Friday Questions

By kilax, August 20, 2010 5:28 am

If someone was visiting your town for the first time, what local things would you make sure to show them/have them experience?

A bunch of bloggers were in Chicago last week for a conference, and seeing Chicago through their posts made me realize how special our city seems to visitors. It made me realize I am overlooking a few things on my daily trips in to the city. So, it made me wonder, what special things do you think people should see or do when they visit your city for the first time?

In Chicago:

• Visit the Bean/Millennium Park!



• Shop on Michigan Avenue
• Take the architectural boat tour
• Go to the top of the “Willis” (Sears) Tower or Hancock Building

In/Near Round Lake:

• Visit all the awesome Lake County Forest Preserves
• Go the AWESOME Mexican Bakery by our house



• Visit the Volo Auto Museum
• Go to El Famous Burrito and eat a burrito the size of a football

Of course, there are a ton of other fun things to do here… those are just some of our favorites!

The Reader’s Choice Giveaway winner is Cher, who chose the bowls! Cher, please email me your mailing address and I will send them your way.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Blogging

By kilax, August 19, 2010 9:14 pm

From here

I was reading an informative post on one of my favorite blogs* today and decided to read the comments to see what other people were adding to the conversation. I was surprised to see a commenter with the exact same name of a coworker of mine. That doesn’t seem odd, but this coworker has a very unique name, let’s say… Alexiou** (for story purposes).

I didn’t have time to go in to full detective mode, as I was about to turn my computer off and get off the train. However, I did have a chance to click on the Alexiou’s blog and see that the header was of the Chicago skyline, as well as email the (original) blogger to ask if they knew anything more about Alexiou.

The blogger responded that she didn’t, but I had a chance to look at Alexiou’s blog again after my run… it’s totally him – there’s a picture!

What are the odds that I would run across a coworker’s blog, while reading an internet friend’s blog (who is from New Jersey)?

So now the question is, do I invade Alexiou’s privacy and read his blog? Should I tell him that I found it when I don’t want people at work to know about my blog?

What would you do – would you read the blog and tell the coworker you found it? Read it in stealth mode? Not read it at all?

Steven actually asked me what I was going to do. He asked if I would care if a coworker searched me out on the internet. I told him that I put this blog out in the public, so if they want to, they can. That’s their right. If I wanted to make it private, I would.

So, I will probably check out Alexiou’s blog and see if I find it interesting. But I still don’t want to introduce my blog to my coworkers!

*I would link, but I do not want to lead to a search for unique names on that blog!
**This is not the actual name. In fact, this is my family name. Ilax is a derivative of the Greek last name Alexiou. My great grandpa Nicholas came here from Greece. When Christina was in NYC, she found his name at Ellis Island.

Life

By kilax, August 18, 2010 12:33 pm

Last year, after the vet showed us how awful Data’s teeth were, we shelled out the big bucks to get them cleaned. He came home with wonderful breath (although he was a bit loopy from the anesthesia) and we immediately bought a little cat toothbrush and toothpaste kit, promising ourselves we would keep his teeth clean.

Ha. Ha ha.

It’s over a year later now, and we are both noticing how awful Data’s breath is. You don’t want to sit within a five foot radius of him, in case he yawns (the same could be said about me and my stinky feet*). So we busted out the teeth cleaning kit for the first time this Sunday, after we had already tortured him by clipping his nails.

Data looks very enthusiastic, doesn’t he?

Steven started by holding him and attempting to use the brush. When that didn’t work, he resorted to using the finger brush and pinning Data on the floor.

I gave Data a big kiss this morning and his breath seemed better! Maybe it’s all in my head though.

What do you do to keep your pet’s teeth clean? Does your pet require any other special treatment?

*But maybe the radius should be extended to 10 feet? What do you think, Steven?

