Kendra Babbles

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