Wow! Time is flying these days...
I can't believe 2 weeks have already gone by since I started this training cycle and I'm thankful I made it through Christmas without veering off course. So here's the recap so far... boring but mainly for me to keep track...
Week 1 (12/15)
Sunday - rest
Monday - 5 miles
Tuesday - yoga 1 hour, 3 miles
Wednesday - 3 miles
Thursday - 5 miles, average 8:44 pace YEAH!!
Friday - 10 miles
Saturday - rest
Week 1 total: 26 miles
Week 2 (12/22)
Sunday - 3 miles
Monday - 5 miles
Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - rest (Christmas Day)
Thursday - 5 miles (after a 12 hour shift)
Friday - 11 miles
Saturday - exercise bike for 30 minutes
Week 2 total: 27 miles
Today's another rest day. I'm prepping/cleaning my house for our New Year's Eve party before heading to work this afternoon. One of my goals this coming year is to declutter my house so I'm off to clean!
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! May your day be filled with love, laughter, and peace.
My family has enjoyed a lot of love and laughter already. Now it's peaceful because the kids have all gone back to bed. My coffeecake and bacon are done though so I expect them to come crawling out of their rooms any time now!
Last night was our Christmas Eve celebration with my inlaws. I love unique gifts so I have to share what my sister-in-law's family got me...
It's an antique pie pan with my maiden name "Park" on it! I still practice as Dr. Park so that's the last name all my co-workers know me by. Love it! I'll have to figure out how to put it up on the wall in my kitchen.
Enjoy your day!
My family has enjoyed a lot of love and laughter already. Now it's peaceful because the kids have all gone back to bed. My coffeecake and bacon are done though so I expect them to come crawling out of their rooms any time now!
Last night was our Christmas Eve celebration with my inlaws. I love unique gifts so I have to share what my sister-in-law's family got me...
It's an antique pie pan with my maiden name "Park" on it! I still practice as Dr. Park so that's the last name all my co-workers know me by. Love it! I'll have to figure out how to put it up on the wall in my kitchen.
Enjoy your day!
Sunday, December 22, 2013
New Shoes
Meet my new running shoes!
They are the Brooks Ghost 5 - exactly like my old running shoes, just in a more palatable color. I had been looking for these shoes for the last several weeks. Every year the big shoe companies will come out with the new updated versions of their shoes. The Ghost 6 is now on the shelf, meaning the 5's are on closeout everywhere. I don't need the latest shoe model every year. I like to stick with what works!
My biggest problem was finding the shoes in my size - an 8. I searched Zappos, eBay, Sierra Trading, REI, etc. and just could NOT find my size. Then fate struck. I was skimming my bazillion emails and found a sale flyer from DSW. I am on their list because I buy shoes for my daughter there. I never even thought to look for running shoes there but for some reason I decided to search these shoes and, voila, there they were - in stock in the Bloomington store! I stopped by after work yesterday and picked them up. Used a $10 reward certificate to drop the price to $79.99 (they were even less expensive at REI but REI didn't have my size) then used my VISA giftcard for the balance. Merry Christmas to me! (The Ghost 6 retails for $110)
So I am really bad about replacing my shoes. I know I should do it more often. Runner's World says to replace them every 300 - 500 miles. Competitor.com recommends every 400-600 miles. Since this is the first year I've actually tracked my miles and knew what day I bought my shoes I decided to do the math...
My current shoes have 830 miles on them. Ooops.
Pink is old, blue is new
So I knew the treads were a little worn when I could barely stay upright during my last 5K but I had no idea!
While I was at it, I also totaled up my miles for the year so far. 987 miles. Amazing how far you can go one step at a time!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Keepin' the Pace
Day 4 of training. My pace run.
I think one of my problems with my last training cycle was that I just didn't do my pace runs properly. I either blew them off, getting the mileage in but not really working the pace, or I wimped out and ran pace for only part of my run. Sure, I did the 5Ks as my speed work, however I think there is probably a big difference in running 3 miles fast and 15 miles tempo when you're training for 26.2.
So today was my dreaded day. I was going to push myself. I had a 5 mile pace run on the schedule. Originally, I was going to run indoors. I thought about doing the 1:15 per lap thing around the track again but didn't think I could maintain an 8:45 pace for 5 miles. I thought about trying it on the dreadmill. You are only allowed 30 minutes at a time on the dreadmill - however the fitness center is pretty empty around noon so I thought about going then and just fudging my start time on the sign up sheet and starting 15 minutes earlier than the written start time.
As fate would have it, it warmed up to above 40 today. I finally talked myself into running it outside - that way I could use my Garmin and try to run a 9 minute pace. There are hills outdoors. I told myself Louisville had hills so I needed to put on my big girl panties and run fast on the hills. I could lollygag all I wanted to tomorrow on my long run but I needed to push myself today.
So... running tights on, thermal shirt on, Garmin on, it was cloudy outside... cursed Garmin wouldn't pick up a satellite for about 5 minutes. I stood at the end of my driveway starting to freeze waiting for it to lock onto a satellite. Good thing I have a long driveway, otherwise I would have gone back inside to get my keys and drive to the fitness center!
FINALLY got a satellite and took off running. Goal was 9 minute pace.
Mile 1 - 8:30
...my brain is screaming at me to slow the freak down!
Mile 2 - 8:36
...now I can't decide if I should just go with it
Mile 3 - 8:44
Mile 4 - 8:56
...I almost got run over by a car backing out of a driveway and ended up in the field across the street, plus this is where I go uphill
Mile 5 - 8:53
...I just tried to hold it together and keep it under 9
So would you rather have a white Christmas or 40 degree weather?
I think one of my problems with my last training cycle was that I just didn't do my pace runs properly. I either blew them off, getting the mileage in but not really working the pace, or I wimped out and ran pace for only part of my run. Sure, I did the 5Ks as my speed work, however I think there is probably a big difference in running 3 miles fast and 15 miles tempo when you're training for 26.2.
So today was my dreaded day. I was going to push myself. I had a 5 mile pace run on the schedule. Originally, I was going to run indoors. I thought about doing the 1:15 per lap thing around the track again but didn't think I could maintain an 8:45 pace for 5 miles. I thought about trying it on the dreadmill. You are only allowed 30 minutes at a time on the dreadmill - however the fitness center is pretty empty around noon so I thought about going then and just fudging my start time on the sign up sheet and starting 15 minutes earlier than the written start time.
As fate would have it, it warmed up to above 40 today. I finally talked myself into running it outside - that way I could use my Garmin and try to run a 9 minute pace. There are hills outdoors. I told myself Louisville had hills so I needed to put on my big girl panties and run fast on the hills. I could lollygag all I wanted to tomorrow on my long run but I needed to push myself today.
So... running tights on, thermal shirt on, Garmin on, it was cloudy outside... cursed Garmin wouldn't pick up a satellite for about 5 minutes. I stood at the end of my driveway starting to freeze waiting for it to lock onto a satellite. Good thing I have a long driveway, otherwise I would have gone back inside to get my keys and drive to the fitness center!
FINALLY got a satellite and took off running. Goal was 9 minute pace.
Mile 1 - 8:30
...my brain is screaming at me to slow the freak down!
Mile 2 - 8:36
...now I can't decide if I should just go with it
Mile 3 - 8:44
Mile 4 - 8:56
...I almost got run over by a car backing out of a driveway and ended up in the field across the street, plus this is where I go uphill
Mile 5 - 8:53
...I just tried to hold it together and keep it under 9
YES!!!
Definitely not an even pace but I did prove to myself that I didn't lose a whole lotta speed during my 6 weeks off. It's actually kind of a scary starting point.So would you rather have a white Christmas or 40 degree weather?
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Not Quite a Fuddy Duddy
First off, I find it disconcerting that I am starting to get Christmas cards from some of my friends, some of who are several years younger than me, with photos of their grandchildren!!
Can I really be that old?
However... my older daughter has also started to swipe my clothes. I have not seen my new Nike running tights that I bought for myself here since the day after I bought them. J asked to borrow them. Since then I have spotted them on her body at least 3 times and they have yet to be returned to my closet. When I pointed out they were tights not pants she claims they are thicker and more "pant like" than her leggings and continues to wear them to school. I will have to swipe them back.
This morning, I spotted her running out the door with my Chicago Marathon jacket on. Again, swiped from my closet - not from the general coat tree downstairs next to the door but from my bedroom closet. She also insists on borrowing my down jacket. She has her own down jacket but somehow she always wants mine. I can't possibly be a fuddy duddy if my 14 year old daughter takes my clothes now, can I? Do you have kids that "borrow" your clothes?
My 900-year old daughter, on the other hand, went clothes shopping with her grandmother over the weekend and came back with this...
It's a gray gossamer burn-out sweater that hangs to mid-thigh level. She wears it with a black camisole underneath. She had cut the tags off but missed the trash can so I went to throw them away this morning and noticed it was a size PXS Simply Vera Wang sweater. Ummm... I don't think my 11 year old wears petite extra small children's clothing and I don't think there is a children's Simply Vera Wang clothing line either. She must have got this from the Misses Dept at Kohls! I don't even shop the Misses Dept at Kohls. It may be that I'm just in denial or it may be that I just don't own any "real" clothes. If it's not jeans, T-shirts, athletic apparel, or scrubs, I don't own it. Maybe I should get some pointers from my 11 year old. She looks fabulous in it.
Where do you get your clothes?
I got my 3 miles in this morning. I will admit I'm not 18 or 20, or 30 for that matter anymore. I've slept 4-5 hours a night for the last 5 nights and I'm ready to crash. I believe I'm going to take a nap...
Can I really be that old?
However... my older daughter has also started to swipe my clothes. I have not seen my new Nike running tights that I bought for myself here since the day after I bought them. J asked to borrow them. Since then I have spotted them on her body at least 3 times and they have yet to be returned to my closet. When I pointed out they were tights not pants she claims they are thicker and more "pant like" than her leggings and continues to wear them to school. I will have to swipe them back.
This morning, I spotted her running out the door with my Chicago Marathon jacket on. Again, swiped from my closet - not from the general coat tree downstairs next to the door but from my bedroom closet. She also insists on borrowing my down jacket. She has her own down jacket but somehow she always wants mine. I can't possibly be a fuddy duddy if my 14 year old daughter takes my clothes now, can I? Do you have kids that "borrow" your clothes?
My 900-year old daughter, on the other hand, went clothes shopping with her grandmother over the weekend and came back with this...
It's a gray gossamer burn-out sweater that hangs to mid-thigh level. She wears it with a black camisole underneath. She had cut the tags off but missed the trash can so I went to throw them away this morning and noticed it was a size PXS Simply Vera Wang sweater. Ummm... I don't think my 11 year old wears petite extra small children's clothing and I don't think there is a children's Simply Vera Wang clothing line either. She must have got this from the Misses Dept at Kohls! I don't even shop the Misses Dept at Kohls. It may be that I'm just in denial or it may be that I just don't own any "real" clothes. If it's not jeans, T-shirts, athletic apparel, or scrubs, I don't own it. Maybe I should get some pointers from my 11 year old. She looks fabulous in it.
Where do you get your clothes?
I got my 3 miles in this morning. I will admit I'm not 18 or 20, or 30 for that matter anymore. I've slept 4-5 hours a night for the last 5 nights and I'm ready to crash. I believe I'm going to take a nap...
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Todd's Desserts
Several years ago a man called me out of the blue in early December to tell me he was a fan of my baking (from the fair) and wanted to know if he could buy some baked goods from me for his office Christmas party. The first thing that crossed my mind was "stalker!", then I laughed and said "sure."
Every year since then he calls me up and I make dessert. This year I made German chocolate cake, lemon pound cake, and blueberry pie. I never know how much to charge him... however, since he wants a blueberry pie in December and blueberries are $3.99 a pint in December, I came up with $15 an item - $45 total. My husband thinks I'm way underpriced. Thoughts?
So yesterday was Day 1 of my new training cycle. Of course I also had to get up at 4:30 am to go to work. Then I didn't get out til 4 pm. It was the day from hell and I didn't even get to eat lunch. I was ready to chew my arm off by the time I got home at 5. Then I had to make dinner. By the time we finally ate at 6, I felt sick since I hadn't eaten since 5 am. It took another 2 hours for my stomach to settle down. I finally got to the fitness center at 8 pm and got my 5 miles in. Went home, showered, cleaned the kitchen, then made my cakes for the German chocolate cake. I went to bed at 1 am.
