Comments (24)

By kilax, February 28, 2017 6:23 am

Ugh. Change is hard. And not all change is good! (duh)

I won’t get in to the WHOLE whiny story, since I’ve posted about it before. I’ve done the Frosty Footrace 5K for nine years now, and it’s one of the few races I actually “race” for time, because I love running in cold weather. This year they changed it to a two-mile “all-terrain” course. Read: running on a rocky golf cart path.

I was bummed my yearly goal 5K was changed to two miles, and I was concerned about running on a rocky course in potential snow, ice and/or mud. I was on the fence about whether or not I’d do it, but I decided to when they called and asked me what shirt size I wanted – maybe I’d end up liking it?

Eh.

Pre-race organization was efficient and organized. There was a heated shelter to hang out in pre race (the golf course headquarters). They mentioned there was a free (alcoholic) drink tab on my bib to use after the race. And I looked at my bib and it didn’t even have my name on it… huh? How are they gonna record my time? FORESHADOWING.

The course was fine – the rocks remind me of the shoulders I run on frequently now. Luckily, there wasn’t snow, ice or mud. It was a sunny, SUPER WINDY day (yay), with steady winds in the 20 mph range with gusts in the mid 30s. The temperature was in the mid 30s with a much lower “feels like.” (I had a hard time dressing for this, and also, deciding if I’d wear my trail shoes or run with music. I was content with all my choices (no trail shoes and music)).

The two mile loop was straight forward to follow – it was the one way golf cart course. The race was actually more than two miles – about two and a tenth. They even announced before the race “it’s around two.” Eyeroll.

Ricky and me – I used him as a rabbit last year at Frosty! Not this year though!

I pushed it. I wanted to finish averaging 8:00 minute miles. Of course, my first mile was my fastest, at 7:33. My stomach protested halfway through, but I knew there was only one woman ahead of me (the same woman who wins the race, overall, each year) and wanted to keep pushing.

And… I sort of did? We had been running straight in to the wind for quite a bit and I got to a turn that pushed that nasty wind right in to my face and saw my pace drop in to the mid 8:00s. I hoped I would get a push from the wind when I turned, but it wasn’t much (it usually isn’t, except at the Wisconsin Half last year, whoa!).

My second mile was 7:52, and a woman passed me right before the finish. Darn! But, expected with my dropping pace! I finished in 16:25 (which is an average 7:44 pace).

I was excited to finish third woman overall, but confused when I stopped and they didn’t take my bib stub and handed me a finisher’s medal. Um, what?

You can actually see the confused look on my face.

Sigh.

The advertising for this race was so screwed up. Sometimes it was listed as three miles, and sometimes two. But they always listed that there would be age group awards, which encouraged me to push it during the race. I WANT SOME AGE GROUP BLING!

Well, guess what? There wasn’t official timing or awards. What the eff. And I would have been first in my age group – I asked the woman who finished in front of me her age (ha), and she was older.

The marketing person came up to me after the race to ask what I thought of the change. I listed all my complaints, and shared some positives, too (like the organization at the event). I asked her why they changed it. She said after ten years they wanted to change it up and do something new and exciting (there’s gotta be more to it than that). Hmm. An “all-terrain” run/walk, though? In February? I told her I am disappointed the park district doesn’t offer a 5K anymore (they’ve all been shortened in distance). And that I couldn’t get the race distance confirmed before the race. And that they advertised age group awards and there weren’t any. I suggested bringing Frosty back and adding an all-terrain course in the spring or summer. But the golfers probably wouldn’t like that.

So, yeah. Change is hard. For me. Ha. This is not a big deal in the grand scheme of life AT ALL. I’m just sad they changed what was a favorite, challenging 5K of mine. Blah.

I did have fun though! I got to see some of my speedy friends and talked with them for quite a bit after the race. Steven and our friend Troy surprised me by showing up to see me off! And I ran faster than I thought I could, which is always encouraging!

But I doubt I will do this again if the format stays the same.

Comments (5)

By kilax, February 26, 2017 5:10 pm

Highlight of the Week: Seeing an amazing sunset on my Tuesday run!

