Some Runs, Some Races

It's been bit of a shift, switching to writing about more than just running - one that I don't necessarily think I'm doing all that well. I seem to have more excuses to not write - especially with the handy Daily Mile widget - rather than less.

Sigh.

On the plus side, running has been going extremely well. (The cross-training, not so much, but that's a different story.) Our little running crew has successfully kept up with our LD runs on Sunday and we are all looking forward to the first race of 2012. And what a way to start - a half marathon in our own backyard at the Heart & Sole Half Marathon.  In general, we're staying close to home with the races this spring, including:

Juniors Jog 5K - Goldsboro - February 25th
Habitat for Humanity Home Run 10K - Greenville - March 17th
Run the River 8K - Kinston - March 31st
RunRaleigh Half Marathon - Raleigh - April 15th

This we we will also purchase the bamboo floors (eek!) and hopefully install them a week from Saturday.

In the meantime, I am on the hunt for a good deal on a sofa...

A big tangent

My music tastes are very eclectic and while at work this morning listening to the Gillian Welch Pandora station, a favorite of mine came up. I heard it with different ears, catching the opening line of "Caught out running."



I love the melodies and harmonies of this song and watching the video just made it better. Two comments:

1) Love, love, love the location of this video. Can I buy this house (Roman/Greek statues and all)?
2) Is it just me, or should Robert & Allison's hair styles be switched?

Front Room Transformation Day 7: New paint (and new socks!)

That's right - while I was at an after-hours training session, James painted the accent wall. Behold, the new color - and my personal plug for the best running socks in the world - Balega Hidden Dry Low-Cut socks. Ridiculously expensive, but amazingly comfortable.

Doesn't it look fabulous?

I am totally in love. Thanks for your efforts, James! Next up: floor installation, but not until after the Goldsboro Heart & Sole Half Marathon on February 4th benefiting the local YMCA.

After returning from the work event, I put on the new socks and the now worn-in shoes (I've been eyeing a new pair of Brooks Pure Cadence but I'll squeeze a little more life out of my current pair of Ravennas) and tried to run off the baked ziti that was sitting heavy in my gut. The moon is but a sliver tonight, the night thick with darkness, so I donned a neon green shirt and stuck close to home.

Oh, how I long for the longer daylight hours of spring...

Front Room Transformation Day 6: Final coat and final decision

Yesterday James and I added a final coat of Hazelnut Coffee to the walls and we scoped out the floors we'd been investigating online. And I think we found our winner:

Morning Star Clic Strand-Woven Natural Bamboo.

We were originally charmed by a) the eco-friendliness of bamboo and b) its unique grain pattern, as seen here:

However, as we voiced our interest in installing this in our home, "Are you sure? Bamboo scratches easily" quickly became the chorus response.

I learned that the pattern we see above is from horizontal natural bamboo, created by laying out flat stalks harvested early in its growth cycle, resulting in floors with a Janka (hardness rating) of around 1200.

Strand bamboo, on the other hand?

Front Room Transformation Day 5: A second coat'll do ya

Sunday's run really kicked my butt. So much that I was asleep at 8:30 on Monday evening, shortly after a short round of domestic duties. Yesterday I sneaked out for a quick three mile run before my monthly sushi date (a tradition going strong for two years now!) and an unexpected visit to the funeral home to pay my respects to a coworker's mother while James went to a work dinner.

Today we regrouped and rocked our way through Coat #2 whilst listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Coat #2 with flash:

Coat #2 without flash:

James's cacti collection and my beer:

We have yet to paint our accent wall (tomorrow perhaps?) so in closing, I'll offer you a cool video that celebrates both color and (!) books.

Front Room Transformation Day 4: Seeing the world through Hazelnut Coffee-colored glasses

This morning we had six runners out at the air force base - and for the first time ever, yours truly ran with the men. Or should I say, they deigned to run with me.

It was sunny, windy, and we were instantaneously reminded that we were running in January. What makes a plot of land a good site for an air force base is the very thing that makes running there unpleasant at times:

Long (almost interminable, really) stretches of straight paths with the wind whipping across the landing strips.

Nevertheless, the nine mile run was a good one and a quite enjoyed the challenge of running with my much faster husband and coworker David.

Post-run and post-IHOP breakfast, James and I took a few hours to rest, shower, and gear up for painting. Several hours later?

(I spy with my little eye a kitty who's lost her way...)

The walls, I assure you, are not as vivid orange as they appear. Nevertheless, something about the walls and the presence of cacti made both James and I separately think of Mexico.

In admiring our handiwork, I find myself drawn to the carpets. We have been planning to replace them for a while now, but seeing them against the color?

They have to go.

Choosing a color scheme

Ever since I saw this pair of colors when we were in Cinque Terre for Thanksgiving 2010, I have wanted to use something similar in the Front Room. The red we picked (La Fonda Antique Red) is pretty spot on, eh?

