Tri and Tri Again!

The intent was to share here how I competed in a recent Mini Triathlon. But you won’t be reading a recap as I decided the day prior to forego the event in lieu of keeping myself alive. Slightly dramatic but not by much. Originally when I considered it, the weather had been hovering around the 75° mark and it was raining near daily. Then, summer arrived. The projected high on the day of the Mini Tri was 99°. Despite it starting around 78-ish°, the humidity was rapidly increasing.

All this to say, maybe next time. It’s not worth chancing it. Nonetheless, I was out there doing director things and playing witness to the other able-bodied individuals with Triathlon goals. Base support was awesome, we recruited different groups of people to help facilitate the event as it spanned multiple smaller events and a large footprint. Personally, I love seeing our team get together and DO outside the office.

Team Fitness!

Also, I’m trying something new. I want to keep track of my weekly exercise activities and the addition of manuscript pages in an effort to see valued change 1 yr from now, when I project completing this doctoral journey. My plan is to add a screenshot of my weekly activities via the Garmin app with a numerical indicator of manuscript pages. (I don’t have an activity list for Wk 2 but I know I added 9 pgs.)

For example, the below was from Wk 3:

Additional pages: 18

Despite the fact these variables probably have zero correlation, it’s an interesting concept to me. I like lists and comparing things, although not typically numbers because I’m not number-y, I’m word-y. As it stands, I can’t imagine there will be anything to this beyond being able to look back at it, mainly because I don’t run/cycle/walk between 4-6am because that’s when I’m writing. Additionally, I don’t run/walk/cycle between 5-8pm because it’s either too hot, raining (as of late), or I’m working on my manuscript. Therefore, my work day is primarily when I engage in exercise so one rarely precludes me from doing the other, except on the weekends when I attempt to do both. Since I’m not tracking just the weekends, the data is mostly garbage stats. Thank you for listening while I worked all this out.

Nonetheless, it gives me something to look forward to so without further ado –

Week 4 Activity + Pages Report:

Additional pages: 11

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I ask you –

What teams are you a part of?

Any insight into my stats game?

Pros/cons of tracking activity stats!!

(The post Tri and Tri Again! first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Cinnamon Cyclist

I have never been more impressed with a keto recipe than this one for Cinnamon Rolls, courtesy of Keto4karbaholics.

Note: I did not add pecans or use the ChocZero syrup and I was still impressed with the texture, taste, and inability to eat just one.

I’m super. And I’m a runner. Does that make me a Super Runner? Technically, yes. But probably not in the same category as those people.

On the super subject, for Mother’s Day I received a cycling helmet and sunglasses so I guess it’s official – I’m a cyclist. Hahaha I’ve done maybe 3 rides and now I’m a cyclist. Looking and feeling the part is half the battle to conviction so I’m getting there! There’s an upcoming Mini Triathlon I’m considering participating in. While I know I can ride a the route and I can run a 5k, too, the swim isn’t so much my concern as the way the day will rapidly heat up. In discussing it with McK, the worst that can happen is I end up walking the 5k…or she picks me up and I ride back to the finish line. With no entry fee, there’s not much to lose!

I also found this event: Tour of the Wichitas. The route lengths vary from nearly 17 miles to over 50 miles and it literally takes you on a tour of Ft. Sill, LETRA, and the beautiful area near Mt. Scott. As it’s only about an hour drive from me, I was considering it but am unsure if I can commit 3 hours to a bike ride. Interestingly, why are cycling events so cheap?!?! $35 to enter?! The last time I entered a half marathon, it was at least double that. Granted, there is no price tag to the medical attention I have found myself needing, but still.

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I ask you –

Would you try keto cinnamon rolls?

Can anyone explain the cycling vs running price conflict?

For those who dabble in the cyclist world, share some cycling suggestions!

(The post Cinnamon Cyclist first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Significant. Hot dogs.

What’s fascinating about the leadership role and a dissertation is the perplexing desire to convince others to care. Crazy, right? Dubbed the “significance of the study” section, the goal is to convince a bunch of strangers that your topic is both important to everyone, including you, and relevant to some issue in society today. It’s so much fun, I’m here to tell you.

Once I made my 15-week plan for this course, my appetite and desire to type tanked. Attributed mostly to allergies and the realization that mini is leaving soon on her TN/CA fun-filled summer adventure, I know I’ll be left with a lot of time on my hands to write. And write. And write some more. Although I’m looking forward to diving in and wracking up the page count, I’m also…meh. Pretty sure it’s just a phase though.

Lastly, what I thought was a phase has turned into a longstanding love affair with hot dogs. So sarcastic. I do not love hot dogs. I don’t even like hot dogs. I’m sick of hot dogs. Alas, I am in the hot dog business.

Those are my hot dog friends. And that’s a cooler filled with hot dogs. We brought the band back together for another hot dog escapade. The third, in fact. If I never see another hot dog, it will be too soon. I know a hot dog song and will gladly sing it for you.

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I ask you –

What does it mean to be significant?

Do you like hot dogs? Wanna buy some?

Tell me your summer plans!

