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By kilax, March 21, 2018 6:03 am

The specific routes for each day of RAGBRAI 2018 (XLVI) were announced last week!

Image from here (and here)

My team (Dad, Gina, Steve, and Andrew) is on board for the last day of RAGBRAI, Day 7. The elevation profile looks much less intimidating than last year’s, but seventy miles (I bet we’ll be at that, if not more) on a bike is no joke! Dad (and Will and Julie) and I did a seventy+ mile route in 2015 and we were BEAT. But that was after we rode sixty miles the day before, which won’t be the case this year.

Anyway, no matter WHAT we are all doing the day before, EVERYONE needs to train to ride seventy miles. Which probably means a few half century rides prior to RAGBRAI. It’s always interesting to see how well trained everyone shows up to ride, muah ha ha.

And most importantly, I will make sure I can satisfy my Mexican food craving in Davenport before we leave town, so no one has to listen to me talk about beans and rice on the long car ride home. (This has happened more than once!)

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By kilax, March 20, 2018 6:12 am

When Data was at the vet last week, a veterinarian walked by and asked me “Is that the 910?”

It took me a second, but I realized he was talking about my Garmin watch, which I wear all the time. “It’s the 920!” I said.

Then we talked shop for a bit, which was enjoyable. He does triathlons and trains with a well-known club in town.

Later, when I was talking to Steven about it, he said he was super confused at first. “He asked you if it was 9:10, and you said 9:20, but I looked at the clock and it was 9:23!” Ha! Ha ha ha.

Data was at the vet for his annual appointment. It’s usually in April but we moved it up a month because he’s been losing weight. He’s older (15) so the weight loss is typical, but we wanted to have his blood work done and make sure he’s okay. He’s also been a bit needy over the last month, which he tends to be when he’s not feeling well, so we wanted to check on that, too. (Otherwise his behavior has been completely normal.)

That’s one way to hide from the vet

His bloodwork came back fine! He is still in the “gray zone” for thyroid issues, and the vet recommended we check his blood again in six months. But yay, my old man cat is healthy.

According to the app I use at the vet, yesterday, March 19th, was Data’s birthday (no idea how they came up with this date, ha – I had never seen it until I got the app a year ago). Happy Birthday, Data!

The vet sent Data an animated card with all of these cats showing up at the door then having a party for Data. Awwwwwww. It was so cute and cheesy, I teared up a bit, watching it. 

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By kilax, March 19, 2018 6:23 am

Creative title, right? Gosh, March sure is long!

I had a short, but blissful, weekend!

Steven got a hankering for a homemade cookie on Saturday, so he made some Sunday evening!

On Friday afternoon I got a sports massage, then went to Aldi (my first trip of two there this weekend, grrr). That night, I saw Bobbi’s daughter’s play. I was impressed! To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from a middle school play, but I am pretty sure their acting, costumes, lighting, and stage surpassed anything I did in high school theater.

The play was Cobweb Dreams, which was a take on a portion of A Midsummer’s Night Dream (which I wasn’t familiar with but read about after the show). The story was about the faeries that live in the enchanted forest; particularly, about the fairy Cobweb, who felt like she didn’t belong in her group of faeries (lady-in-waiting faeries, I think), and wondered if she belonged in any of the other fairy groups in her tribe (woodland faeries, water faeries, flower faeries, etc.). She was thinking about leaving them all to join a different tribe all together.

The story had great themes: self acceptance, sense of belonging, group dynamics (how to get along with everyone even if they aren’t your best friend), and appropriate and NOT appropriate pranks/teasing. I thought those were great lessons for this age group (and let’s be real, every age). I’m glad I went! Like I said, I was impressed and entertained. Now I want to see A Midsummer’s Night Dream!

I ran Saturday morning, then Jen, Troy, and Declan came over so we could go to HuHot! Oh, HuHot, how I love thee. I had been thinking about what I was going to put in my stir fry all week and it did not disappoint!

