Race Report - 2013 Indoor Triathlon

This past Saturday was the first triathlon of the year, a mini, indoor version of the traditional swim/bike/run event hosted by Fitness Formula Clubs.  This was the first triathlon I ever did, back in 2011, so I've enjoyed doing it again this year and last to see my improvements over time.

It's also nice to get back into the swing of things by training for a tiny race like this.  The training routine is also bite-sized, perfect after being lazy over the holidays.  My goals this year were to improve my distances from last year, but also make a more conscience effort to push myself.  This triathlon setup is unique because instead of being distance-based, like outdoor races, the legs go for a set amount of time and the distance each participant travels in that time are recorded.  The swim is 15 minutes, the bike is 20 minutes, and the run is 15 minutes.  Training for a time frame instead of a distance makes it a little easier to push yourself- instead of thinking "so many more miles to go", it's "how much faster can I go in the remaining time?"

Anyway, I'm pretty good at maintaining a slow, steady speed over distances but I'm not so great at sprinting.  My swimming is still suffering because I'm still not good at it.  I think I'm one of those people who isn't meant to swim well, like Nemo with his little fin.

Swim distance: .33 miles
This was a little disappointing, but given that I've only been in the pool about 5 times this year, not surprising.  I should really be at around .4 or more miles for this time.  Still better than last year, by .03 miles!

Bike Distance: 6.75 miles
I was really hoping to get this closer to an even 7 miles, but I had a bit of a false start on the dumb stationary bike and that threw me off by about minute.  I think if I'd practiced getting 7 miles in 20 minutes a few more times, I would've nailed it.  I really tried to push myself here, though, and aside from the first minute, I don't feel I left anything on the table.  This distance was up .34 miles from last year.

Run Distance: 1.52 miles
My average run pace has been pretty slow (about 13:00+ minute miles) for the past year.  I had two back to back injuries that kept me from fulfilling my running potential last year, and I finally feel like I'm gaining some speed.  Running an average 10 min mile for 15 minutes is kind of a huge deal for me.  That was my goal for this race and I nailed it!  This distance was up .15 miles from last year.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this race.  Oh, I almost forgot- it was a small event and I was the only one competing in my age/experience group, so I got first place (and, technically, last place, but glass is half full!)  Once again, proof that showing up is sometimes all it takes!

Goals for 2013

It's telling that it's taken me 2 months to put together a list of goals for 2013.  And this probably going to change over the course of the year, but I kind of have to get going now, and here's why.

I believe in the saying that you need to picture yourself where you want to be or what you want to be and then work backwards to find out how to get yourself there.  There is no destination without a journey, right?  I'm not sure which is harder to figure out sometimes, the destination or the path. 

Here's my list of what I'd like to do this year, both specific and a bit more nebulous:
- Run a half-marathon Done. I'm going to do a few more though.
- Complete the Steelhead 70.3 Half Ironman
- Refocus my energy on my small business
- Knit more- including knitting my first pair of socks
- Continue clean eating, specifically the paleo diet
- Train with Team to End AIDS for the Chicago Marathon
- Possibly take a big trip for my 30th birthday, funds permitting

The thing is, some of these destinations, like the 70.3, require a commitment and a road map that start now.  I've had a hard time dragging my butt to the gym over the past few months.  I had to quit my old gym and subsequently my personal trainer due to financial restraints and that kind of sucked the motivation out of me.  I gained weight back and now I'm feeling a little lost in my skin.  But as soon as I made the decision to print off Week 1 of a half-iron training program, I immediately felt more confident in my decision.  I can do THIS.  I can do Week 1 of training, starting now.  I can do Week 2 and 3, and who cares what Week 4 looks like right now, because I'll deal with it when I get there.  20 weeks worth of calculated training is daunting, but Week 1 is alright.

The journey of 70.3 miles starts with a few icy steps. 

Stuck in my brain

This music video- Bye Bye Macadam by Rone; directed by Dimitri Stankowicz.

Rone - Bye Bye Macadam (Official Video) from The Creators Project on Vimeo.

Race Report - First Half Marathon!

As you may or may not know, I took up running and triathloning (yes I can use that word) back in 2011.  Now I have never, ever, ever been a runner, let alone someone who would PAY to get TIMED to RUN.  Seriously, that is the stuff of my grade school nightmares.  Anyone remember those fitness tests, with the timed mile run?  I'm pretty sure those took me 20 minutes and I had anxiety about them the second I knew they were on the horizon.  I was (still am) a hefty lil girl, so those 60 lb boys whipping past me on their 3rd lap while I was still huffing and puffing through my first, yelling out "Fat turtle!".. you get the point.

