Life

By kilax, December 25, 2017 7:55 am

Maybe next year, Snow will actually be in the photo?! Ha ha ha!

Running + Training

By kilax, December 24, 2017 7:01 pm

Highlight of the Week: Teaching Merry Fitness Boxing/swimming again/feeling great on my runs!

Monday | December 18, 2017: 4.5 m run (incl. 4 hill repeats) + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 42°/43°, Time: 47:50, Pace: 10:38 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: decent, grateful for the mild weather
Strength: dumbbell circuit + UNO, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | December 19, 2017: 15 m ride
Indoor Ride Time: 56:20, Pace: 16.0 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Wednesday | December 20, 2017: 5 m run (incl. 6×400)
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 30°, Time: 52:17, Pace: 10:27 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Thursday | December 21, 2017: 3 m run + massage
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 35°/35°, Time: 29:10, Pace: 9:43 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Friday | December 22, 2017: teaching strength class + 1,008 yd swim + 5 m run
Strength: dumbbell circuit + UNO, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: FitNation, Time: 20:53, Pace: 2:04 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 37°/37°, Time: 51:59, Pace: 10:24, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Saturday | December 23, 2017: teaching Merry Fitness Boxing + 3 m run
Strength: boxing, cardio & core, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: hood, Temp: 24°/24°, Time: 29:33, Pace: 9:50 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Sunday | December 24, 2017: 7.5 m run 
Loc: Reverse Kilbourne/VP Woods Loop, Temp: 18°/19°, Time: 1:20:22, Pace: 10:43 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: pretty good, cold butt!

Notes:

• I’m glad I was able to do speedwork this week! It was the first speed sesh of 5K training. My lungs weren’t at 100%, but they didn’t feel horrible! Baby steps.
• Friday’s swim was my first in three weeks! It felt so good to get back to the pool. I wasn’t even annoyed that my headphones were dead – I was just so happy to be swimming. (It helps I got a massage the day before – my swims always feel amazing after I do).
• I loved teaching the holiday themed boxing class this week, and I love that my students got in to it and dressed in holiday gear! And I love that Andrew came. Yay! We plan to run together while he’s here, too.
• It’s going to be strange not teaching the Monday night strength class for the next two weeks because of Christmas and New Year’s Day! I’m sure everyone will enjoy the time off though.

Link to Training Week 426

Life

By kilax, December 23, 2017 6:22 pm

Yesterday was Steven’s birthday! His dad and brother’s flight was on time*, and everyone made it to the bowling party. Yay!

Although, oops, I made one mistake when I booked the party, which you can tell from the photo below:

I scheduled the party during galactic/cosmic/whatever bowling hours! D’oh! We usually avoid going when they have the blacklights on because we can’t see the lane markers. Ha ha ha. <— such serious bowlers.

We all had a great time though, and it made me feel good to see Steven getting so much birthday love!

I was so pumped up from the party, and excited for Merry Fitness Boxing today, that I didn’t sleep much last night**! I’ve been prepping for this boxing class since last Christmas, when I bought some Santa hats on sale and decided to make goodie bags with them for all my students.

I wanted to include Christmas music in my playlist for class today, but didn’t want it to be ALL Christmas music – it’s hard to box to that! So I used a typical rock/metal playlist, but had some Christmas music thrown in randomly, and when it came on, I had the students take their gloves off and do core and cardio moves. It was fun (at least, for me, ha)!

And Andrew (my brother-in-law) came! It was my annual “trying to kill him” (his words, not mine) with one of my fitness boxing classes. Ha ha ha. Spoiler: he survived.

After class, Steven and his dad met us and Jen, Troy, and Declan at Wildberry, a very popular breakfast/brunch restaurant. Very popular, as in, we waited almost an hour to be seated, and we totally didn’t care because the food is so good.

It’s been a treat to have all these fun celebrations with family and friends! It’s all going by a bit too fast though!

