Comments (10)

By kilax, December 17, 2016 4:39 pm

You know you’re an adult when you get excited about receiving yard equipment for Christmas! Ha! It’s not even winter yet and we’ve already had at least seventeen inches of snow so… I think the snowblower will come in handy. Thanks, Santa (Steven’s dad)!

(Another lame adult thing on my wishlist this year? The Swiffer Bissel steam mop. Ha.)

Comments (14)

By kilax, December 15, 2016 6:25 am

• Steven’s brother, Andrew, asked for records for Christmas – two specifically, but then any other records as long as they weren’t country or folk. We were planning on only getting the ones he asked for, but I came across a record bin at a shop on Sunday and it was so fun to look! Sadly, the wrong record was inside the Nazareth Hair of the Dog album, so that one didn’t come home. But I got a few others. Too bad we can’t listen to them when he opens them – we don’t have a record player!

• I feel bad it’s going to be so freakin’ cold when Steven’s dad and brother are here for early Christmas this weekend – on Sunday the high is only 4°F. It will get in to the 20s on Friday and Saturday, but with a messy snowstorm. It’s not like we’d all go outside together, but I thought maybe Andrew would run with me outside. Maybe he still will!
• OMG, my snister’s work had a holiday costume contest yesterday and I am STILL laughing about her costume (that’s her pulled out on the right side of the photo). She won the contest, 0bvs.

• I also got a bit festive for work yesterday, too!

• And I got an early holiday present at work yesterday – the project manager I had been covering for while he was on paternity leave came back to work. I was SO relieved. They keep pushing me toward project management stuff at work, but I don’t feel like it’s for me. Or, maybe I should actually be trained and not thrown in to it.

• Did anyone else watch The Fate of the Furious trailer like “No, Dom, no!” Actually, I first saw it without sound in a restaurant, so it wasn’t until I could watch it on my phone later that I understood what was happening.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 119

Comments (21)

By kilax, December 14, 2016 5:43 am

The big graphic below is a bit of overkill with how little I participated in races this year. My racing year is better summed up with these two comparison charts/graphs:

Click to see larger

I participated in a lot less events this year – only five, compared to twenty last year.

Amount is in dollars

I spent a lot less on racing this year – the least I ever have. The next least amount was in 2008, when I also did five races. The amount I’ve spent is already higher for next year since I didn’t have (on purpose) a free entry for the half I signed up for!

Both of these trends (less races and money spent on races) are because we bought a house in 2016 that requires time and money, and racing took a step down on the priority list. It likely will in 2017 too. That’s alright with me! I actually still exercised the same amount this year, but I definitely was not in racing shape. The infographic might have a few more races on it had I been!

And now, on to the infographic! (You can see 2012 here, 2013 here, 2014 here and 2015 here. You can always find my race stats here.)

Also, if you would like to fill out your own 2016 Racing Statistics in the comments or on your own blog, I created a google doc here for you to copy and fill out/edit!

Comments (16)

By kilax, December 13, 2016 2:57 pm

I finally took the time to call the park district to ask what was up with the switcharoo with the Frosty Footrace race distance today.  And… they had no idea what I was talking about (but were very nice!).

“Hi, I was wondering why the Frosty Footrace was changed to a two mile race?”

“In the catalog, it’s listed as three miles.”

“When you go directly to the event page, it’s listed as two.”

“Ahh, I see that now, let me talk to my director and get back to you.”

Okay, then.

They called me right back – “It’s a typo, it’s a three mile race.”

OMFG.

I don’t get the catalog at my house anymore, but found it online to see what it was listed as there, and yeah, it does show it as a three miler. And, there is a note from executive director saying they changed it:

Am I up for it? Probably not! Ha! I run on rocks, ice and very uneven terrain most times I run from my house in the winter. I don’t really want to pay and drive to do it! And it’s definitely not safe to try to run a fast pace on a course like that. We’ll see what happens. The race benefits the center’s senior programs, so they may just get my $25 donation without me showing up.

I really wonder how they are going to handle this – their catalog says three miles, but they mailed out brochures that say two miles. Are they going to do another mailer to all those homes? Or let people be surprised by the extra mile on race day?

