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By kilax, May 31, 2018 11:58 am

• We got some news back on Data and he definitely has a malabsorption issue and will be needing treatment. I’m feeling worried and sad that he is not well, and will share more details when I am up to it! P.S. He pooped in the foyer two more times since yesterday. Sigh. But once in the box today. P.P.S. His behavior is normal beyond the poop issues. And playing with his sister less.

• Steven had this visitor yesterday morning! I am sad I missed her!

• I finished Station Eleven last week. I was sad when it was over! What a great read! Definitely one of my favorites of this year (and maybe all time?).
• I was excited to start Endure, a non-fiction book about the “limits” of human endurance (spoiler: it’s mostly mental), but so far, it really feels like How Bad Do You Want It? Part II. I loved How Bad Do You Want It? (so much that I’ve read it several times), but I don’t see myself doing that with this book – so far it’s a bit too, hmm, “study” based for me. Maybe it’ll get better!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 180

Comments (10)

By kilax, May 30, 2018 12:23 pm

I love it when I wake up in the morning and smell a stink bomb, then go to Data’s litter box to cover it up, and realize it’s NOT in his litter box. It’s all over the welcome mat. And door threshold. And door.

WHY DATA WHY

I love it when I get to work THEN realize the back of my shirt is see-through. Dammit. I had a funny feeling when I was getting dressed this morning, and should have checked at home. (Whiny side note: I wanted to wear a dress today, but elected to wear pants and a shirt because I have fifty+ mosquito bites and thought pants would deter me from scratching more than a dress. Ugh.)

I love it when the main program I use at for my job won’t work, week after week, despite help from IT.

I love it when I’ve been waiting for a month for info and I get it and it says “let’s discuss further” instead of answering ANYTHING.

I love it when I leave my desk for a few minutes and the same person calls me over and over.

Wednesdays seem to be my Mondays lately. Thanks for letting me vent, that’s all I wanted to do! (I realize none of these things are a big deal, except the first one since it means Data is still not feeling well.)

(What’s funny to me is that I woke up feeling achy (from a strength workout) and tired (from going to bed late after seeing Solo), and thought about this post (below) I saw and how I was going to do the things listed to start the day out right… and it was working!!!!! Until I found the sh*t on the floor and saw all the mosquitoes inside the house and immediately felt irritated. Ha. I’ll keep at it!)

View this post on Instagram

5 things to do before you get out of bed:⠀ ⠀ 1. Express gratitude. ⠀ 2. Set your intentions for the day.⠀ 3. Take five deep breaths in and out.⠀ 4. Smile for no reason.⠀ 5. Forgive yourself for yesterday’s mistakes. ⠀ ⠀ #MantraBand #liveinspired

A post shared by MantraBand® (@mantraband) on May 25, 2018 at 7:21pm PDT

And I will end with a few positive small things from my week/day:

• It was AWESOME to have Monday off
• It was fun to go to the movies last night with Steven
• I found a birthday gift for a friend
• I got to have a “coffee” (really, chai) break with my work bestie today

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By kilax, May 29, 2018 4:49 am

Our weekend was AWESOME and I hope yours was too!

FRIDAY!

Although, Friday started out on a serious note. We took Data to the veterinarian because he’d had diarrhea for three weeks (we thought it was getting better, hence not taking him sooner). The vet ran tests to see if he has a malabsorption issue, or irritated dietary tract. Data has lost over two and a half pounds since his March vet visit. Our poor old man cat.

Sigh.

I should hear back from the vet midweek. It’s likely we’ll have to give Data meds, or change his diet (which he will NOT make easy – he’s a PICKY eater). He still has diarrhea.

While we were there, I remembered to ask to visit the kittens!

There’s six kittens, three males and three females. I definitely need to adopt two, right?!

Friday night was quiet after that. I was exhausted from not getting enough sleep (broken record). I was productive in picking out an outfit for the the outdoor barnyard wedding we’re going to next weekend, though. I’m planning to wear the dress in the top right corner.

Collage I made to send my mom and snis

Of course, we watched a movie Friday night. We finished All I See Is You. Blah.

SATURDAY!

On Saturday I woke up with the sun to do hill repeats before teaching fitness boxing.

I taught, then took my car to the dealer to get the piece replaced they forgot to swap out before.

