Okie dokie artichokie

April 9, 2013April 9, 2013 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

Someone else is happy that the sun is out.

In addition to the garden and general happiness, this time of year is usually when training starts ramping up for the season. Obviously, not this year.

So apparently now the baby is the size of an artichoke.

This explains why my training has been super limited the past 4+ months. And why there have been no posts about beer. And why, with my last half marathon, I had to stop to pee 5x. And why Vanessa and Emily were kind enough to join me for the second half of NYC.

And this:

I was preg during the Smokey Mountain half and didn’t know it. I’m blaming the baby for that sufferfest.

So what’s the plan? Whelp, no more Ironman races for me this summer. Or triathlons. Or half marathons (my abs after NYC were sore for like a week).

Aside from lifting the ice cream spoon to my mouth, I’m going to keep wogging (walk/jogging) as long as I can. And I cannot wait for the outdoor pools to open next month. That is where I plan on spending most of the summer.

Oh, and I have been booted from my yoga class, per the instructor’s request, until August. So long, peacock. We had a good run, I’m sure we’ll be back at square one when I return.

Spring Garden

April 2, 2013 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

…or not. This picture was taken on Thursday.

This is a battle we have every year: how to get the garden growing before the weather warms up enough to plant anything in the ground (here in Kentucky that magical date is Derby weekend, or the first weekend of May.) Historically, we have tended to take the greenhouse route starting early March, and have experienced about 50% success rate (see: here and here.)

Generally in March/April the biggest hurdle to overcome is high winds. This year, it’s straight up lack of sun. Days have been cloudy and dark and cold, and those that are clear haven’t ventured much higher than 40 degrees.

Effing. Miserable.

BUT! I figured why not take advantage of the lag and put some real thought into what we plant this year? Right? Right!

Our yard has two garden boxes, one in the front by the garage where we plant tomatoes and peppers, and one in the back against the back fence.

Both face the same way, so we figured would get comparable sun.

Wrong.

Garden box #1 has been amazingly fruitful, giving us more tomatoes and peppers than we know what to do with. Garden box #2, as you can probably see, ends up in the shade as the trees fill in and has continually failed to produce much of anything. The only marginally successful crops we’ve planted back there have been beets two years ago:

…and kale last year, which got eaten up by bugs.

I am determined this year not to let that whole back box go to waste. Also want to have a SUPER successful herb garden. None of this.

Poor cilantro.

More of this:

Basil! (We had more than we knew what to do with and ended up drying it. We’re still using it for sauces and stuff).

Last week a coworker gave me the UK seed catalog which, in addition to providing all sorts of instructions for how to grow things in Kentucky. also discusses local bugs. Talk about excitement. I’m in the early stages of review. Update to come.

I can’t wait for spring.

New Exercise Regimen

March 25, 2013March 26, 2013 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

phone-streaking

A simple 12-step plan that ANYONE with the right attitude can follow:

Step 1: Since you’ve been a lazy bum the past week, decide to get a good solid swim in before work. Set alarm for nice and early the next day.

Step 2: When the alarm goes off at 5:30, decide that in order to really benefit from any exercise you’re going to do that day, you need more sleep. Decide you’ll swim after work. Re-set alarm.

Step 3: While at work, realize there is a March Madness basketball game in the arena next to your office at 6pm. Traffic! Make strictly objective call that getting stuck in traffic is really not worth the swim, decide to get home stat after work to avoid the worst of it and do a really good hour of TRX to make up for your lack of swimming today.

Step 4: Arrive home. Eat crackers. Eat goldfish. Eat ice cream.

Step 5: Sit on couch for just a few minutes to “unwind” (read: watch just one or two episodes of Weeds).

Step 6: Realize that it’s almost 7, you’re still in your work clothes, and you haven’t even thought about what you’re making for dinner yet.

Step 7: Frantically dig through dirty laundry for 10 minutes because you have no clean sports bras.

Step 8: Do 20 min of half-assed TRX, because now it’s like 7:30 and you’re starting to stress about how late it is. Barely break a sweat.

Step 9: Change into your PJs with no shower, because people who don’t sweat don’t deserve to shower. Ignore the fact you just spent 30 minutes wearing dirty workout clothes.

Step 10: Eat canned soup for dinner because now it’s 9pm and you have to go to bed early because you…

Step 11: Plan on swimming the next morning before work, since you’ve been a lazy bum all week. Set alarm nice and early.

Step 12: Repeat.

