Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
DNS
Last week was just cray cray!
The new owners closed on our house. We closed on our new house. We packed up our belongings and moved Friday and Saturday. We had until 5:00pm to get out of our house. We left the driveway at 4:56. Holy wow!
Each day I tried to fit in a workout but by Saturday I still hadn't done any running, cross training, or strength workouts. And Sunday morning I was supposed to do a 5K race. After two days of moving I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I was sore, irritable, and super tired. Needless to say, I didn't do the race. I didn't even go and pick up my packet. I slept in and then started to unpack.
I did not do a single workout last week. I felt awful about it but there was nothing I could do. There's always next week.
The new owners closed on our house. We closed on our new house. We packed up our belongings and moved Friday and Saturday. We had until 5:00pm to get out of our house. We left the driveway at 4:56. Holy wow!
Each day I tried to fit in a workout but by Saturday I still hadn't done any running, cross training, or strength workouts. And Sunday morning I was supposed to do a 5K race. After two days of moving I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I was sore, irritable, and super tired. Needless to say, I didn't do the race. I didn't even go and pick up my packet. I slept in and then started to unpack.
I did not do a single workout last week. I felt awful about it but there was nothing I could do. There's always next week.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Columbus Winter Run 2014
My schedule this past week had a one hour hilly run. Wouldn't you know there happened to be a race nearby on a hilly course that was 7.5 miles and would take me about an hour? I consulted with coach and she let me sign up for it. There were instructions, however. First two miles ease into it, next three miles steady, rest of it let 'er rip.
Truth is, I haven't done a whole lot of running outside this winter. I have just become a pussy about the cold weather and snow. I have tons and tons of miles on my treadmill but very, very few outside. Yesterday, of course, was a super cold day. It was snowing and windy and bitterly cold. I had no idea what to wear. I chose tights, a base layer top, a short sleeve shirt, and a light jacket, hat and gloves. When I got to the race site I was freezing. I had worn a puffer vest for before and after the race; I was so cold I actually contemplated wearing the vest for the race.
The race starting downhill, into the wind, on a slippery, snow covered road. I was freezing, but the running felt very comfortable. This is a hilly course (see below) but I was following the plan. I hit my first mile at 8:17, second mile at 8:05, and third mile at 8:10.
{Yes I know, I owe a graphic here. Maybe later today when I get internet at home and can get on my computer.}
Mile 4 had an out and back. This portion was directly into the cold wind. I was working! But I was catching people and cruising right along, building speed. I was able to count that I was in the top 10 women although I had no idea who was running the 15 miler and who was running the 7.5 miler.
Mile 4 - 8:05
Mile 5 was now with our backs to the wind down a flat country road. I felt like I was flying at this point. I caught two or three more women during this point and a couple dudes too.
Mile 5 - 7:39
Mile 6 had a short, steep uphill. I remembered this hill from the last time I ran in this race as a 15 miler. It sucked but this time it didn't seem so bad. Coach has had me doing a lot of hill workouts and they seem to be working.
Mile 6 - 7:54
Finally the last mile and a half and I was mustering all the strength and speed that I could on the long rolling uphill to the finish line. I had my eyes fixated on the two gentleman ahead of me, trying to pull them in.
Mile 7 - 7:55
The last half mile was the long driveway back to the school where the race started. I was right on the heels of a guy at this point and he DID NOT want to be chicked. Yeah I got him anyway, pushing my way to a 7:22 pace for the last half mile.
We stuck around for the awards. I thought maybe I might place in my age group but wasn't sure as it was 10 year age groups and unbeknownst to me, they were only giving out first place in age group. But, first place overall was only 4-1/2 minutes faster than me and the girl who finished ahead of me was in the 19 and under age group. So, I did win my age group and walked away with a $10 gift card to Road Runner Sports.
This is the first race since before I was pregnant that I felt great and felt like I was really racing. I'm not quite to the pace I want to be or was, but I'm getting there and I'm feeling fierce!
