winter

This past long weekend, we had a fab opportunity to hop over to Madrid, Spain.  Flights were cheap, and friends of ours from Baltimore (who now live in Germany) suggested a Turkey Day meetup there awhile back.

So we were like sure, why not??

Madrid totally surprised me. I pretty much had no expectations going in, outside of knowing we were attending a Flamenco show for Thanksgiving Dinner... and that our friends Brian and Sarah would make better tour guides than we ever will.

Travel pals

I'll spare the rambling about the beauty of Madrid and the surrounding countryside (although I easily could write paragraphs about it) because I think I prefer that my travel posts offer more than just describing the trip, and more of the emotional side of it...

We both packed about thirty ten minutes prior to our cab picking us up for the airport on Wednesday night - I literally was just throwing random things into my suitcase and hoping for the best.  Luckily I glanced at the weather and noticed lows there were in the 40's, and that we should probably pull out those things that we haven't had to use here in TLV yet... what are they called again?

Coats.

Sure enough, the weather was crap.  Crap is actually the word I would have used six months ago... but after 3+ straight months of only sun, and temps in the 70's and 80's, I actually really really loved the weather.

Fun fact that most of you probably know but some of you may not - I really adore winter.  Always have, always will.  The snow, the cold that comes with it, the ice.  The bulky clothes, the skiing/sledding/snowball fights, hot chocolate - I could continue this list for days.

So yeah, I'm missing my winter a little bit.  I keep hearing from locals/people who have lived here for awhile - just wait, winter will come and it's going to suck.

Well, it's about to be December 1st and I'm still waiting, because I'm pretty sure I took the dog for a run on the beach in shorts and t-shirt this morning.

So anyways - back to Madrid. I rocked my winter coat and boots most of the trip, and loved every second of it.  The light drizzle and slight chill seemed to add to the enchanted-ness of such a gorgeous city, and the occasional wet toes were easily fixed by a few glasses of sangria.

Never in my life (outside of skiing in Michigan at age 5) have I gone on a vacation intentionally to somewhere colder; it's always been off to the beaches. But I loved every second of cold, dreary Spain, and it made me excited to plan our next cold weather trip, whenever that may be.

OK you probably have better things to do than read about how I tie my emotions to weather. I probably do too.  Have a great hump day!

Cheers - 

Kait

Rainy Balty

I did something super creepy on my way to work yesterday.

6:45 AM is still extremely dark these days, yet about a block from my house I spotted a runner in a bright orange jacket.

“I recognize that jacket,” said the weird little voice in my head.

He was running fast, it was raining which made it even harder to get a better look at the jacket. So of course I followed him down the next block until I was able to confirm…

The same Boston Jacket I have – same color, same year!

the color in this pic is weird, it's actually orange...

My instinct was to pull over and become his best friend but it was raining and I had just done my hair, so I gave him a silent salute like a creepball and drove to work.

In other news, it's been raining non-stop in Baltimore since Wednesday night. Which made for a very soggy seven miles for me today after work.

Immediately after taking this wet-dog-like picture, I threw all my clothes into the dryer, threw on some warm sweats, and here we are.

In other news, I got another interesting email this week:

"Congratulations KAITLYN COMISKEY. You have qualified for the Olympic-Distance race at the 2014 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships on August 9 in Milwaukee, Wis., after finishing in the top 10 percent in your age group at the Druid Hill Park Sprint Triathlon."

Is this cool? Should I be excited about this? I'm not sure. From what I found, about 4,300 athletes participated in the Age Group Nationals last year, counting both the Olympic-Distance and Sprint-Distance athletes.

What's confusing to me is that the Druid Hill Park Sprint Triathlon that I competed in this past August was actually a sprint distance. Olympic Distance was definitely next on my list for 2014, followed by a Half Ironman...

So technically it would make sense to participate in Nationals next summer. What do you all think? I'm looking for advice from triathletes out there, as I've only done one...

Speaking of triathlons, the grandaddy of them all is going on this weekend - tomorrow actually. Kona.

I have a role model runner of mine competing in it, who is not only an awesome athlete but an extremely awesome person. Pop over to Jacqui Giuliano's blog and wish her (and her husband) good luck, and a Happy One Year Wedding Anniversary. That's a hell of a way to celebrate if you ask me.

If I'm not mistaken both Baltimore and Chicago has 26.2 mapped across their cities this weekend - what a weekend for endurance athletes across the country. It's a beautiful thing.

