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By kilax, August 12, 2018 2:31 pm

Highlight of the Week: Getting to run so much while on work travel.

Monday | August 6, 2018: 5 m run + 5 m run
Loc: Jeffersonville to Louisville and back, Temp: 75°/73°, Time: 48:58, Pace: 9:47 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, sad one pedestrian bridge was closed
Loc: Jeffersonville to Louisville and back, Temp: 86°/84°, Time: 50:31, Pace: 10:05 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: full from dinner, but okay!
Tuesday | August 7, 2018: 3 m run
Loc: Ohio River Greenway, Temp: 75°/76°, Time: 30:43, Pace: 10:13 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: tired at first, then fine
Wednesday | August 8, 2018: rest
Thursday | August 9, 2018: 4 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 70°/71°, Time: 37:41, Pace: 9:25 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, running in the rain
Friday | August 10, 2018: teaching strength class + 1,176 yd swim + 7.5 m run
Strength: BOSU and med balls, Felt: good, hot
Loc: FitNation, Time: 25:07, Pace: 2:08 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 77°/76°, Time: 1:18:17, Pace: 10:26 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: thirsty, a bit blah & sluggish
Saturday | August 11, 2018: 4 m run + Efit Games
Loc: hood, Temp: 64°/63°, Time: 41:36, Pace: 10:23 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: still sluggish
Sunday | August 12, 2018: 12 m run
Loc: DPRT/Kilbourne loop, Temp: 68°/78°, Time: 2:10:06, Pace: 10:50 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: good!

Notes:

• I’m grateful I could fit in three runs while on travel this week. I think the Louisville waterfront park is great and would love to run more there. When I was logging my Monday night run, I saw it was my first run (starting) after 6:00 pm all year. I wonder if I’ll have many more night runs.
• My Thursday run window coincided with a severe thunderstorm warning which meant the temperature dropped, yay! I got soaked, and ran up and down our street to stay close to home.
• The fitness studio I work for held our second annual “Efit Games” on Saturday. There were six teams of four, and ten events – things like bucket carry, tug-of-war, push-ups, ball toss, etc. My boss organizes it all and we just show up and have fun! And we did! Except I had a bad headache that up-down events made worse. But I powered through, and my team ended up placing third!
• Man, I was SORE when I woke up Sunday, which I expected. It was mostly upper body – I was surprised it wasn’t my calves – I could feel them locking up during tug-of-war, so badly that they were shaking after.
• Everyone got an “Efit Games” shirt, and for the first time of me going to/working at Efit, racerback tanks were offered! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those are my preferred style! I hope we order more. And since I had that style on, several people commented on my tattoo (it’s covered otherwise)!
• My method for dealing with the heat and humidity this summer has been to ignore it. I go out for my run with a lot of water, choose shady routes, etc. But I try not to dwell on it before or during the run because it is what it is! So when I have a crappy run like I did Friday night, I forget that weather might be part of that until after I am done. Then think, “oh! yeah!” Ha.
• Alright, I haven’t ridden my bike in two weeks. And done a speed workout in maybe three or more. It’s time to fit those things back in!

Link to Training Week 459

Comments (14)

By kilax, August 9, 2018 6:11 am

• Kitty update! They’ve almost been home a week! We’re letting them explore more rooms, which they love (they still sleep in a closed in room at night, mostly for safety from our second floor drop to the living room). Khali likes to be near them, and they like to follow her around. There is still some slapping and interesting noises between those three, but things seem to be getting more friendly and less “get off my turf”! Happily, Khali’s personality is staying the same, and she isn’t regressing back to her scared stray cat “I don’t trust you” behavior. Phew.

The second picture in this series is of Apollo getting smacked.