Life, Recipes + Food

By kilax, August 17, 2010 12:17 pm

CSN Stores has been really good to me – offering me a few giveaway and review opportunities! I almost always take them up on the offer because they have so much in their stores to choose from (dining room sets, workout equipment, and even pet supplies*). I have to let you in on a little secret though – I let Steven pick out the review items! He knows what we need around the house, and is really good at finding things online. So, should I be surprised that the last time I sent him an email telling him to pick a few things out within a certain price range, that he came back with a list of 12 product ideas, some with options? He was surprised to see that CSN sells equipment racks (we could use these for our AV shelves), rolling metal tool shelves (is this a birthday gift hint, Steven?) and extension cords (apparently, there is a lot to know about them).

Hmm. We’ll have to wait on a few of those items!

Of course, we decided to review a few more things that we need in the kitchen – the Pyrex Smart 6 Piece Mixing Bowl Set (for more bread making activities):

the Pyrex Four-Cup Measuring Cup with Plastic Lid (we only have one-cup measuring cups):

and a candy thermometer.

And I have my eyes on this waffle maker. I have another CSN review I can do, so maybe I will pick that!

I know we will love these items, especially the first two, since I already am a devoted Pyrex user.

Do you think you could use one of the items listed above? I would like to give one reader an item of their choice (from the three above) as well!

Giveaway Rules:

1. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment telling me which item you would prefer to have (the bowls, measuring cup or candy thermometer) and how you will use it.
2. To get an extra entry, link to the giveaway in your blog, and leave me another comment linking to your post.
3. This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM CST on Thursday, August 19. I will use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Friday, August 20th.
4. This giveaway is open to all readers.

*Sorry Data, maybe next time!

Running + Training

By kilax, August 16, 2010 5:32 pm

I found an article on the Well blog today that really hit close to home – When Repeat Injuries Can’t Dim an Athlete’s Passion. The article tries to answer the question so many of my friends and family are wondering  – why do runners keep running when they repeatedly get injured?

We met up with friends this weekend, and after telling someone about my three stress fractures, they respectfully said, “I think your body is telling you it doesn’t want to run.” And I honestly disagreed. What they said to me doesn’t compute in my head.

Yeah, I am crazy.

The article was short and interesting. Here are their hypotheses about why athletes will not give up their sport of choice when they get injured:

1. They have a psychological problem. The athlete is compulsive, let’s their ego get in the way, and persists beyond all reason.
2. They don’t want to give up their social life. The athlete’s friends participate in the same sport and that sport has become part of their identity.
3. They don’t want to give up the pleasure of the sport. The sport produces a pleasurable experience at both the psychological and physiological level that makes it difficult to transition in to another sport.
4. They don’t want to give up winning. The athlete does really well in their event, often winning trophies/placing, and they don’t want to give that up.

I can relate to the first three of those, and I’d like to add another reason it’s hard to give up a sport – you rely on it to keep your body at a consistent weight! My weight goes way up when I stop running because I eat like I still am.

Have you ever suffered from injury that made you sit out on your favorite sport? Did you not want to give up and relate to any of the reasons above? Or did you move on to something else?

As fun as I think biking is, I am not sure if I could ever love it as much as I do running.  Even with my new pimp bike.

Okay, maybe I could. Maybe.

Running + Training

By kilax, August 15, 2010 5:14 pm

My next race is the Chicago Half Marathon on September 12. I am also training for the Chicago Marathon on October 10.

Funny running moment of the week: On Saturday, Erin and I saw a guy running in the NUDE (shoes only) on a forest preserve trail. With a lot of people on the trail. He came toward us and I saw he was holding a shirt or something by his crotch so I turned around when he passed, and sure enough – BARE butt. Ha! I wish I would have taken a picture. My mom told me I should ask Steven to reenact, but I didn’t even bother.

So… why was he running in the nude, is what I wonder. That’s how he likes to run? Something wrong with his pants? (My mom thought maybe he pooped them – ha!). Have you even seen anyone running in the nude?

Day 295 | August 9, 2010: strength + stretch

You guys aren’t going to believe it – I actually hauled my a$$ down to the office gym during lunch to do some strength and stretching moves. I was surprised I even remembered my locker combination!

Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb
Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb
Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb
Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @ 50 lb
Shoulder Press: 3 x 15 @ 20 lb
Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Arm Curl: 3 x 15 @ 25 lb
Pectoral Fly: 2 x 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb, 15 @ 130 lb

I think the MP3 player helped. Otherwise I would have been bored, bored, bored!

Day 296 | August 10, 2010: 5 m interval run – 2 x (4 x 400)

Tuesday marked two months until the Chicago Marathon and my first week back at the FIRST training plan. Back to speed work!

The schedule called for 2 sets of 4 x 400s, with warm-up, recovery intervals, and a cool-down. The recommend pace was 10K pace minus 45 seconds… yeah, we have not run a 10K in a long time and had no idea what our pace should be! So we decided to aim for a 8:45 overall pace.

And we mostly hit it! Of course, Jack (the Garmin) was being funky, so a lot of these times are for more than 400m (those marked with an asterisk*), but you get the idea.

We did walk a lot of the recovery intervals. It was just too freaking hot (upper 80s) and brutally sunny. You’ll have that.

I wore my Adrenaline 10s sans inserts to see how my legs felt. So far, so good.

So sweaty!

After the torture run, we attended the last free Tuesday night summer concert at Independence Grove. I was so sweaty I could feel sweat dripping down my butt. Steven did not think it was appropriate that I said that in public (in front of a young kid – I don’t think the kid heard me!).

Distance: 5.0 | Time: 52:14 | Avg Pace: 10:27

Day 297 | August 11, 2010: strength + stretch

Whoa. I actually made it down to the gym twice this week for strength. That’s impressive for me (especially since my chest and upper abs were KILLING me from Monday’s workout!).

Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb
Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb, 15 @ 130 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb
Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb
Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Lateral Raise: 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 37.5 lb
Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @ 50 lb
Shoulder Press: 3 x 15 @ 20 lb
Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb

Day 298 | August 12, 2010: 8 m run

Awesome run?

Well, it went really well until mile 3 when I drank some powerade and it made my stomach hurt. Then I kind of hit the wall at 6.75. Ugh.

I ran the first 5 miles with Steven riding the bike behind me. I walked a minute at mile 3 and ate some jelly beans. Then we stopped at the house at mile 5 so Steven could get off his bike and run the last 3 miles with me.

It surely went a lot better than I thought it would, considering the heat (and we started around 7:00, when it was starting to cool down), but I am disappointed that drinking powerade during the run bothered my stomach so much.

Distance: 8.0 | Time: 1:22:23 | Avg Pace: 10:17 | 1: 10:28 | 2: 10:06 | 3: 9:46 | 4: 10:17 | 5: 10:15 | 6: 10:30 | 7: 10:33 | 8: 10:22

Day 299 | August 13, 2010: rest

Day 300 | August 14, 2010: 12 m run + cross

I am trying to keep track of my walk breaks and how I am feeling, so I apologize for all the boring details!

Erin and I ran together at Busse Woods Forest Preserve. Neither of us had been there before, but we had been thinking about doing the supported 20-mile run there. The park is pretty! Lots of trees. Lots of trees = lots of shade = me likey.

Sorry for the blurry pic!

When I left my home in the morning, I was feeling pretty good about this run. I even saw a rainbow and figured that was a good sign!

We started off and I felt great. Maybe a little too great, because we took off and ran the first three miles around 10:00, which, unfortunately, is NOT my long run pace. I think I was just having so much fun talking to Erin that I was not paying attention to my feet. Oops.

We walked a minute at mile 3. I started to feel pretty blah and somewhat out of it around the 5 mile mark, so we walked two minutes at 6 miles, and I ate some pretzels and drank some water.

We kept going, and I was feeling sort of good. At the turnaround point, I asked some nice TnT people if I could fill up one of my water bottles with their water cooler. I brought three 8-ounce bottles for the run, and I had used all but one. The TnT people were super nice and told me to go for it. We kept running, and walked a minute at 9 and I still had a water left. But I ran out by mile 10, and when we passed a pump we stopped to try to fill – no luck. So… we walked for two minutes, in the hot sun, which had just appeared (it was supposed to rain, and never did, but we were enjoying that it was cloudy – but not enjoying the temps in the 80s!). Then I tried to keep running and had to walk another two minutes during mile 11. And I had to steal water from Erin.