That's all I've got. Still have to get to packing before the sis gets in tomorrow. Can't freaking wait.

Cheers my friends - 

K

Catchup

Good Morning from Crystal Lake, IL! The past two days have been extremely rainy, so much so that our street turned into a small lake for awhile yesterday...

Note my mailbox where the street is suppose to be...

Needless to say, although it was a hassle to get out of the driveway, Jane definitely enjoyed some splashing around in the street. She even managed to find a floating beer bottle and retrieve it from the newly-made river. She was psyched. But even more psyched to spend the evening with me last night.

pre-bedtime kisses

I have a very special, literal Throwback Thursday picture for you:

This gem lives in my parent's basement, and I hopped on it for a little bit of interval work last night after my run. It's incredibly uncomfortable and sounds like a jet taking off, but hey it got me sweating. What would you guess, 40 years old?

I've missed you guys, it's been an insane non-stop five days. Friday-Sunday was Delaware, which was way too much fun and music. Firefly definitely did an impressive job of putting on the second year music festival, and I'm surprised to say that my favorite artist of the week was the Avett Brothers. Their live performance was honestly moving.

Our home for 3 days

The roomies & me

Rain coming in during Matt & Kim - stolen from here

Monday morning we were on the road out of Baltimore by 6:30 AM, and drove all day to arrive into Chicago on Monday evening. We actually got in right in time to skip down to Wrigleyville and watch our beloved Blackhawks clinch the Stanley Cup. The streets quickly transformed into one big party, and I was one tired lady at work on Tuesday.

Tuesday evening I hopped on a train to my hometown of Crystal Lake to see the fam and the pup. And here we are. 

I actually ended up taking a 4 day break from working out, Friday - Monday, which is pretty rare for me. My body was probably appreciative of the extended break, but it felt good to pull my running shoes on again yesterday.

The plan is to do some crossfit this evening after work with my friend Greg, and then assuming that I wake up sore tomorrow morning - which I always do after crossfit - perhaps a yoga video before work. My grandma has also offered up her pool for the week, so some swimming may be in the cards. Who knows, it's nice to have options even when I don't have a real gym while I'm at home.

I try.

Currently I'm behind on all areas of life - as you can see from my lack of blogging - so my hope is to write again tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Hope your Thursday is swell. It would be awesome if the storms steer clear today, I would love to catch some rays on my lunch.

Cheers!

Rainy Monday

Man, nothing makes it harder to get up than a rainy Monday morning. When I first woke up and was laying there, listening to the rain,  I ran through every valid excuse I had as to why I shouldn't work today.

Then I gave myself the whole 'suck it up' speech and crawled hopped outta bed.

Yesterday I had a long conversation with Andrew about doing things I'm not comfortable with. I purposefully avoid any obvious situation or event that may cause me any amount of discomfort, because  I HATE feeling uncomfortable or awkward. In contrast, Andrew does a lot better with new situations/experiences, and usually is more open to trying things out.

I want to get better at this. I made a small stride yesterday by forcing myself in the pool for a 'long' (for me) swim.

how i feel before every single swim.

I never actually want to get in the pool. The idea of swimming always sounds nice, but then I imagine a pool full of professional swimmers, judging my awkward stroke and attempt at flip turns. I consistently have to give myself pep talks up in the locker room before heading down to the pool.

All-in-all, I spent a solid hour in the pool, and think I'm starting to get that flip turn thing down! Success!

I took the plunge on Saturday and decided to do something a bit different with my hair. It's basically been long, brown and untouched for almost 10 years now, so I decided to try out the ombre style:

I am actually really happy with it, it's fun, and the lighter shades make me READY for summer.

Summer, hello, are you near?!?

I've also been meaning to share my favorite means of seeking out summer during winter on here for awhile, thanks for reminding me! Although I no longer tan (I did a lot in college, bad I know) I've found this actually works really well:

It's subtle, never leaves me orange, and isn't streaky if you apply it well. I grabbed mine at good ole' Walmart for about $8.

While in the category of cosmetics, I have one more cheat to share:

I have never been able to whiten my teeth because of this:

When one of your front teeth are fake and won't 'naturally' whiten along with the west of your pearly yellows whites, there ain't too much you can do about your teeth color. Turns out, the cap on my right front tooth chipped in the back, and the Dentist says I'm ready for a permanent crown.

So, these next two weeks I will be whitening so that when I go in for my appointment, the new crown will be matched up to the shade of my at that time blindingly white teeth.

