the reinvention of me

NYD5K 2012 Race Report - 1/1/12

2012-01-03T22:37:00.004-06:00

So I kicked off the New Year with the 27th Annual running of the NYD5K (New Year's Day 5K) in the southern end of Chicago's fabulous lake-hugging Lincoln Park. A few months ago this seemed like a great idea, and a decent goal as I finally felt like running again. Until my treadmill running ground to a screeching halt at the beginning of December as once again, work/life took over and my treadmill routine cried "Uncle!!!"

But hey, it's just 3.1 miles, and my isn't the weather mild? 40's in December? Yeah. Mild until NYD, when the temperature was in the low 30's with sustained winds of 20-30mph. SUSTAINED, not gusts.

But hey, it's just 3.1 miles. And so I run/walked it. Or should I say walked/run. Seemed like more walking. Looked back once and then realized two things: #1 For what? Are you competing? and #2 You've never EVER been last before. You won't be today.

And so that's it. No beating myself up. Eh. But I DID make it to the gym the following day.

Onward.

Oh, and I tried out my new Garmin Forerunner that Santa (read: ME) got me for Christmas. Hmmm, I suppose I should do more to read the directions and learn it before trying that again. I did somehow manage to get it going, and have cool maps and graphs, but I just don't quite know yet how to copy them and show YOU the funky pics. And I figure given this "performance" and that it's only a 5K, it's probably not especially interesting anyway. Next time!

5K
42:44
13:47 pace :-/

I haven't run since Wednesday but...

2011-12-11T20:47:00.007-06:00

...I have gotten daughter #1 through two 3-hour dress rehearsals and four performances of The Nutcracker, and daughter #2 to one dress rehearsal and two performances.

Jada, Party Scene Child, Act 1, The Nutcracker

Zoe, Carol of the Bells, Pre-Ballet Holiday Show

Back to a slightly normal schedule tomorrow. Well, not just yet. I'm heading to Washington D.C. tomorrow for one day, and have two proposals due this week...but whatever...

Book Review -- Marathon Woman by Kathrine Switzer

2011-12-03T13:31:00.002-06:00

Those of you who know me know how busy life keeps me, from work, to my two daughters to my little cookie business, etc… People think I’m joking when I say I haven’t read an entire book since I had my oldest daughter (turning 8 in February.) 2 years ago I bought Marathon Woman at the Chicago Marathon expo, first book out of the box that running royalty K.V. Switzer was unpacking as she set up her expo booth. She even wrote something to me:

Yeah. I have NO idea what that word is just before Chicago or what it could actually be. (shrug) You?

Anyway, if you’re a woman. Or a runner. Or you’ve been taking random curve balls in life…you should read this book! What really struck me is all that I’ve taken for granted in women’s running. All of the things that are just “here” because of Kathrine Switzer’s pioneering efforts and those of her colleagues. I was able to play in sports from as early as the 3rd grade. I remember the 1984 Olympics. I’ve participated in race after race, 5K to the marathon, and I’ve never been able to put a finger on why my favorite race has always been the Fleet Feet Women’s 5K/10K Festival in Chicago (ok…or maybe the Shamrock Shuffle, but whatever.) It’s somewhat strange reading this story and realizing that in that even in her lifetime, someone else like me has taken women’s running for granted. And maybe that’s the truest sign of success—of “having come a long way, baby”…like maybe how I hope the notion of an African American or woman president will be so second nature to my children that they will take it for granted, too. In addition to women’s running, it was very, very cool to read about other things that are also a given these days, like cute t-shirts (most of the time anyway), sponsorship, race circuits, etc... Incidentally, we may have rounded the curve on that one. Goodie bags have gotten really WACK over the past few years.

So if you have a water bottle (reusable, preferably) in your hand or some other drink, raise your glass to a toast. “I thank you profusely, K.V. Switzer #261, for your tireless dedication to women and to the sport of running, and for the encouragement to keep on going, whether it’s in life or when training doesn’t seem to make sense any more—especially for a slow runner (jogger!) like myself. (the knee strengthening tip is a gem, too!)”

If you haven’t read this book, GET ONE. I even checked to see if this book was available on audio books and it doesn’t appear to be the case. How awesome would it be to listen to this on a series of long runs, or even driving to and from work each day.

INSPIRED!

wash - rinse - repeat

2011-11-27T19:25:00.003-06:00

So every 10 months or so I come back to this blog, proclaiming that THIS IS IT. I'm really gonna do it this time. Blah blah blah. Here's what I've been up to:

1) going up and down the scale
2) signing up for and not running races (or walking them)
3) went vegan (like...really. not a 30-day challenge, a year or so challenge. since september 1st.)
4) gave up my 3-4 bottle a day diet pepsi addiction. cold turkey. out of the clear blue sky, my last one was on august 19.
5) um, i got myself back on a running scheme of sorts. Here's my "non" plan:

60 minutes, 2 days on, 1 day off.
-I started with 10 minutes walk/10 run for two weeks
-Last week was 9/11
-Up next, 8/12

I refuse to beat myself up if my 1 day off turns into 2 because of work...I'm just GOING.

anyhoo...that's what's up with me.

Shamrock Shuffle 8k - A Race Report

2011-04-10T21:37:00.003-05:00

Really? So I've been running in 30 and 40 degree weather when running outside...and for ONE day, it decides to get warm and HELLA humid out? This is SO like Chicago. I woke up Sunday morning, and for once, the weathermen/women were right. It was unseasonably warm and humid.

I wasn't worried, I guess I thought "It's just 5 miles, I'll be fine." But apparently even with a shorter run, my body will NOT readjust for humidity. I mean, I suppose if it weren't my first humid run of the season. I'm trying not to beat myself up about it...

1:04:51. I'm pretty sure that's my WORST Shamrock Shuffle to date. I could easily look down the list of past races over on the right side of my blog, but I just don't have the heart to--just yet.

Mile 1 "I'm running too fast, I'm running too fast I'm running too fast! I'm warm. Where or where are my running shorts." Mental note: find shorts TO. DAY. THIS. AFTERNOON. Mile 1 done at 10:25, according to my timer. Not good.

Mile 2 Somewhere between Mile 1 and Mile 2 I had my first walking break. This is when mentally it all went downhill. "I suck. I should just quit." Walked again at the aid station. Lame. But that Gatorade was tasty. Mile 2 done, somehow miraculously at 24:00. (Hindsight: must have been running too fast still, when I was actually running.)

Mile 3 &%*$!!! This friggin sun! "I won't walk again until the next aid station." Lie! Walked some more. Mile 3 done just under 38:00. Then the wheels fell off.

Mile 4 "I'll just run when I can." This is when I became ashamed of myself. And got a text from my friend who said she was done. Damn. Mile 4 done at around 51:00. Walked for a good long while after Mile 4, because "I WILL RUN UP THAT HILL ON ROOSEVELT IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO."

The last .97 miles of the 8K was more of the rest.

I'd hoped to have an awesome race report. I'd hoped to feel proud, excited and ready for the race season. But now I'm just feeling doubtful. Wondering if I'll ever get better. I"m sure this will pass. I'm aiming for a great long run later this week.

So....sorry to be a downer. Thanks for reading/listening.

New Weigh In Day - New Meeting

2011-04-09T23:03:00.003-05:00

I think I'm officially changing my weigh in day to Fridays and will try to work remotely at Starbucks until the 11am meeting, go to the meeting over an early lunch, and then head to the office for the remainder of my work day.

Ok..so I did the exact thing (above) this Friday, and liked it. Other than the fact that instead of my usual workout clothes (read: light as a feather) I had on jeans for the weigh in. I'm guessing it added another pound of clothes and maybe my loss was a bit more, but really? At this weight, does it really matter? No, however I will aim to wear the same thing each week from here on out.

Below are some differences from this meeting and the one I was attending on Saturday mornings closer to home (not work and the girls school.)

Old meeting: Average age 60s
New meeting: Average age 30s

Old meeting: I'm walking every day.
New meeting: I'm training for a half marathon and it says I earned 23 activity points on my 8 mile run. Is this possible? Should I eat them?

New meeting: I have trouble eating up what my kids don't clean off of their plates. Does anyone have any good strategies?
Old meeting: Why wouldn't your kids clean their plates?

New Meeting: Friday night flex points. For me, there is no better way to cap off a long work week than a nice veggie thin crust pizza.
Old Meeting: Oh DAMN. Salty pizza the night before a weigh in? pizza = high sodium = potential shady weigh in (at least for me.)

So the new meeting really fits better into my current lifestyle. I seem to have more in common with them. Nothing wrong with the other meeting, but I think I can learn more now from people who deal with some of the same things I deal with: younger children; training for endurance events; etc...

Now I know a few months back there was some random chick who got all offended by my mention of the average age at my WW meeting. (?) Anyway, haven't seen her since--actually I think she chose to add a comment anonymously-LAME. If you're reading and are offended again, please feel free to not read my blog.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on the new meeting. Turns out one woman is running the Rock-n-Roll Half in Vegas that I signed up for. How cool is that?

T -12 hours and counting

2011-04-09T21:16:00.001-05:00

In just under 12 hours, my race season will begin with my fifth consecutive running of the Shamrock Shuffle 8K. I'm kinda excited! It's one of my favorite races. I'll be back tomorrow with a race report.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I don't believe in Shitty Mondays

2011-04-04T21:20:00.005-05:00

But occassionally, one will come along and bite me in the ass and make me a believer for a day or so. I mean, it's not HORRIBLE. Things could always be a whole lot worse.

1. Woke up around 2am and felt like I couldn't breathe. Opened the window. (it was in the 40's at the time. Took off stuffy sweatshirt. Huffed and puffed and worried for 90 minutes. WTF?!

2. Woke up at 4:30 for the gym with a POUNDING headache. Nixed the gym, went back to sleep for awhile. Grrrrr.

3. I messed up with summer program registrations that began today and only managed to get Zoe in. By a simple typing error. In that 2-minute time span, the program I wanted to get Jada in filled up for online registration. So now I have to go to on-site registration on Saturday. They say that LAST year people started lining up at 2am. Yes. 2am. WTF?! Oh, to be independently wealthy.

4. 90-minutes into developing a powerpoint presentation, I attracted a virus on my computer. Total shut down. Miracle-workers that the IT guys are, I got my laptop back in 2 hours. Presentation, back on slide 1, though. With an hour to get it done. WTF?!

5. Naggin ass husband. WTF?!?!?!

But at least I'm on points! Now off to sleep, they gym is calling. Early.

I could tell you...

2011-03-30T21:31:00.004-05:00

...that I haven't been tracking, and I've been eating like crazy.
...that I'm so disappointed in myself, and when will I ever be able to put the two together (good exercise habits AND good eating habits)

But even though I've been on this hiatus--haven't been to a WW meeting in WEEKS--I'm ok. No, I know I'm not losing weight because I can feel that I'm not. Hopefully I'm not gaining either.

The other day I started to beat myself up again and say to myself "Geez, it's a shame to do all this running and not lose a pound because you just keep eating and eating and eating." And on some days that's exactly how I feel. But then I realized, no one can take my runs away from me. I earned those runs, whether I'm hovering around 200 pounds or at goal. You can't take those 5am treadmill runs from me...you can't take the 7 mile run along the lakefront at 25 degrees, on 5 hours sleep, even though I really kinda wanted to sleep in last Saturday.

I don't know why I'm having such trouble with my eating. I should probably try to figure it out.

I'm just rambling.

Signed,

One long, deep sigh.

Me again...f***ing up...

2011-03-22T23:03:00.001-05:00

I just snarfed (yes, snarfed) down nearly half a box of Lucky Charms cereal.

On the flip side, I had an awesome run at the gym this morning. Yes, changing the subject again.

Sigh.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Big Booty Girl, I feel your pain!

2011-03-13T16:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, in an attempt to leave the world behind from cookie baking and decorating woes and weight loss and running, I took the girls to the spring performance at their ballet dance school. Performing were mostly older students. My girls are just completing their first year in what is called "pre-ballet."

So I'm sitting there completely enjoying their interpretation of The Nightingale, fabulous costumes, fabulous dancing, girls actually paying attention...and then it happened.

For one scene, a group of four came out onto the stage, three girls and a guy. The moment had arrived...from weeks of practice, it all finally coming down to this. Performance #1 of just two shows.

One of the girls was noticeably bigger, and not what you might call having a "dancer's body." She wasn't as toned as the other two girls, and maybe there was a slight hint of a little extra flesh. Not fat by real-world standards, but definitely a little more than what is "allowed" by traditional ballet standards. You know, the anorexia, bulimia, inducing standards.

So they're dancing wonderfully, each dancer with their own "feature" moment of the dance, after which they run to their respective corner of the stage. This is when it happened. Her back facing the audience in the far right corner of the stage, legs and arms spread wide...her tight dancer style shorts showing underneath her costume, riding up her butt, into her crack. Half of her @$$ was hanging out. Literally. HALF. I zero'ed in on it immediately. Did anyone else see, I wondered? I KNOW she knows, there is NO WAY she doesn't know, because it looks extremely uncomfortable.

Dance dance dance...prance prance prance...NOM NOM NOM, her booty eats her shorts a little more. (OH MY GAWSH, this poor girl, I am soooooooooooo feeling her pain!!!!) And it's a performance. She can't just reach around and pull it out. SOMEBODY HELP THIS CHILD!!! Because if she's like any normal teenage girl, she already knows she slightly bigger than the muscle tone girl, or the other stick thin girl. And her shorts-eating booty is an awful reminder.

There was a moment of relief when her routine called for her to run off stage...she came back on an instant later and they had been pulled down.

Sigh. Oh, the pain and sorrow of being a big booty girl in a small booty girl's world. Awkward, Awkward AWKWARD.

Twitter and the Earthquake/Tsunami

2011-03-11T07:17:00.002-06:00

So...I have another Twitter account that I use solely for following famous people. One of them is Jimmy Kimmel. So either in a horrible joke or horrible coincidence, he tweeted a bunch a few hours ago, claiming he was on an island in the Pacific...worried. When people said that wasn't funny, he claimed it was not a joke, he was for real. And then he stopped tweeting all together. Hmmm, wonder if I'm being duped.

UPDATE: It WAS him...and he was on an island in the south Pacific, and he's fine after being evacuated.

Thursday Thirteen

2011-03-10T21:51:00.001-06:00

Total randomness...
13. I'm so tired I can barely hold my head up.

12. Today is my brother's birthday. He's schizophrenic.
What that has to so with it being his birthday, I don't know.

11. I just dozed off and woke up to a string of questions marks after #11.

10. I've watched Law&Order for eons. I nearly feel like I'm cheating on the show. I checked out Criminal Minds..I like it better.

9. I like to think of myself as an armchair forensic scientist. Can't get enough. If I'd thought about it, I'd have studied to become a medical examiner.

8. I have a friend in Detroit who took over the family mortuary business. He let me sit in once as he prepared a body. The man had died of cancer.

7. When I lived in Detroit I SWEAR I saw someone getting rid of a body once. I was young and afraid to call the police because I was a teensy bit tipsy.

6. I had a crazy landlord. Once when he was out of town on the weekend, an even crazier person broke into my building's basement and started a fire.

5. When I lived in NYC I got flashed on the subway, lol.

4. Back home in Chicago, I was actually in the bank when it got robbed. However, I was completely oblivious to it all.

3.. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz What? No, I wasn't sleeping just now!!!

2. Whether you put 10 oyster crackers in front of me or 1000, I will eat them all.

1. Good night! I'm yawning like crazy, and nodding off

(yyyyyyaaaaaawwwwwwwwn)

Check me out!

2011-03-09T15:35:00.000-06:00

Check that last race on my list of races to do this year, over on the right.

:)

Fail To Plan....

2011-03-07T21:44:00.001-06:00

So it's very cliche and all, that "Fail to plan, plan to fail" thing. But I'm taking it to heart this week. With two large cookie orders (300 and 750), a public forum at work, plus my half marathon training to keep up, it's gonna be a hectic week. I was off today and will be off on Friday as well.

What I would normally do is this: assume i could still somehow fit in my 5 days/week, get behind with everything, exercise one day, in my rushing and harried ways, overeat, and be ready to skip weigh in next Saturday etc...

So instead, I've planned the following:
*committed to working out MWF, doing my strength training each time, with 3-4 miles on the treadmill.
*long run is supposed to be Thursday, 6mi. Will do something outside on Sunday, possibly swapping out this week and next weeks long run schedules
*a fridge full of good stuff

I'll let you know how it goes. I can barely keep my eyes open. G'night

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday 13 - Random

2011-03-03T17:53:00.005-06:00

Oh, the randomness. 13 Random Things, right off the top of my head.

13. I’m nervous about next week. Big stressors tend to send my eating and/or exercise goals out the window. I have over 1000 cookies to bake next week in 2 big orders. YIKES. YIKES!!!!! (Cookies, you ask? www.lindyscookiestudio.com And please don’t remind me, yes, I need to update my website. It’s not valentine season anymore.)

12. Thursdays are fast becoming my favorite day of the week. It’s the one day I don’t have to rush from work to pick up the girls. Yay! This evening I’m going to Costco to pick up some things. I was supposed to go to a movie screening, but I just don’t feel like it.

11. I have a sign on my desk here at work that reads “In a meeting…The practical alternative to work.” It just cracks me up. Tee hee!

10. I also have a picture at my desk from when Jada (my oldest) was just a few weeks old. It’s her hand. I love it.

9. The hospital where the girls were born is being torn down. I pass by it everyday on my way home. Kinda makes me sad, for some reason.

8. Also at my desk, I have a press release from The Cliff Dwellers, some swanky club in downtown Chicago where we held a staff retreat once. The press release is about an inspirational retiring staff person who at 91, was retiring so he could spend more time with his 108-year old mother!!! He had been a WWII soldier, a railroad chef, and a member of A. Phillip Randolph’s Pullman Porters Union. “Benton Calmes’ memories are ripe for the inquisitive person seeking thoughts on America’s past and the role of African Americans in the service of this country, with personal recollections on General Douglas MacArthur, FDR, U.S rail transportation, as well as life for the African American veteran in the post-war era.” Seems like a fabulously interesting man. Wonder what he’s up to these days.

7. Last year, five people I know (knew?) died. Two people at work, a childhood friend, and the mothers of two very good friends. Cancer, stroke (48!), pulmonary embolism (39!), cancer, and natural causes. Rough year.

6. Do you ever not like someone for no good reason at all? I have. Still do.

5. I love talk radio. Back in the day, I used to listen to Howard Stern. (No judging, please.) Now I listen to local sports shows or talk radio shows, one of which isn’t even on the radio…he runs a podcast instead…Steve Dahl. I’ve listened to him for years. This might be surprising to some people. I’m not a big fan of music radio.

4. I worked at McDonald’s in high school. I have an honest appreciation for a really nicely put together Big Mac. My marketing idea that has yet to be picked up is the “Mini Mac. One less meat patty, 1/3 less bread, same great flavors you’ve grown to love. Mmmmm. On the rare occasion that I have a Big Mac, I end up making my own Mini Mac.

3. While working at this same McD’s, I thought I was fat, so I went on a “diet.” My friend and I turned it in to a contest to see who could go the longest WITHOUT EATING. On Day 3 in what was a particularly hot summer, famished and near faint, we agreed to end the contest and went and bought two tacos at a local taco stand. Best tasting taco EVER!

2. At this same McD’s, you’d get a little tired of the same menu options at break time. But bringing lunch was kinda nerdy. (go figure) But anyway….sometimes we’d call up the Pizza Hut and Brown’s Chicken nearby and offer trades for food. Score! I never, EVER at the chicken, Brown’s Chicken is nasty, in my opinion. It’s local, so if you’re not from the Chicago area, I’m guessing you’ve never heard of it. Other times, we’d go all indignant of company policy and make our own McDonald’s creations. My favorite was taking the middle part of two Big Mac buns, two slices of cheese, some onions (that I’d previously gotten one of the grill boys to grill), smack ‘em together and toast them into a wonderful sandwich in the Big Mac bun toaster. Mmmmmmm

1. Can you tell it’s dinner time? It’s 5:48, I’d better get outta here and get some dinner. In fact, I’d better eat something before I go to Costco, or things might get dangerous!! 

Chicago Marathon

2011-03-01T18:03:00.003-06:00

So I got this email yesterday that went a little something (exactly) like this:

Registration Expected to Close Before the End of the Week
Less than 5,000 entries remain for the 2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon and registration is expected to close before the end of the week. If you want to be a part of the 34th annual event on Sunday, October 9, register now to secure your spot in the field. Registration will close when the 45,000-participant capacity is reached. For more information on the race and to register, go to chicagomarathon.com.

Really? Registration just opened on February 1! How could it be. This will definitely be the fastest sellout ever. What to do, what to DOOOOO?

So at 7am this morning I went ahead and registered. For ages now I've been entered in the lottery for the NYC Marathon, which is exactly 4 weeks later, although I realize the likelihood of getting in is slim to none...but just throwing that out there, that there could actually be TWO marathons I'm running, when in fact two days ago I hadn't made a decision on running even one. Anyhoo....

I won't be joining any training groups or anything. I can't be confined to those schedules. I will continue to do my runs at 5am, which means for now, the treadmill. All in all, I'm pleased with my progress so far. You may be mystified at my low total to the right (my year goal is 1200 miles, which translates to 100 miles per month), but those miles will ramp up later on in the year. Also, please note that this includes walking--which has been and will continute to be pretty much most of my cross training. (Well, that and my new weight-training regimen, 3 times/week.)