(The post Significant. Hot dogs. first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Learning to Listen

Learning to listen… without response. Recently, I heard a radio program where a gentleman shared a story about how his daughter walked into his bathroom one morning while he was shaving and she let him have it. No introduction. No finality. She wailed on him and then walked out. He didn’t mention it until much later when she asked him to lunch and stated she couldn’t believe he stood there and just took it. His response, “Sometimes people just need to get it out”.

Nicaraguan coffee beans!

The overarching theme of the man’s story was being a good listener. We all struggle with hearing to reply rather than listening to understand. Often, people (ahem, children) need to get it all out. They need to speak until they’ve determined they said enough, when everything is “out”. The proverbial data dump of words. I encounter adults on a near daily basis that also need to be heard and I’m fortunate to have 2 ears to listen and only 1 mouth to speak. Watch one, do one, teach one.

As what’s-his-name would say, and now the rest of the story. What was his name? Onomatopoeia. Commonly mispronounced and more commonly misspelled, onomatopoeia means a word that also indicates a sound. For example, hiss, buzz, or splat. It’s a fascinating word not often used. Until my dinner table. Mini brought it up which fostered a conversation about what it meant. Something Waller? Bill? Truly, I had no idea! I’d heard the word before but never used it. Now you can!

Was it Dan…Jones?

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I ask you –

Did you know the definition of onomatopoeia?

What was that guy’s name? And now you know the rest of the story.

Listener. Responder. Choose one.

(The post Learning to Listen first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Who Signed Me Up?

Let me apologize first. It got…hectic for awhile. So if this post looks like a mini version of me wrote it, then…she didn’t. It was me. At this moment, I’m probably still running off of adrenaline, coffee, and a single hand’s worth of sleep. Two words: Air. Show. Help.

Dubbed the “Ice Queen” for the duration of the weekend, I found a home in my cozy club car, making a million trips to various food and beer tents providing much needed ice, soda, and chips, on occasion. They even gave me a walkie talkie, of which I was extra careful because I didn’t want to accept any fines for using my Sailor language. Disclaimer: I did say one bad word.

I’m laughing because it seems I took a lot of selfies yet I have no actual Air Show photos. In hindsight, I saw the Thunderbirds perform at least 3x and I saw demos and reenactments at least twice. It truly was an incredibly successful weekend. As I finish this post Monday morning before publishing, my feet ache but my heart is full. I met wonderful people, worked with the best of the best, and was privileged to support the public and the installation.

I love this stuff. But if we didn’t do it for another 7 yrs or so, that’s fine by me.

And on the subject of ice –

I found my summer activity: Curling! A whole club dedicated to learning and perfecting curling techniques! Looking for my winter gear right now. Also, I’m taking volunteers to be my partner. Must love laughing, and falling. Will train.

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I ask you –

Have you ever attended an Air Show?

Did you know there were curling clubs? Me neither!

Tell me your summer plans!

(The post Who Signed Me Up? first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Which reminds me –

There was a whole week it seemed of rain and gloom and doom skies, followed by a whole week (now 2) of sunshine and nearly Spring-like temperatures. It was glorious! Obviously I took every opportunity to be outside, even if it was walking to random places to visit people I had no business with. Some of them I didn’t even know. Which reminds me – when I’m running outdoors during work hours, I realized I know at least one person at nearly every building; therefore, I know where the closest bathrooms are. This is important stuff!

Anyway, I got in several runs, even a 5k to round out January which is incredibly surprising since I only got cleared to run approx. 12 days before the end of the month. I barely made it. At Which reminds me – I’ve also completed a February 5k (via the walk and talk method…how I prefer to do business). Hopefully by the time of this post I’ve been able to get in at least 1 more run. The goal thus far is to run 3x/week. Some days I also do a strength workout, some days I’m extremely exhausted.

Which reminds me – intramural volleyball starts in March and our team is slowly taking shape. I declined participation; instead, I’ll function as assistant coach because our coach will be playing. I just didn’t think it was my best idea to play so soon after being told I could run. One or the other, Kel. I do play during the week and that’s good enough for me. However, I’m torn between trying out for the team just to prove I could play (and be selected) if I wanted to…or not trying out at all because I have nothing to prove.

This course is going swimmingly well. I’m more than halfway through – the grades are very slow coming in but I just keep writing until I get sick of it then hit submit. Thankfully, qualitative analysis is much better than quantitative analysis. For me anyway. The school auto enrolled me in the pre-dissertation course set to start late March. Which reminds me – if I want to have a full blown panic attack, probably best to do it before then because after that date it’s game on. So, essentially, there’s about 11 weeks remaining until I have to figure out my life and begin this whole “doctoral candidate” stuff. Student. Candidate. Whatever.

__________________________

I ask you –

What’s the weather like where you are located? Actual winter or summer?

Do you know where the nearest restrooms are?

Tell me something you’re reminded of!

(The post Which reminds me – first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Humorous Stuff

Not one to ever pass up an opportunity to be silly – a few examples below. I’m lucky my leadership plays along with my shenanigans.

