A Day's Worth of Twitter

03:13:48 AM - I keep staying up too late.
11:40:09 AM - slept in until 9 Colorado time. I'm never going to be able to wake up for work the day after I get back.
04:08:43 PM - A small/medium belt is too small and a large belt is too big. no good. #wallmart
04:10:40 PM - @BodyMedia I always like to know who I treat at so thanks for the info.
04:12:27 PM - @BodyMedia it is nice in Colorado. I've been getting tons of steps in. Wed I'll be back in the burgh
04:13:29 PM - @katy_rose1 I'm behind didn't even see the questions yet. Vacation does that to you.
04:20:43 PM - @reedaboutme take pictures of it. It is your running battle wound.
04:26:01 PM - @reedaboutme the link doesn't work. I do remember trying that a few days ago too. Maybe it is just my phone.
04:49:48 PM - @BodyMedia when I hiked up Mount Elbert a storm was coming in but then it passed. We still retreated though. We didn't want to chance it
04:56:22 PM - @reedaboutme oh I got it to work. Even though it said the page doesn't exist if I signed in on that screen it worked.
08:55:56 PM - How we wait for @iamoddd to get home from work http://t.co/yR6S0Ce
11:57:30 PM - I don't know where my running watch is. I checked all my bags. I last had it in this house when I loaded numbers.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Photo of the Day: Halloween 1992

In 3rd grade I was Miss America for Halloween.  Those flowers are from a vase of flowers that wer ein my room.  The dress is from Goodwill. The tiara is from Oriental Trading.  I think that was a prom dress. I was with my Grandma when we found it. I sure was dolled up for a third grader.

What were you for Halloween growing up? What was your favorite costume? Lease favorite?

A Day's Worth of Twitter

08:56:02 PM - I've been in a car far too long. Also I aveng eaten a meal yet. I did have combos at 11 am.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

8.12

Pants: VS
Shirt: Loft
Necklace: Walmart
Shoes: Payless (2005)

I went to the side of the house because the sun was too bright in the front or the back to get a decent picture.

I tried a few jumping shots and as you can see I failed at them all.

It was so hot in the morning that I got sweat marks on my shirt just went I was outside taking my daily picture.

After work, my necklace came. It matched. I wore it for the rest of the day.

I ran in the morning. It was really rough to get there at 6am. Then I worked. Then I got home, got my necklace, and immediately left again.  Dave and I went to a musical. We got downtown early and we went to dinner. We didn't know where to go but ended up at Six Penn.
We got free tickets to go see Jesus Christ Superstar. I hated it. I couldn't understand anything they were saying. I actually fell asleep in the 2nd half.  I probably shouldn't have gone but we were given 25 tickets and I wanted all of them to get used.  With leaving the day after, I should have taken the time to do stuff around the house and pack and stuff. Can't do anything about that now.

Do you ever go to plays or musicals that you end up hating?

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:50:57 AM - I'm telling people about my @BodyMediaFIT numbers and they enjoyed knowing the stats. especially the number of steps the past few days.
02:41:51 AM - We do fun stuff all day and then spend hours looking at the pictures. Doubly fun.
02:48:22 AM - @reedaboutme I read yours. Took me about 8 tries with the choppy Internet here. Yay I won. I'll email you my address.
11:10:03 AM - @BodyMediaFIT hiking and climbing sand dunes
05:05:33 PM - Wow today is disappearing.
07:17:01 PM - @BodyMedia thanks. Keep me posted.
07:18:48 PM - Some bug or rock just flew in the window and wacked me in the cheek. We were going 60mph. Still hurts

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

8.14 - First Full Day in Leadville

Even though we stayed up late our first night in town, I was still up at 7:30 AM because it felt like 9:30.  After we got up and situated, we went and picked up Huck. Callie was babysitting him for the day. He was the bonus dog that Callie told Timmy about before coming to visit. He was a little camera shy. He even ran and hid behind the bike. Then Callie took us on a little walking tour of Leadville.  The town is bigger than I was expecting. I was also shocked at all the bikes but then I learned there was a bike race that weekend and people come from all over. So all the bikes made perfect sense. 