Monday | February 20, 2017: 4 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 53°/53°, Time: 39:45, Pace: 9:56 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fantastic
Strength: Bench & Kettlebells, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, a bit out of it after a long day
Tuesday | February 21, 2017: 5 m run
Loc: Van Patten Woods, Temp: 60°/61°, Time: 53:04, Pace: 10:37 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: stiff, then loosed and energized!
Wednesday | February 22, 2017: rest
Thursday | February 23, 2017: 5 m run
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 36°, Time: 48:35, Pace: 9:43 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but like my chest was congested
Friday | February 24, 2017: teaching strength class + 1,260 yd swim + 7 m run + 10 m ride
Strength: Bench & Kettlebells, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good, despite being super tired!
Loc: FitNation, Time: 29:54, Pace: 2:17 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 37°, Time: 1:18:17, Pace: 11:14 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fine, but sorta clunky
Indoor Ride Time: 32:00, Pace: 18.8 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | February 25, 2017: 3 m run + teaching fitness boxing + 10 m ride
Loc: hood, Temp: 20°/20°, Time: 28:54, Pace: 9:37 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: Bodyweight & boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Indoor Ride Time: 30:40, Pace: 19.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, sweaty!
Sunday | February 26, 2017: 1.1 m run (WU) then 2.1 m run (Frosty Footrace)
Loc: Round Lake, Temp: 34°/38°, Time: 16:25, Pace: 7:44 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good, but gassed half way through!

Notes:

• It was freeing to run in shorts and a tank at the beginning of the week but it’s too soon for 70 degree temps (I’m a sweaty gal). I’m happy it cooled down, but of course, that was a shock to the system (my run on Saturday was 40 degrees cooler than Tuesday’s)!
• It felt weird to not do speedwork on Thursday, which is good – Thursday speedwork has become a habit!!! I didn’t do it because I decided to do the Frosty Footrace on Sunday, afterall. Sigh. I’ll post about that later this week.
• I know CPR, but had a reminder in class this week that I should take a general first aid class. I’m going to see what my park district offers!

Link to Training Week 383

Comments (12)

By kilax, February 22, 2017 11:02 am

Steven took Khaleesi to the veterinarian on Saturday. She had an infection around her incision but they gave her antibiotics and she’s already off them, and hasn’t had any issues since Saturday!*

The master of RBF

I was asking Steven more details about the vet visit when I got back from my Kansas City trip.

“Well, Dr. M said he was talking about Khaleesi the other day!”

“Oh, really?! Why?!”

“Because another cat came in with the calicivirus.”

Sigh.

So when we took Khali in the first time, they knew her name was from Game of Thrones. But they also informed me that Khaleesi is pronounced the same way as a feline virus – calici. So there I was, thinking the doctor was randomly thinking about Khaleesi, and maybe how sweet she is. But no. He thought of her because WE NAMED HER AFTER A VIRUS.

Ha ha.

I am not sure we’re going to want her to go back outside! She’s such a sweetie! Data has been teaching her the ways of the inside cat, including crying for food at 4:45 am. Good work, Data.

*Interestingly, they told Steven the earliest he should let Khali back outside was ten days after the surgery. We were going to let her out that weekend – good thing they told him!

Comments (2)

By kilax, February 19, 2017 4:33 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running with family!

Monday | February 13, 2017: 5 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 42°/42°, Time: 51:52, Pace: 10:22 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: Lebert Equalizer and one dumbbell, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | February 14, 2017: 4 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 35°/35°, Time: 41:37, Pace: 10:24 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Wednesday | February 15, 2017: rest
Thursday | February 16, 2017: 5 m run (incl. 4×800) + 1,008 yd swim + 10 m ride
Loc: hood, Temp: 34°/34°, Time: 50:55, Pace: 10:11 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: fine, annoyed with the wind in the last two repeats
Loc: FitNation, Time: 21:59, Pace: 2:11 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: surprise, surprise – annoyed with my foggy goggles
Indoor Bike Time: 31:48, Pace: 18.9 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, legs getting a bit tired
Friday | February 17, 2017: teaching strength class + 3 m run (w/Anne)
Strength: Lebert Equalizers and one dumbbell, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 27°/28°, Time: 37:01, Pace: 12:20, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | February 18, 2017: 10 m run (w/Dad on bike)
Loc: Overland Park, Temp: 43°/54°, Time: 1:47:08, Pace: 10;43 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Sunday | February 19, 2017: 4 m run (w/Andrew)
Loc: Indian Creek Trail, Temp: 50°/50°, Time: 46:35, Pace: 11:37 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, hot!