Blah Blah Blah, boring post, I know. But so far, I've been on schedule with my "long" runs. My other huge new thing is that I refuse...hands down, no way no how, I REFUSE to stop and walk, even just a second, during these shorter early runs. That was my downfall before. Now I know there are proponents for Jeff Galloway's run/walk method. I think it's cool, but it's not for me. But make no mistake, I wasn't even doing that kind of walking. I'd kinda just be like "I think I'll walk for a 1/4 mile." I don't just walk, I lollygag. Especially at aid stations (which I started to do all the time) and then I quickly lose steam. And my so-called 12-minutes per mile pace becomes 13:30 or 14:00. And I'd wonder why I coudln't seem to hit 12:00 pace on my long runs anymore. Well, it was because I wasn't hitting 12:00 on any training run, because I'd b.s. and stop for water, or "stretch" (I put that it quotes, because really I was just catching my breath.) All of this was shortly before I took my hiatus. I never really quite got back on track after hurting my knee in 2008. So last year I stopped pretending and just didn't. I ran Shamrock, and walked a 5k. WALKED A 5K. :-/

Again, no personal indictment on walkers or run/walkers. I'm a penguin, after all. It's really a comparison of where I once was, to where I'd ended up.

I'm very happy with where I'm at, so far. :)

Weigh-in WTHs

2011-03-01T17:41:00.003-06:00

So I went to weighh in/pay the piper on Saturday...and I was soooo confused. Ok, so I went to a meeting back on 2/11...it was a Friday at a different location. I remember the meeting. I don't remember weighing in, well ok, I do NOW. But for whatever reason, I never logged it in my blog, and I literally had forgotten all about it. What I remembered was wanting to skip the weigh in and just attend the meeting. And I also had forgotten that the previous weigh in was one at home. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why that 196 wasn't in the WW system. And how I had a loss instead of a gain. Well I had a loss only because I had a huge gain 2 weeks back. WTH? I'm wayyyy to busy if I can't remember stuff that happens 2 weeks ago. At first I thought it was just a mental thing--like, I blocked it out because I didn't want to remember. But I had a similar experience in paying for lunches at the girls' school. I thought I owed money, but I'd paid the Friday before. ?

Anyway...back to weigh-in. I've been playing around with the same 8-10 pounds since November. This is stupid. When the going gets tough, I seem to revert back to old habits. Time to knuckle down and get on with the next 25. There are no tricks. Eat the right amount of points. Write them down. (Or in my case, use my WW iPhone app EVERY DAY FOR EVERY MEAL.) Exercise. Lose. Seems so simple, but it's not.

Take # 4,389.

Thursday 13

2011-02-24T22:38:00.003-06:00

Now I really have no right to even post these, since I've had so much trouble staying at my WW points range since like Christmas...but on the flip side, maybe reminiscing about my ol' tried and true tricks of the trade will help catapult my recent successful few days back into weeks, and months...anyway here is my Thursday 13 list of my all-time favorite WW low point meals and snacks. You're not going to find straight up fruits and veggies on here, because that's a given. We should already be making these a priority in our daily lives.

13. Cottage cheese. Bleck! Hate it? I used to also, and then one day for some weird reason I decided that maybe my taste buds at in my mid 30s might be different than when in the 4th grade. 1 cup of 1% is 4 points. The surprising amount of protein will keep you full for hours. HOURS.

12. Hillshire Farm Deli Select Thin Cut Turkey. Sure it's way too salty and probably pumped full of nitrates. But dammit it tastes good. And at 2 ounces and just 1 point per serving, hey.... Works well by itself, or...

11. Thomas' (of english muffin fame) Multi Grain Bagel Thins. Tastes like you're eating a bagel. Well, that's because you are. Kind of. A really thin bagel. 3 points. Combined with some turkey, you've got yourself a filling 4-point sandwich. Go crazy and throw some brown mustard on it and you've got yourself a party. (In England, do they still call them English muffins? If not, then what do they call the muffins that we call muffins?)

10. Lindy's Bagel Thin Breakfast Sandwich: Take two egg whites, dash of milk, salt and pepper, stir in spray-coated plastic container. (I use a round ziploc brand bowl.) Cover with paper towel, microwave for 1 to 1 1/4 minutes. Place "poached" egg on mini bagel. Add an ounce of hillshire farm turkey or ham or whatever meat that's one point. 5 points. Add slice of FF cheese, 6 points. When I'm feeling especially frisky, I make the egg sandwich, no meat, plus an ounce of GOOD cheese, like havarti or gouda for an 8 point sandwich. Mmmm. I realize that's not really "low-point," but it's filling and SUPER good.

9. Chocolate fix: I buy a big grandiose bar of 70% dark chocolate, Giardelli, usually, found in the baking aisle with the unsweetened chocolates. The one I get is 2 points per square, and it's a big honkin square. Thing is, I don't really care for dark chocolate. Well, it's ok, I get that chocolate-y taste without the urge to go completely bonkers at eat the whole thing, and it satisfies my sweet tooth.

8. Chocolate fix #2/Chocolate milk substitute. I've never been a big milk drinker. Strangely, when I was pregnant with my oldest, I was suddenly addicted to chocolate milk. I've since given it up, but do love a good chocolate protein shake to stave off my horrid sweet tooth, The extra protein is great for running/rebuilding muscles, too. Now there are many kinds out there, but I love EAS Myoplex. It's generally sold at $12.99-$13.99 in "cases" of 4, however around here you can find them on sale at Walgreen's every few weeks, buy one-get one half off.

7. Orville Redenbacher's 94% FF popcorn. Carbs, salt, high munchability factor(R). 5 points for the bag. You can't lose.

6. 96% FF extra lean ground beef. If you've always preferred ground beef to the taste of ground turkey, guess what bovine lovers, this beef is lower in fat/points than the typical ground turkey (93 to 7 ratio) 4 ounces is 3 points.

5. The above makes a great taco salad. Add 4 ounces meat (or less, sometimes that’s just too much meat for me), plus 1 ounce 2% shredded mexican cheese blend (2 points), add one chopped tomato, 2 to 3 cups spinach. For dressing, choose one of the following: 2 T salsa (0 points); 2 T FF Western Dressing (I think this may be a regional thing-1 point); or 2 T taco sauce (0 to 1 point, depending on brand.) Total 5-6 points. Use the same mixture of ingredients with 3 small, authentic corn tortillas (range of 3 to 4 points depending on brand) and you’ve got yourself a reasonably decent point-sized taco dinner.

4. Fish. Holy carp (get it, carp, not crap?) Fish is low in points, isn’t it? I don’t know why I don’t eat it more often. Fresh is always best. But I’m going to share a secret with you. If you can locate Gorton’s classic grilled shrimp, the whole bag is just 4 points! And it really tastes pretty good to be coming from a bag. Downside, one bag can put you out anywhere from $6 to $8. That’s kind of a lot considering you still need a little something on the side, like a salad or whatever.

3. Rotisserie chicken. Maybe you see a pattern here. Protein rocks! I’ve used rotisserie chicken from the grocery store deli as a main dish and thrown a salad together, and voila, dinner is served. It’s also good for any recipe that calls for chicken (i.e. chicken salad, chicken soup, etc…)

2. What? Chicken again?! Yes. Ok, another awesome trick I’ve found is to make my own roasted chicken. I take a package of chicken breasts (or whatever , I suppose, I only eat white meat…) and throw it in the crockpot. Then I take a can or two—however much it takes—and add into the crockpot until it covers the chicken. Cook for about 8 hours on low, give or take. I really don’t know, I just play it by how it looks. Once it’s done, take a fork or whatever and poke at the chicken. It will break up so easily, you could honestly shred it like this. I use this in salads, soup, chili, etc… I make filling for buffalo chicken sandwiches by tossing it with my favorite hot sauce. Barbecue? A tablespoon of BBQ sauce instead (add an extra point.) And the broth leftover in the pot? Make some soup with that deliciousness, or boil some cabbage with it. It’s phenomenal.

1. Flatout bread (fake) pizza. Take one of these gems (now 3 points) plus ¼ cup tomato sauce spread thin. Trust me, you don’t want much more than this. Add veggies of your choice. (All 0 points.) Add 1 to 2 ounces 2% mozzarella cheese (2 to 4 points depending on amount and brand). Add a 30-gram serving of turkey pepperoni for an additional 2 points. Bake at 375 degrees until cheese starts to brown. Cut like a pizza to make it last longer, or roll that baby up and eat it like a trendy little pizza wrap.

Product Review: McDonald's Fruit & Maple Oatmeal

2011-02-23T13:14:00.004-06:00

First off, is this stuff available where you are? The reason I'm asking is because being in "America's heartland," the midwest is often a "testing ground" for restaurant items and new products by major manufacturers.

Well if it is available, you should try it. First things first. There are two versions (that I saw.) Fruit and Maple Oatmeal with brown sugar or without. 7 points or 6 points, suit your fancy. I didn't see the points listed in my iPhone WW app, nor was it in my Dottie's iPhone app, and just as I was about to search online, I noticed the handy dandy nutritional information for both ON THE SIDE OF THE CONTAINER. Sweet!

Briefly, here's what I'll tell you. It was filling! Hooray! Fruit in my oatmeal? Do you mean just a smattering along the top? No. There was actually fruit all up in my oatmeal. In the first bite. In my last bite. And in all the bites in between. Apples, cranberries (craisins), and raisins. And the maple? It wasn't an overpowering maple, but subtle. Just enough flavoring to compliment the fruit and not make me berate myself about my inability to eat grown-up food. I'm glad I didn't order it with the brown sugar. For one, that is something that would likely be sprinkled on top--which is never enough--and two, I probably wouldn't ever want it again without the sugar.

Ok, so how much oatmeal do you get? A lot. I'd say about 1 cup, maybe a little more. Could I make this at home? Probably. But convenience is a great factor here, too. I bought it by my girls' school, then traveled 20 minutes to work (with the occasional illegal text and FBing while driving), parked, walked a block to work in 25-degree weather, turned my computer on, chatted for a few minutes, THEN ate. And it was still warm. How awesome is that?

Accountability and Excuses, good or bad

2011-02-22T12:39:00.002-06:00

At 2am when my oldest was crying out for me, and I spent the next 90 minutes standing next to her upper bunk bed holding a cold compress to her head and giving her sips of water, I knew two things: 1) She wasn't going to school; and 2) I probably wasn't getting up at 4:30 to make it to the gym. Eh. Who cares. Today is not a "weights" day and I could eek out a simple run or walk at home on the treadmill.

Problem is, I've grown to really like the treadmills at the gym wayyyy better. It's after 12:30 and I've yet to hop on. Latest excuse? I'm going to go vote (Chicago mayoral/city council election-woo hoo!) when the husband returns--do I really want to get all sweaty before I leave? What better way to spend the hour or so after polls close and election results start coming in than being on the treadmill? (Is that bullshit or what?!)

As such, I'm thinking I will do a new feature on my blog for accountability. Maybe my posting at the moment of despair will help me do better. Or help others realize that they too have an abnormal addiction to saltines. Or whatever. My friend Lou has a cool twitter feed on her page. Since I only use twitter to "lurk," I think I will start posting my everyday details there for all my blogging friends to see. Hmmm. If you're reading this post months from now and don't see it, know that it was a dismal failure and his since been deleted.

I'll update you later on whether I run or walk and move my rear in any form or fashion, other than repositioning it in my "tv chair."

7:50pm. Okay, so I walked a simple 4 miles. I'm not an evening exerciser, but i got it done while watching some evening news, a rerun of "the office" and Zoe literally climbing all over the treadmill for at least 2/3 of my walk. Sigh.

Heavy

2011-02-21T19:29:00.004-06:00

Have you seen the new show on A&E called Heavy? Maybe it's not brand new, but it's new to me. Each week they focus on two new supremely heavy individuals--by supremely I mean REALLY big. Like Biggest Loser doesn't show anyone I can relate to anymore kinda big. However, it's really good in that they really get into the psyche of each person and address why they gained weight in the first place, and why they're not losing it. Here's A&E's take via their website:

A&E’s docudrama Heavy follows twenty-two individuals facing extreme life-threatening health consequences as a result of their obesity. The one-hour series follows two participants per episode documenting their incredible transformations during a six month treatment program.

Unlike other weight loss series, “Heavy” is not a competition or stunt, but is rooted in the incredible real life day-to-day journeys of the participants during a lengthy treatment program. In order to most accurately document these multiple weight loss journeys over the course of six months and present them individually in one hour, A&E sought out two different production companies to undertake the lengthy and ambitious filming process. The result is a never-before-seen look at the unique struggles faced by dangerously obese individuals who must learn to live healthier lifestyles and understand the root of their food addictions. Through their day-to-day struggle and the voices of their loved ones, viewers will see first hand the pain and self-doubt associated with a debilitating weight problem.

I've yet to watch an entire episode because with my early morning workouts (I get up at 4:30am), me sitting still after the kids are in bed is a recipe for dozing. Anyhoo, with my new iPhone app, I'm going to attempt to live blog during tonight's episode, right here on this very post. This is an experiment. If the post sucks, I'll delete it later and pretend it never existed! :-P

9:03am

Debbie, age 44. Still a virgin. Wow, she puts her socks on with this homemade contraception. Ronnie is a former football star. He's from Dallas, GA. That's always weird to me. "yeah we know there's a Dallas TX. Bite us!" his wife looks fab, not the enabler kind I've seen in other episodes. Back to Debbie. How sad, she says sometimes she goes to sleep and wonders if she'll even wake up in the morning. Both talk about "sitting life on the sidelines."

9:08
Debbie 401.4 and of course, other standard complications. Ronnie 437.6, health assessment all jacked up, as one could imagine.

9:16 I like the trainers. The ones I've seen range in age just a much as they do training style.

9:18 first meal. Ronnie is joking about what he ordered. Hahahahaha :-/. He's a hard worker-outer, though (cuz I couldn't just write "he works out hard?") He swears he's gonna lose 200 pounds in these next 6 months.

9:19 first weigh-in
Debbie down 13, Ronnie down 23.6. I hate men!!!

9:27 geez, long commercial breaks. Medications for birth control, high cholesterol, etc..getting sleepy.

9:38 Ronnie is nagging the crap outta Debbie to workout harder. He's annoying me, but she is kinda not going 100%. shoot. He's pretty cute under all thatWHAT?!?!

3 months in he's down 97, her, 55. Now they get to see their families.

Debbie is getting lessons on how to socialize. :-(. :-(

9:37 tOTALLY just caught myself dozing.

9:42 Ronnie finally goes to therapy, he's talking about his mother and mother-in-law who both died of cancer. He just cane in and started talking. Everything seems easy for him.

9:44 it's easier to lose weight by calorie deficit than exercise...that's what they're saying

9:46 final weigh in at 6 mos
Debbie down 130.6, 30% down
Ronnie down 172.8, nearly 50% down. Dang! Ok, so now they go home. I always fall asleep here.

6:50am next morning: Hmmm seemed to have lost the last posts of my update live blogging stuff. No worries, I just basically said they went home, and after 3 months had maintained their weight loss...

Testing testing 1-2-3

2011-02-21T12:36:00.001-06:00

I'm testing out my new iPhone app that will allow me to blog at a moment's notice.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday 13

2011-02-17T06:07:00.004-06:00

What's that? I can't do a Thursday 13 since I stopped long ago? The whole point is to do them every Thursday? Details, details...today's Thursday 13 will "celebrate" or "mitigate" the 13 days it's been since I've posted.

13. I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. I started out the end of January/February running every day. I think I was up to like 10 or 11 days straight. Work got crazy busy, yet again. There were then 7 days where I didn't run or walk at all. (I mean for distance, of course I walked to the car, to my desk, to the bathroom, etc...)

12. Now I'm back, at 6 days in a row of intentional movement. I should be happy. But I still feel guilty.

11. I started off the month eating great. Work got hectic. I've yet to be able to control my eating when I'm stressed. I went nuts. It's like I go into this "Fuck it autopilot mode."

10. The first day after 7 days of no movement, I hopped on the treadmill at the gym and ran 2 miles straight. I slightly impressed myself. I know it's just 2 miles, but the fact that I didn't use it as an excuse to "take it slow, walk a bit, then run..."

9. I'm not running on my treadmill at home right now. It's acting funny, herky-jerky. That makes me sad. I'm ok to walk on it, but anything above 4.0 and it feels dangerous. Time to call the repairman.

8. I ran 4 miles on Monday for my "long run." I was ecstatic. Honestly, I'm not sure when the last time was I ran that far. Sometime last year. I could let that get me down, but I choose to see it as a positive sign. I was happy to be running, even it it was dark and cold outside and I was inside at the gym, staring at a cement wall. 4 miles, is 4 miles, and my half marathon training has officially begun.

7. I'm bucking trends this time around. I know most people do long runs on weekends. Well sometimes that doesn't work for my schedule. For these "shorter" long runs, I aim to do them at the gym in the morning. Once they get above 1.5 hours, I will switch to Thursday evenings after work...Thursdays are the ONE day I don't have to pick up the girls from school. It's like a mini-holiday. I'm free to be me! I can go grocery shopping without girls begging me for this or that! I can go get my eyebrows done! I can be late to wherever or nowhere if I want. I can stay at work if I need to. Or I can go run on the lakefront for 8 or 10 or 12 miles. :)

6. My eating is raging out of control right now, and I'm not tracking. Now that I'm starting to ramp up my running, I'm hungry, hungry HUNGRY. This is no excuse. That's what activity points are for. :(

5. I'm not sure what I weigh right now. :(

4. Does it ever get easy? Why does it have to be easy? Why can't I just do it? If the battle were just KNOWING what to do, I'd be in like Flynn.

3. I was intrigued by Dateline on Sunday. Meredith Viera (sp?) interviewed Janet Jackson, and a long part of their conversation was about her long battle with her yo-yo weight. I was fascinated, also because I've always liked Michael Jackson...and while I've NEVER been a fan of celebrity autobiographies, I ordered the book online on Tuesday.

2. My friend and I were lamenting about Borders closing all over Chicago, and "Hey! I didn't get my Borders Rewards 40% off coupon today, wth?!?!" So we're chatting and I'm seeing that Borders online has the book for $15.99, approximately 40% of the list price. Always the bargain hunter, I said "let's see what's going on at Amazon...$13.99?!" One click later (and with my Prime membership) I'd ordered the book. The irony of my wondering what was going on with Borders as I ordered from Amazon hit me a few minutes later, lol.

1. My Amazon prime membership gives me free 2-day shipping. Rockin' Amazon got me my book yesterday, though. I started reading last night, and while it's not particularly well written, I can appreciate it anyway. So far it's a lot about her body image and the roots of her odd relationship with food. Who am I to complain about how something's written? If you're still reading this snoozefest of a blog post, I should be grateful, right?!

:)

Bonus 1. I need to get back on track with my eating. I'm drawing a line in the sand. Right here. Those two cookies I just ate? (yes, at 6am.) That's it. It stops here.

So Annoyed

2011-02-04T20:49:00.003-06:00

Can I complain for a moment? Thanks, I knew you wouldn't mind. I'm sick of the snow. I've not had a good workout since Tuesday. I realize it's only Friday. Wednesday I shoveled (ok, I guess that's a good workout.) Yesterday I ventured out while the rest of the family stayed home, I trudged 2 blocks through half-shoveled terrain at 2 degrees in the morning, took the bus and train to work, climbining multiple sets of stairs while catching two different trains, only to walk along more unshoveled paths to work. Then, I did the same in reverse on the way home. (ok, I guess that's technically a good workout, too.)

By the time I got to the treadmill last night to do my "long" run scheduled for 3 miles, I was beat and only did 1 mile. 1 stupid mile. I was exhausted.

And then today, because yet again I couldn't get the car out, I stayed home. Too cold, and too rough of a terrain to try and take the girls to school, which had finally opened back up.

So, I worked from home. For nearly 10 hours. DAMN! And now I know I should get on the treadmill for at least SOMETHING. A walk, even? So tired.

Sigh. Stay tuned. Maybe a walk will do me good. Tomorrow I'm going to try and get the car out and off the block, the street is looking like my beloved Honda Civic might actually make it to the main thoroughfare 2 blocks away. The girls have ballet, which buys me 45 precious minutes to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING if I want. (Hopefully there will be a place to park over there with all the extra snow.)

Anyhoo, thanks for listening to me bitch and moan.

p.s. On a good note, I've stayed within my points all week, despite the urge not to.

CTRL-ALT-DEL

2011-01-30T18:04:00.004-06:00

According to Wikipedia, Control-Alt-Delete (often abbreviated to Ctrl-Alt-Del, also known as the "three-finger salute")[1][2][3][4][5] is a computer keyboard command on IBM PC compatible systems that can be used to reboot the computer, and summon the task manager or Windows Security in more recent versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It is invoked by pressing the Delete key while holding the Control and Alt keys: Ctrl+Alt+Delete. It forces a soft reboot, brings up the task manager (on Windows and BeOS) or a jump to ROM monitor. In most X desktops it brings up the Logout dialog. These keys are sometimes referred to in computer manuals as interrupt keys, since they are often used to interrupt the operation of a malfunctioning program.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So you might have been wondering where I've been. Ok, maybe not since I'm not sure who is actually paying attention to this blog anymore since I barely do. You might also think that those two recent WW weigh-ins could not be possible. Believe me...it's possible, and they're TRUE. FOR. FUCKING. SHAME.

