solar squirrel

Posing like a freak at my Halloween / Birthday party (this was right before getting in the hot tub)

I cannot believe how quickly time is flying by!  My last post was over a month ago.  I’ve managed to steal some time away from everything to write some long-due updates.  Here is a brief summary of the past month:

Running:

• Took 2nd overall female team at Akron Roadrunner Marathon with my sweet F^5 Team.  (Five Fast Femme-Fatale Freaks!)  I got my award in the mail the other day - sweet!!
• Ran a PR at towpath marathon despite having AWFUL stomach issues and stopping 4 different times for the bathroom (one of the times I even waited).  Todd was SO AWESOME and ran with me and even waited for me at the bathrooms.  He kept me going even though I felt horrible.  I am so lucky to have such a wonderful guy!!!  Averaged sub 8-min pace up to the last 4 miles.  Took 2nd in my age group with a time of 3:37.  I am bound and determined to break 3:30 next marathon I do.
• Signed up for Rock and Roll marathon in Phoenix, AZ.  (Shutout of Boston AND the winter Buckeye 50k and decided on a whim to do it w/ my girl pals Brittany and Bridget! - there is still room for one more girl if you are down for a fun weekend email me!!!!)
• Training-wise haven’t been doing much.  Going to start back strong to be ready for 1/16.  Will do separate post about marathon training.
• Other running races include Homerun for the Homeless (Thanksgiving day) and Fool’s 50k on 3/26.

Training:

• I’ve been very consistent with my workouts with Larry.  I have been working out with him for 30 min on Wed evenings and for an hour on Sat. am w/ Brittany (buddy sessions).  I am continuing to see incredible results.  My upper-body has never been this cut and my abs are starting to become more defined.  Now if I could just get that flab to go away on my butt!!  Larry promises me that we’ll get rid of it…I’m not holding my breath.
• I’ve only been able to make it to cycling class one day a week on average.  I’m hoping to try to increase this, but it’s really tough with my work load right now.  It’s probably time to break out the trainer…
• Swimming has been AWFUL (you reading this Brian???).  I’ve probably only managed to swim 2 or 3 times in the past month.  Not good.  Need to be more consistent, but when I swim at Mayfield I get home SO late…
• My eating has been out of control.  Literally.  I am amazed that I am not a 400 lb. giant.  Since towpath I’ve been lazier and way piggier.  I used my birthday as an excuse, but seriously - you can’t eat like a cow for a whole month and now I’ve got Thanksgiving and Christmas as an excuse.  I’m going to need to just get some self-control.

Life / Family / Work:

• Work is going well.  We have so much fun.  We’re starting to have our own lingo and mannerisms.  It’s so cool to see us evolve and become successful.  The highs have definitely been more frequent than the lows lately and it’s really awesome to be working doing what I’ve always wanted to do.  RENEWABLE ENERGY IS SO FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!
• Life in general is good.  Time feels like it’s going faster.  It’s weird.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that I’m so busy at work, but I can’t believe how fast time goes by…
• Our deck is finally done!  We built a 400 sq. ft. wooden deck in our backyard and it is AMAZING:

Looking down on the deck during Halloween Party

• Speaking of the Halloween party - here is a link to the photos.

I’m going to be keeping my blog more updated from now on, so stay tuned for more madness from the life of the Solar Squirrel!  (Which, by the way, I am now the proud owner of a mini solar squirrel!  Stay tuned for a blog post about it!!!)

