For those non runners in my life a little post about another aspect of my life I have been working on. We have been trying to keep life as green as possible in the E-Speed household and so far so good!
It has been just over a year since I started taking the bus to work. I cannot tell you how nice it has been. I have been reading a ton and saving myself a ton of driving related stress. I am not sure if I am saving much money. The commute is $2 each way. Since I have to drive once a week to get to the track and I get a ride home on Thursdays from Jen it doesn't make sense to buy the monthly pass. But I am saving a ton in piece of mind and I hardly ever have to get gas. I have become a bit of a hound for singles though since the grocery store seems to run out of 5 ride passes often. Other than a couple of strange incidences and frequently having to race to get to the stop on time (speed training!) riding the bus has been pretty painless and I am so glad I made the switch!
Last year I kept bugging the hubby to let me buy a push reel mower (aka manual, no motor!) but he didn't seem too keen on the idea. Well the last mow of the season last year I broke the cord on the lawn mower and after a frustrating evening spent trying to fix it the hubby let me buy our push reel mower. With our mower broken and the timing of our vacations and storms etc we actually ended up getting a notice from the city the day I purchased the push reel mower (a little peeved about the notice because we got it the night before a predicted three days of rain and the notice stated we had to 'abate the nuisance' within 48 hours or suffer the city doing it for us and putting a lien on our property). We had actually tried to purchase a push reel mower a few days before but the stores did not have any in stock except for the floor models so I had to do some online research to locate one in our area. Well we got it and I mowed the lawn that night after putting it together.
After the third mowing the yard looks great and added bonus I can mow any time because the mower is pretty quiet! The first two mows admittedly looked a little ragged, but I did mow the first time at night in the rain because of the notice and it took a second mow before everything evened out. I haven't timed it but I am pretty sure it doesn't take any more time than it did with the regular lawn mower. And added bonus you get a bit of an upper body workout pushing the thing around.
Last year I built a rain barrel and because of our busy lives and our lack of handy man skills it took me until now to finally get the thing attached to the gutter coming off of our garage. Well I am happy to report that after just one storm the thing is already full. It is crazy the amount of runoff that comes off of your houses and goes straight into the storm system. If you haven't built a rain barrel yet this is a super easy way to take a green step, lower your water bill, and give your plants water they will benefit from. If you are local check out the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District Website, they are offering some rain barrel workshops in June and July! I'm debating making a second one since I am sure once summer comes we will go through that water quickly.
On a sad note Euclid stopped picking up recyclables. This is disappointing because most people just won't recycle if it involves any additional effort. I just checked the Euclid website and they finally have offered a reasonable alternative, so for those Euclidians like me trying to find a place to put those recyclables head on over to Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School, 18491 Lakeshore Boulevard. The collection bins are in the parking lot. Their previous solutions involved about 6 different drop off sites all for only one type of recycled product and none for plastic. Not convenient at all.
So in a nutshell that's what I have been up to in an effort to decrease my impact on the planet. It isn't much but it is a start!
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Everything Besides Running
So with all this downtime after Boston I actually have been trying to keep myself busy. Here's a short list as well as some slide shows of what has been going on since Boston.
The weekend I got back Solar and I were signed up to make rain barrels! Basically rain barrels capture runoff from your roof which you can then use to water your garden and lawn instead of using tap water. Better for your plants, better for your pocket book, and better for the environment. I just need to get a better overflow system hooked up to mine and paint it with some flowers and stuff and it will be set to collect rain water for my garden. Too bad it will probably stop raining as soon as I hook it up!
On an another environmentally friendly note I started taking the bus to work. So far it has worked out great. Only had to run to catch it once and haven't had to stand for more than a few minutes once on. Although it does look like this is becoming a very popular alternative to driving! Think the gas prices may have something to do with it? ;) I did the math and it works out to save me a little money but mostly it just saves me the hassle of driving. As a bonus I get to read on my way to work, I have already zoomed through the Phillip Pullman trilogy and need to get my butt to the library and pick out something else (any suggestions?) for now I am catching up on my running times and runners world magazines. Once the weather breaks I will alternate between cycling and taking the bus in.
