The Big Costume Reveal

Halloween (at least the party part of Halloween) has come and gone.  Even the people who were out laaaate last night were slinking home by the time we drove home from church at noon.  So what was my Halloween costume?

Was I a sexy Chilean miner?

Nope- that's not a costume- that's what I wore for my long run (minus the snow shovel).

We were hipsters!

Much too cool for Halloween and/or birthday parties.  Or the Gator game yesterday... yeesh.

I'm excited to check out everyone's costume and the results from the Haunted Hustle yesterday.  Have a good Sunday, all.

Wooooooooo! Happy Pre-Halloween

First off, I'm happy that the wind has finally died down around here!  I didn't get blown into Lake Mendota (for the record - see right for my only experience in/on Lake Mendota [yes, in Madison]).

I got in easy runs Tuesday - Thursday mornings and hit the gym today.  It's finally started to turn cold; this was the first morning I had to deal with ice on the car so I could drive 

Going to the gym ended up being a great decision (I almost went yesterday afternoon and ran this morning) because the ROTC was there playing basketball dressed in costume.  If only they'd been there on Monday... my treadmill run would have been a lot more interesting if I'd been able to watch The Burger King dunk on Captain Jack Sparrow and the ketchup bottle get subbed out by a female Aaron Rodgers after he fouled the cowboy.

Way creepy.  Is is beard shiny or is he drooling?

On another sanguine topic, I gave blood on Wednesday for the first time in awhile.  I've been hesitant to do it because I was afraid it would interfere with my ability to train, but actually I had no problems.  I know a lot of people can't donate for various reasons, but since I don't have more than a healthy fear of being stabbed with a needle or bleeding out, I think it's good for me to give blood regularly.  In fact, the worst part of the whole process for me is getting my finger pricked to do the iron test (which was 14.8- Woohoo! go leafy greens!).  

I laughed when the blood donation lady told me my blood pressure and pulse (102/68 and 60, respectively) because they were so high compared to normal- all because I was anticipating a little finger prick that didn't even hurt.

However, the most exciting thing that happened today is that I wore my Halloween costume to work.  So far it's been a hit.  I took a couple of pictures, but I'm not giving it away until after we go to our Halloween costume party on Saturday night.  Plus Daniel's costume goes along with mine, and I think it will be better to have the full on Chelsea and Daniel Halloween Costume Experience all at once.

Anything fun planned for your Halloween?  Woooooooooo!

Blown away

It is super crazy windy and rainy here.  Yesterday morning I woke up to torrential rain and thunder.  I hoped that it would end by the time I started my run, but alas, it was not to be.  I went back and forth about treadmilling it vs toughing it out outside (I mean, if I say I want to train through the winter, I can't be afraid of a little wind and rain, right?).

After checking the weather channel and seeing that we were under both a tornado and high wind warning I decided that running indoors was on the smart side of things rather than the wimpy side.

It would have been super convenient to run on *our* treadmill because that's what it's for, but after having two downstairs neighbors who had no problem with it, our latest neighbors finally complained.  At 3pm on a Saturday.  So needless to say I was concerned about using it at 5:30am on a Tuesday.  I think part of the problem is that there are a lot of people who live in that apartment (not sure how many but at least 3) and at least some of them sleep in the living room, which is right under our living room and the treadmill.  I'm sure I'll chance it sometime later this year, but truthfully we had horrible upstairs neighbors in Albuquerque, and I don't want to be them.

So off I went to the gym.  No AC.  No TV.  Just me and the MP3 player that got fixated on bluegrass, Bela Fleck, and Weird Al.  Not the most fun run ever, but I made it through 6.5 miles in about an hour. 

On the way home I heard on the radio that the weather we were having was the same weather that caused the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (yes, this was a real thing).  At that point I felt 100% justified in running on the 'mill as I did not want to be sunk in Lake Mendota.

It's windy again today but not so bad so I'm planning to hit the roads.  I'm giving blood today (if my finger is metallic enough, sometimes that's a problem) and I'm not sure if I'll run tomorrow or not. 

Well, that's what passes for excitement around here.  Have a good Wednesday, all!

