Comments (3)

By kilax, May 31, 2015 6:03 pm

Highlight of the Week: A confidence boosting speedwork!

Monday | May 25, 2015: 7 m run (w/Bobbi!)
Loc: Grant Woods FP, Temp: 67°/71°, Time: 1:18:08, Pace: 11:10 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: tired and a bit hungry
Tuesday | May 26, 2015: rest
Wednesday | May 27, 2015: 6 m run (incl. 10 hill repeats) + 4 m run
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 63°/63°, Time: 1:02:08, Pace: 10:21 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: sore (glutes)
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 73°, Time: 36:41, Pace: 9:10, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Thursday | May 28, 2015: 5 m run (incl. 4×800, w/Kelly)
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 59°/57°, Time: 45:38, Pace: 9:07 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good
Friday | May 29, 2015: teaching strength class + 5 m run
Strength: Lebert – bodyweight & kettlebells, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 70°/70°, Time: 49:27, Pace: 9:53, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, super sweaty!
Saturday | May 30, 2015: 20 m ride
Bike Time: 1:15:10, Pace: 16.0 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but butt got sore
Sunday | May 31, 2015: 13 m run + 4 m walk (w/Steven) + 10 m ride
Loc: Round Lake, Temp: 43°/48°, Time: 2:10:45, Pace: 10:03 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good
Bike Time: 39:28, Pace: 15.2 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good

Notes:

• I was surprised the 4×800 workout went as well as it did Thursday am. I woke up with a headache and felt out of it. Right before the workout, I told Kelly my legs haven’t felt like my own lately – they just feel off (not injured), probably from all the hill work. I thought we’d be doing the 800s in 2:00 minutes, but we hit the first one right on pace at 3:40! Then each one got faster – 3:36, 3:32 and 3:30. Like I said – a total surprise!
• My body is getting acclimated to running in the heat and humidity… as long as it’s not sunny. Ha! I’ll take whatever I can get!
• We had heat and humidity most of the week then wind and cooler temps on the weekend (with rain on Saturday). I biked indoors to stay safe (and sane – I am not interested in cycling when it’s a steady wind over 15 mph, ha). It’s definitely boring compared to cycling outside, but I was able to ride two days in a row to try to get my body (mostly my butt!) used to that for RAGBRAI, so that’s good.
• I didn’t teach Monday because it was a holiday, so Friday’s workout felt a bit harder than it should have and I was SORE Saturday am. Sigh. I really need to get better about solo strength workouts <— broken record.
• May recap time! May was my month of hill work! I did four dedicated hill repeat workouts, and purposefully ran hills on four of my long runs. I probably haven’t gotten too much quicker on hills, BUT… I do think I am running them with better form, and without getting as out of breath. And when I see one now, I don’t dread it! I ran four doubles (two-a-day runs) in May to get ready for a relay in June. I also did my first outdoor bike rides this month (later than other years, oops!) and went on three walks. May was a good month! I ran 177.4 miles, and cycled 102.6 (monthly distance record for the year and twice of what I cycled last month). I taught eight strength classes and co-taught one Burn & Buff class.

Link to Training Week 292

Comments (63)

By kilax, May 29, 2015 6:13 am

Data wore his new bow tie to the vet yesterday and it was a hit!

They even asked to post a picture of him on their Facebook page! Aww, color this cat mama proud.

And… that was the extent of Data making me proud of him at the appointment*. Ha ha. Poor guy. After having to fast all day for a blood draw, he was NOT in the mood to be poked and prodded. He was a bit testy.

So much that they had to put him under to take his blood. Normally when they do this, they shave a little bit of his leg, like so:

This time, for whatever reason, they did his chest!

Oh my gosh, Data looks so goofy. He won’t be entering a beauty pageant anytime soon! Maybe I should have him wear the bow tie all the time until his fur grows back, to distract from the shaved patch?! Ha ha.

But the good thing is, he had a clean bill of health (this was his annual check-up) and I am hoping the blood results will say the same when we get them back on Monday!

*Actually, I am proud that he was doing so well at that point! He had quite the day.

Edited to add this rant, since I am already talking about Data: Someone asked me and Steven if we plan on starting a family. I gestured to myself, Steven and Data and said “This is my family.”

“You know what I mean,” they responded, “Children. There’s something to say for being able to leave something behind in this world, beyond pay stubs. To say you created something.”

I was a little annoyed so I changed the conversation flow to say I love interacting with and hearing about my friends’ kids (I do) and am amazed by gestation (I am). But, I don’t need someone I’ve just met, who is only there giving me a sales quote, to tell me why I should have children.

Or to make fun of me for having a government job.

Or to ask me how many times I’ve “given in” and eaten meat since I became vegetarian.

Sigh.

