A4bats

Sunday Long Run - Running in the snow edition

2012-01-31T18:39:00.000-06:00

As with last weekend, I totally meant to work out yesterday and slept all day instead. Although yesterday there was a sinus headache that wanted to be a migraine so sleep was the only option.

Today I woke up feeling much better. So great that I had pasta for breakfast! (The thing about living alone is I can do stuff like that.) I kept checking the weather and ultimately decided to man up for an outside run. (I just am not emotionally prepared for the gym right now.)

Around 1pm I headed out for a 'long run' which was more like an 'equipment test run' which had some WINS and FAILS. I did a little out and back with my iPod on the interval timer program and took the Camelbak along for the first time. Here's the route:

FAILS:

It's hard to take pictures with the iPod while it's all hooked up to my ear buds. Judge for yourself below.
Nutrition strategy: waiting until I feel so tired and hopeless I want to cry before taking nutrition is too long. Perhaps I could time my eating better to avoid the pit of despair feeling altogether.
Clothing: I need to wear my neck gator I think. The wind sucked. I also wish I had the gloves that I can keep on and still operate touchscreen devices. Otherwise I was fine.
Nutrition strategy part 2: Chomps go in a pocket or glove next to the body, not in the pack. In the pack they turn into chomps ice cubes that will surely break a tooth.
If I'd had my phone I probably would've done Fort Snelling but with the snow on the ground, I was a little iffy on the footing and what to expect on the hills back there.

WINS:

Camelbak: It was touch and go because I kept imagining it was leaking on me (not so) but I think it's basically more pleasant than wearing a hydration belt around my waist.
Interval timing program on my iPod - basic win. Towards the end of the run I figured out how to make the program turn down the music so I could hear the timer bells clearly. It has to do with the order of turning on the program and then music I think?
Clothing: I wore two pairs of socks (feet: never cold); two pairs of pants (legs: cold at one point when the wind was coming full on, otherwise fine); two shirts and a jacket (could've had a windproof jacket but it was dirty); hat (I love UnderArmour).
This whole "interval" thing, also known as the Galloway method is pretty fun and is providing a nice way of breaking up longer runs into manageable chunks. I move faster when I run and can focus on form more. Also, I never would've done a 9 miler today without the run/walk option so yeah for getting out there!

MUSIC from the run - some of my favorites from today's playlist include:

Queen - Under Pressure. I always think of the first episode of Studio 60 when I hear this song. Aaron Sorkin - I miss you and I wish you'd come back to television.
Eminem - Not Afriad this came at the end of the run when I particularly needed a song that would get me moving.
YeaSayer - ONE - one of the few bands Qat Lady and I can agree on.
Santana Feat Joss Stone and Pittbull - Cry Baby Cry, apparently I still want to be in Miami.

PHOTOS from the run - enjoy!

Looking out at Lake Hiawatha, one of my first "walk" intervals

Hello shadow!

Crazy shadows made my the fencing on the trail!

Looking out at the Mississippi River; over half way done.

This is how we do beaches in Minnesota. Go here to see what this looked like a few weeks ago.

At the end of the run.

Wordless weekends - running in an inch of snow

2012-01-29T16:40:00.000-06:00

Not technically from the weekend: fun with phones at work!

Brrr: Boredom while waiting for my car to warm up.

In a Christmas Card; a friend drew this. I thought it was part of the card.

Testing out the Camelbak on a 'long' run.

Mississippi River: finally frozen over

At Lake Hiawatha

Ice for beginners: This is a baseball field they flood every winter. No worries about falling through the ice.

One last shot before the frostbite sets in!

Friday FUN RUN

2012-01-27T21:15:00.000-06:00

Fridays since I don't work (WIN for me!) I usually meet Beth for a "late" run at 7:15.

Today both of us had a serious case of the blargs. That "I don't want to get up", "I don't feel like running", "Why can't I just stay in bed?" feeling. Thank goodness for mutual accountability because we both showed up and it turned out to be a gorgeous run. We couldn't figure out which route to take and ultimately Beth showed me a run I'd never done before but hope we do again all the time.

Part of the run is in a city park along the river. The path was covered in packed snow and the sun was shining off the river. Gorgeous! It was the only time all day that the sun was shining. Theme song for the run: Many the Miles - Sara Bareilles because it was playing on Pandora as I drove home.

I had a quite productive day today, including the run. I got my oil changed, got my hair cut (favorite thing ever), had a steak sandwich for lunch (still full at 9pm) and made chili which will last me for many lunches. Chili is basically this recipe minus the boca crumbles. And I put most of the beans and all of the tomatoes in a food processor before cooking so it's a much smoother chili than the one pictured. Yum.

Runner-sicle with a hint of frozen eyebrows

2012-01-23T15:00:00.000-06:00

I totally meant to go for a run or a have an otherwise killer workout yesterday. I took four naps instead.

Today I woke up, ate breakfast and had my first (so far my only) nap of the day. Around noon I woke up in earnest and checked the weather. Everything said "freezing rain" except the radar was bare. And it was in the 20's.

See how it shows rain in those pictures? Now look at the radar below. There's no rain there. Who's right? Radar apparently is not capable of showing air so humid it's basically liquid.

Inside my head I thought:

I could go inside to the gym and do some sprints and then maybe get on a bike or row. But it's the gym. In January. It doesn't matter what time it is; it will be hell.
I could go outside and see Lake Harriet. It's cold and supposedly wet and I'll be out for a while so there's always the risk of frost bite. There will be no bathrooms and no water.

This is the worse game of "Would You Rather" ever.

Obviously I chose running outside because even hypothermia sounds better than braving the gym.

The whole "freezing rain" thing was mildly true. I think they really meant "it's so damn humid if you move you'll get condensation on you and then it will freeze" which turned out to be more true. I also failed to look at the direction of the wind and so ran around the cold side of the lake last. (When do we ever get wind from the east?)

It was a "long" run in the sense of "I'm running, it's cold and I'm out of shape" but basically a good time. I try not to look at my time when I run in the snow or on crap like this because I think it's discouraging and somewhat inaccurate. I had a couple of stops for street lights, pictures, and to get emotionally prepared to run up that last damn hill.

Lake Harriet - the wind blew the snow around so much I had a good view of the ice underneath. It was finally frozen solid and some people were walking on it but I didn't stop to play.

My Lake Harriet route along the other Greenway. (Everyone knows the first Minneapolis Greenway but no one has heard of the Greenway along 40th street. That's fine; more room for me.)

I have no idea why Nike+ thinks I ran 9.5 miles. Optimism. It was actually 7.4 miles or so. I've never bothered to calibrate the sensor but maybe I should try it some time.

When I got home much of me was frozen. The rain on my coat had actually frozen and formed a protective barrier against the wind. Awesome. The ice that condensed on my eyebrows was another story. (Totally need to pluck...)

Best songs from the run:

OneRepublic - Everybody Loves Me. I know; it's a theme song of sorts.
Fergie - Labels or Love I have no shame.
NeedToBreathe - Lay 'Em Down. This is a great song for longer runs with a controlled pace.
Tears For Fears - Break It Down Again. I have never not loved this song. As a kid I totally saved up for the Tears For Fears Cassette Tape of Elemental because of this song.

Wordless weekends - what a difference a week makes

2012-01-22T15:30:00.005-06:00

Accommodations - Last week

Accommodations - Now

South Beach - Last week

South Beach - Now

White Sandy Beaches - Last week

White Sandy Beaches - Now (there's sand under there)

Seen on my Sunday Run - Last week (that was really good running)

Seen on my Sunday Run - Now

Happy Feet - Last week

Happy Feet - Now(two pairs of wool socks)

Out of breath after the run - Last week (Shades)

Out of breath after the run -Now: Ice eyebrows!

Stop Censorship

2012-01-18T16:00:00.004-06:00

Tell your congress person and senators not to censor the web.

Party in Miami

2012-01-17T22:35:00.000-06:00

Wednesday I woke up at the crack of dawn and headed to Miami Beach to see some of my favorite family and have another vacation. Apparently the vacation I took two weeks ago wasn't enough.

Temperature in Minnesota: So full of suck.

Temperature in Miami: hello sweat glands!

Sadly my cousin was sick. Here she is making a family remedy including aloe, onion, lemon juice and honey. I did not smell her breath after she drank it.
Best part of the day: Walking on the beach with Max. I have the power to put the baby to sleep!
Theme song for the day: Miami - Will Smith. Welcome to Miami!

Thursday was all about relaxing and finding my way around. I woke up and played with Max. I did go for a little run, mostly on concrete with a little sand trail. Then I hung out at the beach.

Temperature in Minnesota: Still full of suck.

Temperature in Miami Beach: So much better.

Best part of the day: Still making Max smile. Playing with him in the morning was fun too.

Theme song: Bring Me Some Water - Melissa Etherdige heard during my morning run.

Friday: Beach - part II. I did not run. Instead I spent the morning pushing Max in the stroller and ultimately carrying him when he cried to get out. Totally put the kid to sleep in my arms Getting him situated in the stroller after he fell asleep: slight fail. I'm new at this.

Temperature in Minnesota: Is that snow I see in the forecast?

Temperature in Miami: that day has "beach" written all over it.

Lucky for me I have a playmate.

My accommodations for the week!

Best part of the day: Did you hear me tell you he just fell asleep right in my arms?
Theme song: Everybody Loves Me - One Republic. Right?

Saturday Mark took me to a Coffee Cupping (think Wine Tasting but for coffee) which was really interesting. I also got to experience what my cousin calls "groupies". Totally true. But Max had an awesome moment in the coffee shop where he wouldn't do anything for the groupies but was perfect for me. Way to go dude!

Point of interest: Max hates car seats. Poor kid screams so loud and cries so hard he just wears himself out.

Temperature in Minnesota: Still snowing too apparently.

Temperature in Miami: Suck it Minnesota!

Even Max says suck it Minnesota. Florida rocks!

Best part of the day The coffee cupping was fun, and playing with Max during the cupping was also nice.
Theme song: Anything by Pitbull who is, himself, a Miami boy. If you're new to Pitbull try Give Me Everything as a starting point.

Sunday Okay, two days off running was enough. I decided to take my new iPod out for a spin with an interval running app. My goal was 100-ish minutes at running five minutes and walking two. All along the beach, some on sand and some on concrete. Life is rough.

Apparently haven't mastered the finer points of the iPod camera.

Seen on my morning run.

Then we got to see Aunt Barb and Uncle Tom.

Temperature in Minnesota: What in the world is that icon on Monday? Apparently Minnesota is expecting an ice tornado?

Temperature in Miami Beach: perfect for running!

Best part of the day: All of it, but seeing Uncle Tom and Aunt Barb was really nice.
Theme song: The Real Slim Shady - Eminem I know, but I heard it on my run and it made me go.

Monday - Martin Luther King Jr Day Mark had the day off but had some work to do because Tuesday was a teaching day. I ran again, the total mileage is unclear but between 5.5 and 6 miles, mostly on packed sand. I love this vacation!

Seen at the north end of the island on my morning run.

Temperature in Minnesota: I'm getting to the point where I'm all "I'm coming back to this nonsense, maybe I should quit bragging". Thursday is going to be interesting.

Temperature in Miami: one more day, still some hope.

I spent most of the day playing with Max and took him for one last walk on the beach for sleeping.

Best part of the day: It was a good run. All of it was nice.

Theme song: Are you alright? - Lucinda Williams. This song is dedicated to Max who woke up around 1:30am and screamed for about an hour. I heard his parents just eventually put him in the crib and let him cry it out which seemed to work better than anything else. Poor guy.

Tuesday - I am pretending I don't have to go home. I was too tired to run (see above) so Max and my cousin and I went to the Venezuelan bakery one last time for emepnadas and arepas and a little walk. I spent the morning playing with Max and stealing a cuddle when I could.

I look like a twelve year old in this picture. I was dressed and ready for the run but totally distracted by the cute.

Temperature in Minnesota: Oh this is going to hurt so bad.

Temperature in Miami Beach: I'm going to miss you old friend.

What is the deal with everyone lining up (standing, circling, pacing) lining up ten minutes before the flight is called. Calm down. We all fit on the plane.

It was a pretty ride home. The sun was shining in my window the whole way.

Best part of the day - I'm boycotting since I'm back in Minnesota and the vacation is technically done.
Theme song: tie between Marchin On - OneRepublic which helped me keep a positive outlook and T.H.E - Will.i.am which made me dance at the airport!

Wordless Weekend Bonus Edition: Feet on the beach!

2012-01-17T18:23:00.001-06:00

Wordless weekends

2012-01-15T17:39:00.001-06:00

Oh yeah.

Wordless Weekends - Sunshine

2012-01-08T17:32:00.000-06:00

Weekend weather advisory: Global warming ahead!

2012-01-06T18:16:00.002-06:00

Today is almost over, I couldn't possibly tell you what I've been up to all this time. Here's my best try:
6:3--- way too early My alarm went off.
7:15am Running Beth and I headed out for a ~~torture session~~ *ahem* hill run. She found it worse than last time and I found it better than last time, both because we knew what was coming. It can be sort of awful running up hill for two miles, but fun as hell to run back down!

After the run I made an awesome breakfast. Thing thing about eating a big breakfast is it always puts me in the mood for a morning nap.
1030-1230 Totally took said nap.
130-ish I really started to regain consciousness and noticed the SUNSHINE outside. It was calling me! Come outside. It's nice. You know you'll like it. So I headed out for what turned out to be a seven mile walk. It was gorgeous and sunny.

I headed around Lake Hiawatha and then along the creek all the way to the Mississippi River. The creek is so un-frozen that all the ducks are there. Playing.

It was so sunny. I took all these shots just to prove it was actual sunshine creating shadows and not just an awesome Photoshop trick!

It got a little chilly on the way back. (Being out in the 40* weather for over two hours does eventually take a toll.) I was on the shady side of the street and walking into the wind for a while there.

3:30ish I got home and made spaghetti because I was starving. You see how I hadn't eaten anything since 9am. Now I just looked up and it's almost 6pm. Wow.

I don't know what the rest of the weekend holds, but as long as this weather report is accurate, I'm sure I'll go out and explore more of it.

See some posts from January 2011 to understand how insane this is and what the weather should be right now. For example: January 23rd 2011, January 18th, January 9th and January 3rd. Or go outside and enjoy the weather!

Gah! What year is it again?

2012-01-05T23:05:00.000-06:00

An update from around the internet:

I love this article. Best test of leadership - what happens after people make a mistake? I screw up all the time.
It's January so the gym is nuts. Zumba looked packed about like that.
My pooky bear: for some reason this made me think of you. I have no idea why really. I think it was more random word association than the actual topic.
Thanks to Shinedown - Sounds of Madness for coming on my iPod and making me stay on the treadmill a few extra minutes.
Apparently, all I need to go to get hits on a post is to say my iPod died. 40 of you? In 3 days?Leave a freaking comment why don't you?

One last day of vacation - running music edition

2012-01-02T22:53:00.001-06:00

Some of my favorite songs for running and gym workouts that my iPod is currently in love with. (You know, the only iPod I have that still works):

Low - Flo Rida ft T-Pain. I know, and I'm sorry. But it is a great beat for a run.
Not Afraid - Eminem. A ridiculous number of Eminem songs grace my iPod on long runs. I know they're not good out-loud words.
Midnight Hour - Reflection Eternal feat. Estelle. I think I read about this song on someone else's blog. Yeah if it was yours!
We Found Love - Rihanna Feat Calvin Harris. Rihanna is another artist whose songs are all over my running playlists. PS - just ignore the first 0:50 of this video.
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall - Coldplay. Maybe the only Coldplay song on any of my music playing devices? Sorry. Not really a fan.
Bonus - this one isn't on my iPod yet, but it's clearly heading that way: Shake It Out - Florence + The Machine Oh Florence, how I love you.