We had lunch with Mad Men, then I got groceries and picked up these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Craving satisifed!

sooooooooooooooo gooooooooooooooooooodt

I thought I would pull weeds when I got back, but it was in the high 80s (or low 90s?!) and hella stuffy out. I tried to spend time on the balcony and it was even too hot for that. Ugh. So we stayed inside for the evening, reading a bit, then making dinner and watching Patti Cake$ (entertaining, seemed like a newer, Jersey version of 8 Mile to us).

SUNDAY!

I didn’t need to set an alarm Sunday, but the kitties woke me up nice and early! Thanks, guys!

Actually, it was nice to have a relaxing morning eating breakfast and reading on the balcony before we left at 8:00 for the race.

We ran the Chocholic 5K in Burlington, then headed to Milwaukee for the Brewers game. Rachel got us tickets as an early birthday gift for me! I’ve done a Spartan Race at Miller Park, but this was my first time being there for a game.

Guys, I LOVE ballpark food. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s such a fun part of the experience! And all the ballparks seems so savvy with vegan options now! I could eat three hot dogs. I stuck to one. Hee.

We had a fun time watching the Brewers play (and beat!) the Mets. I was glad Rachel got seats that were in the shade because it was freaking HOT – as Steven and I like to say “too hot for touching.” Ha. We were careful not to bump arms or legs as we sat next to each other at the game. And to take a few breaks to walk around the concourse (and get more food and drinks) and cool off a bit.

It was fun to chat during the game and catch up. We love spending time with Rachel and Kevin! And yay for our first game of the year! Next month, we’ll be back at Miller Park to see the Royals play the Brewers! Woot!

When we drove home I started to get a headache and feel a little heat sick. I wasn’t surprised – I surely got a bit dehydrated (despite drinking a lot of water), and had a frozen daiquiri, and was sitting in a cold car after being out in the sun! A cold shower felt good when I got home, but I felt a bit off the rest of the night! We watched Baywatch and went to bed early.

MONDAY!

I was nervous about doing my tempo run (twelve miles at marathon pace!) Monday morning with it being in the high 60s/low 70s, and after eating and drinking a bit differently than normal, but I nailed it and felt great!

I was back at the house a little after 7:00, changed clothes, and got to work pulling weeds. Finally! I wanted to do that last weekend but it was too rainy and cold.

Several hours later, I was done, and took a cool bath to relax. We had lunch and watched another episode of Mad Men, then put the hammock outside on the balcony and hung out out there!

Pretty soon it was time to prep ALL THE FOOD to grill! Steven brought our grill home from storage this week. We’ve lived in this house for two years and almost four months and it’s our first time grilling here! We just didn’t think of it. We weren’t big grillers before because it was so unpleasant (spend time outside) to grill in the neighborhood we used to live in.

But now?! We can put it on our patio and it’s relaxing and peaceful! And delicious! Yay! The only annoying part was the mosquitoes (I got SO MANY bites this weekend), and that it was a bit hot!

We also grilled fruit that we had for dessert!

Um, so we ate dinner at 5:30. Ha! We usually eat past 8:00 on Mondays because that is when I get home from teaching! It was nice to eat early, watch a bit of Star Trek Beyond, then do a few chores/tidying up, and get in bed early with a book. Ahh, what a relaxing day!!!

Comments (8)

By kilax, May 28, 2018 12:19 pm

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! We’ll run for chocolate! Even in hot HOT weather!

This was my second year doing this race in Burlington, Wisconsin, aka “Chocolate City USA,” and home of a Nestlé factory.

Our challenge last year was rain and a flooded trail. This year it was steamy temps (82°, “feels like 92°”) and full sun.

Rachel asked if I wanted to do this race then go to a baseball game after (YES, PLEASE!!!), so I planned to run with her. I also invited people at Essential Fitness to come as well, and we had a small group this year.

I was glad on race morning when Rachel said she wanted to take the race easy. Again, YES, PLEASE!! I’d rather take it easy and feel good for the ball game then go all out and feel like crap. No point in that!

So take it easy we did! We ran 9:28, 9:15, 9:28, and 7:54 pace for the last .1. My watch time was 28:59 but my official time is 29:21, so I guess the race was not chipped timed*!

The course was reversed from last year to avoid congestion on bridges (good idea!). We ran through ChocolateFest, along the main strip of town, on the trail (not flooded, yay!) and over the bridges in the park. Most of the race was in the sun, and I was sweating like crazy from the sunscreen I put on before the race. I actually stopped to get water at the halfway point, something I rarely do in a 5K!

I enjoyed chatting with Rachel during the race – it was just like one of our meet-up runs in Burlington! But I was glad when we were done, and I could get in to the shade, and down a bottle of water.

