11-ish Questions

Revisited.

I originally filled out this survey in March of 2012. I thought it would be fun to take it again and see what has changed and what hasn't.
 
1. Two TV Shows You Watch Every Week?

I watch virtually zero TV. There's no time people. No. Time. The only exceptions are episodes of The Office while I'm on the bike trainer (I'm working my way through the last season finally) and an episode or two of Game of Thrones every now and then (almost done with Season 1). That's it.

2. Top Three Places On Your Must Visit List?

New Zealand - India - Galápagos Islands (these haven't changed)

3. Current Favorite Decorating Color Combo

Still loving the yellow and gray. Also quite fond of black & white with jewel tone accents.

4. Do You Use The Snooze Button On Your Alarm?

Trying to get better about it, but I still snooze through a morning workout every now and then, which I always regret because then guess what? Evening workout.

5. Oldest, Middle or Youngest?

As my parents have not miraculously conceived a child in their 60s (or adopted one, I suppose), I'm still firmly in the middle.

6. Do You Collect Anything?

Race bibs? I am literally wallpapering my garage with them. I should take a picture sometime.

7. What Is Your Middle Name?

Leigh. Still.

8. What Did You Want To Be When You Grew Up?

"Kristen, MD. I still think about it sometimes, but I think I really just want to do the schooling, and not actually be a doctor - and that's not how life works unless you are rich." [I stand by this.]

9a. Are You City or Country?

Getting more city by the year, I think. I still love visiting the country and I love the idea of small town life, but I've gotten used to everything I could want being within a 15-minute drive. And really, what would I do if I were living in the country and I needed Chinese food at 5am or a fake Rolex that breaks as soon as it rains?

9b. Tom Boy or Girlie Girl?

Still neither. I think the classy casual designation stands.

9c. Talker or Listener?

Listener, but getting better about not letting people take advantage of that and just spill all their information and woes without ever seeming to care about mine.

10. Fancy Label For Your Decorating Style?

Still classy casual, I guess, with a little bit of triathlete thrown in (case in point: perpetual bike/trainer/shoes in my living room). I like things to be fairly simple and uncluttered, though my home doesn't always reflect that. I'm trying to pare down the extra this year, and have made it through my kitchen and my closet so far.

11a. What Would Your Friends and Family Say Is Your Best Quality?

I am responsible to a fault. I'm also hilarious, just fyi. ;)

11b. Your Worst?

I can be a little...set in my ways, and deviation from my norm generally doesn't make me a happy camper (read: I do things this way because it's the RIGHT way. Your way is stupid and less efficient.) Adjusting to different ways of doing things is a humbling process (read: Oh. I guess your way does make sense. Oops.)

Challenge Roth Training: Week 7

19 weeks to go.

Week 7 totals:
Swim: 2. 2600m, 1hr 34min
Bike: 2. 3hr 19min, Saturday Ride: 30.5mi, 768elev.
Run: 3. 17mi, 2hr 43min
Strength: 0. 0min
Total time: 7hr 36min

Challenges:
Letting my pulled shoulder heal resulted in some heinous kick sets in the pool on Tuesday. Do you have any idea how long it takes to kick 400 meters? A long time, that's how long. Plus, it's kind of exhausting. My tenure of pain(ful boredom) was bookended by 200 meter sets of breaststroke (which is a slow stroke for me), followed by some 25 meter easy freestyle tests to see if I could swim normally without pain, and--hallelujah!--I could.

Accomplishments:
Stayed in my heart rate zones (for the most part) on Saturday's bike ride in spite of two rather annoying things:

1. Powering by multiple people during a hard, all-out interval on a long hill, and then having those same people pass me by (probably thinking "oh, she burned out. She burned out hard.") as I settled into a prescribed recovery interval. My pride, you guys. Ouch.

2. Pedaling into a crazy headwind and having to maintain a low heart rate means pedaling slowly. So very slowly. My amazing/stupid watch beeps every time I get out of my prescribed heart rate zone, and so I spent the majority of the last 10 miles of my ride yelling "I KNOOOOW" at my right wrist at regular intervals as I struggled to keep things at an easy effort. Needless to say, speed and mileage were at the lower end this week.