Today - I did almost nothing. Seriously. I lost count of the number of naps I took. I did make it to the gym. I found a spot in the parking lot. On a Monday night at 6pm. WIN! I did Circuit Class. We only had 23 people and several of them were new. We'll see if they're back next week or if once was terrifying enough. I stayed for Pilates. We have a new teacher half of the time and she loves the full roll-up as much as I do.

Tragedy!

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

Oh, oh, the humanity. My iPod is dead. The little nano is the definitely the iPod that's taken the most abuse over the years, and I'm including the one I threw in ice water several times.

Now, on to my weekend:

Friday I worked because I'm a team player. Actually, I showed up at work, conquered my email Inbox and then had to leave the office to fix an issue we're having with a remote access/wireless card. I was not required to come back.

I took a walk around Lakes Nokomis and Hiawatha where there are still thin ice signs that the fisherman are ignoring. The city is ignoring them too because they're starting with the hockey rinks. Qat Lady and I hit the Cleveland Wok for dinner. As always, my goal was to have a dinner entirely of fried food.

Saturday started with a fantastic run with Running Beth along the Liz Loop. I don't think we'd had a Liz Loop maybe all year. (It's been rough.) I, um, medicated my stomach before the run which turned out to be awesome. I thought I'd be dying by the end of the run but I felt great. Beth's dog was mildly tortured by running past the off-leash dog park and not getting to play but he was fine as well. I was thrilled to learn my body will still move 7 miles without too much protest. Maybe this Flying Pig thing could work?

I spent most of the afternoon on the couch.

Saturday evening was quite interesting. I mentioned over Christmas I went to my parents "church". The old minister (Reverend? What's the difference?) from that place in Cincinnati is now at a church (again, I use the term loosely; faith community might be better) up here. Everyone kept asking how he was.

I got a wild hair up my ass and decided to see the New Year's Eve service at this place in Golden Valley where Reverend is now. The service was a 'burning bowl' ceremony. Flash paper is involved and perhaps the funniest moment of the entire year was when this tween-age kid in front of me (there were five tween-age boys sitting in front of me all night) says to the other four "flash paper burns longer if you lick it".

Although the most random event was when this women sits down next to me about 10 minutes into the service.

Lady: Is anyone sitting here?
Me: No, go ahead. ::Stops, looks at woman:: Is your name Catherine?
Lady/Catherine: Yes.
Me: Did you used to work at the Youth Science Center? ::Totally staring by this point::
Catherine: Yes.
Me: My name is Liz, I used to work with you. Do you remember me?

Totally random. This lady had, shall we say, a bad exit from the museum. (I'm thinking it was about grant money, not job performance?) Her husband has since got a job in California that he loves and she comes back and forth. We talked for a long time after the service catching up. Totally random.

Catherine and I both said hi to Reverend after the service. He remembered the one time he met me several years ago, right when he'd moved up here so WIN for him I say. He totally remembered my parents as well, which was unsurprising but very nice.

At the end of the service snow was coming down hard so I opted to go straight home instead of my Pooky bear's for glogg. I went about 40mph on the express ways. The roads hadn't iced over yet, it was just hard to see because the snow flakes were the size of pizzas.

Sunday I woke up late, had breakfast even later and then spent the morning and part of the afternoon in my PJs.

I hit the gym around 2:30p and found out just how iced over the roads and sidewalks really were. Wow. I tried to replicate the treadmill workout from last week but didn't quite do as well. I didn't make it the full hour, only lasted about 45 minutes. I walked on the treadmill and did the rowing machine too. It's the last day of calm before the January Gym Crazies really descend on the place in full force.

The sadness in my day occurred when I got on the treadmill and tried to turn on my iPod. No success. The treadmill actually has an adapter for iPods so you can control playlist and volume with the big machine buttons and the treadmill couldn't wake the iPod either. Oh dear. I had my phone with me which also has music on it so I resolved to work out and then investigate later. At home I tried with the computer, the dock, and just a USB plugged into the wall. iPod will not wake.

I got this guy in 2007 and took it with me on 90% of my runs and gym workouts between then and now. This photo was taken a couple years ago, when the top to the iPod started coming off. Seriously. I beat the hell out of this thing.

I cleaned a little when I got home and then talked to the parents. I think it's weird I didn't tell them about seeing Reverend last night, but I'm also okay with it. I totally did not want the discussion. Mom was busy watching that new show on ABC about the fairy tales (if it's not Castle I'm totally not paying attention) so we didn't really talk too long anyways. Dad just wanted to know if I knew what happened to the wheat berries.

Wordless Weekends

2012-01-01T18:10:00.000-06:00

Yeah for Minnesota fishermen getting their ice fishing huts up. Those thin ice signs are just a suggestion anyways!

Under the Cedar Ave bridge.

Why does Target think this is a good price for Pepsi?

Let it snow!

A death in the family - this guy wouldn't turn on at the gym today. It might finally be dead.

2011 - year in review

2012-01-01T08:21:00.000-06:00

January was a rough month. My salary and hours were cut at work and it was cold. Very cold, made running quite a challenge.

February Things got mildly better with both the work situation and the snow situation. Although the snow situation was just a mirage because there was more to come on that front. I also had a nice trip home and got visits with both Alicia and Grandma.

March The snow just did not quit. By March it was getting a little old. Then I got really sick. Sinus infections happen all the time but having crap in my lungs was new. I remember a day at work when I made one of the nurses listen to my lungs for pneumonia. It took a long time to get my lungs back for running after that.

April was a month for vacations. The weather in Minneapolis was still protesting with the occasional snow so it seemed best to be elsewhere. There was the time I went to Kansas for a relay race that's almost as wild as Ragnar. Then I went to New York part 1 and part 2 and the month ended with me in Cincinnati preparing for a Flying Pig Half Marathon. That trip also lead to one of my most read blog posts ever. Yes, I totally check.

May finished out my trip to Cincinnati and a nice Flying Pig (maybe in 2012 I'll run the full marathon?!?). The month was a little about running but mostly about catching up on work and not traveling. Although it will mean very little, because I didn't provide too many details, this still stands out as one of my favorite moments in my entire friendship with Amanda.

June was the month the long runs really began for race training. May went from snow to heat. June just cranked it up several notches, although I do have a memory of needing actual shoes (not flip flops or sandals) on my birthday.

July we suffered through the Minnesota State Government shutdown. I personally passed my clinical licensure test and then had to wait several extra weeks for the actual license because the state was shut down. And I got to go to Kentucky for a big party. Win for me! July was also the month I grew a set and tried Pilates. I can't believe it's been that long. I'm glad I did, I've tried several more classes since then and liked them all.

August I did not blog a ton. Probably because I was out doing long runs. Or really long runs like this one!. So much fun! As a bonus - here's our team's video:

Or go here to watch.

September Marathon training had peaked and I just had a few runs left before the big day. I remember that run. Sometimes it's such a relief to only do a 12-miler. Oy. I also ran and majorly PR'd the Bolder Dash 10K. Those PRs are going to get harder and harder from now on I think.

October I always think of in terms of the marathon sucked by the way, but lots of other stuff happened too. There was Apple Picking in unseasonably warm weather. (Still unseasonably warm right now...) Then there was a trip to Cincinnati part 1, part 2 and part 3. With the hilarious follow up: I'm back in town and my car won't turn on.

November started with a reunion from my college days. The month ended with me apparently agreeing to a fundraising project and a trip to Dublin? Did I mention there's a marathon and a goal of losing weight again? Also, Thanksgiving was great!

December has been a rough month. Quite a few people (friends, colleagues, family) are sick or have a loved one who is sick. Why is there so much cancer right now? We had some snow, it warmed up. The lakes froze, then unfroze. So it's been up and down. I had a great Christmas with the family and am thankful for that. We'll see what wonderful things 2012 brings.

Previous years in review: 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Cincinnati Christmas - Days 7 and 8

2011-12-31T06:00:00.000-06:00

Monday was kind of a blah day. I woke up (like this) and felt like I had rocks in my sinuses. This sucks. I kind of grumped around all morning lamenting my state of affairs.

In the afternoon Dad took me to the gym with him. I did a great workout which somewhat loosened up my sinuses. This is the "Cincinnati Sinus" effect most people know. Oy. I did an hour workout on the treadmill which nearly gave me a heart attack. I did an interval of five minutes running between 10:30 and 9:30 miles and 2 minutes walking around 3.4 miles/hour. I don't usually run anything below an 11:00 mile. Then I did the elliptical for 30 minutes and a bike for 40 minutes. My digestive issues are still with me too. Lovely.

By evening my stomach was finally ready to accept food. It hasn't been normal since Dreidel Dash. We had lots of leftovers.

Leftovers: done! The Jicima leftovers and cauliflower leftovers were the best. There is still a tiny amount of chili left (which I should remember for later).

Today I was felling mildly better because I'd found the allegra. They sell the generic over the counter now.

Jenny and Doug collected me around 10am and we headed over to the Krohn which has an admission fee this year. We were glad we got there early because we had plenty of room but the line for tickets was crazy by the time we left.

After the Krohn it was Skyline time. When is it not Skyline time?. We found the new Skyline on McMillan, one confusing door down from its former location on said street. After lunch Jenny wanted to go to the mall because she is a glutton for punishment. We headed up to Kenwood for a remarkably fast trip. Afterwards we stopped for dessert at my request. Black raspberry chip is one of the flavors that doesn't reliably ship to Minneapolis yet. I love Grater's!

I lounged around most of the afternoon because I was sans automobile. Mom and Dad come home and took me over to the Green Dog Cafe for a great dinner with great coffee. Then I headed down to Kentucky for a visit with Grandma, whom I hadn't seen yet on this trip. If your name is Aunt Mary, you may have a postcard with this picture heading your way!

Cincinnati Christmas Day 6 - CHRISTMAS

2011-12-30T15:30:00.000-06:00

Oh, I love Christmas!

830ish We woke up and did family presents. I didn't have many to open, but I got some nice stuff and some hilarious gift certificates. It was fun to watch Mom and Dad open their presents. I had fun picking them out and glad they enjoyed them.

930 The cooking begins. Today was waaaay less stressful than yesterday. Our menu was one course, and the only appetizer was the Blue Cheese Port spread from last night. We had chicken salad, cucumber salad meh, roasted potatoes hell yes you are!, and melon and proscuitto. I ate 90% of the melon and prosciutto. We had a fruit plate for 'dessert'.

1100 The company arrived and we ate, opened presents and generally hung out. Jimmy, my cousin, is a total racist. Perhaps this is why I only see you once a year? Jimmy's girlfriend, Jennifer, is very nice and I think I'd like her if I spent more time with her. My Uncle Jerry is nice and he sees Mom and Dad a lot now, which is something that has ebbed and flowed over my lifetime.

~~2ish~~ Nap Time I thought about going for a run but after two days of cooking, I looked at the couch and was asleep before my body was horizontal.

4ish or 5ish We headed down to Kentucky for the awesome tradition of Christmas Spaghetti. Mark Chef Mark made raviollis and homemade pasta for Uncle Tom's sauce. Yum! I also wound up with a plane ticket and vacation date to Florida WIN for me!. I played with all the kids and had basically a wonderful night. Highlights include feeding Maximo a popsicle, playing with Luke with the present I got him, and the end of the night when Ben finally let me hold him!

Picture is unrelated - yes, that is a Q-tip in the wine opener. The wine opener requires the Q-tip to function.

I had help form the kids to take pictures. Adults will do anything for a 4 year old with a camera. Luke also practiced taking pictures of his feet, something I've totally been known to do as well. Click HERE for more information.

At the end of the day I finally got to talk to Amanda and hear about her Christmas thirteen people! which went really well too.

Cincinnati Christmas - Day 5. Christmas Eve!

2011-12-30T13:30:00.000-06:00

Early - Oy I knew there was not going to be running today. I made bacon and eggs for breakfast. I found myself disatisfied with the bacon I got yesterday. Boo.

Shopping trip - day 5 This was another grocery shopping trip. Mom and I hit Fresh Market for a few fun things and Dad not rushing me through the store and then we stopped to see JoAnn and her fabric. I'm having an issue where a blue jean button keeps popping out and then my pants are coming down. It's an old crappy button, not because I'm fat.

Walking in the sunshine I wanted a family walk today. Mom wanted not to be on the dirt/mud/gravel trail to Ault Park. We settled the matter by walking through the neighborhood. Mom and Dad were bundled up and lamenting their 'no hats' decision. I was in a fleece and sweat pants and just fine. Southerners!

Let the cooking begin I cooked most of the afternoon. Dad "helped" my doing the Brussels Sprouts. I took him an entire hour to prepare the sprouts for roasting. If you'd listened to me we would've been done 40 minutes ago.
The menu was as follows:

Appetizer 1 - Blue Cheese Port Wine spread. I've heard this gets more alcoholic the longer it sets so tomorrow's spread should be even more awesome.
Appetizer 2 - Jicima and Cucumber Chili Spears. I think I ate the whole bowl.
Appetizer 3 - Tangy Cauliflower Salad. Yum.
Main dish 1 - Vegetarian Chili. I had this on the burner most of the day and transferred the pot to a smaller burner an hour before dinner. I think that was a mistake because it was colder than I wanted.
Main dish 2 and 3 - Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Dessert White Cheddar and Apples and a fruit plate.

Company! Everybody come over and we ate. Then I played with one of my favorite people in the entire world. I'd show you a great picture but he basically doesn't hold still. Ever.

All the 'family photos' are blurry but this one is too cute. Auntie - I want to play!

Aunt Barb got an iPod Touch for Christmas and was trying to learn how to use it. Hilariously, the kids have to teach Uncle Tom first so he can teach her. I referred Aunt Barb to the article that said to leave the operating instructions for all gadgets in the bathroom because studies show that's where the real learning occurs.

This may be the least blurry of the family pictures.

Showing off for the camera.

I will eat ice because I'm teething!

It's 1037 now. I feel like it's about 1AM. I am exhausted. The program for Christmas is to get up, do presents and then start cooking about 930am although that will be a lighter cooking job. I'm hoping I can get in a run sometime before we head to Kentucky.

Cincinnati Christmas - Day 4: Grocery Shopping

2011-12-30T12:30:00.000-06:00

I couldn't possibly go a day without shopping. Today was no exception, although the subject matter was slightly different than the past few days.

730am Why did I think I was going to get up and run? Turned the alarm off, went back to sleep.

830ish I got up and searched for fuel for the day. Sadly, there was no bacon. Maybe shopping would've been better with bacon?

930am Whole Foods sucks! Sorry. That was just my reaction. Apparently I am spoiled by my little co-ops where I can reliably find *organic* produce. Your name is "Whole Foods". It shouldn't be *this hard* to find an organic grape or two.

A few minutes later - trying again at Kroger That was really much better. I sort of hate shopping at Kroger. Putting the "all natural" stuff in the organic section is a lie! Although this morning I was liking that these really big grocery stores do make some effort to have some kinds of certified organic produce, dairy and eggs because I could find most of what I wanted. Organic limes but not lemons. I wouldn't have cared except the recipe calls for eating the zest. Where the farmers put all the pesticides.

Shopping with Dad was a basically positive experience although one year I think I should just have Mom load the gift card and let me go alone. Mom describes Dad as "a rusher". I had a similar experience. He likes to cook but has no concept of how foods go together. Because he lacks that basic understanding, he also fails to understand why I'm such a fuss pot about the kinds of crackers that will go best with blue cheese and all kinds of other ingredients. Trust me.