Today I got up at 6 and made my blueberry pie. Got the kids off to school and made the lemon pound cake. Then went to hot yoga at 10:30. I ended up being the only one there so I essentially got a private lesson and Heather (the instructor/owner) answered all my bazillion questions on where to put my arm-leg-weight-etc. SO glad I went cause I really wanted to just go back to sleep for a couple hours!
I made the cake filling and frosting once I got home. Then the kids came home and tried to eat all my filling... Finally got the cake all put together, then went back out to the fitness center to get my 3 miles in.
Todd came and picked up his desserts tonight. Day 2 of training is done and I'm still on track!
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Joy of Giving 5K ... aka Slush Fest 2013
So I've come to a couple conclusions...
1. Sometimes it's fun to just run a race for fun and just forget about your time
2. If you can get your butt out of bed in the morning the hard part is over
3. I need new running shoes
Saturday was the last race in the Indiana Crossroads Racing Series. I didn't have to run. I already had my 10 races in and I knew I was going to finish third in the 40-44 age group overall whether I ran the race of my life or didn't run at all.
Still, the race was before the awards banquet and I wanted to see what kind of shape I was in. Well, Saturday morning dawned 30 degrees and snowing - wet slushy snow. I was really tempted to sleep in a couple more hours and just show up at the banquet but I had already driven to Columbus the night before (after getting off work at 11 pm) so I showed up at 7:30 am to register for the race.
Half a mile into the race, my feet were already soaking wet and I couldn't feel my toes anymore. We were running on a paved trail and I was sliding around with every step I took. There was slush flying everywhere. I decided then and there that I just wanted to finish the race upright and uninjured. I got passed by a bunch of people I usually beat but I didn't care. I just wanted to stay upright and get to the finish so I could rip off my shoes and socks and warm up my feet!
So here are my splits - slowest of the year...
Mile 1 - 8:34
Mile 2 - 8:56
Mile 3 - 8:47
last 0.1 - 0:46
Official time - 27:03
pace - 8:42
Here are the bottom of my shoes...
I realized I had no tread left on parts of my shoe! I guess it's time to get new shoes. I'm really bad about buying new shoes.
I also neglected to pack any dry clothes to change into after the race. I ended up putting the clogs and socks I had worn to work the day before on and taking off my top thermal shirt and throwing on a sweatshirt but I had no warm up pants so I ended up sitting around in my soaking running tights, basically freezing my ass off.
So now to the banquet. First they announced the awards for today's race. Since I moved up an age group this month to the 45-49 category, I won the age group no problem (I would have been third in the 40-44 age group today behind the usual #1 and #2 runners - everybody was here today.) I won a $10 Blue Mile gift certificate and medal for that.
Next was the age group awards for the year. These awards are based on your age group on June 30th. The woman that would have won my age group actually ended up placing third overall for all the women so everyone in my age group actually moved up a place and I ended up second. I got another $10 Blue Mile gift certificate and trophy for that.
After the awards, they had door prize drawings for all the runners that had finished the series. Several local businesses provided the prizes which ranged from carpet cleaning to hotel nights to massages with the "big" prizes being two $300 VISA gift cards and a $400 VISA gift card. Crossroads also gave everyone a $15 Road ID gift card.
Guess what!!
1. Sometimes it's fun to just run a race for fun and just forget about your time
2. If you can get your butt out of bed in the morning the hard part is over
3. I need new running shoes
Saturday was the last race in the Indiana Crossroads Racing Series. I didn't have to run. I already had my 10 races in and I knew I was going to finish third in the 40-44 age group overall whether I ran the race of my life or didn't run at all.
Still, the race was before the awards banquet and I wanted to see what kind of shape I was in. Well, Saturday morning dawned 30 degrees and snowing - wet slushy snow. I was really tempted to sleep in a couple more hours and just show up at the banquet but I had already driven to Columbus the night before (after getting off work at 11 pm) so I showed up at 7:30 am to register for the race.
Half a mile into the race, my feet were already soaking wet and I couldn't feel my toes anymore. We were running on a paved trail and I was sliding around with every step I took. There was slush flying everywhere. I decided then and there that I just wanted to finish the race upright and uninjured. I got passed by a bunch of people I usually beat but I didn't care. I just wanted to stay upright and get to the finish so I could rip off my shoes and socks and warm up my feet!
So here are my splits - slowest of the year...
Mile 1 - 8:34
Mile 2 - 8:56
Mile 3 - 8:47
last 0.1 - 0:46
Official time - 27:03
pace - 8:42
Here are the bottom of my shoes...
I realized I had no tread left on parts of my shoe! I guess it's time to get new shoes. I'm really bad about buying new shoes.
I also neglected to pack any dry clothes to change into after the race. I ended up putting the clogs and socks I had worn to work the day before on and taking off my top thermal shirt and throwing on a sweatshirt but I had no warm up pants so I ended up sitting around in my soaking running tights, basically freezing my ass off.
So now to the banquet. First they announced the awards for today's race. Since I moved up an age group this month to the 45-49 category, I won the age group no problem (I would have been third in the 40-44 age group today behind the usual #1 and #2 runners - everybody was here today.) I won a $10 Blue Mile gift certificate and medal for that.
Next was the age group awards for the year. These awards are based on your age group on June 30th. The woman that would have won my age group actually ended up placing third overall for all the women so everyone in my age group actually moved up a place and I ended up second. I got another $10 Blue Mile gift certificate and trophy for that.
After the awards, they had door prize drawings for all the runners that had finished the series. Several local businesses provided the prizes which ranged from carpet cleaning to hotel nights to massages with the "big" prizes being two $300 VISA gift cards and a $400 VISA gift card. Crossroads also gave everyone a $15 Road ID gift card.
Guess what!!
I GOT DRAWN FOR THE $400 VISA GIFT CARD!!!
So here's all my loot for the day...
Definitely worth getting out of bed for! I'm getting new running shoes.
Week 1 of my new training cycle starts now!
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Information Overload
I had 738 emails in my inbox this morning...
Not all new emails. There are about a 100 or so that just live there at all times waiting for me to "file." Nonetheless, I had a boatload of emails to screen through. I send all my emails to one address hence I don't have a "junk" email address. I think I am getting at least 2 emails a day from every retailer I ever bought something from (tis the season ya know!) The OCD part of me wants to open every one before trashing it - not that I really do! Anyway, you get the picture.
Plan was to run 5 miles in the morning and do hot yoga in the evening. Problem was, I had a bunch of other stuff to do - like play with my email and buy Christmas gifts - plus I had another crappy night of not being able to sleep on account of my leg trying to kill me - so running kept getting pushed further and further down the list.
I should have just hit the fitness center as soon as my younger kid got on the bus. Instead, I fell asleep on the couch til, oh, 10 am. Doh!
Long story short, my heart just wasn't into it this afternoon. I even made it all the way to the fitness center after running all my errands when I realized I wouldn't have time to run 5 miles at a relaxed pace and get a good stretch in if I wanted to make dinner in time for my oldest kid to eat before taking her to dance. Originally, I had planned to go to yoga while she danced. Her dance class time got all switched around tonight too so I was going to have to drop her off earlier than usual. Anyway, I decided I'd get my run in tonight instead of yoga.
To be honest, yoga is stressing me out too. I know. Yoga. It's suppose to be calm and meditative. Well, I was absent the day they taught "right" and "left." I am constantly looking around trying to figure out which arm and which leg go where. Plus then you have to coordinate your inhales and exhales with your body movements so I'm trying to remember what kind of breath I'm suppose to be taking with what arm or leg thing I'm doing. My other problem is that holding the poses is making my legs spasm like crazy and I've had to stop several times to just rub my leg out. I'm always sore the day after I do it so I think I'm getting a work out in but it's not all that relaxing!
Anyway, I got my husband to pick up my daughter from dance and FINALLY made it to the fitness center AGAIN. Well, by then it was 6:30 pm. It's pitch black outside and it feels like 10 pm. I'm hungry and thinking I'd rather go back home, eat the chili that's sitting in my crockpot, and cozy up in a blanket. Ugh. Gotta run. "I WANT to do this, remember?" I tell myself.
I hit the track. I float along and start to relax. "This isn't too bad." My mind wanders to Saturday. Last race of the year. I have no idea what kind of time I'll run. Plus, I haven't run outdoors since my marathon. My car said it was 5 degrees this morning...
I have never listened to music or worn anything in my ears when I run. I think it goes back to the fact that I grew up running in the street and was always told to not put anything in your ears so you can listen for traffic and be aware of your surroundings. I have always just listened to my breaths and let my mind wander when not fixated on my time. When I run indoors, it's 7 laps to a mile. I keep track mile by mile... so I count "one" in my head through the first lap, then two, three, four, five, six and seven, then it's back to one. It's actually very meditative to do this - just repeating the number in your head. Plus I people watch all the other people - on the track, in the weight room, on the gym floor below me - and the miles just roll by.
By the time I got my 5 miles in, my outlook on things was much better. I felt like I accomplished something. I got my brain emptied out and relaxed. All the noise of the day was gone. I got a good stretch in. I got to see some dude do a handstand against the wall and proceed to do "pushups" upside down, then do sprint laps wearing a weight vest. "What's he training for?"
All in all, I always feel better after I get my run in. It's just a matter of getting it in! I know in my heart that I really should just knock it out first thing in the morning. I always have a better more productive day when I do. Oh why oh why can't I love mornings?!!
Not all new emails. There are about a 100 or so that just live there at all times waiting for me to "file." Nonetheless, I had a boatload of emails to screen through. I send all my emails to one address hence I don't have a "junk" email address. I think I am getting at least 2 emails a day from every retailer I ever bought something from (tis the season ya know!) The OCD part of me wants to open every one before trashing it - not that I really do! Anyway, you get the picture.
Plan was to run 5 miles in the morning and do hot yoga in the evening. Problem was, I had a bunch of other stuff to do - like play with my email and buy Christmas gifts - plus I had another crappy night of not being able to sleep on account of my leg trying to kill me - so running kept getting pushed further and further down the list.
I should have just hit the fitness center as soon as my younger kid got on the bus. Instead, I fell asleep on the couch til, oh, 10 am. Doh!
Long story short, my heart just wasn't into it this afternoon. I even made it all the way to the fitness center after running all my errands when I realized I wouldn't have time to run 5 miles at a relaxed pace and get a good stretch in if I wanted to make dinner in time for my oldest kid to eat before taking her to dance. Originally, I had planned to go to yoga while she danced. Her dance class time got all switched around tonight too so I was going to have to drop her off earlier than usual. Anyway, I decided I'd get my run in tonight instead of yoga.
To be honest, yoga is stressing me out too. I know. Yoga. It's suppose to be calm and meditative. Well, I was absent the day they taught "right" and "left." I am constantly looking around trying to figure out which arm and which leg go where. Plus then you have to coordinate your inhales and exhales with your body movements so I'm trying to remember what kind of breath I'm suppose to be taking with what arm or leg thing I'm doing. My other problem is that holding the poses is making my legs spasm like crazy and I've had to stop several times to just rub my leg out. I'm always sore the day after I do it so I think I'm getting a work out in but it's not all that relaxing!
Anyway, I got my husband to pick up my daughter from dance and FINALLY made it to the fitness center AGAIN. Well, by then it was 6:30 pm. It's pitch black outside and it feels like 10 pm. I'm hungry and thinking I'd rather go back home, eat the chili that's sitting in my crockpot, and cozy up in a blanket. Ugh. Gotta run. "I WANT to do this, remember?" I tell myself.
I hit the track. I float along and start to relax. "This isn't too bad." My mind wanders to Saturday. Last race of the year. I have no idea what kind of time I'll run. Plus, I haven't run outdoors since my marathon. My car said it was 5 degrees this morning...
I have never listened to music or worn anything in my ears when I run. I think it goes back to the fact that I grew up running in the street and was always told to not put anything in your ears so you can listen for traffic and be aware of your surroundings. I have always just listened to my breaths and let my mind wander when not fixated on my time. When I run indoors, it's 7 laps to a mile. I keep track mile by mile... so I count "one" in my head through the first lap, then two, three, four, five, six and seven, then it's back to one. It's actually very meditative to do this - just repeating the number in your head. Plus I people watch all the other people - on the track, in the weight room, on the gym floor below me - and the miles just roll by.
