Thursday Thoughts

My brain is tired, and stuff is rumbling around in a very random fashion. I figured this is a good place to spew and make room.

1. I had a terrible migraine yesterday. Sometimes running helps, sometimes not. I tried to run. Epic fail! Almost crawled home after less than a mile. Not awesome.

2. It is staying light later! Which means I ran run some evenings with A. So great. She is speedy, and I need to work harder to be faster.

something tells me the didn't go right to bed

3. I really dislike doctors and dentists. They are necessary, but freak me out. So, I have been procrastinating finding a new doctor and dentist since we moved. Bad!

4. I am feeling burnt out on my DVDs and crosstraining. I need some new ideas!

5. When I do a workout DVD my 5 year old does it too, and tells me it's too easy. Add more! Sometimes I am annoyed, most often amused.

6. Cleaning house should count as crosstraining. Especially all the picking up, over and over and over. It's like core work, right?

7. My eating habits have been weird, and not in a good way. Munching and not eating real meals. I'm not sure why. I need to keep a food diary again.

8. Fitness magazine seems much more about looking pretty during/after exercise then actually excerising. But sometimes they have good workouts.

9. I am dreaming of being somewhere warm with no snow or wind!

10. I have been having runner's tummy troubles after long runs again. Not sure what to do about that. Any ideas? I have tried doing watered down gatorade instead of water as fuel, and eating something salty when I get home. I don't know.

I am still working on finding my living room floor. It's hard to do core work if there isn't enough space to lay down! Happy Thursday!

Saturday's 10 miler

Winter weather has made a comeback around here, unfortunately. I had to get friendly with the YMCA treadmills again. Saturday's forecast was for cold. I had not gotten to run with my buddy A for almost 3 weeks because of traveling, (first her, then me). We were going to run together, not matter how cold! And because of the cold, we didn't really know how long we would run.

I got up Saturday morning and checked the temp first thing. It was -8. Yuck! The plan was to wait until around noon, hoping it would warm up. My husband got a good laugh out of how many times I checked the hourly weather, texting A all the while. Finally we decided on 1pm, hoping for the most sun. It had (thankfully) warmed up to 18 degrees. Not warm by any means, but better than -8!

We bundled up, and headed for the trail still deciding how far we would venture. We decided to run downtown, thinking it was about 4 miles. If we were cold when we got there, we could get a coffee before heading back.

It was actually 4.87 miles to the coffee shop, and by then we were reasonably warm. The thought of having a latte in my stomach for the 5 miles home did not appeal. A agreed with me, so we went into the store next door. I still haven't explored much of downtown, so the store was new to me. They had some cute stuff! So there we are, in our running clothes, the icicles melting off our eyelashes, shopping. The first thing I pulled that I liked was an $80 skirt! Oops, not my price range! A found a cute basket on clearance, and I found another skirt on clearance I wanted to try on. We asked the owner to hold them until we ran home and came back. She laughed and said she'd be there.

The run home was colder than ever, the downside of stopping! The wind had picked up a bit and made the last mile seem to take forever! We got to my house, I ran in to change and off we went. Coffee and shopping after 10 miles! A great way to spend a Saturday in my book. My husband said he's not so sure about us running downtown if we're going to shop while we're at it!

ABC's of Me

A) Age: 29 (for another few months, the big 3-0 in May!)
B) Bed Size: Queen
C) Chore I hate: Anything in the kitchen. Dishes especially.
D) Dogs: No, sometimes I think I want one-but too much work
E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Coffee! and food immediately after, I wake up starving
F) Favorite Color: Blue and Purple. It really depends on my mood
G) Gold or Silver: White Gold or Platinum. Yellow gold looks terrible on my skin.
H) Height: 5'10"
I) Instruments you play: Piano, clarinet, violin, trumpet. I wanted to be a music major once upon a time
J) Job title: Mom, Wife, Dance Teacher
K) Kids: 3 ages 7, 5, 3 1/2 (boy, girl, girl) Never a dull moment in this house!
L) Live: Klamath Falls, Oregon
M) Mom's Name: Jeri Lee
N) Nicknames: Kase, Space-Kase, Spacey-Kasey (seeing a theme here?), and of course MOM!
O) Overnight Hospital Stays: a night or two for each kid, 2 weeks in ICU after baby #3 with major complications. Not fun!
P) Pet Peeve: People who drive 5 under the speed limit, and general stupidity
Q) Quote from a Movie: ooh, tough pick. We talk in movie quotes around here. "I'm getting the pig!!!" (from the movie Red-highly recommend if you like action movies)
R) Right or Left Handed: Right mostly. I can use either for most things
S) Siblings: Older sister, older brother, two younger half-siblings
T) Time you wake up: right now, around 7am.
U) Underwear: Hipsters
V) Vegetable you Dislike: Mushrooms, Lima Beans
W) What makes you run late: My kids, and my husband. I hate being late! The rest of my family has no sense of urgency
X) X-rays You've had: shin, knees, ankle, elbow, wrist, head and spine-okay what haven't I?
Y) Yummy food you make: I am an awesome baker-cakes, cookies, you name it. Real food cooking, I make a great homemade mac and cheese.
Z) Zoo Favorite Animal: Big cats are my favorites, Leopards, Lions, etc