ANYWAY, I caught the race bug as soon as I realized I could do it.  I could RUN.  Not fast, but I could do the thing I couldn't do before.  It took work, but I made it through a handful of 5Ks, a few sprint distance triathlons, and a few more longer races over the past couple of years.  I really wanted 2012 to be the year I did half marathons, but I ended up in physical therapy nursing some weird body quirks twice last year.  That really took a bite out of my running training and I was left doing not much more than 10Ks.  Oh well.

2013 - THE YEAR OF THE HALF MARATHON.  I signed up for this F^3 Lakefront Half Marathon way back in the fall.  And I basically didn't get off my ass for most of November and December, so I was worried when I realized I had only a few weeks to train for the longest distance of my life.  I hadn't even done a run longer than 6 or 7 miles in weeks, let alone the recommended 10 or so before a half.  Whatever.  Mind over matter, and it's not like I've got anything else coming up.  If I break something, I've got plenty of time on the couch to recover.



My goal for the half marathon today was to finish.  If it was under 3 hours, that would be even better, but I finished in 3:07:00.  I was worried that the little niggling piriformis syndrome I have in my left side would flare up, but it didn't.  It was a cold day, started in the teens and ended up in the 20s while we were running, but it was sunny and the wind was at a minimum.  We really couldn't have asked for better weather, as winter runs go.  My feet were ice blocks for the first mile or so, but after I warmed up I felt fine.  I didn't start feeling stiff and sore until mile 8 or 9.  We were doing 3 minute run/1 minute walk intervals the whole time, which was a good strategy.  Towards mile 11, it was actually more awkward to walk instead of jog.  Once your muscles get used to that activated running position, they feel better staying that way.  I couldn't be happier to see the mile 13 marker sign, and I was so proud of myself for making it.  I crossed the finish line and got my super awesome cowbell finishers medal, shoved a bagel in my face, and jumped for joy at completing my first half marathon.  I made a beeline for the Novacare tent and the nice therapists there gave me a post race massage.



What I liked about this race:  Well organized, inexpensive compared to other HMs (I had a discount code so I don't think I paid more than $35), decent course support especially for us "back of the packers", and I actually really enjoyed the half frozen cups of gatorade.  That was really tasty.

What I didn't like:  Only one potty station near the 7/9 mile marker.  There was a line by the time I reached it (mostly the other people on their way back from the turn around.)  This cost me about 5 minutes on my time.  I should have just kept going through the turn around and stopped on my way back when no one was left on the course.  The potty break also resulted in some booty chafing as it was super hard to get my running tights back on after taking them off.  Ah well, what's a 13.1 mile run without some chafing?!

Now that it's the next morning, I'm really surprised that the only soreness I have is in my ankles/feet.  Butt, knees, hips, IT band, are all fine.  I'll ice a little more today and pop some ibuprofen, maybe find a yoga video on Hulu and do that later.  If I had to do anything differently, it would've been to train for this distance.  I had enough of a base to actually make it through, but I know that if I had kept up with the long runs over the past two months, I would've been able to run much faster.  The bright side is that I've got the rest of my year to improve and beat this time.  Can't wait for the next one!

Progress

, originally uploaded by cloudlover69.

I was doing some cleaning the other day and I found this stuck in a book. A statement from 2008 for my biggest, ugliest student loan. I have these set up on auto pay so I usually just chuck the statements as they come in, only opening them once every few months to see how far The Number has gone down. I was pretty excited when I got a statement this month so I could compare it to this one from a few years back. I still have a long way to go, but seeing the numbers get smaller is heartening. This feels like a weird thing to post publicly, but I was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune about my student loan debt in the fall of 2012, so it's not that big of a secret, and I know that this number is not nearly as big as it is for some people.

First Shop Update of 2013!

1.1.2013 shop update, originally uploaded by cloudlover69.

I dyed these beauties up a couple weeks ago, but just had time to photograph and list them the other day. Go check them out! Plus, you can use coupon code NEWYEAR at checkout to get 13% off your entire order - this week only!