• Data is STILL in the bathtub. We can take him out and walk around with him, but he always goes back to the bathtub. He’s still eating and going to the bathroom fine (well, what qualifies as fine for him now), but isn’t he bored out of his freaking mind in there?! Also, I’d like to use all the awesome spa stuff I got for my birthday (he’s occupying the only bathtub in the house)!!!!! His regular vet was off when we took him in last week – I wonder if he’d have a better analysis, or if we do just need some anxiety meds for Data?
• I wish there was a way to prevent sad animal stories from being shared by people in my feed on Facebook (I do tell Facebook I don’t want to see it) and from showing up in my RSS news feeds. Ugh. I’d rather see stories like this.
• Rachel and I decided to run the Madison Mini Marathon next Saturday for a birthday celebration together. Yay!
• Gah, I’ve felt like a zombie most mornings this summer, and my diet is definitely to blame! I’m so ready to have a normal schedule and get back in to a routine!
• I’m currently reading Not Tonight, Josephine: A Road Trip Through Small-Town America, a book about the (British) author’s travels across the US in the 2000. Gina read it and liked it so she gave me a copy for my birthday. The author is humorous and I’m learning more about US geography (and getting some travel ideas, too)! I’m enjoying it!

• Speaking of books, something strange has been happening at my library, where the books I have that are eligible for renewal are somehow already renewed by their due date without me doing anything. I wonder what the hell is going on. Of course, this did NOT happen with The Last Time I Lied, which is newer, and was not eligible for renewal, and I did not have time to finish. Sad face. I put in a hold request for it.
• I will finish with a Photoshop rant. For some reason, the quality of my “save for web” settings keeps getting changed from maximum to medium. And I don’t notice it until I upload the images here and see how pixelated they are, after I’ve closed them in Photoshop. So I have to reopen them and resave them at a higher resolution. Wah wah wah. And yeah, I tried to figure out how to stop this! I just need to remember to make sure it’s at maximum each time I use it!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 189

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By kilax, August 5, 2018 12:09 pm

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

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

Notes:

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

Link to Training Week 458

Comments (10)

By kilax, August 2, 2018 6:23 am

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

Yay, RAGBRAI, my big ride of the summer!

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

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

image from here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Highlights:

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

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

Eating a pickle at the New Era Church Stop.

Dipping in “Mississippi River Water” in Blue Grass.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comments (2)

By kilax, July 31, 2018 6:36 am

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

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

Notes:

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

Link to Training Week 457

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By kilax, July 22, 2018 5:14 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running with Yvonne!

Monday | July 16, 2018: 20 mins strength + 5 m run
Loc: VP Woods to Pine Dunes loop, Temp: 88°/85°, Time: 49:55, Pace: 9:59 avg, Difficulty: easy enough, Felt: sore legs at first then fine
Tuesday | July 17, 2018: 13 m bike + 13 m run
Indoor Ride Time: 47;55, Pace: 16.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, a bit annoyed with the sensor
Loc: Lake Andrea/Outlet Mall Loop, Temp: 76°/72°, Time: 2:09:24, Pace: 9:57 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, sore toe
Wednesday | July 18, 2018: 3 m run
Loc: Lakefront Trail, Temp: 75°/76°, Time: 29:21, Pace: 9:46 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Thursday | July 19, 2018: 5 m run (w/Yvonne, incl. 3 tempo) + 10 m bike + teaching strength class
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 58°/64°, Time: 43:58, Pace: 8:47 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good!
Indoor Ride Time: 40:11, Pace: 14.9 mph, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: Leberts & dumbbells, Felt: good, remembered to take it easy
Friday | July 20, 2018: teaching strength class + 508 yd swim
Strength: Leberts & dumbbells, Felt: good
Loc: FitNation, Time: 10:32, Pace: 2:05 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: not feeling it, gear issues
Saturday | July 21, 2018: 4 m run + 13 m bike
Loc: hood, Temp: 68°/67°, Time: 36:47, Pace: 9:11 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, enjoyed running in the rain
Indoor Bike Time: 53:22, Pace: 14.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | July 22, 2018: 10 m run
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 68°/69°, Time: 1:39:58, Pace: 9:59 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: fine, once I woke up!

Notes:

• Ugh, I had heartburn during my Monday and Tuesday 4:00 pm runs. I blame my afternoon snacks and the heat! No more bars as a snack (or, just no snack… whuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut?!??!).
• I actually ran with a friend this week, and it was lovely! Yay! I hope we can again, soon, because it’s nice to catch up… and she’s faster than me and I run faster without thinking about it as much.
• I ended up working out a lot less this weekend than I thought I would. A headache Friday kept me from doing any more after my swim, then I stayed up super late Saturday and didn’t get up early to do much Sunday. Oh well!
• I didn’t get to ride outside this weekend (it was raining a lot of the weekend, and I don’t ride in the rain), but I did get three indoor rides in. I feel ready to ride Day 7 of RAGRABI next Saturday!

