Comments (21)

By kilax, February 2, 2017 6:23 am

• The race I am doing in Iowa in April does expanded age group awards for larger divisions. My age group goes six awards deep! I wonder what color (or metal?) the awards are after bronze? I entered the Athena division, which is what I did the last time I did this race (and won it).

• This week, I learned something new and exciting about the car I have been driving for almost ten years – there’s rear windshield wiper fluid! I can clean off the back window from INSIDE the car! Ha ha. How I missed this over ten years, no idea. I am thankful Steven reminded me of it. Now is the time of year to use it.
• I’ve been on and off Instagram for years. I couldn’t find a way to make it work for me – to be interesting and not just another social media thing that makes me stabby. But I figured it out – to mostly follow people I know, and only a few businesses and celebrities. There are a few things I don’t get though – why am I getting so many follow requests from people I don’t know (why do they want to follow me when my page is set as private and they can’t see anything I post?)? And why do people post the exact same thing on Instagram and Facebook (maximum exposure? and for people who aren’t on both? (like me, since I only started using it again late last year, ha ha!))?
• Gina is doing a trail race in two weeks, so I ordered her some Dirty Girl Gaiters. When I was checking out, I didn’t see where I could mark it as a gift or say it was from me, so in the special instructions area, I asked if they could write a note for me, and they did! And it was hand-written and they even put a little heart by my name! Stuff like this is simple and easy for business to do, but it really makes clients like me happy that they took the time to read my request and accommodate it.

• I keep having dreams that I wake up past the time I am supposed to be teaching a class. I will forever be paranoid about being on time!
• We rarely see animated movies in the theater – not our thing. But, I do like to watch them at home, when they come to Netflix. I watched Zootopia last week and thought it was cute, and even downloaded the theme song!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 125

Comments (17)

By kilax, February 1, 2017 7:53 am

Looks like it’s shaping up to be a week of lists and bullet points. That’s about all my brain can handle! I feel so distracted lately!

1. Continuing to write a weekly training plan for a friend. It brings me so much joy to see a friend work hard and make progress, and feel good because of those efforts.
2. Training hard on my bike! I’m starting to do some indoor incline training to get ready for RAGBRAI, but I also want to work on my speed – I am doing the bike leg of a triathlon relay in June!
3. Teaching indoor cycling! I am teaching it twice this month, and I work hard on my playlist and the class sequence to make it fun (but also challenging MUAH HA HA) for my students.
4. Seeing this guy!!! And family!
   
5. Meeting our friends’ newest baby! Some of our friends here had their second son in December and we get to meet him this weekend.
6. Saving money! I opened my first savings account as an adult (I know, I know, we won’t get in to why I didn’t have one until now) and plan to put my part-time job money in it.
7. Having a new 5K to focus on (the race is April 1). Normally, I’d be putting Frosty on a list of things I am excited about in February, but I don’t even know if I’ll go. What a clusterf*ck.
8. Celebrating our one year anniversary of closing on the house! It’s this weekend! We took January off from house projects, but I think we are picking them back up this month. We are going to do some work in the basement – clean up the ceiling (it used to be finished, then was flooded, and a lot of old ceiling structure needs to be cleaned up) and set up an area for Steven to put an Olympic weight set.
9. Date nights with friends. Nothing planned yet… but I know we’ll get a few things going! And hopefully some date nights with Steven. I have some movie theater gift cards burning a hole in my pocket.
10. Strengthening my swimming. I want to get better at breathing on my left side without it feeling like I am drowning myself!

Comments (9)

By kilax, January 30, 2017 12:36 pm

So many things are making me happy this Monday:

• Gina and I planned out a March get-together! Yay! And it’s in KC so we’ll see Steven’s family, and my snis and Will and baby William!
• I just signed myself and FIVE family members up for a 5K in my hometown in April. And since it’s in Iowa, it was only $109 TOTAL to sign up six people. New goal 5K?
• Steven’s brother said he’s in for RAGBRAI Day 7 this year! He finally gave in after three years of asking, woot woot! My dad, Will, and Gina have all confirmed they’re in too.
• The sun was out for my run today! I forgot what’s that like. It was in the low 20s, but the sun and low winds made it feel awesome to be outside.