They had rows of Kringle to eat after the race, and six-packs of Crunch bars to take home! I was impressed the chocolate wasn’t melting!

This race is well run, inexpensive, and has awesome swag (cute t-shirt, fun medal, ALL THE CHOCOLATE, free entry to the festival, etc.). I’d do it again! I think I will wait and register on-site next year though. The race started at 9:30 and that’s way too late to be running in those temps (but awesome for not having to stress about getting there early!).

*The race sent an email with our finish times asking if everything was correct and I asked about chip timing and they said “It was chip timed but we use ustaf rules and show gun time.” Ha ha. Okay.

Comments Off on Training Week 449

By kilax, May 27, 2018 6:16 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running a race with Rachel! / Feeling so great on my runs and not wanting to stop!

Monday | May 21, 2018: teaching strength class
Strength: sandbags and cones, Felt: good, tired from being in the city all day
Tuesday | May 22, 2018: 14 m run (incl. 10 tempo MP)
Loc: Lake Andrea/Outlet Mall Loop, Temp: 60°/59°, Time: 2:05:57, Pace: 9:00 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: mostly great
Wednesday | May 23, 2018: 7 m run
Loc: VP Woods loop, Temp: 69°, Time: 1:06:51, Pace: 9:33 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good after a few miles, warm
Thursday | May 24, 2018: 19 m run + 13 m ride
Loc: DPRT/Kilbournee Loop, Temp: 51°/61°, Time: 3:06:43, Pace: 9:50 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: mostly great, breathing a bit harder than normal
Loc: Lake Andrea/Outlet Mall Loop, Temp: 67°/75°, Time: 50:18, Pace: 15.5 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, annoyed with wind noise
Friday | May 25, 2018: teaching strength class + 924 yd swim + 4 m run
Strength: sandbags & cones, Felt: good, tired (didn’t get enough sleep)
Loc: FitNation, Time: 20:17, Pace: 2:12 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: not in to it
Loc: hood, Temp: 83°/85°, Time: 41:04, Pace: 10:15, Difficulty: medium, Felt: fine, just hot and taking it easy
Saturday | May 26, 2018: 14 m run (incl. 4 hill repeats) + teaching strength class
Loc: DPRT/Kilbourne Loop, Temp: 68°/70°, Time: 2:15:50, Pace: 9:42 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, didn’t want to stop!
Strength: whole body moves & boxing, Felt: great
Sunday | May 27, 2018: Chocoholic 5K (w/Rachel)
Loc: Burlington, Temp: 79°/82°, Time: 28:59, Pace: 9:27 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, super sweaty

Notes:

• My marathon pace (8:46) feels really easy when it’s overcast… but I got a chance to run part of it in the sun on Tuesday’s tempo, and it helped to see how it feels with a hot face, sun sick stomach, and sweat dripping down my arms. (It feels not as easy, ha!)
• I love doing my long runs Thursdays before work. I wonder if I will keep that up after the marathon.
• I road my bike outside for the first time this year on Thursday! I had forgotten how annoying the slightest wind is. It’s mostly the noise in my ears that’s bugging me.
• We got hit with nasty hot weather for the last three days of the week. It didn’t affect me on Saturday’s run (thankfully) but I could feel it during the 5K I ran with Rachel on Sunday. The race started at 9:30, which is a time I’d want to be done well before in that kind of weather. But we took it easy and had fun. And… there’s your recap. Ha! Maybe I will write an actual one, too.

Link to Training Week 448

Comments (3)

By kilax, May 26, 2018 11:35 am

… to want a Pop-Tart*.

Sigh.

For a few weeks in a row, I’d see a Pop-Tart, still in its wrapper, on the shoulder of the highway close to home, as I finished my runs.

I started to look for it. I got excited about seeing it. I liked thinking about eating a Pop-Tart as I finished my runs. Brown Sugar Cinnamon, without frosting, please.

Then one day, it was gone!

But I still think about it, every time I run past that spot, which is at least three times a week.

Sigh.

I need to get my hands on a Pop-Tart.

(Since I obviously don’t have a Pop-Tart to share a picture of with you, here is a photo from my run this morning, instead!)

*This is apparently how they spell it – the hyphen was a surprise to me. The more you know!

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By kilax, May 25, 2018 4:19 am

When I heard Ariana Grande’s new single “No Tears Left to Cry” for the first time I knew I’d be downloading it.

