We should probably just call my blog: The Kosmo & Lola Show

Warning: if you don't like dogs you probably won't like this post.


My weekend ended much better than it started, although I wasn't so sure when I began Sunday morning by stepping in puppy poo. Luckily, a little chat & some retail therapy with my momma was all it took to make me feel better. My mom is cool like that.

So, umm, this post may or may not have lots of puppy pictures. Puppy pictures make me happy and I needed happy this weekend. Plus this is my blog so I can do what I want. Let's see if Lola has grown any this week, shall we?

week 4 [taken last night]:





compared to week 3:

hmmm... not sure. What do you think? She looks a bit bigger but I think she's just sitting up straighter.

At least she was clean. She got her 2nd bath this weekend. She gets really excited when we get home and take them outside to go potty. She's so happy that she's out of her crate and can play with Kosmo that she attacks him while he's going potty. This has resulted in a yellow stripe down her back a couple of times....eww.


Okay, one more set of puppy pictures then I promise I am done. (for today)

On Saturday before my massage appt, Josh wasn't home. As I was getting ready to walk out the door I snapped a picture on the EVO because they just looked so cute.


As soon as I got to my appt, I received a text from Josh with this picture in it:


haha! Funny that we both thought to take the same picture.

It may not seem like it, but our lives don't totally revolve around Kosmo & Lola.

We also take pictures and run.
That's pretty much it.
So you can see why not being able run is sending me into a deep depression.
It is practically 1/3 of my life.

Anyway, Josh was taking his project 52 photo last night (a self-portrait) and I totally interrupted him. :)



You can see his actual photo here.

(in case you were wondering... that hat is very special to us)

Okay, gotta go. I got a cryin' baby here and a spin class to get to. Peace out and happy Monday!

One honey roasted BBQ sauce pack away from a breakdown.

so, this morning i set out for marathon training long run #4. i made it a whopping 3.2 miles. my group did 10. the 1/2 marathon group did 6. i had to stop and walk at 1.5 because my leg was killing. after a few minutes i managed to run the rest but i was pretty much limping by the time i got done.

this is not exactly what we would call a good run. super bummed. (bummed = more like i really wanted to cry on the way back to my car but there were people all around so i had to look composed)

afterwards i had an appointment with a sports massage therapist. unfortunately, i don't think it was magic. i am still hurting. (i was hoping for a miracle)

then on the way home i heard a lovey dovey love song and thought about how i will never get to dance with my dad at my wedding and he won't get to walk me down the aisle. this made me super sad. (normally i don't think about this but this is what happens when i'm already bummed out and also probably super hormonal & emotional because it's almost time for a visit from everyone's favorite aunt if you know what i mean)

so i stopped at hobby lobby and bought a cute lamp for $12. this made me a little happier. i wanted to buy lots more stuff but i had to pee really bad and i was starving since it was like 2 o'clock and i hadn't eaten since i had 1/2 of an english muffin with peanut butter before my run pitiful jog at like 6:30.

so i stopped at chick-fil-a. waited in a really long line for 2 chicken sandwiches (one was for josh, i am not that big of a pig). rushed home. went to the bathroom. cleaned up lola's bathroom break on the floor. washed my hands. then finally set down to eat only to discover that THEY ONLY GAVE ME ONE HONEY ROASTED BBQ SAUCE PACKET. omg what were they thinking... i need at least 3!

umm.. eww. don't mind my hair. i showered today i promise.

and i seriously lost it. i just sat there and cried. not over the BBQ sauce, that was just what pushed it over the edge. i think i'm depressed because i can't run. i think today kind of "sealed the deal" for me that i'm not going to be able to train for the marathon in april.

i never thought i would be one of those people. i used to hate running. i used to dread it. now i crave it. it really really really really sucks being injured. at this point, i am way too far behind in training to catch up i think. especially since it's not getting any better. so i guess i am just going to try to do the half marathon and see how that goes... and then i'll find a fall marathon to do.

anyway, snuggles from the baby girl and despicable me lifted my spirits a little bit :)


and so did tivo'd modern family and leftover red lobster.

we went there for dinner last night.. i can't even remember the last time i ate there. our waiter was all about giving away some biscuits. he pretty much hooked us up with enough biscuits for the next 4 months. i think we're going to have a biscuit party. wanna come?


normally i think you're supposed to get like 2.


welp, no running for me for the next couple of weeks. i think i am going to completely rest it and see how that helps. run for me if you're able...and don't take it for granted.

hope you're having a happy weekend!