Comments (50)

By kilax, May 28, 2015 7:18 am

This post is not sponsored and these aren’t affiliate links. I’ve found myself sharing my favorite running items lately (especially the tank) and wanted to share them here. It’s basically a snapshot in time of what I like to run in. 

Xaarlin gave me a Nike Dri-FIT tank top for Christmas that I am kind of in love with. And have been raving to all my running friends about.

Sorry to cut you out, Mamba

It just looks like another orange tank top, but the stripes in the fabric essentially have little vents in them that allow more air to pass through the tank. Paired with how light it is, it keeps you cooler than a traditional top. And it almost feels like you’re running without a shirt on at all. Woot woot!

After I wore this tank and realized how much I loved it, I decided to try to shop around and find more. Unfortunately, this exact tank is no longer on the Nike site (this is the most similar), but I did find one on the clearance section in my local running store, and just saw them for sale on 6pm! Yeah… I am going to get a few more. I know this is what I will be wearing all summer long. (I should note, there are complaints online about how “delicate” the tank is, and that it snags easy. Yeah, it does – it’s that kind of fabric. I’m careful not to let velcro touch mine, but I don’t really sweat it if it gets a snag – it happens. Also, it’s long, and runs a bit big.)

Most of my other tanks feel stifling compared to this one, especially the ones with shelf bras in them. It’s probably better I replace some of that old stinky stuff in closet anyway!

Alright, so you know I am in love with that tank. What else will you see me wearing this summer?

• Champion Women’s T-Back Sports Bra – I buy these a cup size smaller to keep everything in place. The cup seam placement is key for me on these (that’s all I’ll say about that!).
• Nike Dri-FIT Touch Breeze Tank – See love letter above.
• Champion Women’s Absolute Bike Short – Don’t be mislead by the name – it’s not a bike short with padding! I think it’s called that because of the longer 7″ inseam, which is perfect for me. These aren’t compression, but they aren’t baggy, and stay in place. They keep me un-chafed (when I use Vaseline in all the right places).
• ASICS Women’s GEL-Cumulus – My go to shoe since late October 2010. I also wear the Nimbus from time to time, the GEL-Lyte33 for racing flats, and the GEL-Scout for trails.
• ASICS Intensity Low Cut Socks – These socks fit my bigger feet and have the right amount of padding and breathability. They dry out quick when they get wet (which is rare, like when I go through a deep puddle – they really let my toes breath, otherwise).

What’s your running uniform? Does any of it match mine?

Comments (15)

By kilax, May 27, 2015 7:58 am

Sometimes I’m not sure if I’ve brought enough with me to the office.

Surely, there must be something I forgot?

Ha ha.

We had bouts of rain and sun yesterday, which was making me feel annoyed – just give me a cloudy, rainy day (I’ve been craving one)!

But I was no longer annoyed when I left to see a client after work. I forgot what that combo can create:

I was driving in my neighborhood and caught the rainbow in my peripheral and immediately pulled over to snap a pic. Wow! It was stunning. I got to enjoy it on my drive, as well, until it disappeared (photo below not taken while pulled over… NOT a good idea).

Seeing that was definitely the highlight of my day!

Comments (7)

By kilax, May 26, 2015 6:09 am

Hey! I finally used some of those college textbooks I insisted on saving!

As weight, while (half-assedly) blocking this scarf:

The edges were completely curled in, which made for an interesting skinny scarf look, but not quite the look I was going for.

Of course, I didn’t research much (like… at all) about blocking before I did it. Maybe I should get better about that…

But hey! It’s flat now, and I was able to stretch it out a bit, too. I would have knitted the scarf a bit longer, but I got to the end of the skein* and am not buying another one just to use a little bit of it. Luckily, the scarf is going to someone who’s petite!

Ha ha, not Data though.

Unlike the last scarf I made, I liked the way this one looked the entire time I was working on it, and enjoyed working on it, once I finally got it going. I think I’ll use this pattern again, especially since I cast off the wrong way and would like to figure out how to do it correctly next time.

After I do a few more projects, I want to start working on holiday gifts which means I can’t post them here since a few friends and family read the blog. Guess you’ll be seeing a lot of knitting posts in January!

fvggred<— a message from Data
*A few people have asked me if I used various skeins for this or one – it’s all one! It’s I Love this Yarn in Songbird.

Comments (7)

By kilax, May 24, 2015 4:44 pm

Highlight of the Week: Runs with friends (my last 12 runs had been solo)!!!