Just a quick post to recap my week of trying to get back to being fit and a quick side note:

Has anyone else noticed a strange increase in the number of people holding cardboard signs standing on the side of the road (typically at an intersection where there is a stop light) begging for money / assistance?  Well, in Akron, where I live, I can tell you there has been an EXPONENTIAL INCREASE in people who are begging on the side of the road.  I’m not sure I believe most of them, though.  The one day I was driving in Cuyahoga Falls and I saw a younger girl and then about 1/2 mile later on the same road a younger guy.  Seriously?  They were probably around 19 - 22 at the oldest.  Dude!!!  You are young and strong!!!  Go get a job as a server or landscaper!  The money is great and it’s fun work!!  Then there are the more pathetic-looking one’s who stand down by where we live in the valley.  There are 2 or 3 different people who stand in the same place at the intersection where Merriman crosses with Portage Path.  The one guy does look pretty pathetic - but he looks strong - like he could definitely do some type of manual labor job if he was REALLY desperate.  The thing is - I don’t think these people actually WANT a job.  I think that they are just happy standing on the side of the road with their crumply cardboard sign and waiting for someone to give them money.  Argh…I don’t like to give them money, though, even though I feel bad for them.  I want to help them find a job or give them food or talk to them or listen, but I don’t know if it makes sense to give them money. 

Here’s something else:  have you noticed that they are only there in the spring / summer?  I have.  I don’t ever remember seeing them in the winter - or on any crappy-weather day for that matter.  I don’t know…I just thought I would put the statement out there and see if this was happening anywhere else other than by me.

Here’s a recap of the week’s training:

Monday: Bike 1 hour
Tuesday: Rest (gonna get to the track not this Tue but next!!!)
Wednesday: Bike 1 hour
Thursday: Run ~7 miles on trails 9:30 pace
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 1 hour workout w/ Larry the torturer
Sunday: 10 mile easy run w/ Bridget, Addy, and Steve

Going to hit the pool this week!!!!!!!

This year with the new jobbie and all Todd and me decided to lay low and stay in Akron for Christmas.  It ended up being a great time well spent with family and a few friends.  I’m so happy that this year is almost over; 2009 was pretty crappy compared to 2008.  2009’s major lows were the loss of my job at Philips and my IT band injury.  Then there was the incredibly stressful few months at my ‘transition job’ which ended up making me realize what it’s like to have an awful boss (never had one till then!) but also allowing me to find a great new friendship.

2009 also had some really great things - like the fact that I finally landed an incredible job with incredible superiors doing work in renewable energy - what I’ve ALWAYS WANTED!  There is also the completion of my MBA in 2009 which is pretty exciting.  It’s neat to have a graduate degree, and with a concentration in sustainability I might add!

I really think that 2010 may be the best year yet.  I’m going to try to make it that way, at least.

Todd and I got a real tree this year.  We didn’t have a tree last year since we were in Oregon, so this year we made sure to get one early!

Harnessing Christmas tree to the Subaru

We got the tree Thanksgiving weekend.  It smelled SOOOOOOO good in the house!  We got out all of the Christmas decorations (mostly animal ornaments from World Market - we buy them once they go on sale for 75% off) and put up the lights.  I thought it looked pretty cozy.  Todd’s parents mailed us a ton of gifts and when we put them under the tree it looked like a present explosion!

Christmas tree with presents!

Christmas day we had a nice afternoon filled with TONS of delicious food at my mom’s house.  Todd bought me a gorgeous bracelet from Swarovski (SOOOOOO SOOOOOOO SPARKLY!!!) and my mom got me the gift of fitness - a PINK TRAINER!  Wooo hoooo!!!

Todd on the PINK trainer. :)

We’ve been building a lot of fires in the downstairs fireplace.  I love having the basement room finished.  It’s crazy that we never used that room before this summer when Todd re-did it.  It’s sooooo cozy with the aquarium lights.

View of fireplace from another angle

Our new freshwater aquarium

Another shot to show the wooden base and top

Todd made the top for the aquarium and he stained the entire thing.  I keep wondering if there is anything that he’s NOT good at doing…

I’ve been meaning to post pictures of the new room downstairs.  I took the fireplace photos, but still should get some good one’s of the entire room.  If you’ve been to the house at least you’ve seen it!  We’ve had a few get-together’s so at least people know it’s real.  (I’ve had some friends ask me if Todd is STILL working on the basement whenever he doesn’t show up to something with me…he literally worked EVERY weekend and evening for a few months this summer!)