By the time I got my 5 miles in, my outlook on things was much better. I felt like I accomplished something. I got my brain emptied out and relaxed. All the noise of the day was gone. I got a good stretch in. I got to see some dude do a handstand against the wall and proceed to do "pushups" upside down, then do sprint laps wearing a weight vest. "What's he training for?"
All in all, I always feel better after I get my run in. It's just a matter of getting it in! I know in my heart that I really should just knock it out first thing in the morning. I always have a better more productive day when I do. Oh why oh why can't I love mornings?!!
Monday, December 9, 2013
Trying to Find the Spirit
It's been a trying month so far...
First off, I can't believe it's the 9th already. I was SO ready to be all ready for Christmas at the end of last month. We got our tree up and the house all decorated on November 30th. I got organized enough to get all my out of town cards sent out. Then came my December fizzle.
I don't know if it's cause my leg still hurts like hell or if I'm just unmotivated. All I want to do is curl up in a ball and hibernate. I ran 3 days last week - 3, 3, and 5 miles - all indoors. My leg doesn't feel bad when I run but then it aches all night and I can't sleep. Probably why I'm so stinkin' tired all day!
So now I'm starting to have some worry gnawing inside. I'm running a 5K on Saturday. My new training cycle starts on 12/15. I penciled in my run schedule for the rest of the year on my calendar today. It all starts out innocuous enough. Week 1 alternates 3's and 5's with a long run of 10. But will my leg hold up?
I was planning to run 5 today, then 3, then reasoned I was going to hot yoga tonight and decided to rest my legs another day and didn't run at all. I made caramel corn instead.
Every year I give my co-workers caramel corn for Christmas. When I started doing this over 10 years ago, I only had 14 other co-workers. This year, we have 28 other people in our group plus 20 family members who also expect caramel corn every year. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy making it every year. It just gets a bit overwhelming at times! I got half my "work" caramel corn done today. Hope to get the rest done this week.
First off, I can't believe it's the 9th already. I was SO ready to be all ready for Christmas at the end of last month. We got our tree up and the house all decorated on November 30th. I got organized enough to get all my out of town cards sent out. Then came my December fizzle.
I don't know if it's cause my leg still hurts like hell or if I'm just unmotivated. All I want to do is curl up in a ball and hibernate. I ran 3 days last week - 3, 3, and 5 miles - all indoors. My leg doesn't feel bad when I run but then it aches all night and I can't sleep. Probably why I'm so stinkin' tired all day!
So now I'm starting to have some worry gnawing inside. I'm running a 5K on Saturday. My new training cycle starts on 12/15. I penciled in my run schedule for the rest of the year on my calendar today. It all starts out innocuous enough. Week 1 alternates 3's and 5's with a long run of 10. But will my leg hold up?
I was planning to run 5 today, then 3, then reasoned I was going to hot yoga tonight and decided to rest my legs another day and didn't run at all. I made caramel corn instead.
Every year I give my co-workers caramel corn for Christmas. When I started doing this over 10 years ago, I only had 14 other co-workers. This year, we have 28 other people in our group plus 20 family members who also expect caramel corn every year. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy making it every year. It just gets a bit overwhelming at times! I got half my "work" caramel corn done today. Hope to get the rest done this week.
"recycled" coffee cans - all full of caramel corn
How's your holiday spirit?
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Starting Over
I went and ran 3 miles today. Indoors around the fitness center track. I still feel that little tug in my hamstring every time I extend my leg but it's not excruciating pain. My heels still hurt when I walk around but it's not that nail-piercing pain anymore either. So anyway, I decided it was time to start running again. It's been 13 days since I last tried running. Hopefully I'll feel OK tomorrow!
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Thanks!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I am thankful for all of YOU who have offered me words of encouragement and followed me on my adventures this year. Hope you and your families have a wonderful day!
-HaeWon
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Life of a Working Couponing Mom
It's been a busy weekend! There are two main drugstores I shop - CVS and Walgreens. Both have their own reward systems. I shop them in spurts depending on what's on sale. Both stores broke early Black Friday ads this Sunday, meaning they released most of their Black Friday deals in this Sunday's ads. Good for me because I'm working on Black Friday. Not so good for the Black Friday shoppers because there probably won't be any product left by the time the second sale ad breaks on Thursday.
So here's how it works...
CVS has Extra Care Bucks or ECBs. Fake CVS money. You can earn ECBs by buying certain things. They print at the bottom of your register receipt after buying said item. ECBs expire 30 days after you get them. You have to have CVS's ExtraCard to earn and use your ECBs and they are tied to your card, meaning you can't use the ECBs that you find in the parking lot or the ones your friend gives you. There is a limit on how many times a sale item can give you an ECB. Most of the time it's just one, but sometimes it's more. You can also scan your ExtraCare card at their card reader/price checker when you enter the store and it will spit out CVS coupons. You can use both a CVS coupon and a manufacturer's coupon on the same item.
Walgreens is a bit more complicated (in my opinion). Their reward system is called Balance Rewards (BR). You can earn BR points by buying certain items that are on sale that week. Once you earn a certain number of points, you can use them to pay for your purchases. 1000 BR points equals $1.00. You cannot earn BR points if you use BR points in that transaction. Your BR account is kind of like a gift card account since your points do not expire. You need to sign up for a Balance Rewards card to take advantage of their sale prices and rewards. They also have something called Register Rewards (RR). Some of their sale items will spit out a coupon with your receipt called a Register Reward. The RR is for a dollar amount that is good for a future Walgreens purchase - so it's fake Walgreens money. You do not need a card to get RRs. Only one RR will print per transaction for a specific item but there is no limit to how many times you can get the RR. If you use a RR to pay for an item, you cannot earn a RR on that same item.The RRs expire 14 days after printing. I don't like the RRs as much because 14 days is not a lot of time to "roll" the RR into another deal. Sometimes there just isn't anything to buy at Walgreens the next 2 weeks after you earn the RR so you just end up spending it on a full price item.
Both CVS and Walgreens have a bunch of items this week that are "free" after either ECBs or RRs - meaning you pay X but will get an ECB or RR for that same amount when you check out. Both stores have also been known the last few years to run a boat load of "free" item sales on Black Friday then have crappy sale ads for weeks afterwards so it's hard to roll the ECBs or RRs into other deals and people just get stuck with them. That being said, I can see the upcoming ads for the next several weeks on most of the deal sites so I can plan out what to do with my ECBs or RRs.
So enough background. Here's my last couple days...
Saturday
My day off. My younger daughter G and I spent Friday night at my in-laws house in Columbus so we could go to a Christmas Art Show Open House in the morning. One of my mother-in-law's friends is an artist that was selling paintings at this Open House. There were glass artists there too. I like art glass. G likes art in general. The Open House was from 10 am to 4 pm. G had Nutcracker rehearsal from 3-6 pm in the afternoon so we decided to go at 10 am when they opened.
Got up. Checked my email and coupon sites while G got ready. I found out that there are specially marked Eggo waffle boxes at Target where you buy 4, enter the KFR (Kellogg's Family Rewards) code inside the box on the KFR site, and you get a $5 Target gift card. Eggos were on sale for $2 that week - meaning I had to buy them Saturday for the sale price. Also realized the Quaker Warm and Crunchy Granola boxes go off sale that night too. They were on sale for $2.50 (normally $3.99). There is a Target coupon for $1 and a manufacturer's coupon for $1, so only $0.50 a box after coupon stack.
Went to the Art Show. Drove an hour back to Greenwood. Hit CVS on the way home and bought 4 newspapers ($5.00). I always get 4 copies of the weekend Daily Journal on Saturday. The Daily Journal doesn't come out on Sunday so all the Sunday ads and coupons are in the Saturday paper, plus the coupons are better and it's less expensive than the Indy Star.
Ran home long enough for G to change clothes and grab food, then it's back in the car to drive to an hour to Carmel for Nutcracker rehearsal. Today was parent observation - the one open studio rehearsal the parents get to see - so I was obligated to sit and watch the 3 hour rehearsal.
6 pm (umm... where did my day go?) Done with rehearsal. Another hour back to Greenwood. We ran through Target on the way home. I found the specially marked Eggo boxes and got 4.
Home. Fed everyone. Went to the KFR site and entered my codes and boom, $5 Target gift card in my email. Kids devoured an entire box of Eggos. I decided this was a pretty good deal.
Kellogg's Family Rewards is another rewards point site. You enter codes from the inside of Kellogg's products. The codes give you points. You redeem the points for stuff. I think you have to redeem an exorbitant number of points for their stuff but, a couple times a year, they have "sales" on their point items and then it's a deal. I always redeem my points for high value coupons.
I searched my coupon database for Eggo coupons. There are no printable or regular insert coupons out at this time. There are, however, Eggo coupons that I can redeem points for at the KFR site. I redeemed 1000 points for a $1.50 coupon. I can print 2 copies.
9 pm. My older daughter needs driven to a friend's house. I drive her over and hit Target again. This time I get 4 Eggo boxes and use two $1.50 coupons. So $5 for 4 boxes. I also remember to get the Quaker. Had to do 2 transactions, used my own bag both times so got another $0.05 off each time.
End result. 8 boxes of Eggos, 2 boxes of Quaker Warm and Crunchy Granola. Spent $13.90. Got $10 in Target gift cards.
Sunday
I'm scheduled to work 6:30 am - 3:00 pm. I have an hour drive each way.
Up at 4:30. Left the house 15 minutes early so I could hit the 24 hour Walgreens that is on my way to work. I am starting Walgreens this week with nothing to roll. So basically starting with just the coupons I have.
Walgreens: Got Swisse vitamins - $10, used a $5 coupon. Gelusil antacid tablets - $3, used $2 coupon. Paid $6.91, Got $10 RR for Swisse and $3 RR for Gelusil.
Worked from 6:30 am to 4:00 pm. We were busy so I ended up staying an hour over. I had to pick up G in Carmel from Nutcracker rehearsal at 6pm. Hit Walgreens again on my way North.
Walgreens: Got another Gelusil ($3, used $2 coupon), Tums Freshers ($4.50), 2 Grape Nuts cereal ($1.99 each, used 2 $1.00 coupons), 2 Glad Cling Wrap ($2 each, used 2 $1.00 coupons), Reeses PB cup ($0.59). Used the $10 RR from the morning to pay plus $0.92, Got $3 RR for Gelusil and $4.50 RR for Tums.
I had to buy the Reese's as a "filler". Your pre-tax total has to be greater than the amount of the RR you want to use. Without the $0.59 Reese's, my total was only $9.48. The Reese's pushed it to $10.07. The rest of what I paid was for tax.
Hit the CVS that was on my way too. I am starting CVS this week with $1 ECB. Got 2 Sparkle paper towels ($1 each, used buy one get one free coupon), Colgate toothpaste ($3.00, used $2.50 CVS coupon and $0.50 manufacturer's coupon), theater box Whoppers ($1.00), Orbit gum ($0.99), 2 Starbucks Double Shot Espresso cans ($1.50 each).
Paid $5.41. Got $3 ECB for Starbucks, $2 ECB for Sparkle, $1 ECB for Whoppers, and $0.99 ECB for Orbit.
Got G in time. Came home. Fed everyone and passed out.
Monday
Scheduled to work 6:30 am - 3 pm again. Up at 4:30. Left 15 minutes early again to hit Walgreens.
Walgreens: Got Swisse vitamins ($10, used $5 coupon) and candy $0.29. Used $4.50 RR from Tums purchase, paid $1.51, got $10 RR for Swisse.
I had to buy the candy as another filler. At Walgreens your coupon count has to match your item count. I had a $5 manufacturer's coupon for the Swisse and wanted to use a $4.50 RR. The RR reward counts as a coupon so, without the candy, I would have 2 coupons but only 1 item so the register will not accept the second coupon. The candy was the cheapest thing I could find.
Worked from 6:30 to 4 pm. Busy again. Hit Walgreens on the way home.
Walgreens: Got Max Freeze muscle rub ($7, used $2 coupon), Tums Freshers ($4.50), and a Reese's PB cup ($0.59). Used $10 RR from the morning, paid $0.94, got $5 RR for Max Freeze, $4.50 RR for Tums.
G had dance practice at her local studio at 5:15 pm so drove up to my house, she hopped in, and we drove to the studio. G had a duet rehearsal that just lasted an hour so I dropped her off and did some more shopping.
Walgreens: Swisse vitamins ($10, used $5 coupon) and candy $0.29. Used $5 RR from Max Freeze, paid $1.01, got $10 RR for Swisse.
