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By kilax, September 11, 2014 2:47 pm

I am not trying to be insensitive by posting about another terrorist act on 9/11. I was simply discussing this on Facebook with friends and wanted to share about it here. Please skip this post if the mention of Boston 2013 bothers you, especially today. 

Do you think heightened post Boston 2013 race security has affected you in any way? Have you noticed a difference?

Major and big-city races have understandably increased their security since the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013. More security personnel on the course. More police officers. Restricted access for runners and spectators. Limits on how much you can bring in to baggage check, and what you bring it in. What you bring on to the course. And so on. 

The first race I did after Boston 2013* was the Salt Lake City Half Marathon, which was the Saturday after Boston Marathon Monday. A bomb dog came on to TRAX before we could get off to get to the race start line, and there was a bomb squad at the start line. I don’t recall there being baggage check limitations. It all made sense to me. It was a somber but also uplifting day. It felt right to be amongst runners at a big race right after that happened. 

Oops, off track a little bit with sappiness. 

So that was the only time I’ve really felt its effect. I’ve participated in races since then that have had the rule about only putting gear check items in a clear bag, but that wasn’t really a big deal to me (they usually give it to you at packet pickup).  

However… it recently came to my attention that the marathon Bobbi and I are running in October does not allow “back pack style hydration systems.” From their newsletter**:

As part of our runners’ security policy, the following was published in the previous August runners’ newsletter. It is being repeated here so that there is no misunderstanding-

No back pack style hydration systems of any kind are allowed on the shuttle buses to the start, in or around the Grafton High School facility, in the start area or worn in the race.

You may carry your own water in a waist belt system or a hand held water bottle carrier.  

Unfortunately, Bobbi and I both train with these and were planning to use them. I wore my Nathan vest for my last marathon and loved it. I ran through water stops (only stopped once to fill it), didn’t have to carry anything in my hand, could drink water whenever I wanted, and had tons of pockets. I know it’s dweeby, but it’s my preferred hydration system for long runs. 

Kicking arse with xaarlin

So… we’re a bit bummed we can’t use our backpacks. It’s what we train with, it’s what we prefer, and it makes something hard (the marathon) a bit more comfortable. 

Maybe they will change their mind like Marine Corps did (thanks for the link, Gina!)? Or, we can just quit being babies and use our hand helds. I know, I know, some of you rely completely on the water stops only. You rock! That does not work for me!

*Which makes it sound like I was there – I was not.
**We won’t even get it to the fact that it was very unclear in previous newsletters and that this rule does not appear to be on the official website (or as Bobbi said, that they told us about it with four weeks to go until the race). 

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By kilax, September 11, 2014 6:25 am

• Drama at the playground! On Sunday, there were two boys (maybe 8 or 10 years old) with a girl of the same age when I showed up at our neighborhood playground. Then a group of girls arrived later. A girl from the later group spoke to the girl in the first group, telling her “I don’t want to play with you. Everything I do, you tell me to go away, you don’t like me.” Geesh. I felt proud of that girl for standing her ground, but dang, that sucks to have a “friend” saying those things to you. Eh. Learn it when you’re young, I guess. 

• Ha ha, over three years ago we picked up a weight bench that someone was throwing out, and stored it in our garage because we didn’t have use for it at the time. Recently Steven started a workout DVD series so he pulled it out to use (and our neighbor Troy, in the photo below, helped him put it together). It’s a nice bench. I am still surprised someone was just throwing it out. And happy we are making use of it now! 

• For the third year in a row, I will be an ambassador for the Wisconsin Marathon and Half Marathon! This was the first half I ever ran (with Steven!) in 2009, and I have run it every year since! I really love this race – it’s just the right size for me (not too small/not too big), well organized, has a great course by Lake Michigan, a fun after party, easy parking, it’s cheap, and a ton of my friends do it (so many that I am usually overwhelmed!)! This year the race is on Saturday May 2nd (in Kenosha, WI). Registration opens this Monday, the 15th! It looks like a 5K was added this year as well as a team challenge. I love to see this race growing! Let me know if you are running it, and use coupon code KIM2015 for $5 off! (note, I am provided free registration to this race, but I wouldn’t talk about it and keep running it if I didn’t love it)

• Did you see this story about a woman who faked a trip to southeast Asia by manipulating photos and posting them on Facebook? She said she did it to “show people that we filter and manipulate what we show on social media, and that we create an online world which reality can no longer meet.” This story really interested me because I see how easy it would be to fake something like that. And because I’ve been thinking about social media and how people create stories about you based on what you post. We do have the ultimate control over what we share… but not how people interpret it. I feel like this is a good reminder to actually be involved in people’s lives, and not just rely on social media, if you want to be a true friend (something I sometimes fail at, hence reminding myself!). 