See what had happened wuzzzzzz...
-continued work stress
-no vacation even though I had one scheduled in late December that never happened, due to said stressors.
-no working out at all (b/c I was ggetting up at 4am to work before GOING to work, then working all day, then coming home and collapsing into a heap after fixing dinner.

Then one blessed Friday night work finally eased up, and the girls and dude went off to Champaign for 24 hours. I should have gone to the gym. I should have gone to WW at the ass-crack of dawn that next morning (please excuse my language, or do yourself a favor and just stop reading my blog.) But no. I rented 3 movies. I watched them. I slept in. Then I went to the movies and saw 2 more movies.

Overall, I did not work out for 14 days in January. (still have somehow managed to get in 50+ miles, a minor miracle.) And before now, I never understood those weirdos at WW meetings who rave "OHMYGAWD I just LOOOOOOOOOOVE peanut buter." I was always like "yeah, whatever. why can't you just put it down?" Then all of the sudden my girls started liking PB&J sandwiches (remember that new year's resolution to start packing our lunches 4 out of 5 days? yeah, well we tried new things.) And goodness gracious, St. Ignatius, if that Skippy Creamy PB isn't the best stuff ever?!?! I've since put it down, but I've had more PB&J sandwiches and all out spoonfulls of PB in the past month than I've had in probably my entire life. Ok, well maybe not THAT many, but definitely a lot.

So last Monday night when my co-worker asked if I could drop her off at her WW meeting I decided, ya know, it's time to see what the damage. I argued with myself that it wouldn't be so bad. It would be this strategic way of getting back on the wagon. What, with having eaten crazily, going to weigh in at the END of the day (we all know that can account for an additional 3 to 5 pounds), wearing regular clothes instead of my standard "weigh-in outfit, well it wouldn't be my true weight, and that the next time I weighed in, it would be a loss no matter what. (Yes. I have a sick, sick mind.) The idea was that since I wouldn't be able to weigh in on Saturday at my usual meeting, I'd wait until the NEXT Saturday. So I weighed in and saw 206.2. I rationalized that maybe I was really around 203 or 202. That was more palatable, and to be honest, not knowing for sure made it easier. (I'm a sick one, eh?)

I got home from picking the girls up that evening, packed their lunches, laid out their clothes, my clothes, AND my workout clothes. And at 4:30am on Tuesday thru Friday, I made my way to the gym, hitting the elliptical and treadmill. Yes, I could workout on my treadmill at home, but there's something to be said for "peace of mind" and realizing that no little 5 year old is going to come tugging at my sleeve to interrupt. Plus the bright lights of the gym make me feel like I'm supposed to be there, not the dull, lifeless atmosphere in my basement. Shhhhh! Shhhhhh! You'll wake someone!! On Thursday I went all out, and ran 3 miles STRAIGHT, which I can't even recall the last time I did that. It's been awhile. I went to the gym again yesterday (but at 8am, much more reasonable), skipping my usual 6:30am WW meeting because I was tired.) I generally stayed on points, although in something totally new, I pretty much ate every activity point I earned..I was SO hungry at night.

But last night (Saturday night), I could feel myself slipping. That self-destructive thinking that sounds a little like this: "Oh, go ahead and order some pizza. You can eat the whole damn thing, you don't have weigh-in until next Saturday." I needed some kind of meeting. Maybe I should weigh in. So this morning, I snuck out of the house while the cherubs and dude slept, and went to WW. 198.8, down 7.4, but still up a bit from my lowest. That's ok. I'm cool. And after weighing in, I went grocery shopping, and came home and made a points friendly breakfast. GASP. And then walked on the treadmill (easy, light day) for a nice 4 mile walk. GASP. The GASPing is because I've gotten into the habit of eating a bunch of my flex points after weigh-in. Starting with a sausage mcmuffin in the drive thru a mile or so from my WW homebase center...for the love of all that is greasy and fattening, WHY ARE THOSE SO GOOD?! And $1.10 from the 99 cents value meal and Cook County taxation. A bargain! Not today though.

So...I think I'm on track. I feel good. I went back and looked at some of the meals that I like and realized I'd stopped eating: my 4 point turkey sandwich snack that was so awesomely filling. And cottage cheese (dude, it's friggin HIGH in protein!) My after-workout protein shake. Weird how you skip buying something once or twice at the store, and it's like it becomes erased from your brain. ??? I'm back at the gym tomorow morning, and may not even be able to go midweek if we get the snow they're talking about...but whatever...one day at a time. right?

Sigh. I think in my "former life" I wouldn't even catch this. I would go all the way back to start, so I'm feeling ok. Minor bump in the road. Next up? 195.0, the 30 pound mark.

p.s. My race season is shaping up. I'm feeling good about this year and not the sense of dread that I had last year (in which I ended up doing NOTHING.) I've signed up for a few half marathons. I am still unsure (and maybe that means no) for the 2011 Chicago Marathon. I did enter into the NYC lottery awhile back, so we'll see what happens with that. I kind of like the idea of letting fate decide...I'll keep you posted. Of course all of this could change when 2011 Chicago Marathon registration opens on Tuesday, which they will send me 100 reminders before then.

Happy almost 2nd month of the new year.

Monday Morning Boo-Ya!

2011-01-03T13:41:00.005-06:00

So maybe you heard about this little iPhone alarm glitch. I did. I skimmed an article yesterday and my take away was that "I don't have any alarms set on repeat, so I'm fine." Reading comprehension is a beautiful thing. Apparently repeat alarms were the only ones NOT effected. So when I stayed up late watching football, news and Forensic Files, planning to get up early by alarm at 5am, only to wake up at 6:58....well, hell.

Happy Monday First Day Back At School/Work/etc...

Good thing I'd at least packed all of our lunches (resolution #10) and pre-packed bookbags, work bags (resolution #4), etc...and maybe I needed the extra sleep. And in my rush, I still got dinner into the crockpot too (resolution #11). Boo-ya! Unfortunately, I have a date with the treadmill tonight instead of this morning. (resolution #13.)

Anyway, Happy Monday. Ok, I'd better get back to working more efficiently at work (resolution #4.)

Back Down Memory Lane

2011-01-01T23:22:00.004-06:00

As I ponder the training plan set forth before me, and sadly, as 2 miles of straight running seems like a lot right now, I know that this, too, shall pass. So I decided to reminisce on runs gone by. This episode, memorable weather runs:

1. Awful snow/sleet/6-inch ice puddles at the 2009 Shamrock Shuffle

2. The driving rain. One 16-mile training run, and this never-to-be forgotten race.

3. Frigid weather, a Chicago Endurance Sports Winter Warriors training run.

4. And of course the bane of my running existence. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I've never quite let the 2007 Chicago Marathon debacle go...(Just realized this blog post doesn't give the weather stats, which are all in the posts leading up to and following my race report. The weather reached 88 degrees, but high, summer-like humidity from the wee hours of the morning made it feel crazy hot even at the beginning. That with lack of water was a recipe for disaster.)

Thursday 13, Special Holiday Edition

2010-12-30T21:32:00.003-06:00

13. Run-Walk-Move
I will run or walk 1200 miles in 2011. This amounts to 100 miles each month or just under 3.3 miles per day, if I were to run or walk every day. Because I have attempted this before, I realize that this takes a real commitment. But anything higher would be far too presumptuous.

12. De-clutter
I have so much JUNK everywhere. I have all of my college notes stored in the basement from my undergrad major and minor. And every graduate course, as well. It's nuts. It's taking up space. While I may save a few history ones for old timesake, the majority must go. Maybe I'll allow myself one solitary filebox instead of 9 or 10. It's just nuts. And to be honest, this is really just the start of my clutter. I have other things saved too, like every picture I've ever taken, etc... Maybe I will digitize them. And my CDs? Time to upload the music somewhere and give away the CDs. I really listen to very few of them anyway. There's a possibility we might move this year, and it really would be a shame to move that junk again, like I did a few years ago. This includes the girls' toys as well.

11. Plan my meals.
Ok, i've gotten the hang of planning my meals for WW. But I often do something different for the girls. All of this needs to stop. One meal (for the most part) and plan a menu for the week and stick to it. If I already know that Mondays tends to be my "tired evening," then I won't plan something that requires an hour of prep time after a long day at work and hauling the girls around. So I will plan, at minimum, 4 weeknight meals. Why not 7? You don't know me. This is a huge step.

10. Stop buying lunch so much.Maybe this is cheating because I've already tried to do this to some degree. But 4 times a week I will bring my lunch from home. I currently work in the trendy Wicker Park neighborhood where good restaurants abound. Some of us in the office are moving to a new building that's just far enough away that these restaurants won't be as easy to get to. Good. This also means STOP BUYING DIET PEPSIs on the fly. (No, not drinking, but buying them at Walgreen's for $1.69 or more, when I could have better planned and bought them on sale at the grocery store. Special occasions only will I shell out $2-after tax-for my beverage of choice. Not every morning, just because.) So tell me...I bought a gift card for my favorite sandwich place because they had a holiday promotion of a free sandwhich. Does that count as "buying my lunch" if I'm not using cash anymore, if I'm using money already spent? (Is that shady? Am I being shady on my NYresolutions already? I'm not sure if that counts, I'd love your opinion.)

9./8./7. Memorial Day Weekend Kickass-ness Fitness Weekend
Something I've always wanted to do, and this year is the year:
Saturday: Soldier Field 10-Mile Run
Sunday: Bike the Drive
Monday: Ridge Run Memorial Day 5K/10K (already signed up for the 5K.) I did this run before, and it's in the lovely neighborhood of Beverly on Chicago's south side. 1 of my 2 most favorite homes in all of Chicago is located in this neighborhood. Should I ever win the lottery, I'm buying at their asking price. ;-) The picture below does it absolutely NO justice.

6. Save (more) money.
And get the girls set up with a bank account as well, an reinforce ideas of savings/spending/charity.

5. Pay off that BIG credit card.
Sheesh! I've been reading this book. Good, no-nonsense stuff that I really need to start applying.

4. Work more efficiently
Often times when I get to work, I'm so overwhelmed with things I need to get done for the girls, things related to my cookies, things related to work (fancy that), that I tend to get bogged down making to-do lists, sending emails, taking care of administrative stuff that I tell myself is to help me start the day more organized. Blah blah blah, this is bullshit. Get to work. Work more efficiently, and separate my time appropriately.

3. Speaking of my cookies.
Stop spending money on "OMG i HAVE to get that cookie cutter!" and other stuff. Start upkeeping my contact management database (which for now involves an inbox of thousands of emails...ACK!) Start marketing my cookies instead of relying on word of mouth. Word of mouth is great, but who knows how much I could really be selling? I don't, but I'd like to know. And continue to pursue local farmers markets. I need to develop a clear path. I don't have one now. It's easy to say "I don't know" about my cookie business because that means I haven't failed. Just stop it already.

2. Know when to/be comfortable with saying NO.
NO when I just can't take on another cookie order, because I have a project to finish at work and a ballet recital and a farmers market all on the same day. No, your last minute request won't do. NO when I don't want to go somewhere like the in-laws or out shopping with you or whatever. NO when I can't drop my project that I'm working on to help you find some random email you sent me 2 years ago.

1. Speaking of no....KNOW.
Know the value of my work when I price my cookies! Know that I do a great job with my girls! Know that I actually do a pretty good job at work! Know that I don't have to be perfect all the time, no one really expects that, do they? I need to remind myself of these things sometimes and act like I know that stuff. Time to stop the guesswork, I'm gonna be 40 in 2011.

I'll keep you posted with my progress every once in awhile. Mm-kay? Cool!

And what you don't see:
-lose weight (tired of resolutions. just do it already.)
-run a marathon
-read x books
-go to the gym X times/week (so i can break that when it snows 3 feet in february and the temperature dips below zero for 2 weeks straight?)

If you think YOU had a bad week...

2010-12-30T16:30:00.002-06:00

I noticed two articles on the same restaurant today...

First, I'm sure this review by trendy hipster magazine TimeOut Chicago was none too pleasing for the owners of Ole Hardwood, a new restaurant in the Chicago's South Loop neighborhood. Note the subtitle: "Sure there's smoke, but it feels like getting burned."

And then there's this: "South Loop barbecue goes up in smoke."

The Bar Method

2010-12-29T22:02:00.004-06:00

I'm so excited! Bright and early tomorrow morning I take my first of two "Bar Method" classes that I bought via Groupon. I'll let you know how it goes, right back here in this post. In the interim, here's one review of the method.

UPDATE
Ok, so strengthening, toning, stretching...that's how I'd describe the class. It's that kind of hard that when you're in there, you're like HOLY CANNOLI, THIS HURTS. But now an hour outta class, I'm all like, "I could do that again."

Body check
Arms/Shoulders=jello. I have the upper body strength of an old woman. With osteoporosis.
Thighs/Hamstrings/Hips=okay. Right now, they just feel a little tight.
Calves=they feel sad. That's the only way I can describe it. They're angry at me.
Abs=My abs are a trooper, I can go all day with abs exercises. You won't break me that easily.

Teacher/Facility
My teacher Sarah seemed knowledgable, helpful and made me feel right at home. She talked to me and one other new person after class for a few minutes, also, about how we did, what to expect if we continue, etc... The Lakeview facility is nice, and on a not to busy street (at least in the early morning when probably 2/3 of working people aren't even up because they took the week off...or something.) I liked that you keep your socks ON (ew, feet...Bikram Yoga....shudder.) I also liked that since the class is not cheap anyway, they don't continue to try and squeeze money outta you, lockers (with LOCKS) are free, and parking is validated, should you need it. And I also like that the new member special can start AFTER you've taken your first class, or in my case, used both of my groupon classes. I've been to some places (ahem-Bikram) where they're all like "MAKE A DECISION TODAY, NOW, OR YOUR CHANCE IS FOREVER LOST AND YOU'LL BE FORCED TO PAY EXORBITANT FEES LIKE THE REST OF US!!!" That's not fair. Hate that.

Others in the Class
Bad side: I felt like a bloated moose. Everybody there looked good, like they'd been doing the method for years. Or at least they weren't as big as me. Ah well. I guess that's better than going in there and seeing a bunch of huge people and wondering if this stuff even works. right? But on the flip side, more people than just the teacher were helpful. In fact, one chick next to me, turns out she's also a teacher there, helped me a few times with getting the position just so. That was cool. People seemed genuinely nice and helpful. THe other new girl had on a Big 10 shirt like I did (mine: Illinois, hers: Indiana-boo) so we chatted for a bit about that and the class, etc... I'm rambling. Overall, the people were nice and didn't make me feel like I shouldn't be there.

Miscellaneous
1. I liked that I left class and could still maybe run an errand or something if I wanted, unlike Bikram, when upon leaving I look like I just ran 5 miles in the Sahara. With a heart condition. And no water.

2. I stretched my back and shoulders just so, that my old raggedy sports bra unhooked! ACK! Nobody knew why I left the room for a minute, but how embarrassing. Time to toss that one. :) Shhhh, don't tell anyone, that was kinda embarrassing. (Please note: Moving Comfort sports bras are awesome. But this one might possibly be about 4 years old, which is shameful. With as much running as I've done since I discovered them in late 2006, there's just no excuse. They do have a lifetime expectancy, you know. One human year is like 4 decades in the life of a sports bra.

Anyway, that's my assessment. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. (insert evil grin here.)

Tired.

2010-12-28T23:30:00.001-06:00

Just. plain. tired.

December 26, 1979

2010-12-26T20:58:00.002-06:00

The day after Christmas, when I was 8, I remember eating and eating and eating until I was sick. Someone familiar with the popcorn lover in me gave me one of those huge tins of popcorn. This one had cheese, caramel and "plain" (butter). And even though I knew I shouldn't, and even though I had gone way past the point of being hungry, I kept eating until the whole thing was GONE. I kept eating because it tasted so good! I keep eating because I could! I kept eating because it was mine and ALL mine! And within a few hours of scarfing down that last handful of popcorn I was sick. Sick as a dog!

And some 31 years later, I still have this unhealthy relationship with food, at times. Eating because I can, and no one is going to say "Hey, haven't you had enough?" And even if someone did, honestly, I'd be pissed anyway...I mean, who are you to play food police with me?!

The holidays are hard. This past week has been one of those hard weeks. And while I didn't manufacture extra space in my stomach for that slice of Key Lime Pie yesterday that I really wanted to have, I did have too much macaroni and cheese at dinner...and I did nibble multiple times on so many of the 5 different cookie recipes I made throughout the week. Sigh.

But I won't let one bad week translate into "well, I'll just start over after New Year's," or some other lame excuse. Counting points again today. Sigh. It's not rocket science.

Is it?

I would if I could, but I can't so I won't

2010-12-19T20:11:00.008-06:00

It's just December, but we've had more than our share of frigid temps. It's not even winter technically, give us a break. I swear if I could comfortably do this, I would:

My cat, channeling my inner lazy.

The jig is up.

Something's fishy

2010-12-17T18:47:00.003-06:00

So, I'm starting to think that the race directors of the Chicago Marathon are working to change the date of the marathon. They've had this "the tentative date of the 2011 Marathon" thing up on their FB page and on the 2010 page. In all my years of paying attention to the marathon, which was well before I started running it, they never spoke in such uncertain terms. And since the 2007 debacle, it's been relatively hot at the marathons.

But I submit to you, it can be just as COLD in October as well. In fact, the 2006 marathon (October 22) had temps in the 30s and windy. Here are two takes on that one. Chicago weather is always weird. While we've hit a streak of hot ones, I think it would be a mistake to switch the date. Knowing CHicago, if they switch the date, it's going to be perfect weather on 10/9/11, the original date.

Guess we'll wait and see. But in my mind, the ONLY reason there's this wait is because it's a HUGE deal to shut down all those city streets ALL OVER my beloved city. Changing the date likely takes serious wheeling and dealing at the city.

That is all...

World's Worst Blogger

2010-12-17T18:18:00.003-06:00

How dare I start Thursday 13 and miss on just the 2nd week! That's really pathetic.

How dare I have a GAIN for the first time, and not even share it. I had my whole post planned out, too. So I gained .6 last week. And I followed my points to the "t". I'm sure it was the multiple all-nighters for work again. (All-nighter at Age 35+ is defined as taking a short nap, to arise at some ungodly hour like 1 or 2am and staying up until the normal time you would go to bed the next night.) It's not an all-nighter in the traditional sense of the collegiate "I went to three classes all semester, I'd better pull an all-nighter to get this research paper done," but hey. So anyway, I figure my weight gain had to do with a combination of:

--multiple all nighters for work
--not drinking enough water
--two last minute treadmill jaunts.

Normally I'm good about drinkning my water. But as I struggled with wrapping up multiple projects at work, I found myself glued to my desk. The whole day would go by, and I wouldn't have even gotten halfway through my 32 ounce water bottle. WTH? I did this just about every day at work last week.

So when I woke up on Saturday morning and saw my puffy fingers, I knew it probably wasn't going to be much of a loss. Alas...a gain.

So I was going to tell you that I would exercise no matter what, that I'd drink at least three of my 32 ounce water bottle fill-ups, and that I'd get more sleep.

So here's what I ACTUALLY did:
--did NOT pull any all nighters for work
--pulled ONE all nighter for my cookies
--drank about 2.5 to 3 water refills each day
--exercised ONCE.
--went to a holiday party Sunday evening and stayed within my points
--in some sort of post-traumatic holiday party disorder, I went crazy Monday night and ate macaroni and cheese, two big bowls of ice cream, and chips & salsa

Double WTH?!?!?!?!

So even though I know this is a silly game of tit for tat, I resolved to eat lower on my points for a few days, opting to eat about 23 points for 3 days. We'll see what happens tomorow at weigh in. Loss or no loss, I'm not repeating the madness of this week, either.

This coming week at work will be busy, but not crazy...and then I'm off the following week. I'm looking forward to getting back on a regular schedule for exercising.

Rambling....

Thursday Thirteen #1

2010-12-09T13:31:00.001-06:00

So I'm starting a new "thing." Thursday 13 is a weekly meme with one goal in mind: Write/blog a list of 13 things every Thursday. There's a gang of people doing this, although I really only follow one. Her blog's a fun read, especially if you have lofty running ambitions. I don't know her, don't believe we've ever had any discourse even by way of blog comments, but I really admire her. Anyway, here goes:

Thirteen Things About Me: an introductory Thursday Thirteen

13. I have a wicked memory. I remember birthdays of friends I haven't seen since the 6th grade. I remember the date of my parent's first date. (Sept 19th.) I remember crap other people forget about, like the Saturday night TV lineup in the late 1970s (Emergency; Love Boat; Fantasy Island) or the fact that the in the first few episodes of the Cosby's, there were four kids, not five.

12. Speaking of TV, I love it. It's been a friend to me. Different Strokes told me that I was not, in fact, the only black child being raised in a white family. A Different World befriended me as I worked three jobs and 16 hours a day in order to pay off my college debts so I could go back, buckle down and graduate...it was the ONLY show I watched that one crazy fall of 1992. I will probably never kill anyone for many reasons, one being that I'd hate to think I got away with it, only to be caught by the teeth impressions in my gum that I threw away at the scene of the crime, like on Forensic Files.

11. I'm adopted. I'm black (ok, black and white). My adopted family is white. Hilarity ensues.

10. I like Christmas Carols. I'm the annoying one who listens to those "all Christmas Songs, all the time" radio stations in between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

9. I secretly love the bitter cold. There's something about going about your day with single digit temperatures and below zero wind chill factors that makes you feel like a total bad ass. There's no room for error, you get in, you get out. Or you get frostbite. Plus, you're focused so hard on the mechanics of dealing with the cold that you forget about other trivial things like "I hate work," or "Mondays suck."

