Comments (9)

By kilax, September 20, 2016 6:21 am

I’m so excited about Gina running the Chicago Marathon this year. I love hearing about her training (and doing some runs with her!), planning for their trip out here, getting ready to spectate, anticipating going to the expo, talking about what we are going to eat before and after the race… I can’t wait!

This will be the first time I’ve participated in Chicago Marathon activities since I ran it in 2010, and I am happy to be on the spectating side! Now, if we could get some actual fall weather going on for this race… Surely, the temperature could drop in the next eighteen days, right?!

Comments (14)

By kilax, September 19, 2016 6:27 am

New Rug!

Our old neighbors graciously let us use their rug at the rental house and at our new home – that’s almost ten months we had it! Time to give it back! We found a rug on rugsusa.com (thanks for the rec, snis! also, not sponsored, I bought it) that goes with our “inspiration look,” and it arrived on Friday! We love it! Someday, we’ll update the furniture, too (and change the look of the wood floors).

Medal racks in the office!

This is the moment I have been waiting for – putting my medal racks up! AHHH!!! So excited! Ha ha.

We couldn’t hang my medal racks and shadow box up until we replaced that joist in the basement, since it would affect the wall some of the stuff was hanging on. Then, after we replaced that joist, we had way more important house stuff to do. But we finally had a quiet weekend and got to hang a few things. YAY!!!! At the old house, my medal racks were in my closet. I love having them out in the open at the new house (note, I need to find something more organized for all that paper on the shelf – and overhaul the office, in general)!

Failed guest room headboard

Here’s where I’d share a picture of a headboard of our guest bedroom if we liked the one we bought, but the coloring was wrong. Back to Amazon it goes. The search continues!

Comments (2)

By kilax, September 18, 2016 10:56 am

Highlight of the Week: Working out with Gina! A great long run!

Monday | September 12, 2016: 3.2 m run (w/Gina) + 17 m ride (w/Gina) + teaching strength class
Loc: Van Patten Woods, Temp: 71°/72°, Time: 29:47, Pace: 9:18 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great!
Loc: DPRT, Temp: 72°/75°, Time: 1:30:13, Pace: 11.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great!
Strength: dumbbell and cardio/core circuits, Difficulty: easy, Felt: sick of teaching that workout
Tuesday | September 13, 2016: 5 m run (w/Gina, incl. 2:00/1:00/:30 fast/faster/fastest x5)
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 70°/70°, Time: 47:25, Pace: 9:29 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good – liked the workout!
Wednesday | September 14, 2016: 840 yd swim (alt. breaststroke & freestyle)
Loc: FitNation, Time: 22:15, Pace: 2:24 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: strong
Thursday | September 15, 2016: 8.8 m run
Loc: ML loop, Temp: 72°/71°, Time: 1:27:26, Pace: 9:56 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: mostly good, minor stomach pain
Friday | September 16, 2016: teaching strength class + 5 m run + 10 m ride
Strength: Lebert & Kettlbell, Difficulty: easy, Felt: okay, knee bugging on lateral moves
Loc: hood, Temp: 78°/79°, Time: 51:15, Pace: 10:14, Difficulty: x, Felt: heavy, hot, annoyed (w/bugs hitting me & the wind)
Indoor Ride Time: 32:36, Pace: 18.4 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | September 17, 2016: 7 m run (w/Kelly, on phone)
Loc: Pine Dunes FP, Temp: 69°/69°, Time: 1:12:00, Pace: 10:17 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | September 18, 2016: 12 m run
Loc: Kilbourne/DPRT Loop, Temp: 55°/67°, Time: 2:03:51, Pace: 10:19 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, even sped up at the end!