Callie started to brew some tea that she was going to put in a container in the fridge to turn to iced tea. Well we forgot about it and after a little bit (long bit) smelled something burning. That pot there in the bottom row is the tea. Sad times. It was a big pot of it too. That was enough excitement for us for the day.

Callie said she wanted me to go for a run. Oh boy my first run at 12,000 ft elevation. She told me I'd be fine and that she ran 5 miles on her first day in Leadville. Later I found out that she did in fact run 5 miles her first day in Leadville but that she was in other towns in Colorado first and did not run 5 miles her first day in the state. Oh boy.  I already wrote about the run but now you have some more pictures. 

I thought I'd get awesome daily pictures while in Colorado but I kept forgetting. These running pictures of me from BEHIND are the best picture I have for the day. Oh boy.

Timmy took some amazing pictures while we ran. Above are just a few. If you want to view all pictures form the day, they are on my picasa.  I definitely think I need to change my desktop images to one of the nice pictures around Turquoise Lake.

After our run, we went to the Fish Hatchery. Then went home and played on our computers.  We mainly looked at all the pictures from the day even though we just lived it.  Callie had to take a stats test so we tried to be quiet for her. We failed and kept talking so she had to go to the other room.  She cooked us dinner in the middle of taking her stats test.   While Callie did her test, I did some Leadville 100 research and got more scared the more I read. I was mainly scared that I'd be in worse shape and not able to run even though I was supposed to be a pacer.

I feel like we did a lot more and were busy all day but now that I'm writing about it after returning home, I'm not remembering all the little details and at the time all the little details were so fun.  I mean just sitting on couches with dogs was awesome. Sometimes we sat on the floor so the dogs could have the couches. We are too kind.

Man just looking at these makes me miss hanging out with Callie.

8.1 - Peanut Butter Pie

Cardigan and dress: Express, shoes: Famous Footwear-Connie, Necklace: Charlotte Russe

I have a love hate relationship with this dress. I wish it had a slightly different fit but I am not sure what exactly.  I like the fabric.

Dave and I walked at lunch.

We had chicken and corn for dinner.  We ate some of the peanut butter pie. The filling and the crust was good. The whipped topping was no good.  I still want peanut butter pie like the kind I've had before.

Poor Poly threw up for the first time

Photo of the Day: Christmas 1991

Growing up we always lined up according to age/height for a photo. My gram made us do it. We always hated it. Now I'm so glad to have them. We kind of stopped doing it when we got older and the age and height didn't end up in the same order. I messed it all up. 

Usually the tallest was on the left but this time the tallest is on the right... I wonder why. 

This was taken Christmas 1991.  I was in 2nd grade. 

Therefore the grades were K, 1, 2, 4, 5 for us all. 

To test my math and memory that would mean I was 8.

Timmy (5), Jared (7), me (8), Mike (9), Jason (11)

I wonder if I got that right. Mike and Timmy had birthdays the week after Christmas. 

How about my pants? I also had on boots but it is hard to tell. I remember those boots. They were size 5 which is the largest girls size shoe you could get (maybe still can get?) and it was the last time I bought shoes in the girls department. 

8.10

Skirt: Limited
Shirt: Express
Shoes: The Shoe Dept.
Necklace: Sears
Earrings: Target

I was up early to run. Then I had to work. I was so exhausted at home. I thought I'd fall asleep watching TV.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:01:39 AM - About to go out on the town.
02:39:40 AM - I'm quite tired. Climbing the mountain starts in 8.5 hours.
09:36:21 AM - Oh boy do my calves hurt when I walk.
11:29:01 AM - @reedaboutme not really. The Internet is slow. I read a few.
02:21:19 PM - I had to quit going up the mountain. http://t.co/mKeQTef
02:48:30 PM - http://t.co/TVY9geu this is what I failed climbing. I got a bit above the treelike but not to the top.
02:54:13 PM - These mosquitos are eating me like crazy. Through layers of clothes
04:10:01 PM - Back at the car and I'm not dead. Fell twice. Filthy
07:25:36 PM - @TracyMorganLove Callie struggled too. Many things. Hot that causes blisters in the sand. Then that causes blisters which cause sore calves
07:26:33 PM - @TracyMorganLove then that makes mountain climbing rough. Also read the internets and see how awful elevation is on people.
09:51:29 PM - @TracyMorganLove I spent 2+ hr in the sand dunes climbing when I wasn't told to bring climbing sandals & the sand was too hot for barefeet.
10:50:42 PM - My Mac doesn't have enough hard drive space left for pictures and I have a week left on this trip.
11:29:31 PM - Liquor stores are open to midnight here.
11:32:53 PM - Oh boy and the liquor store sells shots too.
11:42:17 PM - @mikecherepko I don't even know what this cloud business is. I have 63 GB on the other computer I brought though.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

