12 miles? Check!

That's right ... my 12-miler is over and done with! Now I can spend the rest of my weekend curled up working on my brother's sock:



But back to the run. I did two six-mile loops this morning. (In the interest of full disclosure, I took a 20 minute break between laps - I had to go to the bathroom and warm up! It was about 25 degrees out!)

Here are my paces:
first six miles - 15:20/mile
second six miles - 16:30/mile
overall average - 15:55/mile

I felt really good for the first six miles ... no soreness till I started back out again. My back started to hurt around mile 7, so occasionally I'd take wee walking breaks of about half a block. On miles 11 and 12, I probably walked more than I ran. Bummer. I needed the breaks, though.

Oh yeah - I also have letterboxing on tap for this weekend! I was inspired by Amber's post on it. am not creative enough to make my own stamp (and I'm a little lazy) - so I went to A.C. Moore and bought one. There are a couple letterboxes within walking distance of my apartment, which is really what piqued my interest, so I'm going to check them out tomorrow. If all goes well I think I'll be exploring more of the area via letterboxing later on ...

It was bound to happen.

I received my first insult while I was running today! I was about three miles into a six-miler, legs feeling lead-heavy the whoooole time, getting ready to take yet another walking break. I was on a running path that meets up with a little park by the river, and I saw four guys walking along the river path. I decided to keep running (weird thing I do, I hate when people see me walking) and as I came within 20 feet of them, I heard one of them say "big girl running" and laughter ensued. I had my earbuds in so I couldn't hear much, but I know what I heard. I kicked it into high gear and turned up my music so I didn't have to hear much else, but I did hear more laughter. Meh.

It doesn't bother me too much - I mean, I know what I look like, I'm well aware of my shape, but really, thanks for the reminder, a-hole strangers. Did you exercise that much today? I doubt it.

I'm not really in a bad mood from that whole thing, but I had a headache all through my lead-footed run, and it's morphed into a super migraine. When I first returned to the apartment, I had all sorts of lights buzzing around my eyes and I could barely type an e-mail straight. I took some Excedrin, and it's time to go to work. Here's hoping it's not too painful under the fluorescent lights.

Ohio superlatives

Baby Grayson = the cutest.



Siblings = the corniest.



Samson = the purriest. (He's the stray my brother took in temporarily.)

And yes there was a little bit (OK, a lot) of yarn shopping. It was my birthday, after all.

Some Louet Gems Pearl:


Uber-soft (and cheap!) Berroco Comfort Sock:


Both of these came from Knitters Mercantile in Columbus, OH. I mostly stuck with the sock yarn, but had a fun Manos/mohair wall, lots and lots of other yarns that don't come to mind (again, I'm on the sock-only kick). I resisted the urge to buy much more, because we were going to take a road trip to a quilt/yarn store in Wooster that was closing. (Turns out they were closed on Mondays, so we had to make another arrangement.)

At the somewhat boringly named Yarn Shop in Pickerington, OH, I got some Araucania Ranco that looks like a Monet painting:



And finally, I saved the best for last:



Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Apricot. This came from YarnMarket.com, which operates out of a storefront (or three or four) in Pickerington, OH. It was a busy Monday (I'm guessing they are closed on the weekends) but an employee showed us the ropes - it's not a store persay, they do most (I'm guessing 99%) of their business in online sales. (They also run Yarndex.com.) But they welcome visitors to shop the warehouse. They had four or five (chilly!) garages side-by-side, filled with racks, which were filled with four or five levels of bins. Hundreds (if not a thousand-plus) bins of yarn, all alphabetized. It was a dream. My mom and I were the only shoppers, but we saw lots of packers running to and fro, filling orders. I resisted the urge to buy everything I wanted and walked out only with this apricot CTH that I am drooling over. Seriously, they had just about every yarn imaginable. It was fantastic. I totally want to go back.

I finished my dad's big socks while I was there and cast on for socks for my brother, Gentlemen's socks in Lozenge Pattern (from Knitting Vintage Socks). I'm nearly done with the cuff, then I'll take a picture. Size 1 needles + men's size 12 feet = this sock's gonna take a while.

P.S. Three weeks from today is the half marathon! I had a really good four-miler yesterday so I'm feeling back in the swing of things. Much relieved about that.

anyone?

I wish that in this post, I had mentioned where I would stash my gift certificate for a massage. I can't find it anywhere! I've turned the place upside down. Josh is going to call the place, purchase date in hand, and ask if they would grant us a reprieve and let me use the gift certificate without it being there. Perhaps they can just cancel the attached gift certificate or something. He had a lengthy conversation with the employee about my half marathon and the like, so maybe they'll remember him and have some pity. I'm just afraid it got lost in the shuffle of my roommate moving out and him moving in. If they aren't forgiving, he's going to reverse the charge. So I guess it will work out, but I will probably want to boycott the place from then on. Ha.

I really want to post about my trip and fun yarn adventures with my mom and my running woes (as of late) ... but I've got a busy morning ahead. Groceries then signing the lease. Woohoo!

hello from Ohio!

I've been internetless at my apartment since my roommate left (and experiencing serious Ravelry withdrawal) because I'm running into issues using my boyfriend's modem, so I figured I'd post a quick update from my parents' place.

Not having internet = lots of time to get knitting done! I finished my dad's socks (pictures TK) and just cast on for a sock from "Knitting Vintage Socks" for my brother (size 1 needles, eep). We've got a three-hour drive to Pittsburgh today so I'm hoping I get lots done. We're visiting my cousin who's in the hospital and my two-week-old cousin, Grayson, and lots of family. I can't wait. Oh and we'll be eating the best pizza in the world.