8. I bake cookies. And sell them. It doesn't pay the bills just yet (ok maybe a small bill or two), but who cares. This weekend I'm appearing at my first ever Farmers Market, I'm so excited!! (Indoor market!) I'm on the verge of signing an agreement with a commercial kitchen. Things are looking up? Got a holiday gathering or birthday or something coming up? Think about ordering some cookies. (Personally, I like my Valentine hearts the best.) Ok ok, enough of the shameless plug. (Sorry!)

7. I like/hate to run. I've run two marathons and a host of other shorter distances. Most of you already know this, as the initial purpose of this blog was to track my running. And weight loss. Several times over. I go in spurts and I'm not a very good runner. I think deep-down I don't consider myself a "real" runner.

6. I'm a slow runner. This is part of the reason I have this complex about whether or not I'm a "real" runner. I have other friends who run just as slowly, but aren't struggling. I have other friends who run marathons at a 7:45 pace. That makes me feel like a JOKE. Those Pearl Izumi ads didn't help that much, either. Someday I'll get over it.

5. Weight loss. I'd like to tell you that I spent most of my 30's overweight, which would be true. Got married at 32, pregnant within a month (not the plan) and the scales went up (and a little down) ever since. Two kids later, and five years after the last kid, I'm still way over weight. And let's be real, I had moments on the scale in my 20's that resembled a car ride in the mountains. Up and down, up and down. I'd like to enter into my 40's as fabulous as ever...and just stay there, once and for all. Sheesh! p.s. I remember joining WW the first time and I weighed 153 pounds. Lost 15 pounds, too. Damn.

4. I love cities. I grew up outside of Chicago (west suburbs) and always dreamed of living in Chicago. For many years I dreamed of going to NYC. I now live in Chicago, and went to grad school in NYC. Whenever I take time off from work, it usually includes at least a short trip to NYC. Before having kids/married, I went back at least once every 2 or 3 months. My favorite vacations have been in urban areas, as opposed to camping or beaches or deserts. I studied urban planning in graduate school, and history in undergrad (where I most enjoyed learning about how cities developed.) Some of my favorite cities besides Chicago and New York include: New Orleans (been there 3 times), London (once), and Denver (once). Cities on my to-do list include: Boston, Seattle, SanFran (as an adult, this time), Paris and Amsterdam.

3. I love sports. Some of them, anyway. Since I can remember, I've loved the Chicago White Sox (baseball). I vaguely recall being told that my dad got me into sports because I showed some sort of interest (read: stepped in the way of the television during a game) when my older brother showed none. Unlike any of my friends, I will listen to an entire game on the radio or watch one on tv. I have admitted that the moment the Sox won the world series was one of the top five best moments in my life. I am also an avid football fan, though I love several teams. I also like to bet on teams. (In a harmless, non-losing my house kinda way.) In 1999, I ran an illegal football pool at work (city government, mind you,) in which I corralled over a bunch of players from this cheesy "numbers" game they played that required the luck of landing on the right number at the end of the game. (e.g. As #3, you won if the home team had 3, 13, 23 points at the end of the game. Color me unimpressed.) So "The REAL Football Pool" went on for 4 or 5 years until I left that job. A highlight in the unauthorized pool was wrangling in participants from the mayor's office. I currently play a small, 3-person pool that consists of me and two friends from college, they're like my brothers. We shoot-the-shit every week as we make our picks, and it's a good way to keep in touch.

2. I am addicted to diet pepsi. Morning, noon and night. Please, no speeches about "you should get more water," because quite frankly, I drink more water than I do diet pepsi. I still drink way too much. And I'm ok with that for now, although I've been known to swear off of it. I gave it up for lent once...and started drinking Hawaiian Punch. Another time I gave it up for NINE FRIGGIN WEEKS. But then one day the Cubs beat the Sox in the Crosstown Classic and it drove me to drink again.

1. I like to write. Ok, that is super lame. 13 things can be hard to come up with when it's about myself. But i DO like to write, and sometimes I'm actually ok at it. Hmm, this 13 things thing is going to be as much a writing test as it will be fodder for my blog. My friend Lou is a fabulous blogger and writer, and I have another friend who writes very well in the hopes of writing a script someday. He tells me all about his ideas and what he's working on. But he won't show me the actual work. That makes me mad. A little, anyway.

GASP!!!! She MOVED!!!!

2010-12-09T09:49:00.001-06:00

I found a smidgen of time and actually exercised this morning. It's been two weeks. Ok, 13 days, to be exact. (smh)

(shaking my head.)

untitled post

2010-12-05T23:07:00.002-06:00

well, wrapping up week one on the new program...i like it, i think i did fairly well, though my weight loss was kinda "eh." rough week at work, ended up working two very long days on wednesday and thursday nights, getting up at about 2:30am each day and working straight through the entire next day. that and no exercise. but i DID stay on points. Plan to make it to the treadmill or some for of exercise this week. and get more sleep.

cheerio!

Reporting on Day 1

2010-11-29T22:08:00.003-06:00

Ummmmm....that was EASY!!! It's weird, but even though some points went up. Like WAY up, I'm feeling full. How could this be? Gonna keep this short and sweet. Got my Old Navy fleece pajamas on, so sleep is calling. Looking forward to Day #2. (Ok, I guess technically I just completed Day #2, but it feels like #1, since it's the first day with e-tools up and running.) I have NO idea how some people can do this without e-tools or mobile apps. I just don't like writing this stuff out. Surely there are those who feel the exact opposite of me, and together we all make the WW-world go 'round!

G'nite, I hope you all fared well!

Introducing: Weight Watchers PointsPlus

2010-11-28T10:48:00.007-06:00

So as mentioned in the post below, I ventured out early this morning into the cold, urban tundra that is Chicago to see about this rumored new and improved program. As I approached my WW center, I noticed quite a few more cars than yesterday morning. The place was packed. I "checked in," because all members coming this week have to check in, regardless of whether or not you're weighing in or not. I was handed a new PointsPlus Getting Started book, a pocket guide, weight record and weekly journal. (ACK! Gimme my new iPhone app NOW, please.) Even before the meeting, I decided to buy the points calculator (half off for now) because even though my iPhone app will have it, I just won't be able to easily eyeball things, etc...and this week could prove to be hell without it, should my app not be up and running right away. $5 for sanity, even if just a week, is fine with me. I'm rambling...

New Gear

So upon checking in, I got my new points target, which is 30. That number meant nothing to me. Could be a lot, could be nothing, could be about the same. The new points values consider fat, fiber, protein and carbohydrates. No calories. The Getting Started guide says that "PointsPlus values take into account the energy after you've processed a food." (page 38.) See below:

As such, some foods that you eat will go up tremendously, others will go down, and some will stay the same. The example here shows how much microwave popcorn is effected. I calculated by super-duper lean ground beef (96/4) and it actually went down. My cheese I use for tacos stayed the same. (which really means it went down, since my points went up, right?) My favorite protein drink went up by 1, but again, my daily points went up.

There's gonna be a whole lotta calculating going on in the next few weeks! I personally don't mind. It's good to re-tool, and I guess I sorta feel that after having reached a cool milestone yesterday (under 200 + 25 pounds gone), now's as good a time as any to change. Some people at the meeting were livid. "Does this mean the 1 point bars I bought on sale yesterday are now higher? That's false advertising!" "This is STUPID!" "Not counting calories? That's a mistake!" Now I'm not making any conclusions, but all of those mad seemed to be on the other side of 60. I'm just reporting observations, no conclusions. Make your own assumptions. (ahem.)

Like I mentioned above, I bought the new calculator if for nothing else, to save my sanity for this week. I mean, technically I should be doing the old program until next Saturday since, in theory, that's what the rest of them are doing. But I will tell you what, I want to be able to use my iPhone app the moment it updates. My iPhone notice said it'd be a couple of days. At the meeting they said all smart phones will be up to speed by next Monday. (side eye glance.) E-tools switch over tomorrow, which is supposed to include all of your recipes re-calculated. Guess we'll see about that. In the interim, I'm walking around with this little number that looks kinda like a birth control pill pack from the outside.

I calculated my breakfast and what I plan to eat for the remainder of the day, sans my chicken/cheese soup. I'm just gonna wing it and see how it re-calculates tomorrow via e-tools.

What is super cool is that most fruits and veggies are now 0 points. We were told by WW leader Jennifer (she seemed cool!!) that the stipulation is that we eat to be satisfied, not stuffed. (errr, ok. I could eat my weight in black grapes.) Note that this is SOME fruits and veggies, and sadly, not avocados. WAHHHH! But I didn't for one second think that those would be one of those freebies. A girl can dream though, can't she? Anyway, on the way home I picked up some bananas. To add to my beloved Clementine cuties already on my kitchen counter. ;)

Other important notes about the new program:
*We still earn activity points
*I think we all re-set to a new 5% and 10% goal.
*Those 35 flex points are increased to 49 points
*Every meeting this week will be an introductory meeting
*E-tools up and running Monday 11/29
*All smartphone apps completed by next Monday 12/6

So, that's pretty much what I found out this morning. My WW leader yesterday said that the reason they started this now during the holiday season is because WW members who come during this time of the year are generally more dedicated to the program. They will try it out, and then by the time the new year rolls around and you have to arrive 20 minutes early just to get a seat in your meeting (due to all the New Years' resolutions,) you'll be able to say how great the program works. And you won't be bombarding WW staff with 1,001 questions at the same time a bunch of newbies are. (I added that one, they didn't say that.) I mean, really though...imagine if they did this in January and a bunch of new members see established members looking worried and in disarray.

Let me know how the new program works for you, I will do the same!

Unveiling the New Weight Watchers Plan: POINTS PLUS

2010-11-27T18:14:00.005-06:00

So I went to my usual WW meeting today, which is T minus 1 day until the new WW program is officially unveiled. I CAN tell you that it is called Points Plus, which is what our leader told us. (I'd heard already that it would either be that or something similar. There's all sorts of information if you google it, but still not 100% details.) What seems pretty clear to me is that the new points equation involves fat, fiber, protein and carbs. Anyway, at my center, the first meeting is at 7:30am, likely before the girls wake up (especially since I'm going to keep them up late tonight ON PURPOSE FOR THIS REASON), so I'm gonna go find out the deal. I'll post here back here as an update tomorrow morning. :) I'm not too worried, as I'm a huge fan of protein and have inserted many different options into my artillery of filling foods: turkey, chicken, 96/4 lean ground beef, and EAS myoplex protein shakes (check the awesome stats). The only thing I'm worried about is supposedly my iPhone app will go down at some point, and may not come back online for a few days. wha-wha-wha WHAAAAAAAAAT? Say it ain't so! See ya tomorrow, to whomever may be reading.

UPDATE: Going to do a new post instead of an update. (I mean, if you're looking. You probably should have already seen that.)

Sticker Shock

2010-11-26T17:45:00.005-06:00

Once featured as one of Oprah's favorite things, yes, Garrett popcorn really IS that good. I've been digging in (on occasion) for many years. The only flavor that's worth it is the "Chicago Mix," which is a caramel/cheese mix. Just when you can't take the savory "gooey" cheese, a sweet crunchy taste of sugary goodness flips the script on your tastebuds. It's incredible. It's best when served warm, right after it's made. It turns your fingertips orange. It's not cheap. It's well worth the wait--(lines have been known to wrap around the corner and cost you 30 to 45 minutes of your life.) But it's a 45 minutes and $6 to $20 well spent.

So while out doing what one does on Black Friday (read: spend too much money) the girls and I were at Navy Pier, which is pretty much a tourist trap I never set foot in, except we met friends for a trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop and the Chicago Children's Museum, so it was ok. My friend decided to pick some Garrett's up as we left, and the girls claimed they wanted some too. Got a large bag. They didn't eat it, they were too preoccupied with their "bears" (which weren't even bears.) So now I have this LARGE bag sitting on the table downstairs. Maybe I'll have some tomorrow....flex points, ya know?

So I went to their website and HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have the "nutrion"al info all there. 3/4 of a cup is 170 calories, TWELVE grams of fat, and 2 grams of fiber. 4 points. Who eats 3/4 cup of popcorn? The small bag is probably at least 6 cups. I have no idea what that large bag is sitting downstairs. At 6 cups (essentially 8 servings), my trusty iPhone WW app tells me it's 34.5 points. wha-wha-wha WHAT?! That's one week's flex points that I could devour in a very short time, I'm sure.

That-there bag will be eaten by others. Not even sure if I wanna waste my flex points on that. I mean, it's good, but I also kinda like spreading my extra flex points out over Saturday and Sunday. It "feels" like cheating when it's not.

Wow. Special occasion flex point kinda thing, I guess. Yeesh!

Nerves of a Wet Noodle: Part II

2010-11-24T12:16:00.010-06:00

Ok...so it's been a weird week. Have barely made time to work out (just Sunday) though I plan to this evening, tomorrow and Friday. These fall-colored M&Ms and Brach's Autumn Mix candies have been calling my name from the kitchen. Solution! I packed them all up today. Some went to the first grade Thanksgiving hullabaloo, the others in the kitchen at work, in a bowl, with spoon next to it and paper cups. They're gone and I can't hear them anymore. YAY!

"Just one of me won't hurt!"

"Just a few, just eat 1 point worth! C'mon, you can stop when you want!"

Since we last spoke, i've still been obsessing. You haven't missed a beat. Here's what I have already journaled* in my food diary for the big day tomorrow:

MORNING:
2 pieces of Healthy Life white bread (1 point)
2 egg whites, seasoned with salt and pepper (1/2 point)
1 american cheese slice, 2% (1 point)
Total Points: 2.5 points (but that protein will keep me satisfied for a bit.)

MIDDAY (also known as "gametime")
1.5 cups cooked collard greens (1 point)
4 ounces turkey breast, roasted, no skin (3 points; turkey you ROCK)
4.5 ounces Honey Baked Ham brand (8 points and worth EVERY BIT OF IT, mmmm)
2 servings (1 cup) Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, a WW recipe (1 point)
1/2 cup Stove Top Stuffing (pretty sure we're getting box version) (4 points)
Total Points: 17 deeeeeeeelicious points.

EVENING
3 ounces Honey Baked Ham (brand) (5 points)
2 servings (1 cup) Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, a WW recipe (1 point)
1 cup fresh spinach (0 points)
1 small tomato, cut (0 points)
1 T FF balsamic vinaigrette dressing (0 points)
Total Points: 6 points

That's a 1/2 point over. I guess I won't quibble about a half a point on Thanksgiving. I feel good about this now. I will report back to you on how I do! Wish me well!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

*Is it really journaling if you're doing it via the WW app on your iPhone? Hmmm

UPDATE: I did great! While I didn't stick 100% to my already journaled plan above, I improvised. Here's how it went down. The dressing (stuffing) was not Stove Top--not that that's my preference anyway--but it looked like a lot of calories. I decided since it may/may not be great, why waste the points on it? There were also deviled eggs. Which. I. Love. So I had that instead, and dropped my soup as well. Then instead of leftovers for dinner, I just really didn't feel like it. I had a bag of 94% FF microwave popcorn instead. And that was it! Hooray. Tomorrow is weigh-in, let's see what happens.

UPDATE #2: I lost 2.0 pounds this week, but better than that, I hit the 25 pound mark AND went below 200. Yay!

Nerves of....a wet noodle?

2010-11-21T21:29:00.003-06:00

What's a WW'er to do? Thanksgiving is coming! On Thursday. You might already be aware of that factoid. And Saturday is weigh-in day. Usually on Thursdays I'm mindful about what I eat even more than the rest of the week. Ya know, like that can of soup with 67% of my recommended salt intake for one serving..that's something I tend to avoid on Thursdays or Fridays so as not to get one of those nasty "I'm retaining water" artificial weight gains. I'm mean yeah, it's artificial, but it's still disappointing. So you can just imagine all of the potential pitfalls on the upcoming Thanksgiving thursday are playing over and over in my head.

At the meeting this past Saturday we discussed t-giving strategies. Here's a few mentioned by my fellow WW'ers, relative to the actual dinner (not cooking/tasting strategies; eating breakfast instead of skipping; etc):

1) I've planned exactly what I'm going to eat, and I'm going to stick to it.
2) I'm going to exercise more so I have extra points
3) I'm going to save all my flex points and use them all.
4) I'm not going to take any leftovers

YIKES. That #3 is scary to me. Yes, it's Thanksgiving, and technically yes, I could use all my flex points, but I just can't have a gain on Saturday, a mere two days later. Why? Again, mentally it's no good for me. Secondly, I'm soooo close to 25 pounds down, and being under 200. I want that! I don't wanna wait another week (unless I legitimately lose less, not because of stuffing my face 2 days prior.) And third and most importantly, I know myself. I might eat that 35 in side dishes and desserts along, and keep going in that kind of setting. And you might say it's just one week's weigh in, but it's only gonna get harder. The very next DAY after my Saturday weigh-in, the WW program is changing to its new-fangled version. Maybe adjusting to the program will be difficult and take adjusting. And the week after that is my work holiday party with food galore. And of course, there will be other invitations to events. With food. So I'd rather just aim to keep it all together and keep doing what I've been doing. Flex points only on the weekend, and after weigh-in, of course.

So here are my personal strategies:
1) I'm not having one BITE of macaroni and cheese (because I simply can't do it, and I will end up eating 2 over-sized servings worth. Well, and also because (hallelujah) no one is making it, and i didn't offer!)

2) I'm going to fill half of my plate with veggies, and 1/4 stacked with meat that i've secretly weighed in a discreet place in the kitchen. This includes turkey and my special treat, Honey Baked Ham. Mmmmm. Thanks, Dottie, for the points calculations!

3) I will have 1/4 of my plate for other stuff, which i will play by ear, but choose wisely.

4) I plan to take leftovers ONLY of the meat and veggies. Real veggies, not that bean, cream of mushroom, fried onions casserole.

Late last night, I added one more "strategy." I will use absolutely no flex points, because they're NONE AVAILABLE. Nipped that notion in the bud real quick, using my flex points at an informal Mom's Night gathering for all the first grade Moms. Enjoyed every single one of those points, too. Shake your head if you want, but like I said...I'm gonna keep going with what's been working for me on this journey until it doesn't work anymore.

Obsessively yours,
Lindy

UGH! What a weekend!

2010-11-14T20:27:00.003-06:00

I will keep the details brief:

Friday
-clean, Clean, CLEAN!

Saturday-WW weigh in...I won't complain I won't complain I wont complain, a loss is a loss is a loss.

-Jada's ballet class (morning). Rush rush rush, last minute details prepared. Party prep and stress in full effect. Jada's afternoon Holiday Show ballet rehearsal. Zoe's birthday party. 18 kids, 17 adults.

Sunday-Cookie order for 100 cookie favors. Delivered by noon. And finally a chance to relax, FOOTBALL for the remainder of the day.

I'm in the bed, halfway paying attention to this Steelers-Patriots game, and sort of thinking I should hop on the treadmill for a few. Hmmm. Watch the box on the right and see if something shows up for 11/14...

Calling all WW'ers...share your insight...

2010-11-11T19:53:00.006-06:00

So as I travel down this WW journey once again, I realize that you really have to make the program "yours." What works for you might just not work for your friend. That two-bit snack she eats may send you into a dizzying spiral of chocolate transgressions. Rather than telling people what they should do, I'm just going to share what works for ME. Won't you tell me some of your "secrets" too? Maybe I can learn another little helpful trick that makes it work. Maybe something will stick for someone else.

Here are some things that I'm finding are really helping me:

**Protein! I used to fear eating meat. But I've found that if I don't have protein, I tend to snack. I aim for a nice dose of protein in the morning (protein shake, or a few slices of lunchmeat turkey) and make sure lunch and dinner involve lowfat protein as well. If I'm feeling especially hungry, I may opt for turkey or cottage cheese as a snack. Yes! Cottage cheese has a surprising amount of protein!

**Fast Food. I'm a fast food junkie. While I may not eat the traditional McD's or BK a lot, I do like some local fast food options that include Potbelly Sandwiches and Jimmy John's, and I'm a big fan of Chipotle. I've taken the time to figure out points for a few menu items on their company websites or other sources, and I don't deny myself their food. And contrary to my own prior thinking, I can actually have Chipotle WITHOUT GUACAMOLE. I even tried my usual option without cheese, but then i decided it's never THAT serious. A non-negotiable? I always, ALWAYS get the rice. Worth. Every. Point. My newest find? Doggonit, those Subway breakfast melts (egg whites) are really good. And cheap!

**Flex points. We get 35 points to "play" with. I eat EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Gasp? Really, I do. I weigh in on Saturday mornings, and at the same time my points re-set and I get my new extra 35 points. I use them all. My rule is that whatever is not used by Sunday night, I pretend they're gone anyway. In my few short weeks back on plan, there was only one time that I didn't use them all.

**Activity points. On the flip side, I aim to earn about 20 APs per week. I don't eat a single one. Ok, that's a lie, because I did eat ONE a few weeks back. I dunno, I sort of feel that is the "punishment" for voraciously gobbling up those flex points. Once I really get back to running longer distances, I will begin to think about eating APs again.

**WW products. I kinda think they're a waste of money, especially the two point/one point bars. They are pretty pricey, and you can find equally as tasty items in similar point ranges at the store. (KUDOS, for example.) But overall, those kinda of sweets tend to send me over the edge anyway. Plain and simple, it's hard for me to stop at 1. A 50-bar pack from Costco is a disaster waiting to happen.