Look at all those things we bought. It wasn't even "a record" because the only meat I bought at all was bacon. Imagine if there was a turkey!

That vague look of dread. What is Dad doing? Kroger was packed but apparently not nearly as bad as the cashiers were expecting later in the day. Everyone was basically pretty nice while running into each other with our carts.

Lunch I finally got my first taste of this chicken. I could see the oil oozing out of it you know that can't be bad. It was great.

Wrapping presents with Mom Found a second use for the super-tall, or as I'm now calling it, "Time the Tool-man" sized wrapping paper. Decided not to get Dad a restaurant gift certificate because I've seen everything else he was to unwrap. Wow!

RUN! I think I've mentioned a couple of times that my legs are stronger because of Circuit Class, Pilates and Water Running. That means I move faster and my cardio vascular system protests by trying to kill me. Today was all about pacing because there's so many hills on this run. Running down the hills was all about "opening up the hips" as my Water Running instructor says. Those hills are a bear to run up but so damn fun to run down. Have I told you I'm still toying with running the full Flying Pig?

Jazzercise because I love my mother. I'll deny it later, but the "dancing" is finally starting to click just a little bit. I did not like how this girl did "core" work though. Boo.

Dinner - Bangkok Bistro. We had the eternal "take-out vs eat-there" discussion. I almost always prefer take out and Dad likes to be waited on. Mom doesn't really care. I won today. It probably didn't hurt that Dad had two beers after tennis and was pretty mellow.
I always get the "Siam Noodles" which are supposedly "Pad See Ew". I've had Pad See Ew in Minneapolis at several restaurants. This dish can't be replicated. I think maybe they put crack in it or something. Yum! We also spent some time strategizing about numbers of plates and bowls, table arrangements for 8 to sit in one place and cleaning.

Laundry - I forgot to wash my jeans which was a motivating factor for doing laundry at all. Fail! I'm sure someone else will have a load the jeans can go in. The button keeps falling off my jeans. Sucks. I wonder if I can buy a new blue jeans button at Jo Ann's. My Pooky Bear would know.

This book is in the basement next to the laundry machine it's a weird setup and I read it to my mom every Christmas. ... this one has a little start, this one has a little car....

Cincinnati Christmas Day 3 - Theater Thursday

2011-12-30T11:00:00.000-06:00

Morning: Wow. I slept like a rock. That's what I get after staying up all night to wrap presents.

9:30am Jazzercise with Mom. Because she loves it. Be nice! It was fine really. I actually liked this routine more than some of the other ones I've had to do. Although I swear this girl made me do five minutes of hip bridges at the end. My ass is on fire.

Kroger for a cup of coffee, cup of yogurt, and bananas for Mom.

Shopping trip - day 3 This time we headed not to Kenwood thank the lord but to ~~Forest Fair Mall~~, ~~Cincinnati Mills~~ *hmm* "Cincinnati Mall' for Bass Pro Shops, Kohls, and a brief stop at Claire's where I buy all my earrings.

These owls totally reminded me of the Qat Lady.

Lunch with Mom I had the calamari appetizer at Red Lobster. I didn't eat it all. Mom assumed that meant I didn't like it. I assumed it was fried and I should pace myself.

Slow beginning to the cooking madness After the shopping trip, Mom came home and took a nap. I came home and started making lists.

I am planning Christmas Eve Dinner for Aunt Barb who will bring her own food, Uncle Tom, Mark who is a chef and therefore intimidating to serve food, Irmghard, and Maximo who gets plain roasted sweet potato. Maybe Aunt Barb will like one too. I'm planning Christmas Brunch for Uncle Jerry, Jim and his girlfriend and my family. Brunch is easier because it's only one course. No appetizer. Maybe strawberries and chocolate pieces for a nosh after, but maybe not even that.

Play time We headed over to my parent's friends condo which has a sweet view of the river. We played around up there for a few minutes and then headed out for dinner.
Our theater selection of the night was Snow White by The Ensemble Theater. As with last year's Cinderella, everyone came out of this play a winner. No one was left out, even the bad "Aunt Queen" and Mirror Mirror.

After the play we headed back to the Condo-with-a-view for a night cap. The view really is spectacular.

Now imagine this picture if it were taken by a camera better than my cell phone!

More list insanity After the wine had calmed me down a little, I came back and took another crack at the shopping list. The problem was like five dishes needed cucumbers and several needed walnuts. How many do I need altogether. So, like the Qat Lady, I made a list organized by section of the grocery store.

Tomorrow morning before Dad and I head out, we'll cross off all the stuff we already have at home. How much salt and Cinnamon does a girl really need?

Cincinnati Christmas - 60* on Wednesday!

2011-12-30T09:30:00.000-06:00

I woke up and it was raining. Guess who's not going for a walk with Marge.

Mark and his lovely wife came to pick me up and take me to the mall for shopping! I was just along for the ride and to visit. Mark's wife is one of the better shoppers I've ever met.

My favorite stores ever! Lego and The Apple Store. I didn't get anything at either place. But there were presents purchased. Bonus lesson of the day: don't let a one-year-old suck on the power chord for your MacBook.

The mall, and the Apple Store in particular, was a zoo. Just like yesterday. I was able to find one more thing for Mom. It's looking now like maybe I need to get something else for Dad to even things out.

After exhausting ourselves shopping, we headed down to Kentucky so I could see more family.

Obviously I couldn't wait to see this guy. He was in a pretty good mood most of the night. He is a crawler now. Really fast. I took some other pictures but he was zooming through them. Hee hee.

For dinner we headed over to see Cousin John and even more family. We ate Skyline. Every time I turned around, Mark had another beer for me.

It's always Skyline time in Cincinnati!

When I got home Dad and I did a crossword for a while. He accused me of making some mistakes. Lies! He screws those things up much more than me.

I eventually sent him and Mom off to bed so I could wrap presents. I thought I was all done until I saw one more big package. It's a tennis bag for Dad. At first I was all "I'll take it out of the box Amazon used for shipping". I quickly realized I couldn't just wrap it without a box because the shape would be a dead giveaway.

I was all "how and I going to do this?". And then I was all "challenge: accepted".

I actually had to move all the throw rugs out of the way to have enough space. It's a good thing Mom had an extra tall roll of wrapping paper.

WIN for me. Challenge: surmounted.

Cincinnati Christmas - Day 1 (Tuesday)

2011-12-30T08:06:00.000-06:00

Oy! I hate packing. I finally gave up Monday night and decided that I'd take fewer clothes and plan to do laundry. Really, my brain just turned off and couldn't plan anything else.

Crack of dawn - Convinced myself to get out of bed. Emptied all the old, or spoiled or will-be-spoiled-by-next-week food from the fridge and took out the trash. Have I ever emptied this fridge before? I then traded some hilarious texts with Neighbor Steve (former neighbor Steve?) about the closing for selling his condo.

Slightly after the crack of dawn - Neighbor Gib came to whisk me off to the airport. Gib used to work for Delta (Northwest!) and his wife Mia still does. Both had warned me the airport would be a zoo. Especially security. I planned a few extra minutes so I wouldn't feel stressed.

Arrive at the airport ::Looks around:: Where are all the people? I walked right up to the security checkpoint. No waiting. They had to wait for me to get my photo ID out and load the e-ticket on my phone.

Sit at the airport. I was back in Concourse B for this flight. Concourse B involves this little tunnel with all these neon lights. Every time I go through it I feel like that tunnel is Minneapolis' answer to the tunnel at O'Hare airport which is like an acid trip.

The O'Hare Tunnel - from here.

I didn't get a picture of our tunnel because it's way less interesting than the one pictured above.
Once I got to my gate I realized there is nothing in the B concourse. You have to leave the concourse if you want a cup of coffee. So I sat around and entertained myself by taking pictures with my phone.

On the plane - I was "moved up" from 11C two rows from the back to seat 6C WIN for me!, and then no one was in the seat next to me. Second WIN for me. My flight attendant was Kenneth from 30 Rock. No joke. This dude looks and sounds like Kenneth. He was really nice.
The flight itself was nice for the first little while and then bumpy as all hell the rest of the way. I don't think I can blame Delta for having to fly over bad weather.

Cincinnati! Where are all the people? I renew the question.

Skyline Time! Mom picked me up at the airport. We had to make one stop at the Ensemble Theater so she could exchange a gift certificate and then we headed to Skyline.

I know you want me!

Shopping with Dad Dad met us after lunch and we went up to Kenwood so he could pick out a couple things for mom. It was hilarious to walk into the tea store with him. I actually felt kind of bad. He wanted to get mom some decaf tea. Dad knows very little about tea and was overwhelmed by the choices.

Here's what I found while Dad was looking at sweaters. I wonder if my Pooky Bear can make these.

Marge's Christmas Party My parent's neighbor and our long time family friend Marge was having a get together for some of the people in the neighborhood and I came along for ~~the food and beer~~ to get to know my parent's neighbors. Okay, sure. There was actually one other person there who I knew. We hung out there most of the night.

Cincinnati Christmas Day 9 and Day Coming Home

2011-12-29T21:17:00.000-06:00

Wednesday - oy, how long have I been here? was a pretty chill day.

Mom and I woke up and went to Jazzercise. Thank goodness, last one. Then I headed back out to Kenwood for one last shopping trip with my favorite cousin. (I was with three people, they can fight over who's my favorite!) Thank goodness also for the last trip out to Kendwood. Double oy.

This is definitely my favorite picture of Maximo. Mark was texting above his head. I was singing Twinkle Twinkle or the ABCs or some such nonsense.

Then we went with Marge for a walk down by the river in a new-ish city park. I think I'd seen this park once before it was really built when I worked for the park board. The full product was much nicer.

In the evening we went to my parents 'church' I use that term loosely for a Kwanza celebration. I heard there would be drumming and was willing to go for the music. I think that's actually why Mom wanted to go too. Dad went because Mom and I both did.

Today I woke up late doh! and went for one final run. I thought I went faster than my other run but the time is longer. Either I went faster and hit more stop lights, or all that food is slowing my ass down.

After running we went down to Kentucky to ~~kiss the baby again~~ *ahem* fetch grandmother for the ride home. Then we came back and had one last turn at Bangkok Bistro, my real favorite restaurant in Cincinnati. Yes, even more than Skyline.

It was about this time I realized I needed to pack. That's right, I'm going home today too. I spent a little more time on the couch in the sunlight and then headed off to the airport and Minneapolis.

Why does this store always have popcorn and the popcorn smell but it's always closed when I'm at the airport? Boo!

I had a nice flight, it was more crowded than the way out but much less turbulence in route. In Minneapolis there is no snow on the ground and the lakes are remarkably full of water and not ice. We've been wondering how this will impact the New Year's Day Ice Plunge. For now, I'm enjoying the weather!

Wordless Weekend - Christmas!

2011-12-25T21:47:00.000-06:00

Wordless Weekend - Headlines Edition

2011-12-23T22:10:00.000-06:00

Source

Awesome exception to the rule stated above. Source.

Source.


Source

Source. WIN for you smart ass!

Spiders are good luck! Source.

Source. Just. WIN.

Driedel Da- ... where is the bathroom?!?

2011-12-19T11:30:00.000-06:00

Hee hee.

Today was the Dreidel Dash. It was fine. It's a race for which I've been notoriously under-trained in the past and this year was no exception. To add to the hilarity, I chose to run a 10K instead of the shorter course (seemed like a good idea at the time). I think I'd run about 4 four mile runs in the past 3 weeks. Oy.

At the start line, getting the course ready. They couldn't put the start line together until right before the race because of a road closure issue.

It's a good thing I've run so many marathons in the back of the pack. Because I was dead last when this race started, and I stayed that way until about mile 2 when I started hunting people down. I've learned to get comfortable back there and not panic. Although that was far back, even for me.

As you may be able to tell from the title, I really had to make boom boom the entire time. Maybe for next year we can have a port-a-pot? That resulted in some walk breaks to avert disaster. It's good to know that my stomach still hates me. I should've planned better. Whatever.

Even with the walk breaks, I did about as well as I did at my first ever 10K, several years ago. With all this cross training (thanks Circuit, Pilates and High Intensity Water Running), my legs are much stronger than they've ever been. So strong that they want to go really fast. My cardiovascual system can't always keep up. Pace yourself!

I had an awesome cheering section at the finish line. We had two people from Team:Work run the 5K. The rest of Team:Work sort of dropped like flies before the race. One hurt her hip, one had knee surgery and then a second, somewhat less planned surgery, one went on a cruise (lame excuse) and one had an emergency that pulled her out of town. A couple 'thought about it' but wound up not signing up. (Also lame.)

Team:Work runners in our Team:Work visors. BJ made those personally for us. Even though her grown kids said they were lame, we thought they were cool and her kids were just jealous.

See if you can guess which one of those trouble makers had, um, a special treat for me at the finish line. (Thanks Irina! Made my whole day!) Shortly after that boss lady number 1 was heard saying "ok, I have to leave so I can go watch the Vikings". Wonder how that turned out?

After the race I headed over to see my Pooky Bear and the Qat Lady. Pooky Bear was in full "Christmas cooking baking" mode. (Good for you.) I asked for the job of decorating. The Qat Lady would tell you I'm not really allowed to bake anyways.

My Pooky Bear made that apron. We had to pin the straps to the right length because apparently all aprons have the straps too long. Pooky's apron was pinned in similar fashion.

When I got home I ate (notice how I hadn't mentioned that in my day?), did laundry and then talked to Mom and Dad. Usually Christmas Eve Dinner and Christmas Day Brunch are my responsibilities. I've been given a directive for brunch that we must use the 30 odd chicken fingers (these chicken fingers are so big they have their own zip code) for brunch. They can't be used for Christmas Eve because those people already ate them today. Chicken Salad it is! I wonder if I need to take the breading off. Really I think the breading will just add to the general awesomeness of the salad.

When I was talking pictures of the cookies, I got a picture of the spill tray that my Pooky Bear said would be a good computer wallpaper. She's kind of right. Here's one of the photos, as a bonus.

Wordless Weekend

2011-12-18T20:20:00.000-06:00

In the headlines:

Huh?!?

Friday:

Saturday all from the same lake, taken during the same 3 mile walk:

Sunday:

Taking a moment to feel grateful

2011-12-18T00:08:00.000-06:00

Today was a birthday party for a good friend. While it was a really nice party, it was weighed down by sad news from more than one person at the table. I'm much more aware of people who are sick and families and friends experiencing losses this year than almost any other year of my life.

I'm taking a moment to feel grateful, just in general.

I've similarly decided that while tomorrow may not be my fastest 10K ever, I can be grateful then too. My plan is to feel good running. Running typically makes me treat myself better, it makes me like myself better, and I can be nicer to other people when I run a lot.

Here's some music to suit my current mood:

Poco - Keep on Trying.
Tom Petty - Alright for now
Lizz Wright - When I Fall
Emiliana Torrini - Beggar's Prayer/li>
Jon McLaughlin - We All Need Saving You make me what I'm worth.

Not what I had planned - but still a good day

2011-12-15T22:06:00.000-06:00

12:50am ::Phone rings:: My brain tells me that I must answer the phone and sound awake. Stay awake! I answer and talk. Stay awake! Be nice! Keep talking. (Be nice. The words "I'm about to fall asleep" may never leave your mouth.)

6:30am Alarm went off. Ha. Running Intervals class is going to have to wait.

8am Alarm goes off again. This time I actually have to get up.

920 I hit the road. Yes, sometimes I can go in late to work. I was actually going to a training today. Thrilled that I-94 is not a parking lot.