And now it’s time to use my favorite emoji:

Comments (3)

By kilax, December 11, 2016 6:19 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running with Gina and her favorite training partner in Texas!

Monday | December 5, 2016: 5 m run + 8 m ride + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 32°/33°, Time: 51:26, Pace: 10:17 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, ready for a rest day
Indoor Ride Time: 30:21, Pace: 15.8 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, just tired legs
Strength: resistance bands, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | December 7, 2016: 840 yd swim
Loc: FitNation, Time: 19:58, Pace: 2:17 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Wednesday | December 8, 2016: 7 m run
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 28°/30°, Time: 1:11:47, Pace: 10:15 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, especially in the sun
Thursday | December 9, 2016: 4 m run (incl. 4×400)
Loc: xx, Temp: 24°/24°, Time: 38:14, Pace: 9:34 avg, Difficulty: easy-ish, Felt: good, despite the cold!
Friday | December 10, 2016: teaching strength class + 1,260 yd swim + 10 m run
Strength: resistance bands, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: FitNation, Time: 31:54, Pace: 2:32 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great – felt inspired to swim move having someone else there
Loc: DPRT/Kilbourne Loop, Temp: 24°/25°, Time: 1:45:57, Pace: 10:35, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | December 11, 2016: rest
Sunday | December 12, 2016: 13.1 m run (w/Gina & Bob)
Loc: Wilson Creek Trail, Temp: 49°/51°, Time: 2:08:33, Pace: 9:49 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, warm!

Notes:

• It got cold in Chicagoland this week, and it’s going to be even colder next week! I actually wore tights for several runs, and even a long pair of thin capris under my tights once. Whoa! So running in warm Texas was a nice treat on Sunday.
• One of the other Efit trainers met me to swim Friday morning, and I felt encouraged to swim with better form (not that I know what that is) and longer, having someone I know there! And the quick Starbucks date after was fun!
• I really enjoyed running with Gina and her training partner, Bob, on Sunday. I love spending time with the family of friends they’ve developed in Texas.
• I think I am still on track to hit 2000 running miles for the year!

Link to Training Week 372

Comments (13)

By kilax, December 9, 2016 6:17 am

After class this morning, I was talking to the owner of the studio and he mentioned that he saw my picture on the Frosty Foot race brochure, and commented on how it is now a 2 mile race.

Um… what?

Rachel is on there too!

When I sent in my registration form for this race, it mentioned the race would be at a new area, but said it would be a 5K. This is my goal 5K each year, and I have already started training with it in mind and, so to hear it got changed to a 2 mile race made me feel upset. Which I realize is completely silly – it’s just a race.

So I guess now I have a few options:

1. Train for the two miler
2. Find a different 5K to train for and still do the two miler
3. Find a different 5K to train for an ask for a refund on the two miler
4. Ask for a refund on the two miler and train for nada! Ha!

Blah. It’s a crappy move on their end to switch up the distance after registration has been opened. I wish I had a copy of my original registration form! I can see online that they switched it to a three miler, before it became the two miler.

And now it’s listed as being an all-terrain course, so, yeah… meh. But there’s worse things in life so whatever! At least the people who work there are super nice – they actually called when they got my registration form to confirm my new address. Hopefully they’re as nice when I call this time just to see what’s up with the switcharoo.

Comments (15)

By kilax, December 8, 2016 6:11 am

• Did anyone else brave Bath & Body Works this weekend for the candle sale? I had NO idea how crazy it would be. Steven and I were running errands that morning and I brought him with to make sure to get scents he likes too and whoa – the store was PACKED! Everyone was being civilized and kind though, and the employees worked hard to get us out of there in a decent amount of time (I think we waited twenty minutes to check out?). And now we have candles we both like.

• I had a Shutterfly coupon for holiday cards and… decided to use it! This will be the first time we’ve sent out personalized holiday cards!
• Oh look! Bicycling magazine is sharing information from the same study that Runner’s World keeps sharing over and over, but not in a disordered way! Here, Bicyling is saying to take in sugar to help with a bonk during a ride. AND TO ACTUALLY CONSUME THE DRINK.

• Any bets on whether these presents will last until Steven’s family gets here next week?!