Link to Training Week 456

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By kilax, July 18, 2018 12:53 pm

Visual progress!

One month ago, my knee looked like this:

And as of yesterday, it looks like this:

It’s still not 100% surfacely healed, and it’s definitely going to leave some scars, but it looks and FEELS better than a month ago! Yay! (However, it’s still tender if I try to crawl on it or put any pressure on it. That may just be a hereditary thing.)

I’m totally over what happened at Grandma’s (then why are you still talking about it, Kim?! muah ha ha, cause I CAN AND I WILL!!!), but randomly seeing things like this (below) makes me feel better – knowing that someone else also had a sh*t day from falling and couldn’t rally back 100%. (And yay that she got her redemption*!!!)

View this post on Instagram

#TheThingThatChangedItAll MARI DE MONTE, 32 / STYLIST / NEW YORK CITY My knees smacked the pavement four miles into the 2016 NYC Marathon. I thought I’d heard someone call my name (it rhymes with “sorry”), so I turned around and slammed into this French guy. I yelled, “I’m fine!” The French guy ran on. I was so embarrassed when I DNF’d at mile 15 because of knee swelling. My @blackrosesnyc teammates all had their medals. I was heartbroken. Time went by, and in 2017, I finished the Berlin Marathon with my team. Right after, my coach said I was doing NYC, in four weeks. None of my teammates were running. I was nervous, but I wrote “redemption” on my Nike 4%s, and at mile four I was like, “All right, doing better than last year.” All over the course, I saw my teammates out cheering. When I crossed the line, the Black Roses were on my mind, how they pushed me to this moment. I just lost it. #rg 📸@notafraid2fail

A post shared by Runner's World (@runnersworldmag) on Jul 14, 2018 at 7:19am PDT

*What about MY redemption? Half of me likes the idea of running an October marathon, and the other half of me says “Do Dallas in December, after you lose more weight.” I am not sure which half will win. Probably the thinner half.

Comments (14)

By kilax, July 16, 2018 6:21 am

FRIDAY!

Friday started out awesome because I finally visited Bobbi’s pool for the first this season! Woo hoo! I didn’t run over, but hopefully I’ll be able to later this summer (I have a pool bag there with my suit in it and everything!).

After that refreshing dip (it was in the 90s!), Steven and I went to visit the kittens. We talked with a technician more and it turns out they want the females to weigh five pounds before spaying them. Safety first! They think that may be this week, but who knows! Mama cat got spayed that day… but she can’t go home until all the kittens do.

We ran a Kohl’s errand after, then made a late dinner and watched part of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. We had just watched the original the week before, so we were keeping the series going! The original is more subtle with the animal violence compared to the second one, and especially when compared to Jurassic World. We thought Jurassic World was so violent and disturbing, there’s no way we’re seeing the one that’s out now. (Keep in mind, we’re vegan and vegetarian for animal rights reasons, so we don’t stomach violence, even against dinosaurs, well.)

SATURDAY!

I woke up to rain Saturday morning but was determined to do my tempo run, so I went to the trail, which would slow me down, but shield me from some of the rain.

That morning, I prepped veggies for the week, and made this banana cake from an account instagram suggested to me. It turned out SO GOOD (I had to use a different cream cheese recipe due to not having Tofutti at home – I won’t use it again).

We finished The Lost World at lunch, then I took a 1.5 hour nap. WINNING! After my nap, I ran some errands (where I ran in to Bobbi & fam, ha), watched part of Spirit of the Marathon II, made dinner with Steven, and spent a lot of time prepping for a bike ride Sunday.

Gosh, rides are SO. MUCH. WORK. to prep for. Especially when you are traveling to ride/not riding from your house. Preparing for this ride was like preparing for RAGBRAI, since I was also driving quite a ways to ride, then riding a similar distance, and needing to make sure I packed everything (thing I almost forgot and remembered in the morning – Body Glide)!

SUNDAY!