10am-12pm Training number 1. It was kind of interesting, but the research on which they were reporting was ultimately flawed. I guess I did learn something in that research methods class. The crux of the research was case managers rarely refer to two specific services for family caregivers. (We love caregivers.) They didn't measure the actual unmet needs. The survey results failed to acknowledge that case managers refer to other services, besides the two in the survey, that meet the same need. (I was like this in school too.)

1250pm - Who the hell tries to make a tax exempt purchase at Chipotle!?! I got a buy one get one coupon for being behind that guy and still trying to be nice.

1:30pm Training number 2. A Webinar! Oh look! My computer has spider solitaire!

4:45pm Still at work, grabbed my gym bag and tried get ready for circuit. Where are my pants! Get on the road to go home to retrieve said pants. Meet the mother of all traffic jams on 62. Hit the city streets instead. I need my pants!

5:29 I rolled into circuit class with seconds to spare. This week's theme was "double duty". My hamstrings hate me. They hate the teacher's exercises. They hate medicine balls. Oy. Then we got to do bosu burpees. Ask me how I feel about burpees. Although it is an "I hate you but will feel like superman once you are conquered" feeling.

6:45 or so is when I realized that I was in a totally bad mood becuase I was hungry and tired. I attempted to calm my shit down. I'll let you know how that works out.

A watched pot - about to BOIL!

2011-12-15T21:42:00.001-06:00

I was poking around the internet last night, still baffled by the number of hits this post seems to be getting. And I noticed something else.

Dude - I'm getting close to 10,000 views. I think that's actually "10,000 since someone started keeping track", but whatever. I looked back a minute later.

Okay. I'm going to stay up until it hits 10,000. It's like knowing where you are when your car hits 100,000 miles right? Check back. Check back. Why are there no more hits? Keep on checking back. WTF, I just got like 10 hits in 3 minutes? Why is this taking so long? A freaking hour later....

Boom.

When I got up this morning, it was back to a non-interesting number that I would never have even noticed.

In which is disgusie doing very little as "productivity"

2011-12-13T21:57:00.001-06:00

I worked out last night. Hard. At Circuit class we warm up on the track and for some reason I always run much faster than my normal pace. (I fear the instructor.) By the time Pilates rolled around my hamstrings had surrendered. I meant to get up this morning and go for a run. So didn't happen.

6:15am Let's turn that light off and sleep some more. Okay.
8ish Much more reasonable time to wake up. I hit the shower then ran out to buy bread for breakfast. (I am a snob and can only have fresh bread from the bakery.)
9am WebEx training. For work. From home. What this means is I turn on my computer and "watch" the screen, and have my phone on speaker. Doing it from home means I can do stuff with my hands and plod around my house while listening. (It's much better this way.)
12:20 I rolled in to work, long enough to grab 'holiday' gifts. (It's a Jewish agency after all.) I packed the presents in my car and headed off to play Santa for a while.
1:15pm Why is Qat Lady calling me while my GPS is on? Good to know my phone allows that.
1:16pm I am a bad friend because I'm trying to listen to Qat Lady and figure out where the hell I'm going. Because the phone is still telling me where to drive. Sort of. Even though I'm talking to someone. Finally found a place to pull over so I can just talk to Qat Lady because that's what I really wanted to do.
2:30pm I showed up for the St Paul and Minneapolis Senior Workers Meeting to hear Former Vice President Mondale speak about public policy. I will now refer to him as Walter "I made Medicare" Mondale. Heck yes you did.

4:00pm The speech and discussion ended and I thought I'd leave. But I wanted to say hello to my boss (notice I hadn't seen her yet today).
5:00pm I actually left after talking to the boss and a community partner for a while.
5:30pm Check my messages from home. How did that many people call me? The message with the words "fall" "paramedics" "ambulance" and "hospitalized" was actually the calmest message I got. My job is so interesting.
7ish I talked to my Pooky Bear. It became clear I wouldn't be hitting the gym tonight.
Now Someone please tell me why this post has 86 hits in six days. Most of my posts don't have that many hits ever. I'm not complaining, more trying to figure out how to replicate the success of that one and a couple other posts that seem to have tons of hits.

Well this is going to be ugly

2011-12-11T21:05:00.001-06:00

The Dreidel Dash is coming up. I'm doing the 10K this year. Let's look back at how much I've been running recently. Go ahead, let's check some old posts. I'll look too. Hmm. I couldn't find anything about running other than intervals on the track either. Oy.

I did hit the snow for a workout today. I ran 4 miles. Without stopping. I mention that because it was touch and go for a while. I must have done okay because I did it in about the same time as this run. Thanks to circuit and Pilates, my legs are stronger than my endurance.

At the end of the run I thought I was going to die. I can't decide if it's more embarassing to get sick in front of people or just pass out in front of everyone. I was concerned that both were going to happen after that run. Perhaps I should drink water more than once a week. Or run more. (Let's blame hydration.)

So, for the dash, I'm thinking about throwing a couple of walks in, at least in the beginning, just to save myself some frustration and embarrassment. I'm also thinking about going for a run or two this week. It's harder to fit that in than you might think. It is dark and cold and tomorrow we're supposed to get ice. Oh joy.

Wordless Weekends

2011-12-11T15:14:00.001-06:00

Thursday at training - it was that boring.

Friday - adding ambiance to the living room thanks Rope Lights and Lifehacker.

Saturday - reading.

Sunday - running. (So afraid I was going to get sick and pass out at the end of this run. Maybe I should've kept reading instead.)

Running in the snow - brrr!

2011-12-06T22:10:00.001-06:00

These past two days have had a lot of working out. (Really I'm hungry and I'm trying to balance that out.)

Monday:

Circuit class - involved basically a two mile warm up run with some stairs thrown in. Then we went to planks. It's always at that point that I'm seriously afraid I'm going to pass out (or die) right in front of everyone. (Why is my heart beating so fast!?!) And then we went back to the workout room and did the circuit workout.
Pilates - we got to "arm circles" which are part of the *warm up* and the teacher is all "raise your arms over your head" and I was all "are they up there? I can't feel them".

Today:

Run 1 - I went to the gym at the crack of dawn and ran a pyramid "speed" workout. (I was still tired from last night.) Honestly, I needed to get bread for breakfast and knew that I wouldn't leave the house just for bread, but if I grabbed some on the way home from the gym, that was likelier to actually happen. (See? I said it was all about eating.)
Run 2 - I headed outside with Team:Work, only one person showed up (yeah for her but boo to everyone else). The person who came is a hard worker and the one who reliably will try just about anything I suggest (want to run up this huge hill?) so it was fun. We did part of the Dreidel Dash route and part of the river road because we both love a plowed sidewalk as much as the next runner. From tonight I learned that in the winter, runners need to wear your reflective gear. No excuses.

Favorite music from these workouts:

Shinedown - Diamond Eyes. Don't let the beginning fool you. This song moves.
Will.i.am Feat Jennifer Lopez and Mick Jagger - T.H.E.. You can go hard or you can go home!
Taio Cruz - Dynamite. I came to dance!

Weekend winter weather advisory

2011-12-05T14:00:00.000-06:00

Brrrr I'm slowly admitting that it's winter here in Minnesota. No pictures of snow yet because I think I did that enough last year. See here, here, and here for examples.

We did get "four inches" of snow yesterday. (It wouldn't be No Coast if it wasn't snowing.) No snow emergencies yet so it couldn't have been a true four inches. It was enough to take notice though, according to the headlines from the Strib.

Just what I like when it's cold.

Training - I am sort of training. In my mind I keep thinking about running the whole marathon at the Flying Pig. Another part of my brain screams NO! It'd mean snow training and specifically snow long run training. I am still planning on Dublin, and trying not to get fat before then. So I did head to the gym today and spent a long time on an elliptical and then on a bike.

Christmas Shopping - This is where I have the most progress to report. Qat Lady and my Pooky Bear and I headed over to the No Coast Craft Show on Saturday so baby cousin and toddler cousin are shopped for. Pooky Bear - you're also somewhat done as at least part of your present is the same ever year. Surprise!
I have selected pretty much everything on Amazon for Mom and Dad and 4-year old cousin. The hilarity of shopping on Amazon is I also spend a ton of time picking out things for myself. (I know.) I just put everything in my cart and then hit "save for later" so when I do order the stuff for Christmas, I'll probably get myself a little something too.

Home organization - I spent a great deal of time today cleaning and reorganizing. Happily, Qat Lady needed an Ikea trip so I got to tag along. I got some closet organization stuff and one thing for my kitchen.

The new mats in my kitchen from our Black Friday escapade. Whomever put memory foam on kitchen mats is a genius. It took me a while to figure out the configuration of the mats. (Really, there are multiple options.) After years of sweeping and mopping my floor, I decided the industrial strength black mat really does belong under the dishwasher. (Why is it always so gross over there?)

Well I guess the lakes are frozen

2011-12-05T09:08:00.000-06:00

Yes, that's right. The lakes are starting to freeze. So is the river. Boo. At least winter starting means winter will end sooner too. On the exercise front - I'm still mostly taking a break from running (brrr) but not from working out.

Wednesday I did the High Intensity Water Running class. I am getting the hang of it. Although this week was packed. Get out of my way people.

source

Thursday I did Circuit Class again. The thing about this class is, I just went one Thursday becuase I couldn't make it to the normal Monday class or something. I never really meant for this class to become part of my routine. I really like the teachers at this class so I keep going back. The two classes are really different. The Monday class is longer, starts on the track, and has a lot more running and pilates moves that I know. The Thursday class is shorter and has a lot more weight lifting moves (different teachers). The weight lifting moves are challenging just because I've never really lifted weights so I don't know how to do them.

source

Friday I hit the gym for a long solo workout. I did the elliptical for an hour, then did the rowing machine. The gym is getting new cardio equipment. The rowing machines were already in place. They're like two feet taller than the old ones.

Old friend!

Exercise music - always on the lookout for some more good songs. Here's some that were added to my playlist this week.

Rihanna - Cheers (here comes the weekend). I'll drink to that!
OneRepublic - Marchin On. You may recognize OneRepublic from other great running songs including Good Life and my theme song Everybody Loves Me.
Shinedown - Sounds of Madness. This one is loud and would've been a great addition to this playlist.
Will.i.am feat Jennifer Lopez vs Mick Jagger - T.H.E. (the hardest ever). You can go hard or you can go home!

That feeling when my face almost caves in...

2011-11-29T21:38:00.001-06:00

I had that "sinus infection is coming" feeling today. I felt like I had a rock in my forehead. The conversation at work went like this:

Me - My face feels like it's going to cave in.
Boss - Are you going to go home?
Me - I'm going to go for a run. Running will help.

Qat Lady would want you all to know that running makes your sinuses dilate (get bigger). Therefore, all the crap falls out of them and no longer continues to hurt my face.

I did this route which I'm calling "hills lite". I made it about a mile shorter than my normal route and took out the hill I affectionately call "mama bear". I did Papa Bear and Baby Bear with this route.

For new running music, I accidentally found a group called "the New Pornographers". Has anyone ever heard of them? Chump Change and The Laws Have Changed are a couple good songs (although I make no promises about the video).

Thanksgiving: In pictures

2011-11-28T22:06:00.001-06:00

Advice from the state of Indiana at a Tollway Oasis on 1-90. Whatever.

There was a black lab puppy (Luna) who entertained everyone this weekend. She was very sweet and playful but also appropriately not excitable around the boatload of kids that came and went over the weekend. She was learning to jump when I was there but still falling off the couch with hilarious frequency.

My game playing partner. She's that happy all the time. I assure you. We played Skip Bo, Head Bandz and Jenga. I channeled the Qat Lady's competitiveness during Jenga and only lost once.

Wish I'd never see that iPad because now I want one badly. It was a fun toy. I especially liked playing family feud on it. The web browsing experience is also far superior to any other mobile device I've used.

All the aunties and uncles talking to Brian and Allison (remember them?) and their new baby. Congrats guys!

Seen in Aunt Joanie's kitchen.

No Thanksgiving is complete without tons of food and some great wine. Aunt Joanie doesn't like red wine so she gives it to company (here, finish this bottle). Thanksgiving dinner itself is all the classics plus eggplant parmesean for my vegetarian cousin and lasagna for all the Italians.

A shopper passed out in the Macy's home section on Black Friday. Weakling! (Black Friday is always such and adventure!)

And then Ragnar sent this to me on Facebook! What's up? I know what you did on Thursday too.

Thanksgiving - the long drive home

2011-11-28T10:00:00.000-06:00

6:00am EST I woke up. (The time zones = relevant.)
6:30am EST I departed from Ft Wayne. The first few miles were on a small county road. In the dark. In the rain. It blew. I had one stop in Indiana for gas, probably around 8:00.
Sometime later - I arrive in Illinois and suddenly it's an hour earlier. I took the beltways around Chicago. Everyone - the tolls are going up January 1st.
Wisconsin state line - what the %$&* is up with this? Did every driver on the road today miss the drivers ed lesson about the passing lane? Go away. Over 50% of the license plates I saw in Wisconsin were from Minnesota for cars.
Shortly before 12pm CST - I stop at exit 69 (easy to remember) at the Pilot-Wendy's for some food. Two seconds later, I walk back out, get in my car and go through the drive through. Not one but TWO Mega Bus buses had just stopped there and the lines inside were insane. I did not get to pee.
3:00 or so CST - I cannot believe I made the drive that fast. Thrilled to be home.

Shopping - Day One and Day Too Many

2011-11-28T06:00:00.000-06:00

Black Friday is always a big deal, just as much about people watching as getting good prices. It's something of a tradition though. You can see the reports from 2010 and 2009 for reference.

We hit the mall around 7:30. Aunt Joanie elected me to drive. Later in the morning Dad, Uncle Joe, Devin and Kris joined us. Mom got me some early gifts at Macy's (since I forgot my gift certificates!?!) but we didn't do too much other damage. In the afternoon the boys went home and we ventured away from the mall and hit smaller strip malls with stores like Stein Mart and Dick's. Dick's is my favorite. Nike - why so expensive? Around 3:30pm the three of simultaneously died so we called it quits.

We came home and had leftover Turkey and lasagna (lasagna!) and then headed to Kris' movie theater to watch Peggy Sue Got Married. I was unimpressed with the movie. Sorry.

Shopping: ~~Day Two~~ Too Many: Aunt Joanie wanted to go out again today to an outdoor mall that we almost went to yesterday. I did serious damage in Bath and Body Works (I know have soap for the next couple years) and helped Mom get some gifts for Dad. Then we went to Bed Bath and Beyond where I got an early Christmas gift of a stock pot with pasta insert. I also got a new bath mat to match my new shower curtain.

After shopping Mom and Dad headed home and I sacked out on the couch. We watched some football, basketball, and played some games (Jenga and Headbandz). I'm looking forward to trying out my new toys, and thinking about all the soup and broth I can make now!

My own "Turkey Trot"

2011-11-28T03:00:00.000-06:00

Also known as Why can't my phone just work right?

I tried out a new workout today. Since the last marathon was so bad, and apparently I'm doing another one next year (ask me about Dublin), I decided I needed a new strategy. I read up on the Galloway method and decided to give it a try today. I wanted a long Turkey-burner run, around 8 miles. I haven't run that far at once since the marathon.

Last night I downloaded the RunKeeper app, the only app I've found that let's me program intervals into it. I played around a little bit last night and then headed out this morning.

Phone - oh this damn phone. When any app that uses GPS runs with any other app, particularly apps that play music, everything freaks out. Sometimes the music player pauses. Sometimes a new music app will just open (besides the one I was using). Sometimes it opens a new playlist. But the most frequent problem is the phone just restarts while I'm running. Annoying! I think it's related to the GPS because every once in a while when I have just GPS the phone does the same thing.

