Life, Travel

By kilax, August 8, 2018 6:13 am

The name of my iPhone shows up when it connects to my car. I thought it would be really humorous to change the name of it, and see when Steven noticed.

Naturally, I changed it to “Kimberly’s Butt.”*

And it never showed up! My car still says “Connected to Kimberly’s iPhon.”**

What a letdown.

I left it as is, and kind of forgot about it, so there have been a couple of funny occurrences.

We were at the beach and Dad wanted to connect to my portable speaker via bluetooth. But first, Steve and Gina’s watches showed up as options on his phone. Then, “Kimberly’s Butt.” My Dad got a kick out of it. I’m glad to be making him proud, as an adult. (The speaker finally showed up when I unconnected my phone, duh.)

Then I was at the airport yesterday, using my phone as a hotspot***. A couple sat down next to me and asked “Are you Kimberly?” I told them I am, and they said “Kimberly’s Butt showed up on our phones!”

Ha! Ha ha ha! I’m not sure if it showed up as a recommended hotspot or in iPhone sharing or whatever it is called but they got a kick out of it. They were sure I wouldn’t admit to being Kimberly. Oh sure, I will. No shame!

Although I did lie and tell them I was waiting for my husband to notice it before I changed it. That’s not true. He noticed it when it was mentioned at the beach and rolled his eyes!!!

*It’s strange I didn’t use my standard “P+O-O=P”
**Ha, “iPhon” (missing the e) is what made us talk about changing it to start
***Sigh. The airport yesterday. I spent A LOT of time on my computer because I got there at 2:30 pm for a 5:30 pm flight (my meetings ended early). It was $75 to check in to an earlier flight and that isn’t an appropriate way to spend work money, so I waited for my flight, which was delayed several times and finally left three hours late, which got me home at 10:00 pm instead of 7:00 pm. I still safely got home (yay!) but I reached my breaking point of sitting in the airport with about an hour and a half left to wait. I just wanted to be home! And to NOT be exhausted today, which I now am, but whatever. At least the Louisville airport is super chill (not crowded) and it was a relaxing-as-can-be delay – I did some work, caught up on a few blogs, read, and listened to some podcasts.

Recipes + Food, Travel

By kilax, August 7, 2018 2:33 pm

I’ve completely forgotten about my vegan donut goal (to have a vegan donut in each state) this summer. Oops! The last time I updated my donut chart was in May, in Cleveland!

I thought I would remedy that while close to Louisville – surely there has to be some vegan friendly bakeries.

And there are! But they were all closed on Monday, or opened too late on Tuesday (the two days I’m here). I saw one place opened at 6:30 am Tuesday, and when I called them at 7:30 am to confirm they actually have vegan donuts (because websites RARELY seem to say they do – you have to look for reviews or Instagram or whatever), they were already sold out! D’oh! I should have tried harder. Instead of going to get donuts at 6:30 am, I was running. Bad Kim.

Maybe next time. I have a horrible feeling I will be back here for work. Ugh.

I did check out a vegetarian/vegan restaurant – Heart & Soy. The food photographed well, but I tried a new-to-me curry dish and didn’t care for it. I especially didn’t care for it on my run right after. Ha!

Not related, but here are photos Steven sent me of the babies while I was (still am) gone!

Ha, this one (above) of Apollo makes me laugh so hard!

Life, Travel

By kilax, August 6, 2018 4:19 am

Did anyone else sing “oh, there goes gravity” after reading that title?

This weekend was my attempt to get my life and our house back in order before leaving for a work trip Sunday afternoon. I was kind of successful!

FRIDAY!

On Friday we ran errands (GROCERIES!!!), picked up a (free for my birthday!) pizza, and played with Apollo and Starbuck. We were going to watch a movie, but before we knew it, it was 10:00! Time flies when you’re playing with kittens!

SATURDAY!

I did not get up early and work out Saturday morning… I got up and played with the kittens! <— recurring theme

I taught fitness boxing, ran after, then spent most of the afternoon cleaning the house. And taking kitten pictures.

