On Living the Puppy Life, Again

I think there are a few of my friends that will be grateful for this post with more pictures of our dog Chewie.  It seems about time that I give him a little spotlight here, and what better time than NaBloPoMo.  

When we had to say goodbye to Peeps, we had no real concrete plan as to when we'd get another dog.  Well, we knew that we would have a dog again and that it would be another Pug.  That's about it.  After a month or so we still weren't feeling ready, but knew that if we wanted another purebred baby, we'd have to start putting feelers out if we were hoping to have one by the time we were ready.  

It was around March that we sent out emails to breeders we found online and began working with one.  We decided that we wanted to get two dogs this time around, since we weren't living in a two bedroom condo on the third floor. Pugs are great in multiples, and we wanted one black and one fawn (Vader and Chewie) however we could get them.  Since the breeder's litters (and most litters) were mostly fawn, we were able to put in a deposit and get our Chewie first.  

This was probably meant to be, as I have since learned that it's not the best idea to get two puppies at the same time for various reasons: they can tend to bond with each other rather than you, follow each other's naughty behavior, and puppy TIMES TWO.  GAH.  So, we got our little guy and are aiming to get a black pup as soon as this spring, and hopefully by this summer.  But, they are rare, so we shall see.  I might have to look for other breeders, but I definitely liked working with this one.

The startling contrast between personalities of our first puppy and this one has definitely thrown us for a loop!  All Pugs are the same, right??  We're pretty certain the main reason for this contrast is lifestyle.  Peeps chillaxed at home most of the day in our condo, and had a dog walker come and play with him/walk him every day.  Then we'd all cuddle on the couch in the evenings.  Chewie gets attention from us pretty much 24/7 aaaaand has come to kind of demand it.  The kids run him in circles, literally, at least once a day and he acts like a crazy kid.  We have our hands full.  Some of the differences are fun, though, for sure.  Like his ticklish nature and his perfectly robust and curly tail.  He has the BEST Pug tail.

Then there are the startling similarities, just little things that catch us unawares like a head tilt, a snuffle, the way he tucks his tail when he runs fast...  and, of course, the way Pugs can sense an empty lap from a mile away.  Well, these things make us a little sad sometimes and nostalgic.  But, mostly, they make us so glad we got another Pug.  They really are pretty awesome.  SO! Now for a BIG PHOTO DUMP.  You're welcome, I'm sorry.  At least I made an effort to only post new pics that I haven't posted to Facebook/Twitter/Instagram.

Holiday Gift Guide (aka, My Wish List)

A 'gift-guide' is the perfect blog tool to put your own gift wish list together.  I find that I buy a lot more stuff for myself during this time of year, while I'm shopping for others.  The sales, the festive 'treat yo self' atmosphere of the holidays just makes me cave.  So, without further ado, here's my Christmas wish list not really disguised as a gift guide!  Maybe I'll just forward this along to my husband...

photo via Kohls.com

Yoga Towel/Mat I really could use a yoga towel.  For now, when I go to hot yoga, I line my mat with a beach towel.  It works just fine, but it'd be lovely to have a spiffy little number that fits my mat.

photo via Jaybirdsport.com 

Jaybird Headphones My husband just gifted himself a pair of these Bluetooth headphones and now I'm kinda jealous.  See, this is why we never get anything to put under the tree - we buy ourselves gifts all the time!

photo via Oiselle.com

Oiselle Gift Card  Speaking of buying ourselves gifts all the time...  Having a gift card would make giving myself gifts much easier.  The Wazelle long sleeve, pictured above, has been on my list of 'gifts to buy myself' for awhile.

photo via Nordstrom.com

Toms Sunglasses My cheap blue Target wayfarers will always be my go-to for running.  But, I've had my current pair of 'nice' sunglasses for at least five years and would love to update them with these super awesome Toms.  When I'm not running, I'm a fan of aviators, and I love the idea of plastic framed ones.