• I got to pet a pony during my run! And the neighbor (who I just met for the first time today) the pony belonged to said I was welcome over anytime to ride her horses or exercise her pony.

In conclusion, planning time with friends and family, nature, and animals (all still) make me happy.

Comments (2)

By kilax, January 29, 2017 11:57 am

Highlight of the Week: Doing something active every day – I feel crummy (physically) if I don’t.

Monday | January 23, 2017: 1,029 yd swim + 3 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: FitNation, Time: 22:02, Pace: 2:09 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: frustrated with gear
Loc: Gurnee, Temp: 37°/37°, Time: 31:47, Pace: 10:35 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: tired legs!
Strength: AireX pad and medicine balls, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good
Tuesday | January 24, 2017: 1.65 m walk (w/Steven)
Wednesday | January 25, 2017: 8 m run + 15 m ride (incl. 2×15 mins incline)
Loc: VP Woods loop, Temp: 38°/38°, Time: 1:27:25, Pace: 10:56 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: really good
Indoor Ride Time: 1:00:08, Pace: 15.0 mph avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: good until 8 mins in to the incline intervals!
Thursday | January 26, 2017: 5 m run (incl. 4×800)
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 33°/33°, Time: 49:42, Pace: 9:56 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: clunky at first then smoother
Friday | January 27, 2017: teaching strength class + 1,008 yd swim + 3 m run
Strength: kettlebells and circuit, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, not coordinated enough to jump rope!
Loc: FitNation, Time: 20:47, Pace: 2:04 min/100 yd, Difficulty: medium, Felt: sore in the shoulders!
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 26°/26°, Time: 32:52, Pace: 10:56 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: legs good, stomach bad
Saturday | January 28, 2017: 10 m ride + teaching fitness boxing + 2.7 m run (w/Anne)
Indoor Ride Time: 39:08, Pace: 15.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: Whole body & boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 27°/26°, Time: 34:30, Pace: 12:46 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: happy to run with Anne and chat!
Sunday | January 29, 2017: 8.5 m run
Loc: ML/Russell Loop, Temp: 26°/26°, Time: 1:37:01, Pace: 11:25 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, slow & steady

Notes:

• Colder weather came back at the end of the week, and my stomach had to learn how to deal with it all over again. It’s odd that running in cold weather upsets my stomach.
• I used my climbing blocks to stimulate an incline on my Wednesday ride. It actually felt more comfortable to have the bike at the angle, but I definitely started to feel the rise about halfway through each interval (I did two 15 minute intervals with the double blocks – otherwise my front wheel just sits on one block).
• I was happy to get back in to running more days this week! I like to do something physical each day, even if it’s something small. I sit around so much for my day job that I feel crummy and lethargic a lot of the time and working out helps.

Link to Training Week 379

Comments (8)

By kilax, January 23, 2017 6:44 am

The RAGBRAI 2017 route was announced Saturday night! The course goes way north this year – it doesn’t even leave the two northern most counties in Iowa!

I am confused by the starting town NOT being on the western edge of the state. You traditionally start by dipping your back tire in river (Big Sioux or Missouri) at the western edge of the state, and end with dipping your front tire in the Mississippi River on the eastern edge of the state. I must not be in the know.

They’re calling this year’s course as “Take it easy, go north,” but the day we plan to ride, Day 7, doesn’t sound easy – it’s the hilliest ride of the week with 3,200 feet of climb over 44.8 miles. That will be the hilliest RABGRAI course my dad and I have ridden. When we first rode, in 2014, we climbed 3,073 feet, but over a longer distance of 67.5 miles (other years we’ve done have been tame – 1,644 feet, 2,377 feet, and 1,314 feet). I have a feeling Day 7 this year will be BRUTAL.

But I’m super pumped to train for it to make it as not painful as possible! I am guessing my dad won’t be in for riding Day 6 too, which is 60.1 miles with a climb of 2,483 feet. Hey, I don’t know until I ask though, right?!

Comments (2)

By kilax, January 22, 2017 6:01 pm

Highlight of the Week: My first runs of the year with people!