So what are your own personal tricks of the trade? Care to share?

Change of scenery

2010-11-11T19:47:00.002-06:00

My blog looks different. Do you like it? I think the birds are a little weird, it makes me want to sound off my duck call and pull out a rifle and shoot them...and I don't even hunt. But I do like the colors. It'll do for now.

The title of my blog bothers me too. First, I've kinda decided that for now I will continue my break from running and just keep walking every morning. As dull as it is, it's easy on the joints. I will pick back up running in early 2011, right now my focus is to continue on with WW and earn at least 20 activity points each week, which is no easy feat when I'm pretty much walking.

But since the origin of this blog revolved around running, the Run title can stay. But the Mommy thing is kinda old too. I mean, really? Ok, I'm a mom. Everyone knows. Who cares. It's not like I'm all bad ass and still nursing while running...which I was when I first started. And Run Lindy Run is super lame too. ACK! Lacking creativity here.

Whatever. ACK. BLAHHHHHHHH. Feeling rather indifferent.

And in other running news...

2010-11-09T11:16:00.003-06:00

Yesterday the NYC Marathon people had this Marathon Monday Mania contest. Sign up for their registration lottery before 3pm EST, take a picture of yourself doing sponsor-related things, paste it to their FB page, and be one of 50 selected winners (possibly) chosen today at 12 noon EST. I'm happy to report that while I'm NOT a winner, I will be entered into the general lottery for April.

LAME Alert!!!

2010-11-09T11:05:00.004-06:00

They've posted the date for the 2011 Shamrock Shuffle, my favorite race. I'm sorry. It's bad enough that it's rarely on St. Patrick's Day (hence the Shamrock moniker.) Ahhh, dig the date. Not to mention, I may be out of town that weekend at a conference.

Don't you hate it when...

2010-10-26T21:51:00.003-05:00

...you spend all day planning to try out a new recipe...there's a long list (relatively) of ingredients that your prep, you prepare, you let things sit where they need to in the fridge, you let flavors marinate...and then when you finally taste it, it's like BLAH??!! And not to mention a whole lot of WW points that just weren't worth the BLAH-ness. Oh well. I thought I'd get to post tonight and rave about a new recipe. But instead I will spare **UNNAMED WEBSITE** the embarrassment. And no, it's not Weight Watchers.

Positive Vibes

2010-10-25T16:14:00.004-05:00

So I MEANT to write this last Friday when I was all on-top-of-the-world and stuff. :( I mean, I'm fine now, but feeling a little less than 100%. Sore throat, tired, et al. Anyhoo, so all last week I was jam-packed with lots to do, especially mid-week, where Tuesday going into Wednesday's to-do list looked like this:

-Finish presentation for big meeting on Wednesday
-Figure out what clothes the girls will wear for their school pictures
-Finish draft plan and email to client (40 pages)
-Exercise on Tuesday and stay on points
-Argue with girls about what clothes to wear for their school pictures
-Get girls up extra early to comb their long curly tresses
-DO presentation on Wednesday, but not before RACING there in fear of being late
-Continue finishing draft plan and email to client
-Stay on points even though I'd much rather be at my desk eating a box of crackers and sweets while working.
-Somehow fit in exercise Wednesday night, though exhausted. (which I did. from 11pm til just after midnight on the treadmill. File that under 1001 Reasons to Have a Treadmill.)
-Worry about this weekend. Should I weigh-in BEFORE I head off to NYC or while I'm there? Early weigh-in means only 6 days...Weighing in there is a hassle and time consuming, given I'm only there 48 hours.

BLAH BLAH BLAH, cut to the chase, RESULTS:
-Got all my work done
-Stayed on points even while stressing out at work
-Exercised each day that I aimed to at the beginning of the week
-LOST 2.8 pounds!!!

VERDICT STILL OUT:
-Whether the girls will have great school pics this year.

But wait! There's more!
So by weighing in Friday morning before my flight, I had to go to a different location. I opted for one on the north side. As I'm walking into the building, I almost got run over by some chick leaving the parking garage. (ok, not really, but we'll write it this way in the script for the movie version.) Then I see the Michigan State plates and it's MEG!!!! My running buddy Meg. I texted her as I was hurrying into the building and we chatted via text. Of course she texted only at stoplights.

So I'm in line, scoping out the unfamiliar new location (I liked it) and just as I'm about to meet my maker at the scale, someone's a-calling me. It's LOU!!!! My other running buddy (and running buddy of Meg, too.) Um...it just occurred to me. We're all friends now. Maybe I should drop the "running buddy" moniker. Anyway...so I weigh in, hooray, 2.8 down. And then I wait for Lou who is looking all fabulous and drawing stares of people who are wondering "what is SHE doing here?" So she weighs in. And. Ok, I can tell, she's had enough time to tell people so that I'm not all like taking away her celebratory moment...but she didn't make goal this week. She made goal for 6 WEEKS STRAIGHT, meaning she made "lifetime." In other words, she met her weight loss goal and has show she's hot shit and can keep it off. HOOOOOOOORAY! And it was incredibly inspiring to see her achieve that! So I was super glad to have made the decision to go to that particular location instead of my usual one. And strange that it happened without any planning amongst us. I don't think either of them normally go to WW at that time, either.

Anyway...until next time, friends.

A case of the "don't feel like it's"

2010-10-14T22:46:00.003-05:00

It's 10:46pm and I'm tired, but I promised to earn 22 activity points before my weigh-in on Saturday morning. (That's WeightWatcher-ese for you regular folk.) 5 points tonight, 5 points tomorrow. Now I can do this in about 65 minutes of walking...or quicker if I mix in some burst of running. I'm SUPER low on energy, so i guess I'll just walk it. This morning's rerun of Oprah is coming on at 11pm, hope it's interesting...chat later, just checking in.
---------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: I did a run/walk treadmill workout, alternating between running and walking and ended up with 2 miles running at 5.0mph and walking another 2 at a slow and comfy 3.4mph. Decent workout. I know there will come a time when I will laugh at needing to run/walk 4 miles, but that time is not now.

Why hello there

2010-10-11T22:35:00.002-05:00

Is anyone there? Maybe I'll start blogging again, and see if anyone's paying attention. What's happened. I haven't been running. i've gained a bunch of weight back-and then some. Hmmm. Not gonna talk about what I'm gonna do, I'll just do it. And maybe I'll blog about it.

So here's where I am: I (re)joined Weight Watchers (WW) on 9/18. I signed up for a 5k/15k race on 11/6. I'm almost sure that I will be running the 5k. Hmm.

See you sooner or later.

In other news....

2009-11-20T15:28:00.003-06:00

I went to visit a shared commercial kitchen space today...

uh.....hi?

2009-10-26T19:29:00.003-05:00

I'm still alive...I don't think I will ever write a race report for the Marathon. It's been two weeks, and I have no desire, no sense of obligation to do so at this point. The marathon is also the last time I ran. I have a 15k this Sunday, should be interesting. I've had no interest in running whatsoever, other than the interest in not feeling like crap while running 9.3 miles. Maybe I'll do the 5k instead. Maybe I'll feel just fine. Maybe I'll get in a run tomorrow morning, though it'll have to be on the treadmill. It's DARK out in the mornings right now.

Full of maybes.

->GULP<-

2009-10-07T15:44:00.002-05:00

Just in case...

2009-10-06T10:49:00.004-05:00

...you happen to live in decent driving distance to an Arby's, and could possibly find it in your heart to buy a few roast beef sandwiches on Saturday night and bring them over to my place on Sunday a/k/a Marathon Day...place them in the fridge, and maybe mid-day remove them from the fridge (because I don't like them cold, but nor do I like them reheated in the microwave)...ya know...feel free to.

And yes, PLENTY of Arby sauce. :) Please?

Tapering and stuff

2009-10-05T11:16:00.004-05:00

So I'm wavering between complete calm and chaos. I had a rough week at work last week, not rough as in staying up all night working on projects kind of rough, which I've been known to have...but just a lot on the agenda, coupled with having to get used to new daylight hours...so I didn't run after my 20 miler until a full week later! And that was on the treadmill, which is really hard getting used to, even though come the dead of winter I'll be raving about her all over again.

My "long" run this weekend was a mere 7 miles, and I swear it seemed to take forever. And my feet which have been very sore after all my long runs were KILLING ME, especially my right heel, er my calcaneus (See picture). I will not make any diagnosis and I will be running on Sunday regardless, and deal with this later. Ready for a break, but only after 26.2 miles.

20 Miles....DONE.

2009-09-26T06:55:00.007-05:00

So despite the simple fact that I haven't run a long run past 15 miles or so (my 16 ended at 15 miles...mile 18 miler also ended unceremoniously at 15), it was clear to me that I MUST get in that 20 miles. Right before that disastrous half marathon two weeks ago, I decided to sign up for CARA's Ready to Run 20-Miler supported training run, because I've run 20 miles by myself before, and I didn't want to do it again. I signed up 8 days before the run. 2 days later I thought to myself "what's that scratchiness in my throat?" and then I didn't run again for 10 days. Sigh. So while everyone else is reveling in their marathon taper, I still had work to do.

Scenario: Taking Friday off anyway, b/c the kindergartner has the day off from school. Leave extra early and start off in the dark, hubby will watch the cherub until I get back.

Truth: Middle of the night my 3 year old wakes me up and asks me if she can have some tacos. True story. She cries herself to sleep when I tell her not right now. After over an hour of pleading and crying and whining and trying to go back to sleep. (Her, not me...well, I did try to go back to sleep.)

My alarm goes off at 5am but I don't hear it. At 5:40 I wake up and try to reason with myself why I should just put off the run until Saturday...but no. The prep involved for a 20-mile run is stressful enough, so I just decided to get up. Alas, the prep work was not enough. WHERE ARE MY SOCKS???? Because I was pretty tired still, it took me nearly an hour to get out the door, including two tries at socks, because when I finally went up the creaky stairs (worried that it'd wake up the girls) I GRABBED MY HUSBAND'S ALL COTTON SOCKS ON ACCIDENT. WHY ARE HIS SOCKS MIXED UP WITH MINE?!?! Two trips up the creaky stairs!

So I get out to the lakefront, this time from 31st Street Beach, and the sun is already peaking over the horizon. :( I eventually start running, with my new iPod in tow. (Yes! I got a new iPod. My old shuffle died, I THINK that morning I ran in the pouring rain. I don't know why I didn't think about that more. I'll have to post about the whole iPod saga later...)

Miles 1 through 4.5
From the very start of my run, my nose instantly started running. My short sleeve shirt became a necessity. Throughout the ENTIRE run, I was blowing my nose into my sleeves. As I explained to my husband later, "I don't do snot rockets." Anyway, right around 2.5 miles, I started coughing like crazy!!! But I kept going. The coughing last intermittently for about 2 miles, but never enough to make me stop. It was just annoying. At one point I had to spit out some stuff, just in time for some guy to pass me by. I wonder what he was thinking, I'm sure the whole scene was disgusting.

Mile 4.5 through 10
Right at Mile 4.5, I was at Ohio Street Beach, where there is a drinking fountain. I decided to take a Gu here. As I enjoyed the scenery for a minute (beach, tall buildings, cars on Lake Shore Drive zooming by, I decided maybe I will take a few pictures during my run with my cell phone camera. Leaving the water fountain I got my first opportunity for a picture. (See pictures at the bottom of this post.)

Along these miles, I decided to take the eastern side of the path that stays right next to the lake, instead of the route I'm more familiar with, which crosses over the Drive at North Avenue, and winds through Lincoln Park. It was beautiful out, and I found myself looking down at my Garmin at the 10 Mile mark right near Wilson Avenue. That's 4800 North (and I started at 3100 South.) Whew. So I stopped at a park district bathroom, took a short break and there...and as far as public bathrooms, this one was pretty nice. I decided to take another Gu, and then also decided to "mix up" some more Gatorade. HUH, you ask? Yes, in the FIND OF THE CENTURY, I found some Gatorade Mix, NOT in the hideous lemon lime flavor, but in my favorite Riptide Rush flavor. So I mixed up three 8 ounce bottles. While it was cool to be able to do this, I will never do it in a race, and maybe never again in a training run. It took FOREVER b/c I was worried about spilling the granules, it took like 10 minutes for my whole break. Ridiculous! So finally, I was on my way back south. The first 10 miles were fairly, uh, "easy" (it's all relative). So what's 10 more? Let me say here that I was so glad to go out 10 miles, b/c it FORCED me to do 20 miles, one way or the other. I was worried that if I went less, and told myself that when I got back to my starting point, that I'd run the other way for the remainder of my miles, well, that my resolve would fade during the later miles. I know myself all too well. So an "out and back" run this would be.

Miles 10 thru 17
Terrible. I was beat. Famished. Miles 10 thru about 13.5, I walked once each mile, for about 2 minutes at a time. My goal was to just keep going...each step is a step closer to 20 miles. For the entire stretch along between Oak Street and Ohio Street Beaches, I WALKED..and up under the bridge, too. (That was about a mile and some change of straight walking. At 15 miles, my left hamstring and my right...I dunno, achilles, maybe? They started siezing up, like clenching fists. I've had this happen before, on a 20 mile run and an 18 mile run, but never this early in the run, usually towards the end. Ah...the lack of training, catching up with me. But I got myself together and run-walked, shuffling along, muscles siezing every few minutes or so.

Miles 17 thru 20
So I'm downtown again. Just 3 miles left. You can do this. (As I calculated in my head how long it would take "on-pace", for which I hadn't been on for quite some time now, and how long if I just walked it in.) I kept shuffling along, run some, walk a bit, run, shuffle, OUCH, run, shuffle, OUCH. Downtown and heading south there was some kind of benefit walk, I saw all these people in their cotton t-shirts, half of them complaining about how long the walk is. Hhmph. BTW, there were some interesting snippets of conversations I heard throughout my run, when I didn't have my iPod on:

"I wonder if Miles has a pre-nup." Two cyclists riding by.

"Margaret is the worst commander ever, she's incompetent." Two cops riding by on bikes.

"He's a filthy beast! I hate him." Two chicks walking by.

Anyway, during the last mile, I couldn't help but mentally calculate how long it would take me to complete an additional 6.2 miles on marathon day.

Overall, the run was not pretty, but I got it done. And while it would be easy to say "how on earth will I run another 6 miles on top of this," the point is that I will. When I ran that terrible half marathon the other day, I remember thinking "how on earth will I run another 7 miles on top of this for the 20-miler?"

The answer is: ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER.

And now, bring on the taper and obsessive checking of the 15-day weather forecast on accuweather.com. Because really, can we really have THREE marathons in a row where October weather hits the upper 80's? I'm going to look fate dead in the eye and say "I THINK NOT!"

p.s. I had just ONE bad cramp later in the afternoon. Just one. So I guess I hydrated well and ate enough afterwards. This has been a problem in the past.

p.p.s. I didn't eat more than I usually would during the day. But dinner? Dinner on a 20-mile kind of day: 5 tacos that included a total of about 7 or 8 ounces of meat, probably an ounce of cheese per taco, fresh garden tomatoes, spinach (try it!), two whole avocados (I kid you not) mashed up into my own homeade guacamole and.....in an ode to my dad, HEINZ KETCHUP, not taco sauce. And a banana and two Suzy Q's for dessert. I know, that's probably not a good dessert. But, in a small victory, I did NOT get up and get a Suzy Q in the middle of the night, even though they kept calling my name from the pantry all night.

Mesmerized by the glowing lights?

2009-09-24T15:59:00.002-05:00

Pretty, no? Maybe not after you read the story here. WOW.

A Comeback?

2009-09-23T09:45:00.002-05:00

I ran this morning. It was an easy 2 miles, that's all I aimed to do. My cold is better-sans the occasional coughing fit that usually takes place during the most inopportune time. But I ran it with no coughing at all, other than an "ahem" later in the morning. Cool!

Up next? Making up that 20-mile run I missed last Sunday. By my lonesome! I plan to run it Friday, since Jada is off from school. I will leave early to go run, while hubby takes care of the early morning duties until I return.

The Verdict is in...

2009-09-19T18:18:00.002-05:00

...I will not run tomorrow's 20-miler supported training run sponsored by CARA-the Chicago Area Runners Association. I woke up this morning coughing a lot. But I still was holding out hope. But after more coughing and hacking up things late this afternoon, I decided that NO run, not even a short run would do me any good.

:(

Jada is off from school next Friday, which means I have to take the day off. I might try to work something out with hubby in the early morning...or I will aim for Saturday. Not an ideal situation, but it's all I have left.

:(

The 20 Mile Run...in years past.

2009-09-18T19:19:00.003-05:00

So I checked out my solo 20 mile run in 2008, prior to running Cincy, and the one in 2007 when I ran the CARA Ready to Run 20-miler, just prior to the history-making Chicago "Heat Wave" Marathon.

I love blogging about running. It's cool to be able to look at this kinda stuff.

To run or not to run...

2009-09-18T16:31:00.004-05:00

...that is the question.

So my mom calls me up last night and when I answered the phone she says "Oh, Lindy!" as in, 'Lindy that voice sounds like a character out of Star Wars!' Then she went on to basically suggest I shouldn't be trying to run this weekend blah blah blah. She reads my blog, you see. The whole phlegm thing is probably what prompted her call.

So not having run at all this week, I'm still recuperating. Hoping for a miracle and that this cold leaves my chest. I seem to be better today, only the occasional coughing fit.

I googled "running while sick," "running with a cold," etc...and read about the "neck test", and that if your symptoms are above the neck (sore throat, headache, sniffles) and you feel ok to run, go for it. But if it's below the neck (chest, stomach, uh, bowels) sit tight. Same for a fever, and that you can't sweat out a fever by sweating. I was all like, you can't? But then they said that if your body can't regulate its temperature when you're just sitting still, how on earth will it do so when you're running? Good point.

Then in a few articles they talked about on some instances, that the added stress of running for long distances when sick is enough to kill you. Really? And I saw the reference on several sites, which kinda wigged me out.

Here are a few of the articles I read:

here

and here

and here

and this blogger/coach here.

Ok, and I guess it was all the forums (read: random miscellaneous non experts) talking about so-called heart issues.

That being said, I will wait and see how I feel tomorrow before making a decision for running the 20-miler "Ready to Run 20-Miler" with a few thousand or so other runners. SHould would be more ideal than by my lonesome. Yes. The decision should be made tomorrow, because if I have to wait until Sunday to decide, than that should tell me already that the answer is to hold off a few more days. :(

Rhetorical question...

2009-09-17T09:35:00.002-05:00

So in an email to Lou and Meg yesterday I mentioned that this cold couldn't really last into the weekend, could it?

Kiss of death.

The cold has settled into my lungs. And for a runner, that is not a good thing. FOr a runner with exercised-induced asthma and a history of respiratory issues (on occasion), it's really not a good thing.

STOP READING IF YOU ARE EASILY GROSSED OUT. CONSIDER YOURSELVES WARNED!!!!!

Rewind to last night. I took some Nyquil. Me taking cold medicine is a big deal because I don't like the feeling--I'm still in a "zone" this morning. So anyway, I slept like a ROCK. (bonus!) After 8 hours sleep, I groggily trudged to the bathroom where I suddenly coughed up a nice big ball of mucus. It was greenish yellow. Then I caught a glimpse of something in the back of my hair. I found blobs of mucus in my HAIR?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! WTH?!?!?! I don't know how it got there, all I can think of is that I must have coughed in the middle of the night and then rolled over into it?!?! I dunno, but that was very, VERY strange.

BodyBugg - just enough above my on-a-whim purchase threshold

2009-09-16T14:34:00.004-05:00

So for like the 3rd or 4th time, I heard about this "Bodybugg" thing...it's like all magical and tells you EXACTLY how many calories you're burning, which would be fantastic, since I can't seem to get this whole endurance running/weight loss thing right. I mean, who runs 15 miles and gains weight? (me.)

So last night on the 8th season opener of The Biggest Loser (it was AWESOME), there it was again. The Bodybugg! And here it is, only $249 on SALE. I want it. However, each paycheck I "get to" (humor me) take out 10% of my paycheck and go wild with it. My hubby saves his. I spend mine. Lunch. Running shoes. Whatever. So if anything is above that 10%, it's not a purchase I take lightly.

Hmmmm. Here's an interesting, hopefully non-partisan review of it.

In the meantime (and totally in the opposite direction...really, i mean HONESTLY now Lindy...) here is something to satisfy my ShoppingBugg.

The steel drum that is my head

2009-09-16T11:21:00.004-05:00

So in addition to being tired, having achy knees and all the other stuff, I now have a cold. It was bothering so much that I left work early yesterday. I suffer from the weird phenomena, usually, that when I'm sick I WANT TO WORK. I should be sick more often, it's good for my career. but not yesterday, I was typing and couldn't type without a million typos, fading fast...I would have left before noon, had I not had to pick up "le Kindergartener" at 3pm.

So while I planned to take a short rest from running, I didn't even run this morning. Instead, I slept 9 hours and woke up with bags under my eyes and STILL tired. Maybe tomorrow. Also on tap for tomorrow, a 30-minute sports massage at Athletico during "lunch break". Uh, at 1:45.

That is all, carry on, friends, carry on.

Chicago #&$%&(#$ Half Marathon Race Report

2009-09-14T15:18:00.006-05:00

Subtitle: Well...at least it's not like last year and all that rain.

