Kendra Babbles

I have a bunch of do-gooder friends.  They are all training for giant athletic accomplishments, and are raising money for worthwhile causes at the same time.  So if you need to get rid of some cash, consider some of these options:

Lou runs for the puppies!  Lou is one major reason I started running.  Her enthusiasm for the sport overflowed into our daily Google Chats and on her blog.  The excitement was so contagious that now I’m training for a half marathon.  Lou is training for the Chicago Marathon on October 12th.  She hopes to raise $600 for a no-kill animal shelter in Chicago.  Donate to Lou’s cause here

Blake is cycling for Children’s Medical!  On September 14th Blake will ride 112 miles around the Dallas area to raise funds for the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.  112 miles is a long freaking ride!!  His goal is to raise $600, so if you like Blake and you like kids, here is your link.

Lauren is walking for breast cancer research!  Lauren is participating in the Breast Cancer 3-Day 60 mile walk.  It goes all around DFW on November 7-9th.  I’m not sure I could walk 60 miles in a month, let alone 3 days, but she is working hard to make it happen.  Lauren has to raise $2200 to participate in the event, which is a TON of money.  If you are in Dallas and have a couple hours free this Saturday July 26th, sign up at http://www.freewebs.com/dallashomerunderby/whoweare.htm to participate in Lauren’s Home Run Derby.  For $10 you get 10 pitches and your score is added up and ranked.  Lots of prizes are available and if you are feeling good, you can buy 30 pitches for $30 to up your odds!  I will be there volunteering at the food stand or something, some come out, take some aggression out on a softball and donate to a great cause!

I finished!

I made it all the way to the end of my very first 5K.  And I ran the entire thing, I didn’t stop to walk for even a few steps.  For me that is really the biggest accomplishment.  Especially since the last mile was in full sun, with no wind and slowing down to walk through the tiny bit of shade would have been fantastic.  I didn’t do it, I kept on running.

Today I looked online and discovered that the running club puts all sorts of stats up on its site about how people finished etc.  I finished 14th in my age group and 283rd out of 329 runners.  I wasn’t last!!!  It was fantastic.  I did enjoy passing up an old man and an old lady on the path.  It’s the small things that count. 

This week is the info session for the half marathon training.  That should be interesting!

Gear me!  Kinda like Beer Me, only healthier!  Well, healthier for me but not for my wallet.

Since I started running I’ve been pretty good about keeping the spending to a minimum.  But with any new hobby, there are always costs.  The very first one was the running shoes.  Fitted by specially trained (I hope) running store employees, these shoes and designed to meet the needs of different types of feet and assist in preventing injury.  I didn’t ask a lot of questions, but came out spending under $100, so I was happy.

Mizuno Wave Runner 11 (mine are pink and gray)

The next purchase was a pair of running shorts.  It’s Texas, its hot, so I had to buy these.  I despise them.  Since my first pair I’ve tried two other brands and styles and I still hate running shorts.  However, they are a necessity until things cool down around here.

After my first run with running shorts, I then purchased Body Glide anti-chafing gel.  I don’t really need to explain why, do I?  This is the number one reason I hate running shorts.

I’ve also purchased some new technical shirts that pull sweat away from your body while you work out.  These are fabulous.  I bought the cheap kind from Target.  One day I’ll buy the nicer kind that work a bit better.

My most recent purchase was an iPod shuffle.  Up to this point, I had seen no need for one of these things.  It has no screen interface, you can’t pick which song to hear instantly, and why do I need something so tiny?  Well, a few weeks of running with my Nano proved why those shuffles are so popular.  True, you can’t pick the song order on the fly, but you can clip the tiny thing to your shorts and just hit a button to advance to the next song.  No need to pull off an armband to see the screen and change songs or artists, while simultaneously continuing to run and still maintain grip of your water bottle.  It’s just a more graceful MP3 player for anyone who runs.  When I heard the price had dropped to just $69 for a 2 GB, I was sold.

Finally, the last piece of gear I covet (other than running shorts that do not ride up when you run), is the Garmin Forerunner.  Now, I don’t want just the HR monitor stuff.  I want it all - distance tracking, pace reporting, route saving, all that jazz.  HR monitor would be nice, but really isn’t necessary.  Right now I’m looking at the Garmin Forerunner 205 and 305, and also the Polar RS200sd.  All 3 seem fabulous, but they are all pretty pricey.  I’ve been hunting on eBay hoping someone will be selling one at a steal. 

I haven’t quite convinced myself to spend the dough for the Polar or the Garmin.  It just seems like a lot of money, but it sure would be nice to know when to turn around during an out and back run, or to track how far I’ve gone, or know what pace I’m at.  Hmmm…

If you read the comments on my last blog, you discovered that Lou has been bugging me for a few weeks to get into this half marathon business.  Long before the pace leader and I had a discussion about it.  So after pondering on this for about a week, I signed up for the half marathon and the half marathon training.  The big day is November 2nd.  So there Lou - you win! 

I have signed up.  However, I’m giving myself until September before I really commit myself to the half marathon race.  That gives me about 6 weeks in the training program to see if I can adjust to the increase in mileage and still maintain a pace I’m comfortable with.  Training starts July 9th, so wish me luck.