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 64

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By kilax, September 9, 2014 6:24 am

It’s hard to believe that a week ago today I was on the beach! It feels like it was such a long time ago!

Gosh, we had a wonderful day on the river. Since it was a Tuesday, there was hardly anyone out. We had the beach to ourselves, and the water was super smooth – perfect for jet skiing (or if you are my husband… too boring for jet skiing without any waves to jump, ha ha)! The skies were clear and the air and water felt fantastic. I did NOT want to leave and go home. Hee hee – I never want to!

But it was really the perfect way to “end” summer. 

Do you have an event that feels like it marks the end of summer?

When we go to the Mississippi River for Labor Day, it feels that way to me. I know that after that, I probably won’t get in to a body of water again until the next year, and summer is all about swimming and the beach to me, so when I know I’ve had my last time in the water… I am ready for summer to be over. Bring on the cool temps!

Ha ha, when I saw my mom in July at the dragway, she was saying how excited she was for Gina and family to visit for Labor Day… but that she was sad at the same time, because that would mean summer is over. I told Gina that and she said “We’re the Summer Enders!” Ha ha. Then we would joke about how the “Summer Enders” were coming. Hey! They can end my summer each year, if they want!

Until next year!

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By kilax, September 8, 2014 12:29 pm

Hmm, being drunk on sleep sounds nice, right?

I stumbled (ha ha) on this article (pdf here) about sleep drunkenness hidden in yet ANOTHER article about how sedentary desk workers are and that they need to move more. 

WE GET IT! Sitting down is the devil!

Anyway. 

What is sleep drunkenness?

Bouts of the condition involve waking up with extreme confusion, disorientation, and sometimes amnesia. If you’ve ever awaked and turned off your alarm without knowing it, you may have been in this state, technically known as a “confusional arousal.”

This state of “confusional arousal” usually occurs when you wake up somebody suddenly, and they don’t know what’s going on, or where they are. The condition can cause real problems, especially if it happens frequently; more than half of those who reported experiencing sleep drunkenness said it happened at least once per week.

According to this short article, it affects 15% of Americans, and it can last up to 15 minutes. I think it’s more than just hitting snooze because you don’t want to get up. It’s waking up and having no idea what the effity is going on.

Have you had any sleep drunkenness incidents?

Ha ha. Ha. I have one to share. It’s a story my family likes to tell time and time again, because it makes us all laugh. 

When I lived at home, my snister and I shared a bedroom. One night during my high school freshman year, I had gone to bed before her. She and my mom were at some event and got home late that night, around 11:00 pm. 

When they got back, they found me in the doorway to our bedroom, dressed in my school clothes. They asked what I was doing and I told them, matter-of-factly, “leaving for school.”

Apparently, I was so confused when I woke up, I thought it was time to go to school. I don’t remember putting my school clothes on. I just remember standing in the doorway, and them looking at me like I was cray cray. And I was so adamant that it was time to go to school. 

They gently told me to go back to bed (after laughing at me, I am sure).

The most recent time this happened, I lucked out! My alarm went off and I had no idea what day it was or why my alarm was going off and why I needed to get up. I was SUPER out of it. My first thought was that I was supposed to meet Kelly for a run. But when I looked at the alarm, it told me what to do. 

I am happy I named my alarms!

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By kilax, September 5, 2014 12:13 pm

Monday (September 1) was our seven year anniversary!

We celebrated, um, by me running a half marathon? And eating lunch at Red Robiño then going to the Mississippi River Museum…

Ha ha, it was a really fun day! And Steven got me a stuffed otter toy for our anniversary! Yay! Otters!

With our anniversary always falling near Labor Day weekend, I’ve noticed a trend – we tend to either spend it in Guttenberg, Iowa, or at another wedding. I think we’ve only been home one year, and in Kansas City, another year. Because we usually have travel plans, we tend to forget to plan anything “special” for our anniversary. Oops! This year is no different! Maybe we’ll do something this weekend. Or maybe not. I am cool with whatever. 

However, I am really craving a vacation for just the two of us. Since we’ve been married, we’ve only done that a few times! Most time off and travel is reserved for seeing family and friends, which we love, but I think that “us” time, where we’re away somewhere together, with no distractions, is important, too. 