(lola & kosmo send their love in the form of possessed, demon-looking eyes)

Flashback Friday: Europe

Today I'm starting what may or may not be a regular Friday thing. It all depends on my mood. But I've seen people do it on other blogs & I'm gonna give it a go because that's the kind of control you have when you get your own blog. It's an amazing amount of power. I pretty much know how Obama feels now.

Anywho, for today's Flashback Friday I take you waaaayyy back... way back to June of 2004.

It was the summer before my senior year of high school and I went on a trip to Europe with a big group from school. The group included about 5 or 6 of my best friends plus a bunch of other classmates/acquaintances. It was pretty much the time of my life. It was amazing. I had been to Europe one other time, 2 years before, with another group from school. Except that time I didn't know anybody going except my Spanish teacher. It was life-changing. But that's a whole 'nother post.


Our first stop was London. We went to Buckingham Palace and watched the changing of the guards.



We spent about 3 days in London but really it was more like 2 since the first day we were totally jet-lagged. I would love to go back and spend more time there.


Then we took a ferry across the English Channel to Paris. Fun fact of the day: When I went to Europe the first time, I pretty much only signed up because we were supposed to go to Paris and I really wanted to go there super bad. But then our itinerary got changed and we ended up not going (that's okay though, Spain was amazing!) Once I finally did go to Paris, I kind of feel like it's over-rated. It was smelly and the people were rude. Not that I wouldn't go back though, it just wasn't my favorite place. I enjoyed Spain so much more even though I never wanted to go there.


We went to the Louvre and I saw the real-life Mona Lisa. I even took a picture of it and nothing bad happened to me.

Then we took an overnight train ride through Switzerland to Italy. Italy was my favorite and I would love love love to go back!!!




We went to several places in Italy... Assisi, Sorrento (beautiful!), Rome, Florence, Capri island, and I can't even remember where else off the top of my head. I should get out my old journal.. who knows where that is. Anyway. I loved Italy. And I ate gelato every single day. I would probably go back just for the gelato.

And that concludes my first Flashback Friday! This is probably the beginning of something awesome. Or a one hit wonder. Either way, it was a good time.

Happy Friday!

Hello friends!

I am compiling a list of my favorite blogs, so let me know if you want to be added!!! If you have one, send me a button (approx. 100x100 size) that I can add (like the one for my blog on the sidebar). Just e-mail me or comment on this post and I hope to have the list together soon!

Lola and I hope you have a fabulous weekend!!!

Thursday already?!

Wow, I can't believe it's already Thursday. This week is flying by! Which is just fine with me... and I'm also a little pumped that February starts next week! 2011 is starting off great with a seemingly short January. And you know what I always say... the quicker we get to the other months that start with J, the better! ;-)

I really haven't had anything exciting to write about this week. Not that it's been a bad week or anything, just nothing really noteworthy to write about... so I thought I would share some other random photos we took last weekend.

Josh is doing some photo projects this year.. one is a personal "52 week" project where he takes a photo of himself each week for the whole year. This past weekend marked week 3 and he informed me on Sunday night that I had to go with him to take his photo. It was almost 9:00 (which is late for me because I'm geriatric) and I still had to make our lunches for the next day and finish other stuff, so I was all like ughh really right now? but since I'm a wonderful girlfriend, I obliged:)

We went to an over-pass and set up the camera and lights. It was super freezing cold and because I'm a genius I forgot my gloves. I was also still wearing my PJ pants which are not what we would call warm. So instead of the normal meticulous-ness that usually goes down in our photo shoots, it was more like let's shoot a few and hope one is good so we can get our butts back to the warm heated seats in the car.

So anyway, this is what we got.


