A Day's Worth of Twitter

06:08:10 PM - Well now I'm jobless.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

5.15

Cardigan: NY&Co.
Dress: Dress Barn
Shoes: Kohl's (Mudd)
Earrings: Target

I didn't belt my cardigan. Aren't you proud of the variety?

So far I've worn this dress 3 times and I have owned it about a month.

I was at work for a long time but got very little work done.
I had a 2 hour breakfast to award a scholarship winner. After lunch I had an NA-YGN meeting. Following that I had another one. All of those are not considered work things and all were on the same day. Between all that everyone was coming to my desk to talk to me about leaving work.  Apparently everyone is really shocked so they come talk to me about it.

I set up a future time email to people at work so they heard it from me that I was leaving and heard why. It's funny that once I sent that then nobody came to talk to me. Yet in the email I told them to make sure they said bye.

I ran with Jen after work around the loop at work. I'm really good at not even looking at my data anymore. I haven't documented my data all month. At least it is all on my Garmin so I can go back and look to fill out my workout goals and to fill out my running excel file.

I picked up Moe's for dinner.

After dinner I started applying for jobs. Well after we finished watching the TV show that we were watching during dinner.  It took a couple hours and I already had the links saved. Some sights just want so much information right away.

I of course played Solitaire in bed. I cover my head with the covers so the light doesn't wake Dave up. I'm too accommodating.

5.23

I telecommuted. I was going to run at 7am. I didn't run until 8:40. (I had to run quicker than normal since I started so late. I set out to run with 8:30 pace but ended with 8:14 pace)

Then I was going to work 2 hours and finish stuff and take my floating holiday.  Well I worked over 9 hours. I'm bad at this game.

We met with one of the people dealing with the move. He inventoried our house.

After work, we cleaned a bit.  Then we met Jason for dinner. Jason didn't even want to go. We wanted to tell him how we're moving. He went but he was pretty miserable until halfway through. At first I got happy thinking it was the company that cheered him up but then Dave brought up that it was probably the alcohol. Ugh.

After we got home we started cleaning. We cleaned forever. I think we stopped at 11:15. We didn't finish the house but decided to wake up early and go in to work a little bit late. After all the cleaning, I was exhausted. But then it was time to start working on my speech. Oh man was I tired. I'd try to make a bulleted list to job my memory of the paragraph or parts of it but then I couldn't remember at all.  I finally went to be after 1 am. Luckily I spent some time a few nights earlier writing the speech so basically I had too many subtopics and just had to pick and choose.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

02:07:11 PM - Getting an allergy shot while I still have insurance. I should get an inhaler prescription. So much to do. So little time.
02:16:50 PM - @angelineevans nice to see you didn't quit running forever
10:43:07 PM - I have so many itchy mosquito bites and I do not like it.
11:57:15 PM - i just had a snack. Almost a midnight snack.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

5.21

Shoes: Macy's
Pants: VS
Shirt: Kohl's

I slept in extra knowing I had to be at home until 8 to meet the painter. I ended up ready by 7:15. I did a bad job sleeping in extra. Some days I'm not even ready until 7:30.  I ended up blogging a little  when I was killing time.

The painter showed up and Poly was immediately wanting to be the center of attention.  I left for work.

On the way to work I saw a truck where someone wrote "My Drive Beats me."  I thought it was just too funny to pass up.  I took a picture of my Trophy stand at work. (The nachos are from dinner.)

I went to Aviva for lunch and man were the meatballs good. I want to go back again.

After work I ended up leaving and Dave and I skipped the gym so we could go home then go to the car dealer to see what he would offer me for my car.  It was low.  Then we headed to Atrias for dinner.

Finished paint job

After that Dave mowed and I weedwacked.  Man that weedwacker makes my back hurt.

Then I was blogging and speech writing.   I put laundry in during all this too. I put laundry in before we mowed and for some reason the washer and dryer took so long that almost 3 hours later and the 2nd load was still in the dryer.

5.10 - Pink

Shirt: NY&Co (and then taken in on the sides at the hips and in the back to make it fit better)
Skirt: Express
Shoes:  Gabriella Rocha
Necklace: Sears
(I did realize my shoe straps were messed up a few minutes after these pictures and fixed them.)