photo via Amazon.com

Clarisonic Mia This thing has been around forever, and I have always kind of wanted one.  But, I just can't bring myself to spend my own money on it.  Will someone buy it for me?  

photo via Nordstrom.com

Cable Knit Pillows Our couch pillows are boring/match the cushions and I think these pillows look so cozy.  The Paprika color would totally punch up our couch and be festive for the holidays.

photo via Victoriassecret.com

Long 'Jane' PJs This is another item I can't bring to buy for myself, 'I have enough serviceable pajamas, etc.'  But they're so cuuuuuute!  I'll take a size small in the dark grey, please and thank you.

photo via Amazon.com

Elago iPhone Case I took a spill on a recent run and totally scuffed up my favorite iPhone case.  This one held up nicely and I will most likely gift myself another soon, as it's not terribly expensive.  Maybe I'll even change up the gold/turquoise one for indigo or rose this time...

photo via Amazon.com

Cards Against Humanity Games are such a fun gift for the holidays, and I've yet to play this one.  I'm thinking it'd be good for when we're all camping out for Ragnar Trail...

photo via Amazon.com

One Line a Day, Five Year Memory Book If you are new here, you might not know how this book speaks to me.  I'm a big fan of daily tasks and routine.  What a cool way to keep a journal.

photo via Tastesofchicago.com

Tastes of Chicago Ohhhhh yeah.  Getting a package from any of the vendors through this service would be heavenly.  *cough* We like the Lou's pizza packs and Portillos hot dogs the best. *cough*

photo via Amazon.com

Aeropress I do love my cheap Target espresso machine.  But, since it was cheap, I'd be willing to cheat on it and try the latest craze in coffee.

photo via Stellaanddot.com

Gold Pyramid Studded Cuff Bracelet It's the time of year again for Dot Dollars and I'm tempted to get this for myself...

photo via Nordstrom.com

Kendra Scott Earrings So cute, right?  I've yet to cave to my own pair of Kendra Scott earrings.  

photo via Nordstrom.com

Kate Spade Small Stud Earrings However, I DO have a pair of these babies - and I want MORE.  I have them in yellow (which is a deceptively neutral color that goes with almost everything) and I wear them all. the. time.  I think I need to get them in turquoise...

photo via Tieks.com

Tieks in Lemon Patent Speaking of neutral yellow...  One day I would like to see what all the fuss is about with Tieks.  And I would love them in this lovely, sunshine-y, happy yellow.  

Had to go out with a bang, eh? Happy shopping holidays to you - I hope you get everything on YOUR list!

Did You Know That Waffles Have a Crust?

(I'm attempting NaBloPoMo this year, where I write a post every day in the month of November.  I just felt like having a little venting session on my kids eating idiosyncrasies and had to share this photo with y'all.)

This is the scene after every waffle breakfast in our house and it just cracked me up this morning.  Yep, according to my daughter, the edge of the waffle is a no-go zone.

I might have spoiled them by cutting off the crusts of their sandwiches.  But, in my defense, I wanted them to eat more and waste less bread.  If I leave on the crust, they give it a very wide berth and stay a good half an inch away from the edge.  If I make a very thin slice of crust of the edge of the bread, the whole sandwich gets eaten. 

Did you know, that quesadillas have crusts, too?  Yep.

Did you know, that it's very likely your kids will like completely opposite things?  Maybe this is something that can stem from sibling rivalry on occasion, but my boy has NEVER liked hot dogs or hamburgers - really, meat of any kind.  His sister is WILD about hot dogs and burgers.  Of course.  My son, like his parents, could eat pizza for every meal.  Our daughter does. not. like. pizza.  WHAT.

Did you know, that if one of our kids has one bad interaction with a food, that he or she will avoid it for years?  This could be decades, because the jury is still out on turkey for my son.  Which, ya know, limits a lot of easy lunches.

Did you know that they can subsist on the same food for breakfast, lunch and dinner indefinitely without getting sick of it?  If I let either of my kids eat pb&j for every meal, of every day, they would be just fine with that.