I suppose I should do a race report. But that would imply that I “raced.” I can hardly call what I did yesterday “racing,” other than my racing heartbeat when I broke into a full run on occasion. Here are the gory details:

Pre-race: I felt good, in a “I’m going to break out of my funky race season” kinda good. Yes! This would be it! I watched the weather and decided to go with my favorite running capris because it was to be a high of 72°, so I’m thinking if that’s the high, it’s bound to be nice for the entire race. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Since the race was in my neighborhood (starting line less than a mile away!) Lou and Meg (and Lou’s new husband Joey-same name as my hubby, I might add) came to pick me up and we maneuvered around to find a good spot for the car. In case I haven’t mentioned it, Lou was running because she is wearing a BOOT.

Miles 1 through 4: And we’re off. Race starts, and some 15 minutes later or so, we’re on our way. I was glad that with a race this small (relatively speaking) they did not do that goofy corral start, complete with roping things off. That is super annoying and unnecessary, I think, for crowds under 30,000. But that’s just my opinion.

Running through some familiar streets, and I’m rather enjoying it. Trying to not start off too fast, trusting my Garmin and my lungs to tell me to slow down. All was well. But through the cover of the trees I noticed that it was a lot sunnier than what I’d expected. Crap. Meg and I were rolling along fine though. Despite the humidity, it was ok.

Shortly after Mile 2, I felt the pressure building. (Dangit, the careful balance of proper hydration had tipped in favor of the porto-potties!) This early on in the race, I knew a trip to the bathroom would be in order.  Nearing Mile 3, there were clouds overhead. Stay, stay! On 67th Street off to the right cheering us on was my friend Simeko. I waved and she waved and shouted! Kudos to her, for having completed a 21 miler the day before! You rock, Simeko!

Somewhere near 3.75 miles, there was another aid station (3rd one) accompanied by some porto-potties. We stopped. Isn’t Meg the greatest running partner? She stopped but didn’t even have to go, and I encouraged her to go on. (yet!) I could supply link and after link in my blog as to why she is a kick-@$$ running partner, I swear I could. So we stood in line. And stood. And waited. Finally I got my chance to view a fresh steaming pile-o-vile as I took care of business in a 90-degree box only slightly wider than myself. It was refreshing! And upon leaving I glanced at my watch. SIX MINUTES and some change. Nice.

Miles 4 through 9: So we start off again, and the sun is beating down on us. Shortly after we started up again, here came the first runners on the other side, running fast and maybe a ½ mile or mile from the finish. I will tell you this…usually this phenomenon is an exciting one to see, but I was thoroughly discouraged. We did cheer on the first place woman. We trudged on, and Meg started suggested that maybe she should have gone to the bathroom. So at some point (maybe around Mile 7?) we stopped again. But I was in SERIOUS need of a walking break. Everything hurt. Legs. Knees. Pride. So I suggested that since I needed this break, I would walk and she would sprint ahead to the bathrooms. If she was still in the bathroom, I would keep walking and wait for her before I started running. I didn’t look at my watch but kept on walking, like semi-speed walking. After awhile, I’m all like WTH? Where is Meg? I kept looking back and she just wasn’t there! I wondered if something happened. It seemed like forever. FINALLY off in the distance I saw her, she waved both arms at me. I shuffled into barely a run, knees groaning at what was probably a 14:00 pace until we were side-by-side, and off we went. (Apparently her line for the bathroom took even longer than mine!)

We admitted to each other that this was not our day for any PR. And that we both would likely require multiple walking breaks. We ran into a friend of mine from college…Rudy, who was riding a bike and escorting a wheelchair participant. We saw a man on the other side keel over into the median, looking pale and about to vomit, and people calling for water for him.

At the turnaround there was another aid station, and we walked through it, made the turn and headed back for what one spectator called “the home stretch.” I remember thinking that the home stretch is not 4+ miles out, IDIOT. (The difference between me, Michael Jordan, Serena Williams and Kanye West, however, is that I kept my big mouth shut and my grudges to myself.) Sorry, I was hot and tired and annoyed.

Miles 9 through 11: I was struggling to keep up. Worrying about the “sag wagon” coming to pick up a round of potential DNF’ers. (Did Not Finish.) Meg was getting ahead of me slightly. I told her to go on, I was going to walk for a few minutes. And she did. And I did. FOR A SOLID TWO MILES. Even walking was hurting, to be truthful. For those people who say “If I have to finish a race by walking it in,” dude, it TOTALLY SUCKED. I did chat up a nice woman by the name of Mary for those two miles. Mary is from Park Forest, seemed to be older (not sure how old), was run/walking her first half marathon…we chatted for awhile. Sirens were blaring, ambulances racing by headed both north and south quite a few times. I saw a girl’s knee blow out right in front of me. That concrete on the Drive is nothing nice on the knees, I tell ya.

Miles 11 through -----Finish: So I started running again, sick of being sick and tired of the race. Suddenly I saw a course official waving people off of the drive. “They’re opening up Lakeshore Drive, you have to get off!” Some runners ignored him and kept on going by. I went his way and found myself on a steep grassy embankment leading down to the lakefront path, underpass, and on the other side of the path to where I normally run on the weekdays. Maybe this was the encouragement I needed to finish! Familiarity! I ran some more, only to break into a walk again. Some girl up ahead was sobbing about how she was so disappointed in herself. I assumed it was her first race and tried to make her feel better. “This isn’t my first half marathon,” she loudly exclaimed. Whatever, chick! Whatever, be sad and cry, it won’t help you get to the finish line any quicker. Crybaby! (I said this to her in my head.)

I saw the Mile 12 marker over across the way on the other side of Lakeshore Drive, along with those renegade runners who refused to get off the street. The police were pointing at them to get over in the grass. And finally, the 63rd Street underpass to head back over to the course and finish line. I ran the entire way from there. It was the most ungratifying finish to a race ever. I almost didn’t even care if they’d packed up the medals and gone home, I just did not care. (I did take the medal though.)

Post-race report
Caught up with Meg and Lou. Lou saw two people pass out while nearing the finish line. She said Joey was like 10 minutes slower than his usual speedy self. Meg saw someone who was all bloodied on their head/face, possibly from falling. Sirens were still wailing all around. It was like a much scaled down version of the 2007 marathon.

And instead of a PR (personal record,) I managed to score a PW (personal worst.) i'm tired of all the excuses. There's really no excuse. I'm just not having a good year, not doing well, and it's my own fault. It's not negative self talk...it just IS what it IS.

Yep. And with that encouraging run, 20 miles is on tap for this coming Sunday.

p.s. and I swear to you it was way higher than 72 degrees out there.

It's that time of year again....(sigh.)

2009-09-04T17:05:00.002-05:00

Sorry to disgust you.

A Run to Reminisce On.....

2009-09-02T16:24:00.003-05:00

I'm down here in Champaign-Urbana, during week 2 of my two-week hiatus from work, since the girls' summer program ended and school has yet to start. I'm still working, but working from home...and never a full day (except yesterday.)

Anyway, so the girls and I rode down to Champaign-Urbana with my mother-in-law to visit my siter-in-law and her hubby and baby. They went to school here at the University of Illinois, as did I and my husband. So anyway, I never mind coming down here. It's less than two hours south of Chicago, and every trip conjures up many, MANY memories.

So for those of you who also went to the University of Illinois, this ones for you:

I left the house for a late run, after 7am. Headed out to the intersection of Florida Ave and Philo Rd, which always seemed WAYYYY off campus back in the day. I ran west towards Florida and Lincoln, which is sorta the SE'ern most point of the campus. As I was running, I was a little annoyed by the slight hills that I didn't notice when driving this same stretch the night before.Approaching campus, I passed Orchard Downs (Family housing area--I think), the president's mansion where we protested one cold wintery night.)

At Florida and Lincoln, in came the memories. FAR and PAR residence halls (Florida Avenue Residence, Pennsylvannia Avenue....you get the picture.) I ran past the Illini Grove, thinking about those picnics after Quad Day and other events. I continued north to Nevada Street, and turned west heading towards the Quad. This stretch looks a lot different. There seem to be a lot of new university buildings, like an Early CHildhood Education center (with a daycare.) I passed by Busey Evans Residence Hall, BKA Borgeouise-Evans because it was so nice and ALL of the dorm rooms are singles. With central air. SWEET! I stayed there my last year, and it was like a hotel compared to any other dorm.

So I moved on towards the Quad, passing "The Black House," La Casa Cultural Latina and other student group buildings and arrived at the Quad. Running north, I saw students racing to make their 8am class. I remember those foolish days I took 8am classes. A class on the other side of the Quad can make all the difference whether you will arrive on time or not. (Now 8am doesn't seem so early, but it sure did.)

This post is boring...let me speed it up.

So I took a pitstop in the Union to get some water, came back out, passed Allen Hall and headed back south to the PAR/FAR area, then took a more residential street back east. I would have made 6 miles, but I stopped my run short and stopped at Walgreen's to pick up shower gel, lotion and toothpaste that, as I was running, I realized I'd forgotten at home.

Anyhoo....that is all. Sorry if my post is boring, I'm not feeling especially creative today.

"To thy happy children of the future, those of the past send greetings."

What's my motivation?

2009-08-24T11:30:00.003-05:00

Oh man, 1 month and 16 days. I've been struggling lately, and my quote over there on the right (with the heading "The Truth") is suddenly ringing true. Due to the wedding festivities over the weekend (and my cookies I did for them) I did not get a single run in. I'm home for the next two weeks with the girls before school starts. Next up? Long run tomorrow. 16 miles. Just gotta get it done!

This is the cookie, although the finished product was just a teeny bit different:

What ever happened to....

2009-08-18T14:18:00.002-05:00

Jen, the girl who had a double masectomy at the advice of her doctor, due to family history issues, etc... which torpedoed her marathon training in 2007. She made it out of surgery, posted once or twice...then nothing. I wonder about her, how she's doing, etc....

Summer Sando...she and I used to trade training stories on our extrapounds.com blogs, and via blogspot as well. And then the posts and comments became sparse, and then POOF. Gone.

Neonatal doc, whose blog gave me an inside peek at the world of neonatology. The last post was the best. I wonder what happened. Did the boss get wind of this blog and end it? Did the writer just say "enough is enough?" Why the silence?

HarlemRunner, I hardly knew ye. In fact, I came across your blog after you'd already said your goodbyes. But this guy seemed pretty cool, and out of all of them, I wish he'd come back and write some more, while righting some more wrongs. I especially love his take on the Black Marathoners group and celebrity runners, aka Katie Holmes running the NYC marathon. Anyway, RIP, blog o' HarlemRunner.

Blogs. So seemingly personal, yet in reality, it's still just a bunch of words on a screen. Could all be lies, could all be truth...could be a mix of both meant purely for your entertainment. Sigh.

This post is going nowhere fast, so let me end it now! :-P

So a girl walks into a bank...

2009-08-14T16:11:00.003-05:00

...and the bank gets robbed and she is totally oblivious to it all.

Yes, that girl would be me! Yup! I went to the bank near my job to take care of some business. The tellers informed me that I would need to take care of that particular business with a manager, not a teller, and so I promptly stepped over to the manager's desk, which is a kiosk of sorts. So I'm standing there and we're going over some things on my account, and my back is to the tellers. I'm vaguely aware that someone else has come in to the teller area. So as the manager and I wrap up our business and she hands me a business card, I turn to leave and see these glass doors closing shut, and before my mind could register "huh?" the tellers behind the counter are saying loudly-not yelling-"We've just been robbed!"

So one teller is on the phone answering questions "Yes, he's gone....on foot....plaid shirt...." ALl the time I'm thinking "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME." So the other teller tells me I can't leave, I have to wait and talk to the police. So I said that I didn't see anything. I asked the manager if she knew they were being robbed, and she said she wasn't aware of it either. Meanwhile, people were coming up to the glass doors trying to get in and handle their own banking business. The tellers put up this sign that said "Due to circumstances beyond our control, this branch will be closed until further notice" or something like that. People were PISSED! Even one lady, after the teller said "we've been robbed," she was all like "well when are you going to open back up?!?!" Some people!

So what I thought would be a quick errand was turning into something longer. I texted my boss to let her know it'd be awhile before I got back, because the bank just got robbed. (Bad idea, she sent me a few texts in a row, worried about me...I forgot to tell her that I was fine.) Then the manager says that I can go, but to leave my contact information for the police, just in case.

As I stepped out of the bank, there were TONS of cop cars coming from every direction. And at this major three-way intersection, THAT'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS.

Yeah...so I witnessed a bank robbery...sort of...except I didn't see anything.

Jonas

2009-08-12T18:52:00.005-05:00

So my weekday runs feature what I like to call my "cast of characters," because the same people are generally out there everyday. The past few weeks, however, the "cast" is changing because the sun is coming out later and later. So depending on whether people are comfortable with starting when the street lights are still on dictate who you might or might not see on the path.

Here has been the regular appearing cast members for the summer:
-the group of women with their two teenage sons lagging behind; walkers

-the mother and daughter (I think); runners

-the two older women, sometimes with a dog, always with a big walking stick, and almost always in this stretch between the museum and the mile marker just south of the museum on the bridge; walkers

-the two, sometimes 3 women, probably in their 30s, whom Briget and I saw at the Fleet Feet Women's Festival; they're always heading northward just shy of 63rd Street, they're getting started as we're finishing up; runners

-the very cheerful man who is usually north of the viaduct in Hyde Park near the waterfountain, always a huge smile accompanied by a wave with his arms way up in the air; walker

-the older, very light-skinned gentleman who always says "Hello, have a good day!"; walk/runner

-one of my favorites, the guy who wears the same long sleeved gray sweatsuit and wool cap every single day no matter the weather, who nods and says "alright!"; walker

-the serious runner dude who always comes off the pedestrian overpass at 50th Street and heads south; runner

-the girl on the bike who ALWAYS has on a Shamrock Shuffle shirt, one of several different years and ALWAYS green shorts; cyclist

-the girl with the very African features, who is serious business and never, EVER waves, nods or says hello; runner

And then there's my favorite...

Who is this guy?
-he smiles and speaks everyday with an accent for which I've yet to determine an origin, "Hello young lady!" or "Have a good day!"

-he's dark-skinned with very contrasting practically glowing white hair

-he seems to be older, I would guess at least his 70's, though I could be dead wrong

-he always has looked so familiar to me, he looks so much like an actor from
School Daze, the dean of students guy. Could it be him? One day I'll ask, or maybe I won't. It's always kind of cool to "know" people without knowing them. And maybe I don't want to know. Maybe it's cool just to go on wondering.

And so for weeks now, I've gone on with my various nods and hellos and waves for all of these cast members.

Until today.

So I got a bit of a late start because I was by myself, and the sun didn't break the horizon for awhile, so I started around 5:45. Super late for me. So while I normally see him closer to the Hyde Park viaduct or even as far south as the Museum at 57th Street, today I saw him right at the 50th Street pedestrain bridge. We said our usual hello's and then it happened.

Him: "How far do you run each day?"
Me: "It depends, today I'm running about 4 miles. I try to run two or 3 times during the week out here, and then I do a long run on the weekend up north."
Him: "Aaah. I come out here each day, about 6 days a week. I walk 12 miles everyday, from 71st up to 31st and back."
Me: (Picking my jaw up off the ground.)
Him: "Are you training for the marathon?"
Me: "Yes, I ran a half marathon a few weeks ago, and will be running another one in a few weeks."
Him: "You mean the Rock-n-Roll?"
Me: In awe again, "Yes! The one in September is here in South Shore."
Him: Nodding, "Yes, I will be there too!"
Me: "I hope you don't mind my asking, but are you an actor? You look so familiar, so much like someone I saw in a movie once." (Does that sound like a lame pickup line or what...although it wasn't a pickup attempt.)
Him: Confused look, "No?"
Me: (I can't remember what I said, but I think I apologized. DORK!)
Him: "My name is Jonas, what's yours?"
Me: "Lindy"
Him: "Nice to meet you."

So we said our goodbyes and went on our merry way...ways(?) As I got back to 63rd street and completed by 50-minute run, another phenomenal thing occured. The African girl who is always so serious and never so much as glances my way...and I mean the chick is BAD! She's a good runner, with awesome form, etc... well this time she was already midway to the first mile marker north of the parking lot. She LOOKED OVER....SMILED and WAVED! WHOA! I nearly fainted.

It was truly a day to remember. Maybe because we're all coming to the realization that the sun is fading and now working against us, and that in another month or so, those morning runs will become alot less safer in the dark, that we should align ourselves with the humans instead.

******

And if that isn't enough wonderment for one day. At 8:25 pm, I was pulling off after dropping off my cherubs at their summer program, and who did I see turning onto 71st Street? Jonas! A hot, sweaty tired looking Jonas, some 2+ hours later. (Now this may be a big so what to some of you, but in a city as big as Chicago, it's endearing to have neighborly connections among the thousands of people you see throughout your day.

ok, over and out with the corny post.

2 months from today...

2009-08-11T11:20:00.001-05:00

...and I'll be running a marathon right now. Trying not to let the fact that I'm soooo not ready for that, because that's what the next two months of training are all about.

Running while traveling...and doing other things...

2009-08-10T20:43:00.004-05:00

Sunday 8/9/09, 5:15pm Live from New York City, in the Borough of Queens

So I’m sitting here in Laguardia Airport with a flight delay, cuz those are really fun. For some reason I can’t get a decent internet connection, so I’m writing in Word and will paste this up in my blog whenever I get the chance.

The “weekend” was great (Thursday to Sunday.) I tried to do things I don’t normally get to do, but I also wanted to get my 8 mile run in, too. So for list number 1, here are the things I did:
• Saw 4 movies, 1 per day!
-The Hangover (Thursday night): hilarious!
-Perfect Getaway (Friday night): uh, not typically what I’d go see, but since I wanted to go see a movie each day, we rolled with it. It was fun.
-In the Loop (Saturday night): a British satire about the lead up to our most recent war. It was funny, but I was tired and dozed off a few times
-Orphan (Sunday morning): another one of those “this kid living in my house is a stark raving mad, murderous lunatic, please get her out” kinda movies. Again, it filled the requirement of seeing a movie each day, and it wasn’t Harry Potter, which I haven’t started reading and watching now, so why? I mean, if I’m going to embrace it, I’d prefer to start with the books, and in sequential order.

• Did not have one home-cooked meal (AWESOME
-Ate Mexican, Caribbean, Southern BBQ, Italian, Thai and of course a few sugary treats from a few places.

• Ran

• Went to a Russian/Turkish Bath House (kind of like a sauna except WAY hotter), with different rooms that had dry heat and steam heat. Some of the rooms were dark, there was a Eucalyptus room. I went here after my 8 mile run, so I was already beat. I dripped buckets of sweat within 2 minutes. It was interesting. I only stayed inside the super hot rooms for a total of about 20 to 25 minutes. I wanted to avoid passing out. ;)

• Stayed out all day, each day.
I didn’t even go to Brooklyn, which is a first for me. Since I lived there for nearly 2 years before my last little stint up in Harlem, you’d think I would have gotten back there. But I didn’t. Sigh.

But alas, this blog is about running, so let me tell you about my run. I got up a little later than usual on Saturday morning, about 6:20 or so, slowly got ready to go run, I think I was a little nervous about not knowing exactly how to get down to the running path. So I made my way down the street 3 blocks to the entrance of Riverbank State Park, and voila, a guard was on post at the booth, so I asked and he provided excellent directions to get down to the path. So a few minutes later, with my beloved Garmin ready to roll, I was off.

The running path is sandwiched between the Hudson River and the West Side Highway, along the western edge of the island of Manhattan. I was running from the north, heading southward. Just on the other side of the highway is Riverside Park and a steep uphill climb to Broadway and the rest of the city, so the trees along Riverside Drive that are already up higher than the shoreline tend to block that (evil) morning sun that can sometimes be a dealbreaker when running in the morning. Kinda nice! And yes, this would be the same Hudson River where a few hours later a small plane collided with a tour helicopter. Imagine the people running who happened to see THAT. Horrendous.

Anyway, Back to my actual run. The running part. The first thing I noticed is the big yellow boxes marking where you could call for help. I’m not sure if that should make me feel more nervous or more secure, but I thought that was something nice, since I don’t think we have anything like that on the lakefront. Well, I suppose half of us carry our cell phones anyway, but maybe those boxes everywhere serve as much as a deterrent as anything. They were like every couple 100 feet, for the first mile I ran on. Also, this area was kind of under a bridge, so maybe the area is a little more dangerous.

Anyhooooo…my run started out well, I was running a bit fast, but it felt good. I wasn’t sure how far I’d have to run down, so I was glad my Garmin was working so well. The blocks go quickly in Manhattan from street to street going in the north/south direction (and contrary to the east-west avenues), but it was still a bit unnerving when I seemed to reach 125th so quickly, then 96th and so on. (I could see the exit signs from the West Side Highway.) Right around 91st street there was a detour sign, the path was closed off. From 91st to 84th, it read, we’d head up into Riverside Park. Holy Canolli !!! To get into the park, there was a big, gigantic hill. Ok, maybe it wasn’t gigantic, but since Chicago is flat as a pancake, this qualified as a major hill for me. For my fellow Chicagoan runners, it was way steeper than that “hill” at Michigan/Roosevelt just before the marathon finish line, and steeper than that big hill near 47th Street on Lake Shore Drive…

Anyway…I was DETERMINED to run up that hill, even if I had to slow down to a snail’s pace. My breathing was HARD, but I did it, and didn’t walk at the top, either! The way back to the running path was also a hill, but not as steep.
Ok, so another interesting thing about their path, is that they have this whole separation of runners and all-things-on-wheels. In some parts, there is a big line, and on one side of the line there are markings for cyclists and rollerbladers, and on the other side there’d be markings for “pedestrians only.” That was nice, considering the near misses and crashes I’ve seen, not to mention the ones I’ve heard about. Seriously, people, I know of someone who nearly died and was in a coma for awhile, and I’ve read about other horror stories. There were other sections that also separated runners from the rest, but instead of runners on one side of the cyclists, there was a smaller, narrower section for runners on both sides. Either way, it seems a bit safer than ours.

