I did it all for the pie!

I haven't gone for a run since November 2nd, when I ran a rather sad two miles.  I was just a teensy bit nervous about running five miles with no extra miles on my legs at the Columbus Turkey Trot....but my mother had paid for my entry and I'd been looking forward to it for a month!  I didn't look up any info about the trot until this past Wednesday at 4pm, and I wish I'd paid closer to attention to that info!  I knew where it started and ended, and I knew that it ended on an uphill note, but that was about it.  I had a vague notion of where on OSU's campus I'd be too but that's really not important.  I also signed up for Salt's virtual run, so that was a cute little addition!

Mile 1 - Downhill, woo hoo!  Lots of walkers and people with dogs who didn't know how to behave on a leash.  I also kept thinking, who on earth brings a tiny little dog on a five-mile run? Some of the pups just didn't look like they were going to last much more than a mile!

Mile 2 - Lots of walkers still.  I know I'm a slower runner, and I know that this turkey trot is a family tradition for many people, but I'm pretty sure many of these people should have known better than to plant themselves in the 12:00 minute/mile group and walk five-across-with-arms-linked.  Also, I was thirsty!!

Mile 3 - I don't remember much here except that I finally got my water station and was suddenly running next to The 'Shoe.

Mile 4 - YAY sideways snow and high wind!  And now I have to go back up the huge hill I went down earlier!

Mile 5 - Sideways AND a headwind.  Fantastic!  I started thinking about Kara Goucher and the elite runners who had to run into a headwind for 16+ miles at the NYC marathon.  I just dug deep and finished as strong as I could.

My splits sucked.  I had to take a couple long walk breaks because of side stitches and going a little too hard in the first two miles.  I finished in 1:03:38, so it wasn't terrible.  I know I can do better though.  Maybe next year will be a repeat!

Now that fall training is over, I'm at a bit of a loss.  I don't have any official races on the horizon.  I'm contemplating the Pro Football Hall of Fame half marathon at the end of April, and of course I'll be back for the Nationwide Children's half marathon in October.  The HOF race is very new, so it's a much smaller field, but I like the finisher goodies and want to run someplace that's not Columbus.  I have a new training plan to try locked into my Nike Running app, and my goal for the winter is to maintain my legs and improve my fitness level.  I'll be working hard at the gym over the coming months to lose some of the weight I've managed to add to my frame.  I'll be shooting for 5 miles per week minimum of running.  I also have a few things in mind to try when it comes to training this time around (Garmin vs tech-free, music vs no music, and more).  Nowhere to go from here but up!

I really suck at this

Watching the TCS New York City Marathon today, I realized that I still haven't posted my recap of the Columbus half marathon!!!!  Life got in the way a little bit, but quite honestly, I kept getting distracted by getting back into the gym and a tiny little Min Pin who likes sleeping on my lap all the time.  I'm definitely needing a legit daily blogging challenge to get back on track!

So let's go back in time two weeks to Sunday October 19th.  The quick version of this recap?  I had three goals:

1. Finish around last year's time of about 2:58:00 (easy goal)
2. Finish in 2:45:00 (most likely goal)
3. Finish in 2:30:00 (good but unlikely goal)

Official finish time of 2:44:58

Garmin time of 2:44:52

I could tell during my long runs that an 11:30/mile pace just wasn't going to be do-able to reach goal #3.  My calf was doing much better, but I was still struggling with pacing properly.  I would be happy with a faster finish time, so I'm content with where I finished.

Nothing about this particular race day really stood out, and I was so focused on that goal time that making mental notes about anything didn't happen unless it was truly incredible.  This isn't exactly the most interesting race recap, and for that, I'm sorry! Enjoy this second list of memorable moments!