Notes:

• I liked the intervals Gina’s coach had her do for our Tuesday run. We ran a warm-up mile, then ran two minutes fast, one minute faster, and thirty seconds our fastest, with two minute recovery, five times. It sounded horrible when we were talking about it, but it went by so fast, and I didn’t mind it! I may have to try it again!
• As of today, for the month, I have run one mile more than last month’s total mileage. I am happy to be getting back in to the groove!
• Last Sunday, Steven’s aunt and uncle were and town, and they had dinner at our house with me and Steven and Gina. Steven’s aunt was talking about a local news anchor who was doing the Madison Ironman that day and how she was talking about “slacking off time,” when you’re done with all your peak training and getting close to the race. And took me and Gina a second, then we asked “Do you mean taper time?” “Oh yeah!” Ha! We all laughed at that! And now Gina and I are calling taper “slacking off time,” cause we like it better.
• That knee pain from last week seems to be mostly gone. I wonder if it was just a deep bruise.
• I have another update on those Champion Absolute Fusion shorts I’ve been trying. I’ve love the way they feel on runs, but unfortunately, they don’t seem to be constructed very well – the seams are coming apart after only a few wears (see pics below). I contacted Champion and they think it’s a “bad batch.” I hope so – I’d like these shorts to work out! I plan to return the bad ones and try new ones.

Link to Training Week 360

Comments (7)

By kilax, September 17, 2016 9:52 pm

At least a failed start to a knitting project makes for a fun toy for Data!

Yeah, we’ll start that one over tomorrow…

Comments (7)

By kilax, September 16, 2016 6:56 am

aka, “the quickest project we’ve ever done”

When we were working on our second floor project, we only planned on demolishing the ceiling of our linen closet, and not the walls. Ugh, the linen closet ceiling was so gross (we imagine they all looked like this under the paint):

The walls in the linen closet didn’t actually have any damage from animal droppings (surprisingly), however, they still smelled BAD – from old cedar shelving. In fact, the smell was transferring to the linens I kept in there.  So, hey, why not demolish all those walls and put in new walls and shelving? (that was when I discovered the walls had sheets of drywall between the studs… that’s odd…)

We painted Kilz on the studs and back of the drywall,

and contractors put the drywall up and primed it a few weeks ago. Then we put a door on it and closed it until we had time to install shelving yesterday!

We used the Rubbermaid wire shelf system from Menards (I wish me mentioning Menards meant this was a sponsored post and they gave me that stuff, but unfortunately, that is not the case – we buy everything). Steven installed a hang track in the top of the closet, and hung standards from it (those aren’t attached to the wall),

put the brackets in,

then cut the shelves to size and put caps on the end,

and voila!

Yep… so this is a post about our linen closet. Boring for you, but exciting for me that our house is coming back together and I can put that stuff where it belongs!!! We might upgrade this system in the future, but it’s perfect for now.

If you made it this far, here is a bonus (unrelated) picture of Data and CK!

Comments (7)

By kilax, September 15, 2016 10:07 am

Calico Kitty has been visiting a lot. I love seeing her in the yard! Today she came very close to the house!!!

Then Data happened to come down the stairs and they had words!

Then she ran off.

This will probably be the most exciting thing that happens for me today. Ha!

Comments (4)

By kilax, September 14, 2016 9:52 am

Skamp 2016 was awesome! We fit in three runs (including one across state borders, and two by the cloud factory),

one bike ride,

a trip to the beach,

lots of yummy food and drinks (once, ha),

a few shopping trips and LOTS of relaxation time. It was such a nice break for me from work and house projects. The whole time I kept thinking how lucky I was that Gina was able to come and stay for three whole days – we were able to catch up and connect on so many things. What a treat and great chance to unplug! I can’t wait until she comes back, with the boys, for the Chicago Marathon!

Comments (8)

By kilax, September 11, 2016 10:28 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running long with Gina! Swimming again! Teaching fitness boxing again!