In other news, last night’s group run was fantastic.  They switched it to Thursday this week, so the group was much smaller (which I prefer).  The goal was to run a mile, then walk for a min, repeat for about 40 mins.  I’m happy to state we went about 3.2 miles and I only walked about 2-3 minutes of that.  YAY FOR ME!!!  It’s really awesome when you realize things are much easier than the first few weeks when you couldn’t make it through the five minutes intervals.

Today I am extremely sore.  Still darn happy though!

For this post I’m taking a short break from my usual “song-as-a-title” routine.  Mostly because I can’t find a good song that meets my needs, but also because I thought my title was already super-clever. 

Saturday morning’s run kicked ass.  It was disgustingly humid of course, but it was slightly overcast and there was a breeze, so all in all not too bad for a run.  We went about 3.75 miles with a 6 min run, 1 min walk routine.  On the way back, we increased to 7 min run/1 min walk (though I’m not sure if it we did that more than twice).  I struck up a short conversation with our leader for the day and found out we were varying between an 11:45 and a 12:30 min/mile pace.  People, this is way faster than I thought we were going.  I was so excited to hear that!  Even after we had finished, I still felt pretty good.  My leg is still bothering me, but its not getting any worse either.

On the way back the pace leader asked about what my running goals were and why I started running.  She said she started running in January and ran her first half marathon at the end of April.  I was shocked - that seems so fast!  She said it may have been a little faster than normal, but that she was really excited to see her progress and each time she made a distance or speed improvement, it just motivated her more.  Then she asked if I was planning to sign up for the half marathon training that starts in July.  I laughed (as best as you can when  you are jogging up a hill) and said I would be happy if I could just finish a 5K without walking.  But in true leader fashion, she told me it was totally possible.  That I had at least 4 months until the half and that I should really consider giving it a try.  She also talked about how the training program for the half was very helpful, giving a detailed schedule for your training both at the DRC runs and on your own.  By the time she was done talking, I was seriously considering it.

So now I just have to decide.  The program is super cheap - only $25, so money really isn’t a factor.  Thoughts?

We have made PROGRESS!

So way back in February I did some posts about our master bath/closet/laundry room remodel.  I did a GREAT job following up on the laundry room tile installation.  And then I just stopped posting.  Why?  Well because I was of no help with the bathroom.  I think Zach and Rob have done more than I have, and they don’t live here!  In the past 3 months Blake and various helpers have ripped out the bathtub and drywall, re-worked some plumbing and installed the plumbing for a showerhead, installed hardy board, built a shower pan (I still have no idea what the process was for that), hung up some plastic stuff and built a half wall and curb to seperate the shower from the rest of the bathroom.  After all of that, here is what we had:

(picture from Blake’s Flickr)

And we also ended up with an exhausted husband.  This process took far longer than he thought it would and the thought of tiling the entire thing was just too overwhelming.  Enter Jim Miller Tile Co!  We were referred to Jim by one of our neighbors who used him to tile a bathtub surround in her master.  His team started work on Monday and they just finished up this morning!  Take a look at our shower now!

I love how it turned out!  I’m also happy that we went with a darker grout this time around.  The grout in the laundry room was just too light.

Blake and I still need to apply the enhancer so everything is nice and sealed up, but we will probably wait and do that at the same time as we seal the floor.  Which incidentally is our upcoming weekend project.  Woo floor tile!  At least now we have one room under our belts, maybe it will go a little bit faster?

*Beastie Boys

Running Update!

I missed last Saturday’s run since Blake and I were doing the family thing.  I had good intentions of squeezing in a run last weekend, but it didn’t happen.  I set out Tuesday afternoon to get one in and lasted all of 10 minutes before I had to give it up.  My right shin was on fire and it was bad enough I could not push through.  Not fun.

Wednesday was the DRC group run.  We set out at 4 min run/1 min walk and intended to gradually increase the run time over the 40 min course.  I have no idea what the final results were.  Just before the halfway point, my shin started up again and I dropped back from the pace group I was running with.  Then there was a mis-communication and the pace groups got all turned around.  By then we were far enough apart that random groups were running when others weren’t, so there wasn’t really an official time keeper.  I just tried to go at a decent pace and not tire myself out.  At the end we usually do a sprint and I was able to complete that, but at a much slower pace that I normally would.  We got back to the clubhouse and I did some stretching and when I got home there was lots of icing.  I had a run scheduled for today, but I think I will swap it with tomorrow, which is usually a rest day.  I think my body would like more rest right now!

*Dave Matthews Band

Last week I joined the Dallas Running Club and started their Newbie Bootkamp program (no, I do not know why it is spelled with a K).  The program is designed for brand new runners and helps them build up to a 5K.  Although I’ve had some success running indoors on a treadmill, I have been unable to run outside and not kill myself in the process.  This group meets near White Rock Lake and uses the trails for training.  The pace and group leaders are volunteers and very excited to get other people running, so I thought this was a good place to try and get some help!

