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By kilax, June 30, 2018 3:01 pm

How many days in a row can I blog about cats? ALL THE DAYZZZ!!!

I didn’t mention it, but when we visited the kittens on Thursday, Bobbi came with us to meet and play with them!

But she also came to meet mama cat…

… and today she went back and filled out the paperwork to adopt her! AHHHHH!!!!

I’m so excited! For many reasons – mama cat will have a loving home, Bobbi and her family will have a cat after she’s wanted one for years, and I will get to have a relationship with mama cat (and can tell the kittens to shape up or I am gonna “talk to their mom,” ha ha ha).

I was feeling especially guilty about mama cat not having a home yet (even though the veterinarian’s office told me they’d foster her and find her a home), because when I called the vet’s office once they told me they thought WE should adopt her. That they’d talked about families that would be good for her and they thought of us. Sigh. She’s the sweetest cat I’ve ever met, but I didn’t want to bring another adult female cat in to our home. And I didn’t realize how bad I felt about that until Bobbi told me they are adopting her and I literally felt so happy I teared up.

So, yay! So excited for mama cat and Bobbi and her family!!!

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By kilax, June 29, 2018 8:28 am

June was so busy, I’m mostly excited about resetting and slowing down in July! But, also:

• The kittens coming home! (We think this will happen in July)

• Seeing Anne and Terry when they’re in town
• Going on a bike ride with xaarlin to celebrate her birthday
• Riding Day 7 of RAGBRAI with Dad, Gina, and Steve
• Family vacation at the river
• Treating myself to a mani (and pedi?) for my birthday
• Swimming outside
• Seeing summer blockbusters
• Deep cleaning the house
• The scab on my knee going away

What’s on your list?

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By kilax, June 28, 2018 7:31 pm

• We visited the kittens tonight! All six of them have been claimed for adoption, and just the mama cat needs a home now. She’s such a sweetie. I hope the right person finds her!

• I’m enjoying reading Deena Kastor’s story in her book, Let Your Mind Run. I can tell it’s a book I’ll read again, and I love that having my own copy means I can highlight it! (You’re not supposed to do that with library books, right? ha)

• Sure, why not?

View this post on Instagram

oh ma ga

A post shared by linz (@kyoto) on Jun 27, 2018 at 6:05pm PDT

• We have NO Independence Day plans and I’m so excited to CHILL (or, melt, since it will be in the 90s here).

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 184

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By kilax, June 27, 2018 12:02 pm

OMG, ballpark dogs, yassssssssssssssssssssssssss

I enjoy baseball, but let’s not lie, a huge joy of going to the game is the overpriced junky ballpark food. What a fun treat!

I’d been looking forward to yesterday’s interleague Royals/Brewers game for a while! Miller Park (Milwaukee) is much easier to get to to see the Royals play, than “Guaranteed Rate Field” (ha, aka, The Cell, in Chicago), where they regularly play the White Sox each season. North we go!

Steven is from KC, so, we’re Royals fans 

Thankfully, Miller Park has a roof – Tuesday’s forecast called for heavy thunderstorms all day and that’s what we got – we drove to Milwaukee in pouring rain, walked to the ballpark in the rain, then got to sit in dry seats. Ahh. I kept saying how nice it was to be at a game and not have it be a million degrees, or have a rain delay.

Miller Park is such a nice stadium – I’d like to go back for another random game this summer! And the Brewers fans are so nice too! When we were walking on the concourse, wearing our Royals gear, a Brewers fan randomly said to us (non-sarcastically) “Welcome to Milwaukee!” and during the game, the Brewers fan sitting next to Steven was telling him how much he likes Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, where the Royals play.

Now, it probably helps that the Royals were playing like sh*t! And I did hear the usual smack talking, but baseball wouldn’t be fun without that.

We went with Bobbi and John and had a good time catching up and joking around. Hopefully we can go to another game together this summer! (After we practice whatever group dance move is going to get us on the Jumbotron.)