On another driving note the man who I rear ended oh about 3 years ago finally settled the lawsuit against me. WooHoo! No bankruptcy or court for me. What a load off. I swear about 50 trees were killed in the process of that whole lawsuit, I have never seen so much paperwork in my life!
I got a new (pink!) camera just before Boston so I have been trying to use it as much as possible :) It's small so I expect some photos on the trails will happen soon. For now I have just in general been driving my hubby nuts with it and taking tons of photos and video at our cousins birthday parties. The kids parties are always a nice way to catch up with the family. Oh and a nice excuse to sugarfy myself with cake and ice cream.
Although it didn't involve me running I did go to the Captains 5K and volunteer. I got to do race day registration and be the 2 mile timer. Fun times in the rain. As a bonus we got two free tickets to a captains game!
I have been working on getting the house de-cluttered so that our distressed feline will stop peeing on everything in site. This involved going through a lot of paper and shredding as well as some home repairs. I even scoured the bathroom (and almost lost my dinner, drains are freaking disgusting!).
For Cinco De Mayo we actually went out for drinks with the coworkers. As a bonus we scored free tacos! I had more than my fair share and took part in the free tequila shot, gross!
Despite my efforts to clean the house the couches ended up being a lost cause. Not enough natures miracle in the world for that job (I have completely doused those things in natures miracle more times than I care to tell in the past few years). We found while we were hauling it out that he actually had not just peed on the cushions but had managed to spray (like a dog) the entire side of the sofa (how is that even possible?). So we are now seat less. Any ideas for alternative seating that a cat would not find an attractive place to be or pee on but is still comfortable for us? We miss watching movies!
In my attempt to finally get my garden going we drove over to the Shaker Lakes nature center's plant sale. Unfortunately they were sold out of all the native plants when we got there and none of the other plants fit what I was looking for. So we settled for a hike around the trails and I made David take lots of goofy photos. Is this man a keeper or what? I often wonder who Dirt Diva gets to take all of her fun trail photos for her. I know my man has a limit for how many posed shots he is willing to take or be a part of on any given outing :)
So without further ado enjoy the photos. I think that pretty much catches me up here. We will return to our regularly scheduled running program next post.
The weekend I got back Solar and I were signed up to make rain barrels! Basically rain barrels capture runoff from your roof which you can then use to water your garden and lawn instead of using tap water. Better for your plants, better for your pocket book, and better for the environment. I just need to get a better overflow system hooked up to mine and paint it with some flowers and stuff and it will be set to collect rain water for my garden. Too bad it will probably stop raining as soon as I hook it up!
On an another environmentally friendly note I started taking the bus to work. So far it has worked out great. Only had to run to catch it once and haven't had to stand for more than a few minutes once on. Although it does look like this is becoming a very popular alternative to driving! Think the gas prices may have something to do with it? ;) I did the math and it works out to save me a little money but mostly it just saves me the hassle of driving. As a bonus I get to read on my way to work, I have already zoomed through the Phillip Pullman trilogy and need to get my butt to the library and pick out something else (any suggestions?) for now I am catching up on my running times and runners world magazines. Once the weather breaks I will alternate between cycling and taking the bus in.
On another driving note the man who I rear ended oh about 3 years ago finally settled the lawsuit against me. WooHoo! No bankruptcy or court for me. What a load off. I swear about 50 trees were killed in the process of that whole lawsuit, I have never seen so much paperwork in my life!
I got a new (pink!) camera just before Boston so I have been trying to use it as much as possible :) It's small so I expect some photos on the trails will happen soon. For now I have just in general been driving my hubby nuts with it and taking tons of photos and video at our cousins birthday parties. The kids parties are always a nice way to catch up with the family. Oh and a nice excuse to sugarfy myself with cake and ice cream.
Although it didn't involve me running I did go to the Captains 5K and volunteer. I got to do race day registration and be the 2 mile timer. Fun times in the rain. As a bonus we got two free tickets to a captains game!
