Flying Funnies

Man oh man, I've just been a writing machine lately. I'm currently on AirTran's far from fabulous wifi, mainly so that I could get onto Spotify and catchup on some great country jams. I'm behind on music lately.

I realized while going through security in the Milwaukee airport this morning that sometimes I find myself doing borderline passive-aggressive things out of sheer entertainment. Example: I packed this guy in my carry-on, knowing damn well that it was larger than the however many ounce bottles they let us carry onto the planes these days....

I mean, it was either try my luck, or leave my favorite hair gel in Illinois. So of course the nice x-ray man pulled my gel off the machine and screamed,

"Whose stuff is this?"

"Mine!" I replied sweetly, with a dumbfounded look on my face. "Ma'am, do you realize this container is larger than the what we allow you to carry on?"

"No, I'm really sorry I didn't even realize that!"

"Well, we will go test it for hazardous materials, and if it's clear you can take it. Next time, please check it."

That I would do sir, if I was checking a bag.

These days I'm flying an average of just about once a month. I've got to work with what I've got.

While on the topic of flying, why is it that about 50% of pilots have precious southern accents? Not complaining, there's always something soothing knowing that the man who currently has my life in his hands has an accent. There's no explanation as to why, but that's just how I feel.

There's a badass 12 year old girl in the row next to me, flying alone. The flight attendant tried to put her basketball in the overhead bin, and she demanded she keep it under her seat with her. Then she was told to turn off her ipod for takeoff, and I literally watched her wait for the attendant to walk away, and then turn it back on. We had a solid 5 seconds of eye contact and she just glared back at me.  Not that I care, I never turn off my phone on flights, airplane mode is how I roll.

I sat next to a pilot on a flight to Denver once, and I watched him keep his phone on airplane mode for both takeoff and landing, so that's my justification.

Rebels.

Had to say goodbye to her this morning. We both cried a little. My wonderful mom of course stuffed my backpack full of food, including this special treat from Costco:

Pumpkin lover 4 Lyfe.

Electronics off, wheels down in D.C. in about 20 minutes. Hope you all are having a beautiful weekend. Anyone have any funny travel stories/habbits they want to share?

Cheers!

Awhile

It's been awhile. Far too long if you ask me. Don't be mad though, it was a very busy four days that I left you all for.

As mentioned, Andrew's brothers & ladies came into town for the Easter Weekend, and we gave them just about everything Maryland has to offer. At least I like to think so.

Burgers, brews and basketball in Baltimore:

this santa fe burger was so amazing it almost brought me to tears.

Lori & Katie!

Cherry Blossoms and site seeing in DC:

Yes I really took this picture. Isn't it perfect looking!?

I have to add, it was a beautiful day in DC Saturday, so warm in fact that I even took of my zip-up and rocked a tank for awhile. The sun felt amazing.

Easter Sunday was church, and then down to Annapolis for some tapas and seafood of course. Last but not least, we hit up my favorite breakfast place in the area, Eggspectation, on Monday morning before they headed out.

It was then that I tried crepes for the first time. I'm mad at all of your for not telling me how awesome they are. I ate them so fast there wasn't even time to take a picture. However, I now have a constant mind battle going on with myself as to why I cannot eat crepes multiple times per week.

I may have dreamed about them last night.

Solid, fun, action packed weekend with awesome people. It was kind of nice to get back to a bit of routine this morning at the gym. To throw in an extra burn for the thousands of extra cals I gobbled down this weekend, I hit up my favorite iPhone app to give my abs a hurtin' after work.

I recommend this.

I just happened to see this posted by the Marine Corps Marathon on Facebook, and I thought it was pretty swell of them:

I was a lucky one.

Have I ever mentioned how lists keep me sane? I may actually be a little obsessive compulsive about making lists, but I can think of a lot worse things to obsess over, so I'm not going to sweat it. Here's my workout list I came up for this week...

That's right, I'm heading back to Chicago Saturday night for a ten, count 'em, 10 day trip, comprised of three legs. However, let's chat when that get's a little closer. I think we should talk more about running then too, don't you?