1. I'm a fan of the combined start/finish area.  There were definitely some issues, but I feel like the hiccups that were experienced were mainly because it was the very first year for this change.  People weren't using the family reunion area for that reason, so there was a HUGE backup where all the runners were exiting, which was made worse by the gear check pickup being right in that same area.  I'm sure next year it will be even better.
2. I'm also a fan of the new route for the most part.  Some areas were definitely a bit more narrow (read: crowded) than I would've liked, so I can only imagine what those areas were like for mid-packers.  Running past the hospital was a great change.  I mean, it's the Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon and Half Marathon!  We should totally run past the hospital!  Seeing some of the patients and medical staff was a great change for sure.  
3. During my long runs on the Heritage Rail Trail, I would see a lot of the same people.  There was one couple, dubbed Mr. & Mrs. Gazelle by yours truly, who ran beautifully and made six to seven minute miles look easy.  I was somewhere between miles 2 and 3 when I glanced over to the right side of Broad Street, to see the really fast people making their way back up Broad Street nearing mile 7 (it may have been mile 6).  Who do I see?  Yup, Mr. & Mrs. Gazelle, once again making it look so effortless.
4. Also during my long runs, mile 6 was nearly always my fastest and I would hit the wall around mile 8.  Sure as s**t, mile 6 clocked in at 11:14 and mile 8.5 I hit the wall hard.  No amount of Gummi Bears or salted caramel GU would cut it and I ended up doing a walk/run combo to the end.

I did it!

I know what I need to work on now, and I do plan on running a spring half marathon next year.  I've run in Columbus three times now so will definitely be looking for races outside of Central Ohio.  Right now I'm thinking of the Pro Football Hall of Fame half marathon in April but nothing is certain yet.

My next race is the Columbus Turkey Trot, a five-miler on Thanksgiving Day.  That's the only thing I have planned for the holiday!  I did join two Meetup.com running groups with the intention of getting out of my solo-runner head space.  We'll see how that works out!  As an only child and single 30something, I'm used to doing everything on my own.

Anyone else run Columbus?  What do you think of running clubs/group runs?

Blame it all on my roots.....

**********Just realized today (10/20/14) that I never actually hit PUBLISH on Saturday.  Whoops!  Columbus Nationwide Children's Hospital half-marathon recap to come later today!***********

I showed up in boots....oh wait, we're not on a Garth Brooks fan site.

My work life has been exceptionally busy since my last post. The days were long and exhausting and the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was hop on the computer and write something!  Hers a quick recap of my training........

I SURVIVED

I missed only one long run (my second eleven miler, which was the week after peaking at twelve miles) and a handful of shorter ones here and there towards the end. I missed the short runs because I was getting done at work too late. I don't like running around my neighborhood after dark because only about one quarter of the streets are actually lit!  The Heritage Rail Trail is my go-to spot for running since it's so close but since I don't have a headlamp (and don't plan on getting one) my options become a bit limited once the sun sets. The treadmill and I have an icy relationship, so I try to avoid hanging out with that machine at the gym.  The missed long run was due to my right calf saying "I just wanted to be a jerk one more time!"  I've been stretching and rolling and using The Stick on a regular basis but I definitely didn't do it the week following that 12-miler. And for that, I paid. Got two miles in and realized that my calf was getting worse. So I turned around and went home!

I did find that changing my shoes was actually quite helpful as well. I really liked my Nike Zoom Structure 17+. They were comfortable, colorful, and felt good on my feet. I decided to try on a pair of Nike Lunar Glides when I was at my favorite running store and they were having a sidewalk sale. I'd been seeing and hearing wonderful things about those and the Pegasus and really wanted to try them on. One of the girls working said that for my feet, the Pegasus wouldn't be enough support, so on a whim I grabbed the Lunar Glides from a box under the table marked "Womens Size 7.5". I put them on my feet and actually said out loud "I'm not supposed to like you!!"  Since the Lunar Glides were a return because whoever bought them didn't like them, that meant I got those babies at a nice discount!

Tomorrow is race day, and I'm excited.  I have three goals in mind.  So long as I meet or beat one of those, I will be very pleased with myself!