Here’s to an awesome 2010 to EVERYONE!  HAPPY NEW YEAR KIDS - LET’S MAKE 2010 A YEAR TO REMEMBER!

I went to the Dr. on Friday and the short story is that they think that I have an alignment problem that was aggravated due to my increased mileage and speed work.  They have ordered physical therapy to get to the bottom of the issue.  Two different Dr.’s spent about an hour with me moving my knee and leg, watching me do single and double-legged squats, comparing both knees, etc.  I was thoroughly impressed.  (I went to an Orthopedic sports Dr. based out of Akron Children’s Hospital.)  My first day of physical therapy is Wed.  They told me to bring in my running shoes so that they can also look at my wear patterns and also possibly do a gait analysis.  This is great!  I think I’m finally going to get over this dumb knee issue!

So what have I been doing since I haven’t been running?

Watching amazed as Todd transforms the old, hideous bathroom into a modern spa paradise!

New Shower

(More pictures to come soon in a post dedicated to our bathroom transformation)

Drinking WAY too much at Blues and Brews and then drinking margaritas:

B and me after Blues and Brews

Having fun with my intelligent, athletic, talented, funny, cute, all around AWESOME and HARD CORE boyfriend:

My cutie

Making yummy plates of food and indulging waaaaay too much:

Olives, cheeses, meats, breads, fruits and wine!

So yea, life has still continued and I’m getting by without doing my favorite pastime.  I’m sooooo ready to get back to running and I’m being hopeful that this physical therapy will work out.  In the meantime I’m going to continue doing my cross training to maintain a moderate level of fitness.  (Plus with all this eating and drinking, I’m going to be 500 lbs. by the time I get back to running!)  I miss hanging out with my running girls.  Worst case I go and have fun with all of them at Columbus.  (I’m signed up for the half marathon which I may or may not be able to run).  I sure do miss running with all of my SERC friends…

Today I woke up to this strange knocking noise.  I went out to the porch and saw Todd outside doing as he calls it ‘Man Stuff’ - today it’s splitting wood.  We had the park come and take down 2 dead trees and Todd asked them to just leave them so that he could use the wood for the fireplaces.  Earlier this week he did ‘Man Stuff’ using the chain saw.  Today he’s splitting it.  He cracks me up - when he’s doing ‘man stuff’ (anything involving a chain saw, ax, car parts, heavy lifting / moving, demolishing, or building) he is in his element.  He’s like a rooster standing tall with a big poofed out chest.  haahahhahaaaa!!!  He is going to kill me when he reads this…

Todd doing some 'Man Stuff'

There have been 2 ‘baby’ owls in the yard the past few days.  They are so cool!  Todd saw one dive down and eat a mouse earlier tonight!  They make the strangest squeaking noises.  Todd said that they are likely still babies because they have fuzzy feathers on their heads - but they are big.  The one in this pic was on the roof earlier - it was so close Todd could have touched it.

It was glaring at Pearl (our cat) through the window as if it wanted to eat her!

Owl in the tree right outside the window

It has officially been 1 week without running.  Today I am going to run 3 easy miles on the flat towpath with the new pair of running shoes that I bought yesterday.  After Bridget and Steve’s suggestion - I went to Fleet Feet and got fitted.  I was VERY impressed with their service and may start going there regularly.  The young guy who helped us was awesome!  He asked me about my training, if I had any pain, what my planned weekly mileage was, and where I ran (i.e. road or trail).  Then he measured my feet (ULTRA bonus points for not falling over laughing at my insanely WIDE duck feet) and wrote some stuff on a piece of paper, put a dot on the tops of each of my feet, and had me walk and run while he watched.  He had me do it a few times so he got it right.  I was fairly certain that I don’t under or over pronate - since the wear pattern on the bottom of my shoes is even.  He agreed and picked out some neutral shoes for me to try on.