Neew Yooooooork

March 22, 2013July 29, 2021 ~ meh ~ 4 Comments

Last weekend I headed to the big city for the the NYC Road Runners Half Marathon.

The reason I signed up for this race was first and foremost to run with Emily…who, incidentally, did not get a spot in the lottery. Crap. Secondary reason for running it: to stay on a training schedule through the sad, cold, depressing months of late winter (which, up until about 3 weeks ago, I did). And because it’s freaking in New York City. And when you live in Kentucky, you grab onto any chance you get to go see your friends in NY.

Margaret! One of my New York friends, who was there for my last half in New York 2 years ago (when I wasn’t 5+ months pregnant).

This year was extra awesome because people who do not live in NY, including my sister and Joe, came out to play. It was a mini reunion. Which made the weekend so, so great.

269295_10151356636067196_1300496509_n An NYC weekend visitor all the way from LA, dealing with the cold and wearing one glove

But aside from me, most people probably don’t want to hear any more about how great my friends are.

Race Prep:

The night before the race we went to Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn (fun fact: Buttermilk Channel is an actual place in NY Bay, sounds delicious), and my god it was good. And we may or may not have sat at a table next to Seth Green, results were inconclusive.

That night I stayed with Emily, who lives on the upper west side, about 3 blocks from the starting line. Clutch.

The race info said that the starting corrals would be closing at 7, with a start time of 7:30. That is a long time to be standing around in the corral in your running gear. Plus we didn’t get to bed that night till 11:30ish. So I decided I was going to chance it, sleep a little longer, and get to the starting line a few minutes late. 20 minutes of standing around in the cold sounded like enough for me.

The Race:

St. Paddy’s Day!! Alarm went of at 6, got up, drank a little coffee, ate some oatmeal, took care of business, and was out the door by 7. I was at the start by 7:05.

…and cold it was. 23 degrees. When I arrived the sun was just starting to come up and the corrals were totally packed with people wearing green (I wore black and pink, oops). And everyone was absolutely. freezing.

They let me into the corral, even though I was a little late. Plenty of people were still showing up.

Race went off at 7:30. I crossed the starting line at 7:40 (and I was in the front half of the crowd.) The course was one lap around the park, spitting us out around 64th Street and into downtown, through Times Square, all the way down to the tip of the island, cutting east, and finishing on Wall Street (I can’t find the map online, too lazy to keep looking).

the starting line

The first 6 miles through the park was mostly spent defrosting. Cups of water at the aid stations were frozen over with a layer of ice, and spilled water and gatorade on the ground around the aid stations was also turning to ice. Cuidado.

My toes were numb the first four miles, and my fingers didn’t fully get feeling back until mile 8. Fortunately, Superman was there to save the day.

As we left the park I came across the best gift I’ve ever received mid-race (even better than the DJ blasting Pitbull at mile 8 of the run in Hawaii): Emily and Vanessa waiting to join me for a few miles.

I was so, so happy (if you can’t tell from the above picture). Needed the moral support. We ran out of the park and straight into what was probably my favorite part of the run: Times Square.

Very Vanilla Sky. And yes, 29 degrees over an hour into the race.

Once we got out of the park, the course flattened out which, for someone who hasn’t been training in over a week (me), was awweeeesome. Emily and Vanessa stuck it out along the south part of Manhattan, then hopped out as we approached the Financial District.

IMG_20130321_083740 the chute

And then it was over. The finish line was a madhouse.

Those are just runners. It was also windy and really, really freaking cold.

I’ve never been so happy to be hit in the face with the hot, piss-flavored subway air than I was when we entered the Wall Street station. The rest of the afternoon was spent in sweats and compression socks, in the heat of Emily’s apartment, eating baked goods from Levain Bakery and watching Bravo.

I flew out that evening. Sad.

Thank you to everyone who housed me and/or came and supported me on the run. It was such a wonderful trip, these runs are always such a good time. Can’t wait for the next one.

Sights from a run

March 6, 2013 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

I live in New York, and I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go? I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away.
~h.c.

February Failure

March 5, 2013March 5, 2013 ~ meh ~ 3 Comments

February Fitness was largely spent doing the above. That’s really all there is to it. But here are my monthly totals anyway:

Yoga: 4 hours + two semi-successful peacocks (I am temporarily suspended from attending my normal yoga class and have been trying to find a reasonable alternative, but that’s another story for another time)

Swim: 17,500 yards / 5hrs 30min

Run: 60.5 miles / 9hrs 15min

Geesh. Not really a ramp up from what I normally do, but…whatevs.