Dave and I carpooled so we got to work at 7am.
The day flew by. I barely had any meetings. I kept starting new things without finishing my old things.

I was also a little distracted because Dave turned in his letter of resignation. Then he kept giving me updates on how sad everyone was.

After work Dave and I went to North Park to walk.  He wanted to do 5 miles but we only had time for about 4 so we walked and then turned around and walked back instead of doing the loop.  I didn't have my watch since I was going to do Body Pump so I don't know exactly how much we walked. I do know Dave walks 30 minutes just fine and then he complains about his back hurting.  This happens often.

After that we headed to Double Wide. It just opened.  Five of us went for dinner or well we called it Happy Hour.  It was fun. I hate that I can never get people to do that. Now they claim it is fun and they'd do it again but I think that is just because I'm leaving.  Since they just opened, service was super slow. I didn't mind because that kind of forced people to stay there talking. The slower the service was the longer everyone would talk to me. I liked that.  We got there around 6:45 and left around 8:45.  The food was good though. Dave would go back. Oh Dave was also at this dinner. Usually with friends he doesn't go out so they were shocked to see him. They enjoyed it. He's funny and they like that.

We got home and started to watch TV for a little break then we were going to clean. Or that's what I thought anyway. Dave fell asleep around 9 on the couch. I spent some time cleaning and thought I should just go to bed at 10 and not care but then I couldn't bring myself to do that and just kept getting mad.  I cleaned a little and then played Solitaire in bed. Boy was I mad. I emailed Dave about how I was mad so he knew. He was sleeping after all so I couldn't yell at him.

5.14

Pants: VS, Shoes: Kohl's, Sweater: B. Moss, Tank: NY&Co.

On my way to work I saw a specialized license plate that I never saw before. Choose Life. PA seems to have so many specialized plates.

Dave and I finally put skins on our BodyMedia fits.  We had the skins ever since Dave got his armband. I think I got him the armband last summer. We had more to choose from but we went with these ones.

5.9 - Telecommuting

I telecommuted.  I was going to get dressed but never made it until it was time to run.

Before Jen came over after work, I finally got dressed. Getting dressed involved workout clothes though.  We ordered Pizza and ate that then Jen and I ran.  We did 2.5 miles of the 5k loop (aka we just did the loop around my house) and she ran the entire way. It was the first time she ran that long.

Then Dave and I watched TV.  Then I went back to working. Telecommuting day is always so convenient to just work extra because your computer is already out and set up.

5.8 - Purple

Shirt: F21
Skirt: Limited
Shoes: Target
Necklace: Lia Sophia

These shoes were very hard to walk in. I think being sore from the marathon and going without panythose impacted that.

I tried so hard to wake up to get to work at 7 but it just didn't happen. I left 15 minutes later. For some reason traffic was awful so then I got to work more than 15 minutes later. :(

I had an interesting conversation with my manager. He came to my cube and asked me about the Voluntary Separation agreement. He was shocked.

I tried to invite former coworkers to lunch. They didn't answer or said they didn't feel like it. I think they hate Dave and me.  Dave and I just went to Moe's with Jen so that was good.  Jen and I got the same thing. We got a kid's quesadilla.

I worked. I worked long.
Jen and I ran after work.  She has 2 weeks to get ready for her 5k. We only did 2 miles today but I had to take it easy since my hips hurt from the marathon.

After I got home, I ate 2 uncrustables and a ton of cheeseballs. Dave and I watched Grey's Anatomy. I wanted to watch more TV but Dave was sick of TV.  I guess stopping TV gave me time to shower and blog though.

5.7 - Casual

I went for the casual outfit since I was still somewhat sore or expected to be sore from the marathon. My feet hurt so I went with flats.
Pants and Shirt: Express
Shoes: Famous Footwear
Skirt: Target
I woke up with a low weight. I guess the exhaustion of the marathon and the exhaustion of the day so I barely ate wasn't good. I was probably dehydrated too.

Dave and I carpooled. I somehow managed to get ready on-time.   Dave, Paulo, and Jen went to DiBella's for lunch.  I actually ate my entire hoagie.