But the prep (and early morning!) was worth it for the fun day we had! I picked xaarlin up at 6:00 am and we headed to DeKalb for the Biking with Beanzie event. It’s an organized (and supported!) ride offering several distances – 25, 46, 64, 80, and 101. Xaarlin is training for an Ironman, and I have a 70+ mile ride at RAGBRAI, so I suggested we ride together as a late birthday celebration for her!

We arrived after 7:00, signed up (and got a fun tie-dye shirt), set up our bikes, and got on our way. The long drive out there meant we were out of Chicagoland and most of our ride would be on country roads where it was safe for us to ride next to one another and chat (I wear a mirror so we can watch for cars and move over well before they got near… said mirror broke as I put it on in the morning but I rigged it on my glasses for the day).

I wonder if the sky inspired the color for the shirt?

So that’s what we did! Pedaled and chatted and stopped at the aid stations every ten to fifteen miles. And the ride flew by (we rode 67 miles)! I usually bonk or get annoyed with the noise from the wind in the last part of my rides, but that didn’t happen with xaarlin – I think because I was eating and drinking a lot more due to the event being supported, and our chatting distracted me from the wind noise. Yay!

I picked this event because it was on a date that worked for both of us, and had NO idea who Beanzie was or what the event was about! We kept seeing funny “Beanzie” directional signs on the course (which was very well marked) – Beanzie in different movie posters, or famous scenes, or as a famous person. And we kept wondering “WHO IS BEANZIE?!”

And guess what? I still don’t really know – it’s hard to find the origin story online. There was a printed recent article from a newspaper at the event that mentioned Beanzie is a guy’s nickname who liked to ride in DeKalb with friends and they had the idea to start this ride to benefit the Kiwanis Mission. So… there ya go?! Updated to add: xaarlin sent me some more info and I was able to find this! The group wanted a unique name for their ride so they used one of the founder’s nicknames.  

It’s definitely well done though! We both said we’d do it again. And I LOVED that we got to use the high school showers to clean off after the ride. I felt like a new person (and realized I did a REALLY bad job applying sunscreen, sigh)!

After we cleaned up, we ate at a local Mexican restaurant, then drove back to the city, then I drove home! It was a long day, but a lot of fun!

When I got home, Steven helped me unpack and put everything away, which took almost as much time as packing! Then we did some chores, ate dinner, watched part of Jurassic Park III (we’re on a roll) and called it a night.

I definitely feel ready for RAGBRAI after doing this long ride! Yay!

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By kilax, July 15, 2018 6:59 pm

Highlight of the Week: Doing a long ride with xaarlin, and having fun and feeling great!

Monday | July 9, 2018: 4 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 73°/78°, Time: 39:44, Pace: 9:55 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, tired (sleepy)
Strength: Leberts and dumbbells, Felt: good, sweaty
Tuesday | July 10, 2018: 11 m run
Loc: DPRT, Temp: 83°/80°, Time: 1:48:41, Pace: 9:53 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: SO GOOD
Wednesday | July 11, 2018: rest
Thursday | July 12, 2018: 5 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 87°/87°, Time: 45:40, Pace: 9:08 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good, speedy
Friday | July 13, 2018: 1,008 yd swim + 8 m run + 15 m ride
Loc: FitNation, Time: 20:11, Pace: 2:00 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, a bit out of breath
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 76°/79°, Time: 1:23:14, Pace: 10:24, Difficulty: medium, Felt: hot, tired legs
Indoor Ride Time: 1:01:01, Pace: 14.8 mph, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, sore butt
Saturday | July 14, 2018: 14 m run (incl. 2×2 tempo)
Loc: DPRT, Temp: 71°/71°, Time: 2:18:32, Pace: 9:54 avg, Difficulty: easy/hard, Felt: decent
Sunday | July 15, 2018: 66.7 m ride (w/xaarlin)
Loc: DeKalb, Temp: 72°/82°, Time: 4:31:02, Pace: 14.8 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: pretty great, just sore toes at the end!