The run - The run itself was actually very nice. I do not feel like I ran eight miles this morning so that whole "your legs recover while you're moving" thing must be a little bit true.

My aunt and uncle live in a subdivision out in the country. The big main roads are definitely not runner friendly. Obviously there are no sidewalks out here but there is no shoulder on the roads either. So I stayed in the subdivision where the speed limit is at least posted as 19mph. (The cars don't go that slow, but they do go slow-ish and there were only a couple cars in the subdivision.)

As you can see, I wasn't too concerned about pace. That time also includes an, um, "stop" around mile 4. (Glad to know my stomach issues are still with me. Also glad there are woods here!) I ran 5 minutes and walked 2 minutes as my 'interval'. I liked the idea and liked that the app on my phone told me when to stop and start. (Before the phone freaked out and restarted.) Sadly, I can't use my phone in the next marathon because I'll be in Europe, and I can't use my phone on all my long runs because the battery won't last so I might need to practice this with a watch instead. (I'm looking for an excuse to get a Garmin...) I liked the running and walking. I'm hopeful it will make long runs more manageable (meaning I'm not up the whole night before dreading them). We'll see.

The Turkey was awesome. We made "fat free" gravy which means me and Aunt Mary had to sit there with a baster and suck all the oil off the top of the turkey juice from the pan. Then the bottom "good stuff" was used for the gravy. I had a ton of gravy over the turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing. I also had sweet potato casserole. Food I plan to have as leftovers but didn't try during the main meal include lasagna, creamed corn, apple sauce, and homemade pasta sauce. Yum!

Shopping - I almost convinced Aunt Joanie that we should hit Macy's at Midnight but alas, I failed in my resolve. Our plan is to leave tomorrow at 7am and hit the mall. There's not a lot of shopping energy this year so we'll see how we do.

PS - This is my 1500th post!!!

Wordless Thursday - Thankful!

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000-06:00

New 'running log' and (hopefully) losing more weight

2011-11-20T18:10:00.001-06:00

Here's a look at the one I used for the 2010 Twin Cities Marathon. The one I used for 2011 was pretty similar only I kept a weekly average of my weight as well. For Dublin 2012 (oy), I'm changing it up.

I'm breaking my 'miles' down into running, walking and elliptical. For the past three years I've done all three kinds of workouts and counted them towards my miles. Because of the heat this summer, the elliptical played a big role in some of my longer mileage. (I think that hurt me in the end.)

I'm also tracking my cross training, something I've tried before and failed at miserably. It helps this year that I have a cross training plan (it's called Circuit Class and Pilates). I'm tracking the type of cross training and the minutes of cross training.

In addition to my weight, I'm tracking my calories on this log too. I tracked my calories in my 2010 training for almost the entire training. I lost about 15 pounds and plateaued my weight loss right around the taper for Twin Cities Marathon. I don't know if I can really make myself track calories for the next year (literally). I am going to see how long I can make it work.

Calorie-counting: I'm back on the bandwagon. For those of you who haven't tried calorie counting, here's my thoughts (and why I decided to try it again)

  On the positive side:

A calorie is a calorie. 100 calories of bacon is not judged different than 100 calories from a banana. No "you can't eat that". Only portion control.
I found some really good, lower-ish calorie foods the first time I tried this.
It helped me understand what I was eating and what filled me up for a lower 'calorie cost'
It helped me understand if I took a second helping or splurged on potato chips, just how bad (or not that bad) the damage really was going to be.

On the challenges side:

When I cook at home, I have to measure and weigh everything. (Go buy a kitchen scale.) Putting butter on toast? Measure it. Pouring cream in your coffee? Use a measuring spoon.
It's impossible to accurately count calories when someone else cooks for you. To make it work I try to breakdown the ingredients I'm eating. It works for things like sandwiches (two pieces of wheat bread, 4 slides of turkey breast, etc) but not so much for things like "sweet potato casserole" where everything's all as one and I can't see the recipe. Sometimes I just have to guess
It's impossible to accurately count calories at restaurants. Most of the bigger chains do have their calorie information online, but the little local restaurants around here - not so much.
It's hard to count calories of snacks and fingerfoods I eat throughout my day. (Some people would use this as a tool to stop eating that crap. Whatever.)

For those of you still interested in calorie counting, there's a few ways to do it. The "old fashioned way" of just writing everything down on paper is always a possibility. Write what you eat, how many calories and do math. For those of you with internet, smart phones and ipods:

Lose It is my personal favorite calorie counting app. It started as an iPhone/iPod app and has moved over to Android as well. There's a webpage you can visit if you want to see the pretty graphs on a normal size screen.
My Fitness Pal is pretty popular. I tried it and would have liked it but I was already married to Lose It and didn't want to re-enter my entire food and recipe library into a new program. I became a beta tester for the Android version of Lose It to avoid that issue.
The Daily Plate (from LiveStrong) is another popular app that some friends have tried. I've never used the app but I have searched the site when I needed calorie counts for things like "sushi rolls" and other random foods.

if by "two inches of snow" you meant "ice everywhere"

2011-11-20T17:10:00.001-06:00

Saturday was the first measurable snow of the year. It topped out around two inches at my place and I just stayed inside all day. (And taught Dad how to use Skype!)

When I finally emerged from my cocoon this morning, there was snow covering some things but really a lot of ice. On the sidewalk. In my parking lot. In the road. I saw a plow/salt truck driving by but it wasn't salting or sanding anything. Boo. I was thinking if Minneapolis looks this bad, I wonder how St Paul is doing.

Once I got my bearings and remembered how to drive in this crap, I headed over to my farmer's market - Holiday Market edition because it will truly be the last time I get awesome bacon until next May 20 when the farmer's market opens for real. (Stupid short growing season in Minnesota.)

I decided to try to hardboil the remaining eggs I purchased from the co-op this week. I can't remember the last time I've even tried to make hardboiled eggs. For some reason, I always screw it up. I'll refer you back to this post as a reminder that I'm generally a good cook but some processes elude me. I don't know how this batch turned out. I'm hoping they will be my food for Wednesday when I'll need all the protein I can get.

I spent a fair chunk of the day updating my 'running log'. (What else was I going to do? All my sports teams lost and I finished my book yesterday.)

If you're keeping track 'my teams' playing today were the Bengals (Cincinnati), the Vikings (Minnesota) and The Purple Aces (Evansville) whom I track because my cousin is a coach there.

I keep a speadsheet of my workouts, mostly becuase I need something to tell me how many miles I need to run each week, how many miles is my long run, and how many weeks to the marathon. I was having a hard time finding a way to reflect my new and improved cross training routine (thanks to Circuit, Pilates and High Intensity Water Running). My plan is to record minutes of cross training and type of cross training. I also want to get back on the weight-loss bandwagon so I wanted a way to track weight and calories. It looks good for day one.

Here's what it looks like for week one, day one. Not all the boxes are filled in because I'm not quite to the point where I can post how many calories I've eaten today and how much I weight.

Marathon - yes, I've picked a new marathon and also volunteered to lead a trip to get there?!? (Honestly I had to pick a race or designing my new workout spreadsheet would've been for nothing.) Ask me about Dublin people!

Sadly, even Facebook recognizes how hard it is to winter train. Thanks Nike Running.

To begin my new marathon training (remember when I swore I was done with this), I headed over to the gym for some 'speed work'. I did a "pyramid interval". I ran 2 laps, walked 1 (we'll call it 'recovery'), ran 3 and walked 1, ran 4 and walked 1, ran 5 and walked 1, then 4 and 1, 3 and 1, 2 and 1. 6 laps is a mile at my gym. (Yes, our indoor track is that big).

As always, higher means "faster" not uphill.

I had some really good running music to get me through the workout. The better the beat, the more I liked the songs. Here were some of my favorites in the rotation today:

O.A.R. - Heaven. I don't wanna go to heaven if I can't get in.
Rihanna - S and M. (I am done linking to that video. Just listen to the song instead.)
Fatboy Slim - Praise You. We've come a long long way together. I always imagine my shoes and my iPod when I hear that line.

Heat: maybe so, maybe no?

2011-11-16T21:36:00.001-06:00

The heat in my condo building and the two attached to it is not working? Working? Semi-stable? There was something about a broken pipe, the something more about jackhammering of the floor. A neighbor said I shouldn't have heat in my condo, but I do. (I hope I'm not breaking anything.)

I did "high intensity water running" at the Y again this morning. The class was mercifully way less crowded than last time. And I worked a little harder, so I felt like it was even more of a workout.

I'm getting my winter running songs together. (We assume I'll start running again eventually.) I found a list of favorite workout songs and decided to look for new music. Kudos to the list-makers because this is a very eclectic mix of songs. There were a few I already knew, most I didn't. Some of the ones I didn't know but want to try out are:

Christina Aguilera - Aint no other man. The girl can sing.
The Killers - When We Were Young. Some of my other favorite songs from The Killers include Mr Brightside, Human and All these things that I've done.
Buttons - Pussycat Dolls featuring Snoop Dogg. The Pussycat Dolls huh? I'll try almost anything for running music.
Joss Stone - Tell Me 'Bout It. See Super Duper Love for more information about Joss Stone and running songs.
John Legend - Heaven.

What I learned from listening to all these songs on YouTube is that it's annoying when directors use all this time to setup the story of the video before actually starting the song. Whatever. The song should speak for itself. Just play the music.

In which I am the least supportive coworker ever

2011-11-15T21:45:00.001-06:00

Today was generally frustrating. Let's say there was a situation. I had a solution. A third party blamed my solution for causing the problem. Quantum mechanics were not involved.

The Qat Lady stopped by to celebrate her clinical being complete (thank god). Her last day of clinical was at a place where I knew a staff person. I was all "tell Stephanie I say hi" and told Qat Lady how nice Stephanie is to work with. Qat Lady shows up at my office (across the street from her clinical site) and says "Stephanie had the same reaction about you". Very nice!

Then, all of a sudden, one of my coworkers turns white, gets lightheaded and starts throwing up. So coworker number two and supervisor are all concerned, and being supportive. I, on the other hand, heard retching, shut my door, and turned the music up all the way. (Yes, see how nice I can be.) When I came out of hiding a while later I could smell the sick and saw supervisor walking around with cleaning gear. Apparently, sick coworker got more sick. Then coworker number two had what I'll call a sympathy puke. (I'm so glad my door was shut for all the mayhem.)

I'm not saying who did what, but these are some of my coworkers. For an explanation of the outfits, read here.

At the end of the day I hit the streets with Team:Work. Go and buy a reflective vest please. Here's the one I use. I had originally planned a run up the hill, becuase both people who came tonight like that route, but one person needed a shorter route because she had a late meeting. So we saw the neighborhood instead.

This route is about 3.5 miles, but because of doubling back I did just over 4 miles tonight. The people from Team:Work tonight were walkers so I used the opportunity for a speed workout. I ran until it was time to turn on a different street. Instead of turning, I ran back to the walkers, then walked with them until after each turn. That way we never got too far away from each other and we all got the workout we wanted.

The green line is my speed. It was all over the place, but the 'speed running' bursts are faster than I normally go, mostly around 10:00 miles.

Also, ask me about Dublin!

Running on my weekend

2011-11-13T21:21:00.001-06:00

Friday was apparently everyone's day off. (Thank you, veterans, for your service.) I headed to the lake in the late morning for a run. Whoa circuit training and Pilates must be paying off becuase I don't normally run that fast.

The first mile includes waiting for a walk like at Cedar Avenue. The fourth mile (the only other one over 11:00) includes walking for a minute or two when I heard my time after the third mile and panicked a little bit.

It was a gorgeous day at the lake, so I made sure to take some pictures before heading home.

Saturday I had all kinds of plans. I got up and ran with Beth. I hadn't seen Beth since a brief moment two weeks ago when she ran by and gave me her gloves at the Monster Dash. We discussed my prize for being the ~~most organized friend~~ *first friend to register* for the Dreidel Dash. I also got to hear all about her family and planning for a Bar Mitzvah. (Congratulations.)

The rest of my plans (Pilates; a walk; grocery shopping; cooking; laundry) were put on hold when I got one of the most impressive (read: miserable) headaches of my life. It didn't start out as a migraine although that came eventually.

You know in cartoons when Wile E Coyote goes up into the church bell and then Road Runner dongs the bell, how Wile E Coyote's whole body vibrates with the bell, in a most painful manner. That's how my head felt. Throbbing. All freaking day. I took strong medicine which helped marginally at first but much more when the night wore on.

Sunday I woke up and was thrilled to find my head stopped vibrating and the migraine was mostly gone. I had a bowl of granola and then like two hours later was starving again. I got too used to eating eggs and bacon for breakfast apparently.

I did the grocery shopping today. And the cooking. I was in the mood for greens (I have no explanation) and was also in the mood for stuff that didn't necessarily have to be frozen. (Not all things freeze well. It limits my lunch options.) I perused the internet and finally decided on Couscous, Lentil and Arugula Salad and Asian Slaw with Tofu and Shitake Mushrooms. Because I can't leave a good thing alone, I altered both recipes. (No tomatoes!) The second recipe, I actually boiled chicken legs and threw the chicken in with the tofu. This is more for me becuase when I take this to work for lunch I need more protein than soy alone can provide. (My body laughs at soy.) I also wound up with some stock from the chicken and bones so I'll use that for something sooner or later.

As a bonus to my weekend, my Co op had Passion Fruit, possibly the best food ever in life and almost impossible to find in Minnesota. Ever.

Circuit and Pilates and Water Sports. Oh my!

2011-11-09T20:00:00.001-06:00

In honor of the 'post marathon slump'... I'm still not running. I have somewhat gotten back on the exercise bandwagon though.

I got my introduction to the killer workout that is circuit training last Saturday when my neighbor tried to kill me with a circuit class at her boxing gym. Monday, I went to the circuit class at my YWCA. In some ways it was easier. (Read: no burpees!) In some ways the class was harder. Mostly because this class is seventy five minutes and boxing-gym class was fifty minutes. I had a really nice time and I think I'll incorporate it into my routine.

Burpees are from the devil.

My favorite 'station' was the box jump. I realized that I'm still a gymnast at heart because I can't even think about jumping without swinging my arms in a complete circle. (You know what I'm talking about.) I noticed I had an easier time with the box jump, probably because I did know how to swing my arms.

Pilates is right after the Circuit Class, and a couple people just stay for both. (That's actually how I found out about Circuit to start with.) I've really liked Pilates so far. I learned that to do two classes in a row I probably need a long sleeve shirt for pilates and I definitely need to bring clean socks to put on after pilates so I don't have to put on the sweaty ones from circuit again.

I so hate this exercise. Maybe one day I'll be really good at it and then I will love it.

'High Intensity Water Running' is a new class the Y is trying out. It was quite popular this morning. I'm hoping it won't be as crowded next week. We all agreed there wasn't enough room.

The person who teaches it is a runner and it's billed as a way to 'get miles' without the pounding. I liked it but couldn't really tell if I got a good workout or not. Usually I can tell I had a good run by how exhausted I am; not the case with anything in the water. I think I'll try it at least one more time. Is it wrong to hope some of the other people aren't back next week?

Wordless Tuesday - Election Day

2011-11-08T20:46:00.003-06:00

An impromptu reunion

2011-11-06T17:23:00.002-06:00

I woke up this morning unable to move after yesterday's double dose of workouts. Wow. Circuit training apparently needs to be part of my life.

First thing I did was reset my bedroom clock, and alarm, and sleep for another hour.