But I’m not sure how much more I want to venture in to this area of Wisconsin this summer*, at least by highway. The highway to get there from our house is under construction, and probably twenty-five miles of it is down from three to two lanes for an indefinite amount of time (probably years, based on past experience). It’s not a big deal in the long run, but we’ve been driving through it a lot lately, and the congestion paired with idiotic driving is making us bonkers. B-O-N-K-E-R-S. We’ll be staying home this weekend!

Oh, and all that rain? We ended up getting over three inches of rain last night in our area, which made getting home after dropping off Bobbi and John interesting – one of the routes home was under water! Eek! Thankfully, that road was dry today. We’ve had 9.46 inches of rain at our house in the last month, and most of that was in the last week. Upcoming house project – new draining system for water off our driveway. So exciting. Stay tuned!

*Ha, I’d have to go this way if I do the October marathon there

And gawd, I’m exhausted from getting so little sleep last night. I planned to sleep on the train this morning but a coworker from my detail position happened to be riding my train and talked at me for most of the ride. Sigh. I feel raw. I need some down time. I need naps back in my weekends. I need to find a way to be a supportive person without feeling the stress of that person’s issues myself. I need Data to quit pooping on the floor in the foyer. I need my legs to quit feeling so dead so I can run my stress off.

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By kilax, June 25, 2018 6:30 am

Last full weekend of June, first full weekend of summer! Let’s do some summer-y things!

FRIDAY!

On Friday night we used our summer bowling passes for the first time! And realized Friday night is not the best night to go bowling (duh, Kim) – note taken. We also had El Famous for dinner, cause it’s right there, so why not?!

SATURDAY!

We drove to Waupaca, Wisconsin on Saturday morning to spend the day/night with Rachel and Kevin at a cottage on Rainbow Lake. The cottage has been in Rachel’s friend’s Kim’s family for almost one hundred years! I was hoping Kim would be there too and she was! YAY!!!!!

Rachel sandwich! Kim, Rachel, Kim (me)

We spent the day playing in the water, boating, and eating. There was lots of good conversation, and LOTS of goofing off. A perfect summer day in my book!

Steven, me, Kevin, Rachel

I enjoyed ignoring my phone and only took it out to take a few photos (and to text with Bobbi about the cats, since she was cat sitting)!

SUNDAY!

Rachel and Kevin kept telling us how beautiful the sunrises are off the lake! I grabbed a photo of it… then went back to bed. Yassssssssssss.

Rachel and I ran (yay!), made breakfast, then we all went on a boat ride,

and we left around noon. We encountered typical Sunday traffic in Wisconsin, so the drive home took longer than on the way there because of idiotic (don’t even get me started) construction and traffic. Ugh.

But we had a relaxing evening! We did a few chores, watched an episode of Mad Men, made a lasagna casserole for dinner (aka, when you want lasagna but don’t have the right noodles), watched a bit of W. and called it a night!

I’m glad we got to see and experience cottage life! Rachel’s been telling me about going there for years, and I totally get why she loves it! It’s such a relaxing, slow-paced place.

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By kilax, June 24, 2018 4:36 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running with Rachel!

Monday | June 18, 2018: 2 m walk + teaching strength class
Strength: kettlebells and circuit, Felt: better!
Tuesday | June 19, 2018: rest
Wednesday | June 20, 2018: 40 min walk
Thursday | June 21, 2018: 3 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 64°/65°, Time: 30:23, Pace: 10:07 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: stiff, but good!
Friday | June 22, 2018: teaching strength class + 4.55 m run
Strength: kettlebells, and cardio/core, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 65°/65°, Time: 46:16, Pace: 10:10, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, happy to be running
Saturday | June 23, 2018: 3 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 58°/60°, Time: 30:25, Pace: 10:08 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: a bit tired, bloated
Sunday | June 24, 2018: 6 m run (w/Rachel)
Loc: Farmington (??), Temp: 67°, Time: 59:50, Pace: 9:58 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: okay, still felt a bit bloated (legs only)