Did you know that if it's served at a restaurant or party, they totally eat (and enjoy!) stuff they'd never touch at home.  I suppose I don't make grilled cheese as healthy and nutritious as the Dirty Bird, but I mean, it can't be THAT far off?!  And salami sandwiches at Jimmy Johns are a staple, yet when I try to make one at home!?  Ha!

Did you know that when your child likes something, you will go out and buy it in bulk, only to have them suddenly decide they do not like it?  At least I use a lot of black beans in my cooking, and those dozen cans eventually get used.  But that phase came and went pretty quickly, as did string cheese, mandarin oranges, that time we caved on Cinnamon Toast Crunch...  Yeah, there's still a big sealed bag of that stuff just gathering dust in our pantry.

Anyone want some Cinnamon Toast Crunch?  

This Weeks Eats 11.16.14 (or Should I Say Repeats?)

We're slowly but surely making our way out of the pit of sickness and despair.  I did run again today, thinking that since my fever had not returned, I might get in an easy three miles.  Ha!  Now this sickness has landed in my lungs and it was sheer torture just going a mile, much worse than yesterday.  Blergh.  Good news for me, though, is that I have less meal planning and grocery shopping to do.  Yeah, this was the extent of the energy we had towards making our meals this weekend:

Thankfully nothing has affected my stomach during this year's round of Horrible Illness.  We were hungry, but tired and couldn't taste very much.  So last week's Friday and Saturday meals have been pushed back to this week and I'm VERY MUCH looking forward to eating them!

• MONDAY - Pizza
• TUESDAY - Gnocchi, Sausage and Spinach Soup (from Cinnamon, Spice and Everything Nice)
• WEDNESDAY - Greek Chicken Tacos with Whipped Feta (trying this recipe I found on Pinterest via My Recipe Magic)
• THURSDAY - Fish Filets from Trader Joes and Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa (from Eat Well, Living Thin)
• FRIDAY - Steak Fajitas with Carne Asada and Fixins from Trader Joes
• SATURDAY - Rigatoni Arrabiata (Our 'Saturday Night Pasta' recipe)
• SUNDAY - Buffalo Chicken Salad with Creamy Avocado Ranch (from Annie's Eats)

As always, I'm linking up with Org Junkie, Mommy Run Fast and Jill Conyers - be sure to check out all the great weekly menus!

The Status of the Run Streak (aka, the Level of My Crazy) and Athleta Giveaway Winner!

 As I had predicted with the Run Streak, the biggest obstacles would be really bad weather and SICKNESS.  (Well, I suppose there's a third obstacle which would be potential injury, but I don't want to jinx myself!) It's like clockwork, every November I get really, really sick.  Last night I went to bed with a fever of 102.3 - yes, I'm counting the .3!  And I just laid in bed not being able to sleep, feeling like death warmed over, more like on FIRE.  By 3AM my fever still hadn't broken and I got up to take more medicine and laid back down until about 6AM when I finally turned into a clammy, sweaty mess and fell asleep.  Lovely, eh?  And what was I thinking the majority of this time?  Oh, you guessed it.  Will I be able to run tomorrow?  Is this the end of my streak?  I have officially turned into a crazy person.

Thankfully it's the weekend and I was able to sleep until almost 10AM.  After the hellish fever fugue, even feeling just mildly horrible with no fever when I woke up was kind of awesome.  And, yep, I bundled up and went for what I thought was a very slow shuffle that ended up being a nice little 10ish minute mile.

It wasn't too bad.  I felt like I had spaghetti legs, but it was nice to get some fresh air and move a little!  Now the other obstacle, snow and ice, that would prevent me  from driving to the Y and also running outside safely.  I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.  I told my husband that I could probably just run circles around the living room for 15 minutes and call it good, right?  Yeah.  Crazy.  