8.7 - Family Fun

I had slept at my parents. The day started with a run.  Then after some time we went to Aurora's birthday party.

Aurora was so cute. She had a Yo Gabba Gabba themed party. I was so shocked at how many people that went to high school with me already have kids.  Aurora likes to eat tomatoes and cucumbers.  She would take them right off her mom's plate, but before she would take something she'd say please. Then after she ate it, she said thank you. Then after she ate all the tomatoes, she told us how she was nice. She is such a cute little 2 year old.   We had to leave the party early to go have some family time at my aunt's.

Jason buried Timmy with pillows. Then later buried Mike. It was funny.  He said they were in time-out.  We were there for a long time. We ate a few times. We all ate so much that we didn't think we could eat anymore then just a little bit later my cousin shows up and his wife had made pizza and wings. Therefore we had to eat again. 

All the cousins got together. I made us get a family picture because we are never all together.  This might be the first time since April 1999 and we didn't even get a picture back then. Notice how my brother and I are both wearing plaid. That wasn't planned.  It also wasn't planned that we were right there in the front. 

I don't look that short in these pictures. That is because I wore my wedges that have a 4" heel.  I'm actually surprised how similar in height my family looks because there is a 5 inch span between the shortest and tallest guy. 

Good thing we got a few pictures because not all of them were the best. This is a nice outtake. Everyone looks good but me.

I didn't get home until 10:30 PM. Then Poly hung out with me.

So Friday I was gone almost all day.  Then Saturday I left at 10 AM. I didn't return until 10:30 PM Sunday night.  Dave wasn't with me all day Saturday or Sunday.  Dave didn't appreciate me ditching him all weekend but I told him he could have come with me. It was my last weekend before ditching him for my vacation. I sure know how to neglect a husband. Well usually this all doesn't happen at all let alone a few things close together.

(my skirt and shirt were from the Loft, sandals from Target, necklace from Walmart)

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:52:33 AM - Leadville 100 elevation. just look at page 24. I hear I'm doing Hope Pass and Callie even wants me to do a second leg http://t.co/V8ozsXt
01:09:37 AM - I'm sitting on the floor so Apollo and Reef can sleep on the couch.
01:50:06 PM - On my way to the sand dunes and ten hot spring. I brought 3 bathing suits and don't think any fit.
05:59:19 PM - I just survived the sand dunes. They are HIGH. And I walked barefoot. Only got 8 blisters.
06:00:11 PM - To clarify the blisters were from my sandals so I had to go barefoot. The sand was hot a lot
08:08:36 PM - Here I am coming down from the sand dune http://t.co/dLd56Xa
08:16:42 PM - How do you like my burn line? http://t.co/5KdhbKq
11:25:10 PM - Why? RT @mikecherepko: I have acquired wigs.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

April on Why I Run

I had asked my friend April to write a post for me on why she runs. (She doesn't have a blog so I can't link to that.) Please enjoy April's story.

I have been running my whole life; not because I wanted to, but because I had to. I did not like it. Running was boring and took too long. As a gymnast and cheerleader, I had to run a mile before every practice. In high school I joined the track team as a sprinter to stay in shape during the cheerleading off season. I sprinted because it was short and quick. Two mile run? Those people were crazy! Why would anyone want to run that much?!