I had a breakfast date with my former roommate from Semester at Sea and her sister. Holly was in town from Milwaukee and her sister came up from Tennessee to spend some quality time at the Mall of America. (You know who lives right by there?) The mall opens later on Sundays so we had plenty of time for a nice breakfast at Marias. I still knew Holly well enough to recommend the hot chocolate. (It is really good there, and worth it for those who aren't big on coffee.)

Then we headed over to the Sculpture Garden.

This is the Spoon Bridge, sort of the landmark of Minneapolis. (St Louis has an arch, San Fransisco has a bridge, this is our thing.) I think Holly and I both have almost the same hair as we did 10 years ago. Apparently we have similar fashion tastes too.

You've seen pictures of the sculpture garden on this blog before. You've also seen former Semester at Sea people here and here.

Post marathon slump - part two

2011-11-06T00:08:00.000-05:00

I did okay after the marathon and kept running and working out. Turns out my natural slump is three or four weeks later. And I'm basically okay with it. (I did work pretty hard to get in marathon shape. I've earned a break.) The slump doesn't usually last long. Normally by Thanksgiving, I'm back to running 6 or 7 miles in the morning.

Today, in order to break the slump, Neighbor Mia wanted to take me to a "core class" at her gym. Turns out "core class" means "circuit class" and anyone whose ever been to a circuit class knows that really translates too "this class will kick your butt, even if you can run a marathon". Add on to it, this is a circuit class in a boxing gym. So yeah, I was pretty much dead. It was a very challenging class and a good workout.

It got me thinking about doing a circuit class at my gym. There is one that starts around 6pm on Mondays, before Pilates. That'd be a long workout, but I could do it. Then I saw there's a "water running" class in the pool on Wednesdays and I thought that would be good too.

Mia also wanted to try out Pilates at my gym, so I brought her along. It was actually a really big class today. (This is why we get places early.) It was a nice class, totally different from circuit training, but also a good workout.

I heard from a friend who is in town for some fun at the mall of America. I reminded her that I live very close to the mall so we worked out a time to get together tomorrow.

Then, I caught the cleaning bug. I'd been looking at my shelves for a while, thinking the desk-like shelves really no longer served a purpose and should just go away. For a refresher, I had a 'desk' situation as part of my wire shelving when I was in grad school and had this great old computer. (And by "great old computer" I mean "POS".)

Oh Toshiba... Anyways.

The shelving was just useless and taking up space. Taking apart the shelving requires an engineering degree and My Pooky Bear. But the pieces I wanted to take off were actually easier to get at. (Read - I didn't have to move the television.) So I gave it a go.

Here's another view of the old setup. I have the computer on, and I actually had speakers "mounted" on the wall. (Mounted means hanging on stick-on hooks that will surely rip off paint when removed.)

Here's roughly what the shelving looked like before I started the remodel process. I'd already taken things off the top shelves before realizing I should document this in case I really did need Pooky Bear's help to get stuff back together.

When you see the entire shelving unit up close, it makes sense why I had to remove the two shelves over the television in order to remove those lower, seemingly unrelated shelves on the right. This is why you need an engineering degree for these shelves.

The finished product, before I put everything back on the shelves.

And the truly finished product, complete with guitars, speakers, blankets and pictures.

I cannot believe I took those shelves apart today. That is what we call impulse cleaning. I did some more impulse cleaning and my place looks pretty good.

The Qat Lady and I had originally made plans to have lots and lots of wine at her place tonight. Sadly her school work got in the way and she suggested dinner instead. We wound up at Cafe Biaggio where I'd never been. We had a bottle of wine, some excellent food, and a lovely relaxed evening.

the Post-marathon crash (AKA just need no one else to die today)

2011-11-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

It's been a rough few days.

Saturday I finally admitted to myself that I neither wanted to run nor be on the elliptical. I decided that was fine. After Pilates I did the bike a little and then was done.

Sunday probably not a lot happened because I can't remember it. Good. I needed the break.

Monday all hell broke loose. Here's how:

9am - try to find out if someone is discharging from a hospital today. It's harder than you think it is.
9:45am (that's right, it took me 45 minutes to figure out item number 1) find the missing person. They could be in a hospital, at a nursing home (pick a nursing home, any nursing home), at their own home, or at any other undisclosed location.
10:30am - found her and show up at correct place. While at correct place, find a second client I didn't even know I'd misplaced that one.
11:30am - go into hospital room to see person, hear nurse practitioner say "we need you to come outside and put on a gown and gloves because person has a serious infection we can't identify" ::Raise eyebrows:: Okay Followed by literally saying goodbye to person who is obviously very sick.
1:00pm - arrive at Halloween party in my "I don't do costumes" shirt (thanks Beth!). Five of the ten people at the party are Russian speaking. My first words inside the party "where's the vodka".

You can only the see "I don't do" but the shirt says "I don't do costumes". And I'm smiling because someone got me alcohol!

Tuesday started with wishing Neighbor Steve good luck on his move to Iowa and by "good luck" I mean "happy that you found a great job at a company you're excited about but it really sucks you're moving away from here". That set the tone for the day.
The day ended with me walking into my bosses office and saying "I just need no one else to be dying right now" (because frankly, I am done with losses, just until like Thursday or something, then you can resume your normal schedule).
I tried to cancel Team:Work but the one person who could run was all "but don't you think running will make you feel better?" How dare you make sense and be rational?!? Then I was all "will you do the big hill with me?" because I knew she would. Sometimes, you just need to run up big hills. (And then you get to run down them!)

When I got home I found an old Ladysmith Black Mombazo CD and listened to some great songs that made me feel slightly better. For those of you missing out, here's some of their best work:

Inkanyezi Nezazi (and how impressed are you that I could spell that without looking?). I'm told part of this song was in a Heinz commercial at one time.
The Alphabet Song for anyone my age who watched Sesame Street
N'Kosi Sikeleli Afrika (the South African National Anthem) which is a beautiful national anthem that you should hear at least once.
Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes - with Paul Simon the most recognizable song to most Americans.

Saturday - where blog posts go to die

2011-10-29T22:25:00.000-05:00

I was just reading something by another blogger that Saturday is where blog posts go to die (meaning no one will read what I write today, so I could do whatever I want).

I'll start by telling you how much I have not been running. I'm experiencing the post marathon crash. It's actually okay now that I have started taking Pilates and am back at the gym on the elliptical.

Friday I got my hair cut. It's one of the most relaxing activities ever. My girl does a good scalp massage as part of the process. The stylist with the chair next to my stylist belongs on reality television.

Friday I also learned that I-94 is it's own special kind of hell. Luckily I got on at the edge of the construction zone and went away from it. The westbound traffic though. Wow. It was stopped.

Saturday was more remarkable.

I got up early. Remarkable all on it's own I think.

I went over to St Paul to the River Parkway and Hidden Falls Drive to be a course marshal for the half marathon and cheer on some of my favorite runners! (Nice job to Suraya, Kate, Jen, Yvonne, Beth G, Beth H, Robin and Heather!) I only almost got run over by a car twice. (Does "road closed" mean nothing to you?) Luckily, on the other side of the street the 'course marshal' was one of St Paul's finest and he dealt with angry motorist who were trapped in Hidden Falls Park.

I went to Pilates, where I hadn't been in about two weeks. (Last Saturday I was in Cincinnati and last Monday it was cancelled.) I then looked at the elliptical with loathing and decided to abort that mission. I did about 40 minutes on a bike instead. (This is supposed to be good cross training for runners...)

My Pooky Bear and I went to Ikea for what has to be the fastest shopping trip either one of us ever had there. She got organizers for the office. I got a closet organizer.

To end the evening, I did laundry and hung out with Neighbor Steve. His apartment is empty (this is very sad) because he is moving to Iowa. He was bored in empty apartment and came over to hang out with me while we both did our laundry. We reminisced about how we met. (Come see my bathroom.) Then the day took it's toll on Neighbor Steve and he went to bed at 9pm. (It's ok; his whole apartment got packed up today. And who hasn't fallen asleep at 9pm on a Saturday?)

I ended my evening by adding closet organizer number two and going to town on my closet. I had to pack the summer clothes and unpack the winter clothes. (Not sure if that's a good or bad thing. I do love wool socks and wool sweaters.) I discovered I have an emotional attachment to way too many t-shirts that I don't wear. That's not even counting technical race shirts.

I treated myself to some Stella, so I'm going to open another and enjoy the night.

What the flood?

2011-10-25T16:00:00.000-05:00

Post title is in honor of my favorite almost brother who is trying to stay above water in the capital city of Thailand.

My day was more the R-rated WTF. Here's why:

7:10am Why is my lamp on? Why is there no sunshine? I grudgingly got out of bed and made oatmeal. (Why do I not have enough hazelnut milk for my oatmeal?)

7:50am I headed out to the car to get to the computer training that is "mandatory" and by that we mean "completely redundant".

Hmmm. My power locks aren't working. Moments after that - Oh shit, my whole car isn't working.

Those moments where you think "I'm supposed to know what to do here and it's not that hard, but my brain is apparently in quicksand at the moment" - it was like minutes before I could think "ok, call AAA and request a jump".

Then I was all "Thank you God. I did not want to go to this damn training anyways. At least now I get to stay home and play on my computer for a while.

Phone call to AAA - For some reason the girl couldn't find my memberships so she had to transfer me around? I don't know. When they answer though, they say "AAA roadside assistance, are you in a safe place?" before even asking for your name or membership number. Nice touch.

8:25am or so, AAA-dude pulls up and looks at my battery. Your battery is six years old. You need a new one. AAA-dudes now carry batteries in their trucks and he offered to sell me one and instal it for what I think is a very fair price. Ultimately though, I just had him jump me and I drove straight to my mechanics. (Side note - as I'm re-reading this to check it before I post, that line sounds dirty. I wish my day went that way.)

9-ish I thanked my mechanics profusely for squeezing me in on a Monday morning and headed off to the remaining 2.5 hours of training. (I'd have wished for a longer repair but it would have been more expensive.)

9:30am I rolled into the front "guest" lot at the county which is supposed to be for parking for 120 minutes or less. Damn. Turns out this thing goes for 2.5 hours, not 1.5 more hours. The guy let me in and let me park there anyways. First WIN of the day.

12:30pm (Training went loooong.) I came back and made spring rolls. What is it with people at the office touching my food? It's freaking rice paper. Go away.

12:30:01pm I found out about all the people who'd been admitted to the hospital, kicked out of their assisted living, etc. etc. while I was away. I entertained myself at work for most of the day following up on voice mails, emails, and catching up on some paperwork that's only mildly late. Not time to panic yet.

6-ish it becomes clear that I am going to miss Qat Lady's "receiving hours" for the week. I thought I'd have lots of time but that whole "Liz buys a new battery for her car" thing this morning really messed me up. It also becomes clear I will miss the Qat Lady's apple crisp. Boo!

Right before 7:30pm I roll up at the gym for Pilates. I walk inside to a sign that says "7:30pm Pilates is cancelled". Of course it is. Instead of Apple Crisp, I went to the liquor store ad then hit Kowalski's (always a mistake to go there during a pity party) and got some comfort food.

8pm-ish Come home. The USPS has not delivered my accumulated mail. (This is why you're bankrupt and no one likes you.) Turn on the television - House is preempted for the World Series. Suck it. At least I had time to write my blog while drinking beer and eating pretzels and fancy cheese.

Vacation Saturday - Yo Delta! Where's my boarding pass

2011-10-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

9:41am is when I finally woke up. It was so foggy I decided god was telling me not to run. Win for me! I made Eggs and Goetta and recruited Mom for another day of shopping.

"I'll give you something if you help me install the printer" I refer you to earlier this week when I was asked how drunk I'd need to be to help with this task. (All the way drunk.) I finally succumbed to the parental pressure. It wasn't hard to install but it took a long time. I tried to touch the printer as little as possible. That's mainly to avoid hearing "Elizabeth did that and I don't know what she did". (Not fair when you ask me to install the thing.) My prize was fuzzy fleece pants with flying pigs on them. Whatever.

Marshall's Mom and I were both winners. I got wool socks (worth the trip just for that), workout pants, and a nice pair of black slacks. Mom got turtle necks.

Skyline It's always Skyline time on vacation.

Coldwater Creek - Mom wanted to go to look at pants. We both lost. At least I got her to try on the correct size.

Gap - Mom found the pants she wanted. I already won at the Gap the day before.

Eddie Bauer - Mom could've gotten pants here too but she thought they were too expensive. (Worth every freaking penny.)

Old Navy Mom won big time with some corduroy pants. I lost completely. I shouldn't be allowed in Old Navy without a chaperon. Mom doesn't count.

RUN! I finally felt like taking a run, although I was worried about falling asleep half way through. Shopping for two days is hard work. I did a shorter run than the day before, only 4 miles instead of 6. My parents live in hill country. Luckily, they live at the bottom of a hill so I get to run up at the beginning and down at the end. I love running down hill.

Green Dog Cafe Mom, Dad, Marge and I headed over to dinner. I found this place a long time ago, once I refused to get my parents any more "items' for Christmas, only gift certificates to restaurants. (They'll actually use those.) At first Dad hated it and then they got a liquor license. Now he loves it.

Bridge Mom's favorite thing to do. Ever. Dad and Marge beat Mom and I, only just barely.

Delta - WTF? Sometimes Delta's "online check in" system goes bat shit crazy. Tonight is one of those nights. After not being able to check in on the Delta App at all (it kept trying to check me in for my flight from last Tuesday), I checked in online. Then Delta failed to send the boarding pass to my phone via text message. So I checked in again and asked Delta to send the boarding pass link to my email. (Several hours later haven't seen either one.) So finally (damn, good think I helped install that printer) I checked in again and printed the boarding pass. Thanks Delta, for having all these great computer systems working so wonderfully.

Cincinnati Friday - Run, Shop, Spaghetti!

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

8am or so I woke up and headed out for a run. My parents truly live in hill country. In Minneapolis I'm always all it'd be fun to run the full Flying Pig and then I get here and see the course. I'd have to run my Highland Park hill route twice a week. (Which is possible.) But, yeah, hills.

9:30am or so I got home, after my $%#@ phone failed, only once, during the run. It has to do with the music player and GPS on at the same time I think. Endomondo does not help the situation.
I made myself breakfast and cooked Mom and extra couple pieces of Goetta. (We need protein!)

11:30 or so we headed to Kendwood Mall, the only place in all of Cincinnati with Mac Store. (Now consider myself blessed to have like four of them in driving distance from my house.)
Apple store - "Hi, this is my mom. Please show her what an iPod is and how to use one". I knew she wouldn't buy one today but I wanted her to see what it was like.
Then we started shopping. It took several stores for me to teach Mom the "try it on anyway" game and she played only reluctantly. I had to recruit several salespeople at most of the stores into the game. Their role was "that's not the right size; yes, you really need something smaller".
Talbots - not playing.
The Limited - Starting to play the game. Most helpful salespeople ever! I came away with something cute but Mom didn't get anything.
Eddie Bauer - Finally, a pair of jeans, a cute as hell top and a corduroy jacket for mom. I failed miserably for myself, but look at what me and the sales girl (Wendy, who lived in Minneapolis for six months) helped my mom find. (Yes, I was the extroverted one who talked to salespeople and asked for help. Amanda would have been proud.)
Lunch because by 2pm we were hungry as a hippo. We shared a Chipotle bowl and neither one of us was quite full. Improper nutrition is as bad in shopping as it can be in running. Just FYI.
The Gap - Now we're getting somewhere. Sadly the hem had fallen out of the only pair of pants that fit Mom. She really liked those pants too. I got several cute items there.
Macy's - the only place we both had Gift Certificates for; we both failed miserably. Improper fueling. We didn't eat enough because we were trying to save room for spaghetti.
Banana Republic and White House Black Market - just because Mom liked the khakis at Gap and these were the next two steps up from that store. (Is White House Black Market part of the same company or have I been imagining that all this time?) That was a long way to walk for no pants. Mom is even a size smaller at White House Black Market. She ranged 4 sizes in the different stores, which is usually what I range as well.
Michael's to pick up a birthday present for one of my favorite cousins.