The bad news? Until that appointment at the end of February, my real teeth will continue to get whiter, yet my currently fake cap will stay dark. And I will look like a pirate.

just like that.

If I suddenly start putting emo-like non-smiling pictures up on here, you now know why. This is my disclaimer.

Enough rambling about stupid physical appearances that don't matter.I have a dance class to tear up the dance floor at!

Any big plans this week? What's your favorite way to 'cheat' when it comes to physical appearances? I've heard Spanx are literally black magic? True?

Cheers!

Keeping Pace

Remember that one post, where I talked about having trouble slowing down?

Well today during the 10 mile race that I ran with Andrew, I realized that concept applies to running {at times} as well.

But before diving into that issue, let me give you all a quick race recap. Because I know you're just dying for one.

on the way to the race, 6 AM

Side note, check out how nicely my collection is coming along. It's the only reason I actually run races. (kidding)

The Annapolis 10 Miler was an out and back course, starting and ending in the Naval Academy Football Stadium, which was pretty neat. The course took you over a couple of the bridges throughout the city, one which had a pretty brutal incline.

My goal for the race was to stay with Andrew, and keep a good pace. Although he refused to set any other goal aside from finishing and getting the zip-up shirt (this was his longest race to date), I had in the back of my head to stay under a 9 minute pace which would bring us across the finish line under 90 minutes.

the zip-up race shirts we got, which also match my shoes. had to show you guys. you're welcome.

Our final time? 1:29:56. With some encouragement from me, we both hauled ass the last 200 meters or so, resulting in a fantastic finish and even some dry heaving from Andrew afterwards. I'm super, super proud of him, he absolutely rocked it.

The course was hilly, and it down-poured on us the first 2-3 miles. And when I say downpour, I mean put your head down and blindly run, shirt sopping wet kind of run. Similar to the weather that we drove to the race in.

All in all, we both agreed that we really enjoyed the race, that it was a good experience.... and that we probably wouldn't run a race together again, for awhile at least. And when I say together, I mean like side by side.

Andrew enjoys running races simply to run, and to challenge himself. I enjoy races to compete. Every woman that I see ahead of me, I want to pass. And with every single woman that passed me along the route this morning, a small piece of my soul died.

However, on paper today was just another training run en route to 26.2 in New York (I had 6 more miles to complete after the race) and the pace that Andrew ran was actually pretty close to being on par with what I should be doing my long runs in. Moral of the story? It's ok to slow down, sometimes. Even when it comes to running.

And now? Now I'm sitting here trying to warm my cold, wet feet up, writing to you people and baking pumpkin bread. Very, very solid Sunday evening.

Anyone else run any races today, or go for a rainy run in general? How was everyone's weekend?

Cheers!

A Very Rainy Leap Day

I don't know about you, but my Leap Day was far from beautiful. It has literally been raining all day, to the point that we are currently in a flash flood warning. Can't say that I'm too concerned about it.

Recently, I came to discover that St. Patrick's Day is on a Saturday this year. Probably one of my most favorite holidays, I have now taken up the task of finding something epic for Andrew and me to do for this impending Irish Celebration.

Bri has always been a big supporter of the holiday as well.

As the waiting game continues for this job search, I have been managing to keep myself entertained. Today I made myself pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, which consisted of the following:
- 1/2 cup of oats
- 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
-1 scoop vanilla protein powder
-1 packet of all natural sweetener
-1 tbsp cinnamon
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup pumpkin
-1/2 milk of your choice (I used almond)
-3 tbsp greek yogurt

I know some of you may look at this recipe and think to yourself, "gross." But in my opinion, the result was greatness. I love pumpkin so much, and it's a great way to incorporate veggies into breakfast! I'm going to have to start stocking up on canned pumpkin, as it usually goes off the shelves in warmer months.

Today was suppose to be an easy 5 miles, but the rain and a sore foot detoured me to the health club, where I did some elliptical, weights and swimming. I never am pumped about swimming; I always stand at the edge of the pool thinking of excuses not to get in. But afterwards, I always feel great and am glad I did it. I'm hoping to make swimming become more of a consistent thing, as I plan to do a triathlon within the next year.

Anyways, I have another interview tomorrow for a similar administrative position, within a different company. I have no idea what to expect, but I figure I need to keep applying and keeping options open while I wait.

I leave you with some encouragement, which is currently the background on my phone.

Cheers.