Monday | May 18, 2015: 5 m run (w/Kelly!) + teaching strength class
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 72°/75°, Time: 47:24, Pace: 9:29 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: okay but HOT
Strength: 2 dumbbell/box mixed mode w/core, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | May 19, 2015: 7 m run (w/Kelly)
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 47°/46°, Time: 1:08:23, Pace: 9:46 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good/happy it was so cool!
Wednesday | May 20, 2015: rest
Thursday | May 21, 2015: 5 m run (incl. 6×400, w/Kelly)
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 44°/44°, Time: 45:28, Pace: 9:06 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: heavy
Friday | May 22, 2015: teaching strength class + 3 m run (w/Dawn) + 3 m run
Strength: 2 dumbbell/box mixed mode w/core, Difficulty: medium, Felt: okay
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 42°/43°, Time: 29:30, Pace: 9:50, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 54°/54°, Time: 26:56, Pace: 8:58 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: okay/sleepy
Saturday | May 23, 2015: 30 m ride + 4 m run (incl. 10 hill repeats)
Loc: Prairie Trail, Temp: 49°/64°, Time: 2:14:24, Pace: 13.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, wanted to continue
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 69°/69°, Time: 39:01, Pace: 9:45 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: too hot and thirsty
Sunday | May 24, 2015: 14.2 m run (w/Rachel)
Loc: Nordic Trail System, Temp: 58°/64°, Time: 3:08:17, Pace: 13:16 avg, Difficulty: medium then easy, Felt: good

Notes:

• Kelly and I got to run together this week! YAY! I really missed my training partner. I’m happy our schedules linked up again this week. But I would be lying if I said my body is still used to our 4:00/4:30 am wake-up calls. Nope. Nope, nope, nope! I was crashing midday on Tuesday and Thursday! I’ll get used to it again.
• Yay for a few runs in the 40 degree temps this week! What a treat! I wouldn’t mind the random cold day or two like that this summer…
• I made it to 100 miles for the month! I know, the month isn’t over, but the last two years, May has been a 100-mile month streak killer, so I was happy to get past that.
• My training is so unfocused right now. Each week I try to get in a hill sesh (for the half I am running in June), a speed sesh (to try to keep some speed), a double (to get ready for The Longest Day), a long run (to keep my endurance up) and a bike ride (to get ready for RAGBRAI). Oh. And there is that 20 mile trail race in July. So I need to start running trails soon (I did today, at least, and with Rachel – and what a fun time we had!). I actually like doing a variety of things each week, but I understand that being so unfocused means I will do nothing well. Just mediocre. But since I run for fun, and my #1 goal is always to show up at the start line healthy and then have a good time (fun, not clock time) at the race, that works for me! Maybe I will focus on something in the fall. Or maybe not!

Link to Training Week 291

Comments (17)

By kilax, May 22, 2015 7:05 am

Make them in to art!

Steven ordered new brake shoes for my car in February, and when he and my dad began to install him, they found out he was shipped the wrong part. So they went to three different auto parts stores and realized the wrong item is listed for our car in all of the catalogs! They resorted to looking at brake shoes from several similar models until they found the right one. Fun, right?

And what are brake shoes? The owl’s wings! Beyond that? No idea.*

We didn’t keep the unused shoes in the garage with the intention of using them for a welding project, but when Steven had the idea to make something for our neighbor Jen for her birthday, and I told him she likes owls, it seemed like a perfect use for them!

We spent a bit of time looking at pictures of owls to decide how we wanted our caricature to appear, then laying out the pieces of metal to get the right look.

When Steven went to work on it the first time though, he found out that he couldn’t weld the can bottoms directly to the shoes – the weld went right through it. So we waited until we ate more canned young corn, to try again (hee hee). The second time, he attached the cans to the ears, and ears to the wings, and that seemed to hold better.

Steven decided he wanted to rust the medal. Here is what it looked like before:

To get the rusty look, he first “etched” it (sprayed it) with vinegar so that the acid in the vinegar would eat the medal. Then he sprayed it with a solution of vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and salt, and that makes it rust.

Ta da! Rusty Owlie (I know, so original with our names). We’re excited to see where our neighbor puts it!

*Just kidding, after reading this draft, Steven explained them to me.

Comments (20)

By kilax, May 20, 2015 7:57 am

*Not really an expert

When I was chatting with my mom on Mother’s Day, she mentioned my dad was trying to glue cracks in a car dashboard together and it wasn’t holding. She said they were having a hard time finding the right kind of glue.

“Why didn’t you ask me?” I said. “I spent years building models in college! I am the glue expert!”

Of course, after saying that, I promptly forgot about it (since I don’t have to build models any more THANK GAWD)… until last Friday night when my dad hands me a dash and says “Okay, glue expert, tell me what I need.”

Oops. Ha ha.

We went to the hobby store Friday and got the glue I worked with (the most, anyway) in college. We glued the cracks on Saturday. On Sunday, we confirmed they were holding. Yay, success!

This post isn’t actually about glue though. It’s about how good it felt to be able to help my dad with something. All my life, he’s been helping me, doing things for me. It was nice to be able to help him with something for a change.