After work we went to a picnic for Dave's group. Well it was for his project at work. The project lasted 7 years. I think he only worked on it 5 of those years though. He got his first Westinghouse Jacket as a reward. Dave tells me the original schedule had the project completion date in 2001 but it didn't even start until 2005.  They gave out lots of silly awards. They looked for ways they could mock anyone.  Dave got the "Name that Tune" Award and the story they told was that he said he could learn some new programming language in a week.

We got home around 8pm and I started writing my race recap. I wrote that and read some blogs and next thing I know it was 2am. The only picture of Poly of the day was taken near 1:30 AM.

5.20

I was going to wake up and go run but I got lazy. So instead I just used my computer and planned a Stampin' Up party.  I never ran later either.  I should have been cleaning my craft room.  Around lunchtime we loaded up the car and took a car full of donations to Goodwill.  We were going to try to sell things on Craigslist but it's the wrong season for desks and tables. They would all sell better in August.

I took some pictures of my desk to sell on Craigslist then realized I should probably take some without Poly on them.

We did sell the electric mower though.

At Goodwill the guy commented that it was the hottest day of the year. The car thermometer said 86 degrees.  I got rid of 14 pairs of shoes and 10 purses.  I also got rid of tons of clothes. I didn't even try them on first. I went by memory.  I feel like I got rid of so many things based on all the hangers I have now but my closet is still packed.  I helped Dave go through some of his closet too.

We went out to lunch after Goodwill and then to Giant Eagle. We didn't have a list so then we still ended up buying no food.

I finally got to some craft room cleaning. I still have a lot (or a little) to do but I just keep not doing it. I need to either remove a desk or remove a table so there is more floor space.

I was on the go all day but didn't exercise at all. I'm turning into a big slacker.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

04:03:19 PM - I keep thinking today is Saturday. It's Friday. How nice. I still have 2 more weekend days. oo 3 more. Holiday Weekend!
04:15:28 PM - Post about Running: http://t.co/0z6CA631 (@TheNewChrissy might like it)

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Running Changes You

I wrote a speech for Toastmasters and gave it on 5/24.  I left my most up to date notes at my desk so I didn't quite give it like this but this was somewhat of my plan.  Also I added some stuff and didn't say some stuff. I have video of the speech but it's still on a share drive at work. I will add it to youtube later. I'm awful at speeches. At one point I even looked down at my legs to see how bad they were shaking. They really were shaking a lot. This speech was done to Project 4 in the Competent Communicator Manual.

Enjoy

Running is more than everyone thinks.  If you set your mind to running a race, you can do it, but that’s not the point. The training leading up to the race and everything surrounding it are the important parts. That is where you change in ways you don’t expect.

You feel pain and instead of stopping, you continue and want to do it again. The more I run and the more others think I’m crazy. But the more I run, the more OK I am with appearing crazy to everyone. You get to talk to others while running to bond and  to make the run feel like a lot less work. You don’t get a sense of accomplishment just from finishing a race.

Imagine, you are running halfway through the Pittsburgh Marathon and the sun is beating down on you. You are going to melt from the sun. You look for shade anywhere possible. You run on the very edge of the road just to be in a little bit of shade.  Everyone is doing this just for some shade. Then you run to the right side of the road to run through a fire hydrant.  The water only cools you off for a couple seconds but that is better than nothing.  You wonder why you go through this.  You are sore and tired. You keep running. You think you will never do this again.  Your hip and knee hurt. You can no longer open your stride from the piercing hip pain. You need to stop to stretch every mile just to reduce the pain enough to continue on. You keep going and then you finally finish and immediately forget all the pain and start talking about the next time you will torture yourself. You even question if you tortured yourself enough during the race.  Before running if something caused me pain, I would want to quit doing that and never do it again but there is just something about running that makes you want more.

Sometimes you don’t even wait until another event or run but you just continue on after a temporary pause.

While running near Waterworks Mall, with every step, my foot had a piercing pain like a knife was stabbing into me.  A sane person may stop and see what is wrong, instead, I ran for two more miles with a constant stabbing at each step and then I didn’t stop but just mentioned it to my running buddies.  It wasn’t until another 2 miles later when I was back at my car that I saw I had a nice puddle of blood on the bottom of my sock and then a bloody toe when I took the sock off.  My first reaction was what I did; I got out a bandaid, put it on, and ran another 4 miles. After all, I planned to run 10 miles that day. Sometimes I think there is a very fine line between being a runner and being insane. I’m never quite sure if I cross over that line.