*I mention this cause you never know in the winter! I had the party a little later to make sure they’d make it!
**And I had two cats sleeping on me…

Blogging, Life, Rants

By kilax, December 21, 2017 6:23 am

• Happy first day of winter! The days only get longer from tomorrow until June 21!
• We saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi on Saturday. I didn’t love it, but was mostly entertained, which is all I can ask for when seeing a movie in the theater!

• We wanted to put presents under the tree, so the tree skirt is back out. I really hope Data leaves it alone!

• Oh my gosh, poor Snow. I think his “friends” are hazing him. Every morning (and sometimes afternoon) we find his food bowl in a different spot – often in the middle of the yard!
• A pet peeve of mine is when someone asks me a question once, and I tell them “no” or “I don’t know” and they ask again shortly after. It’s still “no” or “I don’t know.” Come on. Nothing changed in the last few seconds/minutes. I STILL DON’T KNOW.
• Someone must have recently given out my blog email address because I am getting several emails a day asking me to post about products or share information for “immediate release.” Spam and unsubscribe.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 159

Running + Training

By kilax, December 19, 2017 6:14 am

According to my calendar, 5K training for the Frosty Footrace starts this week. Eek!

I won’t be in top racing shape for the race on February 25th, but would like to use it to gauge my fitness level for a 5K on April 7th. That’s the tentative plan anyway <— we’ll see if I can hold interest in it!

I had great results with this training plan, so I am going to follow something similar (hills, speed, and tempo are separate days):

Week 1: hills, 6×400
Week 2: hills, 3×800 + 4×1:00
Week 3: hills, 7×400
Week 4: hills, 4×800 + 6×1:00
Week 5: hills, 8×400, tempo
Week 6: hills, 5×800 + 8×1:00, tempo
Week 7: hills, 10×400, tempo
Week 8: hills, 6×800 + 8×1:00, tempo
Week 9: hills, 12×400, tempo
Week 10: hills, 6×1:00, race!
Week 11-16: probably repeat week 5-10

Ideally, speedwork would be at or below goal race pace, but I am in the process of losing weight, and have to start the training cycle with slower speedwork, and speed up as the weight comes off. We’ll see what happens, and I’ll use that to determine my goal pace for Frosty. Yay, speedwork!

At the last 5K I “raced”

Running + Training

By kilax, December 18, 2017 6:26 am

Highlight of the Week: Feeling very energetic for a few runs, despite having a cold. 

Monday | December 11, 2017: 4.5 m run (incl. 3 hill repeats)
Loc: hood, Temp: 32°/33°, Time: 48:58, Pace: 10:53 avg, Difficulty: easy enough, Felt: good, just run down by my cold
Tuesday | December 12, 2017: 25 mins strength + 10 m ride
Strength: kettlebells & pad, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but sweaty and out of breath (damn cold!)
Indoor Ride Time: 41:58, Pace: 14.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Wednesday | December 13, 2017: 5 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 32°/34°, Time: 54:54, Pace: 10:58 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: decent
Thursday | December 14, 2017: 13 m ride + 4 m run
Indoor Ride Time: 53:28, Pace: 14.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great/annoyed with bloody nose
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 26°/25°, Time: 42:06, Pace: 10:32, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Friday | December 15, 2017: teaching strength class + 4.7 m run + 3 m run
Strength: dumbbell circuit + UNO, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, just a bit sick
Loc: hood, Temp: 28°/30°, Time: 49:34, Pace: 10:33, Difficulty: easy, Felt: mostly good, legs a bit tired
Loc: hood, Temp: 30°/31°, Time: 29:18, Pace: 9:45 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fantastic
Saturday | December 16, 2017: 10 m run
Loc: Kilbourne/DPRT Loop, Temp: 34°/40°, Time: 1:56:59, Pace: 11:42 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: tired legs (from Friday double), tired lungs (from coughing all Friday night)
Sunday | December 17, 2017: 3 m run + teaching fitness boxing
Loc: hood, Temp: 34°/34°, Time: 31:19, Pace: 10:25 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Strength: core/cardio & boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good