Yes, awards are meant to be displayed but they’re not possible without the work, encouragement, and credit to those around me. 2023 was a wild year and I couldn’t have done it without the strong team around me. Really. This is all theirs.

Finally, it’s both a blessing and a curse that Parts works in marketing. Everyone and everything is fodder for jokes. We play too much. Amazingly, some questions did arise on how and where to vote for me. Although I’m humbled and genuinely surprised at the support, fortunately government jobs don’t work like this. And I had zero intention to run for this “office”, if you will.

It would be a shame if I was unable to run with all this pent up energy I’ve been experiencing. The actual volleyball intramural season is gaining traction, but I’ve made the right decision to coach/assist other coaches vs. play. Sure, the time commitment is still the same but I decrease the chance of injury by about 95%. My feet will thank me later.

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I ask you –

Are you a humorous person?

Have you ever coached a sport?

Share your best example of what not to do!

(The post Humorous Stuff first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Re-Post: Double Trouble

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and I hope you all have an incredible day. Me? Oh, I’m just soaking up the island life right about now. More to come when I return…

From Aug 24, 2022: For being a smart person, I really am quite dumb sometimes. Well, not like a dumdum. It just takes me longer than the average smart person to really come to grips with things. For example…

An email arrived with the sentence “Thank you for your persistence.” which probably meant please stop bothering me. A co-worker told someone else in front of me: (paraphrased only mildly) “We love Kelly. She has a way of being mean but she does it with a smile and it makes it ok.” I’m not sure it was a compliment but it is true.

M’s – money, marriages, and messes. The radio show advised these are three things we should stay out of, as in other people’s. This radio show predominantly deals with other people’s messes so pot…kettle.

Not every email requires a reply. As I’m almost constantly (now) dealing with people from all walks of life, there are many different approaches: kind, understanding, firm, rude, hateful, dismissive, etc. You get the idea. This week I’m neck deep in an inspection that hasn’t happened since 2019. Read: before me. Somehow I tend to find myself in positions where once I’ve got my bearings, there’s a huge inspection or program audit and here I am with my hands in the air and a huge shrug. I shall prevail! Occasionally I have too much to do to reply. Other times it is best I don’t because angry Kel can only be quiet for so long. And I’m being pushed to the brink.

My sister accepted a job on the same installation where I’m employed. In fact, we’re in the same squadron. I should feel bad the base is now saturated with two people like us, but this could be fun. Someone asked if she is as wonderful as I am; her reply was “I’m better!” She’s got jokes.

Now we’re off to find the boss and explain in no uncertain terms why the grass is brown. Hello. Drought. Texas. Seriously?

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I ask you –

Thoughts on the three M’s? Do you agree?

Have you been inspected or audited at work lately?

On a scale of 1 to You’re Fired, how much trouble will my twin and I get into? 5. We have humor going for us.

(The post Re-Post: Double Trouble first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Tis The Season – to Bake!

As many of you know, I’m intrigued by trains. I recall very vivid memories in my childhood of train excursions and how much fun they were – the ability to travel by train is exciting and exhilarating because it offers an opportunity to view so many areas inaccessible by car. In light of this (probably) new information, check out this link on the Best Train Journeys. One day I hope to tour the vastness of the world via train.

But why is the rum gone??? It’s not like I can buy any today (Sunday). Sounds like a Monday problem. Thankfully, the base exchange provided the rum I needed to make my infamous rum balls. Personally, I prefer Amaretto Truffles, but these will do, too. Even mini thought they were pretty good. She slept so well that night. Weird.

Decisions were made

As we have an upcoming holiday party, there’s a contest associated with it that I couldn’t turn down: the bake-off! It took a really long time for me to decide what to bake, but I narrowed down the choices and decided on… chocolate cake. A classic. I’ll update you all on my winning status soon!

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I ask you –

Would you take a cross-country adventure via train?

What is your holiday go-to tradition?

Chances of wining the bake-off: give me your thoughts!

(The post Tis The Season – to Bake! first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Team Things!

Occasionally we have time to sneak away from work and do fun stuff, like go bowling! And eat copious amounts of holiday food, like banana pudding. It’s been a very busy past few months so team spirit and morale-inducing activities are exactly what was needed.

It’s a major award

Returning from the work trip and diving right into a short week of activities, volleyball, mini’s dermatology requirements (for another day), and realizing Thanksgiving is right around the corner – it’s a lot. Can’t forget to mention this course I’m in that has the capacity to literally kill me. How I wish I was a numbers person and understood coefficients and correlations and some dude’s name that stands for something in statistics. Ugh. I don’t know. This professor – whom I also had the previous semester – is destroying my papers. And I still don’t have a chair – have I mentioned this debacle yet? Wait for it.

Back to the team! I’m truly thankful for the people I work with, work for, and work alongside. It’s a longstanding joke about everyone stressing me out, but, truthfully, I’m the only one who stresses me out. At least I have a team of people who keep me going.

___________________

I ask you –

Are you a part of a work team or do you work solo?

When was the last time you went bowling?

Tell me about your Thanksgiving plans!

(The post Team Things! first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)