome that I never caught his name… oops) did tell us we’d be stopping in a Mayan village and that he likes to buy a few things to hand out to the people there. He said he likes to do it because the people don’t have much, and, as a thank you for us driving through their village each day on his dune buggy tour.
It felt odd to us. Especially to have people come rushing up when they see you show up, so you can hand things out. But we did participate. And really, we probably spent the equivalent of $6 on some noodles, oatmeal, and beans. But, it was never about the money. Just feeling put on the spot, really. Anyway.
It was eye-opening to see the conditions the families were living in. No plumbing. No electricity. I guess I got to see a real part of Mexico that I wasn’t ready for. Or expecting.
After that, we were on our way to the cenote. I was happy for the goggles and bandanna. It was dusty! Oh, and they came in handy when we drove through this:
Sigh. That water was so, so cold. Hence, the squealing in the video. And guess what doesn’t come out of your clothes? Jungle dirt, apparently. Ha ha! No worries. We knew we were going to get muddy!
Which made going in to the cenote all the more refreshing!
Ahh. I am just… so pleased we got to experience one of these. Apparently, this region of Mexico has tons of centoes (sink holes turned fresh water caves and underground rivers!). The water is clear, so you can see almost all the way to the bottom!
It was really neat when the sun beams shined in through the water!
We wanted to visit a cenote but so many of them around the area we were staying in were part of, for lack of a better word, amusement parks. We had looked for one in a natural area/park we could visit on our own, but came up with nothing. Luckily, that is exactly what our tour guide took us to – some random one in the jungle that the locals showed him and not many people know about! I can see why it’s gone unnoticed – it’s hidden! We walked on a rocky hilly path for awhile, then all of a sudden, it appeared!
We spent an hour or so there. Our tour guide brought snorkels and goggles, and we enjoyed exploring the water. I was also brave enough to climb in to the back of the cave and jump off one of the lower rock formations – but only once! Ha ha!
I didn’t realize it, but I had water on my GoPro lens (duh, make sense), so most of my photos didn’t turn out (the low lighting didn’t help, either). But I did get a short video of what it was like inside:
Such a cool space. That might be my favorite part of the trip, and I didn’t even know we’d get to do it! Wouldn’t it be amazing to live near one of those? We talked with a local there, who used to live in Washington state and missed cenotes while he was there, so he makes a point to visit that one every morning.
After that, back on the buggies, for the real jungle adventure. Before we were on somewhat open dirt roads like this:
Then it was on to more tree coverage and even more twists and turns:
Oh yeah, and a few more puddles:
Honestly, we were driving a long time (Steven drove the entire time)! I tracked where we went with my Garmin watch, and we spent over two and a half hours driving, and went over 40 miles (top speed of 34 mph). I enjoyed it, and I know Steven did, but I wonder if this excursion is for everyone. The dune buggies are loud, and smelly, and when you aren’t moving, you get pretty hot! I may or may have not fallen asleep on the ride back, too. Ha!
We stopped once for someone to use the bathroom, a few times to fix broken down buggies, to visit some native Mayans in the jungle, then we were back in Playacar, just after 1:00. The lunch mentioned in the blog post we read was no longer part of the trip, which was fine with us (they did provide a snack at the cenote, and water, though)!
Wish I would have known our buggy had a GoPro mount on the front! I would have brought the right adapter for it!
We took a taxi back to the condo (we were kind of muddy… oops) and ate some leftovers from the second Mexican feast we made, then headed over to a beach club,
where we enjoyed drinks and fries,
and where I got a new tattoo.
We met up with Gina, Steve and Luca (they spent the day on Isla Mujeres near Cancún) and walked on the beach a bit.
I was sad to be leaving. Sad it was our last night. And… sad my stomach decided to revolt against something I consumed. Yeah. The last night there was not pretty! The five of us had one last meal out, finding a place with several options for food, since Gina and I were so over Mexican cuisine at that point (the boys weren’t though!).
Steven and I shopped a bit after dinner and got him one last marquesita, and packed. I was in agony for a lot of it due to my stomach. Not much sleep that last night, and unfortunately, not because I was out partying!
Highlight of the Week: Kelly coming over at the crack of butt light* to do most of my long run with me Wednesday am / my dad coming to my Friday and Saturday Efit classes / my mom coming to the indoor track with me Friday!
Monday | February 23, 2015: teaching strength class
Strength: Body bars, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: hyper Tuesday | February 24, 2015: 8 m run Loc: hood, Temp: 30°/25°, Time: 1:11:02, Pace: 8:53 avg, Difficulty: first 6 easy, last 2 medium, Felt: surprisingly good Wednesday | February 25, 2015:14 m run (3-13 w/Kelly)
Loc: hood, Temp: 12°/4°, Time: 2:19:29, Pace: 9:58 avg, Difficulty: easy-ish, Felt: good once Kelly joined me! Thursday | February 26, 2015: 3 m run Loc: hood, Temp: 13°/13°, Time: 36:15, Pace: 12:04 avg, Difficulty:medium, Felt: unsafe in the dark and on the snow Friday | February 27, 2015: teaching strength class + 4.2 m run (incl. 2×1 mile) Strength: Body bars, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: great
Loc: LSC, Time: 35:40, Pace: 8:30, Difficulty: medium, Felt: sluggish, slow Saturday | February 28, 2015:teaching cycling class (20 m) Loc: Efit, Bike Time: 53:27, Pace: 22.5 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good Sunday | March 1, 2015:6 m run Loc: hood, Temp: 24°/24°, Time:5:24, Pace: 9:24 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Notes:
Ugh, this work week! My schedule got the best of me (I did my three hour commute Monday-Thursday) and I couldn’t get much in! I hope I don’t have another week like this for a while. I’m grateful I usually work from home and don’t typically waste so much time commuting (and feel so exhausted from it – how did I ever do it every workday for four years?!).
Awesome part of the week(end) – my parents were in town to visit (ha ha, okay, with the purpose of helping fix the brakes on my car), and I got to work out with both of them! Mom and I played Wii tennis Thursday night and went to the indoor track together Friday afternoon, and Dad came to my Friday morning strength class and Saturday morning cycling class!
I’m not sure what I was thinking, scheduling 3×1 miles repeats the week after a 5K! Oops! As it was, when I got to the indoor track to run, they told me it closed sooner than they did when I called to check closing time, so I was short on time to warm-up and get the entire workout in. After the second repeat was slower than the first, I took it as a sign to call it. Hope the next session is better! (Eating better would probably help, haha)
Ahh! It’s already March!!! Time for February recap. I ran 156.1 miles in February, and (indoor) cycled 46.4 (less than January for both). I taught eight strength classes, two fitness boxing classes, and one cycling class (exact same numbers as January!). I did zero strength sessions on my own. And I did not snowshoe. Ha ha. Slacker month? Eh, let’s blame it on the week long vacation!
*Ha ha, my mom said this once by accident, instead of the “buttcrack of dawn,” and it kind of stuck.
Hi! I'm Kim, a 34-year-old living in Chicagoland with my husband, Steven, and our cats, Khali, Apollo, and Starbuck. I work in the design industry (architecture), follow a vegan lifestyle, am addicted to running, and am an ACE certified personal trainer (working at Essential Fitness, LLC ("Efit"))! I write about a variety of topics, and consider this a "life" blog - a place I can share anything that's on my mind. Please visit the "About" page to get a better idea of who I am! :-)
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