Monthly Archives: June 2007

dan aaron is the best.

last week my brother graduated from his 5-year electrician apprenticeship program. he is so super! I went up to troy and surprised him after his banquet at his local pub. (Props to Meredith, who managed to keep me a secret!) we had a super good time. with karaoke!
we like to sing.

you can tell he’s having an incredible time because he actually allowed me to take his photograph without squeezing or tickling:

he won a watch!

notice the watch in this photo? he won it! as an award! for having the highest grade in his class! he is so super!

there was arm-wrestling and rock’n’roll:

very serious arm wrestling interlude rock'n'roll!

he was so happy! and we are so pretty!

happy! pretty!

2007 CSA

I didn’t mention this earlier, but I switched my CSA this year. Paramus was just too hard to get to after work, and also, there weren’t any community activities. I have a new pickup in Montclair and so far they’ve had (and I’ve missed) a farm day and a membership meeting. This CSA is more grass-roots organized, and that’s what I like.

Last Tuesday was the first pickup!

CSA wk 1

there were three kinds of lettuce, oregano, radishes, and garlic scape. what a perfectly sized first CSA share! that said, I haven’t eaten a blame thing from it. I have been too busy at work and running around to actually wash lettuce. Sigh. Tomorrow is the second pickup and I’m behind all ready!

social internet hive minds

I’ve been screwing around on the internets more and more today – maybe because I’m staying super late to finish up a report, and I’ve kind of resigned myself to the idea that I’ll be here until 5AM.

anyway: one of the things I’ve been looking at is twitter. I’d heard a story about it on npr, and at first I thought it sounded kind of nuts. and then I thought about it and it sounded kind of NEAT. and then my good friend roz had it, and she kind of pushed me over the edge. and now I only have a couple of friends, but if any of y’all would like to sign up I sure wish you would.

I also put a app in the sidebar, which is kind of great. don’t expect anything earthshatteringly insightful – you only get 140 characters. but it’s a neat concept.

edited to add: I kind of love twitter b/c it gives me an out for all of the weird non sequiters that float through my head during the work day. that’s nice.

more of the same

lest you think this will be all running, all the time, let me start by saying my first CSA pickup is today! yay! so look forward to photos and food and scramble to eat everything, starting tonight.

and now back to running. ha! y’all know that I get kind of into stuff and totally obsess about it. the only difference here is that I actually HAVE to train, because I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of my co-workers. I mean, they handled the dance party and the arm wrestling ok, but will they handle the red face alright? or will they only be able to handle it if I am also a decent runner? what if I’m so slow everyone in the race finishes before me? I don’t want to be the last one.

* side note: michelle suggested the perfect karinajean triathalon: dance party, arm wrestling, and 10K. who wants to sign up? *

anyway, I’ve been running a lot. and talking about it all the time. and thinking about it all the time. I just bought new support undergarments specially designed for a woman of my… um. talents.  I bought fancy new socks. I bought some running shorts, but what I’m really interested in buying are some running skirts. (although wouldn’t it be nice if they were less “look girly-girl while running!” and more “be tough and comfortable in a skirt!”)

this is the amount of running I’ve done so far this week:

  • sunday: 4 miles
  • monday: reasonable pace 5K
  • tuesday: fast pace 5K

and this is the amount of protein I’ve eaten so far this week:

  • sunday: 2 fried eggs, then lots and lots of sushi at the best baby naming party/luncheon ever
  • monday: 2 hard-boiled eggs, a cup of a salad made mostly from crabs, tuna, and shrimp, and then a can of herring in lemon and cracked pepper.
  • tuesday: 2 hard-boiled eggs. and the day has just begun.

hopefully by eating lots of protein I can avoid eating lots of crackers and ice cream like I usually do when I dive into a new exercise regimen!

so, aren’t y’all so glad that my CSA starts this week so instead of blabbing about running and protein consumption I can instead blab about my fridge and how messy it is and how I need to clean it out and how I should have done it last night because tonight I’m getting my first shipment and shoot, there are still radishes in there or something from last season?

boy I hope there’s lots of leafy greens. and not any green beans. I need to start slow, and green beans are always the hardest thing for me to eat.

more running

I was so excited about the 5K last week that when a coworker invited me to run a 10K in washington’s crossing on July 4th I quickly canvassed my running-savvy friends and said yes. eek! I am pretty excited, but that is just over 3 weeks away. and I’m really really busy at work. but I’m sure I can do it if I run every day until then….

actually, there’s a 5-mile run the week before that will be really good for confidence. and today I ran 4.11 miles in 45 minutes, which is pretty super after a week of not doing anything. and that means that even if I don’t run at all after running 4 miles I will still be able to finish the 10K in about 1 hr 15 min., which would be pretty not-bad. I’m feeling good about this! I just hope my knee holds out… lots of stretching is in order.

freihofer’s run for women

the 5K went so well yesterday! michelle and I drove up friday night to fully represent team lois. everyone in my family showed up to watch meredith and rachel and I run, and it didn’t rain at all! we started together and once up the big hill rachel ran up ahead of us. I left meredith walking and then she ran up to me once she caught her breath!
our times were:

  • rachel 32:47
  • me 36:13
  • meredith 40:40

I am so proud of all of us. Rachel had only clocked a 40 min. 5K before but the race day excitement had her going fast and furious! Meredith had been walking 15 min. miles but she ended up run/walking at a pace of 13 min./mile. And considering I only had about 2 weeks of training, I am satisfied with my time. I had to walk a couple of times, and gym training doesn’t prepare you for humidity and hills, but I finished well under 40 min., and that was my goal. this was my first chipped race, and it’s kind of great to not have to kind of remember what time you cross the start line at so you can guess when you finish.

I think meredith and rachel may have caught the 5K bug! we talked a little bit about signing up for the run for the roses in grafton lakes state park on 8/12. other than that, my next planned 5K right now is the mid-july work one. but I’d like to find something in june to run as well with michelle. and then sept. 30 is the 10K Great Race in Pittsburgh.