New York - What's a Girl to Do?

I was in New York for a long weekend and had a blast! How did it go? Well,

Thursday: was a travelling day. Chef Zack took me to the airport after all my normal airport transporting friends were unavailable. (Thanks again!) I had a direct flight to JFK. Mark gave me directions to get to his house from JFK. Three trains, plus the air train, were involved. I had an exciting moment when I got off the express to get on the local train. I got down to the local platform and there was no one there. In the middle of the afternoon. In Brooklyn. Creepy.

The rest of the day was hanging out with the family. Mark had to work super late so I hung out with Irmghard and tried to beat the heat. Did I mention the bulldog?


Friday: I woke up and found Prospect Park which is near where I was staying. I had quite a long walk around Grand Army Circle (totally the wrong way) before I got myself found. I was also super grateful for my GPS enabled phone, without which I would have been completely lost. (I get confused when the road is not in straight lines.)
Friday afternoon Irmghard and I went into Manhattan. I got a tour of Chelsea, where I don't think I'd been before. We also stopped and shopped for baby clothes, some of which I can't believe a baby would ever be small enough to fit, but I was assured they do come that tiny.


Saturday: Mark and I went to the farmer's market at Prospect Park. It was really fun to see all the local produce. By the ocean they get lots of good seafood too. (Mmmm, Scallops!)
In the afternoon we hit the beach. Vacations are complete once there is swimming in the ocean. I was so excited. Originally I thought it would be fun to go to Coney Island (until it occurred to us that amusement parks and pregnant women don't mix) so the beach was an unexpected but welcome treat.


Then we went into Crown Heights to this Pizza Place. (I'm one of the gentiles who realizes how not-right it is to be walking around Crown Heights on the sabbath in a bathing suit, but that's another story.) Mark showed me where he's taught before and a few of the cool shops. We also learned it's not passion fruit season. Then, we got pizza.


Sunday: Mark had to work again. I went for a run in the park and had a blast. There was a bike race using the road in the park so that was fun to see. The race was done by the time I was running up hill to get out of the park and go back home. That's when I saw that the bikes raced up the same hill and the hill is so long/steep they awarded king of the mountains points for the climb in the bike race. Yea, that's what I ran up. Guess I get to count that as a hill run!
Then Irmghard and I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden (my favorite stop of the trip) which was gorgeous but quite hot by lunch time.



In the afternoon we opted for the sanctuary of air conditioning at the Brooklyn Museum. Irmghard knew they had an Andy Warhol exhibit. I was thrilled to find that Irmghard walks through art museums at exactly my pace. (Usually I finish too fast.)



After all that walking (which is more every time we tell the story) we headed home. Irmghard convinced me that "Inglorious Bastards" would be a good (meaning light, funny) movie to watch. Ha. Ha. Ha. Sadly (or luckily?) all movies put me to sleep with in about ten minutes so I had a nice nap and woke up for the end, which was also when Mark came home.

Mark cooked an awesome Sunday dinner (so good I even forgot to call my parents at the regular time!). I refer you to my earlier comment about scallops. Then Mark wanted a hair cut. (Maybe that happened Saturday now that I think of it.) Oh well, here's Mark checking my work.


Monday: I went for a 'walk' around the park. After the previous day of running and walking and heat, there would be no up hill runs. Then Irmghard and I had tacos (you have to say it louder!) for lunch at a truly authentic restaurant. I had enchiladas actually and they were fantastic. Then I played "planes trains and automobiles" again to get back to Minneapolis. Luckily I didn't have to wait on the deserted platform this time but I did have to search for some time in one of the subway stations to find the platform for the S Shuttle.
JFK was a treat unto itself. I had to pee from about the time I found the S Shuttle (in Brooklyn), so I was thrilled to find no bathrooms in the airport until after I got through security. The delta lady gave me the blues about the size of my carry on (which does fit in the little bag-size-check box, thank you). Once through security, I found relief. Then the monitors told me to go to gate 29 to wait for my plane. By the time I arrived, they'd switched me back to gate 1. (Where I started, on the other side of the terminal.) I feel about gate 1 about the way I used to feel about Concourse C in Cincinnati (a place so dreadful they finally just stopped using it). Then the plane was delayed. Then it was delayed again once the passengers were on it.