Notes:

• The warm February weather (pdf to link) is appreciated, but so, so odd. We haven’t had snow, either! Check out this article from Wednesday – “It’s been 60 days since Chicago has had an inch of snow” (pdf here). It doesn’t feel like winter at all. I usually struggle with the winter to spring transition (I have a hard time with spring) but maybe it will be easier, since we have spring weather now?
• This was a quiet workout week. Lack of sleep from last weekend, and stress of dealing with Khali’s surgery exhausted me. I was lazy at the beginning of the week and then I had to cram all my cross training in to one day before I left for Kansas City. Oops!
• I had such a pleasant long run with my dad on Saturday in Kansas. The weather and company were great! And I felt great! Although my stomach was messed up for a few hours after the run – I forgot how the sun does that to me.
• I had a great run with my brother-in-law on Sunday, too! It was nice to catch up! We ran on a part of the trail by my snister’s house that I hadn’t been on yet. Naturally, since we’re near Kansas City, we found a massive hill!

Link to Training Week 382

Comments (14)

By kilax, February 16, 2017 6:23 am

• Khali is recovering well! But she is anxious to go back outside. We figured we should at least wait until she is off her medication (last pill is tomorrow) to let her out. A lot of people ask me how Data reacts to her – he’s fine! He lets her approach, then usually walks away. I did see him hiding behind boxes and swatting at her when she walked by yesterday, but I think he was being playful (???).

• What boxes was Data hiding behind? Oh, this load of stuff (sentimental stuff, a few games, kitchen boxes, etc.) we’ve had stored at the warehouse (for about one and a half years) since we started clearing out our townhome to sell it, and just brought home! We still have garage stuff and most of our books at the warehouse. Slowly but surely, we’ll get it here! (It’s obviously not a rush, since we’ve been without these items for one and a half years! Although, I do miss a few books, and Steven definitely misses his garage stuff!)

• Another, “yeah, figures” article – “Scientific Proof That No One Wants to Hear Your Vacation Stories” (pdf here), but actually, not for the reason I thought. The article says people would rather hear stories they can relate to, rather than stories about experiences they’ve never had. Makes sense – wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to relate and connect with someone? But the reason we prefer relatable stories (according to this article, anyway) is because most people are crappy storytellers. “Human speech is riddled with informational gaps, and familiar stories allow listeners to use their own knowledge to fill in those gaps.” Hmm!
• I know I’m a horrible storyteller. So let me try to tell you a story about a recent Target trip, ha. A lady and I were both trying to jockey our carts around the same section of the chocolate aisle. So I said to her “Looks like we both need our chocolate!” as I picked up the peanut butter cups I was there for. She starts asking me about the peanut butter cups and I tell her what I like about them. She picks up a bag to look at, and I finish my reasons of why I am buying them with “and they’re vegan!” and… she puts them back immediately. Ha, maybe I should have left the vegan part off?

• I’ve been actually paying attention to the extra stuff my Garmin tracks, like sleep (to try to figure out how to sleep better) and steps. Last year I whined about how our work was going to have a steps competition but only walking steps counted, not running. At the time I thought it was major BS, but now that I actually pay attention to my steps, and realize I would rarely break 3,000 without running, I kind of see their point.
• Work pet peeve – people who sent you pdf files but don’t look to see if they are properly oriented! I review a lot of drawings, and people send me the pdf rotated ninety degrees in the wrong direction, constantly. What does that tell me? You didn’t open the pdf after you made it to make sure it was correct. Sigh.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 127

Comments (19)

By kilax, February 14, 2017 6:29 pm

Even though our veterinarian is fantastic, I was anxious about Khaleesi (Khali) getting spayed today. I’m nervous when they put them under to operate!

But, the vet technicians and assistants made me feel at ease – they called and sent text updates (with pictures!) throughout the day to let me know how things were going. Khali came home late this afternoon.

We’re supposed to monitor her activity for fourteen days to make sure she doesn’t jump or play too much! Ha! We’ll give her a few days inside* and see how that goes. I completely emptied out the downstairs bathroom so it’s all hers.

She found a comfy spot right away…

And I’ve been in here, monitoring her since she got back. I’ve learned she is a snorer! She’s being completely sweet and purring (and snoring) A LOT. I wonder if she’ll even want to go back outside… (I am guessing yes – she loves killing things).

Fingers crossed recovery goes well!

(Gah, I had the weirdest déjà vu writing this post. Does that ever happen to you?)