And speaking of going away, gosh, it feels weird not to have ANY travel on our calendar for the month. Maybe the end of October? Then two trips in December. We traveled so much this summer, it actually feels odd to be home! Let the laziness commence!

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By kilax, September 4, 2014 6:16 am

Although I mainly go to Guttenberg, Iowa to spend time with my family and friends, one of the things I love about that area is the community. My family has homes on Esmann Island*, which is a mix of people who live there year-round (like my grandma) and people who stay in their homes seasonally (like my parents). 

Since so many people have “vacation” homes there, the island really has a “vacation” vibe to it. Nearly everyone you pass is smiling and waving. People are chatting and happy (and happy to help you out!). The pace is slow, slow, slow. No one’s in a hurry, and don’t you dare go over the 15 mph speed limit. Everyone is there to have fun and enjoy life. 

And it shows. 

My grandma is always telling me about these fun events that go on on the island – golf cart poker**, the bloody marathon contest, golf cart parades… and who knows what other shenanigans. 

I had heard so many stories about the golf cart parade but never witnessed it myself. So when Rachel and I were visiting two weekends ago, and I saw a sign that the parade would be happening Labor Day weekend, I was stoked! I thought it would be so fun for Luca to watch!

Wait. What would be more fun than watching the parade? Being in it!

Muah ha ha. Gotta get use out of those Halloween costumes. 

It didn’t take much convincing to get people to wear the banana costumes. The gorilla… was another story. So I ended up wearing it. Which was fine, when the golf carts were moving and there was a breeze! But this parade has a lot of stopping. Stopping to give parade watchers drinks, and to get drinks from people on the course. Man, these people know how to have fun. 

And man, gorilla costumes really heat up in the sun when you stop! Ha. Ha ha. 

What a fun morning. We decided to play the banana boat song on repeat  as we drove through (the course was a few miles that took about an hour). Mom decorated the golf carts with balloon bananas and palm trees. Gina, Steve and Luca teased me from the back of their golf cart with a real banana. Steven drove. Mom and Gina handed out candy. We were cracking up and making other people laugh too. 

But what gets me is how in to it the other paraders got. I thought we were being crazy wearing costumes. I think our golf carts were the most tame!

And the show stopper, and winner of “best float” was the “Esmann Bacon Station.” Ha ha. They were handing out freshly cooked bacon and had some sort of bacon drink, too. 

Like I said, an amazing, fun community. You have to try hard not to have a good time when you are there!

(I snagged a few of these photos from the island Facebook page – check out the rest of the photos here)

*I had never looked up the island history until I was writing this – interesting!
**Get a different card (and have a different drink) at each house you visit via golf cart. 

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By kilax, August 28, 2014 6:09 am

I first heard of the concept of “flow” when I saw it on a list of “12 things happy people do differently” in July of last year. On that list, flow was described as “a state in which it feels like time stands still and you are so focused on what you are doing you become one with the task” and “nothing is distracting you or competing with your focus.”

The concept has intrigued me ever since. And really, eluded me. I wanted to get to this sacred flow state, dammit! It sounds like a nice place to be. 

So I was really excited when Running Times featured an article about flow (pdf here), and put in this chart that explained so much to me:

Gah! I see why I don’t have flow that often! I spend most of my time in the other three areas of the chart – anxiety, apathy or boredom! 

On what part of the chart do you spend most of your time?

This chart made so much sense to me, I got, um, a little over excited, and found myself telling a lot of people about it. I felt like I found the secret to get to flow, and wanted to share it – just match a high challenge with high skills. 

Ha ha, of course, it’s a little more than that, but I feel like this chart, and article, really lead me in the right direction. 

This article is mostly spoke about flow in running (and how to get there!), which has only happened to me a few times (and is different than a runner’s high). But it did mention how flow experiences are important for life, and that it’s important you have a lot of small ones, not a few huge ones. Just a few highlights from the article: 

People are happiest when they do activities that require skill and concentration. This may come as a surprise given our cultural attitudes toward difficult work (negative) and passive leisure (positive), but decades of research have shown that people report better moods and feelings when confronted with challenging tasks that have clear objectives. 

When you become deeply involved in autotelic activities to the point that your mind no longer wanders, Csikszentmihalyi found that you enter a mental state known as flow.