I think the bad mojo must have been around New York, or JFK in particular, because once we took off I was fine. It was a nice flight and my ride from the airport was right on time.

Thanks again to Mark and Irmghard for having me (and for showing me how to use Skype!)

Long Run Wednesday: Three hours on an elliptical is really too long

I really was emotionally prepared to run in the heat this morning. Then, when my alarm woke me up at 4:50am, I looked at the weather and found it there was also 90% humidity. I was no longer emotionally prepared for anything.

So I went to the gym and decided to make peace with the elliptical. The gym got some new machines that I tried out. The verdict is back: boo. My legs, specifically my ankles and feet, hurt like nothing I have ever experienced on the new machines. So I say boo. Also, oddly, the new machines appear to have fewer pre-programmed workouts. (How?) The machines themselves are quite nice and the touchscreen interface is great. I also like that my iPod can plug into the machine and charge and I can control it with the touchscreen interface. After two hours on the new machines, I went back to one of the few old ones left. It was like heaven. The old machines have a different stride/stroke/whatever that feels better on my short little legs. Plus the pedals actually feel better too.

I worked from home for a bit after exercising and then went in. After work, I lead Team:Work again in running. It was just one other person and I today. That's right in the 90*+ heat and the heat index of 100*+. Yes, I am that crazy.

Then I realized that in order to hang out (read: drink) with Amanda tomorrow, I will be required to run in the morning to 'earn' my calories. I am tired already. Maybe I should go to sleep.

running story for the day

I ran through the park this morning. There was a bike race on the road next to the running path. Fun. They move fast.
The running path is a steady down hill, then a false flat and then it climbs back to where I begin the loop.
Today, when I got to the top of the hill, I saw a sign that they awarded climbing points in the bike race because the hill was so long and steep.
Nice!

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funny story

Guy sitting next to me: I'm from Hector MN. it's about 80 miles west of the cities.
me: is that near Lake Lillian?
Guy: (stares for a second) how do you know where Lake Lillian is?
me: my best friend is from there
guy: whats her name?
me: friends name. her dad is named...
guy: oh, really, i know them and they live here. thats a big family. and the dad drives truck and...

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a brief LINKFEST

• 50 awesome things about my state!


• What's Clean House's Niecy Nash got to say? Be nice to people! Hmmm.


• Creative. Check. Productive. Check. Both at the same time: very very rare


• This made me giggle. What's wrong with our country? And add California to the map too!


• Speaking of California.... I love the bears!


• I don't know why this made me howl, but it did.


• Speaking of howling, again, I have no idea why...

Long Run Wednesday: Ellipticals and Running at Work

This is technically a step back week but I haven't done anything since my run last Thursday so I felt like I could do a 'long run' on the elliptical today. My gym got new elliptical machines (as well as some other cardio equipment) and I realize that it's awesome and the new stuff is really nice, but they took out some of the machines I'm used to so I'll have to acclimate to the new ones. One really nice thing is the new machines are compatible with the Nike+ stuff on my iPods so I can record indoor workouts too now. I was on the elliptical for a little under two hours. (Perhaps a tad too long after not working out for five days.)

We also started Team: Work tonight. The JCC's Dreidel Dash has an unofficial side competition for which group in the community can have the biggest team show up. (Chili is involved.) So I told everybody at my office I would teach them to run if they wanted. We have four people plus me tonight and possibly will get a couple more next week! We're using the tried and true couch potato plan. That first week where we're only running 60 seconds at a time, really fun. I'm using this time to practice running up on my toes. I can't change my stride all at once, but I know it will be better for me in the long run to run up on my toes as much as possible. It's like a whole different muscle group, but my knees appreciate me so much.

The rest of the week, I'm assuming I'll find a way to run and next week, back into the long runs. I got Dad a plane ticket so he's for sure coming to watch the marathon. Now I just need a friend for him to take him around the course to cheer.

