Comments (15)

By kilax, September 30, 2016 4:21 am

Sadly, there is a lot of trash on the shoulder on the main road I run on. It makes for an interesting run, sometimes. Like the time I saw:

A Goliath roller coaster hat!

(I saw this a few days after riding that roller coaster with Anne, funny enough!)

A paddle!

(This did not help me with my run)

A Mexican flag!

A TV remote!

And a little yellow toy cowboy hat!

(I used to see this over and over, and never took a photo. Then the shoulder got fresh rock and now it’s buried! So this is a fake photo.)

Can you guess which item I actually took home? I still don’t think Steven has found it. Heh.

It really pisses me off to see SO MUCH TRASH on the shoulder. I see this stuff, then the regular things like soda bottles, lighters, papers, food wrappers, etc. PEOPLE! KEEP YOUR TRASH IN YOUR CAR AND THROW IT AWAY AT HOME OR ANY OTHER PLACE YOU GO THAT HAS A GARAGE CAN OUTSIDE!

I plan to run up and down this road with a garbage bag and collect all this rubbish before it snows.

Comments (13)

By kilax, September 29, 2016 6:15 am

• I did some major adulting this week at work and increased my life insurance coverage (we’re in a rare open season). Why does making these types of decisions always feel so intimidating (and therefore, get put off)?
• With all the CK talk, Data wants me to remind you that he’s cute, too (even if he forgot his glasses).

• But if you came here for a CK update, she does let us pet her now! It’s been raining hard here, so we tried to get her to come in the garage last night. She came in for a bit but didn’t stay the night. Baby steps.

• I mentioned a headboard we got for our guest bedroom but weren’t sure about… well, we ended up setting it up. It grew on us a bit, and we determined we couldn’t afford the ones we like better. The long term plan is to make a new one when we have a workshop set up. My coworker suggested a splash of color (since I refuse to change out the bedspread we just got) – I think that’s a good idea! The room looks a bit muted now.

• Hey, respect! I used to respond to all of these random emails asking me to promote stuff on my blog with “no thanks” just to be nice. But some of them are so bad I just file them away. And sometimes, they email you again – “did you get my first email? can we work out a deal?” “No, because I don’t promote random sh*t on my blog because someone asked me to… respect.”

• What is the deal with Amazon Prime lately? If I try to order something Wednesday morning, free two day shipping is NOT a Monday arrival. I decided to buy the thing in person, then we found out we couldn’t, so Steven went to order it last night on Amazon Prime (we share an account) and it said it will arrive this Friday. Huh?! FWP.
• Not sure who this is from, but I appreciate the nice words when I woke up Tuesday am.

• And finally, the stormy weather has been so beautiful this week!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 109

Comments (16)

By kilax, September 28, 2016 12:52 pm

Fall weather arrived in Chicagoland on Monday! Yay!

Lower temps, lower humidity and dew point, cloudy skies and windy! I’m loving it!

Let’s hope the cool weather stays around for the marathon!

Steven and I have A LOT of projects to do around the house before the real cold weather comes – planting grass seed, sealing up the house, etc. I am most excited about the non-crucial project of getting the gas starter fixed for the fire places so we can use it!

(What is looked like before we moved in, ha)

Comments (14)

By kilax, September 27, 2016 6:18 am

CK knows we’re suckers now and just comes to the dining room door and stares.

And meows.

And tries to come in.

We haven’t pet her yet, but I think we’ll be there very soon.

And luckily, Data is handling it okay!

Comments (23)

By kilax, September 26, 2016 6:23 am

(again)

The two races I’ve been running each year since 2009 – the Frosty Footrace 5K and the Wisconsin Half Marathon – both decided to change their courses for 2017*. The Frosty course is a completely new location, and the Wisconsin course is in the same area, but tweaked. I am hoping the Frosty course won’t be as hilly, and that the Wisconsin course won’t have as many potholes. We shall see!

These are also the only two races I’ve done this year (I am signed up for one more race – a 5K in October)! It’s kind of nuts for me to be this far in to the year and to have only done two races. A few people have asked me if I am burned out on racing and running. I’m not, actually! I just don’t want to commit my time and money to doing races now, with all the house stuff we have going on. That’s it! Maybe my racing will ramp back up next year or in a few years… or around Thanksgiving when I get the racing bug. But I know I’ll be doing these two races for sure, next year – I already registered for the Wisconsin Half**!

*Thanks to Anne for the heads up re: the Frosty course changing!
**The past few years I’ve gotten a free entry to this race for getting ten people to use a $5 off code I had for the race. I am not doing that this year. It became too stressful because there were eventually so many codes out there that the people who’d normally use mine weren’t anymore.

Comments (4)

By kilax, September 25, 2016 5:47 pm

Highlight of the Week: Building my freestyle swimming endurance.