It's much like the time-lapsed photos we took over a year ago, only better because we have invested in a tripod since then and my B is in the photo:) Unfortunately, the traffic was kind of light and we didn't feel like waiting around for it to possibly pick up. But I still think it's cool.

He's also doing another 52 project with Project52.org. Last week the assignment was to take a portrait of a stranger.. my assistance was also requested for this one. So we drove around downtown forever looking for someone to photograph. There was no one at the park (shocking, since it was a balmy 20 degrees outside) and the only other people we saw were busy talking on their cell phones. So we finally decided on the newspaper guy.


That dude is out there on the corner 6 days a week selling papers, 12 hours on Sundays. Crazy.

So that's a little of what else we were up to last weekend. You can follow along with Josh's photo project on his blog.

I still have recipes to share I just haven't taken any pictures yet and pictures definitely make recipe posts better. check back soon!

Happy Thursday friends!

weekend goodness.

started off the weekend with a nice, cold 5 mile run yesterday morning.


it was like 15 degrees and "felt like" 8. i'm pretty sure that's the coldest weather i've ever run in. the IT band decided to be a jerk again, so i guess i am still at my 4.5-5 mile limit (i was hoping to pull off 7.) the marathon group did 9 miles and i was bummed i couldn't run with them... it was another 1/2 marathon training for me. ugh. i'm still confident that i can do the marathon... because that's what everyone keeps telling me. but i'll be honest, each week when the runs get longer and i get stuck at 5 miles, my confidence goes down a little. i met with a physical therapist after the run and she gave me lots of new stretches to do. if it doesn't get better soon, i guess i will break down and make an appointment with her! another girl in the group gave me the name of a sports massage therapist who worked on her IT band and helped it a lot, so i think i might try that out first (mostly b/c i love massages and it's probably cheaper than going to a physical therapist!)

anywho.

yesterday was also josh's dad's birthday, so naturally i got a present!

i should probably learn to brush my hair on weekends. ugh.

awesome penguin gloves from josh's mom! i love them, for obvs reasons! thanks, BFF! i wore them all day today including when i went grocery shopping and on our family walk around the neighborhood (which was super short because it is super cold.)


it's hard to tell from the photo but baby lola was actually inside my jacket. it was a little chilly for her.

so yeah, birthdays are pretty fun around here..they usually involve food, cake, & ice cream. my kinda evening. we had the fam over for ribs, red velvet cake, and cookies 'n cream ice cream. 'twas delish.

doug had a new little friend.



this weekend we decided to start documenting lola's growth by taking a picture of her and kosmo every weekend. for "comparison" here are weeks 1 and 2.


ok, so it's a little hard to tell but from now on we'll take pictures more like this... week 3:



love love love our lola bear and kosmo-politan.

hope you all had a wonderful weekend. :):)

Running Stuff & Frostbite 5k "Re-cap"

what? did you think i could really have a post without pictures of my babies, even if it is a post about running?

I am a little bummed because it seems as though January may be the first month ever (well, since I started running in Oct.2009) that I don't run in an actual race. The Frostbite 5K was this past Saturday... and even though I was signed up (I have the shirt to prove it, see above) and was actually running during the race, I wasn't actually running in it. I guess I can't feel bad about that, especially since I did end up running almost 6 miles which is almost twice as much as a 5K. And I wanted to do 1 race per month to motivate me to keep running and the only reason I didn't run the race was because I was training for a marathon, so I guess that's a legit excuse? I'm signed up for 2 more races in Feb (the Polar Bear Grand Prix) that I might not get to run either... I'm just not sure I should skip my long runs to run in a 2.4 mile and 4 mile race.

So, marathon training. Which seems more like 1/2 marathon training. Thanks, IT band.

After consulting all my coaches (Josh, my super-fast marathon running friend Eric who is also a Fleet Feet coach, my Fleet Feet coach, and the internets) I decided to only run 3 miles with the 1/2 marathon group last night instead of 5. I figured this was best because everything I have read says not to run more than the amount that irritates the IT band and since I started hurting after 4.5 on Saturday I decided 5 may be pushing it. I MIGHT have been able to do 5, considering I was fine for 4.5 on Saturday AFTER running 4 the night before, BUT I am paranoid and don't want to push my luck. Even though every time I shorten my run I wonder if it will impact my ability to run a marathon. I wonder if I can actually get up to 16, 17, 18, 20, 22 mile long runs if I can't even run 5 right now, but I also know that being cautious and letting it heal will help me get there, so I am just going to have to trust the process.

