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By kilax, June 10, 2016 6:56 am

Data and Steven wore their matching ties for Data’s vet appointment yesterday and the ladies in the office loved it!

When we came in, they asked to see his bowtie (he’s been wearing one to his appointments for years, that is why they ask), so I pointed out he was wearing a tie that matched his papa’s and they just gushed and gushed over him. And asked right away if they could take a picture for Facebook. Of course! They also insisted that I knit a matching headband for myself!

Our male veterinarian and his male assistant? No comment on the matching ties. Ha!

This visit was a bit different – it seems they’ve started doing some new stuff to try to make your pet more comfortable – they were playing calming music for Data, and the vet said he was wearing lavender and another scent to soothe Data. Interesting! Not sure it worked, but it’s cool they’re making an effort. I wonder if that’s a trend at veterinarian offices right meow?

Data had a good checkup. He’s down a pound and a few ounces from last year, and is in good shape. Everything looks good except a small part of his top gums on one side of his mouth. It’s probably time for his every-two-year teeth cleaning. I need to find another cute tie for that appointment!

And since I am already gushing about my cat, here’s a cute picture I grabbed of him yesterday on our bedroom balcony. He’s arguing that we should turn it in to a full catio.

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By kilax, June 9, 2016 6:07 am

• My chest and arm muscles have been so sore lately. But not from anything I am doing on purpose. It’s all from functional training – yard work!

• Our kitchen hood is completely installed now! It turned out to be a lot more work than expected – Steven and Will had figure out how to make all the equipment fit in a shorter than designed space, then Steven had to cut the metal enclosure. But it’s up, and working! It’s really nice to have the extra light above the stove.

• Steven has been wanting to try Red Robin takeout, and I kept telling him that defeats the point of their bottomless fry offer – you can’t ask for more once you get home! Ha ha. We ordered it once in April and didn’t get many fries (NOT the end of the world – we were plenty full), but Steven ordered it this week and told them he didn’t get many fries last time, so they sent him home with all this awesomeness. Ha. We had LOTS of extra fries. Fries for days.

• My dad heard through the grapevine that there was an accident on the bike trail where we wiped out – a friend of his mom’s saw an ambulance and gurney there! And now they’ve put up cones and signs. I hope no one else wipes out there!
• My website is running really slow and I don’t know how to fix it. Eek! Sorry if you’re dealing with it on your end! I always assume it my pos host messing things up, but maybe it’s actually on the wordpress side this time. Which means I probably won’t take the time to figure it out. Which means bye bye blog. Update: the tech guy I talked to today actually told me the truth – there is a slowness issue on the host’s end. 
• I am not a yoga person, but I would definitely try this kind of  yoga – kitten yoga (pdf here)! Aww! I saw this on Facebook because a college friend of mine is actually in the article! I wonder if there is something like this in Chicago.
• Today is my mom’s birthday! I snuck a special surprise in her birthday gift. Muah ha ha. She found it right away.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 101

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By kilax, June 8, 2016 6:23 am

My boss and I were in Indianapolis yesterday for a two hour meeting. Getting there involved my two hour train commute, then a three hour drive from Chicago, and the same on the way home. Which sounds horrible, but I was actually not dreading it, because I highly enjoy my boss’s company and was looking forward to all that time to chat (which was fun!).

But then it did get horrible on the way home, because I started to get a migraine. UGH. This happens often when I am in long work meetings, or traveling for work. I drink less water, because I don’t want to constantly be getting up from meetings to go to the bathroom and BOOM – headache. And we had a nicer, cooler, windy day, and the pressure change didn’t help my head either. Blah.

So we’re driving home and it hits me, bad. We pull over and get medicine and more fluids. I think I am feeling better, then all of a sudden, I get that feeling in my mouth like I am going to throw up. Awesome.

I tried to close my eyes and relax and will it to pass away, but I couldn’t get comfortable. I was constantly adjusting my seat, the AC, and taking my jacket on and off. Ugh.

Can you imagine doing all that in a car with your boss?

I’m not sure I would have mentioned it, or at least, showed my discomfort to the extent I did, with previous bosses, but my current boss is so kind, understanding, and relatable, I felt okay about it.

In fact, she is so kind, that she INSISTED on driving me the entire way home from Chicago, instead of having me get on the train home. So… she added an extra two hours to her commute, so that I would feel comfortable, and could sleep in the car.

How nice is that?

At first I didn’t want to inconvenience her, but I was getting so out of it with the headache that I went along with it. Ha. And I am happy I did – sleeping in the car while she drove really helped me feel better, quicker. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep like that on the train.