The race starting downhill, into the wind, on a slippery, snow covered road. I was freezing, but the running felt very comfortable. This is a hilly course (see below) but I was following the plan. I hit my first mile at 8:17, second mile at 8:05, and third mile at 8:10.
{Yes I know, I owe a graphic here. Maybe later today when I get internet at home and can get on my computer.}
Mile 4 had an out and back. This portion was directly into the cold wind. I was working! But I was catching people and cruising right along, building speed. I was able to count that I was in the top 10 women although I had no idea who was running the 15 miler and who was running the 7.5 miler.
Mile 4 - 8:05
Mile 5 was now with our backs to the wind down a flat country road. I felt like I was flying at this point. I caught two or three more women during this point and a couple dudes too.
Mile 5 - 7:39
Mile 6 had a short, steep uphill. I remembered this hill from the last time I ran in this race as a 15 miler. It sucked but this time it didn't seem so bad. Coach has had me doing a lot of hill workouts and they seem to be working.
Mile 6 - 7:54
Finally the last mile and a half and I was mustering all the strength and speed that I could on the long rolling uphill to the finish line. I had my eyes fixated on the two gentleman ahead of me, trying to pull them in.
Mile 7 - 7:55
The last half mile was the long driveway back to the school where the race started. I was right on the heels of a guy at this point and he DID NOT want to be chicked. Yeah I got him anyway, pushing my way to a 7:22 pace for the last half mile.
We stuck around for the awards. I thought maybe I might place in my age group but wasn't sure as it was 10 year age groups and unbeknownst to me, they were only giving out first place in age group. But, first place overall was only 4-1/2 minutes faster than me and the girl who finished ahead of me was in the 19 and under age group. So, I did win my age group and walked away with a $10 gift card to Road Runner Sports.
This is the first race since before I was pregnant that I felt great and felt like I was really racing. I'm not quite to the pace I want to be or was, but I'm getting there and I'm feeling fierce!
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Power to the People!
One of our local TV stations has the worst newscast. I try not to watch it. I don't think their on-air personality is very professional and they constantly have typos and misspellings. Drives me insane! But I happened to catch the start of the news yesterday and a little surprised to see the reporter standing in my neighborhood.
She was reporting on snow plowing in Columbus, or lack thereof, and some of the neighborhoods that had not yet been done after the nearly foot of snow we received A WEEK AGO!!! I know the reporter; she lives in the same town. She mentioned a friend of hers who lives in our neighborhood had called her, she called the city, and the city had come out that day to plow our neighborhood.
What a bunch of crap! Here was this reporter, standing in the middle of our very snow covered street, saying our streets had been plowed? What kind of reporting was this?! Yes, the city had come out that day with a truck (more like a pickup truck) but it did not have its plow down nor was it spreading any salt or anything.
The reporter also claimed that our homeowner's association was having private snow removal services done. That was absolutely not true.
I was livid.
I immediately sent a message to the local news station. I also went onto Facebook and complained about the state of our neighborhood street, making sure to tag our homeowner's association.
The next day our HOA put out a post on Facebook that there had been another complaint about the snow plowing in our neighborhood (I'm claiming that as my complaint). They had called the city and filed a formal complaint about snow removal. That afternoon the city snow plow was out and it was doing its job. I saw them make at least three passes on the major streets: using both the plow and spreading salt. Unfortunately, after a week of cars on top of the snow it didn't really make a huge difference as it was just tamped down, but at least they did something.
And I feel like my voice was heard. Power to the people!
She was reporting on snow plowing in Columbus, or lack thereof, and some of the neighborhoods that had not yet been done after the nearly foot of snow we received A WEEK AGO!!! I know the reporter; she lives in the same town. She mentioned a friend of hers who lives in our neighborhood had called her, she called the city, and the city had come out that day to plow our neighborhood.