I hung this caricature up while I was cleaning.

Look! Apollo’s toe beans are multi-colored!

Jen, Troy, and Declan came over to celebrate my birthday/catch up. We ate Chinese food, and… played with the kittens!

SUNDAY!

I was hoping I’d somehow wake up full of energy and want to do a long run, but nope. Exhausted. So I got out of bed and played with the kittens.

We made breakfast and I prepped some of the produce for the week,

then packed and took care of things around the house. And played with the kittens (including Khali – I’ve been making sure to play with her every time she sees us with the kittens! Data is still hanging out in the bathtub.).

I did take a thirty minute nap (with the kittens!) before it was time to leave for the airport at 3:00. Then you know, blah blah blah, crowded airport, delayed flight, got to my hotel at 9:45 and hadn’t had dinner yet, late night, etc.

I’m in Jeffersonville, IN (via Louisville, KY) for work until Tuesday afternoon. I actually visited this town three times in the summer of 2011, and am not too thrilled to be back (for work)! But I remember I enjoyed running here, so I’m looking forward to that.

Running + Training

By kilax, August 5, 2018 12:09 pm

Highlight of the Week: Working out with Dad, Gina, and Steve!

Monday | July 30, 2018: 5 m run (4 w/Dad on bike, 3 w/Steve) + 2 m hike (w/Gina and Luca)
Loc: Guttenberg, Temp: 62°/65°, Time: 50:23, Pace: 10:04 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good but sluggish
Tuesday | July 31, 2018: 8 m run (6 w/Dad on bike, last 2.25 w/Gina)
Loc: Guttenberg, Temp: 62°/72°, Time: 1:24:15, Pace: 10:32 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: decent but TIRED!
Wednesday | August 1, 2018: rest
Thursday | August 2, 2018: 3 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 78°/78°, Time: 28:59, Pace: 9:40 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Friday | August 3, 2018: teaching strength class + 1,008 yd swim + 4 m run
Strength: plates and kettlebells mixed mode and boxing, Felt: fine, just tired
Loc: FitNation, Time: 21:54, Pace: 2:10 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 76°/74°, Time: 41:36, Pace: 10:24 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: crappy – sluggish, achy, too full
Saturday | August 4, 2018: teaching fitness boxing + 5 m run
Strength: whole body moves and boxing, Felt: great
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 86°/89°, Time: 49:52, Pace: 9:58 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: better than the day before!
Sunday | August 5, 2018: rest

Notes:

• Gina and fam stayed in a rental house on the bluff overlooking Guttenberg, so I got to run up to it last Sunday and on Tuesday, and hiked up and down it Monday. By Tuesday my legs were feeling that (and maybe feeling RAGBRAI?)! I welcomed my Wednesday rest day.
• Steven and his dad got me a new Garmin watch for my birthday (Foreruner 935) so I’ve been having fun setting it up and figuring it out this week! It has a lot more metrics than I use/need! (I’m glad to have a new watch – the battery on mine wasn’t holding a charge for as long as it used to.)
• My Saturday run was so hot, all I could think about was getting an iced chai after. When I finished my run (in a different neighborhood than mine) there was a lemonade stand! OMG YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I definitely got one. And still got my chai.
• Ugh, vacation recovery. I’m beat – tired, like I can’t get out of bed, and sluggish, from eating differently than normal. I’m ready to get things back to normal, but I leave for a two-day work trip today, and am not sure how that will go! Next week, for sure. Blah.
• Monthly recap! In July I ran 191 miles (26 runs), cycled 275.53 miles (6 indoor rides, 4 outdoor rides) and swam 3,628 yards (4 swims). My coldest run was 56°F and my warmest was 88°F. I did 2 tempo workouts, and 1 interval workout. I taught 7 strength classes and 1 fitness boxing class. I did 1 strength workout at home. I did two bike events – Biking with Beanzie, and RAGBRAI Day 7.