Monday | September 5, 2016: 8 m run 
Loc: ML Loop, Temp: 78°/85°, Time: 1:21:41 Pace: 10:12 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good until the last mile THEN SO THIRSTY AND HOT
Tuesday | September 6, 2016: 4 m run
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 82°/88°, Time: 38:29, Pace: 9:37 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: surprisingly good, considering the weather
Wednesday | September 7, 2016: 1,071 yd swim (alt. breaststroke & freestyle) + 10 m ride + 3 m run
Loc: FitNation, Time: 2:36 min/100 yd, Pace: 30:02 avg, Difficulty:easy, Felt: good, happy to swim again!
Indoor Ride Time: 39:45, Pace: 15.1 mpg avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, annoyed with sensor
Loc: Pine Dunes FP, Temp: 88°/83°, Time: 29:29, Pace: 9:48 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Thursday | September 8, 2016: teaching strength class
Strength: dumbbell and cardio/core circuits, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but a bit sleepy and out of it
Friday | September 9, 2016: teaching strength class + 609 yd swim (alt., but mostly breaststroke) + 6 m run (incl. 1:00/2:00 x5)
Strength: dumbbell and cardio/core circuits, Difficulty: easy, Felt: tired from teaching the same workout <12 hours prior
Loc: FitNation, Time: 19:36, Pace: 2:58 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: weak, hungry, like I had bonked
Loc: hood, Temp: 77°/79°, Time: 59:03, Pace: 9:50, Difficulty: medium, Felt: decent, appreciated the breeze
Saturday | September 10, 2016: teaching fitness boxing + 3 m run
Strength: Step and boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, energetic
Loc: hood, Temp: 70°, Time: 29:22, Pace: 9:46 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, minus bathroom emergency
Sunday | September 11, 2016: 13 m run (w/Gina)
Loc: In to WI loop, Temp: 58°/70°, Time: 2:07:48, Pace: 9:50 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: good!

Notes:

• I was excited to start swimming laps again this week (the outdoor pool I use closed for open swim on the last Friday in August), and hope it’s something I keep doing. My swims this week were not without incident though! On the first one, I scrapped my knee on the bottom of the pool (it’s shallower than I am used to) and on the second, I felt like I was bonking – I was super low on energy. Next week should be better! (And then there was the lady also using the pool who cornered me in the locker room to talk to me about how awful it is that the pool is so short and hot, then lectured me about healthcare… luckily I saw her again the second time, ha.)
• I had some interesting encounters on my runs this week, too – there was the person Monday who commented on how much I sweat, the person who bought my drink Tuesday, then there was another incident Saturday! A truck coming toward me on the street went to the center of the street to give me space (yay!) but then I noticed the passenger had their window down and was leaning out. Oh great, I was thinking. What is this going to be about? The person leaned out the window, and yelled at me “Have a great day, beautiful!” Ha. That was NOT what I was expecting!
• We had a huge turnout for the first fitness boxing class in two months! It’s always fun when we have a big group – people feed off of each other’s energy.
• Gina is here for Skamp!!! We did her long run today (it’s her last cutback week before peak week for Chicago, then she tapers) on the roads. I took her on a route through Wisconsin, cause I knew she’d get a kick out of running in a new state. I suspected my road routes might only be good for solo runners due to the shoulder widths, and parts of this run definitely confirmed that – it’s too narrow and rocky to be side by side. We’re gonna check out some of the trails while she is here, too. It’s such a treat for me to have her here and get to run together (and hang out all day!)!!!
• My right knee is still feeling a bit odd – like it’s bruised on the kneecap or something. I am definitely keeping an eye on it. I am hoping it’s just something leftover from house construction work!

Link to Training Week 359

Comments (3)

By kilax, September 10, 2016 8:04 am

Errr…

Make that, it will totally be ready for a guest – by the end of the day.

A few times this week, I’ve said to people, “my house is a disaster, and I have a house guest this weekend!” And everyone responds, “she’s a friend, she won’t care!” Ha. Nah, she won’t care. But I care that the rooms are actually usable!

We have to have our entire dining room/kitchen ceiling painted because of blending issues with the old ceiling paint, and our painter couldn’t come until today. Nothing like leaving things until the last minute! Eek!

Comments (11)

By kilax, September 9, 2016 6:25 am

When I went to my hometown on Sunday, I was able to get the first picture of me and my FOUR nephews*!!!

I am beyond thrilled for my snister and her husband. They’re going to be amazing parents, and I can’t wait to meet their little guy in the end of January!!!

*By blood – I have another nephew (Luca!) via friendship (but we’re basically family).