Time off

Do you ever just take a long break from training? How long is too long?

I've been kind of on hiatus since the marathon. In October. I just feel like my mojo isn't there. I've been going to kickboxing and running or biking here or there, but I haven't been following a plan. I get up, decide what sounds fun for the day and go with it. Some days that include laying on the couch, watching old episodes of Real Housewives (don't judge), other days I feel uber motivated to sweat. But it hasn't been consistent and it hasn't been often. I just kind of feel like I need this. I need the break from a training schedule. I need the break from the pushing, the aching, the sleepiness that comes from a good hard workout (I'm not complaining because there's no better feeling most days). I worry that when I do start back with hardcore training that I'm going to be months and months behind and I'll have to start over (especially after reading all of you overachievers who are working super hard during "off season"). I kid... kind of... Then I remember that I'm an endurance athlete and although I will have lost some of it, I haven't given up completely.

The worst part about the much needed (or desired) break is the weight gain. I'm not going to lie - I feel like a chubbo, but it's not that bad.

But again, I think the hiatus is going to pay dividends when I do start my training plan.

Tomorrow. Or Wednesday. Yep, definitely Wednesday.

:)


***Don't forget to enter my sock giveaway contest here. I'll be picking three winners on Saturday. Super cute socks for you or a loved one!!!***

A Turkey Trot, A Dinner and A Giveaway

Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. At the end of ours yesterday, Tom looked at me and said "that was a perfect Thanksgiving". I love hearing that!

The day started with us waking to pouring down rain. Ugh... while I don't mind running in the rain, it was miserable out and we definitely considered skipping the Turkey Trot and staying cuddled in bed with the pups. But, the hubby convinced me that it would be fun. We got all ready and lo and behold, the rain stopped. Kept our fingers crossed that it would stay that way the whole run. When we got to the race start, it still wasn't raining - I think we're going to luck out. As we stood, counting down the last few minutes before the start, it started to sprinkle, but that was the extent of the rain. I love the Columbus Turkey Trot - totally laid back, untimed (well they have clocks, but no chips or results), great new course, and free pies to the first 1,000 men and 1,000 women! :) I had no expectations for the run - just to go out and enjoy ourselves (Tom's been battling a nasty 4 week cold and hasn't been running... I've been, well, in off season!). We took off and it was CROWDED. Like really crowded. Oh well.. just run and have fun.

Mile 1 -8:11 - dodging through everyone, although it was downhill

Mile 2 - 7:53 - finally spread out, but again downhill (this would haunt us on the way back!)

Mile 3 - 8:22 - through OSU campus

Mile 4 - 8:10 - the uphill started

Mile 5 - 8:34 - the final mile was all uphill

Total - 41:12 - average pace 8:14

And I got a pie! And Tom got a pie! WOO HOO!

We came home, showered and started cooking. The family came over around 2:30 and from there, we just relaxed, ate too much, drank too much and enjoyed tons of laughs. I have the best family! :)

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GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!

So yesterday it was chilly (yes I tend to overdress, but I'm always cold when I run so I'd much rather be sweating than freezing). In any event, I decided to run in tights and my pink and black zebra stripe socks from Chrissy's Knee High Socks. A girl's gotta look cute, right?

These socks are awesome! I seriously love them! I tend to have problem with knee high socks not staying up when I run, and these didn't budge. They aren't compression socks, but they are great for running, kickboxing, biking and even just everyday wear. And they are all super cute! Check out the site and you won't be disappointed, plus Chrissy is awesome to work with and is so nice!!!

Anyway, when I got my socks, I wrote Chrissy and told her how much I love them (seriously, the products have to be great for me to contact a company and tell them how awesome their products are). She was so excited that I like them, that she gave me a few pairs to give away to some of my blogger friends (three pairs to three different people to be exact - and they are all fun ones!). They are definitely keepable (yep, totally a word) if you win them, but would also make great Christmas gifts for your friends, the leading lady in your life (hint hint men...), your sister (my sister got some from me...), etc.