CVS: box of Kraft Mac and Cheese ($0.99), pack of 5 Gum ($1.00). Used $0.99 ECB and $1.00 ECB, paid $0.07 for tax.
Picked up G. Went home. Fed everyone and passed out again.
Tuesday (today, at least when I started writing this!)
It's my day off. Time to wrap up these deals.
"Slept in" until 6:30 am. Drove J to school. Checked my email and my deal sites. KFR sent me a birthday email yesterday. Got a code for 100 bonus points and a $20 Shutterfly credit. Also read on a deal site that KFR is giving double points for your codes on Black Friday and then having a "sale" from December 2-8. I'll hang onto my birthday code til Friday and see if it will double. Also found out that My Coke Rewards (MCR), another rewards point site I frequent, is having double points from now til 11/28. I enter my coke codes I've been saving. I always hold onto them until they have a double points event. I am a Diet Coke addict.
8:45 am. Drive G to school then go to Walgreens.
I need to start converting my RRs to BR points because I'm done buying the stuff I want this week. Walgreens has a deal this week where you can earn 10,000 BR points for buying 2 Nexxus hair products. 10,000 BR points equals $10. I have $5 Nexxus coupons. Conversion problem solved!
Walgreens: 2 Nexxus conditioners ($9.99 each, used 2 $5.00 coupons) and candy $0.29. Used $10 RR, paid $1.69, got 10,000 BR points.
CVS: 2 GUM toothbrush twin packs ($2.00 each) and 20ct CVS pantiliners ($0.99). Used $3 ECB, $1 ECB, and $0.99 ECB, paid $0.35 tax, got $4 ECB for toothbrushes and $0.99 ECB for pantiliners.
Home again. Clean. Eat. Make dinner reservations for Shula's for tonight through OpenTable.com. Open Table gives me points for making dining reservations and I can redeem points for dining credits ($ to use) at any Open Table restaurant. Plan the rest of my day. One more trip out to get everything done.
I need to drop off my recycling, go to the post office and the bank. Luckily there is a Walgreens and CVS on almost every corner where I live. I basically drove a big square to run my errands and there was a Walgreens and CVS on 3 of the 4 corners of my square. So...
Walgreens: Swisse vitamins ($10, use $5 coupon) and candy $0.29. Used $4.50 RR, paid $1.51, got $10 RR.
CVS: Kraft Mac and Cheese ($0.99), GUM toothbrush 2 pack ($2), 2 bags York peppermint patties ($3.99 each, on sale for buy one get one free, used $2.50 off 2 CVS coupon and $1.10 off 2 manufacturer's coupon). Used $2 ECB and $0.99 ECB, paid $0.81, got $2 ECB and $0.99 ECB
Walgreens: 3 boxes Grape Nuts ($1.99 each, used 3 $1.00 coupons), 2 Nexxus (9.99 each, used 2 $5.00 coupons) and 2 candies ($0.29 each). Used $10 RR and $3 RR. Paid $1.97, got 10,000 BR points.
CVS: 2 bags York peppermint patties. Used same coupons as above. Paid $0.67.
DONE with my deals this week!
Here's my summary:
Walgreens: Total paid out of pocket $16.46, got all this stuff - some of the candy got eaten already - still have $3 RR and earned 20,000 BR points worth $20 - $22. 1000 BR points = $1 but you can cash in 18,000 BR points for $20
CVS: Total paid out of pocket $7.31, got all this stuff - kids already snagged the 2 Starbucks, Orbit gum, and the toothpaste - still have a $4 ECB, $2 ECB, and $0.99 ECB. I'm not too worried about hanging onto the ECBs since I have a month to spend them.
My husband and I had a fabulous dinner at Shula's tonight!
My dinner - Caesar's salad, Filet Oscar (a filet mignon topped with lump crab, asparagus, and hollandaise sauce), roasted corn, sparkling water, MacMurray Ranch Russian River chardonnay, key lime pie. Pretty much had to roll me home. They even gave me this but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to eat whatever's inside!
So here's how it works...
CVS has Extra Care Bucks or ECBs. Fake CVS money. You can earn ECBs by buying certain things. They print at the bottom of your register receipt after buying said item. ECBs expire 30 days after you get them. You have to have CVS's ExtraCard to earn and use your ECBs and they are tied to your card, meaning you can't use the ECBs that you find in the parking lot or the ones your friend gives you. There is a limit on how many times a sale item can give you an ECB. Most of the time it's just one, but sometimes it's more. You can also scan your ExtraCare card at their card reader/price checker when you enter the store and it will spit out CVS coupons. You can use both a CVS coupon and a manufacturer's coupon on the same item.
Walgreens is a bit more complicated (in my opinion). Their reward system is called Balance Rewards (BR). You can earn BR points by buying certain items that are on sale that week. Once you earn a certain number of points, you can use them to pay for your purchases. 1000 BR points equals $1.00. You cannot earn BR points if you use BR points in that transaction. Your BR account is kind of like a gift card account since your points do not expire. You need to sign up for a Balance Rewards card to take advantage of their sale prices and rewards. They also have something called Register Rewards (RR). Some of their sale items will spit out a coupon with your receipt called a Register Reward. The RR is for a dollar amount that is good for a future Walgreens purchase - so it's fake Walgreens money. You do not need a card to get RRs. Only one RR will print per transaction for a specific item but there is no limit to how many times you can get the RR. If you use a RR to pay for an item, you cannot earn a RR on that same item.The RRs expire 14 days after printing. I don't like the RRs as much because 14 days is not a lot of time to "roll" the RR into another deal. Sometimes there just isn't anything to buy at Walgreens the next 2 weeks after you earn the RR so you just end up spending it on a full price item.
Both CVS and Walgreens have a bunch of items this week that are "free" after either ECBs or RRs - meaning you pay X but will get an ECB or RR for that same amount when you check out. Both stores have also been known the last few years to run a boat load of "free" item sales on Black Friday then have crappy sale ads for weeks afterwards so it's hard to roll the ECBs or RRs into other deals and people just get stuck with them. That being said, I can see the upcoming ads for the next several weeks on most of the deal sites so I can plan out what to do with my ECBs or RRs.
So enough background. Here's my last couple days...
Saturday
My day off. My younger daughter G and I spent Friday night at my in-laws house in Columbus so we could go to a Christmas Art Show Open House in the morning. One of my mother-in-law's friends is an artist that was selling paintings at this Open House. There were glass artists there too. I like art glass. G likes art in general. The Open House was from 10 am to 4 pm. G had Nutcracker rehearsal from 3-6 pm in the afternoon so we decided to go at 10 am when they opened.
Got up. Checked my email and coupon sites while G got ready. I found out that there are specially marked Eggo waffle boxes at Target where you buy 4, enter the KFR (Kellogg's Family Rewards) code inside the box on the KFR site, and you get a $5 Target gift card. Eggos were on sale for $2 that week - meaning I had to buy them Saturday for the sale price. Also realized the Quaker Warm and Crunchy Granola boxes go off sale that night too. They were on sale for $2.50 (normally $3.99). There is a Target coupon for $1 and a manufacturer's coupon for $1, so only $0.50 a box after coupon stack.
Went to the Art Show. Drove an hour back to Greenwood. Hit CVS on the way home and bought 4 newspapers ($5.00). I always get 4 copies of the weekend Daily Journal on Saturday. The Daily Journal doesn't come out on Sunday so all the Sunday ads and coupons are in the Saturday paper, plus the coupons are better and it's less expensive than the Indy Star.
Ran home long enough for G to change clothes and grab food, then it's back in the car to drive to an hour to Carmel for Nutcracker rehearsal. Today was parent observation - the one open studio rehearsal the parents get to see - so I was obligated to sit and watch the 3 hour rehearsal.
6 pm (umm... where did my day go?) Done with rehearsal. Another hour back to Greenwood. We ran through Target on the way home. I found the specially marked Eggo boxes and got 4.
Home. Fed everyone. Went to the KFR site and entered my codes and boom, $5 Target gift card in my email. Kids devoured an entire box of Eggos. I decided this was a pretty good deal.
Kellogg's Family Rewards is another rewards point site. You enter codes from the inside of Kellogg's products. The codes give you points. You redeem the points for stuff. I think you have to redeem an exorbitant number of points for their stuff but, a couple times a year, they have "sales" on their point items and then it's a deal. I always redeem my points for high value coupons.
I searched my coupon database for Eggo coupons. There are no printable or regular insert coupons out at this time. There are, however, Eggo coupons that I can redeem points for at the KFR site. I redeemed 1000 points for a $1.50 coupon. I can print 2 copies.
9 pm. My older daughter needs driven to a friend's house. I drive her over and hit Target again. This time I get 4 Eggo boxes and use two $1.50 coupons. So $5 for 4 boxes. I also remember to get the Quaker. Had to do 2 transactions, used my own bag both times so got another $0.05 off each time.
End result. 8 boxes of Eggos, 2 boxes of Quaker Warm and Crunchy Granola. Spent $13.90. Got $10 in Target gift cards.
Sunday
I'm scheduled to work 6:30 am - 3:00 pm. I have an hour drive each way.
Up at 4:30. Left the house 15 minutes early so I could hit the 24 hour Walgreens that is on my way to work. I am starting Walgreens this week with nothing to roll. So basically starting with just the coupons I have.
Walgreens: Got Swisse vitamins - $10, used a $5 coupon. Gelusil antacid tablets - $3, used $2 coupon. Paid $6.91, Got $10 RR for Swisse and $3 RR for Gelusil.
Worked from 6:30 am to 4:00 pm. We were busy so I ended up staying an hour over. I had to pick up G in Carmel from Nutcracker rehearsal at 6pm. Hit Walgreens again on my way North.
Walgreens: Got another Gelusil ($3, used $2 coupon), Tums Freshers ($4.50), 2 Grape Nuts cereal ($1.99 each, used 2 $1.00 coupons), 2 Glad Cling Wrap ($2 each, used 2 $1.00 coupons), Reeses PB cup ($0.59). Used the $10 RR from the morning to pay plus $0.92, Got $3 RR for Gelusil and $4.50 RR for Tums.
I had to buy the Reese's as a "filler". Your pre-tax total has to be greater than the amount of the RR you want to use. Without the $0.59 Reese's, my total was only $9.48. The Reese's pushed it to $10.07. The rest of what I paid was for tax.
Hit the CVS that was on my way too. I am starting CVS this week with $1 ECB. Got 2 Sparkle paper towels ($1 each, used buy one get one free coupon), Colgate toothpaste ($3.00, used $2.50 CVS coupon and $0.50 manufacturer's coupon), theater box Whoppers ($1.00), Orbit gum ($0.99), 2 Starbucks Double Shot Espresso cans ($1.50 each).
Paid $5.41. Got $3 ECB for Starbucks, $2 ECB for Sparkle, $1 ECB for Whoppers, and $0.99 ECB for Orbit.
Got G in time. Came home. Fed everyone and passed out.
Monday
Scheduled to work 6:30 am - 3 pm again. Up at 4:30. Left 15 minutes early again to hit Walgreens.
Walgreens: Got Swisse vitamins ($10, used $5 coupon) and candy $0.29. Used $4.50 RR from Tums purchase, paid $1.51, got $10 RR for Swisse.
I had to buy the candy as another filler. At Walgreens your coupon count has to match your item count. I had a $5 manufacturer's coupon for the Swisse and wanted to use a $4.50 RR. The RR reward counts as a coupon so, without the candy, I would have 2 coupons but only 1 item so the register will not accept the second coupon. The candy was the cheapest thing I could find.
Worked from 6:30 to 4 pm. Busy again. Hit Walgreens on the way home.
Walgreens: Got Max Freeze muscle rub ($7, used $2 coupon), Tums Freshers ($4.50), and a Reese's PB cup ($0.59). Used $10 RR from the morning, paid $0.94, got $5 RR for Max Freeze, $4.50 RR for Tums.
G had dance practice at her local studio at 5:15 pm so drove up to my house, she hopped in, and we drove to the studio. G had a duet rehearsal that just lasted an hour so I dropped her off and did some more shopping.
Walgreens: Swisse vitamins ($10, used $5 coupon) and candy $0.29. Used $5 RR from Max Freeze, paid $1.01, got $10 RR for Swisse.