I have been working on getting the house de-cluttered so that our distressed feline will stop peeing on everything in site. This involved going through a lot of paper and shredding as well as some home repairs. I even scoured the bathroom (and almost lost my dinner, drains are freaking disgusting!).
For Cinco De Mayo we actually went out for drinks with the coworkers. As a bonus we scored free tacos! I had more than my fair share and took part in the free tequila shot, gross!
Despite my efforts to clean the house the couches ended up being a lost cause. Not enough natures miracle in the world for that job (I have completely doused those things in natures miracle more times than I care to tell in the past few years). We found while we were hauling it out that he actually had not just peed on the cushions but had managed to spray (like a dog) the entire side of the sofa (how is that even possible?). So we are now seat less. Any ideas for alternative seating that a cat would not find an attractive place to be or pee on but is still comfortable for us? We miss watching movies!
In my attempt to finally get my garden going we drove over to the Shaker Lakes nature center's plant sale. Unfortunately they were sold out of all the native plants when we got there and none of the other plants fit what I was looking for. So we settled for a hike around the trails and I made David take lots of goofy photos. Is this man a keeper or what? I often wonder who Dirt Diva gets to take all of her fun trail photos for her. I know my man has a limit for how many posed shots he is willing to take or be a part of on any given outing :)
So without further ado enjoy the photos. I think that pretty much catches me up here. We will return to our regularly scheduled running program next post.
Busy Busy Busy
Looking back at this month a year ago I was a bit depressed and just generally down. I think that's one of the major reasons I love having a blog. I was looking to see if my SIL helped with our annual holiday candy making day last year and while finding that I also found details about how post JFK I was just generally down last year. Recovery took forever and the winter had me singing the blues.
What a difference a year makes! I am in such a better place this year than last year. Mentally and physically. My recovery is going swimmingly. I've hit 40 miles the past two weeks with no issue and even added in a lot of swimming, one bike session, strength training, and yoga/Pilate's! My outlook has been great. I've just generally been excited to face each day and have been riding a high since JFK and Reindeer Run.
Candy making day went great. We started late again but we still finished by 10 PM even though this year we had to add in Christmas to the mix since my SIL and her fiancee would not be able to get back up to Cleveland on the official date. Since we celebrated so early I have most of my shopping already done. Two gifts arrived today which I need to wrap and then I just have one gift left to purchase and one gift left to make. I think I can handle that :) We sent out over 90 holiday letters this year, I still have a few I'd like to send but addresses are MIA so I may have to settle for being done on that front. Already passed out 7 boxes of candy. Only 15 left. This one may be tricky as some of our friends are not on my regular weekly "route" but there's still plenty of time.
Work has been nuts. I have been working my butt off, hopefully it will pay off and the clients will be pleased. We will see.
I'm trying to get a new website started for my running club as well as get all the addresses in order to send out banquet invites and requests for runner of the year votes. This task may take me a bit more time than I would like it to.
Meanwhile I am trying to keep my mileage up to compete in our tri clubs virtual tri competition and the USAT virtual competition. I'm slacking on the bike, and realized yesterday I need to take it easy as this month really should be a recovery month. That competitive girl within is so hard to shut down sometimes though!
This weekend I am looking forward to getting down to Columbus to see some buddies and going out to see the holiday lights at the zoo. I can't wait! It's so nice to have a weekend day to just relax :) Don't worry though I'll follow it up with a 20 miler on Sunday ;)
What a difference a year makes! I am in such a better place this year than last year. Mentally and physically. My recovery is going swimmingly. I've hit 40 miles the past two weeks with no issue and even added in a lot of swimming, one bike session, strength training, and yoga/Pilate's! My outlook has been great. I've just generally been excited to face each day and have been riding a high since JFK and Reindeer Run.