Stupid sun!

Ugh. I was beat. My body felt mostly okay (jello quads by mile 10, heavy legs) but the heat was really getting to me. I felt so thirsty again. And I felt bad, because Erin was doing great and my pace was all over and I don’t think I was really talking coherently. She’s nice to stick with me!

When you get worn out at the end of a long run, do you start to get kind of… delirious and out of it? I sure do.

I finally got to the car and ended the 12 miles and got my bike to ride with Erin on her last 4. The sun was still out, and I felt crappy even on the bike! Jeez, what was that about?

But we did pass the nude guy that I mentioned above, and I found that humorous.

Erin finished really great for being in the awful sun and we sat in the shade for awhile. I drank two powerades and ate some grapes. I finally felt better after we had sat for awhile.

Erin recommended drinking something with electrolytes the day before a run. What do you guys do to stay hydrated? I drink about 120 ounces of water a day, if not more. Shouldn’t that be enough?

Ha ha. During our run, I said “I am not sure how I can run 26 miles if I cannot run 12 well.” But Erin had felt the same way a few weeks ago then had a great run at a longer distance. So… blaming it on the weather.

And I still had a lot of fun running and talking to Erin! What a treat!

(Can you tell I wrote this after the run – I think a bit of the incoherent-ness is in this post!)

(Oh yeah, during our run, we were talking about blisters that you get on the top/end of your long toe. We both had old ones during the run. At one point, I told Erin I could really feel my blister. See below. No wonder I felt that!)

Distance: 12.0 | Time: 2:09:00 | Avg Pace: 10:45 | 1: 10:24 | 2: 10:04 | 3: 9:53 | 4: 10:30 | 5: 10:11 | 6: 10:30 | 7: 11:14 | 8: 10:31 | 9: 10:36 | 10: 11:01 | 11: 11:52 | 12: 12:10
Bike Time: 57:47 | Distance: 4.00 | Average Speed: 4.1 mph

Day 301 | August 15, 2010: cross + yoga

Steven and I rode our bikes 11 miles at the Moraine Hills State Park, then had a little picnic lunch.

We haven’t been to this state park since November! But it’s really close to our house (just over 10 miles!) and really beautiful. Just a bit on the hilly side though. My quads were burning. I am pretty certain I will not be running there anytime soon!

And some of the hills were actually kind of scary to ride down. But scary in a fun way.

That’s me shaking my fist at the “Hill” sign.

We went to a BBQ at Steven’s friend’s house on Saturday and they sent us home with leftover homemade seitan, so Steven used it to make some yummy sandwiches for our picnic. Kind of makes me* want to make seitan again.

After we got home (and walked Data and sat on our porch for a bit) I did the YogaWorks Beginners AM/PM DVD to try to stretch out my tight legs.

*I should say us – Steven would be the one making it.

Bike Time: 1:00:15 | Distance: 11.00 | Average Speed: 11.0 mph

Week Summary: 25.00 miles

I am actually really pleased with my workouts this week! I felt like I got a good balance of running, strength, cross, and a bit of yoga.

I just wish I could figure out why I’ve been starting to feel so blah during my runs. Is it just an endurance issue? Or am I not fueling properly? Am I not eating enough pre-run? What do you eat the day before a long run?

Recipes + Food

By kilax, August 14, 2010 5:56 am

Does anyone else find it funny that the Round Lake police station is on Bacon Road?

Why were we at the police station? That’s where our garden is, remember?

I know, I haven’t written about it in awhile and you wondered if I gave up. Hmm. Not going to answer that.

The last time we were there was July 29th. We went back yesterday, and oops, it’s overgrown again:

Ugh. I told Steven we will have to wait until it rains then pull all the weeds out when the ground is nice and wet.

The same things are still growing – cucumbers and zucchini. The zucchini look like they are reaching their end though.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that our grape tomatoes are growing! (Please ignore the weeds in the photos!)