Link to Training Week 458

Life, Travel

By kilax, August 4, 2018 1:23 pm

I’ve been visiting Guttenberg, Iowa, on the Mississippi River, since birth. It’s where my family goes to relax – to boat, go to the beach, and to eat entirely too much food. This is the fifth year in a row that la otra familia – Gina, Steve, and Luca – have joined us for vacation there!

Our annual river trip with la otra familia trip flew by! We arrived in Guttenberg last Saturday night, and left Wednesday afternoon.

FRIDAY!

Steven and I headed out of town around 1:00 pm on Friday, and made our way to Davenport, where Gina and fam were meeting us so that we could leave our car there and ride back to (near) Iowa City with them. Yay, RAGBRAI logistics! We had an easy drive in, and kind of wished we were spending more time in Davenport – it looked like a neat city!

We drove by the finish line for the Bix 7 (a popular 7-mile race) and it dawned on me that RAGBRAI finished in Davenport on the same morning as the Bix 7. Whoa, logistics nightmare much? I knew we’d be arriving there well after the race was over though, ha.

We rode back to Iowa City and got some Mediterranean food, then went back to our hotel to meal plan and make a (huge) shopping list for the week.

SATURDAY!

Dad, Gina, Steven, and I rode RAGBRAI, while Steven, Mom and Luca had some adventures of their own! After dropping us off, they stopped at Hurts Donuts (the home of Steven’s favorite glazed donut) in Iowa City,

then dropped Gina and Steve’s car off in Davenport, then went out to lunch in Dubuque, then picked up all our groceries for the next 3.5 days. It was Steven’s idea for the three of them to drop the car then go get groceries, and that REALLY helped the overall schedule. I had planned on grocery shopping after the ride, but Steven hypothesized I wouldn’t feel like it, and he was right! It was such a help to have them do that!

They drove on to Guttenberg and checked in to Gina and Steve’s rental and dropped off all the groceries then hung out until we got there. We all had pizza together that night and shared stories from our day with each other. It was fun to hear what they were up to!

SUNDAY!

Sunday was a typical river day. Gina and I did a long-ish run in the morning with Dad (on his bike) then we packed all our food and gear up for a trip to the beach!

Running up the hill to meet Gina!

I gave Gina a unicorn floatie for her birthday, and we had a blast trying to get on and off it, and seeing how many adults we could fit on it. I think (I know, actually, because someone said something) the people on the beach enjoyed watching us fall off, and all the little girls were making home alone faces and saying “Look! A unicorn!”

Matching hats from Gina!

After beach time, we had dinner at Gina and Steve’s rental. The owner of the rental left some sweet corn from his farm and it was amazing! The rest of dinner was too, but the corn stole the show. Hashtag Iowa.

MONDAY!

Steve and I ran a bit with Dad Monday morning, then Steven and Steve did some work, while Gina, Luca and I hiked the trail behind their rental. The rental house was on the bluff overlooking town, and the trail went straight in to town. I was expecting single track, but it was actually groomed with grass, then dirt, then rocks. It was an easy hike.

While in town we went to the aquarium and lock and dam (where we watched part of a barge go through!). We saw a large sign for things to do in Clayton County at the aquarium, and Spook Cave caught our interest. Then we heard a raving review for it from a 3 and 5-year-old at the lock and dam, so we knew we had to go! After lunch, we headed there!

Bones – one of the cats who lives at the cave/campground!

I wish I could give you the history of the cave, but I didn’t retain much of it (by my own fault – our tour guide was great). What I thought was cool was that you tour the cave on a boat, and have to duck a lot to avoid hitting your head on the cave walls. And we all enjoyed that it was 47° in there!

We checked out the town of McGregor for a bit after our tour. Unfortunately, a lot of the shops were closed (we got there too late), but we still had fun!

We all had dinner together at Gina and Steve’s again, and yes, the sweet corn stole the show. AGAIN. (But I tried red sauce enchiladas for the first time and liked them! We always do green sauce at home!)

TUESDAY!

Tuesday was my thirty-fourth birthday. All I wanted to do was run and go to the beach. And not do any dishes.