So, here's how you can enter (please leave a separate comment for each...)

• Follow my blog and leave me a comment
• Visit Chrissy's Knee High Socks and tell me which ones you'd love to see in your stocking this year from Santa
• Become a fan of Chrissy's Knee High Socks on Facebook
• Tell your friends about this on your blog, facebook and twitter
• I'll even give you a bonus entry for anyone who becomes a follower of my blog and tells me that you sent them... make sure they include your name and/or blog! (the bonus entries will be added to the end of the comments, in the order they come in for random.org purposes).

So you have a ton of ways to win!!! I'll keep the contest open through next Friday, December 3rd. Good luck!!!

Thanksgiving week

Tom has said to me about a million times, "I can't believe that it's Thanksgiving week". In Ohio, most people have looked over the fact that it's a holiday week because it's also Beat M*ch*gan week, but honestly, this is one of my favorite holidays. I'm hosting the fam at my house this year because I LOVELOVELOVE cooking a turkey. Somehow I lucked out and just have to make that, pumpkin pie, and mashed potatoes so it's really not a big deal. The turkey is going in the fridge tonight to start thawing - it's a 21 pound bird. May seem like a lot, but Tom and I have done a 20 pound bird for just the two of us before (don't judge... we like leftovers!). Butterball.com suggested 14 pounds for 7 hungry adults, but who are they kidding... I would have bought a bird bigger than 21 pounds had I been able to find one at the grocery the other day! You can never have too much bird...

Anyway, I've started thinking of my list of things I'm thankful for - my list is quite long

• I'm thankful for my amazing husband. He's such a great friend, my biggest supporter, my coach, my coworker, the person who pushes me. He laughs with me (and many times at me), hugs me when I cry (which can be a lot) and loves me unconditionally (that includes my fat days!) He's really my world and I couldn't be luckier!
• I'm thankful for an amazing mom and dad. Their love and support has helped me more than I will ever be able to thank them for. They've stood by my side through a lot and still love me! :) They make me laugh, and I admire the fact that they will be happily married 40 years this coming August!
• I'm thankful for my sister who also happens to be my best friend. We might have had rough patches in the past (what sisters don't?), but I think now that we are grown up, we understand how lucky we are to have each other. She's awesome! (and I have a fabulous brother-in-law too!)
• I have a great extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, and a niece and nephew who all go above and beyond to support Tom and I.
• I'm thankful for friends who have been with me through everything. This year as been a trying year as I've learned some pretty tough lessons in friendship, but I've grown to learn that TRUE friends are few and far between and those that I'm blessed with in my life are truly amazing.
• I'm thankful that I have two amazing dogs. I mean really - they may be mutts to some people, but they are my kids. They remind me that no problem is too big and that a walk in the park (or a slice of cheese) is all we need to cheer us right up.
• I'm especially thankful for my health - I put in a lot of hours training because I love it, but I know that there are so many people in the world who don't have the good health that I have. And on days when I don't feel like running another mile, biking another pedal stroke, or swimming another lap, I remember that I'm truly blessed that I CAN do these things.
• I'm thankful for a job that allows me such amazing freedoms day to day and that I can live a comfortable life without many sacrifices. I must say, I have it pretty good.

And lastly:

• I'm thankful for all of you, my blogger friends. I've only met a few of you, but you all read my ramblings each week. You support me, you encourage me, you make me laugh, you love me no matter what nonsense I'm writing about. I just hope that someday I get to meet all of you.

What are you thankful for?

Our cards

I put together our holiday cards and I think they turned out pretty good. If you read my blog and know that you are on my Christmas card list... look away...

:)

With Love Chartreuse Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Can't beat getting 50 free photo cards either! Remember bloggers, Shutterfly is giving 50 free cards if you follow this link: http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

Twitter

Here's a simple question for you - do you use twitter?