My plan for the rest of the week is....
spin class today, rest tomorrow, and then I will attempt 6-9 miles on Saturday. We are scheduled for 9 but I may go for less depending on how I feel at the time. I will be running it VERY slowly with possible frequent walk breaks, apparently this is what you do when you are injured even though it makes me feel like I am learning to run all over again and I actually wish I could push myself during these runs. Oh well.

Speaking of walk breaks. I was doing IT research yesterday and I came across Jeff Galloway's website. He suggests taking walk breaks beginning in mile 1 all the way through mile 18 of the marathon, apparently this is supposed to help you be able to push it in the last 8 miles and finish strong. The thing that gets me is that he suggests walking every 3 mins... so run for 3 minutes then walk for 1 minute.. from the beginning. That seems excessive to me. I could maybe see walking every mile or so, but every 3 mins seems like a lot. Apparently you only lose about 15-20 sec of time though and if you wait to walk until you feel like you need the break then it's too late. I am all for walking and I'm sure I will walk some in the marathon, but really.. every 3 mins seems like a lot especially at the beginning. Has anyone ever heard of this/tried it?? Thoughts?

Q: What do you recommend wearing during a run in the winter? I just started running and have no clue how to keep myself warm outside...

Q: What do you recommend wearing during a run in the winter? I just started running and have no clue how to keep myself warm outside and am not a fan of the treadmill. Thanks!

A: The rule of thumb I've always gone by is to dress like it's 20 degrees warmer. So if it's 30 degrees, dress like it's 50 outside. You warm up a lot while running so it's easy to over-dress.


If it's 30-ish degrees outside my go-to outfit is... "cold-gear" compression tights (this pair by Under Armour is pretty good), a long sleeve running shirt (I love my Asics Thermopolis or Under Armour cold gear hoodie), gloves (these are the best...they have a snot strip!), a hat or ear warmers, and a jacket. (My jacket isn't for winter. It's really just a windbreaker and a little water resistant. But I wear for an extra layer and it does help on those windy days. I'm sure there are much better winter running jackets out there. I'll let you know when I find one!)
Once it gets to about 20 degrees or below I will wear a compression shirt instead of just a long sleeved shirt. Something like this. If it's really, really cold just add layers... light stretchy pants over tights is good, a thin long-sleeve shirt over your compression shirt, etc.

This is my first year really running in the winter (last year I was a sissy and stuck mostly to the treadmill...) so I'm kind of a newbie too, but this is what works for me... so far.

Oh, also.. one of my fave tools to give me an idea of what to wear is Runners' World's What Should I Wear? tool on their website. Check it out.. it will help point you in the right direction!

Happy running!

Q: I kind of want to start running but I'm afriad I'll get hurt... is it worth it?

First of all... in a word YES! Running is always worth it. The benefits far outweigh the risk of injury or even injuries themselves. I truly believe that running is the most efficient exercise.. meaning, you get the most out of it for the time you put into it. And, I don't know a single person who has ever regretted becoming a runner.

That being said, most injuries are preventable, you just have to be smart. In my year + 3 months of running I have had 2 injuries: Patellofemoral Syndrome and ITBS (Illiotibial Band Syndrome).

Patellofemoral Syndrome is basically knee pain which is common in beginners and is caused by running too much too soon. I didn't think this would happen to me, because when I started running I really hated it. But that feeling quickly faded as I was able to increase my mileage and then all I wanted to do was see how far I could go. So Patellafemoral Syndrome can be prevented by increasing your weekly mileage slowly.. a good rule of thumb is to increase your total weekly mileage by no more than 10% each week. It is cured by resting...plain and simple :)

ITBS is more common in experienced runners and is my most recent injury. It's characterized by pain on the outside of the knee or in the upper thigh/hip. It can be caused my improper warm-ups/cool downs, not enough stretching, running on un-even surfaces, etc. I don't really know a whole lot about it other than that it sucks and is getting in the way of my marathon training:) It is cured by rest, stretching (lots of stretching!!), icing, foam rolling, and Advil:) Apparently it is "maintainable" meaning you can continue training/running with it, it just may be painful. I am learning all this as I go though, don't take my word for it, I am not a doctor and I don't even play one on TV.