The run itself isn’t the only tough part, after the race or long run is usually worse.

After a tough long run, you no longer have the adrenaline keeping you going and your muscles are very fatigued. You can barely move. You surely don’t even want to walk up the stairs at the end of the night. In the morning, you wake up and those first few steps are agonizing. Your quads and hamstrings are tight. Your hip and knee hurt with movement. The arches of your feet feel the pain of each step. You feel like you are 90 and then you think about when your next run will be so you can do it all again. You always want to do it again only longer and faster next time!

I often heard there is a great sense of accomplishment when you finish a marathon. I thought it’d be like winning a Nobel Prize or something awesome like that. Well I’ve done that twice and ran a 50k and once I was done, I didn’t have a sense of accomplishment. I ran across the finish line and stopped and wondered why I didn’t feel any different. I had accomplished this big task and yet I just didn’t feel it. On the other hand, when I finished I felt a sense of relief and a great sense wanting to do another race. I wonder if I just need a longer race to feel that sense of accomplishment. I’m not sure when this cycle will end but it started with running a 5k and I’m up to a 50k with many races in between. {This is where I got out all my medals from 2012 and my trophies and put them on the table.} Maybe I will train for a 50 mile race in the fall.  The more I run, the more I want to run. Yet the more I run, the more others think I’m crazy for doing it.

During a long run, your mind goes through so much more than you realize.  You spend so much time with just your thoughts and the open road. It’s a great stress reliever.  I feel so much more insightful and eloquent in my thoughts while running.

But in addition to having deeper thoughts while running alone, you think and say those things when running with others.  When I run with a friend, I’m more likely to share more personal information than if I was just sitting there relaxing with them. According to Jordan Chase on Dexter (season 5, episode 9), intense exercise will help you open up. Imagine running with a friend and hearing a story/any story; It makes the running seem non existent and you are just there for the story and conversation. It’s great. You are both exposed. I love when people share more personal information about themselves and I have only recently discovered that they do this while running.  I wish I knew this years ago. I love just getting a little closer to a person’s soul. You also form a strong bond with those that you run with.{Oh man am I sad to be leaving all my running friends.}

Running changes you in ways you don’t expect. If you want to see what it’s like to be in pain and want more of it, become a runner. Don’t become one for a sense of accomplishment. Start running with others for an almost immediate strong bond.


Photo credit: Paul Meyer Photography

A Day's Worth of Twitter

08:44:23 AM - I'm so upset I left my camera and phone at home. Mainly for the picture ability at my farewell dinner tonight. :(
10:23:18 PM - @DaizyCh no. if pb won't let me go back home 3 min from home, we aren't going at lunch. but also I was giving a speech during lunch.
10:23:33 PM - @DaizyCh I had 5 missed calls, 3 voicemails, and 3 texts
10:27:55 PM - Dave lost his wallet. He had it last night at Yum & they didn't have anyone turn it in. But after Yum we cleaned for 5+ hours. Tons of trash
11:49:37 PM - I'm so tired. Wallets need a finder feature like iPhones have.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

5.13

I was going to wake up to run with a running group but I did the math and wouldn't make it to my parents on time. I thought I could run on my own and still run and just not have the 40 min drive each way to the running group. Well I didn't run at all.

Then I was going to mow. I started to mow but after I fell twice and hit my face off the mower handle I quit. 

We went to my parents for lunch. We ordered pizza and went to a park to eat. The rain made it so we were almost the only people in the park. 

After that we hung out.  We went to Kerber's. Then my family came to my house to load the rest of Timmy's junk to take to my parents.  That took awhile. We didn't get to talk as much. 

My parents left at 7:30 then I sat there wanting to be productive. I went up to my room to clean but just used my computer. I wanted Dave and I to be productive together but he was not having any parts of it so then it made me not want to be productive. 

He came up to my room and sat there so I could work and talk to him. I like doing that. I work way better with someone around. But then he turned on Starcarft and I couldn't actually talk to him. 

I got bored with working and sat there and just stared. I wanted to take breaks to check my email but couldn't. Some book shelves are organized but the surface of my desk is really messy though.