The Chicago Report

It occurs to me that i never told you about my trip to Chicago. (Sorry.) So here's what I did:

My mom's cousin Julie, whom I know and like, lives in Bloomingdale Illinois (which is really not Chicago, more like an uber-suburb). Some part of that family was having a family reunion. Mom cared about it. I expected to know Julie and one other person besides my parents. But I wanted to see my parents since they really did drive half way.

Friday night I drove in and got there a little after 9pm. There was some party in full swing some where. We hung out for a little while and then headed home.

Saturday morning I went for a run in the rain. Then the rain stopped and we went to the reunion proper. It was at the grounds of, like an estate that they turned into a park. There were tons of garden and nature and lots of stuff to do. Here's what it looked like.

Mom and Dad in the 'sensory garden'.




Dad by the rose garden.


The path is flooded. You can't really tell. This was the weekend there was a rain storm in Chicago that flooded 290 and several small villages.

That was pretty much the whole day on Saturday. It was hot. It was a nice place to be for the day. Lots of pretty flowers and nice places to hang out.

Sunday morning I took a longer run. There are some really nice gravel trails by Julie's house. My knees were in heaven. Then Mom and Dad woke up and I took them for a walk on said trails. They run around a marsh land. We saw cranes, heron (my favorite bird) and some other stuff.

Then I drove home. It was a really short trip. I spent all of Monday wondering what happened to my weekend of doing nothing (the way I normally spend it.)

I am a fish!

As previously mentioned, my leg is bothering me. (I can't remember if it started Thursday or if it was going on before then but just came to a head after running on uneven terrain for several miles.) Sadly, I need to exercise if I have any hope of continuing to loose weight. (Over 15lbs so far!) I rested Friday and Saturday. On Friday I woke up and felt pain while I was just lying there. Saturday, I experienced some pain while I was up walking around and cleaning. I'm right hipped by the way. (Who knew?) Today, I'm up walking around and feeling fine so I'm taking this as a good sign.

To keep working out, I went for a swim. And had a blast. It's been several hours and I'm not sore yet. No one is more surprised than I am. I'm thinking about swimming some more this week. My Y actually has a nice 'class' three times a week, Masters, which is really just a whole bunch of adults swimming laps. I did it a while ago and had a lot of fun. It's one of the only winter activities at the Y that I can actually handle.

Wednesday I'm teaching a few ladies I work with to run. Our goal is to run a 5k in December. I have no idea what to expect but I'm assuming I'll be using the couch potato program that I used all those years ago to learn to run. Looking at this reminds me that I need to buy a stopwatch. (Sounds like a trip to the dollar store to me.)

LINKFEST Saturday

My leg has a sad so I'm taking a few days off running. I was thinking about getting in the pool tomorrow (I never kick when I swim anyways) but we'll see. In the mean time, I've had lots of fun poking around the internet.

• Apparently I need to change my birthdate on all my website registrations. That's one of the only things I keep accurate because I could never remember what fake day I'd put. It's also one that needs be vaguely try so the site knows you're old enough to use it.


• I'm taking a moment to say THANK YOU to all of my friends (if you're reading this, I'm definitely talking to you). You're all the best!


• I haven't found much new music lately for running but Chris pointed this song out and I think I'll give it a try.


• It's rare that I find a Cake Wreck good enough to re-post. But seriously. Asbigas, you can make it!. Ha ha.


• Speaking of running, here's a look at when it's ok to drink Gatorade. I actually haven't even used sports drinks this summer. Perhaps I should go get some for my long runs.


• Finally in the food theme, even accounting for calories, meat eaters pack on more pounds? Fascinating. It's a good thing the only meat I buy is bacon.


• For the local readers, a plan to expand programming to prevent violence in North Minneapolis is meeting resistance from people trying to prevent violence in North Minneapolis. I only started reading this article because that group, Cease Fire, does work in Cincinnati and my mom told me about them. But it is true that a lot of good work does already go on in Minneapolis to prevent gangs and violence and it's easy to see how those people would feel unrecognized and hurt by the city wanting to bring in someone from the outside.


• I love it when My favorite drink (Ale 8) shows up on the internet. It's been pronounced different ways. I refer to the drink as "Ale eight", but if you read out the entire label it should be called "A late one", and I swear I had one friend who referred to it as "Ale eighty-one". Nonetheless, YUM!.