Also!  Thank you to all who entered the Athleta Gift Card giveaway, courtesy of fitmob.  The winner is.....  Elle!  
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Elle, I'll be emailing you to get your mailing address and your gift card ASAP.

Crosstraining with Flywheel

Trying something completely new can be a little intimidating, and I don't think I would have gone out of my way to try Flywheel if it weren't for the ease of Class Pass.  I'm really grateful I got to try it out (although anyone can, as your first Flywheel class is FREE), and that I got a bit out of my comfort zone.  If you're contemplating a Flywheel class, I thought I'd give a little rundown, as there were a few things that were a (pleasant) surprise to me.

Flywheel Studio in Bellevue

Since I made my reservation through Class Pass, I checked in with the people at the front desk, just make sure everything went through fine - it did, but I wasn't sure which bike I was assigned to.  Once you check in, your size bike shoe (which you fill out online) is waiting for you in a cubby that corresponds to your bike number.  They also have nifty lockers that you can program for one-time use.  This was really cool, as I had thought about showering there (yep, they have a few shower rooms) and then head out to run errands, but I wasn't sure of logistics.  Now that I've scoped everything out, I'll totally do that next time!  There are also towels, hair bands, toiletries, etc.

After grabbing a towel and putting on my bike shoes, one of the employees gave me an overview while adjusting my bike seat and helping me clip in.  Yep, I've completely outed myself as a non-biker, not having a clue how to 'clip in.'  The room is tiered, like a small amphitheater with the instructor in the center, and paneled with what seemed to be soundproof material.  I was even handed earplugs in case I thought the music was too loud.  Ha!  I may be getting old, but please.  I LOVED the loud music.  

The class started right on time and they closed the door and turned down the lights.  I almost felt as if I was about to start a ride at Disneyland or something.  What would be cool is if they added some light effects to the whole shebang.  Alas, the only light in the room came from the glow of the instructor's stereo equipment, our bike's output screens (which told us RPMs, torque/resistance, and 'total power') and two screens at the front of the room that displayed individual bike stats of your classmates that opted in to be on the 'TorqBoard.'  I had opted in when I signed up and, whoa.  I was competing with only FOUR pretty darn serious riders in my class of at LEAST fifteen people.  Geeze.  I suppose most people don't get into this, or don't want the distraction.  But, our instructor did a good job of focusing our attention on our own workout and not worrying about what was up on the screen.

All in all, it was like a really great spin class with the added benefit of being able to actually SEE your RPMs and torque and not just guess at effort level.  And it went by really fast with the workout coordinating with the awesome music.  It felt like an intense interval workout.  At first, when the instructor said lets warm up around 85-90 RPM I thought, ummmm whoa!  I haven't done spin in YEARS and wasn't sure if my legs could move around that fast without dislocating my knees.  Being clipped in certainly helped, and it was much like any run - the first mile or so kinda sucks, and then you get into a groove.  

Another (pleasant) surprise was that they add in a short arm workout with weighted bars!  When the instructor said to grab your bars, I thought, aw man - I didn't grab one on the way in.  And, lo, there are these holders on either side of the front of the bike with weighted bars that look like regular ones just cut in half.  Cool! 

Afterwards, I received an email from Flywheel with a link to my account and stats.  I could see this becoming an obsession, bettering your stats.  I'm a big fan of measurable data.  

Judging by the peeks I took at the bikes around me, I was doing pretty good.  Based on those four other people that opted in to the TorqBoard, they totally smoked me!  My total power at 252 was 20 behind the next to last person and a good 100 behind the person in first!  But, I'm pretty happy with the average speed and distance I covered in 45 minutes. I definitely got a good sweat on and only felt nauseous once!

Next up, trying Barre3...