So basically, you can most likely prevent ITBS by properly warming up & cooling down and ALWAYS stretch!! I know stretching can sometimes seem like a pain in the butt, but do it! It pays off!!

To sum up: Don't let the thought of getting hurt stop you from running. There are risks with any sports/hobbies.. just be smart, do research, and do everything you can to prevent injuries!

Y'all just wait til I have kids.

If you think the puppy pictures are bad (and I haven't even been posting them all... I've been trying to refrain myself!! seriously, on my Flickr January 2011 set there are 50 photos and I think Lola is in like 48 of them), the baby photos will be endless on this blog I am sure. I can't help it, I just think she is the cutest, sweetest little thing ever. I know it's probably really annoying and you guys are all like Yeah, we get it, you got a puppy and I know that no one else ever thinks your puppy is as cute as you do.. but guess what? This is my blog and on my blog there are puppy pictures!!! :)


In recent Lola news, she is a little piggy. I think she would eat her whole bag of puppy food if we let her have at it. She also thinks she should be entitled to Kosmo's food and it's not uncommon for us to have to hold her back (as pictured above) so Kosmo can eat.


Speaking of Kosmo, he loves Lola and the other night he sat a toy down in front of her and waited patiently for her to wake up and play with him. This is also a common occurrence and I just think it's adorable. They are gonna be BFF's.


Loly Poly got her first bath the other night.


Naptime with Papa.



So anyway, in non-Lola news, on MLK Jr. Day I got my eye dilated.


It's the big creepy one on the right if you couldn't tell. It was sexy. And the picture doesn't do it justice. When I got home that night I told Josh to look into my eyes and he thought I was being really lovey dovey cheesy and then he realized I wasn't and just wanted to show him my big creepy alien eye. He loves me.

(I got it dilated because I am having LASIK enhancement surgery at some point soon.)

I don't really have much else to update about. My life right now pretty much revolves around work, marathon training, and Lola (duh). My leg is feeling better since Saturday's 8-mile-turned-5-mile run but that doesn't really mean anything as it always feels better when I quit running. I have not run or exercised at all since Saturday and I know that's only been 3 days but I feel really fat and lazy. But I know rest is important (as is cross-training, which I need to do more of!!!) so I am trying to do lots of stretching, foam rolling, and letting the leg rest and hopefully heal. 5 miles scheduled for tonight's training run so we'll see how it goes!!!

This whole IT band thing is really putting a damper on my training. I really want to be excited about all my runs but instead I'm always super nervous to see how it's going to go and if the next run is gonna be the one that takes me out of training. All the coaches seem to think that this is an injury that I can maintain and work through though, so hopefully they are right! If not, I guess I will have to suck it up and go to physical therapy!

Check back soon.. I will have answers to some frequently asked running questions I've gotten lately and some recipes!!

Happy Wednesday!!! :) (am I the only one that feels like it's Tuesday?)

Heard this song on the radio today and love it (minus the explative, but I think it emphasizes the point even more, don't you?)

The IT band strikes again! (and other rambles)

So I had my 2nd long run of marathon training this morning.

It was scheduled for 8 miles. I did 4 pain-free miles last night (my longest run since the Vegas 1/2 on 12/5) and was going to try to go for 5-6ish miles today for my long run. But instead... I was an idiot. At mile 3 (which is where I should have turned around) I was feeling good and plus I didn't want to run alone in a city that I'm not totally familiar with (yes, we have lived near Louisville since I was 6 months old, but I still don't know my way around there, but I do think marathon training will help me learn!) so I decided to just keep on going. PLus, Gertie (my Garmin) decided not to work for the first 0.75ish mile so I wasn't exactly sure on my distance anyway and doing math while running to figure it out is not easy for me.... don't judge.

