Things I Learned Over Marathon Weekend

So I promised the “bestest post ever”. 

I really shot myself in the foot with that one, huh?  That may or may not have been said with a wee bit of sarcasm.  But now I feel the need to deliver.

Well.  Let’s see what we can do…

Because I do well with lists, here are a few important things I learned during the weekend of the Chicago Marathon (through the eyes of a spectator):

1. Inevitably, we’re all going to turn into our mothers.  Sorry peeps, it’s gonna happen.  The “family dinner” we had consisted of the three aunts and cousins congregating at D’Agostino’s for some decent pasta and pizza.  The cousins spent a lot of the time catching each other’s eyes.  As our mothers all chatted us  up in circles, we realized this is most likely a window into what our futures look like 25 years down the road.  Gulp.

2. To actually see someone running a 4:30 pace for a marathon is amazing.  I’ve seen sprints on tv.  I’ve read about crazy marathoners.  But to actually see these people run right past left me speechless.

3. You will never find a Starbucks when you’re actually hunting for one. Or even a coffee shop in general.  Amy had no caffeine or food until 3 hours after she got out of bed.  This is never ideal for the people who’s company I am keeping.  I had no shame in stopping everyone with a Starbucks cup and asking, almost accusingly, “where did you get that?!?!”.  I apologize to anyone I may have frightened.

4. People are crazy creative.  Or sometimes, just crazy.I can’t imagine running with this thing on for one mile.  And I’m going to assume the few guys with him were there to switch off.  Either way- that’s crazy.When I do races, I love reading the signs.  They can be hilarious.  This was one of my favorites.  On the other side, it said “I promise there’s beer at the end”.

We were creative in our own right.  My cousin had on a Missouri Tigers shirt and had her mom bring Mizzou flags to wave so she could spot us easier.  That’s right, we had a theme.  No party (or marathon) is a success without one.5. My cousin is an awesome runner!  At mile 11, she still looked like she was feeling amazing!Granted, this is only about half way through.  But I know I can’t run 11 miles and look so perky…   She did great and finished a little under 4:15!

6. Do NOT use the porta potty in the runner’s reunite area.  Or if you do- try to be one of the first to do so.  Not after hundreds of sweaty, smelly people used it before you.  When there’s no toilet paper.  And you consider getting out to use another one, but do you really want to wait in line to take your chances?  Granted there’s not much worse than poo hanging off the inside of the seat and trying to figure out if that’s drops of sweat or pee on the seat itself.  I knew I was doing all those squats for a reason.  I hovered like my life depended on it.  Knowing the condition of the toilet seat, it’s possible my life actually was depending on it…

7. Marathons are good excuses for blogger meetups.

First, I made sure to hang out to not only see my cousin, but to also see Pham!The kid was able to beat the heat and get a new PR!  Nice work, Pham!  Did you even see me the second time?  Doubtful.  For real- you were 2 feet away from me as I screamed at you. 

After the marathon, the family all left and I headed over to Megan‘s to celebrate Sunday Funday!  We ended up hitting McGinny’s- because who doesn’t love buckets of beer?I promise you, Megan loves the buckets of beer, too. Contrary to the picture.

We were also joined later on by a couple ladies who traveled to Chicago to RUN the marathon…Shelby and Angry Runner came to say hello (check out their blogs for their own versions of how the marathon went)!  I was so excited!  And not just because Angry was wearing some sweet hot pink compression socks (Christmas list, anyone?). 

One thing  you’ll notice when bloggers meetup- first, because it can be awkward, we talk about what we blog about.  Like running.  Plus the marathon had just happened.  It was a “duh” topic of choice.  But then you get a little more comfortable, possibly a little tipsy, and start talking about anything and everything.  For example, there was about five minutes dedicated to trying to figure out what “Like a G6″ meant.  Still clueless on that one.

If you know, please inform me so I may pass the information along.

8. Even if you don’t run, the Chicago marathon will be exhausting.  Between the early wakeup call, walking to multiple points of the course, the heat, the food, the drinks, and the late metra ride home, I was DRAINED.  But it was such a great experience!  I may not run it (although I’ll never say never), but I will DEFINITELY be going back next year to cheer on the runners.  You guys are amazing!