Notes:

• I thought teaching strength class Monday night would make me feel like garbage after the marathon, but it actually helped. Yay for that!
• I skipped swimming this week because I didn’t want to mess up my scab, then spent a lot of Saturday in a lake, without it protected, because band-aids wouldn’t stay on. Eh. It should be fine by now.
• My legs felt stiff and heavy/bloated most of the week. Hopefully that’s just because it’s a recovery week, and because my diet’s been crap.
• I loved running with Rachel on Sunday, yay! I hope we can run together once in July, too.
• Working out so little this week while recovering made me absolutely f*cking bonkers so I plan to get back to my normal routine next week!

Link to Training Week 452

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By kilax, June 21, 2018 6:27 am

• Happy First Day of Summer/Longest Day!
• Data seems to be doing better! We both think he looks bigger, and he’s been play fighting with Khali more (he hadn’t been for about a month). Yay!

• We visited the kittens again on Tuesday! The ones with orange collars are the ones we plan to adopt. And if that all brown one in the bottom picture doesn’t have a home, I bet it will end up at our house…

• I was deemed “ineligible” for the job I applied for at work. No interview for me. My boss offered to help the next time I apply though (and would have helped before if I had thought to ask). Hopefully it doesn’t take a year or more for positions to open again…
• Bobbi shared this photo with me that the Duluth News Tribune posted from the beginning of Grandma’s Marathon (that I am in – can you find me?). So yeah, just a little crowded at the start, but nothing unusual for a marathon. I obviously need to work on running around/next to people.

• I am still reading California but really want to start Let Your Mind Run, which Mica sent me as a surprise!!! Thanks, Mica!

• And with that, I am going to head out for my first post-marathon run. My quads feel good, and we’ll see how the knee feels!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 183

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By kilax, June 20, 2018 5:41 am

NOTHING! I am taking the summer off!

Ha, kidding. You guys know me. I’m badly itching to get back to running. I’m just waiting for my quads to give me the okay, and for the scab on my knee to be in a good spot (whatever that means).

I’m over feeling upset with how Grandma’s went. I’m done thinking about the “what ifs” and questioning my mental game (could I have powered through?). There’s no point! Instead I’m thinking about what a fun weekend it was, and feeling VERY proud of my friends’ races!

That doesn’t mean a fall marathon isn’t in the back of my mind, though. If I have a healthy summer, and registration is still open for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, I will consider registering for it. Consider.

Otherwise, the only thing I am registered for right now is the Gear Western Country Half Marathon in Long Lake, Minnesota on October 13th. We have a family wedding sort of nearby in Minnesota that day, and my mom suggested I do a race while I am there, so here we are… I’m all signed up in the “running/galloping hobby horse division” of the race!

The race has submitted an application to Guinness World Records for the first and fastest half marathon while riding on a hobby horse. The unofficial record is 1:27:55! I won’t be competing for the record, but think it will be humorous to run the half with a hobby horse (you can run a 5K with the hobby horse too). A few rules:

• You must provide your own hobby horse, OR rent one. My mom is making mine!
• The pole of the hobby horse from its neck to the ground must be at least half as tall as the runner. The horse head must be larger than the runner’s head. The horse head must have the appearance of a horse.
• Hobby horse runners have to start in the hobby horse corral. (Will it be fenced in? Ha ha.)
• Hobby horse runners have to gallop the first and last 100 meters of the race, and in specially designated gallop zones.
• The hobby horse runner must have the horse between their legs for the entire race, either carrying them with their hands, or with a harness.

I already have my horse’s design and name figured out, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise! Here are some horses Mom designed for Gina and Steven to try to convince them to come, though. (That didn’t work, ha.)

So that’s it, for future race plans. Maybe some 5Ks will pop up, but I have nothing in mind!

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By kilax, June 19, 2018 6:23 am

Our family will be growing by two in July!

Squuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

On Thursday we visited the kittens at the vet and made the hard decision of which two would come home! We think the one in the top photo is a girl, and the one in the bottom photo is a boy. We haven’t decided on names yet, but are leaning toward Battlestar Gallactica inspired ones. (We’ll live with them a bit before we decide!)

I’m excited but nervous! We have a happy flow with the animals in our house now, and I don’t want to disturb that. Please share your tips on introducing kittens to older cats, and taking care of kittens, in general!

Comments (16)

By kilax, June 18, 2018 6:01 am

I had an amazingly fulfilling weekend abounding in enjoyable conversation, silly jokes, and encouragement. Typically, being around people all the time for a few days in a row emotionally drains me, but not when it’s the right people. It was a pleasure the entire weekend with great people – my great people!

FRIDAY!

Bobbi and Riyanti picked me up at 5:30 am on Friday, and Bobbi drove us to Duluth (thanks, Bobbi!!!). It’s been FOREVER since I’ve seen Riyanti, and Bobbi and I haven’t spent much time together recently either, so the trip flew by because we were gabbing the whole time. We only stopped twice and were in town by noon. Woo hoo! (And thanks for letting me crash your drive to Duluth, ladies!)

We met a college friend of mine, Jessica, at her office to pick up bleacher passes that she had for the race (for Bobbi, Riyanti, and their friends to use to spectate after they ran the half!). And we all went to Pizza Luce for lunch. Bobbi and I ate there when we road-tripped to Minneapolis a few years back and I thought she’d mentioned then that they were in Duluth, too. I was so happy they were. They have a ton of vegan options and my pizza was delicious!!!

I got “The Rustler” – “topped with mock duck, pineapple, banana peppers, red onion, cheddar and mozzarella on BBQ/red sauce.”

While we were getting ready to order, it started storming like crazy outside and the power flickered on and off a few times. Bobbi had warned me how nutso the weather is in Duluth (how rapidly it changes), but I had to experience it to understand it.

Me, Riyanti, Bobbi, and Jessica

It was nice to catch up with Jessica, and I appreciated that Bobbi and Riyanti were easy-going about the day’s schedule (when they didn’t have to be, and still had the expo to go to, and a 5K to run that night!).

We went to the expo and it was crazy-crowded like Bobbi warned me it would be. We ran in to the friends Bobbi and Riyanti were staying with, and chatted with them for a while. Then as we were walking to the expo, we walked by Kara Goucher and I impulsively said “Hey, Kara!” Gosh, what a dork. She said “hey” back. Face. Palm.

Bobbi, me, Rityani, Kelly, and Carly with “Grandma”!

I struggled with the crowds at the expo and felt my heart rate go up, and the blood drain out of my face. I just tried to stay out of people’s way!

Gina and her friends, Bob and Jessica (a different Jessica!), who I was staying with, were still around the expo, so when we were done, Bobbi and Riyanti dropped me off and I left with Gina and her crew to go back to the rental house.

Gina found a gorgeous house to rent in the woods, northeast of downtown (thank you, Gina, for coordinating all that!). It was calm and relaxing, and perfect for this weekend – we could “cook” (aka, heat up food), wash our stinky clothes, relax without hotel noise, and spread out. The house had a huge workshop outside and seemed to be on a few acres. Steven would have loved it!

I got to share a room with Gina! And Fred, the fish.

We spent the evening catching up and discussing race strategy. Then it was lights out for an early wake-up call!

SATURDAY!

On Saturday, the four of us ran the marathon! And they all had great races, yay!

Bobbi and her friends used the bleacher passes and were waiting for me to cross the finish, which I greatly appreciate, because they were cold, and I took longer than I thought I would. My tracker actually showed I stopped so Bobbi texted me during the race to make sure I was okay. I felt bad making her worry, but also appreciated her concern. (Yeah, lots of use of the word “appreciate” in this post – I think that was my word for the weekend!)