I cheered in college, but the physical activity requirements were up to me…and I chose not to do any. I bounced around with my weight in college. When I would get on a workout kick, I would run a mile every day; no more, no less. After college, I continued to struggle with my weight. I started a workout program and joined weight watchers in 2005. I lifted and I ran/walked. I even ran 6 miles one day!! Although, I was proud of myself, my main focus was weight loss. I had no actual fitness goals. Yes, I progressed in my lifting and running, but all that mattered was if I lost weight. Once the extra 40 pounds was gone, I struggled to find a reason to go to the gym. I had just started a new full time job with different hours than I was used to and was coaching high school cheerleading which consumed most of my evenings. I had lost the weight, so why did I need to go to the gym? Obviously, the weight started to creep back on.

 A very good friend asked me to run a half marathon with her. 13.1 miles?!?!?! I assumed she was off her rocker. Runners do half and full marathons. I was not a runner. I worked out to lose weight. I had never done any race that wasn’t a sprint. She told me to start with a 5k. It took almost a year before I got up the nerve to do my first one. I continued (and still continue) to run races all year. Preparing for a race gives me motivation to run on any given day. If I want to make it through the race and have a decent time (for me) I HAVE to get out there and do it.

 At this point in my life, I still did not consider myself a runner. Yes, I had been running my whole life, but I did it mostly for fitness, not because I really wanted to. People would comment all the time about me being a runner. I always said the same thing. “I’m not a runner, I just run.” I envisioned a runner as someone who was very passionate about and dedicated to running; someone who was actually good at it.

 In the last year, I have actually started to enjoy running. On a really bad day, I love to go out and work out in my head whatever it is that really got to me that day on my run. I leave all my fears, worries, regrets, anger and bad feelings in general on the pavement. Running has made me a stronger person inside and out. The feeling I get after any run, especially an intense one, where my chest is burning, my legs are tired, I feel like I’m going to vomit right on the road, is indescribable. I live for the runner’s high. I have also started to run with other people which I rarely did before. Those people challenge me and have made me a stronger person and better runner.

 Last year, I realized that prepping for a 5k and even a 10k wasn’t enough motivation for me. I could do minimal running and still be fine at a race; so I signed up, ran and completed my first half marathon this year, with my very good friend who asked me to do one 6 years before. Next stop…triathlon.

 I have been running my whole life; not because I wanted to, but because I had to…until very recently. About a month before the half marathon, I completed a 7 mile run, without batting an eye. I got home and took my shoes off and saw blood on the heels of my socks. It was then and there that I realized running is not just something I do anymore; I am now and will be forever, a “runner”.

Thanks April for writing this. If you like this, then refer to why others run. Why do you run? Want to write a similar feature here, just let me know.

Turquoise Lake Run - 5 miles (8.14.11)

Today Callie and I ran.  It was my 2nd trail run ever. It was my first run at high elevation.  It was my first fall running (or 2nd if you count being tripped in 7th grade when they had too many of us starting to run at the same time). It was my second run ever with a dog. There were actually three today.  There was 1 dog in my run on Friday and that was the first time I ran with a dog.

We ran a fairly flat course. There were some ups and downs. The roots and rocks were more trouble than the hills.  But starting at such a high elevation I could tell my breathing was worse. I ran about 2 minutes per mile slower too.

My time today was 56:03 (well 55:57 because I ran and stared at the 5 mile split before stopping the thing).  The dogs slowed us up a bit.  By a bit, I mean a lot. Lots of times I slowed my run and went ahead until they caught up. Quite a few times I was ahead and they were too far behind so I stopped (and stopped the timer).  I don't have excel on this computer and I can't get google documents to load so I'm adding myself!
Mile 1: 10:42
Mile 2: 10:56
Mile 3: 11:32
Mile 4: 10:43
Mile 5: 11:04

I tried to add that all together to double check my math but it's hard work.  It is good enough and I'll copy it all into excel at home and add a table at the end.

Before my run my mom said that it takes a day to realize the elevation is bad for breathing.  Also earlier I read that you should drink a gallon of water a day to help with the elevation. I drank about 8 oz of water. I'm still living.

A view from the trail 

While we were running, Timmy went out and took pictures.  He was on the trail we were on but somehow we didn't pass him.  Then we had to wait for him to return. Callie was starting to get worried he made wrong turns and wouldn't make it back.   During the run I was worried he told my mom I was off dead in a ditch. Then after he got back I learned he did tell my mom that.