I'm trying to use it since I started an account back like 2 years ago (I checked today and counting today's tweet, I'm up to 5 tweets). Seriously though - what do you tweet about? I feel like I don't like an interesting enough life to actually tweet anything. Do you want to know when I go to the gym? Or what I eat? Or what I'm looking at online? And then there's direct messaging to individual people. And retweeting. And the "@" symbol.

I have to admit, I'm a little overwhelmed by it all.

Enlighten me people (and then follow me on twitter @cbkingery because it's a lot like blogger... makes you feel special when your "follower" list grows - yeah, I have 5 followers to match my 5 tweets).

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

After typing that title, who am I kidding? I can't post a blog and not write anything. My grandma jokes that I was the best baby - always quiet and now I never shut up.

My hubby is in Tucson for the Tour of Tucson (humongous bike race - 10,000 bikers on Saturday!). So he left yesterday and will be gone until Sunday. While I don't mind a night alone sometimes, 5 nights gets a little much. I had such a nice surprise though today when the doorbell rang and these arrived:

Guess he set up a house account with the local flower shop so that he can call them and just have them deliver flowers to me whenever he's in the dog house traveling thinking about me. I love him so much!

I went an picked up my race packet for the Turkey Trot. I know it's a bit early to get my packet, but I live about 40 minutes away from the race and getting it race morning is always a pain. I was halfway to the running store today after kickboxing so I decided to stop by. Holy bright construction cone colored shirts batman. But I like them! The turkey in the center is the kind a little kid makes with their hand. It's cute... they had smalls... I'll wear it! (I think of it as doing my part for the safety of myself during night time runs!)



So a lot of you have asked me what kickboxing is all about. Here's kind of a little run down.

• We usually start with a warm up - jumping rope, running around the gym with medicine balls, stations of lunges, squats, push ups, sit ups, mountain climbers and whatever hellish things they can think of to get our heart rates going (it doesn't take much for me these days...)
• After about 10 minutes, we put on our gloves. And we then proceed to punch the crap out of a bag that hangs from the ceiling. They tell us combinations - starting with maybe three punches and work until this combos are 5,6,7 punches and kicks (which is usually when people forget). Then we move to the next combo. We do this for about 30 minutes. In between some of the combos, we'll do push ups, planks, run laps, do burpees, do mountain climbers, etc. The gym looks something like this during this 30 minutes (I totally stole this from their website and no, I'm not in that picture)
• We then have a burnout set. It's usually some insanely hard set of combos and cardio.
• Then the last 15 minutes or so, we do weight/resistance workouts and tons of abs - they really like planks... regular planks, planks on a ball, planks with punches, walking planks, etc. Today for example, we did a rotation with a partner of planks and one arm rows, then walking planks/push ups and flies and then leg curls on the ball and push ups with a row.
• By the end of 55 minutes, I'm usually soaked, dead tied and ready to call it a day.

I LOVE IT! I decided to be uber athlete today since I've been feeling totally guilty for working out 7 hours this month total. I got on my indoor trainer. OH MY GOD! I literally thought that my heart might pop out of my chest. I was dripping wet in a matter of minutes and I looked down and I was averaging like 16.4mph. Wow... lost that fitness fast! I miiiiiight have some work to do on the bike!

Christmas Cards

I've seen a lot of people posting ideas for their Christmas cards. I've started to think about mine (very early for the Kingery's, although until I order them, that doesn't mean anything). Every year Tom and I have sent out photo cards. And every year, I have the same thoughts - do people think that it's kind of weird when people send pictures of themselves as Christmas cards? I mean, I love getting photo cards - especially from people who I haven't seen in a long time. But what do other people think of them? Are they cheesy? We don't have little kids that we want to show off (unless you count our 4 legged fur babies which I'm sure definitely moves our cards into the cheesy category). So our picture if usually just the two of us, after a big race or something - the last two years they were from the beaches of PCB after IMFL. This year will have to be different - Tom and I standing along the shores of the Ohio River just don't have the same appeal to my Christmas card creativity! Is it over the top to do a collage of pictures - kind of showing people what's happened this year? Hum... And do you write on photo cards or just let the photos and personal saying do the work?