Top Ten

I wasn't sure what the heck to use for a top ten post.  Most random iPhone pictures?  Favorite movies?  Most ridiculous Wikipedia articles?  Well, since I really haven't been a good blogger in the time that I've had this little corner of the Internet in my control, I've decided on a list of the top ten things you, my dear reader, don't know about me.  Maybe you do know some of these things.  Probably not.  If you're friends with me on Facebook, then yeah, you probably will know these things since that means you most likely know me in the real world.  Anywho....enjoy today's post!

1 - I've moved a lot.  As in, I've lived in eight different states, but moved much more frequently than that.  For awhile there, it averaged one move every eighteen months.  And no, I was not a military brat.

2 - Speaking of moving and living all over the place, this is actually my second time living in Ohio.  The first time was from 1991 - 1996.

3 - I wasn't allowed to listen to TLC when CrazySexyCool came out because their music was too blatantly sexual.  Same reason I couldn't listen to Alanis Morrissette's "You Oughtta Know."  I was allowed to listen to Salt-N-Pepa and Boyz II Men.  Yeah, because their songs aren't blatantly sexual AT ALL.

4 - Chloe is not an only pet.  She also has two kitty sisters, Pandora and Lluvy.  They prefer to hide from me, because Chloe follows me everywhere and likes to attack her siblings.

5 - I'm on the leadership committee for the Columbus Young Professionals Club aka CYP.  That means I get to hang out at all kinds of fun events and schmooze and network and just have fun.

6 - I'm also one of the date participants for the CYP's annual charity fundraiser, Date 2 Remember.  See?  I have my own personal profile! If you happen to live in the area and want to go to the event, get in touch with me for cheap tickets!

7 - I'm not a good sand volleyball player, but I love it.  I'm usually on at least two teams every summer at Flannagan's.

8 - I'm running the Cap City half-marathon in May of this year.

9 - I'm deathly afraid of turning 30 in 2014.  We're talking panic attack level of fear.  My mother was the same way but refuses to admit it.  I was not allowed to mention her birthday at all that summer.

10 -  My favorite movies are Shakespeare In Love and Fight Club.  Seriously.

There you have it, folks!  Hope you enjoyed!

Staycation

One of my absolute favorite blogs is 'Sota Is Sexy.  Katrina is hilarious and always keeps me entertained.  A few weeks ago I won a giveaway for an adorable state charm necklace, and of course, I chose Maryland.  I may officially be from Ohio now, but Maryland will always be my first home.  Anyway, we're Facebook friends now, and I noticed last week that Katrina was looking for guest bloggers.  I offered to write a post, and it'll be up on her blog this Friday!  Trust me, there will be a link to that post.  I wrote it from Chloe's perspective too.  Should be amusing!

I've officially been Ohio now for a little over two years.  Kind of hard to believe....I've been so used to moving frequently that it's a shock to the system to be in one place for an extended period of time.  I still don't get excited over OSU football, and I still get amusement out of how vanilla this town is.  Thankfully I've discovered some new things to do and see out here.  I do wish I had a few more girl friends, since I'm still pretty new out here, but I suppose I'll get there eventually.

This week is Staycation 2012.  The original plan was to go to Cape Cod for the week and see the Falmouth Road Race, but gas is expensive and flights aren't cheap either.  Monday I did basically nothing, Tuesday I took a ton of stuff to the Goodwill store and did some shopping, and today?  Today will probably be pretty low-key too.  Volleyball is tonight, so I'll probably go to Flannagan's early for some relaxing by the pool before the game.  I've been enjoying the break from work, but I am itching to check my work email!

summer time

And once again, I've been BUSY!  Chloe has been enjoying the summer weather, spending as much time as possible outside or at doggy day camp (sometimes both).  We did take a week-long vacation down to southern Maryland to visit my family for the holiday, where all sorts of fun was had.  It was nice to take a break and visit with people I hadn't seen in close to a year.  My parents' dog, Tug, didn't get along with Chloe, so they took turns going to the kennel down there.  Neither dog seemed to mind too much!  I did fail to really take any pictures.  Oops!