And some of the other tomatoes are growing too. Yeah, we’re a little late with the tomatoes. I hope they turn red soon.

So, what did we end up with? Lots of cucumbers, two zucchini, onions and a few tomatoes. I’ll be sharing some of those cucumbers at work.

Since this is our first summer gardening, I didn’t know what to expect. To me, it seems like we have had really intense sun and temperatures that dry up the crops, sometimes coupled with really intense storms that wash everything out. If we end up doing this next year, I will be interested in following the weather patterns to see how things are the same/different.

Have you had any extreme weather where you live?

There has been a lot of flooding and unusually high temperatures in the mid-west this summer. It’s very different than last year’s cool and mild summer!

Life

By kilax, August 13, 2010 9:16 am

Is it totally dorky that I am super excited my sister, Christina, is in NYC and was on the Today Show this morning?

That’s her, holding the “Wake up in the morning feeling like Al Roker” sign – Ke$ha was there, so it’s a spin on her Tik Tok song. You can see her at the 2:30 point in the video below (if you are in reader, you may have to click through to see it):

I have been excited ALL week to watch the Today Show today! I even woke up earlier than my alarm this morning, I was so excited.

Unfortunately, I had to sit through an AWFUL interview with Linday Lohan’s mother (wow – she is f*cked up) to watch for Christina. But it was worth it! I had tears in my eyes when I saw her on screen! Ha. I’m so lame.

Have you ever been to NYC?

I went there in February of 2005 for an architecture trip (pictures here). Christina is there now for an interior design trip! I loved it NYC, and knew she would too! She is having such a great time, I am so excited for her.

I really want to go back to NYC. Especially to visit Gina!

Side note: that vid was available on the Today Show website a few minutes after the performance aired – how cool is that?!

*In the audience!

Friday Questions

By kilax, August 13, 2010 5:34 am

When you were a kid, what did you want to be “when you grew up”? What do you do now? What do you want to be “when you grow up” now (the second time)?

I may have asked this before, but it’s interesting, so I will ask it again!

Yesterday, while Erin and I were walking to the park to each lunch, the Blue Angels flew overhead (they were practicing for the Chicago Air & Water Show this weekend) and made quite some noise… so I had to tell her how I wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid.

I remember even thinking about joining the Air Force! I told Erin though, there is no way that would work for me – I do not like taking orders, ha ha!

So I went to school for architecture. And now I run interior projects for the federal government.

When I grow up again though, I think it would be fun to be a tour guide!

Health + Fitness

By kilax, August 12, 2010 6:40 am

Well, let me tell you – if you don’t sweat enough you might never get to see the design on this workout tank:

You can ‘t see it very well (click to see larger) – but in the picture on the right, the words “the competition” have appeared on the woman’s shirt becuase she sweat enough.

I was reading this WSJ article about new clothing design technologies, and I had to laugh when I got to the part about ViewSport athletic wear (they make clothes for men and women). They advertise that “when you workout, the ViewSPORT sweat activated technology reveals a design which is only apparent when your sweat comes in contact with the fabric.”

And a quote from Ben Wood, the Chief Executive:

The whole point is to demonstrate how hard you are working out.

Does more sweat = working out harder?

Some people don’t sweat that much. I know in the winter I am covered in sweat and Steven is still dry, even if we ran the same amount. Of course, it’s completely different in the summer – everyone is covered in sweat, right? Right?!

Either way, it’s an interesting concept. I can see how it would be fun. They mentioned one user’s experience:

Laura Klein, of Pittsford, N.Y., wears a shirt and tank top from ViewSPORT to her spinning classes. “It keeps you motivated,” she says. “You want to see the design.” Other gym members have asked her where she got the shirt, she says. In one Pilates class, “they made me kind of stand and model the shirt,” she says.

Ha ha.

I would definitely be one of those people who had the design show up right away. I am a sweaty girl (when working out… and sometimes when not working out). Good thing I love to sweat!*

How much do you sweat? Would you wear these shirts?

*Too bad I cannot figure out how to make my workout clothes NOT smell like A$$. Any tips?!?!