Not sure why I took a photo of my food hanging OFF the table, wtf, Kim

I wore green to make sure I didn’t get pinched, but that was the extent of my St. Patrick’s Day celebrating!

Looks like the “hanging things off a ledge” photo trend lasted all day, wtf…

We hung out with Jen, Troy, and Declan a bit at our house after lunch, then I finished The Wild Truth and took a short nap.

Saturday night was chill. We considered watching The Shape of Water to continue our Oscar-nominated movie watching spree (we’ve recently watched Darkest Hour, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and I, Tonya. Get Out and Icarus were the only we had seen pre-Oscars!), but ended up watching Battlestar Galatica. 

On Sunday I ran (surprise surprise), then did errands after lunch. I missed a few things at Aldi, hence trip #2. Eyeroll – I hate being inefficient. I also went to another store, and to the library to return a few things. I completely forgot the library isn’t open on Sundays, and was disappointed I didn’t get to look for something new to read! Wah!

After errands, I took the cats out on the balcony,

took a short nap, went on a walk with Steven, then he made cookies and dinner (I sous chefed),

and… we watched more Battlestar Gallactica!

It’s obvious I need other hobbies beyond exercising, reading, and watching movies/shows. But the fact that I am feeling more social is good! Long-time readers will recall I get the “spring blues” – I struggle when it gets warmer and the days get longer. It makes me moody. I can feel that seeping in, especially on Sunday, when it was so warm out. I know it’s odd, and I fight it every year. Fingers crossed this is one of the better years (last year surprisingly was because we had no winter – so I didn’t have a winter to mourn ending).

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By kilax, March 18, 2018 6:10 pm

Highlight of the Week: An awesome Monday strength workout I felt for a few days!

Monday | March 12, 2018: 30 mins strength + 12 m run
Loc: Kilbourne/DPRT loop, Temp: 43°/38°, Time: 1:55:11, Pace: 9:35 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great!
Tuesday | March 13, 2018: 5 m run (incl. 8 hill repeats)
Loc: hood, Temp: 28°/28°, Time: 45:35, Pace: 9:06 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fantastico
Wednesday | March 14, 2018: rest
Thursday | March 15, 2018: 15 m ride + 7 m run (incl. 12×400)
Indoor Ride Time: 1:00:36, Pace: 14.9 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 39°/36°, Time: 1:04:11, Pace: 9:09 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good, challenged by the wind
Friday | March 16, 2018: teaching strength class + 798 yd swim + 4 m run + massage!
Strength: body bars and resistance bands, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: FitNation, Time: 15:44, Pace: 1:58 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: hood, Temp: 32°/31°, Time: 37:30, Pace: 9:22 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Saturday | March 17, 2018: 10.5 m run (incl. 3 m tempo)
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 34°/37°, Time: 1:41:30, Pace: 9:40 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: legs tired, tempo in to the wind
Sunday | March 18, 2018: 16 m run (part i and ii (accidentally reset watch)) + 25 min walk (w/Steven)
Loc: Pine Dunes/Outlet Mall/Lake Andrea Loop, Temp: 33°/51°, Time: 2:41:23, Pace: 10:05 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: pretty good

Notes:

• I had Monday off from teaching (I take it off from time to time) and did a strength workout on my own. We do muscular endurance based workouts in class (high amount of reps, lighter weights), but I do muscular strength based at home (low amount of reps, heavy weights), and my body FELT IT the next two days and I LOVED that!!!
• It’s always so windy where I go for speedwork, which I think will be good for me come race day, but man, some weeks are more annoying than others. Like this week. My intervals in to the wind were quite a bit slower than those with the wind at my back. Eh.
• When I first started swimming with music, I noticed my pace got faster. Now I notice I swim faster without it!
• I wanted to get my tempo run done on Saturday, so I could do whatever I wanted on Sunday (JUNK MILES!!!). But I woke up feeling beat up, maybe from my massage? I still did my tempo, and it went fine (with annoying winds, of course), but wonder if I should have waited until Sunday. Eh. Ha.

