Me and Zianne

my new favorite picture... me and my niece

From September 2009

What have I gotten myself into.....

The half marathon that I signed up for is just around the corner... I'm feeling good in my training but am slightly freaking out about the tour of Baltimore that I'm going to be taking. Its going to be quite the adventure! And a hilly one at that!!!

I know that I'm able to complete the mileage, I've done 13 miles in my training runs, I'm just getting a bit nervous (AND EXCITED!) about the race in general!

From Running

And most importantly... when I finish this race, I can have my Saturday mornings to sleep in again!

Purple Velvet?

From Cupcakes

Went to the grocery store to pick up ingredients to make red velvet cupcakes; needed buttermilk and red food coloring. I get there and they are all out of buttermilk, am annoyed but know that I can make a substitute at home. I then head over to the baking isle to get the red food coloring- only there is NONE! The only thing I was able to find was neon colored gel food coloring. I settled on making purple velvet cupcakes for the bbq tomorrow. We shall see how they come out.

Recipe compliments of Joy The Baker

From Cupcakes

From Cupcakes

horoscope

This amuses me greatly...

You could be filled with surprises today as you uncharacteristically rebel against authority for no apparent reason. Although others may not understand your motives, your radical behavior now doesn't seem so out of place to you. Issues that have been brewing for a while are currently untenable, lowering your threshold for misinformation. Don't apologize if you aren't willing to put up with someone's games any longer.

I heart authors who blog!

So, way back in October of last year, when the Spore fever had hit me hard, I had read James Maxey's Dragon Age novels (well, the first 2) and got the idea that I should use Spore's Creature Creator to recreate the Dragons in Maxey's novel. (yes, I am that dork) After I had put all that work into it, I thought it only fair to contact Maxey and share them with him. To my delight, he posted the images to his blog.

So fast forward many months.... I picked up the last novel in the series over the weekend (after Mikey alerted me to the fact that it was out) and got around to starting it this afternoon. I flipped to the back and notice an acknowledgment section and... SURPRISE! I'm listed there for my contribution from way back when! See! PROOF! *happy dance*

So to sum up...I am well aware that this takes me to a whole other level of dorkiness...

1. for using a video game to recreate a character in a novel
2. for finding said author's blog and email and sending images to him
3. for finding aforementioned acknowledgment
4. for tweeting about it
5. for facebooking about it
6. for creating a full blog post about it to fill in all the other details...


;) yes, I know... DORK!

What a difference a year makes

This past weekend I went running at Loch Raven Reservoir, I enjoyed the weather, the run went well and overall it was just amazing! The weather lately has been spectacular! warm but not hot and a lovely cool breeze. I remember thinking as I ran up the hill, "hmmm... I remember this being harder."

After I got home I checked my stats and found out how much I have improved in the last year. The last time I ran at Loch Raven was in Aug 08 and I went 5.1 miles in an hour and half (1:32), which averages out to an 18 min/mile (my mile splits were 14:18, 14:05, 15:58, 18:25, 26:59). This year, I went 5 miles in about an hour and ten (1:09), which averaged out to a 13:45 min/mile! (and that includes basically walking for the last mile! My mile splits were 12:59, 12:24, 12:49, 12:17 and 18:02) That blows my mind just a bit!

I'm loving that I'm seeing improvements in my running times and I can feel that the effort required to run had decreased! The 5 that I did on Sunday was an enjoyable experience, and I'm sure that enjoyed the 5 I did last August, I don't know if I can say that I recovered as quickly as I did or enjoyed it as much. This is giving me further encouragement to keep on with training for the half marathon for this fall. If I did 5 miles just fine this weekend, and I'm barely a month into training, I should be able to finish that half! :D

oh, and ps. I heart my garmin!

New Balance Baltimore Women's Classic 5K

From June 2009

Just got done with the run this morning. The run went really well despite the fact that my garmin decided to freeze up on me and not work at all! How sad! I also managed to miss the first water station and with the heat- I really could have used it! I was also surprised to see that the hill that was on the course didn't bother me as much as it could have- Thank you hills around my parents' house! I also managed to do a headstand over looking the harbor ;) too bad I didn't have my camera to capture it!

Did I mention that I managed a NEW personal best!!! I managed to shave almost 2 min off from the last 5K!!! And... if you compare this run to my first 5K from last year... WOW!

Jun 08 41:24 min (13:06 min/mile pace)
Mar 08 36:36 min (11:21 min/mile pace)
May 08 36:43 min (11:41 min/mile pace)
Jun 09 33:56 min (10:57 min/mile pace)

I'm so happy, no ecstatic that I've improved so much in just one year! Its also giving me more fuel for really getting behind training for a half marathon this fall! I know I can do it! Especially when I've seen just how far I've come in just one year! I'm still not sure if a full marathon will be in my future, but I do know that there will be at least one half!

The roller coaster that has become my life...

Grandma: You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster.
Gil: Oh?
Grandma: Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride!
Gil: What a great story.
Grandma: I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.
-Parenthood

I think its safe to say that this quote describes my life right now. There have been many changes to the merry-go-round that was my life, the life that I thought that I was happy with and wanted. I was bumped off and have been rushed to the front of the line for the roller coaster. The past month have been full of ups and downs- it seems for every low, I've also had a high that equals it. Its been an interesting experience. Who knows where this will take me now.

Much thanks to my aunt for opening my eyes to this idea.

Kelly St. Patrick's Day Shamrock 5K

Kelly St. Patrick's Day Shamrock 5K
Baltimore, MD Mar 15, 2009

Place Div/Tot Name S Ag Hometown Gun T Net T Pace
2764 549/696 Kim Raginski F 30 Baltimore MD 38:05 35:21 11:23

From Kelly St. Patrick's Day 5k 2009

A personal best for me! Too bad Aurora went and beat me on her first time out! All is well, I'm very happy with my time, I just wish that the weather had been a little nicer. The cold and damp doesn't do well after you've been sweating.

First spring like day....

And Chris and I are enjoying Sim City 4 on his big tv... the sliding glass door is open so it totally counts for appreciating the warmer weather..... right???