We meet twice a week - Saturday and Wednesday.  Saturday is more about distance, and on Wednesdays we do hill work and work on improving speed.  Our first session was pretty easy - the weather was nice and everyone was excited.  We did intervals of 2 mins jogging and 1 minute walking for about 35 minutes.  I did this pretty easily and was able to chat with someone I met during the run.  I wasn’t really sore the next day either, which was a surprise.  In addition to the two sessions per week, they also encourage you to do at least 2 more on your own during the week.  I was lazy last week, so I ended up trying to squeeze it all in at last minute.  I ran Tuesday morning, Wednesday afternoon and then Thursday night.  This morning my legs woke me up screaming for Advil and some stretching!

The good news is that I really think this program is going to help me reach my goals.  The leaders offer great advice and try to make the sessions fun (as fun as running in 90 degree weather can be anyway).  They also brought in a chiropractor to the intro meeting to talk about stretching and injury prevention, so I feel like I’m armed with good info to make decisions about when to run and when to take a break.

The 5K is on July 5th - wish me luck!

*Godsmack

By saddle, I mean social life!  I’ve been out and about lately enjoying things that people do when they are not working, so I thought I would write up some reviews.

Big D Cats - Chamonix II Dinner Cruise on Lake Lewisville

For our anniversary, Blake and I traveled north to Lake Lewisville for a lasagna dinner cruise on board the Chamonix II catamaran.  We boarded around 7:15 at the slip right next to Charlie’s at Pier 121.  The boat was HUGE and very clean and comfortable.  The crew was also very nice!  The cruise is BYOB and they provide all the soft drinks, water and juices.  We left for our “sail” on time at 7:30 and about 20 minutes later enjoyed a beautiful sunset.  Unfortunately there was no wind on Friday night, so we did more floating and motoring around then sailing, but it was still a great night.  The food was good and it was great to just do something new!  We did notice that we were the youngest on the ship, so if you are looking for a more lively crowd I would organize a bunch of your friends to all go together.  The cruise lasted 3 hours and prices vary depending on the event, but I think it was a great price for the evening.  Check out www.bigdcats.com for dates and pricing.

Medina Oven & Bar - Brunch and Mother’s Day Special

I’ve been wanting to try out this place ever since I saw the banner that said “3 Course Brunch and 2 Mimosa’s for $18″.  I heart mimosas!  So about a week ago Novie, Lara and I went up to Victory Park for brunch and an afternoon of shopping (mostly window shopping, it is Victory Park after all).  Medina is a Moroccan food restaurant and I loved brunch!  I had a salad for an appetizer, a pizza made with sliced lamb and a fabulous dessert with chocolate and hazelnut and fruit.  Yummy!  I also enjoyed 2 Pomegranate Mimosas which made me very happy.  I enjoyed brunch so much that we made reservations for Mother’s Day and took Blake’s parents.  The food was good again, but I think I preferred the regular brunch menu over the special Mother’s Day menu.  I am a creature of habit.  If you are looking to try a new place out or just enjoy mimosas, Medina is your best bet!  www.medinadallas.com

Lee Harvey’s - Dog Day Afternoon

On Sunday afternoons our local bar has a dog day!  They close off the gates in the yard and you can bring your dog and let them run around while you enjoy some food and drinks.  We haven’t tried bringing Shelby and Tucker previously since they tend to get a bit crazy around other dogs.  But we figured we would give it a try and see how it went!  So we walked on down enjoyed about an hour at the bar.  Shelby and Tucker spent most of that time in our laps, but eventually they did calm down.  We had planned to eat some dinner while we were there, but decided to get it to go since its hard to eat and hold a dog at the same time.  All in all, it was a good hour.  Most people kept an eye on their dogs and made sure everyone was getting along.  One nice person suggested we bring them on their leashes during the week when there are fewer dogs around to help them get used to the place, which is probably a great idea.  I wasn’t aware that Lee Harvey’s let you bring them during the week, I thought it was a Sunday only deal.  If you are interested, here is the info on Lee Harvey’s.  Call and let me know you will be there - Blake and I would love to join you!  www.leeharveys.com

Duck Dog from PetsMart

I couldn’t leave this fine gem of a dog toy out of the reviews.  The puppies turned 2 years old about 3 weeks ago, so Blake and I went to PetsMart in search of a Duck Dog for their birthday.  A Duck Dog is that weiner dog looking stuffed toy you have seen on commercials, but the squeaker in its belly sounds exactly like a duck.  This is one of Shelby’s favorite toys at Granny’s house, so it was time to get her one of her very own.  We picked up an extra for a backup since Tucker tends to destroy all of the stuffed toys.

So far Duck Dog is holding up well.  He had been in for surgery only once to repair a hole where his ear used to be.  Duck Dog also lost a squeaker in his head, but the remaining squeaker the belly still makes the duck noise that Shelby loves so much.  Happy Birthday Shelby and Tucker!

*Gene Autry

So I haven’t posted in awhile.  I think I have valid excuse(s).  Currently I am sitting at the datacenter.  Freezing.  Waiting for a user to finish her processing so I can do some server maintenance.  It’s 1 in the morning.

I hate month end.