My full-time job has been very busy recently, and there are some changes currently going on that require me to spend time doing extra things on my computer at home.  But hopefully it will all be worth it in the end!  I was also asked to be a sub for a friend's volleyball team in mid-June, and after a couple games, I was asked to be on the same friend's team for the Summer II session.

 Not my team!  We were on a different court and a different night from when this was taken by the Columbus Dispatch for a great article on things to do out here in summer.

The team did terribly during the first session, but the second session should be much more fun and exciting.  It's been great just being out there doing something active and hanging out with everyone.  This year seems to be turning into a much more social and interesting year than my first one back here in Ohio.  I think this is the most social I've been in years, now that I think about it.  I guess having a regular Monday thru Friday job is working out quite nicely!

No new house projects recently, but plenty are in the works.  I'm planning to start saving up for an addition to the house too!  Eventually I think I'd like to expand on the back and add a bathroom on the first floor, which would mean my kitchen and dining areas would both be expanded as well.  Maybe I can get a butcher block countertop island?

I'm in love with Dana's kitchen in her old house.  Photo from House*Tweaking.  Totally check it out for some amazing inspiration and all the DIY work on the new house aka The Underdog.

That's all for now, folks!  Off to go practice a few more things and rescue Chloe from getting wrapped around the seating area on the porch.

As promised

Bear with me, this one may get long!  There are lots and lots of pictures too.

 After a great little surprise at work, I rewarded myself with this Huffy Cranbrook Cruiser from Wal-mart.  I had been thinking about getting a bike for a couple weeks since I was tired of wasting gas whenever I needed to run short errands in Hilliard.  There's a bike lane on the main road!  I hardly ever see people using it.  I hardly ever see anyone on a bike out here, but I've always been one to go against the grain at times.  I didn't want to shell out more than $100 for my first bike in years, just because if I didn't commit myself, I wouldn't feel bad about the money.  Good news though!  I love my bike and have been going on short rides around my neighborhood every couple of days since I brought this home.  My only complaint about the bike is that it didn't come with a basket or a bell.  I did pick up this Wald 133 basket (quick release) that just hooks onto the handlebars yesterday.  If that doesn't work out, I'll track down the grocery basket that attaches to the frame.  And maybe one day I'll get myself a Schwinn Cream or another attractive cruiser!

 Remember my rant about my storm door?  My step-dad was kind enough to solve that problem for me once again last weekend.  I gave him a small list of little things to fix throughout the house when he was here, which were mainly things I wanted to do but didn't know how.

 This always baffled me.  I love this thing because I put the shovels, brooms, etc. on here.  But it never made sense why it blocked the electrical outlet once you put stuff on it.  It's been relocated to the other side of the garage and placed at a much friendlier short girl level.

The light works!  YAAAAAY!  I thought the fan was broken too, but it turns out that it's just really quiet.

 This hook was relocated next to the front steps.  The petunias have since been moved to the steps because they were weighing down the hook and pulling it forward.  Oops!

My poor tree.  I put some Round-Up all over those weeds and started pulling and trimming, only to discover that some of these weeds have roots an inch thick and are buried deep into the ground.  I tried digging them up but it's pretty much useless.  I need to borrow my neighbors' clippers with the longer handles so that I can trim these buggers low enough to the soil that I can place Weed-X over them and cover it all with mulch.  The weeds on the back side are about three inches tall, and I can't cut them with my little hand clippers because they're so thick.

I found out from some neighbors that the previous owners last year just stopped paying attention to yard work.  They would mow but that was about it.  I thought at first that the insane weeds around the tree out front were due to negligence on their end, but with how thick some of these are, I'd say it's been a few years since those were addressed.  I'm the fourth owner of this house, so I think it's been an issue since owner number one.  Each owner would do something to address the problem, and it finally ended with someone putting down a mulch-looking pad of sorts on top of the weeds and hoping for the best.  My poor little tree!  I'm going to work on it as best I can this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, it's the Columbus Pride Festival today!  I'm bummed I can't go.  I'm working the weekend part-time job (the one that pays for gas and groceries) during the afternoon and may just stay home tonight to avoid looking for parking in town tonight.  Parking is always annoying on weekends, but I'm sure it would be even worse today.  People are coming from all over to attend this.  Perhaps Chloe and I will go for a bike ride to get sushi tonight?