Notes:

• Strength class was canceled Monday night due to snow coming down during commute time. It’s always a bummer when class is canceled, but it meant I could rest a bit more (with the cough I had) and go to bed earlier!
• My cold stuck with me all week so I only did easy workouts, and skipped speedwork, a 5K I was thinking about, and swimming (I can’t swim when I can’t breathe out of my nose). I am grateful I could still work out, because I would lose my mind if I couldn’t. I do hope this cold goes away this week though. I keep thinking I am better, then the cold turns a new course. Eyeroll.

Link to Training Week 425

Running + Training

By kilax, December 16, 2017 8:23 am

2017 was another quiet year with races/events! I participated in nine events, compared to five last year (and twenty the year before). Three of those nine were biking events. I only ran six events this year.

I ran less in 2017. I decided to cut back to around thirty miles a week for the year. I miss running more than that, and plan to bump up the mileage in 2018. I do not miss racing more, but I would like to “race” a race in 2018 with a goal time, likely a 5K. It would be fun to do an event in a different state, too, but we’ll see about that!

I hope to do RAGBRAI again, if the route doesn’t go too far south in the state. And it would be fun to do another cycling event!

Also, if you would like to fill out your own 2017 Racing Statistics in the comments or on your own blog, I created a google doc here for you to copy and fill out/edit!

You can see 2012 here, 2013 here, 2014 here, 2015 here, and 2016 here. You can always find my race stats here.

House, Life

By kilax, December 15, 2017 6:39 am

• For a while we’ve thought it would be nice to have a small table in the foyer, and we got one this month, as a holiday gift for each other. Steven said we’re really adulting now, since we bought a piece of furniture for a room we don’t spend any time in (other than coming and going)! Ha!

• Wednesday’s quote of the day was a classic! And one I will be thinking of often as I get dressed for cold weather runs. Note: the fleece leggings I got from Amazon have been working well!

• It’s crass to discuss but I am going to say it – I am grateful for work bonuses in helping me pay off holiday gifts!
• Sigh. When I tell you I am sick, please don’t go straight to “Did you get a flu shot?” Pretend to have some sympathy first, before you go in to your flu shot lecture! (And what is the point of the lecture if I don’t have the flu?! Also, I generally keep being sick to myself and am NOT looking for sympathy, but sometimes you do have to tell people – like at work. And I do mention it in my training recaps, and life recaps, here.)
• I can’t believe Steven’s dad and brother will be here in a week! AHH!!! We have all the presents purchased (just need to wrap them), except stocking stuffers. We still need to grocery shop and clean the house. And decide if we are going to put up more holiday decorations – we kept it low-key this year.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 158

Life, Travel

By kilax, December 12, 2017 5:24 pm

Last weekend was my annual December trip to Dallas to see my otra familia – Gina, Steve, Luca, and a new family member, GINGER!!!

Steven didn’t come on this trip since he’s too busy with work in December to travel

Gina is fantastic at finding fun stuff for us to do when I visit. We did our annual trip to see Santa, tried Goat Yoga (!!!), and went to a “Holiday Balloon Glow”!

We ate at some of my (and their!) favorite restaurants – Silk Road Thai Cuisine and Mellow Mushroom.

Photo we sent Uncle Steven as we were leaving the Thai restaurant to let him know it was us turning off the holiday lights from afar…

Conversation with Luca at Mellow: “What is Uncle Steven doing right now?” “Draw me what you think he is doing!” (using a weed wacker)

We had some home cooked meals too (Gina found a yummy vegan frittata for me!), including these amazing nachos.

Ha ha ha. On Saturday night, we were talking about nachos for dinner, but decided not to have them. Then on Sunday Steve mentioned the Cowboys vs Giants game was going to be on at noon and we decided we HAD to have nachos for the game… even though we only watched the final quarter. Any reason to make nachos!