Monday | January 16, 2017: rest
Tuesday | January 17, 2017: 10 m run + 1,512 yd swim
Loc: VP Woods loop, Temp: 36°/37°, Time: 1:48:45, Pace: 10:52 avg, Difficulty: easy-ish, Felt: good, but a bit sluggish
Loc: FitNation, Pace: 2:03 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Wednesday | January 18, 2017: 3 m run
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 37°/38°, Time: 29:45, Pace: 9:54 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Thursday | January 19, 2017: 13 m ride + 5 m run (incl. 7×400)
Indoor Bike Time: 49:20, Pace: 15.8 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, just sore butt
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 36°/36°, Time: 49:14, Pace: 9:51 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: challenged but strong
Friday | January 20, 2017: teaching strength class
Strength: AireX pads and medicine balls, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good
Saturday | January 21, 2017: 4 m run (w/Jen)
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 49°/51°, Time: 48:30, Pace: 12:07 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Sunday | January 22, 2017: 8 m run (w/Rachel)
Loc: White River Trail, Temp: 39°/42°, Time: 1:22:31, Pace: 10:19 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: fine, just a bit tired!

Notes:

• I thought my legs would feel fresh Tuesday since I hadn’t run in two days, but they didn’t. I suspect that long car drive home the day before was to blame. I also thought it would be nice to run outside in the warm 30 degree temps… what I wasn’t accounting for was the shoulders I normally run in being sheets of ice! Eek! The temperature was nice at least.
• We had unusually high temps a lot this week – I ran in shorts three times (and really could have for every run)!
• I’ve been keeping up my planned speedwork for Frosty, even though I don’t plan on doing it. I’m still on the fence if I will pick another 5K or not!
• I do want to get in better shape (read: lose weight) so the Wisconsin Half doesn’t suck though. And I just found out I need to do major hill training for RAGBRAI (more on that later). And I’d like to do a triathlon relay with some girlfriends. I am looking forward to training for those things!

Link to Training Week 378

Comments (3)

By kilax, January 15, 2017 6:20 pm

Highlight of the Week: Meeting baby William!

Monday | January 9, 2017: 1,008 yd swim + 6 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: FitNation, Time: 20:30, Pace: 2:02 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: awesome (but cold)
Loc: hood, Temp: 28°/28°, Time: 1:02:11, Pace: 10:22 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, legs a bit tired
Strength: body bars, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | January 10, 2017: rest
Wednesday | January 11, 2017: 3 m run
Loc: treadmill, Time: 31:24, Pace: 10:27 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Thursday | January 12, 2017: 12 m ride + 5 m run (incl. 3×800, 3×1:00)
Indoor Ride Time: 49:03, Pace: 14.7 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 23°, Time: 49:47, Pace: 9:58 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Friday | January 13, 2017: teaching strength class
Strength: Airex pads and medicine balls, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | January 14, 2017: 1.4 m walk (w/Mom) + 4 m run
Loc: Overland Park, Temp: 30°/30°, Time: 41:54, Pace: 10:28 avg, Difficulty: easy enough, Felt: good
Sunday | January 15, 2017: rest

Notes:

• On Sunday Steven and I both got the TDAP booster and I was pleasantly surprised Monday when it didn’t bother me during my swim! Ha, later in the day? Not so much. It was like DOMS – my arm ached the rest of the day Monday and a lot of Tuesday!
• I liked running 800s this week for speedwork. I think it’s because I didn’t feel like I had to go as fast as 400s. Maybe I’ll learn to like mile repeats soon? Or maybe I’ll quit being lazy with speedwork and go faster for 800s too! Ha!
• The strength workout I taught Friday morning was really challenging on the legs and boy could I feel it Saturday am! Whoa! I haven’t felt sore like that from a class I taught in awhile! And usually when I’m that sore it’s because we used the tall plyo boxes and are going up and down a lot. This time, we were going up and down a lot but toward the ground, because we were using low AireX pads. Ouchie! <— in a good way.
• I was supposed to teach fitness boxing today but missed it to meet my new nephew! So you get a picture of him for Sunday!
• I keep forgetting to mention, but my knee had been tight since we did all our house work in August and I spent so much time on my knees. I had issues bending it while sitting cross legged, and going down stairs. The good news is, it’s feeling back to normal. Yay!