Monday | September 19, 2016: 1,365 yd swim + 3 m run + 5 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: FitNation, Time: 37:59, Pace:  2:36 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Gurnee, Temp: 63°/63°, Time: 29:01, Pace: 9:39 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 82°/84°, Time: 48:48, Pace: 9:45 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, hot, but what’s new?
Strength: Lebert Equalizer and Kettlbells, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | September 20, 2016: rest
Wednesday | September 21, 2016: 13.5 m ride + 5 m run
Indoor Ride Time: 49:58, Pace: 16.2 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Van Patten Woods, Temp: 73°/73°, Time: 49:07, Pace: 9:49 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Thursday | September 22, 2016: 5 m run (incl. 8×400)
Loc: hood, Temp: 72°/72°, Time: 47:51, Pace: 9:34 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: a bit like death
Friday | September 23, 2016: teaching strength class + 1,197 yd swim + 4 m run
Strength: body bars and soft balls, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: FitNation, Time: 33:11, Pace: 2:17 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: easy, minus inhaling water a few times, Felt: great
Loc: Raven Glen FP, Temp: 69°/69°, Time: 40:01, Pace: 10:00 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: physically fine, but stomach hurt from lunch
Saturday | September 24, 2016: 6 m run + teaching fitness boxing
Loc: hood, Temp: 64°/65°, Time: 57:26, Pace: 9:34 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, minus last mile (bathroom ish)
Strength: boxing and core, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Sunday | September 25, 2016: 14 m run (last mile w/Bobbi!)
Loc: DPRT, Temp: 65°/69°, Time: 2:35:08, Pace: 11:05 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: okay, but worn out

Notes:

• Swimming was such a wonderful, calming way to start the week. That would be a great habit to get in to. I have been working on my freestyle swimming endurance and it’s going pretty well when I remember to go SLOW. And not try to inhale air when I am under water.
• It was horribly muggy for my speedwork on Thursday. How appropriate for the first day of fall. Blah!
• I typically run from my front door to save time, but lately I’ve been driving to trails to run once or twice a week. The runs from the house are getting a bit old, and I’ll be running those routes all winter when the trails are covered in snow – I should be running the trails now!
• We had another fun fitness boxing class with great energy from the students! I love teaching that class. Although, man, I was SORE from it. We had an uneven amount of students which means I paired up using the target mitts and pad and I can ALWAYS feel that the next day! It definitely affected me on my long run.
• I ran in to Bobbi at the last mile of my long run! I saw her car when I parked at the trail but figured there was little chance I’d see her, so it was a really nice surprise!

Link to Training Week 361

Comments (4)

By kilax, September 24, 2016 1:02 pm

I’ve had the urge lately to decorate. But all my decorations are still in storage. And I only have winter holiday decorations. And I am not good at decorating. Ha.

So I picked this up today:

Boom, decorations, done!

Ha ha.

In all seriousness, I am excited to get a few things over the years as we live here and REALLY decorate. But this will do for now!

Comments (11)

By kilax, September 23, 2016 8:45 am

Is the sunglasses tan. Sigh.

This isn’t even from running!

It’s from wearing my regular sunglasses while playing with my nephews in a bounce house over Labor Day weekend. Gah! Hopefully it goes away soon. I’ve had it for a few weeks now (and running mostly midday, wearing shades, probably doesn’t help it go away).

Remember my rant about Runner’s World and their stupid swish and spit advice? Here it is, again, in the October issue, as a way to “perk up” when you “hit the wall” during a run.

Seriously. Did whatever study make them want to continually give this advice say that your brain would not notice the presence of carbs and “perk up” if you swallow the beverage? Is anyone actually doing this?! It blows my mind to see this tip in their magazine over and over and over.

Comments (12)

By kilax, September 22, 2016 6:58 am

• My baby is at the vet today to get his teeth cleaned. I’m always nervous when they have to put him under! I will anxiously be awaiting the call to come pick him up!

• CK is visiting the house a few times a day now! She even got close to me yesterday! We’ve been assuming she is stray, because we can’t imagine letting a cat roam free here with the coyotes and cars… but who knows. She looks healthy, so maybe she is someone’s cat?

• That knitting project I was having a few issues with (because I am not paying close enough attention, honestly – I’ve learned that now!) is going to be a baby blanket for my snister. It’s a beautiful chevron pattern. I can’t wait to see it finished! I’m loving working on it, despite the few hiccups (and my freakouts over those are me just wanting it to be perfect for my snis!). And I definitely feel grateful to have the time to sit down and knit!!!

• I’ve only worked for the federal government under one administration (well, I started with a month left of Bush), and am really curious how things will change next January!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 108

Comments (16)

By kilax, September 21, 2016 6:29 am

I must be in a bit of a funk this week, because all the small things are making me stabby. Small things like when you put something somewhere and it immediately falls on the ground. STAB. Small things like feeling cramped on Metra and having people bump in to you. STAB. Small things like not being able to figure out how to fix one stitch (ONE!!!) then spending two hours trying to figure it out*. STAB STAB STAB. Sigh. Knitting is supposed to relax me. What the eff is my problem this week?!

Get a grip, Kim.

*I finally reached out to the pro and mostly fixed it, but have no idea how I effed it up, sigh.