On The Road Again

Running isn’t something I ever thought I would enjoy. I did track one year…in 7th grade, and while my coach told me I had one of the best baton hand-offs he had ever seen, I was not known for my speed…

Fast forward fifteen years (woah…) and here I am training for a marathon. I have completed several races already, including the Des Moines Half Marathon, and while I am definitely not going to win any races (nor is that my goal) there is something about tying on a pair of running shoes and going outside for a long run. You totally lose track of everything around you and just go forward. I’m not super fast, and have so far managed to not get passed by pedestrians, but other runners often run around me. Who cares! And while I don’t plan on needing to use my mad baton hand-off skills anytime in the near future, you just never know.

Arch-Nemesis

I have two arch-nemesises…nemesii? And one of them is Type-2 Diabetes. I don’t have it, and one of my goals is never getting it. Genetically, I’m screwed…both of my parents have it and both of my grandfathers died of complications to type-2 diabetes, but I will not go down without a fight! One thing working in my favor is the fact that I have Celiac Disease, which some people freak out about when they get diagnosed, but actually, I think this is what will help me in my battle of good vs. evil more than anything else. I can’t eat most of the processed crap out there and get (not have, get) to make my own food, which means that when I am craving something that isn’t necessarily good for me, I get to tweak it. Take, for example, beef stroganoff. I flipping love my mom’s recipe. It is all about sour cream, cream of mushroom soup and thick as your pinky noodles. However, two out of three of those things I can’t eat and the other one isn’t super great for me…so I tweak. I found a recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (flipping love that thing) but had to tweak even more as it called for beef bullion and I couldn’t find any at the grocery store that were gluten-free. I used southwestern beef seasoning instead…tasted a little differently, but it worked! Sour cream? Try low-fat sour cream. Check! Thick noodles? Try Tinkynada fettuccine noodles. Check! Side of peas (delicious!). Check! Delightful. Kim: 1, Type-2 Diabetes: 0.

US Census

So...did my civic duty by checking white female. I wanted to check the box for 'awesome' but it seemed to have been omitted from my census page. Roommate and I seriously discussed checking that we were fourteen and Filipino, but decided against it as the 20-something white women in St. Paul really need to make sure that their numbers remain strong. As I pushed the envelope into the dirty blue USPS box on the corner by the apartment, I rejoiced in the fact that no Census worker will have to harrass me in May or June. Here's to 2020. Oh...I wonder if ABC will be the official sponsor of the 2020 Census...

Running Outside Again!

I've been running at our local YWCA since the end of January because, let's face it, I live in Minnesota and there were two inches of ice on all sidewalks until literally Saturday...WHEN IT FINALLY GOT ABOVE FREEZING!!! For the first time since last October :) However, I forgot how much I love running outside. Espeically in my neighborhood because I have the advantage of running along the River on one of the many great bike/running paths OR I can run along Summit Avenue and drool over all of the amazing houses. I got home last night after my 3 mile run and had mud on my legs. And it was like a battle scar. I was so proud of that mud! It's raining today, but as long as it isn't lightning, I'm out there again until the snow flies (which may in fact be Sunday, but I'm holding my breath). T minus 28.5 weeks until TC Marathon!

Turning 30 Bucket List

My Bucket List for Turning 30.

So I'm not freaked out about turning 30 in 2011, but there are things that I want to do before I leave my 20s. The 20s were good to me. I lived in four different states (IA, FL, MA & MN). I traveled to several countries and states (yet Mexico eludes me...). But here are a list of things I want to do before 11:59pm on September 19, 2011 (and I plan on adding to it)...

*Go sky diving

*Ride a mechanical bull

*Run a marathon (I'm signed up for the TC Marathon in October! ie...I'm excited/terrified)

*Go to Alaska

*Write a novel (even if I self publish it and only my grandma reads it)

This is the list so far....