Surprises:
A sad one this week - my uncle died somewhat unexpectedly on Friday. I spent a big chunk of the day trying to find a reasonably-priced ticket that would get me to his funeral in Kansas three days later, and thankfully managed to do so. It was great to see family (all my cousins made it back - I hate that it seems like that only happens for funerals these days), and the service was really nice. Just as they began the internment at the tiny country cemetery, a huge flock of snow geese took off from a neighboring field, honking and calling in the crisp, late-winter air, and flew over our little gathered crowd. It was a really beautiful moment, and was a nice little memorial for my big, opinionated, soft-hearted Uncle Steve.

Bonus:
Had the first official Team K-Lar ride of the 2014 season on Saturday. So far we have 33 people on the team, and we're making our way to our team goal of $25,000. If you're able, help us get there!

Challenge Roth Training: Week 6

20 weeks to go.

Week 6 totals:
Swim: 1. 700m, 33min
Bike: 2. 3hr 2min, Saturday Ride: 31mi, 925elev.
Run: 4. 25mi, 4hr 37min
Strength: 1. 20min
Total time: 8hr 32min

Challenges:
Hurt my shoulder/lat during either the swim or bike on Tuesday (not sure which), so had to sit out Thursday's swim/run and go for a long walk instead. I very much dislike not being able to do what is on my training schedule, but I listened to Coach LO and didn't push it. JK and I ended up going for a nice, late-night stroll around the lake.

Accomplishments:
Ran the Phoenix Half Marathon this weekend and pulled off a solid PR of 2:08:28. A-woo-hoo!

Surprises:
That PR was a heck of a surprise for many reasons:
1. (and this is the big one) my legs were so. sore. from all the running/strength work this week.
2. it rained. A lot.
3. it was really windy.

Bonus:
Tuesday's strength workout took place at the lake post-run. If you want to feel like you're winning at life, do squat jumps near the local Arts Center, in front of God and everyone. In my body, where my shame gland should be, there's a second awesome gland instead. True story.

Challenge Roth Training: Week 5

21 weeks to go.

Week 5 totals:
Swim: 2. 3800m, 1hr 56min
Bike: 2. 2hr 44min, Saturday Ride: 25mi, 757elev.
Run: 4. 21mi, 3hr 38min
Strength: 0. 0hr
Total time: 8hr 18min

Challenges:
Started my Friday swim at 9:30pm. Not my best showing of time management. Oh well, at least I didn't have to share a lane. ...or a pool. If you're looking for a great time to swim by yourself, 9:30 on a Friday night is that time. LO prescribed different swim speeds for the set at the end (4x100m at Ironman pace, 4x100m at Half Ironman pace, 4x100m at Olympic tri pace). I think it's adorable that she thinks I have more than one speed. I have one swim speed and it is called "moving forward." I suppose there is a second very similar speed that I like to call "flailing more and expending a lot more energy but still only moving forward, possibly at an imperceptibly faster pace." But mainly just the one speed.

Accomplishments:
Ran 10 miles on Sunday with no breaks. My tried and true "run 1 mile, walk 1 minute" strategy has gone by the wayside these past few months, which is kind of exciting. Also, I listened to one entire Radiolab podcast, one Radiolab Short, and half a Fresh Air interview during said run. Running AND learning.

Surprises:
I am not hating swimming these days. I guess I'm not really any faster, but the simple act of thinking about my form takes up so much of my focus that I don't have time to think about how slow I am. I don't know if that's really a good thing, but there it is.

Bonus:
JK ran the Ragnar Relay this past weekend. He had talked about wanting to run it, but after having completed it the past three years, I just had no desire to do it again. A friend of mine had to drop out of her team, so I put them in touch and he took over her spot. It takes a special kind of person to be okay with hopping in a van with five people he's never met to run together for a couple days, and he tackled it with enthusiasm. I don't think it ended up being his favorite experience (gather together five strangers and you're bound to have at least a couple annoying ones in the bunch), but he made it through. And it was amusing for me to watch the unfolding of the completely-expected Ragnar Aftermath: the sleep-deprived grumpiness and exhaustion and general "I'm so DONE with these people" attitude that affects even the best of friends after 30 hours in a smelly van together. Oh, Ragnar. What a horrible, awful, wonderful race.

Challenge Roth Training: Week 4

22 weeks to go.