• Friday!

Long Run Thursday: Turkeys and Herron and Deer, Oh My!

This run had it's ups and downs and I did not run the whole route. I'm okay with that, surprisingly. My mileage schedule got all screwed up and I skipped on off week where I should have had one. I actually ran about 10 of these miles and walked the rest, but I did 12 miles on an elliptical on Tuesday. No worries.

My first error, and probably the fatal one, was that I started out way too fast. And when I hit the glorious down hill portion of this run, I kept going too fast. It was also on the down hill part of life that my right leg/hip/ham string started to hurt. It's not a bone thing. I'm a muscle thing that gives new meaning to the phrase "tight ass". I can't explain it except to say it just feels like my leg isn't in the right place. Boo.

The second error, although not too regrettable, was thinking I could actually run on Pike Island. I did actually run all the way around it, but it clearly wasn't ready for runners. Pike Island is lovely and I highly recommend it. That said, they must have been re-grading or re-doing some of the trails. The trails were abnormally uneven (even for nature, I could tell those bumps weren't supposed to be there) which made my leg even less happy.

The third error, and ultimately the death nail in the coffin, was trying to gun it up the big hill by Ft Snelling. I did actually manage to run a while after that but it was never the same. So I walked the rest of the way home. The only thing that makes my leg feel better is running up on my toes. Walking didn't feel good but it started to calm down later in the day.

In addition to the above chaos, I had a panic attack while running (see my comment about gunning it up the hill; it was right after that) which I haven't had since last marathon season. I say boo. Still, today I got to see a great new place to run and have a relatively good run for being at this time. And I learned that even on 14-mile runs, I need to slow the hell down. (It's sick when marathoners start to think 'oh, it's only a little 14-miler'.)

Here's m wildlife count for the run:

• Squirrels: I almost tripped over a pair of squirrels that were either mating or fighting. I think if it's this time of year it would be fighting but who can say for sure. Anyways the tried to trip me.
  


• Rabbits: every where, even little babies.


• Blue Heron: I scared one on Pike Island and I got to watch it fly away down river. I also saw one sitting in the mist along the creek. My favorite birds.


• Cranes: What are the big white birds that look like cranes (Ibis?) that live in the same places and do the same things at Blue Heron? I saw a bunch of those too.


• Deer: the welcome party of Pike Island. They're stealthy but they let me get pretty close. They had babies too.


• Turkey Lurkey: yes, I did see a boatload of wild Turkey. Pop question: a group of wild Turkeys is called a what? ('Rafter' if you trust the internet.) The turkey babies are the cutest. Yes, even cuter than the bunnies. I have no idea why.

Long Run Tuesday: Doing it the UGLY way

Today was the first of three 20 mile runs. The marathon training program I use is heavy on the long runs but also good on the step back weeks.

Today was not the most pleasant run I've ever had. Here's how it went:

Last night: I mapped my route and decided where I would take food and water. This was a good step. It seems like food every 3-4 miles is working well for me. Although I wish I had a salty snack I could have towards the end of my run when I'm done with sugar but still need calories.

5:00am - Whatimizit? Whuzatnoize? Whahuh? Then I checked the weather to verify there was no rain and was greeted by the information that, although the rain had moved through, it was 86% humidity. At first I thought I'd just do a 6 miler today and the big one tomorrow and then, for some reason, I convinced myself that 'the humidity will burn off when the some comes up'. (Right.)

5:20am or so - I had my hard boiled egg, got my water and food all ready and headed out. Hello steam bath.

Starting off to Lake Nokomis (look at the map if you're not from here): Slow Down. I just wanted to move. I kept it nice and easy but it was hard because I WANTED TO GO. It's weird taking water and food at the lake. I do that so rarely. Usually if I'm doing a six or seven miler, I don't have anything with me.

Up one side of the river - it was just north of Lake Street that the trouble for the day really started. Kudos to the Minneapolis park board which puts extra, um, facilities out for runners in the summer. There was a well-stocked facility right where I needed it.