What a bunch of crap! Here was this reporter, standing in the middle of our very snow covered street, saying our streets had been plowed? What kind of reporting was this?! Yes, the city had come out that day with a truck (more like a pickup truck) but it did not have its plow down nor was it spreading any salt or anything.
The reporter also claimed that our homeowner's association was having private snow removal services done. That was absolutely not true.
I was livid.
I immediately sent a message to the local news station. I also went onto Facebook and complained about the state of our neighborhood street, making sure to tag our homeowner's association.
The next day our HOA put out a post on Facebook that there had been another complaint about the snow plowing in our neighborhood (I'm claiming that as my complaint). They had called the city and filed a formal complaint about snow removal. That afternoon the city snow plow was out and it was doing its job. I saw them make at least three passes on the major streets: using both the plow and spreading salt. Unfortunately, after a week of cars on top of the snow it didn't really make a huge difference as it was just tamped down, but at least they did something.
And I feel like my voice was heard. Power to the people!
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Home/Moving Update
Back in November I mentioned we accidentally bought a new house. Purchasing this house was contingent upon selling our current house and the people gave us 45 days to get it done. Now, houses in our neighborhood do sell very quickly but it's winter. And we're having an awful winter. Who'd want to go out in this winter and buy a new house.
Our house went on the market at the beginning of December and we had an offer within four days. The offer was a lowball offer; we countered quite high; and the buyer walked away. We continued to high traffic through the house the whole month of December but people didn't like it for this, that, or the other. Generally it was things like the layout of the house, the small backyard, didn't like where the kitchen was located in the house...all things we could not fix.
We were starting to feel the time crunch and didn't want to miss out on our potential dream house. We dropped the price by $5K and had a full price offer just three days later. Then the fun began. We had inspectors come out to our house four times. They supposedly found a bunch of things wrong with our house but the buyers just wanted money. We countered with a little bit of a lower number and they accepted. The closing time was short: just over 30 days.
Things got moving on our end. We started gathering all our documentation we would need for buying the other house. We found a lender. Closing dates were set, which is next Thursday by the way. And we started packing. Packing packing packing. The basement is full of boxes and there is still so much left to pack and do.
We have utilities to switch over. We have addresses we have to change. We have to schedule a carpet cleaning before we can move as the previous owner had cats and Dave is allergic. We have to hire a specialty mover for our piano and treadmill. We have to rent a truck (thank goodness we're only moving four miles). And we still need to beg friends and family to help us. All of this is going on while we're still trying to maintain normal life while working and having a 10 month old.
In just over a week we will start anew in a house that could be our dream house. The thought of moving scares us both but that house is exactly what we've been looking for: in the right part of town, near the bike trails, close to work, a big yard for the baby and the dog, and the privacy we've been looking for. I can't wait!
Our house went on the market at the beginning of December and we had an offer within four days. The offer was a lowball offer; we countered quite high; and the buyer walked away. We continued to high traffic through the house the whole month of December but people didn't like it for this, that, or the other. Generally it was things like the layout of the house, the small backyard, didn't like where the kitchen was located in the house...all things we could not fix.
We were starting to feel the time crunch and didn't want to miss out on our potential dream house. We dropped the price by $5K and had a full price offer just three days later. Then the fun began. We had inspectors come out to our house four times. They supposedly found a bunch of things wrong with our house but the buyers just wanted money. We countered with a little bit of a lower number and they accepted. The closing time was short: just over 30 days.
Things got moving on our end. We started gathering all our documentation we would need for buying the other house. We found a lender. Closing dates were set, which is next Thursday by the way. And we started packing. Packing packing packing. The basement is full of boxes and there is still so much left to pack and do.
We have utilities to switch over. We have addresses we have to change. We have to schedule a carpet cleaning before we can move as the previous owner had cats and Dave is allergic. We have to hire a specialty mover for our piano and treadmill. We have to rent a truck (thank goodness we're only moving four miles). And we still need to beg friends and family to help us. All of this is going on while we're still trying to maintain normal life while working and having a 10 month old.