So, long story long, my boss rocks. I’ll be really sad whenever she leaves our group (maybe that will be what finally makes me leave my group for something else in the company).

Also, I never threw up. Yay! (But Data threw up when I got home, so I got to clean that up while feeling crummy, ha ha! (Steven was gone all day (and still gone when I got home) so Data was making himself all stressed and that is why he threw up – he’s been doing that every now and then, lately, ugh).)

I don’t have any photos for this story, but here’s one from yesterday, of Freddie and Bill being demanding:

We used to think Freddie (the white duck) was the ring leader, but nope, it’s definitely Bill (the brown duck).

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By kilax, June 7, 2016 4:51 am

Until recently, the only issues my wonky supination had given me was the occasionally sore left side, shoes that didn’t last very long, and goofy race pictures:

Until recently. A few months ago I started getting a pain on the ball of my left foot around a hardened part of the skin, at what looked like a void. It took me until last week, but I finally figured out what it is – a seed corn.

I was finally inspired to figure out what it was because it hurt SO bad. I had to wear shoes/sandals all the time – pressure on it bare-footed caused a lot of pain on the ball of my foot. It was ridiculous to me how something so little could cause so much pain.

My normal method of cutting hurty things off my foot didn’t work. It keeps growing back. Grrr.

So the internets said to soak my foot and rub the seed corn with a pumice stone to relieve the pain, and – drumroll, please – it seemed to work! The pain went away after I did that. The corn is going to keep coming back, since that is where my left foot lands when I run, but at least now I have a way to deal with it – apart from completely changing my running style!

Comments Off on Training Week 346

By kilax, June 5, 2016 2:23 pm

Highlight of the Week: Feeling energetic and being able to work out the amount I wanted to (and feeling better than last week, in the humidity)!

Monday | May 30, 2016: 5 m run
Loc: Van Patten Woods, Temp: 77°/78°, Time: 48:39, Pace: 9:44 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: hot, still getting used to it!
Tuesday | May 31, 2016: rest
Wednesday | June 1, 2016: 5 m run (incl. 400, 800, 400, 800, 400) + 15 mins strength
Loc: hood, Temp: 64°/64°, Time: 44:54, Pace: 8:59 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: hot, spent, but okay
Thursday | June 2, 2016: 11 m run + 3 m run
Loc: DPRT, Temp: 62°/69°, Time: 1:48:07, Pace: 9:50 avg, Difficulty: medium then easy, Felt: legs tired first half, fine for second!
Loc: hood, Temp: 78°/78°, Time: 27:29, Pace: 9:09 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Friday | June 3, 2016: teaching strength class + 6 m run + bike/run brick (w/Jack)
Strength: medicine balls and Airex pad, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good, felt it right away!
Loc: hood, Temp: 72°/75°, Time: 55:25, Pace: 9:14, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great!
Loc: Illinois Beach State Park, Temp: 73°/73°, Time: 34:31/8:37, Pace: 16.3 mph avg/8:37, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good!
Saturday | June 4, 2016: 14 m run
Loc: DPRT, Temp: 66°/73°, Time: 2:17:04, Pace: 9:47 avg, Difficulty:mostly easy, Felt: good, legs a bit tired
Sunday | June 5, 2016: 3 m run + 20 min bike + teaching fitness boxing
Loc: hood, Temp: 60°, Time: 29:25, Pace: 9:48 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: okay but tired
Indoor Ride Time: 20:00, Pace: 14.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: better
Strength: Boxing pads and gloves, Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: good

Notes:

• This week was so much better than last week… and the last month. I finally felt like I had some time to work out, work, AND get house stuff (and errands!) done too. Ha. It definitely helped that I had Monday and Friday off. Ha ha ha.
• Geesh, the backs of my knees were so swollen from mosquito bites that it was affecting my run Thursday am – it made my legs feel a bit stiff, and well, swollen! Stupid effers!
• I ran in to Bobbi and Dawn during my Thursday am run and that was a treat! And it gave me some energy to run a bit faster.
• I’ve enjoyed my runs but been spending a lot of the time during them thinking about biking and swimming – things that keep me cool when I work out! I hope to hop in the pool a few times this summer, and to definitely get out for more rides.
• I was able to ride outside this week! I was already thinking about asking Bobbi’s son if he wanted to join me, and it was perfect timing – he had his first tri today, but hadn’t ridden outside yet, or done a brick, so we did a small brick on Sunday. I enjoyed sharing my small amount of outdoor biking and tri knowledge with him.
• During my long run on Saturday I ran across a race on the trail called “Outrun the Cops.” People were chasing the cops, and some of them ran in full uniform! That was fun to see, and it got me pumped up and made me pick up the pace a bit.