Dinner Time - we went to Kentucky to see some family, play with some little cousins, and have spaghetti dinner. (Something I usually only get a Christmas!) We had a great time. I read to Luke about Beavers (Amanda get your mind out of the gutter.) Then we played with cars and the tickle monster got Luke. (He got me back though.)

Cincinnati - What goes on in my head during vacation

2011-10-24T23:30:00.000-05:00

Tuesday - Airplanes and thunder storms! Oh my!

I've never been to the B Concourse at MSP before. I thought it was make-believe, or just never used.
Hanging out with Alicia, her friend (who is a dude) kept wanting us to make out. (Not helped by a past story about us making out.) Why are two girls making out always such a turn on to guys?

Wednesday - Gym and then Drive to Grandma!

Woke up late, made breakfast, then did crosswords with Dad. What's better?
Sometimes going home is a preview of all the medical maladies I can expect later in life.
Feeling lucky to be hanging out on the couch with Grandma and Dad watching baseball and drinking a beer.
"Here Liz, I saved this paperwork for you".
This bed rocks. I turn over, I'm afraid the bed will too.

Thursday - Grandma on Happy Gas.

"This is what you can look forward to CJ" (Grandma after the cataract surgery, to my dad.)
Chopping sweet potatoes for dinner - I now have a blister on my finger. WTF?
"How many drinks would you have to have to install the printer?" (Mom, to me, after I said I'd had a couple glasses of wine and was probably patient enough to help her install a software program.)
"I am a part of God. I'm as loveable as any damn flower." (Just had to be there.)

Christmas!

2011-10-22T22:14:00.000-05:00

A couple of ideas for Christmas presents for me.

The shorts mentioned in this post. The caption on the picture is hilarious.
Rundies Equally hilarious. Although Cotton? I ask you.

Pilates, Lakes and "Good Luck Steve"

2011-10-15T23:48:00.000-05:00

Saturday is Pilates day. Thanks to marathon training, I mostly got out of the habit of running on Saturdays. (Usually I was done with my weeks miles and saving energy for the Sunday long run.) Pilates in early afternoon almost always seems like a good idea.

At the end of class we saw some protesters walking down Lake Street. I don't know if it was the OccupyMN people mentioned in this article because the bank mentioned in that article is across from my gym. This march seemed more about ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (and Libya?). The marchers were peaceful and with a police escort. The drivers behind the march seemed less than thrilled.

I was fascinated to hear some of the people in my Pilates class think about their youth (yes, they were growing up in the 60') and that this really reminded them of the "people taking to the streets" that happened then.

It was such a gorgeous day that I headed over to the lakes. Originally I was going to do Isles or Calhoun but the protesters walking down the middle of the street had me literally doing all I could to go in a different direction. I wound up at Lake Harriet which was far enough south that the protesters and subsequent traffic backups didn't impact me.

A nice sunny day, always good for a walk. The top picture is hilarious because the place my 'head' falls and the spiky grass reminds me of my actual hair.

I have no idea who's sitting on the dock down there, but it made for a great photo op.

The "walking path" logo looks odd to me. The dude's arms are too long and out of proportion to his short little legs. Just saying.

This is how we roll in Minnesota - don't swim up to a sail boat. The Muskies will bight your fingers off before you get there anyways. It's actually a legitimate instruction at this lake because there are a fair number of sailboats, even today.

Everybody's favorite part of Lake Harriet, the Bandshell. One of my favorite memories of the bandshell is where the Monster Dash Half Marathon finished there last year.

On the way home, I saw this dude on the bike path and then I was all "damn, that's a unicycle". Swear.

I came home and started cleaning like a mad woman. I so rarely get the urge to clean (really clean, not just pick stuff up and wipe surfaces down enough to prevent a bio-hazard) that I almost always follow my instincts when it shows up.

Then we headed out for dinner to wish Neighbor Steve the best at his new job in Iowa. (Happy that you got a great job but will miss having you down the hall.) The best picture of the night came quite by accident.

This wasn't meant to be a horsemanning shot but it almost turned out that way.

I came home and cleaned some more. I may have finally resolved a long standing "too many cords and cables behind my entertainment center" issue. At least it looks much better for now. Maybe Santa will bring me a cable sleeve for Christmas. (Maybe Pooky Bear will just take me to Ikea and get it down with.)

Beer and iPhones - true story

2011-10-15T23:27:00.000-05:00

We're in full swing of what I refer to as "Jewish Holiday Season" for those people not of the tribe. It means our office is closed a couple days a week for about four weeks in a row for people to observe some very important traditions. I myself have been observing the tradition of "laying on the couch and doing nothing", following the theme of "no work is allowed on these days". It's one of the many reasons I love my job.

And what I've really been up to:

Wednesday - the office was open, and I knew it was going to be an insane day that would ultimately end early (when the office closed at 4pm to start the holiday). I did no exercise. (Work was really rough.)

Thursday - I got up and made eggs and bacon for breakfast. Then I did various activities that could all be accomplished while laying on the couch. I got back up around 3:30pm and made spaghetti for my lunch/supper/afternoon-and-evening-meal. I finally got my ass up around 7pm and headed over to the gym. (Why are all these cars still here? It's not January yet.) I hit the elliptical for an hour. When I came home I resumed my position on the couch and was starting to fall asleep when the Qat Lady called (at 11:20pm) and hauled me off the couch, into the shower, and down to the bar. Once you know the reason my company was imperative, it's hilarious that the only flirting that took place the entire night was done by me while Qat Lady was in the bathroom.

Friday - well, obviously I spent the night on Qat Lady's ~~torture rack~~ *ahem* "pull out couch". It took me half of the night and some of that morning to convince my friend that she would not turn into a pumpkin if she drove across the river to Minneapolis to enjoy some corn pancakes.

Qat Lady then wanted to get the new iPhone (who doesn't want the new iPhone?) so we went to Mall of America's Apple Store to get one.

Here we are (flaunting the Apple Store's "no pictures" rule) waiting for the credit card transaction to go through AT&T's network which was understandably blown up by the new phones being released. Like 30 minutes later they just had her buy a gift card so they could complete the transaction later.

I spent much of the rest of yesterday trying to make my phone appear adequate next to the new iPhone. To be clear the best things about my phone are that I don't have to deal with AT&T (thank you T-Mobile), and the native Google Maps app with Turn by Turn directions, etc. built right in. The native Google Maps app I have doesn't come on the iPhone and I use it every day. So I'm not sure if I would get the phone if it were available to T-Mobile. It is pretty tempting. Sight.

Linkfest

2011-10-11T21:29:00.000-05:00

Some of the best things I read on the internet today:

Who hasn't wanted to fight a ticket, just to see if they could? Although I'm not sure that's something I'd blog about publicly afterwards. Nonetheless, way to go for the intellectual exercise.
If this makes sense, you're totally a runner.
If I was a dude, I would want this as a christmas present. For those of you keeping track, the beaker mug, staple free stapler and uber-fancy race vest/hydration pack are on my Christmas Wish List!

Apples!

2011-10-09T18:19:00.001-05:00

Today was apple picking day with my Pooky Bear and the Qat Lady. For our past exploits, see 2006, when I'd just started to loose weight from running; 2007 when we discovered pumpkins; 2009 when I did not take pictures, (an improvement over 2008 when I didn't even write about it?!?); and last year's trip.

This year we had to find a new place because we ran the last orchard out of business. (Notice how every picture, Qat Lady has an apple in her mouth?) Since Pooky Bear and Qat Lady are also both full time students, finding the new orchard fell squarely to me. I found a lovely website called PickYourOwn.org and had a blast looking for orchards around town. I was trying to avoid anything that had an admission fee, or anything that had an overly large petting zoo. (You'd think I'd be worried about small kids but you've never see Qat Lady around goats.) I found one I thought would've been an adventure but apparently it was a little too adventurous (here's a bag, let us know if you have questions, come back before dark) and didn't have apple donuts or a store. (Maybe one year when we're feeling really wild.)

We settled on McDougal's Apple Junction which had a very different, much smaller, in some ways more professional, in some ways more family run, feeling than Sponsel's, our orchard of old. It really is this orchard in these people's back yard. We drove up their driveway, parked on their grass... I thought the orchard was laid out clearly and liked that we didn't have to wait for a tractor to haul us around; we could explore at our own pace.

A view of the orchards from the "observation tower". Yes, I did go up someplace high. I was fine. Here's Qat Lady and I smiling at the top.

They did have a small 'petting area' with a baby cow (Calf? I missed that episode of Sesame Street), miniature goats, and bunnies. Bunnies!

We decided they probably didn't use pesticides, or at least very much, because many of the apples that hadn't been picked had over-ripened and were being devoured by bugs.

The Qat Lady, eating apples. Every time I turned around she was sampling another variety. Her and Pooky Bear liked the sweeter varieties. I liked the tarter, earthier varieties. (Also the best for eating with peanut butter!)

I had to get this picture so I could put it on a postcard for my nephew! (Apparently when I send a post card it's important that I'm in the picture.)

Obligatory "arty" apples shot.

The three of us, posing for the camera while we waited for the tractor. Before we realized we didn't need to wait! This may be the only shot of all three of us wearing shades.

I really liked this picture, with the sky and everything. Full disclosure - Pooky Bear may not have been such a fan, but how can really tell how a photo looks from the 2" screen on the back of a camera?

After the orchard, we headed into "downtown" Hastings and I use the term "downtown" loosely. We had lunch at a cute little cafe and then sat out by the river where an eagle kept flying overhead, but never quite close enough for a really good picture. (My dad would want me to defend this as a Bald Eagle sighting by describing the bird. It was big, had a white head and white tail and did not rock while it was gliding as Turkey Vultures do.)

PS - I still wish my neighbor would turn down her TV!

Take phone running: hilarity ensues

2011-10-09T17:05:00.000-05:00

I use an app on my phone to track my runs. The one I picked out is called endomondo and it's been pretty reliable, although I'd read in the reviews some people having issues with the accuracy of the distance. I'd never had that problem; it's been pretty consistent. Until today.

All hell broke loose around mile 5.5 of my run. For reference, the path I took was basically this one:

See how at no point am I actually running through a lake, or off sidewalks, or through the golf course? Seems about accurate right?

This is what my phone thinks I did today:

It's all good, from home, staying on sidewalks and paths, around the lakes, and then just before mile 6, I am Jesus and can now run on top of the water! I can dodge golf balls as I run across the golf course, and possibly over top of people's houses as well?

I knew something was off when it told me I'd run an 8:00 mile. I wish.

Here's what my phone thinks my lap times are:

These are right through mile 5 (yes, I did run a 10:30 mile, go me!) and I think mile 6 is mostly accurate becuase I was walking some. My phone also thinks I climbed and descended 2500 feet. No wonder I was so exhausted later.

I have no idea what happened, or if it will happen again. Or how to fix it. I think this is going to be mostly trial and error. And a sense of humor.

Marathon Running Songs

2011-10-09T00:24:00.000-05:00

Focusing on the positive from Sunday, (my cheering section comes to mind!), I had a pretty good playlist for myself. I had a good mix of new and old songs, all designed to energize me without giving me a panic attack (I'm looking at you Drumming Song.)

Here's some of my favorites:

S&M - Rihanna. I don't like this video. But seriously, I can't see it when I'm running so who cares?
Burden In My Hand - Soundgarden. Soundgarden is almost always a good idea when running.
Mahiya - Superheavy. Good for long runs, it's got a slightly slower beat so I probably won't use it for my short and fast playlists.
Miracle Worker - Superheavy There's nothing wrong with you that I can't fix. I am a big fan of Joss Stone. And I'm a big fan of Mick Jagger in that pink suit.
Moneygrabber - Fitz and the Tantrums. This is one of those songs I always loved and it took me like a year to remember to find out the name of it. Glad I did!

Yes; it is that pretty here. And that hot.

2011-10-08T23:56:00.000-05:00

Thursday: I did not run as I'd hoped. I spent most of the day in a drug-induced, but pain free, fog. Thanks DayQuil!. I think I went to the gym that night and sat in the hot tub. Who can remember back so far?

Friday I did run. I had a great run with Beth. We were going to do part of the Dreidel Dash course, but then we decided to go longer on Shepherd instead. I felt like I was going to die for most of it, but Beth kept me going at a challenging and fun pace!

The rest of the day, I don't really think I did anything. I'm fairly sure there was a nap. And I had the air conditioner on. In Minnesota. In October. Global warming is for real. That's the temperature in the evening, not even the middle of the day.

Saturday I woke up feeling much better. I realized Qat lady had called me last night, upset that I was asleep and unable to join her on her drinking escapades. Nyquil was so worth it.

I headed to Pilates, quickly becoming one of my favorite Saturday activities. Then I persuaded Qat lady to go for a walk. Something I attempt at least twice a week and succeed at quite rarely. Qat lady amended the plan to include eating at the Birchwood Cafe. Three seed sandwich: awesome! No tomatoes: even better!

Then we took a walk around the Franklin - Lake loop. Nice to put some good mojo on that stretch of pavement, because last time I was there, things were not so good.

Still on the Minneapolis side, before the bridge. The fall colors are wonderful right now. And the leaves are just starting to fall.

The view south from the Franklin Bridge. There were a couple of kayaks almost directly below us. I couldn't take their pictures because I'm afraid of heights and couldn't look straight down.

On the "St Paul" side of the river, although still technically in Minneapolis right before the railroad bridge. On marathon day, it was right before "the wall". Still not funny.

I got an email that my marathon pictures were ready too. Most of them aren't so good, perhaps because I was walking (death march?) during the stretch where the cameras had the best view and most time to snap pictures. Here's a screen shot of the one I liked.

Still up on my toes, right at the very end! (I guess the black sports bra with the white shirt didn't do any harm. Flick your eyes back up there and look, I'll wait.)

Random update on the dilemma with my neighbor and her loud TV: I asked the association to look into it. I think it's gotten a little quieter, or I thought that until 11pm tonight. Bummer.

My current dilemas

2011-10-05T22:11:00.000-05:00

Remembering life post marathon. When there's no stress. (There is stress but it's not the same.)

Current dilemmas:
The neighbor who keeps playing her television too loud. Every freaking night. I know when you're watching. I know when you're home.
It's a dilemma because I hate going up there to tell her to turn it down. And I don't think it's actually that loud, I think it's just coming through the floor. When I stand outside in the hallway (about to knock on her door) I can't hear the TV out there, so it can't be that loud. And she does turn it down when I ask. I could ask more; it's not louder on the nights I do ask than the nights I don't, just more aggravating.
I addressed that dilemma ultimately by going to the association. I have no idea if anything will come of it. I go in spurts of feeling bad, but only when it's quiet upstairs.

To run or not to run. I'm getting the crud that everyone is getting in my office and by crud I mean congestion in my head. Running solves this and Hal said I'm clear for a nice easy run tomorrow. But I am very tired. And did I mention the crud?
Maybe I will take Benadryl and see how I feel tomorrow morning.

What pictures should I post? How about these two?

Yes, that is what the 2011 Marathon Finisher Medal looks like. The leaves have this whole stained glass thing going on. It's a great medal.