Link to Training Week 438

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By kilax, March 17, 2018 7:45 am

He actually asked me two weeks ago, so you’re probably surprised this post isn’t me introducing the newest member of our family to you!

I’m surprised too. And I was surprised when Steven asked. He’s never had a kitten, and thought it would be fun. I bet it would be fun too. AND CRAZY.

Everyone I tell this to immediately says “YES OMG GET A KITTEN RIGHT MEOW OMG YASSSSSSSS!!!!”

Except when I told Rachel. Who recently adopted a young cat. She said “how much do you like your furniture?” Hmm, or did she ask me “How much do you like your things not being destroyed?” Ha. Same difference!

So we’re thinking about it. We’d adopt (from the vet/shelter/a rescue, etc.). I told the vet to let us know when they get their annual spring kittens brought in from the farms.

This is horrible (but true), but since Snow passed, it’s been much easier to take care of two indoor cats, compared to two indoor and one outdoor. Obviously, this new kitten would live inside, but I do wonder about the extra “work.” And of course, what Data and Khali would think!

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By kilax, March 16, 2018 7:13 am

I’m not happy to only be blogging my “check-in” posts – weekend recaps, Random Thoughts Thursday, and my training recap. I actually have a long list of things I want to talk about, but they’re mostly negative and I’d rather discuss those with my snis or friends, so I keep that stuff off of here. Hopefully that list will turn positive soon, and I will be blogging more, because I MISS IT!!!

My goal 5K is three weeks from tomorrow! Woo hoo!

Beyond the physical training, I’ve begun the visualization portion of the mental training. I imagine myself at the start of the race, feeling calm (HA!!!!). I run through the course in my mind, and see myself with good form, feeling strong while running the tangents and not weaving around too many people. Then I visualize not being completely out of it at the finish!

This course is one I’ve run several times, in a park in my hometown, so I can visualize it quite well! I’ve been working on this each night as a fall asleep, and then whenever I wake up in the night, too.

Visualization is a useful tool, for me. It’s practice of my mental game plan, before race day. I practice my mental pain management during speedwork (intervals and tempos), but this is more about my overall mental state for the entire race. How can I be calm as I start? What will my mantra be? Where will I check in on pace and form? And so on.

Visualization is NOT daydreaming about an awesome finish (which, hey, is fun to do, too!). Visualization and daydreaming are different. Daydreaming is defined as an “usually wishful creation of the imagination” and a “pleasant distraction from every day life.” Daydreaming definitely has its uses (during long meetings, amirite?). But visualization is useless without putting in the actual work, to achieve your goal! It’s not fantasy-land, it’s what you’re going to do because you trained for it!

One of my favorite quotes from last year’s calendar, that reminds me of this – don’t waste so much time dreaming that you don’t do the work!

Yes, please roll your eyes over how seriously I am taking this 5K. It’s quite ridiculous! Ha!

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By kilax, March 12, 2018 6:06 am

Despite this post making it seem that way!

I’m just in tune with when I need more quiet time than social time, and that’s how this month has started, and I’m feeling good, because of it!

So, yeah – another (mostly) quiet weekend!

Friday got off to an awesome start when I checked the mail and the newest Runner’s World had my favorite runner – Shalane Flanagan!!! – on the cover!

I had to immediately text fellow Shalane-lover, xaarlin, about the cover

Updated April 3rd – link to article here

I’ve followed her career for a long time and love that she’s been in the news so much after winning the New York City Marathon. And I especially love her platform of encouraging and supporting her fellow women training partners to be their best and how that also makes her her best. <—Said poorly (what a surprise!), so read more about that here (pdf version here).

Side note: the state of the magazine industry makes me sad. Each issue of Runner’s World seems thinner than the previous one. This issue has a printed article of something I read online from them in August (the article is slightly different). It also has an  announcement that this is the editor-in-chief’s last issue (I think she was the editor-in-chief for a year or less?). Despite my complaints about Runner’s World I do still read it, and prefer to read magazines in print, but it doesn’t feel like I will be doing that much longer, with most of their content being online now. Who knows.