I cut 2 of my longer runs short this month due to feeling less than stellar. Even so, not too worried about the half marathon. But I did walk to work a whole bunch of times (4 miles round trip), which maybe might count for something sort of.

BUT!! To counter all of this, one of my masters swimmers broke 100K yards of swimming this month, so I will take that as a personal victory (this guy would literally come to the pool 6 days a week and swim up to 7K BY HIMSELF. what.)

There’s always next year.

Weekend

February 25, 2013March 26, 2013 ~ meh ~ 1 Comment

This picture is so creepy. Yes, we are the weird neighbors that the kids dare each other to ring the doorbell.

The girls have had a change of heart the past 2 weeks. I don’t want to jinx it, but we’ve been consistently getting big, beautiful, fully-shelled eggs. It’s wonderful. This one had a few calcium deposits on the shell, maybe they don’t need all of those oyster shells? Whatever.

Helping Paul get his work done. Always.

Dammit. My pretty blue shoes. That mudhole just looked like dirt.

Sunday morning pancakes. I haven’t made pancakes in forever, I never think to. They were delicious. I ate 4.

So yes, things here are HAPPENING.

Peacock

February 18, 2013January 6, 2015 ~ meh ~ 2 Comments

url photo via

I’ve been doing a lot of yoga lately. I like it for a few reasons:

Most of my exercise routine is cardio (running, swimming, (kind of) biking), so the change of pace is nice.
Trainers and PTs have consistently told me since breaking my back that hamstring flexibility and core strength are particularly important for me to maintain.
Since breaking my elbow I’ve been wary of weights, so I find this and TRX to be a nice alternatives for strength.
It makes my arms look good.

There is only one class I really find challenging and worthwhile. I love it. And not just because the teacher, who is most definitely stoned all the time, plays music during class and every time a Grateful Dead song comes on walks by me and goes, “Hey, California!”

There is one drawback: his favorite pose is this thing called peacock.

That is peacock. And, like most yoga poses, no, I have no idea how that resembles a peacock. At all. And yes, it’s as ridiculous as it looks. But he makes us try it every. single. day.

I’ve been attending this class regularly for about a year and a half. That’s a lot of unsuccessful peacock.

The first year or so I mostly just worked on getting my fingers pointing towards my feet with my elbows and forearms touching under my belly, with my legs still on the ground (hard to do with my gimp elbow.) That took a while.

Once I mastered just getting my hands in that position, next was me putting any weight at all on my hands. This usually lasted about .0003 seconds before I face planted into the floor. Over and over. Until I gave up and just laid there, face down, defeated.

Last week I was doing my usual flopping around, doing my best to look like I was actually trying so the teacher wouldn’t come over and pay attention to me, and suddenly…my legs were off the floor. Like magic. Not up high in the air, like the dude up there, but OFF THE FLOOR. I WAS FLYING.

…and then I promptly did something weird to my shoulder and had to take the week off.

And that, my friends, is my February Fitness success story.

Valentines Day Gift from the Girls

February 14, 2013 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

The ladies have decided to start laying normal eggs again. For the most part. I think they’re liking the (slightly) warmer weather and sun coming up at 7 instead of 8.

Then we got this.

Interesting. And kind of normal. It has a shell (albeit partially deformed and discolored) and has not been eaten. I’ll take it.

Happy Valentines Day.

February Fitness…is halfway done

February 13, 2013February 13, 2013 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

Wow, I really dropped the ball on this one. I feel so irresponsible.

Of course, the February Fitness Challenge has rolled around once again. And as a masters swimming coach, it is my job to remind you that if you haven’t already pulled out your speedo (or, if you aren’t a swimmer, your running shoes, or your climbing gear, or whatever it is you do) and gotten started, it’s never too late! We still have more than half the month left.

Aside from giving out some awesome 5-6K yard workouts involving some speed sets (many of which I’ve stolen from other sources), yelling “GOOD!” every time I hear someone in the pool say, “I seriously think I’m going to barf”, and using the slow cooker to make some ridiculously amazing carnitas, I haven’t really contributed a whole lot to the cause.

IMG_20130213_081900 mmmmm carnitas….

I tweaked my shoulder last week and have been giving it a rest from swimming since. Maybe I can negative split this thing and set a back-half record. We’ll see.

P.S. An Affenpinscher (what?) named Banana Joe won Best in Show at Westminster this year. Huge fan.