Sunrise this morning. It was that dramatic. (And then I got stuck in traffic.)

Long overdue pictures

2011-10-03T20:01:00.000-05:00

I'd wanted to post these pictures since last Sunday but a software issue prevented me from posting any pictures for a while. (Blame Greasemonkey; yeah for Google for having awesome support too).

My people from Ohio will recognize this, not as marijuana, but at a Buckeye. Our state tree (and candy). Buckeyes aren't native to Minnesota but there's a few planted around the lake.

Love the shadow pictures. It was a nice sunny day. And much cooler than it is right now.

I'm sure neighbor Steve could tell me what kind of flower this is. I have no idea but talk about a late bloomer!

Sailboats at Lake Nokomis.

Playing with taking pictures into the sunshine.

More sunshine. Don't know why I had to take pictures; I got enough during the marathon to last a long time.

test 4 - great success!

2011-10-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

test 2

2011-10-02T22:02:00.002-05:00

A marathon completed UGLY is still a marathon FINISHED!

2011-10-02T21:45:00.000-05:00

Race report in pictures:

Current temperature in Minneapolis. (WTF?) I assure you, it was much hotter at 2pm when I finished.

Stats from the race. It was ugly. And ended in the medical tent. (Special thanks goes out here to all the volunteers all the way along the course who kept me hydrated, and the medical personnel at the end who kept me basically healthy.)

Stats from the iPod and Nike+. See all that chaos at the end? That's about how I was feeling. See that blip at mile 6? I have no idea what the heck that was about; I assure you it did not help anything. Hilariously my iPod thinks I ran 29 miles. Not the most screwed up mileage I've seen from my Nike+ system, but getting close.

Just a refresher - this was Twin Cities 2010. (Which didn't end in the medical tent but perhaps should have? Immodium is both awesome and from the devil.)

And this was Amsterdam 2009, my first marathon ever, which involved neither a medical tent nor immodium. My finish time was 5:38:27, down in the left corner.

At this point, a finish is a finish. Big THANK YOU to my friends who came to cheer along the course. It's a really big deal to me that you made the effort; easily the best part of the day. (Beth, Robin, Amanda, Chris, Lindsay, and special guest Yvonne who was a sight for sore eyes/legs/etc at mile 25.)

test

2011-09-26T09:06:00.001-05:00

When you go for a run and feel so fortunate to be alive and running

2011-09-25T13:15:00.000-05:00

I love it when I go out for a run and the moment I step outside I feel so lucky to be heading out for a run, excited about the route, and generally feeling good. I'm sure I've made my feelings about Ft Snelling quite clear. See the running review and the out of town parents review if you need a reminder. Per tradition, my last "long run" before marathon Sunday is always completed at Ft Snelling if possible.

As I was running on the parkway I saw the guy putting up the signs saying "this road closed first Sunday in October" (hell yeah it is!). I also sort of saw the start line for Women Run the Cities. Good luck to my friends who were running the 10-miler!

I may have figured out part of the issue with my phone. (I have a love/hate relationship with Android.) I use Endomondo to track my runs. (I've checked out other apps like RunKeeper and I really like this one.) I use the default "Music" player on my phone for music. For some reason, every once in a while (like every freaking run), DoubleTwist will just open and start playing music. (Excuse me? Did I ask you? Was that the playlist I wanted to hear? WTF?) I finally just uninstalled DoubleTwist. It appears that I can keep the desktop app and be able to sync playlists, even without the app on my phone.

Now I'm having an issue with Blogger (what is the deal today?) where I can't post photos. Did Blogger stop supporting .png files?

After my basically joyous run this morning, that vague sense of dread is sinking in. Less than one week to go!

Taper: Marathon speak for "I do nothing"

2011-09-24T18:29:00.000-05:00

Near as I can tell, the real point of the taper is to make the desire to go for a freaking run at least big enough to mitigate the sense of dread at the start line of a marathon.

I haven't run since Wednesday when I went with Beth. Friday I hit the elliptical and rowing machine and today I did Pilates. Tomorrow is my last 10-miler before race day (which per tradition, will be completed along the Ft Snelling trail).

On tap for the rest of the week - a hill run on Tuesday with Team:Work, and an easy four on Thursday (when I don't have to work because it's a Jewish holiday).

Since I'm not actually doing anything, I came up with some great running songs of varying tempos for you to enjoy!

Maroon 5 - Moves like Jagger. New to my playlist. Although I have a friend who's already started the Facebook push for Maroon 5 to play the superbowl with Mic Jagger as a special guest.
AWOLNation - Sail. Speaking of loud running songs.
INXS - Beautiful Girl. This does not sound like INXS but is a great song.
OneRepublic - All the right moves. I'd never seen the video before. I like the costumes.
Pink - F#ckin Perfect. Also a good song for beginners to learn on the guitar!

Hill Run with Beth

2011-09-21T20:33:00.000-05:00

The conversation went like this:

Me - want to run tomorrow?
Beth - I have to go from the JCC at 7:20 (instead of 5:30am)
Me - Okay.

The last time I ran from the JCC, I learned the wild hill route that starts with the Davern Hill. Yes, that profile is accurate. It's really that steep.

Looking back, I'm glad I didn't know what was coming because it was a really challenging route.

This morning I proposed a different route with a much less dramatic profile. Or so I thought.

I'm all "let's just run the longer, less steep way up the hill and then run back down". And Beth was totally okay with giving it a try. She made me work. We have very different strategies on hills. Hers is a variant on "the faster you run the faster you're done" and mine is "slow down and try not to have a heart attack before the top of the hill".

Beth knows I love running down hill so she picked up the pace on the way down.

I think that may be the first 10-minute mile I've run in my life. Mile 3 was on track to be that fast too but we saw a friend (Other Beth) and stopped to say hi. I was all worried about myself (why is this so hard?) until I got home and looked at how fast Beth had me running.

I had a great time. The bonus was not having to get up at 5am and still being able to run with someone else. Nice.

Half my miles are done. And some good exercise music!

2011-09-18T21:16:00.000-05:00

I had 14 miles on tap for today. I knew I was never going to run all 14 of those miles, based on having a race the day before and how my body is feeling.The rain and generally crappy weather gave me some cover for not running outside at all.

Sadly, there's no other time this week that I can make up the miles. I headed to the gym and the final three-hour elliptical workout of this marathon training season. I'm so over the elliptical. I wound up having a "15 mile" workout, meaning half of my miles for this week got done in one sitting. (Hell yeah I am!) The more important question is how will I entertain myself the rest of the week?

Some of my favorite running songs from this workout:

Pitbull - I know you want me. I refuse to link to the "official" video. And it's nice to read the lyrics and learn Portuguese.
Christina Aguillera - Come on Over. Old school. You can almost see the Disney Channel seeping out of this video.
Lady Gaga - Edge of Glory. As I've said before, Lady Gaga exists to populate my running playlists.
Rod Stewart - Forever Young for the truly old school. This song reminds me of my dad.
James Morrison - Undiscovered. This is one of my favorite songs to play on the guitar. It's slower than I usually like for exercise. But for long workouts it's good to have a few songs that are a slow steady pace.

Bolder Dash 10K

2011-09-17T14:56:00.000-05:00

The Bolder Dash is one of my favorite races (and benefits one of my favorite organizations). It was my first 10K race ever a few years ago. Not long after that race, I started training for my first marathon. (What was I thinking?) In 2009 I ran the 10K again and then walked the 5K with my dad. (Our first race together.) This year, one of the Team:Work people and her husband came out to participate.

The race is at my happy place. I have a whole new respect for track runners who run laps and laps and laps around an oval. This course is two laps around the lake. The hardest part of this race is thinking, "oh, shit, I have to run around this thing again". It makes pacing quite challenging. (I did not use my phone/GPS during the run for pacing assistance because that would be cheating.)

We got on our numbers and headed over to the start line. I saw a bunch of people I knew which was also fun.

I tried oatmeal today as a pre-race breakfast. I think, ultimately, oatmeal would be a great pre-race food but I should've had it about two hours before the race instead of one hour before the starting line.

The race was an adventure in pacing. I set a new PR. My time was 1:06:00 (impressive right, to hit 00 seconds?) which is a 10:38 pace. I couldn't find my time for 2009 but I think it was an 11:00 pace. I knew I was ahead of life this year when I went by the 5K start and people weren't lining up yet.

After I got done I hit up the coffee and had an apple. It was cold. I watched all the mentor/mentee pairs start the race (which is always a blast) and cheered for them. Then the two of us who'd finished walked back along the course to find the last member of Team:Work who is a race walker.

She killed her PR by 4:00 and placed second in her age group. Heck yes you are!

After the race I did laundry, cleaned and then went to lunch with neighbor Steve and had awesome Thai Food. Now I'm sitting on my couch with a basically clean house listening to the dishwasher run.

Fast LONG run and then... nothing

2011-09-15T20:35:00.000-05:00

The awesome part of marathon training is upon me.
Tuesday I had a long run that was loads of fun. I was pissed about something that happened at work so I ran really fast to get the aggravation out. It was a little confidence booster before the marathon to know my pace for that many miles and have it be a strong one.

I took my favorite Ft Snelling route. It's a little over 11 miles and my phone freaked out right before mile 10 so it got most of what happened.

As always, mile 1 is a wonky time because I'm turning my music on, putting my phone away, doing my hair, and so on. Mile 2 is proof that it takes me a while to warm up. Mile 6 - guess where the big hill is. Mile 10 - guess where the stoplight is.

Here's another way to look at my pace. Hilarious how it drops as I was trying to get up that hill. That last blip at the end is the stoplight where I had to wait.

Tuesday was also a Team:Work night. All the runners bailed (and now owe me beer) but both walkers came so we did a nice 3 miles of walking and skipping (which is a power and propulsion exercise).

Wednesday morning I got up and ran with Beth. It was cold. I was slow. We had this hilarious conversation:

So you did a long run yesterday, then 3 miles at night and now you're here!?!
Um. I have to get my miles in so I can rest before Saturday?

So today I obviously did nothing and will do nothing again tomorrow. Saturday is the Bolder Dash. Me and one other person are running the 10K then we'll cheer for the kids in the 5K.

I spent part of today reviewing the participant guide for the marathon. I hate reading about drop out times and medical tents. It makes me nervous. Also, there's a Corral 3 this year for the truly slow (that's me) people. Keeping us at the back didn't work? Whatever.

Tonight - rest.

Tomorrow - carbs before race day!

The Rising - this is such a strange day

2011-09-11T17:51:00.000-05:00

This is a weird day on so many different levels. And this is the only song that really feels like how I want to think about September 11th. The Rising - Bruce Springsteen for those of you reading this on Facebook and not able to see the embedded video.

I woke up at, well, early, planning to do an 11-12 miler around Ft Snelling. I checked the weather (which was my first mistake) and I kept getting more and more confused. Once I saw it was 68* and 80% humidity I was not in a good mood. But then Kare 11 radar had all this activity. WCCO radar had the same activity but not as severe. Weather.com had nothing. I was so confused. And by this point I'd been staring at my phone and computer long enough I was getting too tired to care.

So I went back to bed.

I woke up later and realized that it was, in fact, September 11th. This day is just weird for me becuase I wasn't in the country, (or in any country) when it happened and I wasn't even around televisions that day or for most of the time after. It's like I missed out on this inside story the entire country knows about.

I was on a ship doing a study abroad. Obviously, we got the news but we didn't have satellite television or anything so I was away from the images and news casts everyone here knows so well. On the ship I sent an email home and then got one from my dad basically saying we can't get mad at anybody and we can't hold this against people (because violence is a descending spiral). And then he just told me to be as nice as I could to everyone I met on my journey.

So when we got to Japan the first thing half the boat saw was Hiroshima. It was very sad to be knowing the US was going to go to war soon and be in these places with these living images of how awful war can be. Before the US actually went to war, we got further reminders in China, Singapore and most notably Vietnam. It was sad for me because I'd just spent all this time looking at "hey, this is what war does to countries and people; it didn't make anyone's lives better, it just hurts people" in all these different formats.

I remember finally getting home too. I drove across alligator alley to Ft Meyers with my Mom, Dad, aunt and uncle and I was all "why are there flags on all the cars?". My mom was really mad at me for not understanding. (I still don't get it.) There's a lot about this day I don't get. (If that makes me un-American, deal with it. I'm really one of you.)

After strolling down memory lane, mostly through Facebook posts with people from that trip, I headed to the gym and did a couple hours work on the elliptical. I had my last Roctane packet during this workout, because I knew the consequences wouldn't be too bad here. I still don't like it.

I'm trying to figure out my mileage for the rest of the week. I still want to hit Ft Snelling, maybe Tuesday when the weather cools off. And I'm racing a 10K on Saturday. Which leaves me about 10 miles to spread through the other days of the week and take Thursday and Friday off.

To those who think fall is coming - HA! Yeah, right!

2011-09-10T14:35:00.000-05:00

I finally drug my butt out of bed after 9am this morning. (Guess I'm not meeting anyone for a lakes run...) I had a four miler on tap. At first I was all "yeah, I've gone faster" and then I was all "what is wrong with me?" until I ended up thinking, "oh, hey, it's like 70* and 70% humidity". Fall must sort of be coming because I'm getting the fall allergies (there are unusual side effects) symptoms during my runs. But temperature wise, it's still very much summer. It was almost 90 yesterday and will be about as hot today.

The realizations about temperature impacting my performance was followed by "thank goodness I did my 21-miler last week" because this weather would suck. (Heather: I hope you have a good last long run and I wish you would carry some water with you. Just saying.)

I took the usual four miler route. This route is not flat. I'm trying to remind myself that the ability to ascend hills will suddenly become very useful, like around mile 20 of the marathon. Because otherwise I would've found a different route.

Definitely not breaking any land speed records this morning. It really was hot.

After running I did a little business at Wells Fargo (by "business" I mean "closed my accounts"), got fresh bread at the bakery, and made an awesome breakfast.

About 20 minutes before class started, I realized I could do Pilates at 1pm today. (I missed last Saturday because the floor of the studio was being resurfaced and last Monday for Labor Day) so I dropped what I was doing and headed over.

I'm having two thoughts right now - either that coffee was not decaf, or there was something wrong with those eggs. Just saying. I'm actually more inclined to blame the coffee.

I'm going to lay on the couch for a little while, then my goal is to have my apartment be clean (that's like a perpetually failed goal) and to carb-load for my "long run" of 12 miles tomorrow. (Ft Snelling, here I come!)

Running: Only thing keeping me sane right now

2011-09-08T21:23:00.000-05:00

Last night I drug Team:Work on a new route that was longer than they expected and more challenging than any of us were expecting. (Whatever, we need to get ready for that 10K right?) I had a nice time.

The route: a nice little out and back on Shepard, but it's mostly uphill on the way back, including a steep part when we turn onto Otto. At least one person liked being on the river that long, and I liked the only lights being at Otto and Randolph. I wish St Paul would have mowed the weeds growing up through the cracks on the walking path. They were pretty big.

This tracks my pace for the run. We are still taking some walk breaks, and I run back and forth between the runners and the walkers. See that spike in the yellow line in the middle? That's me hauling butt up some stupid hill from the walkers to runners. I have no idea why I thought that would be good to do.

This morning, I started the day off right running with Beth and a girl I hadn't met before. I think I had rocket fuel for dinner last night. Because I felt like I was running really fast this morning. (That could just be blind optimism.) I realized once that last 20 miler is in, something weird happens to my fitness level. Because I'm never the one feeling fast on a run.

The rest of the day was exhausting. I'm glad I had a run to start it out because it put me in the right frame of mind for the rest of the day.