What I didn’t know is that I would be listening to it on repeat so much! It got me ready for my tempo run Tuesday, when I listened to it (on repeat) during my two warm-up miles. It got me pumped up to have a fast finish during my Thursday long run, when I finished listening to podcasts after mile fifteen and decided to switch over to music, and played it three times (I had to stop myself from playing it more, ha).

Yay for new music!

Let me know if there’s anything you’re loving now that I need to check out.

My power song has been AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” for a looooooong time. I doubt it will ever retire. “Thunderstruck” always has the same effect on me – it gives me energy when I feel like I have no “push” left.

Example: I was doing my tempo run Tuesday, and had just gone up at hill at mile 8.5 and felt SPENT and wasn’t sure if I could do 10 tempo miles. But then “Thunderstruck” came on at the beginning of the final mile and I immediately got that surge to finish strong! I played it on repeat for that mile.

I listen to it at the beginning of 5Ks to get revved up, and listened to it at the beginning of my last half marathon.

It amazes me a song can have this effect! I told my dad about what happened during my tempo (he said “would have been just wrong to stop then!” <— yep!), and told him I may have to play “Thunderstruck” every ten songs during my marathon playlist. Ha. But seriously.

So, get yourself a power song, if you don’t already have one! It can be your secret weapon. And you don’t have to run with music to use it (although, truth – that does help). You can listen to it before you work out, or listen to it in your head, when you need it.

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By kilax, May 24, 2018 7:25 am

• AHHHHH! Xaarlin brought me this Starbucks mug (and veggie candies!) back from her trip to Copenhagen!!!! What a sweetie! And BONUS: I can use the mug because I’ve been there! (I have two rules for Starbucks mugs: only buy them for locations I’ve been to, and if received as a gift, only drink out of if I’ve been there. I’m odd, yes.)

• Ugh, we’re seeing thousands of trees removed in the areas around where we live. It’s totally changing the landscape (making it worse, in my opinion) but I’m sure they’re being removed because of an invasive species, or they aren’t healthy, or to make the forest floor healthier (or to make room to build, ugh) or whatever. But still, it gives me the sads.
• Other sads – living in the forest, we have to deal with dead or almost dead animals sometimes. Sigh. As two animals lovers, it takes its toll on us.
• Weekly book update time! After I finished North, I started Station Eleven, which I am loving. It’s a novel about a swine flu that knocks out 99% of the world’s population, with some of it taking place in present time, but some of it going back before the flu. There’s several main characters, and it’s enjoyable to see how they all interrelate!
• Last month, someone asked me how I fit in running 50 miles a week with cross and strength training, and the top three bullets below are what I told them, with some extra stuff I’ve thought of later. Bottom line: working out is a priority and I am grateful for the lifestyle I have.
  • I don’t have kids
  • I work from home
  • I have a husband who works a lot and supports me working out
  • I take time off work (annual leave) to train
  • I get paid to strength train
  • I am obsessive about it
  • and most importantly: I LOVE IT

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 179

Comments (16)

By kilax, May 23, 2018 5:27 am

As much as I seem like a Grumpy Gus, I thrive off of good news from friends and family. When I need energy/good vibes, I think of their triumphs and successes. It’s cheesy, but that’s something I did at the Wisconsin Half Marathon when the pace got tough – I thought of good news friends/family had that would put a smile on my face and take me outside my discomfort!

Eventually I will get better at doing this at work when I am feeling frustrated. I’ve been working on that for years…

I really need good vibes this morning as I’m irate that the last automatic updates Windows did to my computer rendered Photoshop useless and I had to edit this photo on my phone. Why do things like that make me so freaking stabby?! 

Anyway! Chances are likely I already have a good news/triumph item in mind for you if you are a friend of mine, but share it with me anyway so I can stock it away for the next time I need to draw on it!

And of course, my most recent “big” one is my PR at the Wisconsin Half Marathon!

Comments (15)

By kilax, May 22, 2018 6:23 am

A: If the weather’s sh*t

And… a completely unrelated rant called “CHECK MY CALENDAR!!!”

I have leave from work tomorrow to attend a seminar in another state with Steven. It’s on my public (to my coworkers) work calendar.

A work meeting with was set up in a different state tomorrow, unbeknownst to me. My presence is desired at the meeting.

I can’t be in two states at the same time (especially when the second one requires a flight).

It’s ridiculous to be upset with someone that they can’t attend a meeting, in another state, when you didn’t coordinate with them AT ALL.

Eh. Makes too much sense to ask it someone is available that you want there.

But really, just coordinate with me! Or check my calendar!