Everything was possible in 2012

 
 Embroidery project by Cookoorikoo

2012 was a busy year. It feels like these past few years have been expanding at an exponential rate, especially since what seemed like a lull in the post college/first years of adulthood. I really got stuck in a rut during 2006-2010. Sure, big things happened, but it really feels like I got more involved with my own life in 2011 and 2012. Things worth thinking about happened. Things that make me look back and think, wow, I really got a lot of mileage out of the year.

In no particular order, here are a lot of firsts and other random events that happened in 2012:

• Ran my first 10K (in half a foot of snow, no less) 
• Started a new job (career, perhaps?) 
• Traveled to half a dozen new cities for the first time, and visited some I hadn't been to in a while: 
• Los Angeles 
• San Francisco 
• Albuquerque 
• Boston 
• Memphis 
• Atlanta 
• Portland 
• Washington D.C. 
• Houston 
• Baltimore
• Went to a casino
• Flew first class 
• Knit a sweater (for my nephew) 
• Became an Aunt (and met my nephew) 
• Completed my first Olympic distance triathlon, finished dead last AND still managed to place third in my age group (proof that showing up and trying is all you've got to do sometimes) 
• PR'd in 2 sprint triathlons, one of them by a whopping 19 minutes 
• PR'd a 10K 
• Went through two rounds of physical therapy 
• Marched in a Gay Pride parade 
• Lost a pet, adopted two new pets, and lost another pet. File under: realized just how precious those furry little lives can be, and just how much they effect us. 
• Rode the Santa Train 
• Knit my first hat (seriously) and my first cables 
• Wore the color orange 

The embroidery at the beginning of this post is by Shana aka Cookoorikoo, a gift she sent to dozens of friends at the beginning of the year.  Mine has been hanging unassumingly in my bathroom, just above the light switch, for the past year.  To me, it's been a daily reminder that every day of the year is its own adventure.

One of my goals (resolutions?) for 2013 is to try blogging again.  I always got bogged down by the process because I didn't feel like I had anything cool to say, or didn't have the neat picture to go along with the post, blah blah blah.  Well, I still feel that way, but I'm starting to learn to see the value in my daily living, and I've got a handy iPhone to capture it all without a lot of fuss.  No excuses.

I'll write more about 2013 later.  I don't want to burn myself out all on one post.

March 22 shop update!

3.22.11 update preview, originally uploaded by cloudlover69.

I know, it's been a while. Too long, in fact. I do have a post planned to (kind of) explain where I've been and what I've been up to, but in the mean time- here is the next shop update preview! These lovelies will be going live in my BigCartel shop on Tuesday, March 22 at 2PM CST.

I also wanted to let you all know that 15% of all my sales made during March will be donated to the Red Cross and their efforts to help Japan recover from the tsunami. In addition, 100% of all profits from my Sakura colorway (which will be listed in the upcoming update) will be donated as well.

Shop update - 11/23 at 2PM CST!

11.23 update preview!, originally uploaded by cloudlover69.

All of this and more is being added to my BigCartel shop on Tuesday, November 23 at 2PM CST. AND, for a full week starting today, get 15% your order by entering code THANKGIVING15 at checkout! Happy Turkey Day!

Shop update 10/18 at 2PM CST

shop update 10/18 at 2PM CST, originally uploaded by cloudlover69.

It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm adding these and MANY more lovely fibers to the BigCartel shop at 2PM CST on Monday, October 18.

There will be two NEW base fiber blends available, both are superwash: one is 70% merino, 20% cashmere and 10% silk and the other is 50% silk, 30% merino and 20% sea cell. They are both amazingly soft and a real treat to spin!

Wisconsin Sheep & Wool this weekend!

This is a super-duper quick last-minute post letting you all know that we'll be at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool festival this weekend, September 10-12. Our booth is in Country Store West- come visit if you're in the area! It's seriously my favorite sheep festival of them all, there is so much to see and learn.

9/2 Shop update preview!

These are some of the pretties that will be going up in the shop Thursday, September 2 at 2PM CST!

Shop update - 8/21 at 1PM CST

The next Cloudlover update is scheduled for Saturday, August 21 at 1PM CST, here! I'll be adding some handpainted yarn with this update, as well as 4 new colorways on various spinning fiber bases!

Friday the 13th update preview

A sneak peak of what will be available at 7PM CST over at www.cloudlover.com!

Shop updates and spinning class!