CVS: box of Kraft Mac and Cheese ($0.99), pack of 5 Gum ($1.00). Used $0.99 ECB and $1.00 ECB, paid $0.07 for tax.
Picked up G. Went home. Fed everyone and passed out again.
Tuesday (today, at least when I started writing this!)
It's my day off. Time to wrap up these deals.
"Slept in" until 6:30 am. Drove J to school. Checked my email and my deal sites. KFR sent me a birthday email yesterday. Got a code for 100 bonus points and a $20 Shutterfly credit. Also read on a deal site that KFR is giving double points for your codes on Black Friday and then having a "sale" from December 2-8. I'll hang onto my birthday code til Friday and see if it will double. Also found out that My Coke Rewards (MCR), another rewards point site I frequent, is having double points from now til 11/28. I enter my coke codes I've been saving. I always hold onto them until they have a double points event. I am a Diet Coke addict.
8:45 am. Drive G to school then go to Walgreens.
I need to start converting my RRs to BR points because I'm done buying the stuff I want this week. Walgreens has a deal this week where you can earn 10,000 BR points for buying 2 Nexxus hair products. 10,000 BR points equals $10. I have $5 Nexxus coupons. Conversion problem solved!
Walgreens: 2 Nexxus conditioners ($9.99 each, used 2 $5.00 coupons) and candy $0.29. Used $10 RR, paid $1.69, got 10,000 BR points.
CVS: 2 GUM toothbrush twin packs ($2.00 each) and 20ct CVS pantiliners ($0.99). Used $3 ECB, $1 ECB, and $0.99 ECB, paid $0.35 tax, got $4 ECB for toothbrushes and $0.99 ECB for pantiliners.
Home again. Clean. Eat. Make dinner reservations for Shula's for tonight through OpenTable.com. Open Table gives me points for making dining reservations and I can redeem points for dining credits ($ to use) at any Open Table restaurant. Plan the rest of my day. One more trip out to get everything done.
I need to drop off my recycling, go to the post office and the bank. Luckily there is a Walgreens and CVS on almost every corner where I live. I basically drove a big square to run my errands and there was a Walgreens and CVS on 3 of the 4 corners of my square. So...
Walgreens: Swisse vitamins ($10, use $5 coupon) and candy $0.29. Used $4.50 RR, paid $1.51, got $10 RR.
CVS: Kraft Mac and Cheese ($0.99), GUM toothbrush 2 pack ($2), 2 bags York peppermint patties ($3.99 each, on sale for buy one get one free, used $2.50 off 2 CVS coupon and $1.10 off 2 manufacturer's coupon). Used $2 ECB and $0.99 ECB, paid $0.81, got $2 ECB and $0.99 ECB
Walgreens: 3 boxes Grape Nuts ($1.99 each, used 3 $1.00 coupons), 2 Nexxus (9.99 each, used 2 $5.00 coupons) and 2 candies ($0.29 each). Used $10 RR and $3 RR. Paid $1.97, got 10,000 BR points.
CVS: 2 bags York peppermint patties. Used same coupons as above. Paid $0.67.
DONE with my deals this week!
Here's my summary:
Walgreens: Total paid out of pocket $16.46, got all this stuff - some of the candy got eaten already - still have $3 RR and earned 20,000 BR points worth $20 - $22. 1000 BR points = $1 but you can cash in 18,000 BR points for $20
CVS: Total paid out of pocket $7.31, got all this stuff - kids already snagged the 2 Starbucks, Orbit gum, and the toothpaste - still have a $4 ECB, $2 ECB, and $0.99 ECB. I'm not too worried about hanging onto the ECBs since I have a month to spend them.
My husband and I had a fabulous dinner at Shula's tonight!
My dinner - Caesar's salad, Filet Oscar (a filet mignon topped with lump crab, asparagus, and hollandaise sauce), roasted corn, sparkling water, MacMurray Ranch Russian River chardonnay, key lime pie. Pretty much had to roll me home. They even gave me this but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to eat whatever's inside!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Shopping Portals
I am continuing with my holiday deal shopping theme this week and letting you know about my favorite shopping portals. And let me warn you, I put all my referral links in here too. That's what a blog's good for isn't it?
So what's a shopping portal you ask? It's a website where you start your online shopping. You "click thru" the "portal" (website) to get to the site you want to shop. In doing so, the portal site will give you something (like money) back by clicking thru their site. Got it?
My absolute favorite site is Ebates. They have a huge list of participating stores and also have the stores latest coupon codes. Ebates will give you a percentage back on what you spend. It can be anywhere from 1% to 50% (not kidding!) The best part, at least from my perspective, is Ebates doesn't care how you pay for your stuff.
Here are my most recent Ebates transactions:
I used a gift card for my Best Buy purchase...
...so I paid nothing out of pocket. Ebates though will give you money back on whatever your product subtotal was. I got 1% of my total purchase price back
If you look at my Vera Bradley receipt here, I paid $75.11 out of pocket. My subtotal though before I used my $30 off $100 coupon was $100.20 and Ebates gave me 3% of that money back.
It's a couple dollars here and a couple dollars there, but in the end it all adds up.
At the end of every quarter they will send you a Big Fat Check.
So what's a shopping portal you ask? It's a website where you start your online shopping. You "click thru" the "portal" (website) to get to the site you want to shop. In doing so, the portal site will give you something (like money) back by clicking thru their site. Got it?
My absolute favorite site is Ebates. They have a huge list of participating stores and also have the stores latest coupon codes. Ebates will give you a percentage back on what you spend. It can be anywhere from 1% to 50% (not kidding!) The best part, at least from my perspective, is Ebates doesn't care how you pay for your stuff.
Here are my most recent Ebates transactions:
I used a gift card for my Best Buy purchase...
...so I paid nothing out of pocket. Ebates though will give you money back on whatever your product subtotal was. I got 1% of my total purchase price back
If you look at my Vera Bradley receipt here, I paid $75.11 out of pocket. My subtotal though before I used my $30 off $100 coupon was $100.20 and Ebates gave me 3% of that money back.
It's a couple dollars here and a couple dollars there, but in the end it all adds up.
At the end of every quarter they will send you a Big Fat Check.
I also like Ebates because it is an automatic double dip for me if I use my credit card. I get credit card points for using my credit card plus I get money back from Ebates. Depending on where you shop, you can even make it a triple dip or quadruple dip. For instance, my Expedia purchase was for our Bites of Nassau Food Tour that we took on Fall Break. I got credit card points, Ebates cash back, plus I got Expedia rewards points. When we went to Costa Rica on Spring Break, I started out at Ebates, went to Expedia, then got airline tickets for United. I got credit card points, Ebates cash back, Expedia points, and United airline miles - a quadruple dip - credit for four different programs for the same dollars spent.
If you are interested in signing up for Ebates my referral link is HERE. I get $5 for any referral that spend $25 through Ebates this quarter. You can also go to their website and put in my email on the sign up page.
So my next favorite portal is MyPoints. MyPoints is not only a portal but a rewards site. You earn points per dollar spent for your purchases if you shop through MyPoints. You can also earn points by doing surveys or simply visiting other websites through links that MyPoints will email you. You can also earn points by printing coupons through their coupons.com link and you will get 10 points for every coupon redeemed. You can then redeem your points for gift cards... and go shopping through Ebates!
Since I don't automatically get cash back, I use MyPoints only when Ebates doesn't have the site I'm shopping. What I mainly do at MyPoints is earn points by printing coupons, doing surveys, and clicking thru their emails. I usually cash in a bunch of points in October for gift cards to do my holiday shopping.
If you are interested in MyPoints and want me to get some credit, I can send you a referral link. I get points for that too :)
Some of the gift cards you can earn at MyPoints
Although not an online portal, another site worth mentioning again is Plink. I talked about it HERE. This is a new site and they are adding new merchants every day. The merchants are automatically connected to your registered credit card so you automatically get credit when you buy from your selected merchants. The limitation at Plink is that you can only have 3-4 merchants in your "wallet" when you start. You can "unlock" more merchant sites by referring friends or downloading their free app. You are free to switch your merchants around in your wallet at any time though so if there is a merchant that you are planning to shop from that's not in your wallet, you simply remove the one you don't want and add the one that you do want.
You can actually do a triple dip pretty easily if you want to buy something from a Plink merchant online and you get credit card points because most of the Plink merchants are also on Ebates.
My Plink referral link is HERE. You will get 300 points for signing up. I get to unlock another slot in my wallet or get 100 points or something like that. It seems to change from time to time! 500 points will get you a $5 gift card.
Well, I suppose that's enough self promotion for one night. I hope you learned something. My philosophy is that if I'm going to spend money, I want the biggest bang for my buck; I want something back!
Happy Holiday Shopping! I'm doing most of mine from my couch. How about you?
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Birthday Deals
First off, I ran 3 miles today. Indoors. Around the track at the fitness center. It felt great. Now my heels hurt. Crap.
Then I weighed myself. So all year I've been weighing myself on the same scale at the fitness center. I'm not actively dieting or trying to lose weight, I'm just curious. Anyway, I lost a whole 5 lbs from January to when I ran my marathon. Today I'm down another 1.5 lbs. Go figure. I don't think I lost that in muscle mass in 2 weeks.
Moving on...
I have always loved getting mail. When I was a kid, I signed up for all the birthday clubs that sent kids freebies on their birthday. As an adult, I discovered that birthdays clubs weren't just for kids. In fact, you can get some really nice gifts from your favorite stores on your birthday!
So next week is my birthday. My email is full of birthday gifts already! I think the best part about having a November birthday is that I can often use my birthday freebies with the holiday sales and score some really great deals.
Most of my birthday gifts are from stores where I have set up an account or belong to their free rewards club. Some stores I only frequent once a year for my birthday freebie but they send me a gift every year. Here are some of my favorites...
Starbucks - register a Starbucks gift card to get an account. You earn "stars" for your purchases and rewards with your stars. You will get a free drink loaded on your card for your birthday.
Godiva - sign up for their rewards program. Get a free piece of chocolate every month from their store. Get a $10 coupon for your birthday. You can get $10 of loose chocolate free at their store or use it towards something else or use it online. They tend to run their best deals online on Thanksgiving Day.
Kohls - sign up for their rewards program. Get a $10 coupon for your birthday. I just used mine combined with a sale and a 30% off coupon and got a pair of $54 Nike running tights for less than $30.
Vera Bradley - sign up for an account. Their birthday gifts vary. They have sent me coupons for $20 in the past. This year I got 40% off any one item. You can use it on a sale item. Don't ever pay full price for anything Vera.* They have rotating sales online every day. If you want something, I guarantee it will go on sale for 40% off or more at some point.
Shula's - join Team Shula. You will get a coupon for a free entrée with purchase of an entrée for your birthday. Their entrees are in the $30 - $40 range so this is a great deal. Date night for me!
Landry's Select Club - this is the dining club that includes Morton's Steakhouse and McCormick and Schmick's here in Indy. You get a $25 dining credit loaded onto your card your birthday month. Another lunch or dinner date for me at a fancy restaurant!
Coldwater Creek - sign up for their rewards program. Get a $10 coupon for your birthday. $10 might not seem like a lot but they have crazy deals in their outlet and there are free shipping codes all the time. I have gotten numerous tops there for less than $2. Sometimes they will also just send you a coupon for $25 off anything - usually about once a year.** Admittedly, one year, I went a little crazy and bought a bunch of stuff after Christmas when everything online was 70% off (happens every year). A couple weeks later I got an email asking if I wanted to secretly shop their store. Heck ya! They sent me a gift card to shop the store.
Sephora - sign up to be a Beauty Insider. You can pick up a nice product every year at the store for your birthday. It varies year to year. I've gotten Philosophy body wash, FRESH sugar lip treatment sets, and similar freebies. My other favorite thing about their program is that every year at the end of November you get a coupon for $15 off a $50 purchase. I use this to get my Philosophy fix for the year. I usually cash in some of my reward points from my Citicard Rewards in October and get a Sephora gift card to use for the balance.
Blue Mile - they will send you a coupon for $10 off $50.
Dunkin Donuts - sign up for their Dunkin update. You get a coupon for a free beverage for signing up and a free beverage for your birthday.
*
Then I weighed myself. So all year I've been weighing myself on the same scale at the fitness center. I'm not actively dieting or trying to lose weight, I'm just curious. Anyway, I lost a whole 5 lbs from January to when I ran my marathon. Today I'm down another 1.5 lbs. Go figure. I don't think I lost that in muscle mass in 2 weeks.