*Edited to add: I am happy it’s so oddly warm outside right now, so that Snow is not too cold, sleeping outside, without his sister’s body heat!

Comments (3)

By kilax, February 12, 2017 1:59 pm

Highlight of the Week: Feeling energetic on my runs (I’d been feeling off for awhile, and I didn’t this week)!

Monday | February 6, 2017: 5 m run + 16.8 m bike + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 40°/41°, Time: 48:46, Pace: 9:45 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: great
Indoor Bike Time: 55:10, Pace: 18.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good, excited to teach the workout on 2/11
Strength: Lebert Equalizers, Difficulty: easy (1/2 observing, no partner), Felt: good, hyper
Tuesday | February 7, 2017: 5 m run
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 38°/39°, Time: 53:40, Pace: 10:44 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: decent
Wednesday | February 8, 2017: rest
Thursday | February 9, 2017: 5 m run (incl. 7×400)
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 22°/21°, Time: 48:55, Pace: 9:47 avg, Difficulty:medium, Felt: strong
Friday | February 10, 2017: teaching strength class + 1,386 yd swim (incl. drills) + 3 m run
Strength: Lebert and one dumbbell, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: FitNation, Time: 42:17, Pace: 3:03 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good (still annoyed with fogging goggles)
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 40°/39°, Time: 29:53, Pace: 9:57 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Saturday | February 11, 2017: teaching indoor cycling (16.5 m) + teaching fitness boxing + 5 m run
Loc: Efit, Time: 55:04, Pace: 18.0 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: body weight workouts, pads and mitts, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 43°/41°, Time: 49:05, Pace: 9:48 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, strong
Sunday | February 12, 2017: 12 m run + 10 m bike
Loc: Lake Andrea/Outlet Mall loop, Temp: 34°/41°, Time: 2:09:10, Pace: 10:46 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: really good!
Indoor Ride Time: 34:57, Pace: 17.2 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good

Notes:

• The crushed limestone trails were REALLY squishy this week. Like, beginning of spring squishy. I actually felt bad running on them – my shoes sunk in deep enough, I know they’ll freeze in to ruts. Eek.
• On Thursdays I do speedwork around a lake by my house. It’s windy, and lately, cold, on Thursdays, but knowing I may see a pretty sunset gets me out the door! And I’m happy I’ve been consistent about doing speedwork on the same day of the week. It’s more typical of me to put it off for as long as I can.
• It was so warm here Saturday morning. As I was leaving to teach indoor cycling, I felt like we could have cycled outside – it was in the mid 40s with a “feel like” in the 50s because of the humidity and low winds! I did see cyclists out Saturday and Sunday.
• As you guys have heard me talk about a zillion times, some of my runs are on the shoulders of high speed (low traffic) highways. Most drivers have been decent when they see me, going all the way to toward the center of the lane, or even crossing in to the other lane. However, on Saturday, I noticed a car coming toward me was driving right on the edge of the shoulder and swerving a bit in to it. Sigh. I got way over away from them, and they did drive right down the line, and continued to do so when they passed me. I hope they arrived to their final destination safely…
• This is the second week in a row I cycled more than I ran!

Link to Training Week 381

Comments (6)

By kilax, February 10, 2017 6:45 am

I’ve been running across articles promoting the importance of playful workouts recently, and it’s got me all pumped up. That’s one of my goals for every class I teach – to make it fun.

Why? Because…

• … newcomers are more likely to adhere to a workout routine if it’s fun (and they weren’t beat down by the class).
• … making a workout playful makes it more than just another thing to check off your list on the road to a healthier life – it makes it a part of your day to look forward to – a reward in itself.
• … when you’re having fun, you forget how hard you’re working.
• … when you’re having fun, time flies (you know, in case you haven’t gotten to the point of the class being a reward yet).

And so on and so on. You get the idea*!

I try to do this in my classes with the following methods:

• The program itself – I come up with playful ways to work whatever part of the body we are focusing on for that move, and I switch it up each week so it’s not the same thing over and over.
  
  Bar Crawl, anyone?
• Camaraderie – I partner people up so they can encourage and challenge one another.
• Music – I have a large library of music to pull from, and sometimes do themed playlists. Again, I switch it up each week to keep it fresh (although I use a lot of the boxing songs on a cycle cause the beat’s so good).
• My attitude – I try (sometimes I have an off day) to be cheerful and playful and am goofy sometimes a lot of the time (and sometimes SUPER hyper…).