And I got my wish (minus a few dishes)! I ran with Dad up to Gina’s place, then ran with her a bit, then we all went to the beach and had it all to ourselves for a few hours, which is a treat!

I made sure to eat really crappy junky food for my birthday – a macaroni and cheese burger for lunch and nachos for dinner (which makes it sound like a love cheese, but that is not the case, ha).

My mom made me a coconut pineapple cake for my birthday, which we ate at Grandma’s. I opened gifts there too.

WEDNESDAY!

Wednesday was our last day. We made our traditional big breakfast (the other days we did quick stuff like cereal, pop-tarts, bars, and fruit), took our family photos,

packed up, and headed out!

Ha. It totally sounds like we did nothing on this trip, but we were hanging out all day, not taking naps, often cooking and cleaning, and packing things up and unpacking, and helping with the water toys where we could … we were super tired each night! But in a good way. It was a lot of fun! I felt like I got to relax and unplug and shut off from the world for a few days, which I needed. I was feeling pretty stabby and agitated about work before I left, so it was good to take a break. Then come back to chaos. But oh well!

And I say this every year but I LOVE how our families mesh so well together. Gina is like a sister to me, and she and Steve and Luca treat my parents like they’re their parents/grandparents. I recognize what a rare thing that is to have such a big group get along and want to spend days on days together and I’m  grateful for it. I love sharing my childhood vacation spot with them, and love that they want to spend two days driving to it (and back home, eek), and look forward to it all year like I do! Love love love!!! Can’t wait for River Trip 2019!

Life

By kilax, August 3, 2018 12:37 pm

Alternatively tilted, “Apollo and Starbuck, Day 1,” since I will obviously be blogging about them every day!

They’re finally home!

Starbuck (female) is in the front, Apollo (male) is in the back

We picked Apollo and Starbuck up last night (they’re named after Battlestar Gallactica characters, from the new version of the show)! We gated off the office for them to hang out in during the day, and had them in the guest bedroom at night.

They’re loving having so much space to play and so many things to get in to! It’s a blast having them at home – I just want to play with them all day!

They aren’t hiding, and are eating, and using the litter box. So far, so good.

And how are the other cats doing? Khali is curious. She’s been watching from a distance AND right from the gate.

I was surprised that the kittens were the ones being hissy toward Khali, and not the other way around. Well, at first. Khali was the hissy one today.

And Khali wants to know why the hell they get to go in the guest bedroom when she doesn’t?!

But mostly she just watches them, then goes about her way. I was concerned she’d regress and hide with them here, but she’s thankfully not doing that. She’s actually being completely normal, except when they hiss at each other through the gate. I hope in time, that they’ll all play together!

And Data? Sigh, Data was not doing too well before the kittens came home. Bad timing. While we were gone last week he continued playing the lava game, and hid a bit from Bobbi (who cat sat), and did one naughty poo and pee. He eventually settled on hanging out in the bathtub and does NOT want to leave. Even when we got home, he wanted to stay in – we’d take him out and when we put him down he’d run back to the bathroom.

I took him to the vet and he’s physically fine (he’s lost a few ounces of weight). They suggested anxiety medication, and some some unrelated changes to his diet (a bit less pumpkin). But otherwise, they said to keep monitoring him. He’s eating well and going to the bathroom, he just doesn’t want to leave the bathtub. He’s definitely anxious/spooked about something.

So while we brought Data out to say hi to the kittens from afar, he hasn’t really interacted with them yet since they’re in separate spaces and he’s not exploring or leaving the bathroom. I hope he does soon.

Running + Training

By kilax, August 2, 2018 6:23 am

RAGRBAI stands for the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. It started in 1973 when two feature writers for the Des Moines Register decided to bike across Iowa, and invited readers to join them. The ride has grown ever since and is now in its forty-sixth year. The route always starts on the west side of Iowa, and ends on the Mississippi River on the east side of Iowa, and takes the last full week of July to do – but the course changes every year! You can register for the whole week, or for a single day, which is what I’ve done the last four years (2014 – Day 7, 2015 – Day 4 and 5, 2016 – Day 7, 2017 – Day 7). 