Moving on...
I have always loved getting mail. When I was a kid, I signed up for all the birthday clubs that sent kids freebies on their birthday. As an adult, I discovered that birthdays clubs weren't just for kids. In fact, you can get some really nice gifts from your favorite stores on your birthday!
So next week is my birthday. My email is full of birthday gifts already! I think the best part about having a November birthday is that I can often use my birthday freebies with the holiday sales and score some really great deals.
Most of my birthday gifts are from stores where I have set up an account or belong to their free rewards club. Some stores I only frequent once a year for my birthday freebie but they send me a gift every year. Here are some of my favorites...
Starbucks - register a Starbucks gift card to get an account. You earn "stars" for your purchases and rewards with your stars. You will get a free drink loaded on your card for your birthday.
Godiva - sign up for their rewards program. Get a free piece of chocolate every month from their store. Get a $10 coupon for your birthday. You can get $10 of loose chocolate free at their store or use it towards something else or use it online. They tend to run their best deals online on Thanksgiving Day.
Kohls - sign up for their rewards program. Get a $10 coupon for your birthday. I just used mine combined with a sale and a 30% off coupon and got a pair of $54 Nike running tights for less than $30.
Vera Bradley - sign up for an account. Their birthday gifts vary. They have sent me coupons for $20 in the past. This year I got 40% off any one item. You can use it on a sale item. Don't ever pay full price for anything Vera.* They have rotating sales online every day. If you want something, I guarantee it will go on sale for 40% off or more at some point.
Shula's - join Team Shula. You will get a coupon for a free entrée with purchase of an entrée for your birthday. Their entrees are in the $30 - $40 range so this is a great deal. Date night for me!
Landry's Select Club - this is the dining club that includes Morton's Steakhouse and McCormick and Schmick's here in Indy. You get a $25 dining credit loaded onto your card your birthday month. Another lunch or dinner date for me at a fancy restaurant!
Coldwater Creek - sign up for their rewards program. Get a $10 coupon for your birthday. $10 might not seem like a lot but they have crazy deals in their outlet and there are free shipping codes all the time. I have gotten numerous tops there for less than $2. Sometimes they will also just send you a coupon for $25 off anything - usually about once a year.** Admittedly, one year, I went a little crazy and bought a bunch of stuff after Christmas when everything online was 70% off (happens every year). A couple weeks later I got an email asking if I wanted to secretly shop their store. Heck ya! They sent me a gift card to shop the store.
Sephora - sign up to be a Beauty Insider. You can pick up a nice product every year at the store for your birthday. It varies year to year. I've gotten Philosophy body wash, FRESH sugar lip treatment sets, and similar freebies. My other favorite thing about their program is that every year at the end of November you get a coupon for $15 off a $50 purchase. I use this to get my Philosophy fix for the year. I usually cash in some of my reward points from my Citicard Rewards in October and get a Sephora gift card to use for the balance.
Blue Mile - they will send you a coupon for $10 off $50.
Dunkin Donuts - sign up for their Dunkin update. You get a coupon for a free beverage for signing up and a free beverage for your birthday.
*
This was my last purchase. The unit price is the regular price. They had a deal where you got 25% off all the sale items when you put it in your cart. Shipping was free after $75 and you got a free bag if you spent $125. The shipping and free bag were based on the sale price of the item before the extra 25% off. I got two items that were on sale. Then I used a coupon code for $30 off a $100 purchase. End result, 3 items with a regular price of $232 for $75.11, shipped free to my door. Like I said, don't ever pay full price for Vera.
**
Gotta love free!
Looks like I'm not going to have any long runs any time soon so I'm prepping for holiday shopping deals instead. More deals to come this week!
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Hot Yoga
I took the plunge and tried hot yoga. So far so good...
I tried my first class last week. The studio is literally a hole in the wall at a strip mall. It took me forever to find it. Class was at 7 pm. I got there and the place looked closed. I tried the door and it was open. Hmmm... we did yoga with the lights off.
So there were space heaters set up all around the studio to warm the room. Once the lights were off, the only light in the room was the orange glow of the space heaters and what little light came through the glass storefront (which was the size of the door) through the sheer curtain.
I don't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. I had no idea what I was doing. I was peeking around at everyone else and the instructor to see what the poses looked like and it was really hard to see in the dim light. Then again, no one could see me making a fool out of myself either!
The next day, I was sore in a whole bunch of places that I didn't know could be sore! I went back today for my second class. This time I could see exactly what was going on since it was at 10:30 am and it was daylight out. Class is definitely a lot of core work and the room gets really hot. I felt like I got a good workout in and was dying towards the end - like praying the hour would be over soon.
My legs are starting to feel better. I might venture a short run in the morning.
Have you tried yoga?
I tried my first class last week. The studio is literally a hole in the wall at a strip mall. It took me forever to find it. Class was at 7 pm. I got there and the place looked closed. I tried the door and it was open. Hmmm... we did yoga with the lights off.
So there were space heaters set up all around the studio to warm the room. Once the lights were off, the only light in the room was the orange glow of the space heaters and what little light came through the glass storefront (which was the size of the door) through the sheer curtain.
I don't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. I had no idea what I was doing. I was peeking around at everyone else and the instructor to see what the poses looked like and it was really hard to see in the dim light. Then again, no one could see me making a fool out of myself either!
The next day, I was sore in a whole bunch of places that I didn't know could be sore! I went back today for my second class. This time I could see exactly what was going on since it was at 10:30 am and it was daylight out. Class is definitely a lot of core work and the room gets really hot. I felt like I got a good workout in and was dying towards the end - like praying the hour would be over soon.
My legs are starting to feel better. I might venture a short run in the morning.
Have you tried yoga?
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Scaring the Cr@p Out of Myself
"Do one thing every day that scares you."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor should be proud of me. I decided on a fitness plan for the next couple months and, truth be told, my ambition scares the cr@p out of me. Can I stick to it?
Here's what I signed myself up for...
This is a Russian Kettlebell class run by Marty Mills, head strength and conditioning coach at Center Grove High School. He is suppose to be the #1 kettlebell instructor in the country. I signed up for a 3 month membership that starts January 6th.
The scary part...classes are at 5:15 or 6 AM!!! Am I going to be able to haul myself out of bed on a cold January morning? Well, it's paid for and I need to do some core work so that's what I committed to. There are evening classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays but I am generally running kids around if I am not at work so I guess I'm going to have to learn to be one of those people and haul myself out of bed to work out.
I guess I can always go back to bed after working out!
2. Derby Festival Marathon
April 19th, 2014. That's the date I chose for my next Boston qualifying attempt. I chose this race because it has a 3:50 pace group. I considered the Carmel Marathon on April 12th but it did not offer a 3:50 pace group. Carmel went from 3:45 to 3:55. I didn't want to push it and try for 3:45 but I didn't want to chance missing my time with the 3:55 group either.
I've never run in Louisville before. Looks like there's a hill halfway through the race (gulp). I am going to use Hal Higdon's Intermediate 2 marathon training program again. The 18 week program will start on December 15th. That gives me a total of 6 weeks rest from the Monumental Marathon to the start of the new training cycle. I am hoping my hamstring and my heels are better by then. I still feel like I've been run over by a Mack truck when I wake up in the mornings.
3. Hot Yoga
I want to try something new. What better to do on a cold day than Hot Yoga! I found a Living
Social deal at The Body Sanctuary - 10 Hot Yoga or Mat Pilates classes for $59. I am going to my first class on Thursday.
Until my new training cycle starts, I'm trying to stick to non-weight bearing exercises. I haven't run in a week and it's making me nervous. I'm going to try some shorter runs soon. My last race of the year will be a 5K (Reindeer Romp) on December 14th. I think that will give me an idea of what kind of shape I'm in before I start the new training cycle the next day.
Want to join me in any of my endeavors? Go click the links and sign up to exercise with me. I'd love some company - especially at 5:15 am! I asked my husband if he would do the kettlebell class with me and got an "absolutely NOT" answer. He did, however, agree to go down to Louisville with me.
Have you scared yourself lately?
The scary part...classes are at 5:15 or 6 AM!!! Am I going to be able to haul myself out of bed on a cold January morning? Well, it's paid for and I need to do some core work so that's what I committed to. There are evening classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays but I am generally running kids around if I am not at work so I guess I'm going to have to learn to be one of those people and haul myself out of bed to work out.
I guess I can always go back to bed after working out!
2. Derby Festival Marathon
April 19th, 2014. That's the date I chose for my next Boston qualifying attempt. I chose this race because it has a 3:50 pace group. I considered the Carmel Marathon on April 12th but it did not offer a 3:50 pace group. Carmel went from 3:45 to 3:55. I didn't want to push it and try for 3:45 but I didn't want to chance missing my time with the 3:55 group either.
I've never run in Louisville before. Looks like there's a hill halfway through the race (gulp). I am going to use Hal Higdon's Intermediate 2 marathon training program again. The 18 week program will start on December 15th. That gives me a total of 6 weeks rest from the Monumental Marathon to the start of the new training cycle. I am hoping my hamstring and my heels are better by then. I still feel like I've been run over by a Mack truck when I wake up in the mornings.
3. Hot Yoga
I want to try something new. What better to do on a cold day than Hot Yoga! I found a Living
Social deal at The Body Sanctuary - 10 Hot Yoga or Mat Pilates classes for $59. I am going to my first class on Thursday.
Until my new training cycle starts, I'm trying to stick to non-weight bearing exercises. I haven't run in a week and it's making me nervous. I'm going to try some shorter runs soon. My last race of the year will be a 5K (Reindeer Romp) on December 14th. I think that will give me an idea of what kind of shape I'm in before I start the new training cycle the next day.
Want to join me in any of my endeavors? Go click the links and sign up to exercise with me. I'd love some company - especially at 5:15 am! I asked my husband if he would do the kettlebell class with me and got an "absolutely NOT" answer. He did, however, agree to go down to Louisville with me.
Have you scared yourself lately?
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Back in the Game
I feel like I'm back today. The sun is shining and I have a plan...
I spent the last couple days in a funk about what could have been on Saturday. Then I just laid around and ate bad food for a couple days, the whole time panicking about all the fitness I was losing by sitting around and eating bad food. Let me tell you, I couldn't eat on Saturday but I have eaten everything that wasn't nailed down the last couple days!
So here is my dilemma... I want my legs to heal. I'm tired of pain being the norm. In order for them to heal, I have to rest them but I feel like I'm losing all the work I've done the last couple months by resting. I finally came up with a plan - try to keep my cardio but don't do anything that causes pain; also work on some core strength because I think I'm really lacking that right now.
I am looking into some local strength programs. I'll update when I commit to one. I went to the fitness center and rode the bike hard for 30 minutes today. It was actually on an easy spin speed but I worked up a good sweat. Covered 8.95 miles, average speed 17.9 mph, average rpm 94. Back in the spring I think the bike helped me improve my leg speed/turnover and it's a non-weightbearing activity that doesn't hurt my hamstring.
I also got a good grocery shopping trip in today. I haven't had a good "deal" trip in awhile but there have been some really great coupons lately so I finally put something together. I am really trying to eat better but I needed to stock up on some convenience foods so that I'll quit going through the drive-thru on my busy days.
So here's my take today at Meijer...
I spent the last couple days in a funk about what could have been on Saturday. Then I just laid around and ate bad food for a couple days, the whole time panicking about all the fitness I was losing by sitting around and eating bad food. Let me tell you, I couldn't eat on Saturday but I have eaten everything that wasn't nailed down the last couple days!
So here is my dilemma... I want my legs to heal. I'm tired of pain being the norm. In order for them to heal, I have to rest them but I feel like I'm losing all the work I've done the last couple months by resting. I finally came up with a plan - try to keep my cardio but don't do anything that causes pain; also work on some core strength because I think I'm really lacking that right now.
I am looking into some local strength programs. I'll update when I commit to one. I went to the fitness center and rode the bike hard for 30 minutes today. It was actually on an easy spin speed but I worked up a good sweat. Covered 8.95 miles, average speed 17.9 mph, average rpm 94. Back in the spring I think the bike helped me improve my leg speed/turnover and it's a non-weightbearing activity that doesn't hurt my hamstring.
I also got a good grocery shopping trip in today. I haven't had a good "deal" trip in awhile but there have been some really great coupons lately so I finally put something together. I am really trying to eat better but I needed to stock up on some convenience foods so that I'll quit going through the drive-thru on my busy days.