At 10:30 we called it quits so I could check my email and then go to sleep.

5.9

I telecommuted and Poly hung out with me a lot.

I got dressed right around dinner. Jen came over and we ate Pizza then we ran 2.5 miles. She ran it all without walking. That was the first time she did that.  It was part of the Mars Band 5k route. I was impressed. We did run slower than normal. I still felt fatigued from the marathon.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:33:28 AM - Poly is sleeping on me so I haven't gone up to bed. I should be productive on my computer but I'm just reading facebook.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Poly Found a Mouse

A computer mouse that is :)

A Day's Worth of Twitter

09:03:53 AM - I bought boat shoes yesterday. I also bought red pumps (Connie brand. just like my brown ones)
09:59:41 PM - I hit my knee off the railing on our steps awhile ago and it still hurts pretty bad.
10:29:23 PM - I think I'm going to quit my workout goals this month and I don't like quitting but quitting might be better than failing at them all.
11:28:34 PM - I was ripping at part of my lip. It didn't want to come off so I did the opposite of what I should have done. I tugged at it. It bled a lot.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Mars Band 5k - 5.19.12

On Saturday, I ran a 5k. I ran the same 5k 2 years ago.  I was really hoping for a personal record at this race and really thought I could do it. I thought I could do it so much that I even told people about it. And if you know me, you know that is big. I usually don't even like to tell people I'm about to run a race.

I wasn't nervous Friday night or Saturday morning. I used to hate how I was so nervous but I was realizing I really missed my nervous-self.

Prior to the race, I had to get the prizes ready for NA-YGN prizes but I still wasn't even stressed at all about that working out right. Paulo was meeting us at our house and then we were carpooling and yet I still didn't stress when they were lost on the way without a GPS.

I met up with people I knew in after I registered and before the race started.  I wanted to warm-up but barely did that.  I figured it would all be OK. I usually don't have that feeling.

I started out with Adrienne.  My friend, Brie, was taking some race photos but I didn't know if she was on the left or the right and I couldn't see her as I ran by so I thought she might have totally missed me (she didn't) yet that didn't stress me out at all.  Brie got pictures of a bunch of NA-YGN runners by taking a ton of pictures and hoping for the best.  Neither of us knew what everyone looked like. Also some of the people we knew what they looked like, we still had trouble recognizing them in their running clothes versus their work clothes.

We were near an 8 minute pace which is about what I was shooting for but I kept thinking I would run out of steam the last mile going up hill so I kept reserving some.  In past races I have had a 7:10 first mile and then a 9 minute 3rd mile and I didn't want that.

I ran the first 2 miles with Adrienne. I talked to her a little. I pointed out my house to her.  After 2 miles I felt like I was struggling and almost told her to go ahead. Right then she told me that I knew the rules and I go ahead if I could run faster. Well she said that and I figured I knew that slow uphill grade so I went slightly ahead of her.  I was picking up my pace going up the hill.  I didn't pick it up enough but I was going and passing people right and left. When you pass people you forget you are still behind what you want to do.  I talked to some guy with about a half mile left after he told me I had a good end of race pace.  His goal was 25 minutes. My goal was 24:30 but I told him I was missing that.  I was running the last quarter mile and just couldn't figure out if I was running as fast as I could. I didn't think so. I wanted someone to push me along. My mind was wandering.   With a hundred or so yards left the announcers said Tom Henry was coming in. He said he'd donate $1 for every runner that beat him during the race. The announcers were talking about it so I got motivated. I really kicked it into high gear (faster than 6 min pace) and passed him with about a second to spare.

I finished with a time of 24:49. I didn't stop my timer until the end of the finishing shoot. I was going too fast and couldn't even stop.  I didn't get a PR but the other course was short according to my Garmin and this was sanctioned so maybe it is kind of like a real PR.  I really want to run another 5k now. I really want a PR.  I felt like for this race I wanted to be awesome but I was still fatigued from the marathon. My calves were also sore at the start. I'm not sure why they were sore. That was something new.

After I finished I was talking to Tyler and Tom Henry came up to me to tell me how I got him at the end.

I didn't place in my age group because of putting in NA-YGN teams and them bumping me out.