• It’s getting really cold here, which I don’t mind, but I am worried about the outdoor cats. We’ve built a structure around their houses, and insulated it a bit, but I don’t think it’s enough. Maybe they can come in to the garage until we build them something better.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 118

Comments (12)

By kilax, December 5, 2016 6:14 am

And this is why #8 was on my “Things I’m Excited About in December” list!

On Sunday we got about five inches of that beautiful (but actually very dangerous) thick, heavy snow that covers everything and makes it look magical (and sound really creaky and make your power go out in the middle of the night), and makes you feel like you’re sitting in a snow globe!

I love our home year round, but decorating it for the holiday and seeing it with snow on it really makes me fall in love with it all over again.

Comments (4)

By kilax, December 4, 2016 5:28 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running in a new state!

Monday | November 28, 2016: 1,239 yd swim + 5 m run
Loc: FitNation, Time: 30:28, Pace: 2:28 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, enjoyed practicing flip turns
Loc: Gurnee, Temp: 41°/43°, Time: 50:00, Pace: 9:59 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, a bit hungry
Tuesday | November 29, 2016: 4 m run
Loc: Cinci/Newport/Convington, Temp: 51°/49°, Time: 43:02, Pace: 10:45 avg, Difficulty: easy (stopped a lot for pics), Felt: excited to run someplace new
Wednesday | November 30, 2016: rest
Thursday | December 1, 2016: 8 m run
Loc: VP Woods loop, Temp: 36°/37°, Time: 1:21:09, Pace: 10:08 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: great, just a bit hungry
Friday | December 2, 2016: teaching strength class + 1,008 yd swim + 5 m run (incl. 12×1:00)
Strength: resistance bands, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: FitNation, Time: 25:20, Pace: 2:19 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: sloppy
Loc: Gurnee, Temp: 34°/35°, Time: 49:27, Pace: 9:53, Difficulty: medium, Felt: decent, tired legs, happy it wasn’t windy!
Saturday | December 3, 2016: 9 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: VP Woods loop, Temp: 31°/32°, Time: 1:35:05, Pace: 10:34 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: decent, didn’t dress warm enough, oops!
Strength: plyo and boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | December 4, 2016: 13 m run + 10 m ride
Loc: Around Lake Andrea and back, Temp: 32°/33°, Time: 2:16:49, Pace: 10:31 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: good, just upset stomach at the end
Indoor Ride Time: 38:07, Pace: 15.7 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good

Notes:

• My arms were SORE during my Monday morning swim. One of the students taking my fitness boxing class has a really strong punch (it’s fantastic!!!) and my soreness was the result of boxing with her. I love how strong my students are!
• All of my runs were in the morning this week, and it really helped my mood for the whole day. it would be great if I could keep this going! I have flexible work start time, so I might as well run in the am when it’s light out, and work until later in the day!
• I love cold weather running because I can wear vests and jackets with pockets to hold my stuff – instead of wearing something around my waist. However, I must not be in “cold weather” mode yet because I’ve dressed too cold a few times. On Saturday’s run, I saw it was in the low 30s and not windy and actually thought “that sounds warm enough for shorts!” No, Kim, no. And I wore a regular long sleeve tech shirt under my vest instead of Under Armour Cold Gear. Also, dumb. I was smarter Sunday – but still not smart enough to remember to put my phone in a glove – it got so cold it shut off!
• I ran in four states this week (IL, OH, KY and WI) – I wonder if that’s the most I’ve run in in a week?
• November recap! I ran 144 miles (25 runs), cycled 45 miles (4 indoor rides) and swam 8,190 yards (7 swims). My coldest run was 23°F and my warmest was 69°F. I taught 7 strength classes and 3 fitness boxing classes.

Link to Training Week 371

Comments (4)

By kilax, December 3, 2016 6:16 pm

Ha!

But at least now I know where to take ours!

I ran by this sign in the forest preserve next to our house this morning, so, yay for tree drop off being so close! The last time we had a real tree, we dropped if off at a (different) forest preserve, as well. I think it’s cool they chip the trees and use them for the trails and landscaping – that could be YOUR Christmas tree you’re running on!