And that [flow] can be very enjoyable. Note the use of the word “enjoyable” and not “entertaining” or “pleasurable.” Passive activities like watching television or twiddling with a smartphone turn the mind off by bombarding it with a stream of unimportant information. Sensual pleasures, like eating ice cream, occur automatically, requiring no focus or skill. Flow activities like running engage and challenge a person. In fact, it is the challenge that makes running so enjoyable.

Flow occurs in those settings where people devote their full attention to their tasks and find ways to make their work challenging. Odds are you encounter small flow moments all the time when working on a complex problem at the office, cooking or designing a new piece of furniture in the workshop. Seeking out these types of smaller flow moments, in fact, is one of the keys to finding lasting happiness.

“There is evidence that for the quality of your life, it’s better to have a lot of smaller flow experiences than to have a few large ones,” Csikszentmihalyi says. “If you achieve flow only very occasionally in special conditions, you spend the rest of your life wondering, ‘Why can’t I achieve this more often?’ “

And after reading this I figured out my go to flow state – editing photos / working in Photoshop. It’s challenging and I feel like I have the skills to do it. I definitely get lost in it, and do find it enjoyable. 

Now, if only I could get more flow at work!

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By kilax, August 27, 2014 6:51 am

Whether it’s kinesthesia or proprioception*… something is off with my body’s control of its limbs in space. BECAUSE I KEEP RUNNING IN TO THINGS. 

Last week I hit my hand on a metal bar on the train when I was taking my seat. I wasn’t rushed or anything. There was no one in front of or behind me. These things just happen (to me). 

My hand immediately hurt. Because of course, I slammed my wedding rings in to the bar, and the rings happened to be turned, so that the diamonds hit my middle finger. Yeah. 

That hurt for a few days. I still have the diamond “puncture” spot on my middle finger. 

A few days later, I ran my knee in to a low table. Now my knee hurts. The previous week, I cracked my bruised up toe on the top of a stair and it stung for the rest of the night (luckily that toenail is gone now MUAH HA HA, see ya later!). 

Ha ha. Fun times.

I can’t figure out if I am: a. really uncoordinated, b. moving too fast and not paying attention to what I am doing, or c. losing my mind. 

Okay, probably all three. 

Do you ever feel like your limbs are acting on their own? Or constantly running in to stuff?

Ha. I was telling Gina about this and she brought up a story my mom told her – about the time I was walking out of a store, reading a book, and ran straight in to a GIANT mailbox. I didn’t even see it coming. Ha ha. Apparently this has been going on since my youth. PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING, KIM!!!

*I’ve been wanting to write about proprioception for a long time but just doing research and reading that article, I still don’t have a great understanding of it. Maybe that is why mine doesn’t “work.”

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By kilax, August 25, 2014 6:06 am

 Today is my snister’s golden birthday! Happy 25th, Christina!

A little then and now for ya

Wait, what’s a golden birthday? It’s the birthday when you turn the same age as your birth date! So Christina’s is today, as she is turning 25 on the 25th. Mine will be next year, since my birthday is on the 31st!

Did you know it was your golden birthday when you had it (or have you not, yet)? If so, did you do anything “special” to celebrate?

I went to Iowa this weekend to see Christina for her golden birthday, and got her “gold-themed” gifts. As in, a lot of gold jewelry. You can never have too much jewelry, right?! RIGHT?

Oh, and some “golden” cookies of course, too:

We had a fabulous weekend! “Summer” weather came around in full force this past week/weekend, and it was perfect for being on the beach!

And I really enjoyed seeing Christina’s friends that I got to know from her wedding, as well as seeing my family, and spending the whole weekend with Rachel!!! Guttenberg, Iowa is such a special place for my family, and it makes me so happy that we can share it with our friends. 

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By kilax, August 21, 2014 7:26 am

Do you think you resemble one of your parents more than the other? If so, which one?

Dad, me and Mom

We met our friends’ newborn last night, so of course, we were talking about whose features he has, and it made me think about whose I have. 

It’s funny – I can pick up facial features on other people, and say “Oh yeah, you look (or don’t look) like your mom (or whomever)!”  But for some reason, I can’t seem to analyze my features with my own family, especially my siblings. People tell us we look similar, but I look at pictures of us and don’t see it. 

But this post is about parents, not siblings.

Dad and me

I think I resemble a mix of both of them. 

Me and Mom (and Steven)

But there is this one picture of my mom when she was younger that I think I look SO MUCH like, that I have to say, I think I might resemble her a bit more. Or maybe I just think that because I smile a lot like she is in that photo! Or… because we are both female and it’s easier for me to see the resemblances.