In any event, I'm definitely getting our cards from Shutterfly. They are doing a super cool deal for bloggers (Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010). But besides that great deal, I love shutterfly. I've ordered photo books from them which have turned out amazing. I always order my mom a calendar each year, personalized with family pictures. And this year, they have some great Christmas card designs.

I guess I just need to decide how many picture of Tom, my two dogs and myself is too much. :)

What do you do for Christmas cards and what do you think when you get a collage card from someone around the holidays?

TGIF

This has been the longest week. I've been sick again. I say again because I started getting a cold last week but it only lasted a day or two. I felt better, although not 100%. Tom was miserable. Then this week it hit be hard. No energy, runny nose, coughing, sneezing - full on miserable. I've done zero training this week except kickboxing on Monday. I've slept nearly 10 hours a night. I've taken my vitamins, eaten three balanced meals a day, am keeping hydrated. I feel like I'm on the mend, but wowzers... this has seriously kicked my tail.

And of course this happens when it's 70 and sunny every day this week. In Ohio. In November. Unheard of! Usually it's rainy, crappy and cold and of course the one week where I can't keep my eyes open and my head is in a bubble, it's gorgeous. I'm taking one more day off and then I'm getting back to this training thing. I'm hoping to start my plan on Monday, as long as I don't die over the weekend! :) Hopefully I'll come back amped and ready. I was supposed to be doing a half ironman tomorrow - there's no way that I could have gotten from the start line to the finish line in one piece.

Okay so I have a question for those of you that have done the 100 push up challenge. I started this last year and made it to about week 3 and then stopped. I'm thinking of starting it again (because I'm by far the weakest person ever and this would probably be one of the biggest accomplishments in my life, besides finishing the Ironman - don't judge...) But, is it really 100 push ups without stopping or just 100 push ups in a few sets. Why do I not understand this? I've read the site over and over and I'm just confused. Can someone help a girl out? :)

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

Christmas list

I read somewhere that it's 40 days until Christmas. Is that right? WOW! What's on your Christmas (or Hanukkah) list this year? Any must haves that I need to steal and add to my list (yeah, I'm having a hard time thinking of things).

Here's what I have so far...
I'm loving this watch. I have a problem (maybe a slight obsession) with workout watches. The problem is I always want a pink one (I'm a total girl) and they turn yellow/green/black from all the stuff that they are exposed to. This one is PERFECT! And I'm thinking that I'll benefit immensely from the heart rate monitor aspect of it.

A Fuelbelt Sprint - I'm spoiled in that my husband always carries water when we run. But I like this little bottle (only holds 10oz) which would be perfect for the fast short running I plan to do this year. :) Do any of you have this one or one similar that you would recommend. It would be for water, not gel.

A new Garmin Forerunner 305. We had one for a few years and it putzed out. Although I've considered getting the 310XT, we don't usually wear it in races so I don't think I really care about the fact that it can be used during the swim. Plus, Walmart has the 305 for $130 which is a pretty awesome price. ;)

A kickboxer needs at least two sets of wrist wraps. And any girl kickboxer needs a set of pink ones right? This will hopefully end the funk that happens when doing kickboxing three days a week with only one set of wraps.

Have you read Matt and Maddy's blog (Matt, Liz and Madeline)? I've been following their story for quite a while and am super excited about the book. It doesn't come out until April, but you can pre order it. :)

I also want an ornament that says "All I want for Christmas is a new PR". My mom had bought me one a few years ago and I dropped it last year and it broke. I've not been able to find a new one since though (I can find flat ones, but this was a glass ball one and I loved it).

Annnnnnd, that's the extent of my list. I need to come up with some new things. My mom bought me a new winter coat (I picked it out the other day so I know what it looks like) so I'm sure I'll get gloves to go with that. But I feel like I have everything swim, bike and run related that I could possibly need. I'm finally at a point where I can pick out "wants" instead of "needs" for my list and I'm struggling...