On Marathons (Plus Q&A with an Actual Marathoner)

It's been a really long time since I touched upon the idea of running a marathon again.  A REALLY long time.  In the fall, it's particularly difficult for me not to think about them, with so many major races taking place - especially the Chicago Marathon.  And my cousin-in-law (is that what you call the person who married your first cousin?) ran the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon just a few weeks ago.  I love that he really got into the distance in the last couple of years, running his first marathon (with the exception of a run-walk one in college) while in the 55-59 age group.  Seeing as how I would also be running my first marathon as a masters runner, if I ever pull the trigger on a full, I had so many questions for him.

So, I asked him a bunch of questions via email, which he obligingly answered for blog fodder - yay, thanks Mark!

Doing beer right after the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon

When did you get into running?  How'd the bug bite ya?
I started running in 2008 as part of a desire to do triathlons. I had biked 100 miles in a session and swam a couple years in high school and was up to 1.5 miles in the pool at one point.  So I knew running was a weakness to fix. I caught the bug partly because I could relax and dissociate from work. (fyi, Mark is a doctor.) It was easier than going to the pool and not as focused as biking (no crash risk). (I SO identify with this.  I fear the bike.)  

How many halfs have you run/did you run before taking on the full?
I did my first half in 2010 and have now done 5 half and 3 fulls (one was in college as a run /walk for charity). 

What was your goal for the full, and did you run into any injuries in training or the race?
Last year I went out to fast, cramped at 23 for a short time, and broke an orthotic for my right foot. I finished in 4:20 which was below goal but ok for the first one I actually trained for. This year I trained more. More long runs, longer tempos and race pace runs and lots of intervals. I was expecting around 4:05 to 4:10. 

How did you decide on the Lakefront Marathon, say over the Chicago Marathon?
I entered Milwaukee as it is close, flat, the right time of year. It is point to point with all 26.2 the same direction. The wind is usually at your back or calm. Unfortunately a front came through and the wind turned from the south at 6-10, then 10-15 with higher gusts along the lake. Headwind the last 23 miles.  It was brutal even for elites and mid packers like me were hit hard. (Yes, this was the report from our elite teammate Melissa Gacek who was the women's winner this year.)  I finished at 4:25. I was demoralized until I checked formulas that estimated about an 8 percent loss for that wind. That is about 20 minutes for a four hour runner. I will never run a point to point again for that reason! 

What's next, are you going to run another?  Chicago?
I am on the four year to a four hour marathon plan. I believe it was Dr. Sheehan who said it's like trying to find the perfect wave as a surfer. I have never hit the wall but maybe I have not gone fast enough to reach that point. My daughter Maddie now has the bug and she is doing the Madison half next week with plans for a full next year. (Love this, and I can happily report that she had a successful half with dad as her pacer.) I want to do a big city event next year and I am considering Galloway method. A doc in our group is doing his 100th marathon this week and swears by it. Good luck in your journey!

Ah yes, my journey.  I do still get asked ALL THE TIME if I'm going to run a marathon.  I could easily sign up for, train for, and run one (albeit sloooowly), I think.  But over time I've come to the conclusion that the marathon distance just might not be for me.  We talked a great deal at the Oiselle running retreat about goals, and Lauren really emphasized how our goals should have true meaning to us.  (e.g. - That's great you want to qualify for Boston!  Why?  What does it mean to YOU?)  Sometimes I think that if I ran a marathon it would be because I was caving to everyone's expectations of me as a runner.  Heck, I'm still nervous about trying to improve my time for the half marathon.  I might even consider running those for fun only, and focus my speed on 5Ks and 10Ks.  HOWEVER, speaking of fun, the Chicago Marathon experience may still be for me.  When I think about running a marathon, I envision a big day filled with pomp and circumstance and HOME.  I think of the event I watched a dozen times from the sidelines over so many years.  Running 26.2 miles does not necessarily hold meaning for me, but running this race would be very meaningful.  Right now, I've already signed on for the new Ragnar Trail Relay in the Washington Cascades in early September and we are contemplating a family trip to Chicago next year.  Putting my hat in the ring for the lottery might not work out for 2015, but I'm not ruling it out.  And, hey - 2016 would be extra inspiring, being an Olympic year!