Candy making day went great. We started late again but we still finished by 10 PM even though this year we had to add in Christmas to the mix since my SIL and her fiancee would not be able to get back up to Cleveland on the official date. Since we celebrated so early I have most of my shopping already done. Two gifts arrived today which I need to wrap and then I just have one gift left to purchase and one gift left to make. I think I can handle that :) We sent out over 90 holiday letters this year, I still have a few I'd like to send but addresses are MIA so I may have to settle for being done on that front. Already passed out 7 boxes of candy. Only 15 left. This one may be tricky as some of our friends are not on my regular weekly "route" but there's still plenty of time.
Work has been nuts. I have been working my butt off, hopefully it will pay off and the clients will be pleased. We will see.
I'm trying to get a new website started for my running club as well as get all the addresses in order to send out banquet invites and requests for runner of the year votes. This task may take me a bit more time than I would like it to.
Meanwhile I am trying to keep my mileage up to compete in our tri clubs virtual tri competition and the USAT virtual competition. I'm slacking on the bike, and realized yesterday I need to take it easy as this month really should be a recovery month. That competitive girl within is so hard to shut down sometimes though!
This weekend I am looking forward to getting down to Columbus to see some buddies and going out to see the holiday lights at the zoo. I can't wait! It's so nice to have a weekend day to just relax :) Don't worry though I'll follow it up with a 20 miler on Sunday ;)
Back to Life
Well my biking plans were foiled by the realization that it is hunting season. I was kind of looking forward to trying out some trail riding, but it is probably better that I didn't trash my mom's bike. Instead I did some strength training and played some Wii on Friday :) Not aerobic but I didn't want to run two days in a row yet.
Yesterday we spent most of the day at the hospital but I broke out for a 30 minute run. I'm not ready for winter that is sure, the cold wind was not fun! My legs feel good. I climbed the stairs several times yesterday and other than some quad pain I think I'm pretty much back to normal. Hopefully my whole system will be feeling fine in another week or so. I want to keep effort light just in case my immune system is still catching up.
Despite eating like a horse the past three days my weight has stayed steady. I guess going into JFK and Thanksgiving light was a good thing as now I am right where I want to be. Now I just have to work on some toning during the winter!
I'll break out the trainer tonight to get some points in for VTC. We'll see how the kitties react to the noise. I'm ready to get over to my gals JT's for some trainer action followed by a light run soon.
KT should be heading home from the hospital today. She managed to get off the IV yesterday and is taking all medications orally. The steroids are definitely not helping her mood but thankfully she won't be on them long.
Dad and I are heading back to Ohio in a little bit. I'm looking forward to snuggling up with my kitties and my hubby. Even when he's gone two days I miss him. It's nice to be in love :) First I have to go pick up a maize and blue outfit for Trisaratop's little one as I could not bring myself to go shopping on Friday. I hate shopping to begin with, I don't know how anyone can deal with those mobs! So it is off to the stores and then we are loading up the awesome cabinet my Grandparents are passing down to us and heading home. Pictures later!
Yesterday we spent most of the day at the hospital but I broke out for a 30 minute run. I'm not ready for winter that is sure, the cold wind was not fun! My legs feel good. I climbed the stairs several times yesterday and other than some quad pain I think I'm pretty much back to normal. Hopefully my whole system will be feeling fine in another week or so. I want to keep effort light just in case my immune system is still catching up.
Despite eating like a horse the past three days my weight has stayed steady. I guess going into JFK and Thanksgiving light was a good thing as now I am right where I want to be. Now I just have to work on some toning during the winter!
I'll break out the trainer tonight to get some points in for VTC. We'll see how the kitties react to the noise. I'm ready to get over to my gals JT's for some trainer action followed by a light run soon.
KT should be heading home from the hospital today. She managed to get off the IV yesterday and is taking all medications orally. The steroids are definitely not helping her mood but thankfully she won't be on them long.
Dad and I are heading back to Ohio in a little bit. I'm looking forward to snuggling up with my kitties and my hubby. Even when he's gone two days I miss him. It's nice to be in love :) First I have to go pick up a maize and blue outfit for Trisaratop's little one as I could not bring myself to go shopping on Friday. I hate shopping to begin with, I don't know how anyone can deal with those mobs! So it is off to the stores and then we are loading up the awesome cabinet my Grandparents are passing down to us and heading home. Pictures later!