Yay, RAGBRAI, my big ride of the summer!

This was a special year – it was Steve’s* first time doing RAGBRAI, and my first year having tunes on my bike! I hinted to Steven I’d like a speaker to put on my bike for my birthday and he hooked me up!!! And, it was me and Dad’s fifth year participating in a row.

We rode Day 7 this year, which started in Iowa City, and ended in Davenport. The route was just over seventy miles.

image from here

We had great weather for July. No rain, a little overcast, very little wind, and temps starting in the low 60s and ending in the high 70s. Perfection!

This year was logistically tricky, with leaving cars at the finish for the riders, and Dad getting a ride to the start. We wouldn’t have been successful in that without our drivers, Steven and Mom. Thank you!

Steven, Gina*, Steve, Luca, and I stayed at a hotel near the start on Friday night, and Dad and Mom met us there Saturday morning. We loaded up and headed to the route, near downtown Iowa City.

We started riding at 8:30 am – that’s the nice thing about RAGBRAI – you start whenever you want and just need to finish by sundown! Although, we learned the hard way about finishing in time to visit the merchandise tent…

Our route had eight official pass-through towns/stops. I paid a lot less attention to where the stops were this year than previous years, and just planned to eat every forty-five minutes (that’s key for me on the bike) and to eat something more substantial in pass through towns.

I felt great from the start! RAGBRAI does an awesome job choosing smooth roads for us to ride on, and it’s peaceful out in the Iowa countryside with the open fields.

The ride was easy and mostly flat. We spent a lot of it together, chatting, or listening to music. When we got separated, it was easy to find each other at the next stop, or top of the hill.

Highlights:

Seeing a t-rex and sharing a burrito with Dad in West Liberty!

The amazing flag photo-op in Wilton! And the super clean porta potties (they cleaned them after every few uses!)

Eating a pickle at the New Era Church Stop.

Dipping in “Mississippi River Water” in Blue Grass.

The majority of the ride was on quiet country roads, then the last ten miles or so were on split four-lane highway. There were cones separating us from the lane next to us, and cops at every intersection, but it felt odd to be riding next to cars going so fast. It must have inspired us though – those were our fastest miles.

We finished the ride just before 4:00 pm, and got in line to dip our front tires in the Mississippi River but the line was insane! We skipped the dip, and opted for a river photo instead.

We made our way to the RAGBRAI merchandise tent, to find it closed and gone! Apparently they close at 2:00 on the last day?! Oops. I’ll have to order my pin online! It was dissapointing – we’re more pumped to buy things after we’ve completed the ride, ha! Better for our wallets, though.

We parked my car somewhat close to the finish (the day before), and Steven had dropped Steve and Gina’s car close by (that morning). He told us he left it at the courthouse, without knowing there were two courthouses on the same street! After some searching and more conversation with Steven, we found it at the other courthouse, and headed out of town to make the trek to Guttenberg (via a stop at Taco Bell), where we’d be staying for the next few days (in Guttenberg, not Taco Bell).

This was a fun, easy, uneventful year! We all felt good, and only had a few incidents – dropping things, almost falling stopped on an uphill, etc. I was glad Steve had such a good year, and everyone found the higher mileage doable! It’s a joy for me to share this with my dad and best friends, and I hope we’ll be back next year!

*For reference, Gina is my bestie that lives near Dallas. Steve is her husband, and Luca is their son. We call them our “otra familia” because they are like “another family” to us. Really – we spend time with each other’s families, even vacationing together. Gina and I met online in January of 2006 and met in person for the first time in August 2010 and have been seeing each other several times a year, since!

Life

By kilax, August 1, 2018 7:39 am

• Getting the kittens, like, for real!

Ha, this picture is so old, they’re way bigger now!

• Writing blog posts about all the fun we had in Iowa with my parents and Gina and fam
• Steven going on a trip with his fraternity brothers
• Seeing Anne when she’s in town for work
• Girls’ Birthday Weekend with Rachel and Kim
• A trip to KC to see Steven’s family and my snis and her family
• Seeing the new Mission Impossible film
• Relaxing and reading a few books? That would be nice!