In just over a week we will start anew in a house that could be our dream house. The thought of moving scares us both but that house is exactly what we've been looking for: in the right part of town, near the bike trails, close to work, a big yard for the baby and the dog, and the privacy we've been looking for. I can't wait!
Monday, February 10, 2014
Monday's Menu: Worst Edition
With following a new "diet", Dave and I have tried out a lot of new recipes. We have bought some cookbooks, Googled things, and even tried out recipes from Pinterest. We have loved the plantain recipes we have tried and have made some good meat dishes in the crock pot. But the other day we tried a recipe that was just disgusting.
We were having chicken for dinner and I wanted some barbeque sauce for it. If you haven't noticed, all BBQ sauces have sugar and/or honey in them. Big no-nos on the Whole30 diet. So, we found a recipe that seemed simple enough and thought we would try it out. Without giving away the website, here is the recipe:
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
10 tablespoons tomato paste
4 tablespoons shallots, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon coconut oil
I followed the instructions as they were given. I tasted it and it tasted like tomato sauce that someone had spilled orange juice in. So I added some cayenne pepper. Still all I could taste was the orange juice. I threw in some red pepper. Still orange juice. I tried some seasoned salt. I had Dave tried it. He said, "Ew! Tastes like orange juice!"
We threw it away and just ate the chicken without any topping. And it tasted just fine.
We were having chicken for dinner and I wanted some barbeque sauce for it. If you haven't noticed, all BBQ sauces have sugar and/or honey in them. Big no-nos on the Whole30 diet. So, we found a recipe that seemed simple enough and thought we would try it out. Without giving away the website, here is the recipe:
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
10 tablespoons tomato paste
4 tablespoons shallots, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon coconut oil
I followed the instructions as they were given. I tasted it and it tasted like tomato sauce that someone had spilled orange juice in. So I added some cayenne pepper. Still all I could taste was the orange juice. I threw in some red pepper. Still orange juice. I tried some seasoned salt. I had Dave tried it. He said, "Ew! Tastes like orange juice!"
We threw it away and just ate the chicken without any topping. And it tasted just fine.
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Week in Review
Man, I feel like I worked out a ton last week and yet I still missed three workouts and "only" got in about 26 miles of running.
Monday -
Planned: Rest Day
Actual: Made up my long run from the previous day. One hour 15 minutes with 6 x 1 minute at 10K pace. Treadmill, treadmill, treadmill for 8.15 miles.
Tuesday -
Planned: 45 minute run, strength
Actual: 30 minute run on treadmill before Anderson's swim lessons
Wednesday -
Planned: 45 minute run with strides (not allowed to do on treadmill), strength
Actual: 30 minutes on bike trainer (~5.5 miles...Garmin died 3 minutes into workout), 30 minutes of strength
Thursday -
Planned: 30-60 minutes cross training
Actual: Rest day
Friday -
Planned: Treadmill hill workout
Actual: Another rest day
Saturday -
Planned: 25 minute easy run, strength
Actual: Treadmill hill workout from previous day (6.5 miles) and 15 minutes of strength
Sunday -
Planned: Long run
Actual: Long run on treadmill. Yep, didn't do a single run outside this week. Damn winter! There were intervals and hills and whatnot. 8.73 miles.
Totals:
Bike - 5.5 miles
Run - 26.53 miles
Strength - 0.75 hours
Monday -
Planned: Rest Day
Actual: Made up my long run from the previous day. One hour 15 minutes with 6 x 1 minute at 10K pace. Treadmill, treadmill, treadmill for 8.15 miles.