Link to Training Week 377

Comments (5)

By kilax, January 11, 2017 10:13 pm

Any other Garmin Connect users see Emerald City when they look at their running mileage chart?

Seriously, every time I see that page on the app, I think of it. That would be awesome if I could change the bars from yellow to green! “We’re off to see the Wizard…”

Comments (8)

By kilax, January 8, 2017 4:32 pm

Highlight of the Week: Having more energy in the second half of the week!

Monday | January 2, 2017: 1,302 yd swim + 7 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: FitNation, Time: 30:21, Pace: 2:20 min/100 yd avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: VP Woods loop, Temp: 39°/38°, Time: 1:19:15, Pace: 11:19 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: so so tired
Strength: body bars, Difficulty: easy (half partner work), Felt: good
Tuesday | January 3, 2017: 4 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 37°/36°, Time: 39:48, Pace: 9:56 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, finally!
Wednesday | January 4, 2017: rest
Thursday | January 5, 2017: 5 m run (incl. 6×400) + 12 m ride + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 11°/11°, Time: 50:57, Pace: 10:11 avg, Difficulty: easy-ish, Felt: good but COLD
Indoor Ride Time: 46:38, Pace: 15.4 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, just sore butt
Strength: soft balls, plyo and cones, Difficulty: easy (mostly partner work), Felt: better than I thought I would!
Friday | January 6, 2017: teaching strength class + 924 yd swim + 3 m run
Strength: body bars, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: FitNation, Time: 20:02, Pace: 2:09 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: strong
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 6°/3°, Time: 29:21, Pace: 9:47, Difficulty: easy, Felt: really good
Saturday | January 7, 2017: teaching fitness boxing + 5 m run
Strength: whole body and boxing, Difficulty: easy (not partnered up), Felt: hyyyyyyyyyyyper
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 16°/15°, Time: 50:29, Pace: 10:05 avg, Difficulty: easy (just slippery in spots), Felt: great
Sunday | January 8, 2017: brick (10 m ride/3 m run)
Time: 39:09/31:08, Pace: 15.3 mph/10:22 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great

Notes:

• On Monday and Tuesday, my legs felt so dead. And they had for at least a week at that point. I was starting to feel concerned, but they finally had some pep after my Wednesday rest day. Yay!
• I have NO technology complaints this week (unless you want me to complain about the video streaming…)! Can you believe it?! I did ask Garmin what was up with my steps sycning but not the activities, and they were basically like “it happens, deal.” Thanks! Ha.
• I got some news Saturday am that made me SUPER hyper. Sorry, fitness boxing class! (I’m not really sorry.)
• I FINALLY remembered what to wear for cold runs! I am not sure why it took me so long to remember to wear an extra long sleeve shirt and a thicker buff over my thinner one. My outside colder runs were much more comfortable this week. A hot bath is still required after, to thaw, though.
• This is silly, but I am proud of myself for running three miles on the treadmill. That’s far for me to go on one! Its a good option to have so I hope I can keep increasing my distance on it bit by bit.

Link to Training Week 376

Comments (12)

By kilax, January 3, 2017 6:26 pm

1. Actual free time. December was fun but freaking busy and exhausting. This month is quieter!
2. Steven finishing Khali and Snow’s new house. He’s been working hard on it and it looks AWESOME! And yes, maybe this month I will actually take those two to the vet. Bad cat mom.
3. Gina and Steve running the Houston marathon on January 15th. It’s Steve’s first marathon (on his birthday!) and Gina is going for a big PR! I won’t be there, but will be cheering them on from afar!
4. Date nights with friends. We have a few things set up, including going to an opera (I got Steven collar bars for his birthday and he wants to dress up and use them!).
5. Baby William’s arrival! His due date is January 31, but I predicted February 5 for his delivery. Sorry, snis. I hope he comes in the end of January!
6. More organizing/purging.
7. Finishing those bunnies and starting a new knitting project.
8. Not training for anything. Ha, not that I was, but I’m usually in the thick of 5K training in January and won’t be this year!
9. Continuing to swim for health. And hit up the hot tub, ha.
10. Eating healthier and feeling less lethargic (I’m hoping my poor diet and being busy is why I’ve been exhausted lately – if eating better and sleeping more doesn’t fix that, I may see a doc).