June 03, 2014

Passports

Summer has definitely arrived early here in Michigan. It's been 85+ degrees, and super humid here the past few days. Yesterday, I had plans to go for a run with my little brother, Nathan, at the State Park. We planned to meet there at 6:20, because he works nights, so he could stop by when he got off work. I was looking forward to a nice, cool run that early in the morning.

Ha! I think I started sweating the second I stepped outside. The temperature was only about 73 degrees, but the air was SO thick with humidity. We decided to do the same five-mile route that Jerry and I did last week. The first half of the run was pretty windy, which I welcomed because it helped with the heat. When we turned away from the wind, it felt like it was instantly about 10 degrees hotter.

It was nice to run with Nathan, though, and I hope we make it a regular thing. A few miles in, we saw a big snapping turtle on the side of the trail. We get snappers in our yard sometimes, but I'd never seen on on the trail at the park. We stopped to take a picture, and it was kind of strange--the second I stopped running, the sweat started pouring down my face. I really need better sunscreen, because the stuff I use now runs into my eyes and burns so badly. Anyway, my eyes were stinging, and I could barely keep them open to take a picture of Nathan with the turtle. And of course it turned out blurry, because I couldn't see!


We came across a few more big snapping turtles, which was so odd! I've been running there for several years now, and have never seen one there. 

I asked Nathan what it was like doing physical training while he was in Iraq, and he said that he would actually prefer the 120 degrees with zero humidity to what it felt like while we were running yesterday. Crazy, right?! 

When we were a quarter-mile from the car, Nathan asked if I wanted to pick up the pace. I definitely did NOT, but I said okay, so we ran about a 7:30 pace for the last quarter-mile. It was tough, and I was drenched with sweat, but it was a good run!



I had planned to run a few miles with Jerry today, because he was off work, but it was so hot that it didn't even sound a little bit appealing. I'm going to run eight miles with Jessica and Courtney tomorrow, and then that will be it until the 5K and 10K on Saturday. 

Today, I spent a good part of the morning editing pictures for our passports. I was totally shocked when I saw that Walgreens charges $12 for a passport photo--we needed 4 of them, so there was no way that I was going to pay almost $50 for pictures! Instead, I taped a poster (wrong side out) against the door outside, and took pictures of the family (per the specifications on the government website). 

I took about a dozen pictures of each of us, and then chose one for the passports. I had to get rid of the shadows and brighten the pictures a little, and then I uploaded them on a website that automatically crops and gets them ready to print on a 4x6 photo, ensuring that your head is the right size for the picture. 

I uploaded the final pictures to Sam's Club, and the grand total for all four of us (to get four 2x2 photos each) was $0.58! They turned out really good. We had to pull the boys out of school an hour early so that we could go apply at the post office (they stop taking applications at 4:00). It took about half an hour for the application process, and a whopping $460(!), and we should have our passports in about 4-6 weeks. It feels good to get that done--Punta Cana, here we come :)

Tonight, the kids have baseball practice. Renee's son has practice at the same place, so I'm going to meet up with her there to talk about her marathon training. She's running the NYC Marathon this year (deferred from 2012), and I'm going to help her come up with a training plan. 

Tomorrow, I'll be packing for this weekend, and then my flight leaves uber early on Thursday morning. I'm so excited! By the way, tomorrow is National Running Day:


You can create your own badge here, if you're interested :)

8 comments:

  1. I'm excited for you about Punta Cana! That's where we went for our honeymoon. Beware, though....I'm from Charleston, SC and we know humidity.....that place is HUMID! More importantly, so pretty and so fun! If you get the chance to do a ziplining excursion, take it! It's a thrill as well as a great way to cool off!

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  2. The same thing happens to me regarding the pouring sweat the second I stop running when it's humid out! I wore an old-school sweatband of my husband's for a 9-mile run last week and it really helped--it was completely soaked by the time I finished. I also have a running hat that looks terribly dorky, but it at least keeps the sun/sweat out of my face and eyes.

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  3. :) thanks for the link.
    Iam also going out for the weekend :)
    Where you off to?

    ps-
    1) where is your fit bit group?

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  4. AnonymousJune 04, 2014

    I sweat like CRAZY so I always wear the heavy wicking bondi bands and they help me a lot!

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  5. Hey Katie! I just read this article and thought you'd like it- it's about framing workouts as fun, instead of as work- and that the more fun you have while exercising, the less you are likely to eat afterwards! http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/losing-weight-may-require-some-serious-fun/

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  6. Cool turtle! I'm glad it doesn't get too humid here.

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  7. I am so envious of your trip! We just got back from Punta Cana - stayed at the Colonial Majestic (I highly recommend!) - you are going to have a great time!

    FYI - it is DEFINITELY too humid for running down there. But I still managed to eek out a short run, chase it with a spin class, and then swam in the pool all day. It was like doing a "vaca triathlon" daily.

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  8. This is my first time commenting but I have been reading your blog for some time now. I love how real you are, for the good and bad. Reading your blog lets me know that while I can accomplish my goal of losing 100 pounds even though I am only down 16 pounds.

    I am also not a fan of humidity so I guess it is a good thing I live in Utah. Haha. Anyway, I have noticed that you have had many issues with your sunscreen and stated in this post you might get better sunscreen. I just wanted to recommend one that my whole family has used for many years because it doesn't run. It is Coppertone Sport. It is in a blue bottle. We go swimming and running and it has never given us any trouble. It is the only one that my mom and anyone from my family will buy. Maybe it is a weird comment but I hate sunscreen in my eyes and I have never had problems with this one. Good luck this weekend.

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