On Saturday we were on the go (running, Santa, goat yoga, shopping, lunch, hot air balloons). Sunday was quiet, which I needed, because the cough I had during the week got worse, and I was also dealing with chills and sweats (sweats at night only), and achy lower legs. I was run down. And bonus: I got a bloody nose at the airport (waiting to board the plane home), which was a bit of a disaster.

I’m a bit of a disaster right now. Ugh. I’m grateful I could make my annual trip but bummed my body wasn’t feeling 100%! And hopeful I kept all my crudiness to myself. Eek.

On a funner note, now it’s time to start planning our 2018 adventures! We reviewed our 2017 visits on Sunday – five visits (March, April, May, July/August, & December). That’s pretty good for living so far apart!

I know I’ve mentioned this many times but it amazes me that I’ve become close with people I’ve met online. It makes sense – you meet people who share your interests and are more likely to hit it off when you meet in person because of that, but I suppose the “luck” of it is what blows my mind. How is it that we met friends that are like family to us, and like family to my family?!

Running + Training

By kilax, December 11, 2017 8:14 am

Highlight of the Week: Goat yoga!

Monday | December 4, 2017: 4.5 m run (incl. 4 hill repeats) + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 59°/62°, Time: 48:30, Pace: 10:47 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Strength: step and kettlebells, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good (hungry though!)
Tuesday | December 5, 2017: 10 m ride + 3 m run
Indoor Ride Time: 39:54, Pace: 15.0 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 30°/30°, Time: 30:51, Pace: 10:17 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Wednesday | December 6, 2017: 3 m run
Loc: Lakefront Trail, Temp: 35°/32°, Time: 31:25, Pace: 10:27 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but could tell the legs need a rest day
Thursday | December 7, 2017: rest
Friday | December 8, 2017: teaching strength class + 6.7 m run (incl. 10×1:00)
Strength: step and kettlebells, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but really sweaty
Loc: VP Woods loop, Temp: 19°/20°, Time: 1:13:49, Pace: 11:01, Difficulty: easy then hard, Felt: great then blah
Saturday | December 9, 2017: 3 m run (w/Gina) + goat yoga (w/Gina)
Loc: McKinney, Temp: 27°, Time: 29:59, Pace: 9:59 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | December 10, 2017: 1.7 m walk (w/Gina, Steve, Luca, & Ginger)

Notes:

• The beginning of this week was all about the wind. Monday it was warm and windy (25 mph with gusts in the 30s) and I ran all my hill repeats in to the wind (why not?). Tuesday was my first dark run in awhile, and yeah, it was still windy (in the 20 mph range). And Wednesday, you guessed it, windy (high teens), but sunny, at least. Yay, wind.
• My legs were tired on my Wednesday run. They hadn’t had a rest day in a week. I was trying to get as many runs as possible in before my trip to Dallas (so I could chill in Dallas!). I had originally planned to do a long run Thursday am (I even took time off from work!) but when I woke up Thursday am with only five hours of sleep, I decided to just use the time for sleep and rest. Eh, yolo.
• So on Friday’s run I felt great for the first mile and was excited that my rest day paid off! Then after I did my repeats in to the wind, uphill, and some on the crushed limestone, I felt crappy. My legs were a bit tired and my lungs too. Ugh. I really hope this slight cough I have doesn’t turn in to something more! It was 20° when I finished my run and the area on the top of my inside knees was purple! I ordered some inexpensive fleece-lined tights from Amazon to try, but please let me know if you recommend a certain brand/style!!!
• Saturday morning’s run in Texas was in the high 20s but felt so much warmer than back home (duh). It was nice to have a pleasant run! Especially with Gina!
• We tried goat yoga after our run. It was hilarious. We were laughing the whole time, with the goats jumping on us and everyone else! I am not sure why I didn’t think about the fact that the goats would be going to the bathroom everywhere… ha ha ha.

Link to Training Week 424