Tuesday -
Planned: 45 minute run, strength
Actual: 30 minute run on treadmill before Anderson's swim lessons
Wednesday -
Planned: 45 minute run with strides (not allowed to do on treadmill), strength
Actual: 30 minutes on bike trainer (~5.5 miles...Garmin died 3 minutes into workout), 30 minutes of strength
Thursday -
Planned: 30-60 minutes cross training
Actual: Rest day
Friday -
Planned: Treadmill hill workout
Actual: Another rest day
Saturday -
Planned: 25 minute easy run, strength
Actual: Treadmill hill workout from previous day (6.5 miles) and 15 minutes of strength
Sunday -
Planned: Long run
Actual: Long run on treadmill. Yep, didn't do a single run outside this week. Damn winter! There were intervals and hills and whatnot. 8.73 miles.
Totals:
Bike - 5.5 miles
Run - 26.53 miles
Strength - 0.75 hours
Saturday, February 08, 2014
Bittersweet
The husband and I have owned a photo booth business since 2008. When we started the business we were only the second photo booth business in town and we quickly built up business. We quickly had two photo booths four other employees and work every single weekend. We were flying high. We made enough money to redesign our booth (designed and built by yours truly) and upgraded to the best equipment. We had and still have the best booth and pictures in the business. We truly stand by that promise. We even encourage couples at bridal shows to go and test out all the booths and we really think they'll come back to us. Most of them do.
Soon everyone owned a photo booth. They were easy to buy over the internet. (And looked like giant tents. Would you want that sitting at your wedding?) Everyone wanted a piece of business and prices dropped. We were not making much money, as evidenced by the fact Dave and I both kept jobs, and we wondered how these other businesses were actually in business. But what we had found out in the wedding industry is that everyone wants a bargain. I was probably asked by 80% of people if I could offer a discount. People wanted cheaper and were willing to sacrifice quality. We decided to go down to just one photo booth and stop having employees besides just the two of us.
For a while, this was great, but we quickly grew tired of working on the weekends in addition to all week long. I began hating the weekends. I, literally, would throw temper tantrums as time grew later on a Saturday and I had to go work yet another wedding. Don't get me wrong, I usually enjoyed myself at the wedding, but I longed to sit at home in my pajamas by 8:00pm.
Late in our pregnancy, I knew I didn't want to do it anymore. We still had lots of events planned for 2013 so obviously the business was going to have to continue after Anderson was born. Our first event was 5 weeks after he was born and it was actually great to get out of the house. But it was tough to work until midnight or later and know that we were going to be woken up two or three times during the night. Plus anything that we scheduled had to be run by my parents for their availability to see if they could watch the baby.
Finally, in October of 2013, I said enough. I started turning down requests and contacted my accountant telling her we would be done as of January 1st, 2014. Yes, we have closed our business officially.
It was a great five years. We have attended 100s of weddings, met cool and powerful people, we have worked with charitable organizations, and we even got to have the MLS cup and championship Columbus Crew team in our booth. We would have loved for this business to go on forever. The reality is, though, that our life was changed when our son came along. We want to spend our weekends with him. We want to be able to say, "hey I want to do a 5K this weekend" and not worry that we will be up until 2:00am working the night before. As I've gotten older I've lost a little bit of competitive spark from my younger years and I just don't want to compete with the other photo booth companies. I just don't think it is worth it.
This decision was bittersweet but I also feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Dave and I can now be normal people, with normal Monday through Friday jobs, and spend our weekends with our family. Thank you thank you thank you for your years of support. We have loved being part of your lives.
Soon everyone owned a photo booth. They were easy to buy over the internet. (And looked like giant tents. Would you want that sitting at your wedding?) Everyone wanted a piece of business and prices dropped. We were not making much money, as evidenced by the fact Dave and I both kept jobs, and we wondered how these other businesses were actually in business. But what we had found out in the wedding industry is that everyone wants a bargain. I was probably asked by 80% of people if I could offer a discount. People wanted cheaper and were willing to sacrifice quality. We decided to go down to just one photo booth and stop having employees besides just the two of us.