Dave ran it too.  After I was done, I talked to a few people and was going to run and meet Jen but she ended up ahead of what I thought so I almost missed her.  Then I talked a little more and then ran to meet up with Dave.  I did the last 2/3 of a mile with him. I ran slightly off course at the end to get to my camera and get pictures of him.  He did better than he thought he would.

After the race I had to wait for the team times to be ready. That took too much time. I would have loved to do my awards prior to the official awards.  I had different prizes ready to go (shown above). I also had certificates ready (examples below).

The official awards started and I was only half listening because I had to analyze all the team awards to find out what teams got what for NA-YGN.

An NA-YGN member won overall for females.  My team won the female team award. Then 6 other individuals won age group awards.  We were well represented.  Actually our male team should have won but one of our runners chips did not register. (I have since emailed the race director and they are updating everything and said they would reissue medals. I don't think the team cared about the medals but I bet they'd like online to be updated since people eye up the times in future years.) NA-YGN did awesome.

Too bad official awards took so long because I didn't do my NA-YGN awards as officially. People had to leave. I tried to move around and give people their awards but I probably only got about half. 

A Day's Worth of Twitter

11:41:49 AM - I have a Stampin' Up party on May 30 and I am 100% prepped for it. The thing is final RSVP date is May 22. Hope my numbers work out.
03:33:56 PM - it is far too hot outside today. I was dying in pants. Then I went in Giant Eagle and I was freezing. I hate the discrepancy.
03:58:55 PM - This is about the 10th time today I headed to my craft room to clean it but just sat at my computer once I got in here. #badmemory
05:25:48 PM - man I was in real clothes today and forgot to take my daily picture. Now I'm in athletic shorts to do work around the house.
08:58:23 PM - I just mowed 3/4 the lawn but then it got too dark to see where I went so I had to quit.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

May Workout Goals - Weeks 1-3

May started off really low with all forms of exercise. Running was even low but at least I did that the first 10 days. I didn't do anything else in that time.  I feel like so far it's a rest month. I haven't even done abs or foam roller at home like I have done in the past.  Also with the massive cleaning and throwing junk away, I'm getting a lot of calorie burn without specifically exercising. Most of my recent purchases are now too big.  I'm so far from on track yet I'm the least concerned about it. I guess posting to be held accountable is not working this month. (It has everything to do with this being my last month with a job but still.)

Summary

1. Complete 16 cardio workouts - Completed 11 so far
2. Complete 8 core workouts - Completed 2 so far
3. Frequency: Run 8 time - Completed 10 so far
4. Run 50 total miles - Completed 48.71 so far
5. Workout with Dave 5 times - Completed 1 so far
6. Lift weights 6 times on my own - Completed 0 so far
7. Attend Body Pump 4 times - Completed 2 so far
8. Have 3 double workout days - Completed 0 so far
9. Stretch for 10 consecutive minutes 5 times - Completed 0 so far
10. Do foam roller exercises 5 times - Completed 0 so far
11. Perform yoga or a similar group fitness class 1 time - Completed 0 so far

I have a few other goals that are related to exercise but aren't me working out.

1. Have another photo shoot to get some athletic pictures for at the top of this post. 
2. No more than 12 rest days all month  - On track
3. Put my monthly workout goals in excel or some program so I have them all together and can pull some data based on that.  - Partially done
4. Make more collages with exercise photos and add them to my exercise gallery

4.21

 I turned over and next thing I knew it was an hour later. I slept in until almost 8:30.  I showered and quickly left to try to go by my mom a birthday present. I couldn't think of anything.  Much later in the day, I was reminded of many things. Oh man I'm the worst.

My parents and brother came to visit Poly before we headed out to lunch.  We went to Mad Mex. Then we headed to Costco.  The came back over and visited with Poly. I taught my dad how to play games on the iPad. I downloaded Hearts and Free Cell for him.  He played Hearts for a long time.   Then we showed them pictures using our iPad and Apple TV.

Poly was very entertaining.

After they left, we watched some TV and Poly slept on my lap.  Then we cooked fries and hot dogs for dinner. I am getting sick of hot dogs.   We watched more TV and I should have done other things on my to do list but watched even more TV.

4.20

I telecommuted. Dave did not.

Poly really liked me all day because Dave wasn't there.