There you have it!

New Running Buddy!

On Sunday afternoon, I got to meet up with my new running buddy, Amber. She knows the area a lot better than I do, so she gave me directions on how to get to a sports complex in town that has trails around it. Fun!

Winter has really hit early here, which I guess isn't all that uncommon. She had thought that the trail would be packed down by cross country skiers, but it was still close to a foot of loose snow. Time for plan B!

The parking lot had been plowed, so we did loops around the roads to the different parking areas. It worked out surprisingly well, one loop was 1.4 miles. It is so great getting to run with someone new, and hear about their running journey. Everyone starts for different reasons, and I love hearing about races! Running with a local was awesome because she was able to give me insight into all the races that are in the area, including one in that same park in just a few weeks. There is a race almost once a month, most are around the 5k distance. Not my favorite, but it is a good opportunity to get better! After an hour of great conversation, we finished with just over 7 miles.

Hills, oh my. The HILLS! This area is HILLY added to the fact I am not used to the altitude. Moving from 1000ft to 4500ft didn't seem like a big deal, but I feel it on those hills. The good news, hills make you a stronger runner, and I have no excuse to avoid them!

The kids are adjusting to the area, although they are already lamenting that it is going to snow everyday FOREVER! They have seen more snow in the last 3 weeks than probably the last 3 years combined.

I am working on getting more comfortable on the treadmill. Covering the display with a shirt helps me not stare at it, but it is still hard to get into a rhythm. If winter continues this way, I will be using the treadmill quite a bit!

Turkey Trot

I was thrilled to find a local running club. I have been struggling through my afternoon runs, and am missing training for something. Mostly I am missing having contact with people other than my children! Cold+Snow+Wind for a week=wild children that are literally climbing the walls!

Today there was a Guess your Time Turkey Trot 5k. I know I am not in fast 5k shape, since I can't remember the last time I did speed work of any kind. Not to mention, I am still getting used to this whole altitude thing. I thought I would go with a conservative 28:00. Then I thought, taking the weather into account, I'd better make that 30:00. This morning, we woke up to 4 new inches of snow, and it was still coming down HARD. Okay, I'll reevaluate the time goal when we get there.

My husband decided to run the race too, which was great! I did ask if he wanted me to pace him and stay with him, or run my own race. He knows me well, and told me to do my own thing. :)

We arrived on time to register, and there were very few people. Everyone was laughing and joking about the conditions. So thankful to have found a fun group to run with! It was still snowing hard, and my feet were already cold.

A snowplow had plowed the road we were to run on, but it had scrapped it down to ice. It was going to be interesting! The original course plan was to go up a trail, but it was too snowy and slick. Instead, we did three laps around the park on the road. Up a big hill, around, down a big hill, around to the beginning. The road was solid ice with a thin layer of snow on it. I decided to make my time guess even slower, not sure what pace I could keep on the slick road. I finally decided on 34:00

It was very relaxed-there were only 9 of us who braved the weather. The race director shouted "go", and we were off. And sliding. Whoa! Sticking to the edge of the road wasn't too bad, but uneven. Coming down the hill I kept slipping and sliding. I was afraid I would fall and hurt myself!

We slipped and slid our way around the course, but it was a blast. The snow was still falling which made the park just beautiful. I realized I was on the last part of my last lap before I knew it. I wasn't ready to stop! Into the finish line, the few that finished ahead all cheering. Finish time, 30:11. Oops. I guess I should have gone back to my original guess. Oh well! Hubby finished in 35:00 or so, which was great! He only had to walk a few times, and did very well.