For a while, this was great, but we quickly grew tired of working on the weekends in addition to all week long. I began hating the weekends. I, literally, would throw temper tantrums as time grew later on a Saturday and I had to go work yet another wedding. Don't get me wrong, I usually enjoyed myself at the wedding, but I longed to sit at home in my pajamas by 8:00pm.
Late in our pregnancy, I knew I didn't want to do it anymore. We still had lots of events planned for 2013 so obviously the business was going to have to continue after Anderson was born. Our first event was 5 weeks after he was born and it was actually great to get out of the house. But it was tough to work until midnight or later and know that we were going to be woken up two or three times during the night. Plus anything that we scheduled had to be run by my parents for their availability to see if they could watch the baby.
Finally, in October of 2013, I said enough. I started turning down requests and contacted my accountant telling her we would be done as of January 1st, 2014. Yes, we have closed our business officially.
It was a great five years. We have attended 100s of weddings, met cool and powerful people, we have worked with charitable organizations, and we even got to have the MLS cup and championship Columbus Crew team in our booth. We would have loved for this business to go on forever. The reality is, though, that our life was changed when our son came along. We want to spend our weekends with him. We want to be able to say, "hey I want to do a 5K this weekend" and not worry that we will be up until 2:00am working the night before. As I've gotten older I've lost a little bit of competitive spark from my younger years and I just don't want to compete with the other photo booth companies. I just don't think it is worth it.
This decision was bittersweet but I also feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Dave and I can now be normal people, with normal Monday through Friday jobs, and spend our weekends with our family. Thank you thank you thank you for your years of support. We have loved being part of your lives.
Friday, February 07, 2014
Thursday, February 06, 2014
Operation: BAMF!
One of my biggest worries before I got pregnant was totally selfish...would I be able to lose the weight and get back to the size and shape that I was? I was happy that I didn't gain that much weight during pregnancy (30-35) pounds and did not get any stretch marks. I was ecstatic that I was able to fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes just a few weeks after having Anderson. But I've had a hard taken off the last 10ish pounds and my body is not the same. I've got love handles and my thighs are bigger now and rub together when I run. I didn't get to breast feed which magically drops weight and makes people faster and seriously, I love food. Bad food.
In the last few weeks, though, I've gotten my act together. I was inspired by Sonja on her first Whole30 quest. I started doing some reading, found recipes, and tried it myself. I quickly failed, though. And then failed again and again. A goal of 30 days without alcohol, sugar, grains, dairy, legumes, etc. is just too big of a goal for me (us) while we were traveling and moving (more on that in another post). So Dave and I have started basically following the Whole30 idea for about two meals a day and then relaxing the rules yet eating something nutritious for the third meal. It's working too. In the last two weeks I've dropped three pounds and I noticed my abs again.
I'm also trying to be better about sticking to my training plans and doing ALL workouts. Each workout I feel stronger and faster. Hopefully by the spring/summer everything will come together and I'll be back to one badass chick!
In the last few weeks, though, I've gotten my act together. I was inspired by Sonja on her first Whole30 quest. I started doing some reading, found recipes, and tried it myself. I quickly failed, though. And then failed again and again. A goal of 30 days without alcohol, sugar, grains, dairy, legumes, etc. is just too big of a goal for me (us) while we were traveling and moving (more on that in another post). So Dave and I have started basically following the Whole30 idea for about two meals a day and then relaxing the rules yet eating something nutritious for the third meal. It's working too. In the last two weeks I've dropped three pounds and I noticed my abs again.
I'm also trying to be better about sticking to my training plans and doing ALL workouts. Each workout I feel stronger and faster. Hopefully by the spring/summer everything will come together and I'll be back to one badass chick!
Saturday, February 01, 2014
Groundhog Run Race Photos
I found some official race photos from last weekend where I didn't look like complete death! Here's two of them I borrowed from the website.
Looking sporty. Starting to look fit. Still have some work to do.
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