On the down side, there were VERY few water fountains, and only one bathroom that I saw. I also didn’t see many runners, which I find to be odd. Maybe I was too far north in Manhattan from where training groups start. Maybe they train in Central Park. Who knows.

My turnaround was just shy of 69th Street. 145th Street to 69th Street! Wow. Sounds like a lot, no? I’m quite proud of my run, though. I realized during the half marathon that just passed that I’ve gotten way to used to stopping for water and stuff. My priority for this run was to NOT STOP, drink on the run, and walk while taking my Gu. Mission accomplished! Here’s my mileage breakdown, and you can probably tell when I walked and had my Gu.
Mile 1-11:20
Mile 2-11:37
Mile 3-12:10 (must have been where that hill was)
Mile 4-11:46
Mile 5-12:39
Mile 6-11:58
Mile 7-11:44
Mile 8-11:40
My total time was 1:34:57 (actually ran 8.01 miles to be exact!) and the overall pace was 11:52!

Immediately upon returning from my run, I had to stretch, take a quick shower and head out with my friend to the Russian Bath House to sweat some more. Literally, like within 30 minutes from walking in the door, I was on my way back out.

Well that’s all folks, my weekend adventure without kids and stuff is over, pending this wait for the plane. They say we’re leaving an hour late. But them other folks over there say that a big storm is supposedly heading our way. Sigh. And no internet connection, this may get posted tomorrow.

******
And so I get our CES team newsletter today and now I read that we shouldn't be taking Gu until we're at around 18 miles. SOmehow I missed that memo, and I've always made it a point to take it if my run was going to last more than 7 miles or so. Ok. Learn something new everyday, eh?

Awwww....

2009-08-04T20:36:00.003-05:00

Just reminiscing....

Look at the comments. Wow, RBR! Your first 14-miler!

And Lou? I miss those days, Celia telling us everything we needed to know. Sigh. We were so young...so new. So "pre-2007 Chicago Marathon"-jaded. LOL.

Note to self

2009-08-04T09:39:00.005-05:00

Dear self,

Please remember to not really expect good race photos. Rarely will an action shot with one leg hitting the ground at 50 zillion pounds of force, the other up in the air, with arms flailing, look good. It's certainly not an ego booster. Unless you are some sort of Olympic athlete or something.

Love,
Your nurturing soul

Photo: Olympian Runner Kara Goucher (and winner of the Inaugural Run of the Rock-n-Roll Chicago Half Marathon! Yeah...she came in first OVERALL, women AND men!)

Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon Race Report

2009-08-02T12:10:00.003-05:00

2:49:29. That's 15 seconds slower than Indy. And nowhere near a 12:00 pace.

Two thoughts:
1. I thought I should be getting better as the season wore on
2. I don't even remember the other thought.

Things to remember for the next race
-You're not going to die. (well at least not on this course. Probably not, anyway.)
-always readjust your underwear properly when having stopped to go to the bathroom
-never underestimate a run, even if it is cool out (sort of)
-chugging and guzzling are not allowed. you already knew this.

Pre-Race
I spent portions of Saturday afternoon and evening arguing with hubby because he wanted to know what he was supposed to do with the girls Sunday morning, since he needed to be at church to print the monthly newsletter. (Take them with you, Mr. Helpless.)

Saturday evening, a few friends nearby came over and we watched the Spirit of the Marathon to...well I suppose to get ourselves psyched up, but I was too annoyed to really enjoy it.

Race Morning
Woke up at about 4:15 and decided to stay up. Laid out the girls' clothes, got my stuff together, woke up Annah, who stayed over and then we rolled out to pick up Melba and head downtown. Found our free parking area (which is a bit of a dinosaur in a 2 to 3-mile radius surrounding downtown Chicago these days.)

We went out separate ways and I went to my corral. It seemed fairly orderly. John Bingham (The Penguin) was yammering away on the microphone, and for some reason this time it was mildly annoying. I stood there alone, and then all of the sudden here is Melba again! I'd forgotten she switched to my corral (17 out of 21.) I called and called and called Meg and Lou, but no answer. Finally, Meg popped up and we chatted, and then lo and behold, midway thru our slow walk to the start line, there was Lou. The 3 musketeers, together again! She was pretty proud of herself for finding us in the crowd, and I would say that it was no small feat.

Miles 1 to 4
Start line. We're off! Hooray! It's a great day for a run. The first mile was effortless. We ducked and dodged. Now wait a minute. These corrals are based on expected finish times. Who are these people walking at the start of the race. And I mean slowly, NOT that kick@$$ herky-jerky speedwalking?! We dodged several walls of walkers, like 7 across. Sheesh! But it was cool. I remember hitting mile 1 at 11:43, Mile 2 at 23:11...I'm going by memory b/c for the first time in ages, my blessed Garmin was rendered useless. Pace/distance COMPLETELY off. And I've done this course before (2006, 2007 Chicago Distance Classic + Shamrock Shuffles following a near identical route at this point.) But this time? USELESS. At the 5k mark we were fine, right around 36 minutes. I didn't eat my whole pre-long run meal in the morning (I forgot to finish it?!), so I felt that I needed a GU. Decided I would wait til around 4 miles. I never saw the 4 mile marker sign, but at a water station at what seemed like it should be 4 miles (it was around 47 minutes on my watch,) I indulged and said goodbye to Lou and Meg. We do that, we rarely finish a race together, and we're cool like that. Sometimes we catch up with each other later in the race, sometimes we don't.

Mile 5 to 9
Sheesh! I know it's technically cool out here for August, and maybe it's just me, but is it hot out here?! That sun was beating down fierce. I really like running at 5am, the sun is much nicer to me. I struggled alot, I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom, which I don't think I've ever done in a race...maybe once, I think I may have in the 2006 CDC. Despite my wondering, I started chugging my Gatorade. I went from having had about 6 ounces in the first 4 miles, to about 16 ounces during this section of the race. I'm not exaggerating. I walked several times during this timeframe, struggling with the notion of going to the bathroom during the race.

As we turned around at Oakwood (3900 South Lake Shore Drive) I decided that I would go to the bathroom NOT at a portapotty, but at the 31st Street Beach House. That should be slightly more pleasant than a 90 degree portable $h!thole, no? And the beach house is right off the path we were running on. So I get to the beach house and go to take care of business...and because this is something I rarely have to do during a run, I'm attributing what happened next to my inexperience in the matter.

So I pull up my pants, and it didn't occur to me that because everything is pretty much drenched in sweat, that I'd better make sure everything is in the right place. As I was leaving the bathroom, I remember thinking "Is my underwear in the right place?" Really people. I readusted and figured I was just being silly, and decided to just go. "You're being silly, Lindy," I said to myself.

Mile 10 to 12
Ok you got it! Piece of cake, just a 5K to go! At this point I was so tired. And what's that, where the HELL is my underwear, why is it scraping my leg?! For a moment I was energized...someone ran past as I was fooling around with my pants (trying to remain inconspicuous)..I saw two purple shirts, "waddler" and "snips", and recognized them from a blog I recently started to follow. I dashed up ahead and introduced myself. We chatted for a bit, she and her friend were super nice and cheerful. They did a run walk method, so I charged ahead for a bit, but they passed me again. And I watched their shirts go off in the distance ahead of me. I had no energy to catch them

I took a GU somewhere around Mile 11. Followed by about 8 ounces of water, even though I knew I shouldn't. Stomach gurgling.

I walked and ran and ran and walked.

Mile 12 to 13.1
Let's just get this thing finished. I saw two annoying people from our pace group. I ran between the two of them and didn't so much as glance anywhere, hoping they wouldn't see or notice me, as there were lots of people cutting and ducking and dodging at this point in the race. I thought I heard "Hey isn't that....?" A-ha, a useful occasion for someone having forgotten my name!

I thought I would barely be able to manage the dignity of running in the last .2 miles...and I did manage to run it, but I was hurtin'.

And that was that. 2:49:29. 12:56 pace, and the fact that it was at least not 13:00 was admittedly of some consulation.

Once again, I struggled with the negative self talk, the "after this year I'm taking a break from marathon training," the "what are you doing out here?" and for the first time the negative thinking didn't all go away when I got my medal.

Sorry this might sound so down. I'll be fine. I would write more (and I will probably re-read/edit this later) but I have two girls that I need to get out of the bathtub.

RNR WW countdown 5-4-3-2

2009-07-31T18:35:00.003-05:00

so the low has now gone up a teensy bit. Still can't complain, in years' past it has ALWAYS been warmer. 2 days, kids, 2 days to go!!!

RNR WW countdown 5-4-3

2009-07-30T21:42:00.002-05:00

Well, just as I guessed yesterday...looks light that evil lightning bolt has now moved from Sunday to Saturday. Maybe I've missed my calling? Let's see what tomorrow brings. If I could get that low of 62 down to 59....(long slow whistle.) I know, I'm asking WAY too much of our already balmy summer. Loving every minute of it!

My Oprah* Moment

2009-07-30T11:20:00.005-05:00

*I think I can give credit for Oprah coming up with the “a-HA moment,” the moment when everything becomes clear and makes sense. Kinda like when they do as you when you dream about it, or have had a few drinks, or some other time you become all Zen and “one with the world” like…only THIS time, it makes sense the next day. And the day after. So anyway, I’ve had an Oprah moment.

Going into my birthday weekend, I had a dinner party with hubby and other successful insurance agents at the company. We sailed off on a nice boat for a dinner cruise along a stormy Lake Michigan and secretly in my head I was waving to the suckers (read: losers) who were not privy to such lavish treatment. Nobody was there at the dock, but there were only a handful of people who were asked to attend this dinner. So I’m sitting there and looking at the other women in their cocktail dresses, sundresses and crap, and found myself relieved that there was one other chick there in pants and a frumpy shirt, too.

* * * *

So it’s my birthday. While I went out for my 9 mile birthday run, I started thinking about all sorts of things, and got all “New Year’s-ish and decided that starting today…ok tomorrow (we’re having a BBQ and cake and stuff!)…I was going to do whatever I can to NOT look the same by my next birthday. Not some ridiculous deadline. 52 weeks is a long time, long enough to make a significant dent in things. Here are the thoughts I came up with, and while they may not be original (patent pending), they were thoughts new to my brainwaves:

* * * *

It’s hard…but it’s all hard
Wah Wah Wah, counting calories is hard. Working out is hard. Saying no to heaping piles of macaroni and cheese, syrupy-drippy sweet potatoes, dressing, and other things that seem to make their way to the serving table for numerous family occasions, is hard! Counting calories while marathon training is double-hard. (No, really it’s a cruel joke.)

But guess what? Being overweight is hard too. Not knowing what to wear because you’re trying to cover up the results of your food indiscretions is hard. Wondering if people are looking at you doing all that running and thinking “why can’t she get that weight off?” is taxing. Wondering whether or not you could shave off a half minute or so by knocking a few pounds off isn't easy. Wearing long pants and shirt sleeves that cover up your arms in 85 degree weather is hard.

Choices
So then I said to myself, “Self, you need to make a choice.” Your current choices-and yes, the ARE choices-are not working out for you. Your choice to not count calories and just wing it? How’d that work out for ya? Your choice to eat “this” because you ran today and it’s ok? How’d that work out? So I thought back to my uncomfortable-ness on Friday night and realized that all of this was my choice. The choices I made, led me to that. And all by my own doing. Well, that and the fact that I don’t have skinny girl genes…but I digress, that’s kind of a copout.

(HERE IT IS, THE OPRAH MOMENT, while all of this might be qualified as such) So when I started looking at it not so much as a have or have not situation, but rather a decision between two choices…the choices are now very clear!

Plus not to mention…
You feel so much better when running on good nutrition than when you’re just barely getting by, nutritionally. (If you're reading this and my 7/30 workout is still over there on the right, look at my performance this morning compared to the last three 40-minute runs! -click on them for details- Woo hoo!)

* * * *

In summary…I’m trying NOT to put numbers on my goals, but we all do. I’m aiming for somewhere around 50 pounds or so in the next year…maybe 40..maybe 60. I hope my Oprah moment still makes sense the next time a box of girl scout cookies somehow lands on my desk. I thought about saying 'I won’t cut my hair until my next birthday,' but that sounds too much like a resolution, too. So anyway, I feel good about it, for now.

What shall we call this thing...this revelation?
Project 40. So I’m turning 40 in two years (minus a few days now.) I want to be in the best shape of my adult life by then. So from 38 to 39, lose, lose lose and keep running. I will assess my progress and make different goals from 39 to 40. Not sure what they will be, fitness…new look…whatever. But Project 40 sounds kinda cool and “grasping the bull by the horns,” while Project 39 is kinda like “I don’t ever want to turn 40, I’ll be 39 forever.”

Oh, and maybe when I'm 40 I will go all bad@$$ and wear this shirt...don't worry Mom, I won't wear it around you or anyone else who might be offended. or my kids. But how cool would it be to go for a run in this? or garden in this? Thanks Stacy, for the cool shirt idea. ;)

RNR WW countdown 5-4-

2009-07-29T18:39:00.003-05:00

Ok wait...NOW look at Sunday. It went from what I would call rain in the p.m. to rain all day. Rain? Fine. Lightning while running along the lakefront with nary a tall building to defer lightning strikes? Ahhh, NO. We'll see...maybe there's a trend with the seven day forecasts and the rain will move from Sunday morning to Saturday night. And then Saturday night to all day Sunday, and then when Friday gets here it will actually rain all day Friday instead. Come on, Jerry! Work with me!

RNR WW countdown 5-

2009-07-28T19:48:00.004-05:00

Rock N Roll Half Marathon WEATHER WATCH, not Weight Watchers, for all you obsessed people like myself. But never fear, weather watching is an obsession, too. So here we are, 5 days out:

So let's see...62 degrees in the pitch black middle of the night means once we hit Lake Shore Drive and leave the shade of the downtown buildings, it'll be at least 70. Could be much worse. But with all this fabulous non-summer weather we've been having, I was hoping for lower temps. I mean, we've had a few glorious Saturdays when we ventured out at 60 degrees.

Anyhoo, the RNR WW countdown is on.

p.s. This is weatherman Jerry Taft's forecast. He rocks. Mainly so because he reminds me of my high school biology (and advanced biology) teacher, Mr. Purcell, who was the BEST. He was so cool, and I learned a lot, caught my hair on fire with a bunsen burner in class, and when his dog died, he told us and then proceeded to cry in front of us. It was an awkward moment, yes, but will forever be etched in my mind. MR. PURCELL WHERE ARE YOU? I promise not to let my disected cat muscles dry out again!

It's My Birthday and I'll Run if I Want to...

2009-07-27T15:35:00.004-05:00

So today isn't my birthday, but yesterday it was. And for the first time in a long time, I didn't run with my group on Saturday because I didn't get outta bed on time. THat's another story...

We were supposed to run 6 miles. I ran 9 instead. But let's not go getting all excited. I also hadn't run my short Friday run, so I combined the two and ended up with 9 miles on my birthday. Just me, my ipod and the lakefront, heading from the 63rd Street beachhouse to my favorite 31st Street beachhouse and back.

The only thing not perfect was my Garmin conking out less than 1 mile in. Calculated time by my cell phone at 1:48:00, which is right on pace for those of you still unaware that my pace is 12-minutes per mile. But wait...this is extra fabulous to me, because that means without having to stare at a watch and obsess about times, I was able to listen to my body and hit the pace dead on. Suh-WEEEEEET!

It was LOVE-O-LEE! And I couldn't think of a better way to kick off the celebration of my 38th birthday.

Next up? the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon. Based on my own predicted finish time, I'm in the 17th corral. 17 out of 21. :-(

So you know how my Garmin has been acting up...

2009-07-27T12:10:00.004-05:00

..and I'm thinking maybe I could go to the Garmin Store and check to see if all it really needs is a new battery...but THIS is so tempting.

Temptations + evil credit cards = bad mommy.

Race Report: Fleet Feet Women's Festival 5K/10K

2009-07-20T22:12:00.003-05:00

Sunday July 19, 2009

So this is my third year in a row running this event, and I really like it. A bunch of cool running chics, the best race shirt every year, nice sponsors and the lakefront. What more can a girl ask for? Now last week, my faithful blog readers may recall that I planned on running the 5K. But since my 12 mile long run the day before turned into a 10 mile run, I had a light bulb moment and realized I could make up those 2 miles (and then some) by opting for the longer haul.

And though my mind protested as I walked over to the same-day registration table, I did it anyway.

So after the obligatory pep talk from the overly excited emcee who was probably an annoying cheerleader in high school...you know the one...so this jibber jabber went on for awhile. I moved away from this and visited some of the sponsor booths. Tried a watermelon falvored Luna Chew and it was go-o-o-o-od! (Ok, I admit...I took two more after the first one.) There was a short line for stretches for some sports training facility with a long name that isn't Athletico (my fave type of joint that has an easy name to remember.) So I had someone stretch out my legs and I felt better already.

Cue the star spangled banner that sounded like a version you might have heard when the last tv show ended for the night, way too majestic for the occasion. (Wow, remember when tv stations used to, like, "go off" at night? That sounds weird saying that, now.)

And we're off. My hubby's cousin was excitedly running her first race ever, and doing the 10K too. While we run in the mornings together, we don't actually run TOGETHER, and so we did the same this day...started off together and soon split up. Fine by me, b/c my ipod was probably going to be my only saving grace.

Mile 1
Legs: Are you crazy??? Didn't you just run 10 miles yesterday?
Mind: Shut up! Get with the program.
Legs: Oh I hate these pseudo hills (really just slight incline) in our otherwise flat city.
Mind: Oh I hate these pseudo hills (really just slight incline) in our otherwise flat city.

Mile 2
Mind: an aid station at 1.5 miles? Aww, that's cute.
Legs: (Keep running!)
Legs: There's the turn off point for the 10K up ahead. You could turn off with the 5K and end this misery now!
Mind: What would be more embarrasing than finishing with the 5K, but being registered now for the 10K, and for a quick moment, being mistaken as finishing in the top 10 or 20 runners for the 10K? Keep going, slacker!

Mile 3
Legs: Let's walk through all the other aid stations. Good strategy.
Mind: I concur. (and there were quite a few for just a 10K. Five, I think? Walked through all but that first one.)
Legs: I hate running. Don't you hate running? You suck! What are you doing out here?
Mind: You suck! Why do you do this to yourself?

Mile 4
Legs: Just going through the motions.
Mind: Can You Feel it...Can you feel it...can you feel it?! (Singing along-not out loud-to my ipod)
Mind: Hey legs, you've been quiet. Everything ok?
Legs: Chillin!

Mile 5
Legs: (on auto-pilot)
Mind: You suck! You hate this, why are you out here? At least I'm not the slowest...the biggest...the only one wearing running PANTS...

Mile 6
Legs: We're ok! We're doing it!
Mind: Hey, we're ok! We're doing it! And I don't feel like walking, I just feel like getting it done!
Mind: There's the finish line ahead! Wow! That was easy!

1:14:52, 12:03 pace which is not bad for having run 10 miles the day before. (I mean, for me at least.) But seriously? All this negative thinking is REALLY taxing. I don't know what to do about it. I mean, I think these things even while listening to music.

Any suggestions?

Who knew?

2009-07-20T13:37:00.003-05:00

So I'm scrolling through looking for my race time...and I notice that I was running among royalty: I came in 1384th place...but look who I came in ahead of in place 1408th. I seriously can't believe they let that fly. I mean I know it's only a 10K, but for medical purposes, couldn't that be dangerous? Whatever...still kinda funny.

And wait, isn't it Xena? Funny stuff, nonetheless!