I could also make a list of things I’m NOT excited about in August, which would mostly be work stuff, but, eh, I think we all have that on our lists!

Running + Training

By kilax, July 31, 2018 6:36 am

Highlight of the Week: Riding Day 7 of RAGBRAI with Dad, Gina, and Steve!

Monday | July 23, 2018: 4 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 74°/74°, Time: 38:51, Pace: 9:42 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: swollen
Strength: plates and kettlebells mixed mode and boxing, Felt: good
Tuesday | July 24, 2018: 7 m run
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 79°/77°, Time: 1:09:57, Pace: 9:59 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, hot
Wednesday | July 25, 2018:
Thursday | July 26, 2018: 10.5 m run + massage
Loc: Redbox return loop, Temp: 69°/71°, Time: 1:44:40, Pace: 9:58 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, still swollen
Friday | July 27, 2018: teaching strength class + 1,008 yd swim + 3 m run
Strength: plates and kettlebells mixed mode and boxing, Felt: good
Loc: FitNation, Time: 20:42, Pace: 2:03 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great (post massage swim)
Loc: hood, Temp: 65°/67°, Time: 29:11, Pace: 9:43 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, wished I had more time to run!
Saturday | July 28, 2018: 3.5 m run + RAGBRAI Day 7
Loc: Coralville, Temp: 56°/56°, Time: 34:31, Pace: 9:52 avg, Difficulty: somewhat easy, Felt: good, glad to wake up the legs
Loc: Iowa City to Davenport, Temp: 63°/77°, Time: 5:22:54, Pace: 13.7 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Sunday | July 29, 2018: 11.5 m run (last 7.5 with Gina and Dad (on bike))
Loc: Guttenberg, Temp: 58°/62°, Time: 1:49:35, Pace: 9:32 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: great until the last mile!

Notes:

• Our next door neighbor rides his bike all year long (never with a helmet, sigh) and I often see him while running. On Monday, I saw him twice on my run. The second time I saw him, he did a 180° turn in the street in front of an oncoming van. I didn’t see him ride by after and wondered if he was talking to the van because he knew the person. Then the van eventually drove off and I saw my neighbor and his bike on the ground. I was worried he got hit, but he told me he fell, because he turned and didn’t see the van. Sigh. I wish he’d wear a helmet and use a mirror. We live by roads with high speed limits, and he worries me!
• Ugh, my Monday run felt somewhat miserable because my feet and ankles were so swollen from my mosquito bites. Blah. Does that happen to anyone else – you feel your bug bites affecting your run?
• Then, Monday night, I fell down a few stair steps and messed up my legs even more. Yay!
• But I got a massage Thursday and that helped BIG time, thankfully!
• I had to share a lane for the end of my swim on Friday and WHOA that was difficult. I felt like I was going to run in the to wall each time the other person went by. It would be good practice for a triathlon if I had any interest in doing one.
• RAGBRAI Day 7 was a blast and I felt great for the entire ride! I will blog more about that in a few days, hopefully!
• We’ve been having cooler weather in the mornings and it’s such a treat! Gina and I ran Sunday, not knowing how far we’d go, but kept going because we felt so great (until the last mile for me where my body said “no more!,” ha).

Link to Training Week 457

Life

By kilax, July 27, 2018 9:21 am

THIS IS NOT A DRILL. The kittens are actually coming home in one week!

Get ready to be bombarded with photos and daily updates!!!

I told Steven is looks like someone dipped their fingers in paint and ran them down this guy’s back!

I feel extremely guilty they’re ready to come home but “stuck” at the vet’s office (we couldn’t bring them home because of our travel schedule). But, if there is one place for them to be, being loved on by everyone at the vet’s office is a good place. Right? RIGHT?!?!?? Sad face.

The love is already pouring in for our kittens – they’ve received a few gifts and giftcards in the mail! We took some of their gifts to play with them last night and holy cow do they have a lot of energy. It’s going to be fun (CRAZY) times in our house!