What are you asking for this year?

The verge of something good...

Ever get some news that is super exciting and super nerve wracking at the same time? That happened today. I can't give too much information (I'm hoping to have great news sometime soon), but I'm at that point where I feel like I might be on the verge of something good. :) I'll leave you with that...

Had a great weekend. Tom's STILL sick. I've luckily recovered I think. Mostly. I'm blaming my new fleece sheets for the massive amounts of sleep that I've been needing and not a cold! And the time change - yeah, that always does it to me.

We were supposed to head to Wilmington this week for Beach 2 Battleship. Some things have come up and Tom and I aren't able to go. I'm kind of torn about this though - part of me is relieved that we don't have to do because I don't feel like I was ready to race, but the other part is sad. I was looking forward to seeing all the TT1 tri team people and getting to race alongside them for the first time (maybe next year). I know that it's smart for us to stay home though and wish all of them the best on Saturday!!!

Congrats to everyone who raced IMFL on Saturday. I love that race. I love PCB. (Maybe I love the beach more than the race, but they really go hand in hand unless you are in college!) I talked to my mom yesterday and she asked if I was able to sign up us. She caught me off-guard a little. HA! Even me telling her that I promise I wasn't doing an Ironman in 2011 and she didn't believe me. No, I didn't sign up. More reasons than one, but I'm looking forward to the break from the long training!

Speaking of racing next year and being on the verge of something good, this is tentatively what I'm looking at for 2011:
April ?? - Xenia Half Marathon
May 7 - Capital City Half Marathon
May 15 - REV3 Knoxville Oly
June 4 - REV3 Quassy Oly
June 11 - Wendy's Women's Only Tri
June 12 - Wendy's International Tri
July 4 - JCC Independence Tri
August 26-28 - Chicago Triple Tri
September 11 - REV3 Cedar Point Half

I might add a full marathon, although I'll have to see which one. Possibly Columbus, possibly Chicago. But we might do the Rev3 in South Carolina too which could interfere with Chicago. We'll see. I'm excited to do some different races and especially excited to add the REV3 series to the calendar. Tom's team has decided to do the series which makes choosing races fun for me too! I have some definitive goals that I want to reach and I think that they are all attainable with the shorter, faster races on my schedule! Yay to no more looooong Ironman hours (for this year at least!!)

Last, but definitely not least, Katherine at Forward Foot Strides named my blog as the featured blog of the week. Yay! Thanks Katherine. Stop by her blog and give her some US love (she's in Canada...)

What does your gym do for you?

FIRST THINGS FIRST... Before I get to my very important post about what your gym does for you, I have to thank two people. I recently won two give-aways. First, I won an adorable "Runalicious" shirt from Jamie at RunningDivaMom. This shirt is awesome - so soft and super cute! I wore it to kickboxing today and meant to get a picture of me in it, but didn't get a chance (and now it's sweaty and stinky so I'll spare you and me from putting it back on for a picture). Anyway, I love it and am a big fan of Runalicious. Visit their store and you won't be disappointed. The second giveaway that I won was a set of three Chrissy's Knee High Socks from Tressa at Train with a Track Coach and His Adorable Wife. I got these three (and no, those aren't my legs):

I ran in the white ones the other night and thought for sure that they would fall down during the run or be uncomfortable on my feet, but I loved them! Stayed up and everything. I'm debating whether or not to wear these to kickboxing. Doesn't seem like that kind of crowd, but when have I ever been part of the crowd??? Seriously these socks are great and so much fun! So thank you to Jamie and Tressa, as well as Runalicious and Chrissy's - hum... maybe I can get a shirt and some socks to give away on my blog... maybe a little gift that keeps on giving? (thekingerys [@] hotmail.com if you are interested!)

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Back to my regularly scheduled blog post.

So, what does your gym do for you?

We had some friends over the other night and we were talking about the perks of their gym - beyond getting in shape and all that stuff. Our friends said that their gym offers them discounts to TYR (which is totally awesome as a triathlete), as well as some local places. I've heard of gyms partnering with places like GNC for discounts on supplements.