Bobbi and Riyanti also had stomach issues during their races, so I asked if they thought it was something we all ate on Friday – maybe Pizza Luce? They theorized it was the fiber in the Triscuits we had on the car ride up. That very well could be. Oops. Sigh. Triscuits are now known as “Trouble-Maker Triscuits” to us three.

Gina, Bob, Jessica and I made the long walk to the car after the race, and went straight back to our rental house to clean up and chill out. I loved hearing about everyone’s races, and appreciated how encouraging they were to me about mine. People had been telling me what I did was “badass,” which was nice, but it helped to share the disappointment with people who had run the same distance at the same race as me, and could understand exactly what I was saying about the race, and commiserate about their past marathon struggles. The marathon is a long distance and you never know what will happen on race day!

A side note: someone asked me if I thought about stopping earlier to get my knee looked at, instead of at mile 23 (when the fall happened at mile .25). I did. But every sign I passed for a medic said “Drop off or medical help” and I was worried I would drop out. Also, the stops were a bit off course and I didn’t want to add that much extra to my overall mileage. Ha. When I did finally stop, it wasn’t an official medic, it was the Navy volunteers. They, and the medics at the end, both told me they had way less people visiting than usual because the weather was so good. Yay! I’m glad it was and so many people had great races!!!

After we all cleaned up, we went out for an early dinner. Gina found a place in town that had some vegan options (fried avocado yasssss!!!)! Gina always takes care of me, and I appreciate it (there’s that word again!).

When we got back, we watched some of the Chris Mocko Show on YouTube, enjoyed ice cream we picked up after dinner, and later watched the Breaking Two documentary (so good!). We spent the evening chatting about the race and life, and I felt very in the moment and lucky to be spending time with caring, thoughtful people.

Me, Jessica, Bob, and Gina

During they evening, they all worked together to bandage up my knee (Jessica is a nurse, woot!) and all “signed” it. Ha!

SUNDAY!

I thought my body would let me sleep in on Sunday! Not so much – I was up shortly after 5:00. But that’s okay, because it meant I had more time to chat with Gina, Bob, and Jessica before we left.

Bobbi and Riyanti picked me up at 8:30 am, the same time Gina, Bob, and Jessica had to drive back to Minneapolis to catch their flight.

Bobbi, Riyanti and I had breakfast, then headed out at 10:00 am. And had a HELLA hard time getting out of Superior, Wisconsin. Sigh. The north section of the highway we needed to take through most of Wisconsin was being shut down for flash flooding (see article here) with no detour set up. We tried simple/close detours on our own, but the back roads were already flooded!

We came up with a longer detour route, and had to drive through two instances of low moving water to even do that. Eek. The detour we took ended up adding about an hour and a half on to our already long drive, and we weren’t thrilled, but made the best of it, and were happy to be together for it! Although, I would say I definitely got a bit slap happy. It was hot out (mid 90s) and every time we got out of the car, I felt sicker (with a headache). But I didn’t get sick (throw up) in the car, so that’s a win!

I enjoyed hearing about their races. They did the 5K/half marathon challenge and enjoyed it (minus the re-route at the end of the course due to construction), and had a good time staying with their friends! Bobbi and Riyanti were super sweet about my crap race and told me they were crying when they saw me run in holding hands with Bob, because they were so happy I was finishing with a good friend and not out there alone. I was extremely grateful for that, too.

Bobbi dropped me off at 6:45 pm! What a long day. And again, thanks to her for doing all the driving.

Steven had dinner ready to go and we ate and watched a bit of Mad Men then did our Sunday evening chores and went to bed. I tried to minimize the amount of times I had to go up and down the stairs, because that isn’t going so well (normal post-marathon quad soreness).

I was telling my college friend Jessica about my race on Saturday, and she said she understood why I enjoy running when I have such a good support group, and how cool that is. It really IS cool. And makes my heart happy. Despite the race not going so great, I still had an amazing weekend and am grateful I got to have all of those meaningful (and silly!) conversations!!!