So there you go.  I hope this rises to the occasion as an “awesome recap post”.  But if it doesn’t, please understand it’s Tuesday.  And everything’s worse on a Tuesday…  :p

Later!

I need more time!

Hey kids!

Not a lot to say at the moment.  I’m still pretty tired from the long weekend of family fun, marathon madness and blogger meetups…

I spent all of Sunday completely unplugged (the blog equivalent of “free ballin’”?).  I needed to give attention to where it was due.  And I can’t wait to give you a recap! But I want to do it right and so I’m keeping you in suspense another day.  My mind is frazzled.

Congrats to all the Chicago Marathon runners!  You guys had a ridiculously hot little 26-mile run.  This was me bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  Definitely not running.  But doing my best to support the masses.  Notice my tight grip on the cup of coffee I had just acquired.  Had I not found a coffee shop, I would not have been smiling.  

I’ll be back tomorrow with the bestest post of all time.

Seriously.

It’s gonna be great.

Promise…

Happy Monday everyone!  Back to work I go…

Hey Ma…

Happy weekend everyone!  Was it just me or was that one of the slowest work weeks of all time?

Either way, I’m excited to finally have some rest and relaxation.  And most importantly, get some quality time in with the parental unit who came up to visit while my cousin runs the Chicago Marathon:Hey ma!

As I was uploading this pic, I said, “hey mom, I like this picture.  It turned out well.”

She inspected it (after pulling out her glasses of course) and said, “eh.  I guess I look alright for an old lady.”

Psht.  Now I know where I get my critical eye from…

She and two of my aunts roadtripped their way up yesterday (living on almond joys and gossip- or so I’ve been told) and my mom was waiting for me at my place by the time I got home from work.  So then it came time for our turn at catching up until I finally said I’d need something to eat or an arm would go missing.

Originally we had planned to go out to eat somewhere that at least had real silverware, but I wasn’t in the mood for anything too heavy and she had eaten a later lunch.  Solution?

Why Jason’s Deli, of course. I was craving deli.  This has happened a lot as of late.  Not sure why.  My mom did soup and a salad, while I tried something new to me from the “Lighter Side” part of the menu:I had the turkey wrap- which was filled with turkey, sprouts and guacamole (yes!).  Sans tomato because I’m crazy and don’t like tomatoes in my sandwich.  Also, it came with chips and guac (double yes!) on the side.

Sadly, the Goose Island beer didn’t come with it.  I supplied that on my own.  This was my first time trying the Harvest Ale and I have to say it’s not my favorite.  I still like Goose Island’s Summertime much better.  Maybe it’s just because I prefer lighter beer and not so much the malts, or maybe it’s because that’s me being in denial that summer’s over.  Either/or.

Quick- name your favorite beer!  Or if you don’t like beer- your favorite beverage to relax with?

Anyhoo, this is a quick one because clearly us girls have shopping to do.  With very little time to do it before we travel downtown to meet up with the rest of the gene pool for an evening out. 

Have a great Saturday!  And for all you kids running, GOOD LUCK!  I’ll be in the crowd.  Most likely with a bright yellow scarf.  If I see you, don’t be surprised if I’m jumping up and down like a maniac.  It’s sorta what I do.

Lunch Excitement (it’s the little things in life)

So I was definitely bummed that my workout got pushed to after work.  Mostly because I planned my night around having that done already.  But I’m glad to hear I’m not alone in the occasional struggle with the alarm clock. 

The run still happened.  My favorite treadmill was wide open. Then again, most of the machines were.  It seems lots of people shy away from working out when the weather turns?  Other than Mon flying away on the elliptical and another guy aimlessly wandering around in the weights section, it was empty.  Sweet! 

The run started like any other run, but then I developed a stitch in my side by the end of the 2nd mile.  And it WOULD NOT go away.  So I had to stop.  But only for a minute and I was back up- just not going as quickly.  I still ran a full 4 miles.  But much slower than usual.  I don’t know exactly- maybe an 8:50 pace?

Eh.  At least I got it done- even after accidentally sleeping in. 