Anyway, this isn’t meant to be a how-to post. I actually want to hear from YOU because I am always looking for ideas and inspiration – what are some recent workouts you’ve done lately that have been fun and playful?

*I don’t train with children, but want to mention, they’re one group you’re REALLY supposed to make things playful for – I mean, kids’ exercise is playing! And they’re supposed to get an hour of playful exercise most days of the week. And most kids don’t.

Comments (34)

By kilax, February 9, 2017 6:23 am

• William turned a month old on Tuesday! I get to see him next weekend. Yay!

• My mom mentioned she is doing a challenge at work to exercise a certain amount of minutes a set amount of days a week. I texted her the day after she told me to ask how her workout was, and she responded with “Wow you have a great memory” (then told me about the workout). My brain is programmed to remember stuff like that – I told her it’s my job to harass people about working out!
• Just say no to… lunch time meetings! I understand lunch time meetings are sometimes necessary because of time zone differences, but I swear, some people seem to prefer them and schedule them over and over, despite me politely (???) asking if we can have them before or after. Wah wah wah. (I know I’ve complained about this before. I wanted to again.)
• We came up with a name for the opossum – Littlefinger. Thankfully, there are lots of Games of Thrones characters so we should never run out of names for the critters. Now we need to name the two raccoons.

• This guy does NOT have a Game of Thrones name. I was chatting with my neighbor yesterday and she said her daughter named the stray white cat Puff. Puff, it is!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 126

Comments (20)

By kilax, February 6, 2017 4:06 pm

A year ago on this date, we were moving in to our home! (All photos below are from move-in day.)

“Where the hell am I going now?” I learned from our first move it’s better to take Data to the new place FIRST and let him explore (rather than take him after the stuff moves in), so we did that at this house. 

Someone recently asked me if I have any regrets moving where we did. NOPE. We wanted peace and quiet and we got it. We were unhappy and on edge in our townhome. We’re not at all, where we live now. We’ve had one of our best years here.

Overlooking his new kingdom.

Steven wanted more projects and he got them! We’ve accomplished so many things at the house in the past year, all with his leading and planning (and some times, ALL his labor and very little of mine). And there’s always more to do. He’s happiest planning, solving problems, and building. It makes me happy to see him in his element and help when I can. And I’m grateful he takes the lead with that stuff – it’s not my forte!

I am so happy we hired movers for move #2. They rocked.

We have longer commutes now, and have put many more miles on the car, but a year in, we’re doing fine with it. We’ve adjusted our schedules accordingly and gotten used to it.

Powered by chai lattes!

I’ve also gotten used to running out here. We live off of a country road with a high speed limit – not ideal for running on anytime, really, but especially when it’s dark or the road conditions are bad. But I’ve found safe routes. And I luckily live between two thirty mile+ trail systems, a forest preserve, and a two+ mile lake trail loop. I have lots of awesome options, and even more if I hop in the car to get there.

We were unpacked in a few days, thanks to some help and smart packing!

We live “in the country,” but we’re actually equidistant between three decently sized cities, and it’s only a fifteen minute drive to each. We’ve figured out where to shop, and more importantly, found the good Chinese and pizza takeout. Ha!

We’ve met quite a few of our neighbors. We’ve yet to hang out with any of them, but we always have nice conversations when we run in to each other. One couple described our street as everyone being really nice, but mostly keeping to themselves, and that’s perfect for us. We also have some fur neighbors too, like Denali above. A lot of our neighbors have horses and we’ve seen plenty of interesting wild life in our backyard.

Again, so happy we hired movers.

We love having guests stay over, however, our house is actually the same square footage (plus a basement, woo hoo) as our townhome. So, we only have one guest bedroom! We plan to be here for a long time, and hope we can expand someday.

Move-day project – cutting closet rods so we can hang up our clothes and feel like we really live here!

But I love how the house is set up now. I like how the entire first floor has one big circulation loop. It feels spacious. And I like that the kitchen is NOT next to the living room. And that the living room has two story ceilings (that seemed like a waste when it was an option at the townhome, but I just love it here). And I love my huge soaking bath. And all the gorgeous windows. And I could go on and on…

“I’ve had enough.” The end of a long move day!

So yeah… you guys already know we love our home! Thanks for reading about it over the past year! There is definitely more to come – we still have so much we want to do!