I ended up with some Mizuno Wave Creation 10’s.  They feel AWESOME.  I can’t wait to see how they feel when I run.  They were a bit (ok - for me A LOT) pricey.  But - if they’re going to help prevent injury then they are totally worth it.

Yesterday was my sister’s Birthday so I took her shopping (and to dinner on Friday night).  I had a blast - haven’t gone shopping since before I was laid off from Philips (October).  Bought a bunch of stuff (all on sale, but still).  I can’t believe clothing sizes anymore.  I swear they’ve changed to accomodate our growing bodies.  So the number stayed the same, but the clothing got much larger.  So it gives us this false sense that we’re not getting fat.  Most of my friends are smaller, so I forget that the general population is enormous - until you go somewhere like the mall - and see kids that are pushing 300 lbs and probably have health problems that used to be reserved for 70 year olds.  I guess it’s that ‘everyone gets a trophy’ mentality that is to blame.  We’re forgetting to take responsibility for our own actions - it’s someone else’s fault - someone else’s responsibility to make me eat right, exercise, go to school, get a job, follow the law.  Someone else will take care of it for me, and if they don’t - it’s not me who is to blame - it’s someone else.  Because in today’s world, everyone wins; it’s all happy ever after; rainbows, puppy-dogs, and sunshine.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that I’m taking a week off from running - I was still excited because Todd and I were going to go to West Branch tonight for some mountain biking.  Well, last night when I was getting ready for bed I was going down the stairs to take out my contacts (to the downstairs bathroom because the main one is under construction) and I slipped and fell down the stairs.  It hurt BAD.  I was just laying on the ground with the wind knocked out of me trying to say “I’m ok” so that Todd didn’t freak out when he saw me laying there.  He was so cute - he came flying down the stairs “are you ok?! Are you ok!?  Did you  hit your head?!”  He couldn’t be so lucky as for me to whack my brain… :)  The weird thing is that it gave me chills - like when you’re cold - I was shivering.  Todd said it was maybe from an adrenalin rush.  Interesting.

Now I have a messed up back, butt, and arm.  I think it will be ok, but my arm is pretty swolen and I can’t move it normally.  (I don’t think it’s broken anywhere - but if I still can’t move it I’ll get it checked out tomorrow).  I guess this could be looked at positively.  It just so happens the week I take off from running I can’t do anything else.  At least I got in a good swim Monday night with my good pals Brian and Kristin!

I’ve had this stupid sore throat for over a week but I think I’m finally getting better.  I managed to get in a few workouts, but nothing substantial.  Again I have gotten buried by work, mostly because everything is new and it takes me twice the time to figure something out because I have to ask questions and do independent research on things.  Luckily as time goes on things will get easier because I will be more comfortable with the industry.  It’s still incredibly exciting and I’m LOVING it!

I am leaving Sat. for San Diego for a water conference.  Basically I’m going to man our product booth and explain our technologies (yikes!).  It should be a fun learning experience.

Workout-wise I’ve been a huge slacker, but I am going to start training for the towpath marathon like - today.  E-Speed told me that I could do an 18 week program, but I’m already behind so I’ll have to pick it up in week 16…or whatever week I’m on.  Can you tell I’m not awake yet?  (Still drinking coffee - I realized that I could start keeping my blog up to date if I did it in the morning while drinking my morning coffee and waking up)

In other news Todd’s parents are here visiting from Oregon and he has put them to work remodeling his bathroom…which has caused there to be several new holes in places where we didn’t used to have holes (to get to the pipes).  It’s been disappointing because we wanted to get a bigger shower but because of the location of things we’re going to have to stick with the same size; and hot and cold water pipes are in locations which require punching holes in walls, etc.  I can’t wait to see it complete, though - it’s going to be very fancy!

Thanks for keeping me on my toes, Ben R. - this blog post is dedicated to you!!