Fall 15k Race Report

I guess I'll start my race report with my run yesterday.  I slept in until 6am, and then went out for an easy 5mi in drizzling rain.  Since this wasn't an A race, I didn't try to taper, but on the other hand, I didn't want to leave myself feeling sluggish this morning.  Otherwise Saturday was about chores, although I did go to a free yin yoga class at the local studio which was having an open house.  


Yin is my favorite kind of yoga because it doesn't require you to have any skill or flexibility whatsoever.  You just flop into poses for a long time and hang out until something starts to stretch.  Some people find it boring, but I think it's awesome.  Yoga is number one on my backup list of other things to be obsessed with if I ever have to quit running.

This is a picture of either 1) Someone doing yin yoga or 2) The beginning of this week's CSI Miami where the prima ballerina is found murdered backstage before the opening night of Swan Lake.


This morning I got up and it was gross and wet again.  I drove out to the east part of town to Warner Park for the race.  It was a decidedly low-key affair.  No timing chips.  Most people hadn't pre-registered.  I hung out with Kerri and some of her fellow TNT-ers until we were sent out into the rain to wait for the race to start.  No one knew where to line up or which direction to face, but someone came over and got us generally in order.  


The race started a little late because of all the same-day registrations, but it didn't matter too much.  Again there was no timing chip or mat, and some people seeded themselves... inappropriately, but the first part of the course was open enough to pass people.  There were tons of puddles and my shoes got totally soaked in the first few minutes.  After a short run through a parking lot we ran onto a sidewalk along a street.  This was kind of pain because it was hard to pass people and because you had to do a lot of puddle jumping because so much water was pooling at the end of the sidewalks.  Still my first mile times were a respectable 8:06 and 8:00.


The third mile went back into a neighborhood.  I admit to not paying attention to the scenery.  I was more concerned about fording the mini-rivers and not tripping, etc.  It started raining pretty hard at about this point.  The course had a few small hills here.  I finished mile 3 in 8:03.  We passed the relay trade-off and I saw Kerri and the TNTers again.


Miles 4-6 were hillier.  This was the "hardest" part of the course although I'd say the course was just hilly enough to make things interesting.  There were some decently tough uphills but then they were balanced out by long downhills where you could recover.  My next three mile times were 8:25, 8:10 and 8:20.


At mile 6.2 we passed the relay trade off again.  I was still feeling really good, like I was in rhythm and was saving up energy to speed up in the last mile.  Mile times for the last 3.3 were 8:07, 8:43 (I don't remember this being hilly, but I guess it was) and 7:55 + 1:50 for the .3.  I was able to speed up during the last mile, and I actually got raced by another woman in the chute.  I pulled ahead of her in the last stretch but she sort of snuck in in front of me at the end.  Which was kind of annoying that she beat me by 1 second, but on the other hand, her being there made me push myself through the end in a way I wouldn't have otherwise.  I yacked a little bit at the end, and I dedicated it to MM. 


My overall time was 1:15:42, for an 8:08 average pace.  Pretty good for me for a "non-goal" race.  Other than being really wet and really cold, I didn't feel too beat up immediately after the race.  I got kind of nauseous again after lunch, though, and dosed up on my favorite no-fail anti-nausea treatment.

    
Oh yeah.  Not sure what I'll do exercise-wise tomorrow.  I don't feel too tired right now, but I might have better workouts the rest of the week if I take tomorrow off from at least running.  I'm looking forward to seeing the age group results when those finally come out.  Next up, the Girls on the Run 5k in November.  
   

In the Gloaming

5 points for anyone who remembers that song from middle school band.  I don't actually have any idea what "gloaming" means, but I imagine it's something like this

And that's what my runs have been like lately.  Truthfully most of the routes I run are pretty well lit, but there are a few parts as I've said before that are DARK.  Even that was okay until my headlamp burned out yesterday.  I'd like to think the third mile of my tempo run would have been faster if I could have seen anything below my waist.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a new battery or bulb or whatever I need this weekend, but it will be nice when daylight savings time is over and I can get a little sun before I'm through.

In addition to fixing my headlamp, I have decided to get one of these guys:

(This is what Fashion Friday amounts to on my blog.)   After almost getting hit by the bike and really really really not wanting to get hit by a car, I think it's a good idea to add some neon green light to my life.  Hot stuff.