So here's my take today at Meijer...
$36.67 after coupons
I took advantage of their 10/$10 get the 11th item free sale plus I picked up ingredients to make this Chicken and Mushroom Stew (check out the link for the recipe - thanks Isabelle!)
Ended up with...
3 Palermo Flatbread pizzas (2.33 each after coupons)
8 El Monterey breakfast burritos (0.50 each after coupons)
- these have 9 grams of protein each and I am trying to eat more protein for breakfast
6 Green Giant frozen veggie boxes (0.80 each after coupons)
4 Hormel pepperoni packages (0.50 each after coupons)
3 packages of mushrooms (1.00 each but got 2 for free as my 11th item)
10 candy bars (0.25 each after coupon)
- I need candy like I need another hole in my head but I couldn't pass up the deal
- I'm hiding these for "later" when I'm sure I'll have some kind of candy bar emergency
bread (1.00)
celery (2.00)
3.5 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs (10.66)
bag of egg noodles (1.50)
All of the coupons I used are available to print at www.coupons.com.
Now I'm making my meal plans for this month. My work schedule has me hardly working early in the month but then it gets really busy at the end of the month so I'm trying to plan better.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Falling Back
Hope everyone in Indiana is enjoying their extra hour today (due to the time change)!
I slept in, got Dunkin' Donuts for donuts and bacon for breakfast, then walked a mile to get my legs loosened up.
I got up this morning and couldn't figure out why my left arm was so sore. Then I realized I had had my arm clenched with my fingers digging into my palm for several miles yesterday when my left leg was killing me. My hamstrings are still pretty tight and my knees feel a little creaky but, otherwise, I'm no worse for wear.
I couldn't eat yesterday. I had a peanut butter sandwich and banana at 6 am, then a gel pack at mile 7 and 14. I had planned to eat one every hour. I never had my third one because I wasn't exerting myself anymore once I started walking. After the race I just had no appetite. It was the usual kids' Saturday after that... pick up G from Nutcracker practice, then get groceries for J's Halloween Party. My older daughter had friends over til 10 pm. I finally got around eating a stuffed pepper and went to bed.
I got up this morning and decided I could eat anything I wanted. Donuts, bacon, and coffee it was. Now it's catching up on emails and relaxing until I go to work. I haven't been to work since Thursday. This weekend was Halloween, IU's homecoming, plus daylight savings ended last night so the hospital computers were down for several hours last night for time change. I am expecting to walk in to the aftermath of anarchy.
Happy Sunday!
I slept in, got Dunkin' Donuts for donuts and bacon for breakfast, then walked a mile to get my legs loosened up.
I got up this morning and couldn't figure out why my left arm was so sore. Then I realized I had had my arm clenched with my fingers digging into my palm for several miles yesterday when my left leg was killing me. My hamstrings are still pretty tight and my knees feel a little creaky but, otherwise, I'm no worse for wear.
I couldn't eat yesterday. I had a peanut butter sandwich and banana at 6 am, then a gel pack at mile 7 and 14. I had planned to eat one every hour. I never had my third one because I wasn't exerting myself anymore once I started walking. After the race I just had no appetite. It was the usual kids' Saturday after that... pick up G from Nutcracker practice, then get groceries for J's Halloween Party. My older daughter had friends over til 10 pm. I finally got around eating a stuffed pepper and went to bed.
I got up this morning and decided I could eat anything I wanted. Donuts, bacon, and coffee it was. Now it's catching up on emails and relaxing until I go to work. I haven't been to work since Thursday. This weekend was Halloween, IU's homecoming, plus daylight savings ended last night so the hospital computers were down for several hours last night for time change. I am expecting to walk in to the aftermath of anarchy.
Happy Sunday!
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Monumental Marathon
Well, what can I say, it just didn't happen today...
I ran really well for almost 16 miles. Then I collided with another runner at a water stop. It wasn't even a full on collision but I had to stop suddenly and my left hamstring immediately seized up. After that, I tried to run on it but it got tighter and tighter to the point where I was grunting with every step. I knew it was all over at mile 17 when I had to start walking.
My leg hurt so bad I looked around to see if there was a way to drop out of the race. I have never DNF'd a race but I was afraid I was going to rupture my hamstring or do some kind of permanent damage if I kept running on it - it hurt that bad. Problem was, there was no one around. Lots of runners but no race official looking people. The water stops at this point were mostly manned by little kids and their parents. I'm sure if someone fell to the ground with a true medical emergency they could get someone, but I was still moving - just in a lot of pain. I knew there was a SAG wagon that would pick up stragglers but since I had been moving at a 8:45 pace, I figured I could crawl across the finish line before the wagon caught up with me as they were picking up people that could not maintain a 15:00 mile pace, so I just kept moving; I didn't know what else to do!
So here's what happened...
The PLAN had been to go out with the 3:50 pace runner (8:46 pace) and stick to him like glue. Problem was that I got pushed so far back at the start that I couldn't even see the 3:50 pace runner anymore by the time I crossed the starting line. I knew that if I caught up with the pace runner, I'd actually be a little fast since I started behind him. I also realized I'd have to run faster to catch him but I told myself I just wouldn't go crazy fast; it was more important that I caught up with the pace runner to run WITH him.
Mile 1 - 8:38
Mile 2 - 8:44
Mile 3 - 8:27
I caught up with the pace runner at this point
Mile 4 - 8:33
Mile 5 - 8:46
Mile 6 - 8:47
Mile 7 - 8:34
I feel great and I think running with a pacer ROCKS!!
Mile 8 - 8:45
Mile 9 - 8:43
Mile 10 - 8:45
Mile 11 - 8:39
Mile 12 - 8:44
Mile 13 - 8:53
Mile 14 - 8:44
Mile 15 - 8:46
Still feeling great...
Mile 16 - 9:04
I collided just before the 16 mile marker
Mile 17 - 10:57
I tried to keep running. The whole course is pretty flat but the only slight rise in the road also happened to be at this point and I had to start walking. I knew my qualifying time was gone the minute I started walking.
Mile 18 - 14:25
Now I'm trying to figure out how to drop out...
Mile 19 - 13:17
... still trying to figure out how to drop out
Mile 20 - 14:29
Now I'm on White River Parkway. It's a pretty desolate stretch. The only other people around me are other runners, many who are in the same situation I'm in. We stretch, then slog, then walk, then stretch some more. The other problem I had was that once I stopped running, I got really cold. The weather today was PERFECT, as long as you were running. I was so frustrated. There was nothing wrong with my heart or lungs. I hadn't even started sucking air when my hamstring seized up. When I started getting cold, my right hamstring decided it was going to tighten up too... then my feet decided to join the mutiny and started cramping up. Arghhh!!
Mile 21 - 11:50
The 4:15 pace group passed me at this point and I tried to move and keep up. I couldn't keep up. I had a really really short choppy "stride" if you can call it at this point but I was determined to keep moving. I just wanted to be done!
Mile 22 - 11:04
Mile 23 - 10:45
My leg FINALLY started loosening up.
Mile 24 - 10:37
Mile 25 - 10:36
Mile 26 - 9:42
Last 0.2 - 2:59
Official time - 4:20:07. Average mile pace - 9:56
Yes, I'm very disappointed. I did, however, have 3 goals for this race - 1) qualify for Boston (3:55), 2) if not, break 4:00, and 3) if not, run a PR (personal record).
Today I lowered my PR by a little over 30 minutes. My previous best had been 4:50:18 at Chicago in 2011.
Plan now is to rehab my legs and try again in the Spring. I was not tired at all when my leg seized up. As I said, heart and lungs felt great. My legs just didn't want to participate!
The day didn't turn out like I wanted, but overall, I had fun. I am walking away today ready to do it again. Some other things about today...
I started the race with my friends Trena and Bob. Trena ran her first marathon 3 weeks ago in Chicago and blew it away in 3:48 (check out her blog HERE). She ran 3:39:44 today and qualified for Boston (her qualifying time was 3:40). Her husband Bob ran a PR 3:49:05. He and I ran together for awhile after Trena left us in the dust.
It's good to have connections. Trena has a friend that ran the half. He also happens to work at the State Capitol building right by the starting line. He let us in the building this morning so we stayed warm and had real bathrooms all to ourselves to frequent multiple times before the race.
The Monumental is not nearly as big or crowded as the Mini. I got to my favorite parking garage at 6 am like I do for the Mini. Me and the 50 other people that were just as anal as I sat in our cars and napped for an hour. The race started at 8 am. The other cars started filling the garage at 7.
I crossed the finish line and was greeted by my former high school cross-country and track coach... or at least I'm 99% sure it was him. I was a bit glassy-eyed after running 26.2 miles and I had my name plastered on my race bib but he said my name without hesitation, grabbed my hand for a handshake, and we just held on a bit longer than usual in recognition. I tried to talk to him after I got out of the finish corral but he was still busy catching runners as they finished and shaking their hands.
My chiropractor was working the massage tent. I went to see him and he gave me a longer than usual complimentary massage and tried to get my leg unknotted. I'm glad I waited around to see him!
How was your Saturday?
I ran really well for almost 16 miles. Then I collided with another runner at a water stop. It wasn't even a full on collision but I had to stop suddenly and my left hamstring immediately seized up. After that, I tried to run on it but it got tighter and tighter to the point where I was grunting with every step. I knew it was all over at mile 17 when I had to start walking.
My leg hurt so bad I looked around to see if there was a way to drop out of the race. I have never DNF'd a race but I was afraid I was going to rupture my hamstring or do some kind of permanent damage if I kept running on it - it hurt that bad. Problem was, there was no one around. Lots of runners but no race official looking people. The water stops at this point were mostly manned by little kids and their parents. I'm sure if someone fell to the ground with a true medical emergency they could get someone, but I was still moving - just in a lot of pain. I knew there was a SAG wagon that would pick up stragglers but since I had been moving at a 8:45 pace, I figured I could crawl across the finish line before the wagon caught up with me as they were picking up people that could not maintain a 15:00 mile pace, so I just kept moving; I didn't know what else to do!
So here's what happened...
The PLAN had been to go out with the 3:50 pace runner (8:46 pace) and stick to him like glue. Problem was that I got pushed so far back at the start that I couldn't even see the 3:50 pace runner anymore by the time I crossed the starting line. I knew that if I caught up with the pace runner, I'd actually be a little fast since I started behind him. I also realized I'd have to run faster to catch him but I told myself I just wouldn't go crazy fast; it was more important that I caught up with the pace runner to run WITH him.
Mile 1 - 8:38
Mile 2 - 8:44
Mile 3 - 8:27
I caught up with the pace runner at this point
Mile 4 - 8:33
Mile 5 - 8:46
Mile 6 - 8:47
Mile 7 - 8:34
I feel great and I think running with a pacer ROCKS!!
Mile 8 - 8:45
Mile 9 - 8:43
Mile 10 - 8:45
Mile 11 - 8:39
Mile 12 - 8:44
Mile 13 - 8:53
Mile 14 - 8:44
Mile 15 - 8:46
Still feeling great...
Mile 16 - 9:04
I collided just before the 16 mile marker
Mile 17 - 10:57
I tried to keep running. The whole course is pretty flat but the only slight rise in the road also happened to be at this point and I had to start walking. I knew my qualifying time was gone the minute I started walking.
Mile 18 - 14:25
Now I'm trying to figure out how to drop out...
Mile 19 - 13:17
... still trying to figure out how to drop out
Mile 20 - 14:29
Now I'm on White River Parkway. It's a pretty desolate stretch. The only other people around me are other runners, many who are in the same situation I'm in. We stretch, then slog, then walk, then stretch some more. The other problem I had was that once I stopped running, I got really cold. The weather today was PERFECT, as long as you were running. I was so frustrated. There was nothing wrong with my heart or lungs. I hadn't even started sucking air when my hamstring seized up. When I started getting cold, my right hamstring decided it was going to tighten up too... then my feet decided to join the mutiny and started cramping up. Arghhh!!
Mile 21 - 11:50
The 4:15 pace group passed me at this point and I tried to move and keep up. I couldn't keep up. I had a really really short choppy "stride" if you can call it at this point but I was determined to keep moving. I just wanted to be done!
Mile 22 - 11:04
Mile 23 - 10:45
My leg FINALLY started loosening up.