Week 4 totals:
Swim: 2. 3850m, 2hr 5min
Bike: 1. 1hr 21min, Saturday Ride: 23mi, 938elev.
Run: 1. 4.7mi, 0hr 57min
Strength: 1. 1hr
Total time: 5hr 23min

Challenges:
Ugh. I was sick this week with allergies that turned into a cold, which made everything terrible. I had planned to run Thursday's prescribed 6-miler with JK, and my illness-addled brain apparently decided I should still give it a try. About 20 minutes in I realized I'd made a horrible mistake, but I still had to get back to my car, so the death-march continued for another half an hour or so. Started slow, got slower, took walk breaks, and was generally a mess. JK was a gem and stuck with me through it all, even after I (rather dramatically) told him to "just leave me behind. Don't sacrifice your training run for me." So. Note to self: Maybe just take a rest day when you feel like crap.

Accomplishments:
Averaged 17.2mph on what turned out to be a pretty relaxed (albeit hilly) ride to Rio Verde and back.

Surprises:
A bouquet of lilies and irises was delivered to my office on Wednesday.

Bonus:
Saw the Lego Movie with JK on Valentine's Day because we are awesome. It had really fun animation and some great jokes. Recommended (which means this could also fall under the "surprises" category.)

Challenge Roth Training: Week 3

23 weeks to go.

Week 3 totals:
Swim: 2. 2800m, 1hr 33min
Bike: 2. 2hr 11min, Saturday Ride: 0mi, 0elev.
Run: 5. 19.35mi, 3hr 5min
Strength: 1. 10min
Total time: 6hr 59min

Challenges:
Ran the Runner's Den Double Stack again this year (5K at 8am, 10K at 9:15, pancakes after). I ran it last year with Lauren, and was woefully under-trained. I was really looking forward to seeing what I could do this year after three really solid weeks of IM training.

Accomplishments:
PR-ed in both the 5K and 10K! Knocked a minute and a half off my previous best 5K pace (averaged an 8:23 pace) and knocked a full eight minutes off of my 10K PR (came in just over 1 hour), which was pretty impressive considering I had gone all-out on that 5K 45 minutes earlier.

Surprises:
Did a deceptively simple 10 minutes of leg strength exercises post-run on Thursday and was feeling it for days. DAYS. Squat jumps, man. They'll get you.

Bonus:
Cassie was here for the weekend, and we had a great time! We also took turns sling-shotting each other Roller Derby-style around each of the 90- and 180-degree turns on the 10K course on Sunday. My Garmin recorded these events on this graph of my pace. Super fun!

Wheeeee!

Challenge Roth Training: Week 2

24 weeks to go.

Week 2 totals:
Swim: 3. 4150m, 2hr 22min
Bike: 4. 3hr 55min, Saturday Ride: 19.6mi, 462elev.
Run: 2. 9mi, 1hr 24min
Strength: 0. 0min
Total time: 7hr 41min

Challenges:
Friday's swim was a comedy of errors. Went to the pool late to beat the morning rush, but apparently there is also a late-morning rush because it was packed. Shared a lane with a surly gentleman for awhile, then finally pounced on another lane when it opened up. Just couldn't get into a good rhythm; it took me a half an hour to get to the main set, which was 2x400, using a buoy and paddles on the second 400 (that adds resistance and makes it harder to swim. To build character. And muscles.) Forgot my swim paddles, and thought LTF would have buoys (they don't), so ended up doing the exact opposite of what was prescribed and swam that second 400 with fins, which took my 400m time down by 1/3. That must be what real swimmers must feel like. Sigh.

Accomplishments:
I wanted to punch my watch in the face on Sunday's long run as it beeped and beeped and beeped and periodically told me I was running a 9:35 and an 8:21 pace within the span of three seconds and generally was just stupid. I think maybe it was the (relative) cold? Anyway, apparently I can pace myself pretty well based on feel because I nailed my progressively faster goal paces, malfunctioning watch and all. Booyah.

Surprises:
There are actually good things to be said about my swim stroke! Coach LO says:
"The nice thing about your stroke as it is now, is it is pretty relaxed- which seriously is a good thing! So many people (myself included) really fight the water and spend too much energy in the swim. Our goal for you is going to be to keep the effort level about where it's at so you can use it all up on the bike and run- we just need to make that stroke more efficient." I'ma try.

Bonus:
JK, Mikey, and I lifted a piano into and out of a moving truck. We are...quite strong. Also: free piano! Jo's lovely sister Alyssa straight up gave me a piano on Sunday. I've wanted one for years and years, and now--just right out of the blue--I have one. The Secret works, you guys. (ha!) Big thanks to Alyssa and Chris for their generosity! (and to the guys for their muscles)