Back to Friday – I had dinner with Steven and Troy, then they went to a concert. I enjoyed visiting with them when they got back.

On Saturday I ran with Rachel! Then ran an errand and spent some much needed downtime with Steven – we hadn’t seen each other much all week. I took a nap (woot!) while Steven worked then we went out for dinner and picked up Murder on the Orient Express to watch.

This Mexican restaurant near us added a completely vegan menu a couple of months ago!

Steven had an early meeting on Sunday, and I am hoping us getting up early, and going to bed early Sunday night helps us fight the usual horrible feelings that come from switching to DST! (I still felt hella confused when it was so dark out when I got up this morning, hmm.)

Sunday was more working out, and errands. The exciting part of errands was when I randomly stopped at the Bath & Body Works outlet to see if they still had my second favorite winter candle scent on sale AND THEY HAPPENED TO HAVE MY FIRST FAVORITE SCENT OMFG (and my second one!)!!! I thought I wouldn’t get that scent again until November!!! <— very exciting moment for me (sad, I know).

I have a candle going most of the time I work from home, so I go through these kind of fast!  

And my Sunday was über exciting after that – chores and chilling with Steven. Ha. Yeah, I’m ready to reintegrate with society!

I’ve noticed me feeling the need for quiet coincided directly with going back to my old position at work. That’s because I’m frustrated almost every day by the work I do, and it makes me want to be alone after work. Conversely, It’s also because I am physically alone, working from home by myself a lot of the time. That makes me feel anti-social, which is odd, because I know what I need to help with that is meaningful connections.

So I need connections to feel better, but am so frustrated I feel like I shouldn’t be around people. Eek.

Luckily, I had and enjoyed meaningful conversations and connections with people this weekend! Now, to work on not feeling so angry during the work week that it seeps in to the rest of my life…

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By kilax, March 11, 2018 3:57 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running with Rachel!

Monday | March 5, 2018: 15 m ride + 7 m run (incl. 10 hill repeats) + teaching strength class
Indoor Ride Time: 59:26, Pace: 15.1 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 36°/37°, Time: 1:07:38, Pace: 9:39 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: plate circuit and oversized medicine balls, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, spent!
Tuesday | March 6, 2018: 20 m ride + 11.2 m run
Indoor Ride Time: 1:20:14, Pace: 15.0 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: to Lake Andrea and back, Temp: 34°/34°, Time: 1:50:19, Pace: 9:51 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, glad headache went away enough to run
Wednesday | March 7, 2018: rest
Thursday | March 8, 2018: 5.2 m run
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 30°/29°, Time: 50:05, Pace: 9:38 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, happy to run on the soft trail
Friday | March 9, 2018: teaching strength class + 1,176 yd swim + 7 m run (incl. 6×800)
Strength: plates and oversized medicine balls, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, actually challenged with some combos!
Loc: FitNation, Time: 25:45, Pace: 2:11 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 37°/35°, Time: 1:03:48, Pace: 9:07, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good, except last two 800s
Saturday | March 10, 2018: 12 m run (w/Rachel)
Loc: White River State Trail, Temp: 17°/26°, Time: 1:58:47, Pace: 9:54 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, legs a bit tired!
Sunday | March 11, 2018: 10 m run (incl. 2.5 m tempo) + 12 m ride
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 29°/32°, Time: 1:34:37, Pace: 9:27 avg, Difficulty: easy except last .5 of tempo, Felt: good, legs dead after tempo
Indoor Ride Time: 48:15, Pace: 14.9 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, good for the legs

Notes:

• The 5K I am training for is completely flat, but I am still doing hill repeats, because why not? They make me stronger, and there are a few inclines in the half I’ll do in May.
• I woke up just after 3:00 am with a horrible headache Tuesday morning. I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I got up, and once I felt better, got on the bike (because what else would I do until starting work at 6:30?!). Then the headache came back with a vengeance during work. Blah. I had to take the day off, but felt better in the late afternoon.
• Friday’s speedwork was the first time I had race stomach during speedwork. I usually get stomach pain after speedwork. This time, my fifth 800 felt like mile two of a 5K, which makes so much sense, since it was the start of my third mile of intervals, and it was close to race pace. But man, those last two were tough with the upset stomach! Good practice!
• I forgot my headphones for speedwork and survived! Yay! Ha. I used to run without them all the time, then when my training partner moved, I started wearing them again (even though we only ran together on weekdays, I still skipped headphones on weekend runs then too)… and have since.
• Saturday was my monthly run with Rachel! The miles flew by – we were surprised when it was already time to turn at the mid point of our out and back! I know I say this each time we do a long run together, but it really is a treat to run with someone and chat the whole time.
• I did a tempo run again this week, on Sunday, yay! I’m doing these to get ready for the 5K, but I think they’ll help with the half marathon I am running in the beginning of May, too.
• A coworker said seeing my swimming posts on Instagram inspired her to sign up for lessons! Cool!
• I set up a massage for next week! YAY! My legs are feeling all my training and I want to treat them. I also already have my massage set up for two days before my 5K in April.

Link to Training Week 437

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By kilax, March 8, 2018 6:27 am

• I finished Into the Wild, then rewatched the movie version of it this week (I wrote about the movie when I first watched it – my thoughts in that post are still true!). I enjoyed the book, and took a quick break after reading it to read the fiction book Friendship, then started The Wild Truth last night. I can already tell The Wild Truth is going to give a lot more insight in to the McCandless childrens’ actual relationship with their parents.
• I did a quick day trip to Cincinnati yesterday, for work. I was with coworkers I like, but man, being around the same people all day and not getting any time to myself is VERY challenging for me. Situations like that don’t help this feeling! I found myself cherishing alone time in the bathroom, and being excited when they all went to the Pre✓ line in the airport and I stood in regular security “by myself.” I’ll be traveling more for work (my team now inspects some of the new furniture installations in our six state region, although, yesterday’s meeting was for a construction project) so I’ll likely get Pre✓ soon.
• I got myself a treat at the airport (and used a Starbucks giftcard from my snis)! I typically only get Starbucks mugs for places I’ve been to, and I’ve been to Kentucky so many times for work. It’s not a state in my region, but I’ve flown there to get to Indiana and Ohio, and spent time there.

• Ha. Xaarlin specifically wrote a comment on my Sunday training post to be careful NOT to give myself frostbite while icing my leg, and what did I do that exact night?! Doh.

• DST starts this Sunday! I wish we’d just stay on it the whole year. Losing that hour of sleep messes me up for more than a week to come! Prepare for more withdrawn, quiet Kim!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 170

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By kilax, March 6, 2018 4:19 am

Yet another “times flies” post from me – March 4th marks five years that I’ve been a personal trainer at Essential Fitness, LLC!

FIVE YEARS!

CRAZINESS!!!

The story of how I became a personal trainer is here. Everything is still true from that post – I LOVE seeing students grow stronger. I love getting paid to workout. I still teach Monday, Friday, and some weekends. And I still don’t plan to ever make this my full time job (the amount I teach now is perfect).

What I love about teaching strength classes:

• Teaching lets me do something I’m passionate about (which is rarely the case in my day job).
• Teaching encourages me to be a lifelong student of exercise.
• Teaching lets me be creative in a way I enjoy.
• Teaching lets me connect with lots of different, wonderful people (students, coworkers, and boss).
• Teaching encourages me to stay healthy (although I’ve definitely gone up and down in weight over the years).
• Teaching gives me an excuse to buy new music on iTunes!
• Teaching makes me patient.
• Teaching makes me happy!

I’m sure you’ll be seeing more “anniversary” posts in the future, and my continuing thoughts on teaching strength training!