Notes:

• Oh my gosh, Tuesday’s run! It was in the low 80s, but the humidity and dew point were hella low, I ran mostly in the shade, and there was a slight breeze, so it felt amazing out! Yay!
• There are no classes where I teach for a week starting Thursday, so I had Friday off. Which meant I got to swim without sore arms (because I usually go right after class)! I felt really fast… at first. Ha ha.
• My RAGBRAI packet came this week. Yay! Less than two weeks until the day we ride (and one week until it all kicks off!).
• I’m glad I was able to do most of my tempo workout despite Saturday’s high humidity (100%), high dew point (71°), and rain. I am not sure how much my body liked it – I had “speed work” stomach for several hours after.
• I had such an excellent ride with xaarlin on Sunday! Gosh, it’s so much less boring to ride WITH someone (duh). More about the ride tomorrow!

Link to Training Week 455

Comments (8)

By kilax, July 8, 2018 6:04 pm

Highlight of the Week: The return of intervals! And lovely July running weather to go along with them!

Monday | July 2, 2018: 7 m run + 15 m bike + teaching strength class
Loc: Rev. VP Woods Loop, Temp: 66°/65°, Time: 1:10:25, Pace: 10:03 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: pretty good!
Indoor Ride Time: 54:59, Pace: 16.4 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, sore butt!
Strength: body bars and soft balls, Felt: good, challenged
Tuesday | July 3, 2018: 2.5 m walk
Wednesday | July 4, 2018: 12 m run + 17 m bike
Loc: DPRT/Kilbourne Loop, Temp: 68°/74°, Time: 2:02:39, Pace: 10:13 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Loc: Kilbourne/Hunt Club Loop, Temp: 78°/82°, Time: 1:02:18, Pace: 16.4 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Thursday | July 5, 2018: 4 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 73°/73°, Time: 39:57, Pace: 9:59 avg, Difficulty: easy-ish, Felt: good, just sweaty!
Friday | July 6, 2018: teaching strength class + 1,008 yd swim + 5 m run
Strength: body bars and soft balls, Felt: good, challenged
Loc: FitNation, Time: 21:43, Pace: 2:09 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 72°/71°, Time: 49:13, Pace: 9:50, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, enjoyed the breeze
Saturday | July 7, 2018: 13 m run (incl. 6×4:00) + 10 m bike + teaching fitness boxing
Loc: Lake Andrea/Outlet Mall Loop, Temp: 56°/62°, Time: 2:08:32, Pace: 9:53 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: great!
Indoor Ride Time: 38:48, Pace: 15.5 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, sweaty
Sunday | July 8, 2018: 3 m run + 42.2 m bike
Loc: hood, Temp: 57°, Time: 29:18, Pace: 9:45 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Hunt Club/MB/88th Loop, Temp: 64°/77°, Time: 2:39:53, Pace: 15.8 mph avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: good, but frustrated with the bumps

Notes:

• Last weekend, I stubbed my right foot against our weight station, and now my big toe is really tender to the touch. And a bit swollen. And red. If that doesn’t go down soon, I am going to see the doctor and ask them to remove the toenail or a drill a hole in to it or something. It’s not bugging me enough that I can’t work out, but the pressure on it during my swim was not pleasant! Edited: after I published this, I was able to drain it myself. YAY, sweet relief! And now, for the toenail to fall off…
• It’s been humid on my runs, and on the longer ones, I am coming back with wet socks and wrinkled toes, eww! Steven asked me a few times what smells in the garage – that would be the shoes from that run!
• Running has been feeling harder, probably because of the higher heat and humidity, and I’m out there feeling like I am going so much slower, but when I look at my watch when I am done, I really haven’t been – low 10:00s is great for me in the summer! I hope I can keep that up. And something I realized – it will be much easier to if I listen to music and not podcasts. I love podcasts but they make me run a bit slower.
• I haven’t run intervals since April! I’ve been doing tempos instead. I finally got back to some intervals this week and we had wonderful weather for them in July (56°)! Woot!
• My strength classes made me sore this week, yay! We used soft balls (filled with sand) this week and they really work your hands and lower arms. Then my students beat the crap out of me at boxing! I could really feel it Sunday morning when I woke up!
• Anne was in town this weekend and came to my boxing class! I miss having her as a student.
• Ha, I rode my bike more this week than I did last month. And the month of April. And almost the month of May. I’ve been putting more time in on the Saddle to get my butt ready for our 70 mile ride on Day 7 of RAGRABI!

Link to Training Week 454