1382 393 COURTNEY GOODMAN 3008 F 29 F2529 10K CHICAGO IL 1:14:32 12:00
1383 142 MANJU DAFFORN 2785 F 44 F4044 10K NAPERVILLE IL 1:14:40 12:01
1384 211 LINDY WORDLAW 4251 F 37 F3539 10K CHICAGO IL 1:14:52 12:03
1385 27 MILDRED HALEY 3044 F 55 F5559 10K MCLEAN VA 1:14:58 12:04
1386 339 SUSAN GROSS 3025 F 32 F3034 10K CHICAGO IL 1:14:59 12:05
1387 394 TRACY MARTORELLO 4155 F 29 F2529 10K CHICAGO IL 1:14:59 12:05
1388 340 GABI LOUNDS 3323 F 33 F3034 10K PALATINE IL 1:15:05 12:05
1389 395 SARA STELLFOX 3830 F 28 F2529 10K CHICAGO IL 1:15:14 12:07
1390 212 MICHELLE BROZELL 2648 F 37 F3539 10K CHICAGO IL 1:15:19 12:08
1391 28 EILEEN SWEENEY 3856 F 55 F5559 10K CHICAGO IL 1:15:22 12:08
1392 143 CARLAS PRINCE GILBERT 4058 F 42 F4044 10K MD 223 1:15:23 12:08
1393 144 LAURA POTTS 3605 F 40 F4044 10K CHICAGO IL 1:15:27 12:09
1394 46 LAURETTE STILES 4013 F 51 F5054 10K MD BLOOMINGTON IL 201 1:15:27 12:09
1395 145 LEANNE ATWELL 4023 F 43 F4044 10K MD GLENCOE IL 206 1:15:37 12:11
1396 29 LYNN KUEMMEL-BROWN 4230 F 55 F5559 10K ARLINGTON HE IL 1:16:03 12:15
1397 213 GIANNA GUSKEY 3032 F 39 F3539 10K SCHAUMBURG IL 1:16:05 12:15
1398 396 CHARITY HOSKINS 3115 F 25 F2529 10K CHICAGO IL 1:16:12 12:16
1399 214 ANNE GEMKOW 4178 F 35 F3539 10K CHICAGO IL 1:16:17 12:17
1400 397 MARGARET GEMKOW 2978 F 26 F2529 10K CHICAGO IL 1:16:18 12:17
1401 398 DESTINY PORTER 3601 F 28 F2529 10K CHICAGO IL 1:16:22 12:18
1402 215 OKSANA MCDOWELL 3394 F 38 F3539 10K CHICAGO IL 1:16:35 12:20
1403 399 MAGGIE HOWANIEC 3117 F 29 F2529 10K CHICAGO IL 1:16:35 12:20
1404 400 ANNE HOWANIEC 3116 F 27 F2529 10K ORLAND PARK IL 1:16:36 12:20
1405 216 AMY STEELE 3820 F 36 F3539 10K NEW LENOX IL 1:16:36 12:20
1406 111 KAITLIN BRADLEY 2634 F 22 F2024 10K CRYSTAL LAKE IL 1:16:37 12:20
1407 47 MARGARET BRADLEY 2635 F 54 F5054 10K CRYSTAL LAKE IL 1:16:37 12:20
1408 146 ZENA WARRIORPRINCESS 3945 F 44 F4044 10K EVERGREEN PA IL 1:16:38 12:20
1409 341 SANDRA ENIMIL 2869 F 32 F3034 10K CHICAGO IL 1:16:40 12:21
1410 48 BARBARA GARSIDE 2968 F 50 F5054 10K NAPERVILLE IL 1:16:49 12:22
1411 217 YVETTE ECHEVERRY 2855 F 37 F3539 10K CHICAGO IL 1:16:52 12:23
1412 401 MOLLY STAFFORD 3812 F 29 F2529 10K CHICAGO IL 1:17:13 12:26
1413 342 ANNE SEVESKA 3757 F 30 F3034 10K CHICAGO IL 1:17:14 12:26

Pure exhaustion!

2009-07-19T19:51:00.002-05:00

What a weekend! Here's the play-by-play:

Friday night/Early Saturday morning:
-hubby tells me he HAS to leave the house no later than 9:30 for his appointment
-I do the mental math and realize it could be close...call best friend to see if she can stop in for an hour or so (worry though, cuz she's at Beyonce concert)
-woke up at 2:45 because I had to go to the bathroom
-lied in bed awake, last time I looked at the clock it was around 4:15
-up at 5:30 to quickly get ready, and leave by 5:50 in order to drive up north for our training run.
-an hour into training run, text best friend to make sure she's up...no response, decide to ditch out early on training run
-run 10 miles instead of 12
-at car, realized texting is not a good form of communication. she had been on her way, but i never got that text. she got my second text telling her not to worry about it and went back home. oh well.

Saturday morning
-come home, get ready, get girls ready
-drive 45 miles west to the far west suburbs
-we are a little early, so we quickly drop in at the outlet mall to grab a pair of shoes for the girls at the stride rite outles. love that store!
-next we arrive at a birthday party at Chuckie Cheese.
-noise!
-upon leaving, we go over to my dad's, potty break, and then my dad, me and the girls head down to the park for the girls' first fishing lesson. 4 fish and a million rocks thrown later, we leave.
-arby's!
-head home
-AHHHHH, satisfaction! all cabinets are now in, all countertops done, sink and dishwasher, in and working. HOORAY!

Sunday morning
-Fleet Feet Women's Festival 5K/10K
-pondered switching from the 5K to the 10K, since I fell short on my miles
-drove up north with my hubby's cousin...this was her first race ever!
-all the way to the registration table, my legs protested, but I switched to the 10K.
-ran it (race report pending)
-came home
-sanitized cabinets, started putting things in them
-birthday party in the afternoon for a girl in the neighborhood

TIRED!!!!!! This is the lamest post ever, and I might delete it, since it is devoid of anything interesting. I will do a race report when i've had time to get the creative juices flowing. Sleep and/or sugar may help.

quietly. freaking. out.

2009-07-14T13:47:00.001-05:00

Just got an inquiry about 2000 cookies. Want them TWO DAYS after the half marathon. (and two days before I leave for a brief NYC vacation.)

YIKES. what to do, what to do?

This week (Insert your own witty title here)

2009-07-14T09:36:00.002-05:00

Whew, tired legs this morning! So much for my 11:12-11:15ish pace Tuesdays. I'm not sure if my legs are tired from doing an extra set of weights in the gym yesterday, or if I'm just tired. Maybe it's both. I'm not sure why I had the "bright" idea to do 4 sets on all my lower body weights. It seemed like some of it was getting easy, but raising the weights might be too hard. I dunno.

So this week is a 12-miler on Saturday, and I know it's only Tuesday and all, but the forecast looks GREAT! Lows in the upper 50's, highs in the mid 70's. No rain around after tonight/tomorrow morning, so hopefully that means no humidity sticking around, either.

But then on Sunday I'm running the Fleet Feet Women's 5K/10K race. My husband's cousin is switching to the 10K, but I think that it'd be wise to run just the 5K. Especially after my tired legs this morning. Can't wait, they have the cutest running shirts ever.

I'm not feeling very creative, sorry for this dull post.

Two for two on Tuesdays

2009-07-07T19:09:00.003-05:00

So I had another great Tuesday run...45 minutes (didn't look at my schedule until later, to see that actually I was supposed to do 50 minutes.) But anyway, I did .01 faster than last Tuesday, which I admit is really nothing. But I also had another decent negative split. Scratch that, an AWESOME split.

Here are the statistics, courtesy of my beloved Garmin:

Total Miles: 4.02 miles, average pace 11:12.

Mile 1 11:49
MIle 2 11:32
Mile 3 10:55
Mile 4 10:35

p.s. my husband's cousin, who started running and we run together on Tuesdays and Thursdays? She said today, "I'm going to train for the marathon next year." Hook. Line. Sinker. Got another one here, folks! Hee Hee Hee Hee, welcome to the madness, friend!

Running Demons and Birds

2009-07-05T08:04:00.004-05:00

Hooray! A week where I got in all 4 runs! I'm prety proud of myself for getting in my 4 runs and 20 miles, and not thinking about the fact that my total 4 runs probably equals Deena Kastor's morning run on an easy day....little steps, people, little steps! (And not that I could ever be Deena, either.) Does my excessive use of italics bother you? I'm sorry. Really, I am.

But let's get back to my long run. Remember last week when I bailed on my 10-mile run with the group? So I really meant it when I said I'd make it up next week. Bright and early Saturday morning, I woke up just before 5am. For some reason I lolly-gagged around getting ready and it was like 5:40 before I even left the house.

I decided to NOT go to 63rd Street Beach in order to ward off the running boredom blues, and neither did I want to travel up to the north side. That just takes more time and there's never a guarantee for decent or free parking. So I decided to try starting from somewhere I've never started. Oakwood, which is 3900 South. (You know I love my 31st Street Beach, but I knew 5 miles north would take me well into the concrete monster at Ohio Street Beach, and mentally I was just not gonna be able to handle that--surely in my fragile state of just being able to get out the door, that morning sun would chew me up, spit me out and leave me for dead.) So I parked in the brand new parking lot, right next to some young 20-somethings who were ending their night of partying and went on my merry way!

So for a few miles I was feeling good. Honestly, I was feeling good most of the time. But mentally, maybe 3 miles in, I kept having to push back those little running demons "You know, you're doing 11 miles next week, you don't have to run 10 miles today." "Girl, you should just run 8 miles and call it a day!" "Oh GAWSH, do you really want to run under that bridge at Wacker Drive? YUCK." I fought these voices in my head from about mile 3 until I turned around. And I opted to turn around just before that bridge when you're like a sandwich, you're running under Lake Shore Drive, but next to Wacker Drive with probably billions of car fume particles in the air, and the river below you. Yeah...skipped it. Turned around about 2/10 of a mile early. Yeah, cuz running past my car at the end of a 10-mile run isn't challenging. :-/

So anyway, I stopped at the Fleet Feet aid station and guzzled, then headed back south. As I'm heading back around the Shedd Aquarium, happy to take the route again that had been closed for at least a year due to construction...wait. Ok, so the new part of the underpass that helps you avoid the maddening museum traffic is super nice. But the weird thing is, the part of the path that went unused for about a year is now looking pretty raggedy! Anyway, so I'm running along minding my own business, and as I'm about to pass a water fountain, SWOOSH! A STUPID BIRD BRUSHED MY HEAD AS IT CAME IN FOR A WATER-FOUNTAIN LANDING. So I looked at the bird like "WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING???????" I mean, for real? You have the who-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ole sky, and for some reason, that just isn't enough for you?! I was so mad! You may not know this, but birds DISGUST me. They are filthy little lice-infested vermin. When I was in the second grade I wrote a poem about a bird pooping on me, after having been inspired by watching an old friend (Kendera Ream, are you out there?) get pooped on. So yeah, I looked at the bird with all this bouncing around in my mind, and I swear if that bird could talk, he would have given me one of those "SORRY!" that really wasn't an apology at all, but a forced and sarcastic response. He looked like he was saying "What do you want me to do? SORRY!" So I looked back at him and said with my eyes "Look, I don't want any trouble here. You do my part, and I'll do mine." All of this imagined conversation took place in like 1 second. So what to do, but keep running? But instantly my scalp started itching like crazy, or at least it seemed to be. So at the next fountaion, I poured water all over my head a few times. My scalp is starting to itch again as I write this. Stupid bird.

So heading back south I pass McCormick Place, then the Chicago Firefighters Memorial, when up ahead I saw two runners I know from college. (GO ILLINI!) We waved, but I was instantly dismayed. I knew that from where they usually start running, they would be turning around in a bit, most likely, and they run pretty fast, like a 7:30 pace, to my recollection. I had about 1.5 miles left to go. UGH. The thought of them closing in on my gigantic behind in this next stretch of path for which you can see up ahead for 1/2 mile stretches at a time was disheartening. I imagined it would just look bigger and bigger and bigger and finally when they would pass me, they would think or maybe even say to each other, "wow, it really was that big!" I am not kidding, the thought of this kept me moving along at a decent pace for the remainder of the run.

So at 9.85 miles or so, I passed my car. It was hard to do that, but at the same time, there was no way I was coming this close to running 10 miles and not doing it. I ran the remainder of my run out, then had a nice cooldown walk back to my car. I stretched very nicely and as I was doing so, they ran by. Whew!

Next Saturday? 11 miles!

Let's see if I can remember that poem:

Birdie, birdie in the sky,
Why'd you do that in my eye?
What's that thing coming down,
in a blob, in a white form?
I scream and I frown.
And, I mourn.
When it hits, I dance around.
Birdie, birdie in the sky,
why'd you do that in my eye?

Hey I was 7, I didn't say the poem was any good.

Do You Know What Today Is?????

2009-07-02T09:45:00.002-05:00

July 2! (duh)

No, but really...1 month until the inaugural run of the Rock-n-Roll Chicago Half Marathon! And you all may recall how annoyed I was when the Chicago Distance Classic (which was bought out by RnR) changed their course last year. Well looks like they realized they screwed up a good thing, b/c the unofficial course map is out and it has us back to the course of old...starting out just like the marathon, running through downtown streets, under the cover of shade-bringing skyscrapers, similar to the Shamrock Shuffle course, HOORAY!!!! And then some 5 miles in, we hit Lake Shore Drive. HOORAY!!!!

Anyway, let the countdown begin!

Alive and Running

2009-06-30T13:50:00.002-05:00

Today was one of those runs that you’re all like “YES! I love running! I live for running! Running is life!” I had a bad run on Saturday, as you may have noticed by my little graph over there on the side, I ran what appears to be a random 5.34 miles…well that was supposed to be 10 miles. Mid-run, I ditched Lou, Meg and crew. I was exhausted and I just knew my heart wasn’t in it.

The day before I worked for 16 hours (almost straight, sans an occasional Michael Jackson break to watch a video and reminisce and be sad.) I baked and decorated 600 cookies for an event, standing most of the time, because that’s how I do my cookies, I cannot sit down, it makes it harder for me. (Don’t bother the artist while she’s at work, this is how she works, and that’s that.)

So by some miracle I was able to wake up and arrive on time, but after 5 miles I was DONE. Fast forward to today…still didn’t want to be out there running, but managed to make a go of it. After all, it was barely 60° and relatively low humidity! And it was a great run. At my 22:30 turnaround point I realized I’d gone farther than usual and thought there was no way I could keep up that pace, but I did. Towards the end I realized I had a shot at 4 miles. 4 miles in 45 minutes! That is rock star status in my penguin-slow book. So I kicked it into high gear for the last two minutes or so. Not only that, I managed to pull off a negative split. AND my last mile, according to my beloved Garmin, was 10:57. Not 11:57….10:57. Wow. Nice work.

And nearly the whole time, I was still thinking about Michael Jackson and the whole family (minus Papa Joe.) I know, I really do have issues and might be cracking up. However, a college friend of mine countered that I’m not so crazy, and that you can’t help but to be sad. Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, and then in college in the 90’s when we put together choreographed stepshows each year, MJ was the soundtrack/dancetrack of our lives. Saying goodbye to him is saying goodbye to a little piece of yourself. And that, my friends, is hard to reconcile sometimes.

Serena Williams, tennis champion, runner and comedian!

2009-06-22T19:59:00.005-05:00

Her shirt reads "Are you looking at my titles?"

Wow, what a weekend!

2009-06-21T19:03:00.004-05:00

So Friday night I get home from work, and I just had this feeling. I had a feeling that I'd had a good run without DH (dear husband) having to be out early on a Saturday morning and thus allowing me to make my group runs with Chicago Endurance Sports. And I was right. So this week's 9-miler was going to be on my own. :(

The second "feeling" I had, was that with the predictions of horrible storms headed our way in the evening hours, I thought to myself "You'd better get these kids fed just in case the power goes out." And in just 15 minutes after we finished eating? The power went out. :(

I had a terrible night's sleep, waking up every 30 to 60 minutes, checking to see if the power had come back on. Finally, I noticed my clock blinking oo:30 in red, at about 4am (according to my cell), which meant the power came on around 3:30am. Getting up for an early run at 5am? NAH!

Besides, I rationalized, I could instead make up that 30 minute run, and then run my 9 miles on Sunday after a good night's sleep. So before running a few errands with the girls, I ran 30 minutes on the treadmill. Cool.

Fast forward to Saturday night. DH is going to see his brother in some show up on the north side, and I've convinced BF Annah that she should just stay overnight and run with me on the lakefront. And by with, I mean that we're both running on the lakefront at the same time. She's a 9:30 pace, or so.

Sometimes I'm anxious before a long run, especially when I'm going to be on my own, so it took a little while to doze of. I finally did though, and just got into that sleep where your body is all like "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Sweet, glorious sleep." When all of the sudden I hear cars screeching, car doors opening, "GET DOWN ON THE M.F. GROUND! GET DOWN!! GET DOWN!!!!! M.F. DIDN'T YOU SEE MY UNIFORM GET DOWN!!!!" To say this was a rude awakening is an understatement to the tenth degree. My mind and heart were racing. From my second floor window, I peek out to see both undercover cops and regular cop cars/SUVs slamming to a halt right at our corner, jumping out with guns drawn, and one woman (the one screaming all the obscenities) pointing a gun at a dude's head, who was laid out spread eagle ON MY FRONT LAWN! (HOLY $#!T!!!!!!!!!!!)

So I come downstairs because, for one, althought the doors were locked, they were open so that the ceiling fans could get some sort of cool air, since it's so frikkin humid out....so I thought maybe I should shut the doors? Also to try and figure out what to do, if anything. As I'm coming down the stairs, I see cops with guns drawn on BOTH sides of the house, going to the backyard! WHAT?!! So I get downstairs and Annah is looking all crazed and wild-eyed, too! More and more cops are pulling up and they are now combing all of the backyards along the alley that we all abut.

So I can hear them talking and they're looking for one other suspect, and wondering if he could have scaled the concrete wall and barb wire to get into the cemetery. As one of the cops gets closer to our back door, I told him that our door lock doesn't work, and to check inside the garage. So they did. I was just hoping and praying not to hear any gunshots or have a cop get shot on the block....but even while all this was going on, I guess I felt like, that for the present moment with all these cops, we're likely the safest block in the city. They were out there for over an hour, and they didn't find anyone, to my knowledge.

It took me FOREVER to fall back asleep, maybe like 1:30 or 2am. Managed to at least get up at about 5:15am, watch the weather reports suggest that it was 74 degrees and 97% humidity at the lakefront, get kamikazi'd by a wasp in the bathroom, and finally make it to the lakefront just before 6am.

So the run itself was uncomfortable, I was hot, tired and just plain spent. My left knee felt like it was swelling in tune with the humidity. I walked A LOT. Maybe even 2 miles worth. Crazy thing is, Annah ran/walked the whole thing with me. I felt kinda bad because I know she would normally go way faster than me. I kept telling her to go ahead, but she didn't. Truthfully, only 2 miles in, I wanted to call it quits...but I didn't. I don't know that I wouldn't have, had she not been there. Overall my pace was well over 13. If I hadn't had such a great 8-mile run last week, I'd wonder about my ability to run 9 miles, or even 10 miles next week. But the truth is, if I can run 8 miles, I can run 9 miles. I guess I'm ok with just getting the distance in, regardless of how bad of a "run" it was.

Hopefully the stars will align and I will get some decent sleep, and the humidity will ease up a bit.

The Powers that Be

2009-06-20T11:32:00.002-05:00

Hmmm, ok, first things first. I was supposed to run an easy 30 minutes on Friday (morning, preferably.) This didn't happen, and my legs did not protest because I was pretty tired from my bike ride...but I still could have done it. Itwas storming something fierce and while rain is fine, lightning is not. I figured I'd just skip this short run, what's the harm?

Skip to Friday evening at home.

Turns out hubby has to leave the house by 8:30 for an appointment. Since I BARELY made it home by 8:30 after last week's group run, I realized that adding another mile would not put me in the door by then, so I'd be running on my own. COpmletely out of my control.

And then.....the power went out at about 7:15pm. Not just for a little bit, but over 8 hours. I kept waking up wondering if it was on, so I didn't sleep well. I canned my 9 miles all together, not sure of what the weather would bring.

So here's the deal:

-Did my 30 minute run after all, on the treadmill at home...90% humidity? No thanks
-Will do 9 miles tomorrow bright and early
-No harm done!

Bike to Work Week - Chicago Style

2009-06-17T11:50:00.008-05:00

UPDATE: 5 things

1. Waited out the rain/lightning/thunder, started around 9am
2. 16.26 miles, house to lakefront to work (no bus.)
3. About 6.25 miles of that was city biking (stop, go, avoid being sideswiped)
4. 1:46:17, an average of 9.18 miles per hour (so says the Garmin)
5. I'm not cut out for biking AT ALL. I kept thinking about Lou's "ass pants" that she bought for her triathlon training and wished I had a pair on. Yikes! I'm taking the train and bus home!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Guess what pals? In Chicago, the City of Big Shoulders, the Second City, the City by the Lake (oh wait, I think that's Milwaukee), it's Bike to Work Week. Quick! Everybody! Grab a bike!

Here at my job, we participate in the Bike Commuter Challenge along with a load of other like-minded people who halfway care about the environment, and we are the reigning champs for FIVE YEARS IN A ROW in the "Business/NonProfit" Category, 25-99 Employees Division. In years past, the winning groups get 3 monstrous Eli Cheesecakes (a Chicago brand), and you get to go to their factory to pick them out and everything...kinda cool, um, except it's sooooo far out, completely un-bikeable (especially if you're carrying 3 big 20-serving size cheesecakes on the return trip), and nowhere near transit...but I digress.

Last year I think we had 96% participation, with me being one of two people who didn't at least bike once to work. But tomorrow (Thursday)...my bike ride to work will be my crosstraining as I travel from the South Side (69th/Woodlawn) to the fabulous Center for Neighborhood Technology near Damen and North Avenue. (Now this means nothing to some of you.) Trust me when I say it's no small feat. I will wear my Garmin, which actually has a cycling mode, and tell you exactly how far I travel, ok?

I plan to take as much of the lakefront path as I can, and then either hop on Armitage with a semi-friendly bike lane (versus North Avenue and no bike Lane), OR take the bus from the North Avenue and the Lake over to my job, since we have these handy-dandy bike racks on buses now...and since technically, I have to ride a portion of my commute, it doesn't have to be the whole commute.

Now if my bicycle trailer hadn't been stolen from our garage last year, I could even bike the girls over to their summer daycare program, but now everything is complicated.

I hope the weather holds out. Unless there's lightning, I will be out there.

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GASP!!!! She MOVED!!!!

untitled post

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uh.....hi?

->GULP<-

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Rhetorical question...

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What ever happened to....

So a girl walks into a bank...

Jonas

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Awwww....

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