For now, this girl has dinner calling her name.

Cheers!

The Fall Marathon

On Tuesday I introduced you guys to my new best friend AKA a jar of peanut butter. But TODAY I want to introduce you to some of my newest human friends:

Aren’t they adorbs? These are a few of my Girls on the Run munchkins, and I love them. Even when they chose to take of their shoes and wrestle and not listen to a word that I say. I still love them.

Somehow, by the grace of God, I woke up at 5 am and drove my sorry butt to Baltimore to hit some hot yoga before work. I’ve found that the better that I prepare the night before for my morning workouts, the more likely that it is to actually happen.

Exhibit A:

Overnight oats are always my go-to breakfast when I’m running out the door to the gym, as well as a smoothie in my L.L. Bean thermos for later on in the day.

Jumping subjects, I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT.

I am running the 38^th Marine Corps Marathon in October!!

I haven’t run a marathon since Boston last April. I realize my foot is still healing, I realize that October 27^th is seven months away from yesterday.

I am SO excited to run this marathon. So excited.

I’m also pretty serious when I say that training starts tomorrow. With one mile on the treadmill. It’s only up from here people.

Also, I'm feeling super lucky to have gotten in. I realize that thousands of people tried to log on yesterday at 12 PM EST just like I did, and never got through. It was the luck of the click I guess. And I’m honored to have the opportunity to run through DC with 30,000 other runners in the race so properly nicknamed 'The People’s Marathon.'

super high-quality pic here, I know.

This 26.2 will be one of a kind for me as I am literally starting from square one. Mile one, right at the starting line. I can monitor everything I’m doing from the get-go, hopefully take care of my body well and continue to be diverse in my workouts as I increase mileage.

Did I mention I’m excited?

In other news, Andrew’s two brothers and their ladies get into town tonight for a fun-filled Easter weekend. Baltimore, D.C., Annapolis, we’re covering it all by Monday night. I’m super excited pumped to spend some good quality time with awesome people. Fitting for a holiday like Easter, don't you think?

Use the word excited one more time Kait.

Tell me, have any of you signed up/picked any fall races yet? Any former MCM runners? How ‘bout Easter plans?

Enjoy your weekends, not sure when I’ll be checking in next. Don’t miss me too much.

Cheers!

Monday Funday

I’m not upset that it’s Monday. Not even a little bit.

Want to know why? Because today is one step closer to Friday. And it’s not just my typical Friday, this Friday. It’s the start of Part-I-of-my-summer-vacay-in-Colorado Friday.

in 5 days i will be standing in this creek.

 I’m ecstatic.

This past weekend was what one may have labeled 'touristy'. On Saturday Andrew and I took the opportunity to go down to DC, since it’s a city neither of us have spent tons of time in. We had breakfast in Eastern market, checked out the U.S. history museum, and ate five million calories lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl, a popular, historical restaurant in the area.

Chili Cheese Fries. So good yet equally so bad. I know.

hanging out with the horse at the museum

I also saw this written on the sidewalk, and loved it. Very inspiring.

In preparation for the trip, I have a pretty busy week ahead. On my lunch break today I ran to Trader Joe’s to stock up on some super healthy snacks and produce and in the process picked up two of my favs:

4 cals per nut? yes please.

lunch on my back porch

 I’m also now officially following the training plan that Amanda made for me.  She put together my first week for me based off of a timed two-mile run that I did on the track for her, that I was actually really proud of:

splits were 6:35 & 6:31

Since Friday night we will be flying, and Saturday morning driving up into the mountains, I will be somehow squeezing in my long run Friday morning before work. 14 miles at 5 AM? Can’t wait.

I did 13 miles last night and it was decent. I can officially say that I’m over summer, mind-blowing humidity, and random out-of-nowhere thunderstorms. When I think about fall, cooler temperatures, football and all things pumpkin, I literally become giddy. But that’s a whole different rant, for a whole different day.

Hope you started off your week on the right foot. Any stories to share?

Cheers!