Moving on…

Has anyone heard of Portillo’s?  They’re a Chicago fast food chain that specializes in things like italian beef and hot dogs and such.  As much as others rave about it, I’m not a huge fan.  I mostly blame this to the fact that they only have krinkle-cut fries.  For some reason, I’m just not down with the krinkle.  I’m more of a waffle or curly fry kind of gal.

Needless to say, I haven’t been there in a while.  But Mon occasionally goes there for lunch and brought this little gem to me this week:She swore it was “life changing”.  The salad dressing.  She hasn’t read the book yet.  (And yes, I’m so excited to FINALLY be getting to read Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang.)

I said “woah now- that’s a pretty bold statement, Mon.”

She said, “OH- just wait and see”.Even Chelsea was smiling at me in that pic.  She knew the Portillo’s house dressing would be A-mazing.  If I weren’t in public, I gaurantee I would have licked the container.  But that wouldn’t have been lady-like, so I didn’t (I promise, mom!). 

Mon says they sell the dressing by itself at the restaurant.  It’s a good thing I don’t frequent Portillo’s.  But I can promise you that next time I go there, I will be leaving with a bottle of it.

What’s your favorite type of dressing?  For salads, I generally go with some sort of balsamic variety.  And of course I’m not a stranger to ranch- but it usually is used as a condiment for other things like sandwiches or pizza…

So do you realize how excited I am about this weekend?  Obviously people know about the marathon, but my MOM is coming to visit and watch with me!    My cousin is pretty much super human and will be one of the thousands of runners out there- so a few of “the girls” (aka my mom and a couple aunts) will be roadtripping up to spend the weekend with their daughters.  Is the city ready for a surge of my family population within it’s limits?  We shall see…

Not Concerned

So remember yesterday how I asked for your best “clumsy moment“?  After reading through all the comments, I decided it may be a good idea for us all to wrap ourselves in bubble wrap.  Just a thought.

Yesterday flew by.  Literally flew.  There are some days where I stay ridiculously busy throughout the entire day.  Tuesday was one of those days.  I won’t complain- I hate Tuesdays anyways.  So I was glad to get it done and over with.

Then I got to do what I do best.  Run the stress out.  A whole 4 miles.  After that, the stress was gone and the treadmill bored me.  I looked to the right of me.  The stairmill looked lonely.  So I stopped at 4 miles (which I did at an 8:27 pace if you were interested) and jumped on the stairmill for 10 minutes.  After that I was pretty much a hot mess and decided it was time to exit the building. 

It was an excellent workout.  As was dinner- the spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli from last Saturday.The way it looked was unsatisfactory.  Sometimes leftovers just aren’t photogenic.  Aren’t you glad I posted a pic of it anyways?  You’re welcome.

So I know it’s not quite Boston, but I’m super excited about the Chicago Marathon this year.  I’m staying downtown and traveling to a few mile markers to seek out my cousin and cheer her on.  I’ve also heard that quite a few kids from the blogging world will be out doing their thing.  Hopefully I’ll spot a few of ya! 

But on a sad note, it started popping up in the news this week that Ryan Hall won’t be running it this year.  I’m a little disappointed.  Honestly, it’s not that I follow “running” as I would other sports, but I have some serious admiration for the kid and think he’s just insanely amazing to watch.  Gotta give respect where it’s due.

Hey look! It’s Wednesday!  Halfway there.

Maybe to get really crazy and out of control, I should do something like mix it up at breakfast.A breakfast sandwich!  Weeeeeeee!

Yummy looking bagel, right?  I thought so.  That’s why I stuck it in my purse after a Monday Morning meeting at work.  Along with two others.  I have no shame. 

That’s why I’m always so quick to volunteer my services to help cleanup after meetings with food.  And just so we’re clear- it’s not stealing.  Once the food hits the break room, it’s a free-for-all.  There was still plenty leftover to go around for everyone, so I don’t feel bad. And I only took three.  Four would have been overkill.  And possibly “hoarding”.

Plus, I spotted mold on my tortilla wraps last night and they had to be thrown out (which I’m a bit upset about).  We’re not going to dwell on the possibility that there may or may not have been mold that went unseen on my nachos Monday night.  Not gonna dwell on it…

Nope… not concerned…

Yuck.