But not my gym. They do it right.

Today I walk in a see a sign that says "Show your membership card at Chipotle and get a free burrito when you purchase a burrito. Good through the first of the year".

AWESOME!

I can go workout (or better yet, not even have to work out), drive next door to Chipotle, show them that I belong to a gym (which is an awesome gym and only costs me and Tom $28 bucks a month total) get myself two mammoth calorie laden burritos for the price of one.

Stupid or genius?

See the normal person would shake their head and say "well that's dumb. Why would you work out and then go indulge on a 1000+ calorie burrito (yeah, I get mine in a tortilla, with cheese and rice people - no bowls with just veggies for this girl!)?" But I think that the marketing person for Urban Active sees it differently. If they can entice a person to work out and then get a burrito, most likely that person will feel super guilty and come back to work out, possibly hiring a personal trainer for an ungodly amount per hour because they can't possibly figure out why they aren't losing the weight.

Genius right? Yeah, I thought so to.

Either way, I'm totally taking advantage of the deal. And I'm smart enough to know why I'm not losing any weight! :)

Happy Friday!

Total random thoughts...

First off, thank you all for your comments about the running skirt issue. Glad to know that I'm not the only one with some real girl legs! Running Skirts is going to let me try one of their skirts and review it for everyone. Hoping that some other companies ( maybe) come to me asking me to review theirs as well so that I get a good comparison. :)

Second - so does anyone else think that October should have been names National I Didn't Train Much month? I mean wow... I looked at my training log. Now granted, I did a marathon and then enjoyed some down time and then got sick, but it's kind of pathetic. Okay, really pathetic. Here are the totals:

Swim - 0 meters. Yep you read that right.
Bike - 84.5 miles. Again, wow
Run - 63.8 miles (of which 26.2 was run in one day...)
Cross training - 4 hours (this is usually the elliptical at the gym movie theater)
Kickboxing - 3 hours

Oh well. I feel better and I'm back on course. I swam today for the first time since September and did actually remember how to swim so that was good. It was slow. And my lungs were burning, but I blame that on the kickboxing I did for an hour prior to the pool, and the cold I'm still getting over. Excuses, excuses.

Kickboxing is awesome! I'm trying to go 3 times a week. It's generally been only twice though. I literally get my butt handed to me on a silver platter every time I put those gloves on (and walk out wondering if I should be ashamed of my ability to work out at that level). Tons of bag hitting, but also squats, lunges, push ups, sit ups, weights, resistant bands, etc. Every class is different. Today we ended with 3 minutes of planks - 3 straight minutes. Yeah, I didn't make it through that. :)

Beach 2 Battleship half is in a week and a half. I'm super excited, but looking at my October numbers scares the poop out of me in terms of readiness. Maybe I'll be well rested and just have a kick ass race. Or I'll die. We'll see...

I received my two giveaway winnings in the mail this week. I'll post pictures soon. LOVE THEM! :)

Running skirt wearers

I need help (shut up... not that kind of help... well at least not today anyway).

I really want a running skirt. I've bought probably 5 different ones and they are great on the elliptical, but when I run, the little shorts underneath ride up and I end up having some, um, well rubbing of the thigh (again, shut up). Body glide isn't cutting it.

I'm the kind of girl that usually runs with a little longer compression short or tri short (5" inseam) because well, let's face it, I was a soccer player for years and have some legs on me.

(That's the nice way of saying that I have big thighs people... stick with me)

What are your suggestions for a running skirt with a short underneath that doesn't ride up? I have looked at the Runningskirts.com website and think that the athletic skirt line would be the way to go (because I'm definitely not getting the running skirt with that little brief that looks like a bikini bottom - hello chafe...). But I don't know if I can handle the $59-$69 price tag to "try" a skirt and see if it works. Or do I get the little basic skirt and just put it over the shorts I already love to run in?

Any advice for a girl who just wants to look like a girl when she runs???