To end this looooong post, enjoy some puppy pictures!

Busy Bee

I've been busy, but with more personal things than house things.  I've made sure to get some things done though, such as....

Selling this on Craigslist finally!  I happened to put the posting up the day that we got an inch of snow, but I still sold it in under 12 hours.

And filling the lovely hole that I didn't think about until after I almost fell into it.  This was from the merry-go-round on the swing set.  The previous owners cemented that into the ground.  But it honestly didn't occur to me that taking that out would leave a hole.  Home Depot to the rescue again though!  $1.97 each for the topsoil I used plus free grass seed from the neighbors made this the cheapest project in a long time for me.

However, the day after I put down the topsoil and grass, temperatures dropped from nice balmy 60s to ridiculous 30s and 40s, including some snow.  Looks like I'll be starting over with the grass seed next week!

My big thing right now though are my Adirondack chairs!  Snagged two of these at HD for $30 each!

Silly me!  I put one completely together then realized that I needed to stain or paint the wood BEFORE I did everything else.  So this was my living room for a day or two, but I didn't get much done.  I should be done soon and will definitely be showing those off!

Remember my OSU post?  Chocoholique in the Short North has an amazing selection to choose from, but if you're a die-hard Buckeyes fan, you have shiny silver and red buckeye candy to get your hands on!

 You can thank one of these guys for helping me to experience Columbus more.  Feel free to guess!

What post isn't complete without a Chloe picture?  She can jump onto my desk from the swivel chair.

Bring it on

I'll admit.....I've been lazy.  Like, no projects in weeks LAZY.  I have no idea why I've gotten into a rut, but I'm going to blame it on the weather being cold and dreary and also getting out and about in Columbus a little bit more.  It seriously needs to warm up soon because I'd love to spend a few hours in the Short North checking out all the local shops and art galleries.  Short North Arts District in Columbus, Ohio.

I've settled on a couple projects that I definitely plan on completing in the coming months, with a personal deadline of June 30th (first vacation in close to 2 years starts July 1st!!!!).  We'll see how I do.  "I love the sound of deadlines whooshing past....." gets in my head whenever I mention deadlines.  Now if only I could remember what movie it's from......

Project Number One - Make the Office Pretty

I still need to paint the trim, since so far only one 10-inch section has been completed.  May tackle more of this tonight.  Maaaaaaybe even paint the walls, because the pink is just too "little girl/princess" for me.

Project Number Two - Operation Kitchen

I promise pictures of the two-tone kitchen cabinets tonight.  I also promise that those will be covered up, along with the counters, as soon as that tax refund hits the bank.....and I find a way to keep the cats off the counters (tips anyone?).  I'm considering using Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations in one of the white colors and Giani Granite Paint for Countertops in Bombay Black.  Rust-Oleum Countertop Transformations is also being considered, but I'm leery of that $250 price point.  I'm completely lost on the wall color though.  I'm leaning towards two accent walls (more on that when the pictures are up later tonight), and I really like the idea of red.  However, let's think for a second:

Red walls + white cabinets + black/gray counters + living in Columbus, OH = OSU KITCHEN!!!

 Sorry to a few family friends, but that will never happen in my house.

Confused about the OSU thing?  Columbus doesn't have a pro football or baseball team to go nuts (ha!) over, so instead they go crazy for the college football team, whose mascot really is a nut.  A few examples of the crazy lengths people go to in order to show their support:

Let's not forget that the busiest weekends for fall weddings are when the team is having a by-week or playing an away game.  Also, guess what colors are pretty darn popular for weddings out here?

One last thing....if you've visited my blog, how about a comment or two?  Pleeeeeease?  I'd love to get some ideas and opinions and helpful advice!