Mile 24 - 10:37
Mile 25 - 10:36
Mile 26 - 9:42
Last 0.2 - 2:59
Official time - 4:20:07. Average mile pace - 9:56
Yes, I'm very disappointed. I did, however, have 3 goals for this race - 1) qualify for Boston (3:55), 2) if not, break 4:00, and 3) if not, run a PR (personal record).
Today I lowered my PR by a little over 30 minutes. My previous best had been 4:50:18 at Chicago in 2011.
Plan now is to rehab my legs and try again in the Spring. I was not tired at all when my leg seized up. As I said, heart and lungs felt great. My legs just didn't want to participate!
The day didn't turn out like I wanted, but overall, I had fun. I am walking away today ready to do it again. Some other things about today...
I started the race with my friends Trena and Bob. Trena ran her first marathon 3 weeks ago in Chicago and blew it away in 3:48 (check out her blog HERE). She ran 3:39:44 today and qualified for Boston (her qualifying time was 3:40). Her husband Bob ran a PR 3:49:05. He and I ran together for awhile after Trena left us in the dust.
It's good to have connections. Trena has a friend that ran the half. He also happens to work at the State Capitol building right by the starting line. He let us in the building this morning so we stayed warm and had real bathrooms all to ourselves to frequent multiple times before the race.
The Monumental is not nearly as big or crowded as the Mini. I got to my favorite parking garage at 6 am like I do for the Mini. Me and the 50 other people that were just as anal as I sat in our cars and napped for an hour. The race started at 8 am. The other cars started filling the garage at 7.
I crossed the finish line and was greeted by my former high school cross-country and track coach... or at least I'm 99% sure it was him. I was a bit glassy-eyed after running 26.2 miles and I had my name plastered on my race bib but he said my name without hesitation, grabbed my hand for a handshake, and we just held on a bit longer than usual in recognition. I tried to talk to him after I got out of the finish corral but he was still busy catching runners as they finished and shaking their hands.
My chiropractor was working the massage tent. I went to see him and he gave me a longer than usual complimentary massage and tried to get my leg unknotted. I'm glad I waited around to see him!
How was your Saturday?
Monday, October 28, 2013
Bev Coleman 5K
Yesterday went well...
Got up at 4:30 am and went to work; left promptly at noon. I got to Columbus and registered for the race. It was a sunny but cool beautiful fall afternoon. As I had predicted, the #1 and #3 runners in my age group were there. Time wise, they are both faster than me. I decided to try to stay right behind them and not look at my watch too much.
The course was several loops around a neighborhood so there was never any point where you could count who was ahead of you and who was behind you. I pretty much stayed behind the #3 runner the whole way and there was one other female between us that looked like a high school runner. I never saw the #1 runner after the race started and I figured she was running behind me with one of her kids. She is so far ahead in the points standings now that she can afford to do that.
Here are my splits...
Mile 1 - 7:30
Mile 2 - 7:44
Mile 3 - 7:38
last 0.1? - 1:21 (my Garmin said 0.18 and I think the course was long!)
Official time - 24:12. Average mile pace 7:47
I grabbed some water after the race and walked back to my car. I picked up my phone and the time read 2:35 pm. 1 hour and 25 minutes to get to Carmel. Then I noticed I had a message. It was from my husband. He was back from Wisconsin already and the people at Gregory Hancock wanted to know if G could stay at "Nutcracker" rehearsal for another hour. He could go pick her up.
Hallelujah!
I went back and watched everyone else finish and stayed for the awards. I figured I got second in my age group but I thought there might have been another female runner between the winner and the #3 runner that beat me. Nope. The #3 runner finished second overall. The 14 year old in front of me was third, and I finished fourth overall. I got second in my age group. The #1 runner ran with her son and got third in our age group.
I had time to go home, shower, eat dinner and actually sit for an hour before driving back to Bloomington to work for another 3 hours. I got home just before midnight last night and just dropped!
All in all, the day's craziness was definitely worth it. It was my 10th race in the Crossroads of Indiana race series so I am now eligible for an overall award. I am currently in second in my age group. The #3 runner is now only 3 points behind me and I suspect she will end up second. Even if I do not run another race, the worst I can finish is third since the three of us that are leading our age group are so far ahead of everyone else in our age group.
More importantly, I felt really good during the race. I felt really evenly paced. If you go by my Garmin, I ran 3.18 miles which translates to a 7:37 pace. Plug that into a race calculator and that comes to a 23:40 5K. If I put that number in the race predictor I get marathon times of 3:44:29 to 3:50:59.
I am going to believe that I can run under 3:55:00 on Saturday.
I saw my chiropractor this morning and got my left hamstring and butt cheek stretched and rubbed out in a hurts-so-good kind of way. Then I ran an easy 3 mile loosen-up-the-legs kind of run this afternoon. I am still trying to decide what to wear on Saturday. It was 38 degrees at 8 am this morning but 60 degrees at noon. I think I'll hit up Goodwill tomorrow for some throw away clothes.
How was your Monday?
Got up at 4:30 am and went to work; left promptly at noon. I got to Columbus and registered for the race. It was a sunny but cool beautiful fall afternoon. As I had predicted, the #1 and #3 runners in my age group were there. Time wise, they are both faster than me. I decided to try to stay right behind them and not look at my watch too much.
The course was several loops around a neighborhood so there was never any point where you could count who was ahead of you and who was behind you. I pretty much stayed behind the #3 runner the whole way and there was one other female between us that looked like a high school runner. I never saw the #1 runner after the race started and I figured she was running behind me with one of her kids. She is so far ahead in the points standings now that she can afford to do that.
Here are my splits...
Mile 1 - 7:30
Mile 2 - 7:44
Mile 3 - 7:38
last 0.1? - 1:21 (my Garmin said 0.18 and I think the course was long!)
Official time - 24:12. Average mile pace 7:47
I grabbed some water after the race and walked back to my car. I picked up my phone and the time read 2:35 pm. 1 hour and 25 minutes to get to Carmel. Then I noticed I had a message. It was from my husband. He was back from Wisconsin already and the people at Gregory Hancock wanted to know if G could stay at "Nutcracker" rehearsal for another hour. He could go pick her up.
Hallelujah!
I went back and watched everyone else finish and stayed for the awards. I figured I got second in my age group but I thought there might have been another female runner between the winner and the #3 runner that beat me. Nope. The #3 runner finished second overall. The 14 year old in front of me was third, and I finished fourth overall. I got second in my age group. The #1 runner ran with her son and got third in our age group.
I had time to go home, shower, eat dinner and actually sit for an hour before driving back to Bloomington to work for another 3 hours. I got home just before midnight last night and just dropped!
All in all, the day's craziness was definitely worth it. It was my 10th race in the Crossroads of Indiana race series so I am now eligible for an overall award. I am currently in second in my age group. The #3 runner is now only 3 points behind me and I suspect she will end up second. Even if I do not run another race, the worst I can finish is third since the three of us that are leading our age group are so far ahead of everyone else in our age group.
More importantly, I felt really good during the race. I felt really evenly paced. If you go by my Garmin, I ran 3.18 miles which translates to a 7:37 pace. Plug that into a race calculator and that comes to a 23:40 5K. If I put that number in the race predictor I get marathon times of 3:44:29 to 3:50:59.
I am going to believe that I can run under 3:55:00 on Saturday.
I saw my chiropractor this morning and got my left hamstring and butt cheek stretched and rubbed out in a hurts-so-good kind of way. Then I ran an easy 3 mile loosen-up-the-legs kind of run this afternoon. I am still trying to decide what to wear on Saturday. It was 38 degrees at 8 am this morning but 60 degrees at noon. I think I'll hit up Goodwill tomorrow for some throw away clothes.
How was your Monday?
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Week 17 Wrap Up
One more week...
I feel like this training cycle has lasted forever but now is coming to a screaming fast finish. I went back today and looked at my post for Week 1. I keep thinking one of these days I'll tally up all the miles I've run this year. I track them daily but I don't keep a running total. I've definitely run more this year than in any year since high school!
So much has changed with my running since I started this blog in February. My main goal then had been to get back under 2:00 for a half-marathon. I discovered along the way that the more I race, the faster I get. I'm not sure if that is a sustainable schedule though as most races are on Saturday mornings and both my kids have crazy busy schedules. I guess we'll see what happens after the marathon. Most weeks, I just feel like "if I can just make it through this week" it will be OK. Problem is, it's like that week after week...
So, here's how my week went...
Sunday - 3 miles (5K run, no warm down as I had stuff to do!)
Monday - 30 minutes exercise bike
Tuesday - 6 miles
Wednesday - 40 minutes running in the pool
Thursday - 8 miles
Friday - rest
Saturday - 4 miles
21 miles total + pool running
I was suppose to run 4 miles on Wednesday. I got up at 6 am but it was dark and rainy. I thought about going to the fitness center but went back to sleep. I then got up and drove to Chicago with G. We spent the day at the Art Institute of Chicago. I planned to run on the treadmill back at the hotel but G didn't want to sit by herself while I ran so we went to the pool instead. I ran in the pool while she played, then sat in the hot tub.
Thursday, we drove back and I felt really tired. It sleeted little balls of ice on my windshield as we drove back. I just wanted to hibernate when I got home but went to the fitness center. I then had one of those magical runs where your legs feel fresh and you feel like you are flying. I felt like I could run forever. It was my last run of any distance before my marathon so I'm glad it went that way!
I've gotten up at 4:30 am the last two days to go to work. Tomorrow I'll do the same. I am working a crazy split shift so that I can squeeze in one more 5K and pick my daughter up from Nutcracker rehearsal. Basically, I am working in Bloomington from 6:30 am to noon. Then, I'm going to drive over to Columbus and try to run a 5K that starts at 2 pm. I'll give myself 30 minutes to run and get back to my car. That gives me 1.5 hours to drive to Carmel so I can pick up my daughter from her rehearsal at 4 pm. After that, I'll drive an hour home, shower, change and leave by 7 pm so I can be back in Bloomington by 8 pm to work another 3 or so hours.
Yes, another one of those "if I can just make it through this day" days. I am off on Monday though so I can recover then!
I feel like this training cycle has lasted forever but now is coming to a screaming fast finish. I went back today and looked at my post for Week 1. I keep thinking one of these days I'll tally up all the miles I've run this year. I track them daily but I don't keep a running total. I've definitely run more this year than in any year since high school!
So much has changed with my running since I started this blog in February. My main goal then had been to get back under 2:00 for a half-marathon. I discovered along the way that the more I race, the faster I get. I'm not sure if that is a sustainable schedule though as most races are on Saturday mornings and both my kids have crazy busy schedules. I guess we'll see what happens after the marathon. Most weeks, I just feel like "if I can just make it through this week" it will be OK. Problem is, it's like that week after week...
So, here's how my week went...
Sunday - 3 miles (5K run, no warm down as I had stuff to do!)
Monday - 30 minutes exercise bike
Tuesday - 6 miles
Wednesday - 40 minutes running in the pool
Thursday - 8 miles
Friday - rest
Saturday - 4 miles
21 miles total + pool running
I was suppose to run 4 miles on Wednesday. I got up at 6 am but it was dark and rainy. I thought about going to the fitness center but went back to sleep. I then got up and drove to Chicago with G. We spent the day at the Art Institute of Chicago. I planned to run on the treadmill back at the hotel but G didn't want to sit by herself while I ran so we went to the pool instead. I ran in the pool while she played, then sat in the hot tub.
Thursday, we drove back and I felt really tired. It sleeted little balls of ice on my windshield as we drove back. I just wanted to hibernate when I got home but went to the fitness center. I then had one of those magical runs where your legs feel fresh and you feel like you are flying. I felt like I could run forever. It was my last run of any distance before my marathon so I'm glad it went that way!
I've gotten up at 4:30 am the last two days to go to work. Tomorrow I'll do the same. I am working a crazy split shift so that I can squeeze in one more 5K and pick my daughter up from Nutcracker rehearsal. Basically, I am working in Bloomington from 6:30 am to noon. Then, I'm going to drive over to Columbus and try to run a 5K that starts at 2 pm. I'll give myself 30 minutes to run and get back to my car. That gives me 1.5 hours to drive to Carmel so I can pick up my daughter from her rehearsal at 4 pm. After that, I'll drive an hour home, shower, change and leave by 7 pm so I can be back in Bloomington by 8 pm to work another 3 or so hours.
Yes, another one of those "if I can just make it through this day" days. I am off on Monday though so I can recover then!
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