Dishes
Dishes Are Not Fun
Slaving away during taper seems uncalled for!
Paivi does not like dish washing gloves!
Left to my own Devices
David took a week off work last week and Thursday headed down to Cinci to visit some friends and his sister. I had a party on Saturday to go to and couldn't take off any work so I stayed home. David is the chef around here so when he leaves my nutrition goes down the drain. Thursday night became starch night with Pierogies and Sweet Potato Fries, Friday was a whole box of Mac and Cheese, and thankfully Saturday I had the party and got left over hamburgers to hold me over until hubby got back last night! Our fridge is seriously empty and I am seriously broke so I made do with what I had :)
I think I took taper a bit too seriously last week and didn't leave the house Sunday despite knowing that I should go out and top the week off with 5-7 miles to hit 80% of my max week. Meh I ran 19.5 Saturday and danced for hours Saturday night, that has to count for some miles right?
I did manage to catch up on laundry and most of the dishes as well as hand sew a huge tear in our good sheets. So you can just upgrade me from domestic dunce to domestic diva now ;)
The girls have come out of their shells and are running all around the house. They spent their first day outside the office alone yesterday while I was at work and seemed to have weathered it well. Both adore Monte and will sidle up to him and rub against him any chance they get. He doesn't seem to love it but he doesn't run away either and he is constantly chirping and meowing at them to follow him downstairs. We had tons of fun folding clothes and putting new sheets on the bed. Amenti unfortunately found out about the slow drain on the tub when she went on a romp and ended up drenched. She's recovered nicely though and Ihatetoast has pointed out that we may be able to convert her. Check out Just Keep Swimming, and Encore.
I am going to try and milk this taper. It seems I haven't had a really light week in quite awhile. I am feeling much better prepared for the 50 miler this year and I am hoping that means a quick and painless recovery :) We'll see. I've still got to do 30 or so miles this week and one more hard bodies class before the real light stuff hits next week.
Not too happy about waking up to snow this morning, nor coming home in the dark last night at 6pm. I'm hoping having joined the gym will help with my regular winter blues this year. If not it may be time to purchase one of those gadgets that emits natural light. I love my sunshine! Now I am off to the pool to milk the ridiculous fee I am forking over every month to get my workout on.
It's definitely time to clean out the closet.
They love new places to explore! All three of them got in on the adventure.
I think I took taper a bit too seriously last week and didn't leave the house Sunday despite knowing that I should go out and top the week off with 5-7 miles to hit 80% of my max week. Meh I ran 19.5 Saturday and danced for hours Saturday night, that has to count for some miles right?
I did manage to catch up on laundry and most of the dishes as well as hand sew a huge tear in our good sheets. So you can just upgrade me from domestic dunce to domestic diva now ;)
The girls have come out of their shells and are running all around the house. They spent their first day outside the office alone yesterday while I was at work and seemed to have weathered it well. Both adore Monte and will sidle up to him and rub against him any chance they get. He doesn't seem to love it but he doesn't run away either and he is constantly chirping and meowing at them to follow him downstairs. We had tons of fun folding clothes and putting new sheets on the bed. Amenti unfortunately found out about the slow drain on the tub when she went on a romp and ended up drenched. She's recovered nicely though and Ihatetoast has pointed out that we may be able to convert her. Check out Just Keep Swimming, and Encore.
I am going to try and milk this taper. It seems I haven't had a really light week in quite awhile. I am feeling much better prepared for the 50 miler this year and I am hoping that means a quick and painless recovery :) We'll see. I've still got to do 30 or so miles this week and one more hard bodies class before the real light stuff hits next week.
Not too happy about waking up to snow this morning, nor coming home in the dark last night at 6pm. I'm hoping having joined the gym will help with my regular winter blues this year. If not it may be time to purchase one of those gadgets that emits natural light. I love my sunshine! Now I am off to the pool to milk the ridiculous fee I am forking over every month to get my workout on.
It's definitely time to clean out the closet.
They love new places to explore! All three of them got in on the adventure.
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