With this 5 miles now I'm at 21.25 for the week (probably a little over with how I run 5.01 instead of 5 and such.  Pretty good week. I thought it was a good week ending in 16.25 though.

I asked Callie how far we would run. Her initial plan was to run 2.5 hours because that is what she does but then she knew she wouldn't run that long with me.  Then she thought she'd make me run 8.  I thought I'd run 2 or 3 as a guess just to get a feel for running at elevation.  So then we get there and I ask how we'll know how far to run. She said we'll run until I don't want to run anymore and then we'll turn around and run back.  Now to me that would mean halfway through our run I would hit the point that I don't want to run anymore. I'm not sure how that would go. So after 1 mile I figured going out 2.5 is good and then we'd turn around and come back.   Two miles into it, I told Callie my plan. I said we could even double back out again if we wanted to do more than 5 but then at least we were closer to the car.  The run wasn't so bad but then around mile 3.5, the dogs weren't having any parts of running anymore.  I think it was 3 harnesses together and Huck not actually running with Callie before.  Callie had 1 leash with all 3 dogs connected.  I thought about it after we got there that having 2 leashes would have been good and I could have held one with Huck but I thought of it too late and don't even know if Callie has a 2nd leash or not. 

Note: Apollo and Reef are Callie's dogs and Huck is the bonus dog she had for the day because she was dog sitting. 

A Day's Worth of Twitter

01:56:43 AM - I have a friend http://t.co/qnz9vS6
03:12:29 AM - I'm so tired.
09:46:28 AM - I woke up but I font want to be the first to get up
10:13:28 AM - I had to tinkle. When I got up it woke up the dogs then everyone else. Sigh.
01:35:18 PM - A dog found my pretzels and ate them up. They were in a ziplock in my backpack but not in a zippered compartment.
02:39:57 PM - I just had a lap dog. made me miss Poly. Poly sure takes up less room on me.
05:36:37 PM - I survived my first run in Leadville. 5 miles. 2nd time I ever ran on a trail. 1st time I fell running.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Photo of the Day: Easter 1992

We always went to both sets of grandparents houses on Easters.  We would go to one first then head to the next one later.  Some years we ended up at the Cherepkos at the same time as my cousins and some years we didn't.   In 1992, we were there together.

Gram always wanted to take our pictures. We didn't like it. Well really I did but nobody else liked it so I pretended so I could fit in. We would make faces. One Thanksgiving we held our turkey up like mustaches.

You can tell which one's me because I'm the only girl.  I loved that dress I was wearing. I think I got it for my birthday.  Timmy is in the front. My oldest cousin, (on the Cherepko side), Jason, is giving him antlers. My older brother is giving my other cousin, Jared, antlers.  I never understood giving someone bunny ears or antlers.

One main observation I had about this is look how huge everyone's feet look. Jared is 6'5" now.
My second observation was this was before my gram got central air because all of her shrubs are there out back.
My third observation was about how green the grass is.

I'm confused why Timmy had ice cream and the rest of us don't. Maybe he got it last since he's the youngest.

photo taken: April 26, 1992

A Day's Worth of Twitter

09:52:10 AM - i had a to do list tablet and seem to have lost it. how will I know what to do?
01:02:50 PM - traveling is stressful. I should probably get dressed so something is done. leave in less than 2 hours
05:27:50 PM - Well I'm at my gate and already ate. Some stress gone
05:43:55 PM - Just boarded. I let Timmy get the window seat. We are row 19 or so
06:30:41 PM - I paid $5 for wifi on the plane. Except I just did it and now I'm about to eat my subway instead of browse the internet
08:02:48 PM - I'm getting a headache.
08:38:18 PM - I suck at life. I thought it'd be high in the low 70s and low in the 30s so I packed warmer clothes. and it is 98 degrees there!
09:19:29 PM - We landed
09:20:03 PM - @TracyMorganLove flying into Denver to hang out with @iamoddd in Leadville
09:20:38 PM - @TracyMorganLove oh I replied before I saw this
10:01:17 PM - Baggage claim takes too long
10:06:08 PM - Timmy's luggage isn't lost. Still waiting for mine.
10:07:43 PM - Have mine now too. Yay
10:23:59 PM - Gmail is broken on my phone.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