Afterwards they offered hot chocolate and cider, or water. Very relaxed and fun group. Great to know that they have races about once a month! I didn't feel nearly done running, (I clearly hadn't raced hard enough), so I told my husband to go ahead, and I ran to the house where our kids were staying during the race. It added almost 2 miles I think. There is something so peaceful about running in the snow, even though it is hard work!

How do you Survive the Treadmill?

It is -14 this morning. This is ridiculous! I am thinking this winter could equal a lot of quality time on the treadmill. I went to the YMCA yesterday and got a family membership so we all have somewhere to get our wiggles out, (as my kids put it), when it is cold out. They even have a Zumba class for kids starting at age 4. Funny!

So yesterday was my first treadmill run in a long while. The YMCA is the economical choice, and their facilities are functional without a lot of extras. I have the hardest time getting into a rhythm on a treadmill. I don't know what it is about it, a pace that should be easy makes me tired. There is only one TV in the room, and it is directly above the treadmills. In other words, if you want to watch it, be prepared to look straight up and hope you don't fall off the 'mill in the process. There is a window, but a parking lot is not the most distracting thing to watch. I have my music, but for some reason that isn't enough.

Next issue; It is too cold to run outside, (obviously), but does the gym have to be so HOT? I mean 70++*!!! 10 minutes into my run I felt like I was dying for lack of air. There was one fan in the room, and of course it is in front of the ellipticals (who also have a great view of the TV). Why do I get the feeling they are used more than the treadmills? Hmmm. Do you get used to the lack of air? As nice as it feels to wear shorts and a tank, I would still like to feel like I can breathe!

Ideas? Suggestions? If this week is any indication, it could be a long winter!
What do you do to make it on the treadmill?

I'm Alive!

Hello, long lost blog. It has been a very long time. I somewhat doubt I still have any followers after my long hiatus, but time to start my rambling once again.

So, here's a quick recap. We MOVED! Whoa, crazy. I am now an Oregonian, and am finding that to be very weird. What do you mean, I can't pump my own gas? Okay, now that it's winter, that isn't such a hardship I admit.

Moving was a whirlwind of crazy. We literally had two weeks to get our stuff packed and out of our house. Which meant, we had to find a rental sight unseen on the computer. To add to the crazy, my Grandpa passed away the night before we were packing the truck. Whoa. Okay, I can deal with this. My hubby drove the Uhaul down November 1st, and the kids and I waited a few extra days to attend the memorial.

We moved in to a nice house in a neighborhood we like, (here comes a giant...)BUT, the house smells like DOG PEE!! ugh. Apparently my husband has no sense of smell whatsoever, since the smell about knocked me over coming in the door. The rental agency has treated the carpets twice, and it still reeks. Gross! I am hesitating to really make this "home" until that is sorted out.

Okay, moving on to running. What's that? Oh yes, RUNNING! That thing I like to do. Okay, right now, I don't like it so much. It is cold, and I am having to run in the afternoons now which is not my preference. Hubby's new job has a great schedule, starting work at 6am, and getting done at 3:30. So great to have him home in the afternoons! But it does mean running in the mornings isn't a workable option unless I leave at 4:30am. Um, yeah. So afternoons it is. How do you afternoon runners do it? I am tired by that time of the day, and my motivation is nonexistant.

Things I have learned running here:

• there are no street lights. If I am gone past 4:30pm, be prepared to trip over everything in the dark. the sidewalks are not great
• cars do not move over for you AT ALL
• there are not street signs on all the intersections, so don't assume you can find your way home reading the signs
• there is a paved trail through town Wohoo! downside, it is completely straight, with nothing to look at
• running the trail, be prepared to stop at every intersection it crosses

So, I have been running 3-5 miles, 3-4x a week. Not great, but I am working on it. I am thinking it might be a treadmill kind of winter by evidence of all the snow on the ground, and more importantly, the high for tomorrow is 14 degrees. I guess it's time to embrace the gym!

The good news, there is a local running group! They are doing a Turkey Trot on Saturday. Totally stoked for that. It sounds like they do a short race about once a month. Hoping to meet some fellow runners, and hopefully a running buddy or two for long runs!