So yes, I was an idiot and was going to attempt to do the full 8 miles even though I knew it would probably be detrimental.

And I was right. Around mile 5 I developed a new pain -- in my left butt cheek. A first for me. Although much different than the pain in the side of my right knee, I knew it was most likely also IT band issues. SO basically I get the IT issue on my right side to start healing and it decides to be a jerk and pop on the left side now. Awesome.

After 5 and a little bit miles knowing I still had nearly 3 to go, I knew there was no way I was gonna make it back to the store with the group. So I called my life saver boyfriend (knight in shining armor!) and he came and rescued me. And missed his run in the process. Sorry B, I love you though and you are the bestest ever ever. :):):)

SO verdict:I think my new limit is 4.5 miles. Which is better than the 2.5 miles it was last week. and I still got in my 5ish miles which means I've done almost 10 miles in the past 15 hours. So that's good... but ITBS is the devil.. do everything you can to prevent it! The plus side to the IT band issue (because there's always a silver lining, sometimes you just have to really stretch to see it!!!!) is that whilst doing research on ITBS, I learned that it is an experienced runner's injury. And that made me feel good... at least I worked for this injury, dang it! Go me?!

This morning on the way to running group I realized how much I have changed as a runner in the past year and I think it is pretty awesome.

Last year at this time I was training for the half marathon.I did almost all of the training from December through March-ish on the treadmill because I thought anything below 40 degrees was too cold to run in! I also did almost all of the runs by myself because I was nervous to run with anybody else (let alone a GROUP!) because I felt I was too slow and would hold everyone back. Also? Ever training for a full marathon was pretty much something I never thought I would do.

THIS YEAR: this morning I woke up and looked at the weather and it was a balmy 35 degrees outside. I literally proclaimed, "This is awesome!! It is so warm outside!" 35 feels great after a few runs in 10-20 degree weather!
The other difference is... I LOVE MY RUNNING GROUP! I have read on other peoples blogs about how joining a running group changes everything and I didn't really believe that, but now I do. I seriously love it. It is so encouraging to have so many other people out there running with you and people who are there to support you, educate you, and do whatever they can to help you achieve your goals. I am still super bummed about my IT band issues (seriously, they picked an awesome <--- that's sarcasm -- time to pop into my life) but it helps knowing that I have all kinds of people there to help me get through it and run this marathon in April.

So anyway, just reflecting on the difference a year can make. Crazy. I like it though.

And then I came home and re-fueled with the breakfast of champions (don't be like me.)

(the apples are in the background to make it appear as though it's actually a balanced breakfast)

My fave Starbucks (non-fat white chocolate mocha with foam.. actually I prefer whip but apparently the foam is better for my health) and Krispy Kremes... compliments of my new job. Speaking of my new job.Did I tell you I have the best job ever? Well, I do, because I get to play with this baby all day long.


AND I get Krispy Kremes. Sweet deal.

And okay, since you asked nicely I will end this post with a photo of our little Lola.


I know, I know. She's adorable.

Now time for me to go do important responsible things like clean the house and do some laundry so we have clean clothes to wear. Have a great weekend!!!!

Jinxed.

I should have never told you all that Lola slept through the night twice.
Because last night she pretty much did not sleep at all.
Which means I pretty much did not sleep at all.
Almost the worst night ever.
So super sleepy today.
Where's my Starbucks?
I imagine this is much like what having a baby is like.
So, props to all you momma's out there.
Not sleeping = no fun.

(don't let the photo fool you... she slept peacefully on my lap during dinner, but come night fall it was a whole different story. she's a wonderful little lap dog though.)

In other news... 5 miles slated for tonight.
Hopefully my IT band will cooperate.
Let's do this.
Edited to add: Scratch that. Training run has been canceled for the night due to snow. The jury is still out on whether or not I'll do the run on the treadmill..

Your daily Lola fix.

I took her out in the snow the other day.


She was not a fan.
She pretty much tried to climb up my leg the whole time.

She loves tormenting playing with Kosmo though.



It is really adorable how they play together.

And she loves sleeping (she does a lot of that).



We love our little Loly Poly.


(especially since she has let us sleep through the night the past 2 nights!)