7.29 - Pants

 

shirt: F21, cardigan: Kohl's, pants: VS, shos: Kohl's, necklace: Sears

These are the pants that I haven't been able to wear recently.  I mean they still didn't fit the best but it was better than normal. These pants I wore easily pre-knee surgery and now the button and button hole aren't near each other without some effort.  At least with effort they finally got buttoned and I could sit in them without pain.  I still have more pants that do not fit. I need to buy new pants. I can't believe how so many pairs of my pants don't fit any more. The last time my pants didn't fit me and I had to buy new was in December 2002. There may have been other times in my life but I had looser clothes or just pants in many different sizes.  I can run further than I could back then. I just haven't been eating well or lifting weights or running as often as I want. Maybe one of these days I'll either fit into older pants or buy new ones.  I am disappointed that my red pants do not fit.  Two or three weeks ago I was about to order new VS pants and didn't. Maybe I should do that now.  So it probably isn't normal to put a picture of pants that don't fit or gut bulging over pants on my blog but nobody said I am normal.

This is probably why my pants don't fit.... chips with dip.

I went for a walk and then later did p90x ab ripper x. A few of those ab things were hard to do and I still couldn't get them right. So now I've done P90x yoga and ab ripper x. I still have a lot more to go to have done all of them.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

07:41:56 AM - Is it possible to sleep on your knee wrong so then it feels weird to walk?
08:06:32 AM - Poly is extra dog like today.
09:28:11 AM - My computer sucks.
09:31:06 AM - @wrkngmomscloset I'm still trying to get my work computer to work. What a sucky day
06:51:49 PM - Eating downtown. http://t.co/PC3gwah
08:54:12 PM - I'm at a musical. For the first half I understood about 20 words
10:37:18 PM - @fmeissner359 Jesus Christ Superstar. I hated it
10:37:55 PM - @iamoddd free tickets through work.
11:17:28 PM - We went to Yum in the way home

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

6.23 Miles - North Park

For the third time this week I ran in the morning at North Park.  Tuesday I met Kelly at 6:15. Wednesday I met Kelly and April at 6:00.  Today I met Kelly and April at 6:00 but April also brought her dog, Betty.  Our crew is growing.

I have been wanting to run more than 5 miles. Then today I said we should do 7. We got started a little late so thought we might do 5.  Then 2.5 into it we said we'd do 6.  About 4.5 miles into it, we started talking about the Great Race and decided to run 6.2 miles for a 10k time. We had to run the loop, turn around to run, then run back.  We had to round the bend a lot so we decided to run more than .6 back so we could end about on the corner. We were a little off with our estimate so we ran over 6.2.

The 4 of us ran together until about 2 or 2.5 miles into it. Betty was not cooperating so then Kelly and I ran and April slowed up with Betty.  I'd say she was only about 3 minutes behind us. We passed her before we even hit 5.25 miles. I'd say that's still pretty good because her previous fast times running with her dog were around 50 minutes.

This morning it was chilly. April and Kelly both started with long sleeve shirts on. I didn't realize it was so cold.  My hands were cold for a few miles but then I got good.  I liked the temperature. I want more days like it.

I've taken my inhaler before all the runs this week. I have been running well but could it also be that the weather is nice.  I hate having to medicate so I hate taking inhalers.

Since we ran counterclockwise today, we had to end on the level. It is much harder to push and run extra fast on the level. that is one way the loop going the other way is good. We still ended at 7:43 pace. This way is better because you get the big hill at the beginning though.  I'm starting to like clockwise except for when you actually start at the boathouse. When you start at 4 1/4 marker, it is great.

We stopped 3 times and I labeled why.

I bet you are bored with this map.

It is hard to tell but these splits are similar from Tuesday and today. The problem is my Garmin didn't work right away on Tuesday so the splits are actually .10 different. But still it gives you some comparison.  We were quicker at the beginning last time and slower at the end.

Post-run

*Date in table is wrong. Run was on 8/12 not 8/10. Ooops