• Monthly recap time! May has been my worst month of the year so far. Laziness and a busy schedule was not a great combination for me, and it definitely left me feeling crappy. Onward, though! In May I ran 115 miles and cycled 86.5 miles (5 indoor rides, 2 outdoor rides). I taught 8 strength classes and 3 fitness boxing classes. I only did 1 strength session at home. My coldest outdoor run was 41°F and my warmest was 83°F.

Link to Training Week 345

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By kilax, June 4, 2016 6:50 am

Man, Freddie and Bill crack me up.

Have I mentioned Data gives zero f*cks about them? Chipmunks and birds? Oh yes, please. A raccoon? That’s his buddy! Deer/dogs? He’ll hiss at them. Ducks? Not even sure he sees them. No reaction. I had to place him here to look out the window:

And he was like, “eh.”

He does care that we are working outside without him. Sorry, Data.

We’ve spent the last three nights clearing an area around the pond, and removing trees from the pond (with Freddie and Bill keeping us company the whole time, each night). We’re prepping the area for pond fountain equipment, but also trying to better our view of the pond, and make it healthier, overall.

Before (note, all the brush on the left side of the photo, and more trees in the pond):

click to see larger

After (still a work in progress):

I know – you can barely tell the difference!

Here’s a shot from Wednesday after we cleared a lot of the brush, but before we took most of the trees down:

And here it is on Friday with the trees removed from the pond (stumps left behind to deal with later, circled in red) and waiting on the grass to be cut up:

Lots of work left to do, but we enjoy it (it does wear us out though)! Several people had negative things to say about yardwork before we bought the house (and since), but we like it. I actually prefer it to inside the house work! And getting this pond cleaned up will make it a lot better to be outside, because (hopefully!) we’ll have less of a mosquito issue!

JK, guys. I use the clippers.

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By kilax, June 3, 2016 12:13 pm

*and a few words

Ha!

How have I run by this sign so many times and never noticed it until today? (Well, that’s actually because I am never running toward it, on the same side of the road – not sure why I looked today.)

So… dictionary.com doesn’t know what fludge is. Urban dictionary says it’s the residue left on the screens of a cell phone after use. I kinda doubt that is what this place is processing… but I definitely learned a new word today. And definitely plan on using it. Ha.

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By kilax, June 2, 2016 11:29 am

• Freddie and Bill seem to be conditioned to the sound of the dump cart – they hear it coming and think I am coming with food! Which, I usually am, but last night I was actually using the dump cart to clear out logs and brush from around the pond. But they came running up, anyway. Sorry, guys! Luckily, I was able to empty out a feeder for them. They must be STARVING. Ha ha.

Not food

Also, not food (you can barely see the cart, ha!)

• I was unprepared for how sad I would feel, cutting down a few trees, even though we talked about it, and we want a bigger clearing by the pond (and need it for some of the fountain equipment) … and have a LOT more trees on our property. Sigh. It’s the nature girl in me. I better get used to it though – we’ll have to take down more in the future to make our land a bit healthier (not enough light is getting to the forest floor).

Lots of trees

• This year is the first time I’ve made time to run on “Global Running Day” (which is always the first Wednesday in June, and previously called “National Running Day”). For years, I’ve been in the office every Wednesday, and not made the time to run with the hours commuting. But my team switched our required office day this year (it changes every other week) and it was easier to fit a run in on the “holiday” this year, because I was working from home! I think these made up holidays are a bit hokey (National Donut day is tomorrow!), but I do like starting my month off with a run! May was crap (workout-wise) and I am determined to make June better.
• Damn though, my June schedule is getting NUTSO. Someone asked me when I was free for a meeting (outside of work) and I had two dates to give them… out of the whole month. And now one of those is no longer available. Eek. How about July?
• My ankles are sore from unclipping out of my bike pedals on their own from my fall. Ouch! You can’t see the bruise/swollen-ness too well in this photo… but you can see my ridic tan line! Ha!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 100

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By kilax, June 1, 2016 6:23 am

… for Data. Ha.

I heard him hit the window and thought “what in the world?!”

Then, “Oh yeah, the chipmunks!”

A few baby chipmunks live in our yard, and one of them was giving Data a show this morning.

Steven loves the to watch the chipmunks. His favorite thing is when they sit on the edge or our patio, and look out over the yard.

We often see them do that in the morning, so I imagine it’s the calm before they start their crazy chipmunk day of running around and up things. Ha ha.