After staring at these samples (and about four others) taped to the wall and studying them in various lights, we chose to go more caramel gold with Hazelnut Coffee (closer to the trim color on the yellow building) to accomplish a warmer feel.

We bought the paint today; tomorrow, post-long run, we begin!

Front Room Transformation Day 3 - Wallpaper Stripped!

That's right. It is done! After a quick 3 mile sprint to get me motivated, I returned and James and I knocked the rest out.

Yes, I am cheesing out.

It's crazy to think that we have never utilized this space in the 2+ years we have been living in the house. Now that the wallpaper is down, I'm starting to suffer from the 3-D spontaneous modelling effect. You know, the one wherein you start visualizing the room from all different angles, plopping furniture in from above as if seeing it in a computer program (a la any of the tens of hundreds of thousands of DIY home decor shows out there now), and swapping color swatches in with different lighting.

Speaking of which, that's Phase II - choosing a color schematic.

For the time being, I'm just glad the 'paper is down. Halle-effing-lujiah.

Front Room Transformation - Day 2, Stripping Wallpaper

It was a dark and stormy night when the vacuum cleaner came to life and ate James's face off.

Pardon me, I've been inhaling wall-paper removal spray for an hour.

We have now successfully stripped two of four walls; however, I estimate we've stripped 2/3 of the total surface area because we tackled the walls with no windows and doors first. Go us!

Cue proper lighting:

Beautiful, isn't it?

Sunday first: Front Room Transformation - Day 1, Stripping Wallpaper

When we bought our house over two years ago, we knew the Front Room (as we call it) would need to be redone; at the very least, the wallpaper would need stripping. Kindly ignore the disarray, these pictures were taken shortly after we moved in.

We had grand visions of turning this into a Chill Room, where we would enjoy our booze, our tunes and whatever company we might be entertaining on a given day. We had interest in taking the room on immediately, but then, sadly, due to our willfull cats and their dislike of our futon, we lost the main piece of sitting furniture in the room - and with it, our motivation.

We've refined our vision of this front room over the years. Our home has a nice open concept kitchen with attached den, which currently houses our television and main lounging furniture (and consequently is where we spend 99% of our time while home).

Our revised plan includes transforming the current den into, well, a den. The current furniture will stay and our record player and vinyl will move into the space making it our Chill Room.

Our front room will be home to a sectional sofa, a television (50+ inches if James has anything to say about it) and some good home theater equipment. Because let's face it, the days of a formal living room (no doubt what this room was intended for) are long gone.

t\The first step, as anyone can plainly see, is to rid the room of it's wallpaper and border. So today, after our eight mile run and requisite breakfast at IHOP, James and I started The Process.

2012: A Year of Firsts

My profile picture shows me gesturing to a quilt square I saw while vacationing with my family in Glen Arbor, Michigan in 2010. "When was the last time you did something for the first time?"

Cave exploring for the first time, Mammoth Caves, KY (2006)

I've been mulling over what my goals for 2012 would be for nearly two weeks.

Something that I've confirmed in my last year of blogging is that I am a person of many interests and attempting to lock myself in to one interest (i.e. running) is almost a guaranteed set-up for failure (how else can you describe running slightly over half of a projected goal?).

A sample from my daily life, for example? My work life (from hours of 7-5) can consist of everything from detailed data entry, to spontaneous marketing material creation, to never-ending telephone customer service, to budget calculations, to idea pitching.

Moving from task to task as my brain feels inclined seems to work best for me. I am my most productive when I am not organized. Go figure.

It is thus that I propose that 2012 be The Year of Firsts - an attempt to go forward with all of those hair-brained ideas floating around in my head.

Some samples?

1)Run PRs in race categories: 5K, 8K, 10K, 10-mile, and half-marathon
2) Redo our front room (formerly a formal living room) and reintroduce regular music enjoyment into our lives
3) 30 days of no TV (<<gasp!>>)
4) Run a trail race
5) 30 days of yoga

This year I turn 29; I've suggested elsewhere that I feel 2012 will be a most auspicious year because it begins on a Sunday, "Day of the Sun," and an American's first day of the week.

What do you think?

Miles 595-600: Adieu, 2011

And, just like that, 2011 is over.

I only completed 54% of my original goal to run 1111 miles, and 84% of my modified goal of 711.

Yesterday, before heading out for an evening with dear friends, James and I laced up to run those last few miles.

It wasn't an easy run - we were running in the middle of the afternoon on yet another unseasonably warm day and almost immediately my lips chapped from too little water and too much wind. Nevertheless, it was a good run because I'm beginning to think that all runs are good runs.

2011 was a year of extreme highs and extreme lows all around - I was challenged in the realms of my work, family, and friends.

But today is January 1, 2012. I've still yet to determine exactly what my goals are for this year. But I think it's going to be a good one.