Across Franklin Ave and back down the other side of the river - things really got bad here. There are no, um, facilities on this side of the river. Luckily there is a railroad bridge with big pilings that provide shelter and privacy. All was well until I hit my head on a metal beam on the bridge while I was walking back to the running path. So then thoughts of tetanus and head wounds while running in the heat started going through my head. (In a comedy way, not in the OCD way.)

Still on the river, now moving up hill towards Summit - I'm trying to make peace with the fact that there's a rather large elevation change in this marathon. The river parkway from Lake Street north, across Franklin, and back south to Lake St is all what I would call a false flat. It looks flat until you try to run it and then it becomes clear there is an upward slope. Small, but even small things can hurt after running 20 miles.

Hills, Cretin and Summit - Well, this is going to hurt when it's at mile 20. That was actually about the time I overheated in earnest. Summit was uber-busy because St Thomas was having it's orientation. I did make it all the way up to Snelling, still running. It was on the way back to the river that I started walking. I re-filled my water bottles at a water fountain and had a little break. My digestive track was starting to rebel.

Moving south on the river towards Ford Pkwy - my stomach (and the rest of my digestive track) hates me. I started doing intervals of walking and running. I actually relaxed a while on the down hill and did a longer interval. Slowly.

Back into Minneapolis along the parkway - The feeling in my body brought new meaning to the phrase 'tight ass'. My hamstrings just totally tightened up and it was another kind of pain to move. I was still doing intervals into Minneapolis but around Nokomis Ave I got done. Just mentally done.

Around Lake Hiawatha and on the way home - I did a little run around Lake Hiawatha, even though mentally I wanted to be done running, and my hamstrings similarly were done. There's one hill between 19th and Cedar that's short but steep that I did run up. I'm learning to go up hills on my toes which is working pretty well. Nothing was helping at that point. After I got across Cedar, I really stopped running and started walking and stretching.

Home - thank goodness.

Thinking the humidity was going to burn off was a big fail. Learning to run in the heat was good. I've learned I need to hydrate better on hot runs and hydrate better the day before (even though I was really pretty good yesterday). I was trying to drink every two miles, which is fine on race day when it's 1o-15 degrees cooler than now, but today and for now, I need to drink every mile and refill my water bottles at water fountains along the way. Still to do is forgive myself for having a crappy, slow run. Also still to do is not panic about my pace (which was slower than I'll need to be on marathon day). I do have two more 20 milers and a few more not-quite-so-long runs. In addition to a new hydration plan, I need to have a new pre-run relaxation program. I was really nervous about today, especially the stretch between Franklin ave and Snelling ave, and as soon as I got done with that, I kind of lost it. Not what I want when I need to pay attention for 26.2 miles.

Ice bath - WIN.

Monday LINKFEST

• It's Tour De France time, which is always fun for me to watch. Also somewhat entertaining this year are the commercials. This one is my favorite. (Inside voices. Hee hee.) In other tour news, I heart Andy Schleck and am not such a fan of Contador. Just saying.


• Oh, the generation gap. It's exciting when you've crossed to the other side.


• WIN for Argentina.


• Linkfest wouldn't be complete without a reference to Bacon


• For anyone who's never had a migraine (lucky!), this is what it's like. It's not so much the pain as the pain+confusion+what-the-hell-is-happening that sucks.


• Introverts: Here's to my people.


• Oh Kentucky! I've said most of those things but I want to be clear: I've literally been around the world and Kentucky is still one of the prettiest places on the planet.

Long Run Thursday: I'm sleeeepy

Like the good runner I am, I woke up at the crack of dawn and went out for a long run. July seems early for 18-milers. Was I doing that last year at this time? (Maybe I'll go read last year's posts later to find out.)

The run was basically positive. I checked the mileage points last night and established times I wanted to eat. A nutrition plan was decidedly missing in my last long run. When I was running I decided I didn't want to eat every 3 miles, actually 4 miles was a better fit for me. I also looked at points where I should drink water, I'm trying every two miles which is how the marathon will be.