Two quick things I want to announce:

As part of Chicagoland's first ever Yarn Crawl, I'll be teaching a drop spindle class at My Sister's Knits on Saturday, August 21 at 12 PM. If you've ever wanted to learn to spin your own yarn, this class will be a great introduction to the fun, easy, and portable art of drop spindling! Please contact the yarn shop direclty to sign up for this class.

Also, this Friday, August 13, I will be doing a shop update at www.cloudlover.com. This update will be pre-loaded, meaning everything will go live and available for purchase at 7PM CST. I'll continue to do Etsy updates, but I want to make a gradual move to my BigCartel shop as the listing process is much faster and easier, which in turn makes buying faster and easier. As always, I will combine shipping across both shops. :)

One last thing- as a follow up to my last blog post about donating a portion of shop sales to the International Bird Rescue Research Center, a total of $265 was raised and donated from all your purchases during July. Thank you SO much!

Four Seasons

This is really two blog posts smashed into one, because I have a few things I want to share but not enough time to blog about each. I'm super busy getting ready for the Hoosier Hills Fiber Art Festival in Franklin, Indiana this weekend- in fact, we leave tomorrow afternoon- yikes! But before I go, I wanted to share a few new colorways I've whipped up in the past couple of weeks. They are inspired by the colors of an orchard during the four seasons of the year- spring, summer, autumn and winter:



From top left: Spring Orchard, Summer Orchard, Autumn Orchard, and Winter Orchard, available in my Etsy shop!

The second thing I want to say, and I'll put it bluntly- this oil spill is really pissing me off. An area that was already shaken down and damaged not 5 years ago by a natural disaster is getting slapped by an environmental disaster that makes my stomach turn.


(Picture ganked from NY Daily News)

I'm torn between wanting to help and wanting to stand by, shaking my fist, waiting for the multi-billion dollar corporation clean up the mess. But I think it's bigger than them, and us. So I've decided that for the entire month of June, 15% of all sales from my Etsy shop will be donated to the International Bird Rescue Research Center. Maybe we can raise enough money to adopt a pelican. In July, I'll find another organization to support. A small difference made is better than no difference at all.

Saturday night spinning

Saturday night spinning
Originally uploaded by cloudlover69

I've been on a 2-ply kick lately, probably because they're easy to churn out while watching TV- which I've been doing a lot of lately! Last night I was catching up on Lost. I took this picture after I finished plying some Falkland Maerchengarten and Decay together. It turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself!

UFO to WIP to FP

Let's ignore the fact that I've neglected this blog for about as long as I've neglected knitting and focus on two major accomplishments- the first being that I'm blogging, and the second being that I KNIT SOMETHING!

And it is NOT a scarf. Or a cowl. Or a hat. Or fingerless mitts. It actually has SLEEVES!





It's the Anthropologie-inspired capelet by Julia Allen, and it was so flipping easy even I could do it (even though it took two tries and over half a year.) When I first cast on, I did everything right- measurements, gauge swatch, etc- but the neckline was gimongous, so I frogged it and started over with a much smaller neckline and more yarn so I could make it long enough. I used handspun from Hobbledehoy and then carded and spun some of my own batts to make extra yarn, which is mostly down on the ribbing. It's chunky, soft, purple and pink, and I MADE IT. I love it.

i heart taters...

...and they heart me!

This came out of our CSA box last week. I am going to have a hard time eating it :(

For the love of Rambouillet

Yes, I'm still alive and well, despite what this blog might lead you to believe. In fact, it must take something special to make me come back after all this time, no?

A few weeks ago, I bought 30 pounds of Rambouillet top. Even though I have miscellaneous Rambouillet fibers lying around (some handpainted top, some fleece) I haven't actually worked with any of it until now. I am sorry I waited so long! This stuff is magical. It's got the softness of merino (I think it's even softer, actually) but it is much, much fluffier. I'm not sure what exactly it is that makes it so easy to spin, but this stuff just leaves my hand and turns into yarn as if it was enchanted. I can spin this fiber long-draw style straight from the un-predrafted top. Seriously. I think that says something. The result is the squishiest, softest, springiest yarn I've ever spun. I can only imagine what divine handspun socks it would make...

Anyway, I sold the first yarn I spun out of the first batch of fiber I dyed, but I'm working on another. This is my new favorite colorway too, I might add- Hanging Gardens:


I've got some for sale in my shop, and I plan to make this a regularly stocked fiber. But you'll have to convince me to list it for you and not hoard it all for myself first!