My mom and I already hit a yarn store - Knitters Mercantile in Columbus. It was HUGE and had lots of nice stuff. I was in the shopping mood, but not a whole lot jumped out at me. I got two pretty yellow skeins of Louet Gems and some Berroco sock yarn that is nylon/acrylic and super soft - I don't recall the type of yarn (for some reason I want to call it the 'model' as if it's a car, haha) but it was only $7 for yarn for a whole pair of socks, so I figured it was worth a shot. I had no desire to buy any more - I think my heaping basket of sock yarn has too strong a call right now.

I'm battling some kind of chest cough/sinus thing and it's made running difficult. I'm trying not to worry about it, I know I'll get back into it when I'm better. (Not like I'd want to run in this cold Ohio weather, huh?!)

it's my birthday ...

and I'll run if I want to!

Yeah I ran today, but it was only about 2 miles instead of 3. My right quad was a little sore and I really just wanted to take it easy on my birthday, I'm not going to lie! It's my 'easy week' (3, 3, 2, 6) anyhow.

I came home from work to a lovely surprise from my boyfriend.



He got me a rose and a couple of sweet cards ... and my present is an hourlong deep tissue massage at this place a couple blocks from my apartment. It's super luxurious, something I would never get for myself. I think I'm going to use it after my half marathon in (yikes) one month five days!

So the plan for my birthday is to go to lunch with my roommate, then head to work, and try to get done in time to eat a late dinner with Josh somewhere. Sweet!

I survived 10 miles!

I did it! Ten miles at a 15:30 pace. Slower than normal, but that's OK.

What's remarkable (to me, at least) is that I did it in my own neighborhood (which I usually reserve for runs no longer than five miles, which, I think in my mind, made me believe I wasn't physically capable of a longer run here. Up till now, I've done my long runs at a state park I really like.).

I did it on a five-mile loop that I repeated twice (I hate covering the same ground twice).

Biggest deal of all ... I ran into my apartment after the first five miles to use the bathroom and refill my water bottle and not ONCE did I think about stopping there. Last year, I always wants to slack on my runs and cut corners. I didn't do it!

It was a lovely day for a run, with temps in the mid-60s. I wore a wicking sleeveless shirt and I kept getting a nice breeze through the armholes, haha. I even ran into not one, not two, but three friends also out running. (I mean I was bound to see someone I knew, I was out there for about 2.5 hours, haha.)

I went out with my roommate and two friends for a yummy Bolivian meal at this place ... I had a burrito with pork chorizo and a yummy salad for a starter but I'm now plagued with a stomachache (too much food ... oof) and a migraine (I forgot to take some headache medicine before/after my run and now my head is pounding. I'm kicking myself.). Oh and of course stiff legs. I'm looking forward to sleep, and it's only 10 p.m. Five nights a week, I'm still at work for two more hours. Ha!

Oh yes and on the subject of food ... the pasta I cooked up ahead of my run? Not as good as I had hoped for. I think reheating pasta dishes is always a little hinky, especially when there is chicken in there and it doesn't heat up at the same rate. Something ends up gummy no matter what you do. Oh and I was so excited to try artichoke hearts ... I really thought I was going to love them, because I love old-school spinach and artichoke dip. But they were kind of oily and gross. I'm very disappointed.

And a quick knitting update ... I have no plans for tomorrow, so I'm hoping I get to the heel of my dad's second sock. I'll be seeing him in a week, I hope I'm on the foot by then!

gearing up for 10 miles!

Tomorrow's my return to a double-digit run. I wanted to make something extra special to take to work tonight, so I headed to Kroger and stocked up to make this chicken and pasta dish. I never follow recipes exactly, but some of the changes I made included halving the chicken and pasta called for, using a 6-oz. can of marinated artichokes (not just in water), adding about 4 ounces of baby portabella mushrooms, forgetting parsley, and subbing parmesan cheese for feta. It's nice and vegetable-y (usually I OD on the pasta, but I held back this time). It smells yummy and fresh and I got two dinners out of it.

Oh and when I was using the self-checkout at Kroger, some guy got tackled, threatened with pepper spray and arrested! It happened not 10 feet from me, and all the workers were very blase about it. I didn't see items falling out of his (very ratty) pockets, so maybe it was drugs or something. I go there maybe once or twice a month, but I used to go a lot when I lived in Ocean View, and I'd *always* see cops there. I guess that makes me feel safer, but I don't know that I've ever been so close to someone being arrested.

So, here's hoping tomorrow's 10-miler goes well! It should be sunny and in the mid 50s, perfect weather.

a quick update

Now that I look back on it, January was a bit of a crazy month. First off, I ran 61.9 miles all month. That's a lot, even by my lax standards! I even took nearly a few days off after spending a lot of time at the hospital. I am hopeful that February will continue this pace ahead of the half marathon in March.

So my big news is ... my roommate Lauren is moving out (boo) and my boyfriend is moving in (yay)! I have such conflicting emotions about it. I'm so sad that Lauren is leaving - I cried when she told me, and I've been trying to ignore my sadness as her moving day approaches. I knew she'd head back to New Jersey eventually, but you never quite know when these things are going to happen, now do you. But, I'm trying to look at the positive - I'm very excited for this step in my relationship, and the boyfriend and I had a good, long talk about it. It kind of felt like we were inevitably going to take this step, y'know?

We're both taking tomorrow off work for our birthdays (his is tomorrow, mine is a week from tomorrow). We're taking a 2.5 hour drive to Ikea to furnish our new space - it's going to be an office/Wii room/KNITTING room (which I am so psyched about). I plan on buying a Poang chair. Oh and I think we're going to detour to a Chipotle near Richmond. Fun day!

blogging break

Ahh! I haven't meant to abandon this little spot on the Web. Big things are going down ... I must rush to work but I promise an update is forthcoming.