I did a very good job of relaxing and going slowly, saving something for the end. As you can see from the 'elevation' feature of the map, I did run up a big hill (and then down the other side) around mile 16. I'm trying to embrace the elevation change that will come around, I don't know, mile 20 of the marathon. (Clearly, I'm not totally emotionally prepared for it.) I actually did ok on the hill. I stayed calm, and took one walk break. I slowed waaay down at the end to accommodate the needs of my stomach. (This is how I know I was dehydrated.)

Best parts of the run include:

• 18 miles!


• It feels really good to stay that calm during a run. It's relaxing.


• Dumping a bottle of cold water over my head around mile 14.


• Dumping a second bottle of water over my head around mile 16. (In retrospect, it may have been better to have drunk that water.)


• Sopresseta and cream cheese after the run.


• Eating 1,000 calories before/during the run, plus Chipotle for lunch, and I'm still hungry.


• Getting on the scale after the run. WIN.

Sitting in my happy place

I'm on my couch. I have a beer in one hand and and a water bottle in the other.

I woke up early this morning to celebrate Beth's birthday (a day late) with a run around my happy place. (I don't know if Beth has a happy running place.) I got sick on the run (shock of shocks). After run number one, I watched the Tour de France. Sadly, Lance was in three separate crashes this stage so he's basically never going to catch up to Alberto Contador. I will now start rooting for Levi Leipheimer and Andy Schleck (who is a freaking bean pole).

I had some more of my oatmeal (turns out it is possible to re-heat it) and started thinking I should cook some oatmeal to have cold during Ragnar. I have no idea if cold oatmeal is a good idea or not. I feel like chocolate chips will only help the dish and mashed bananas would be unacceptable.

After fueling up, I went to the gym and finished my miles on the elliptical. I tried on some brown running shorts (that will be backup shorts for my costume for the relay) and was thrilled with how well they fit. When I got home from the gym, completely sweaty and gross from two runs, I ran into the chef. He was heading out for a bike ride. We talked for a minute and then I went in and he went on. To celebrate being home I made lunch, had a beer, and watched world cup. In retrospect, a beer was probably the wrong choice for hydration but hindsight is 20/20.

Now I am sitting here contemplating weight loss (and many other things) over a beer. I think I'll look for another pair of these shorts. I'll be much more attractive to everyone on my relay team that way (and since I'll be more attractive, they'll all like me better). Now I'm contemplating who on my Facebook page actually has permission to the the blog posts that copy themselves there.

Sunday LINKFEST

Today is an embarrassment of riches for sporting events. I woke up and ran with Beth (Happy Birthday!) and will spend most of the day watching the Tour De France and then World Cup. (Lance Armstrong just fell down by the way, I'm watching right now.)

What have I been looking at this week (mostly during all the commercials in Tour De France)?

• 10 fun things to do on Facebook. One day, I will turn my writing upside down. Today is not that day.


• A promising way to detect Alzheimer's Disease much earlier than we can right now. Early identification is super important and makes my job much easier. It is scarier for everyone, but ultimately makes it easier on families too.


• I'm making an effort to have dairy free breakfasts (just a little experiment to see if it reduces some other symptoms). I made and ate oatmeal for the first time. I replaced the milk with hazelnut milk which I'd read on several vegan recipe sites. It was good although hazelnut milk has a bit of a filmy texture that I think regular milk would not have. I can see how a banana mashed up in there would be awesome although the chocolate chips I threw in were pretty good too.


• Ron Beastly? FAIL.


• Perhaps I should stop drinking diet pepsi?


• I can completely identify with this cat.


• A judge has declared the US ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. As it should be.


• Would you shower in the same room as a gay person? Possibly the dumbest question I've ever heard. I'm thrilled the pentagon wants to send everyone in the military an obviously unbiased survey of over 30 pages. The YWCA didn't ask all the straight women and men if it's ok with us to be in a locker room with gay members. (It really doesn't bother me. We're all adults.) Are we seriously saying the members of the military can't be at least as mature as the members of my gym?


• For all the people who read this blog and love Michelle Bachman.


• How many calories should you be eating each day? I didn't know until I started counting calories. (I've lost almost 15lbs, by the way.) I actually just crossed a big mental threshold. When I started counting calories I could eat about 1650 calories per day. Now it's 1597. Why is going under 1600 calories a mental barrier? I have no idea but it is. Here's a place you can go to find out how many calories you should eat.