Speaking of fashion, it's been pretty chilly in the mornings, and it seems like I have to escalate what I'm wearing every day so I don't turn into a Popsicle on  my bike ride to work.  First it was just a light jacket, then a jacket and light mittens, then a heavier jacket and light mittens, then a heavier jacket, heavier mittens and an ear warmer.  Today has been the coldest day thus far (it's 29 right now) and I had to add a scarf to the previous ensemble.  Ever had really cold wind blow down your shirt while riding your bike?  Not fun.  And to think in a few months 29 is going to feel tropical...

But the sun is shining.  It's supposed to get up into the 60s this afternoon (and then I have to cram all my warm stuff in my backpack, ugh).  And it's Friday (woot)!  Any exciting plans for the weekend?

If you can't blind them with your brilliance...

be like Calvin here:

(Credit: Bill Watterson, of course)

I spent the better part of the work day yesterday trying to turn the statement, "I'd like to go to Conference X because I've been working on some cool stuff this year, and I wouldn't mind presenting it 5 minutes away from the beach" into a four section grant proposal about why the university should fork over some $$$ to help us pay for it.  Fortunately the BS machine wasn't totally out of gas, and I managed to crank out some answers that I can revise today.

It was absolutely beautiful out yesterday afternoon but kind of chilly this morning.  Not for running- I was fine in a long sleeved shirt, shorts, and mittens, but I was pretty cold riding my bike in to work in the morning.  I definitely could have used some heavier mittens and something to go over my ears.  One of downsides of not getting on the computer before work is that I didn't know it was only 39.

Running has been really good.  Yesterday I did an easy 8, and the day before I did 7.5 with 2x(3x800) and all the interval paces (even the first, which is always slow) were sub-8 min/mile.  I'll be curious to see how I do at the 15k this weekend because I feel like I'm in pretty good shape.  However, I know nothing about the course so I'm not going to put any time goals out there.

And with that, I'm out the door! 

 

Meeting the neighbors

I guess it's the "I-world" we live in, but we don't know our neighbors that well.  We recognize them enough to say "hi", but we don't really hang out.  That said, because this time of year most of us have our windows open and because we share laundry facilities, we are definitely aware of our neighbors.

This afternoon I was searing some chicken that will go in the crock pot for chicken and dumplings (don't you hate crock pot recipes that you have to cook before they cook all afternoon in the crock pot?).  There was some smoke coming off the pan, and it set off the smoke alarms.  We set of the smoke alarm... oh... twice a week cooking dinner so I know that with this type, once they go off, they go off for a predetermined time and you can't fan them or press a reset button to get them to stop.  I had the windows open, but I kept the door closed because I didn't want to irritate our neighbors too much.

Now before you think I'm a truly awful cook,   a big part of the reason the smoke alarm goes off all the time has to do with a design flaw in our kitchen.

The stove (lower right), which makes the smoke is not situated beneath the vent (upper left), which is supposed to make the smoke go away.  Assuming that the vent actually works (it makes a noise, but I've never attempted to find out if it actually takes in air), a lot of smoke fills the room before it gets to the vent.

So I was merrily cooking along, listening to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, ignoring the smoke alarm when I hear a knock on the door.  I opened it to see my neighbor, asking if everything is alright.  I turn back to the room and see it is filled with smoke.   A lot of smoke.  I explain the situation.  He tries to reset the smoke alarms (which as I've said before doesn't work).  I open a few more windows and leave the door open until the alarms finally go off.

While I do appreciate that my neighbors care enough not to let us die a fiery death, I was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing.  The neighbor sounded very suspicious of the idea that I should be cooking anything.  (On the other hand, maybe he should be embarrassed that I know he was playing Magic, The Gathering for hours yesterday afternoon.  Open windows; noise carries).

On an only slightly related note, sometimes bad things can actually be beneficial.  Yesterday afternoon a package of chicken (or something) leaked on me and some of my groceries while I was checking out at the grocery store.  Because I was Zen about it (and believe me, I need all the positive reinforcement I can get in this area), the checkout guy gave me a free bouquet of flowers!

Despite all the commotion, I still think dinner is going to taste good.  I'll have a long afternoon waiting for it considering whole apartment smells like chicken nuggets!

Have a good Sunday, all.