I felt the same way yesterday when I helped my mom with a write-up for work. It feels good to think I’ve acquired some skills that can assist other people, and especially my family!

And not related, but I have to share this cutie picture of me and Steven that I found when I was looking for the photo above. Awww. Young love!

Photo is from October or November 2002, not June, ha.

I’ll put this here since it’s a total First World Problem rant and doesn’t warrant its own post.

The good thing about working from home is that I don’t have to spend money on keeping my professional wardrobe up to date.

The bad thing about working from home is that when I have an important meeting and need to snaz it up a bit, I feel like everything in my closet is super outdated and blah. Ugh.

So I just keep wearing the same blouse and blazer combo and feeling grateful that my meetings are with different clients or that if they are with the same ones, that they are spread out enough that they might not notice the repeat outfit…

Maybe I’ll get a few new pieces at some point. Maybe. But I’d rather spend my money on running shoes and races. Ha!

Comments (23)

By kilax, May 19, 2015 6:29 am

Has anyone ever asked to use you as a reference on a resume?

Probably, right?

This year is the first time I’ve been asked! But, I’ve been asked by three people, who all have jobs and are looking to change things up. That’s promising – the market must be getting better and people feel comfortable to try to move around! And it’s promising that someone values my opinion enough to ask me to be a reference (or maybe I am a last resort… muah ha ha… er…).

Whatever the reason, it’s exciting to see people putting themselves out there and looking for something that’s a better fit for them! (Says the girl who will probably stay at her government job for life.)

What’s a post without pictures? Let’s talk about knitting so I can throw some in!

I gave my mom the washcloths for my grandma this weekend. I decided to throw a sponge on the package to mess with her. Ha!

I was happy to see she got a kick out of it:

And that she liked the washcloths:

I hope her friends enjoy receiving them as birthday gifts!

My mom and I picked out yarn this weekend for her washcloths. I got one done for her while she was here (and gave her the first two crummy ones I ever knitted and a monogrammed “I” one I made in March):

Those will be fun to work on! I hope to have more done before I see her again in two and a half weeks!

And I finally started on this scarf I’ve been itching to get going on. Man, the pattern is NOT complicated, but I misread it a few times (huge thanks to Mica for setting me straight), and had to re-cast on 10-15 times because I messed it up so much. Now that I’m finally in a groove, I am really digging it! Maybe I will keep it for me instead of its original intended recipient, ha! (Note: I haven’t knitted anything for myself yet…)

Comments (22)

By kilax, May 18, 2015 6:29 am

If I was one of the youngest people at the last concert I went to… I think I was one of the oldest at this one! But look at me – two concerts in one year! Woot!

Steven and I saw Milky Chance at the Turner Hall Ballroom on Thursday night in Milwaukee. Soon after I realized I love their sound last September, I stumbled across a Facebook post that they were touring in the US this year, so I grabbed tickets to their Milwaukee show.

This was my first time attending a “standing room only” show. And my first time seeing a certain drug (that is legalized in other states but not Wisconsin) in person. Ha. You could say there was a very eclectic crowd of mostly young people there. Seriously, I heard one girl say her mom told her to come home “immediately after the show.” Giggle. I am not sure why I was surprised to see people smoking there – I always told Steven I thought Milky Chance was that kind of music.

But back to it being standing room only. It was neat to be so close to the stage! Cozy, but neat! I never imagined I would be that close to the artists.

I also never imagined how frustrated I would feel by the people taking photos and videos the whole time, texting others, uploading to Facebook, snap-chatting, etc. Sure, take a photo or two to document that you were there – I took three photos of the band, no shame! But the whole. damn. time?! Put your freaking phones down! My view of the stage had several glowing phones in it, most of the time (hence why I know what they were doing on them).

Yes, I see the irony of me using my phone to take this photo, and why you might think it makes me a hypocrite. Ha. 

In fact, it was so bad that the lead singer said “take a journey with me, put your phones in your pockets, use your eyes and ears.” Sigh. Just be IN the moment, people. Did that stop them? Nope.

Then at the movies this weekend, I saw someone recording parts of Pitch Perfect 2 on their cell phone. Really? REALLY?! Grrrr.

But other than that, I really enjoyed the show. A band I’d never heard of, FMLYBND, opened for them, and I am looking forward to checking out some of their songs on iTunes.  And Milky Chance sounded almost JUST like they do on their album. Minus the bass being turned up WAY too much and an added harmonica player (eh, I could do without). I really liked the stage set up and lighting during the show.

Steven isn’t as familiar with their music as I am, so he listened to the songs the week leading up to the concert so he’d know what he was listening to. Cause we know that people get more pleasure from songs they are familiar with! I certainly do, and he was happy he had listened to them in advance. They did play two songs that aren’t on their album though, and I liked them! I wonder when they will be available on iTunes!