• The -itis Quiz, especially for Amanda. I missed two.


• Nostalgia. If you're old enough to read this blog, you're old enough to enjoy this!

LINKFEST: A Loooong Weekend

It's been a loong weekend. From time to time, I just have to stop eating solid foods. It's no fun. That happened this weekend. (Boo.) So I stayed inside in the air conditioning and enjoyed the plethora of sports on television.

Apparently, I enjoyed the internet too. Here's what I've seen:

• Taste of Minnesota: A great deal or a big rip off? We used to go every year but chose not to this year because I'm not paying $30 to have the opportunity to pay more for food when I get inside. (Obviously I agree with the vendors.) I don't think it was the heat. That's part of the joy of the 4th of July.


• I don't even know what this article is about, I just wanted you to see the picture of the diner. That's Mickey's. It's in front of the court house, near the Children's Museum in downtown St Paul. Yum.


• Morning Person? I'm a morning person on days I can get up and run. On all other days I border on nocturnal.


• Red State vs Blue State Family Values. I haven't read this whole article (seeing as it's ten pages long) but it's a nice view of the values that guide voter's decisions in the county. I feel like it's not biased, but I think I could be wrong. Let me know what you think.


• In honor of Amanda's admission to the BSN program of her choosing (Congratulations!), this is what you have to look forward to as an RN!. Live it up!


• Sororities alcohol problems? I was not at all surprised to hear that Miami University (of Ohio) is having these issues. Hello stereotypes.


• Heads up to my pooky bear Apparently, Illinois is now using photo radar enforcement in construction zones. Slow down.


• How long will my leftovers last in the freezer? Especially important because I just threw away tupperware when mold seemed to outgrow the food and infect the plastic. Ooops.


• Now, for a few pictures: this is how I spent my weekend. These looked good to me after two days of no solid foods. This is how I feel after a long run. This is Amanda at my birthday party. This is Amanda at any other time. It's good Amanda's not reading my blog right now. I can say anything I want and post funny pictures of her. Ha.

I'm going to pay for this

I haven't run in a while because I've been sick. It's sort of a relief that I was actually sick on Wednesday when I bonked rather than improperly trained. I wasn't totally convinced of my predicament and told Beth I'd run with her Saturday morning. Beth was sick too and canceled. Thank goodness one of us had sense enough not to run. I was way too sick to go but I would've tried to man up for Beth anyway. No good would have come of it.

I basically didn't eat solid foods yesterday. I watched a lot of sports. I felt like a rich girl because I could pick between Wimbledon, World Cup, Tour De France, and Twins. By the end of the day I was so hungry. You don't realize how much food they show on television, commercials, even the bikers in the tour eat at one point.

This morning I was able to get it together to buy popsicles. Kowalski's didn't have much good broth/soups. I could've gone to Target but wasn't emotionally prepared for the trip or all the walking.

This afternoon I decided to throw caution to the wind and eat solids. I'm going to pay for it later, I know. My stomach isn't quite better yet but I just wanted to feel full for a little while.

I was supposed to see Fireworks with Eric and my pooky bear tonight. I haven't decided yet but it's not looking good. We'll see what the chex do to my stomach.

You're HOW OLD?

It occurred to me that when I told you about my birthday party I didn't include pictures.


This is as close to 'dress up' as I like to get.

I must've just said something funny to get that look. Or something absurd.


This cake says 'Amanda loves me'. She made two cakes like this (because Pooky Bear and I can't share). That's real butter cream frosting, mocha, hazelnut and a several layers of awesome. OM NOM NOM.

BONK!

I successfully woke up at 5am and got out of bed again. WIN!

I headed out on my 17-miler. My first thought is that it's really early in the season to be running this far. I had a brief thought about going to the Y today but four hours on the elliptical is more than even I can stand. (And I do spend quality time on that thing.)

I started on the run and it was a gorgeous day. It was cool enough that steam was coming off the creek and Lake Nokomis. (Did you know there's a hill on Cedar ave before you get to the lake? I learned today.) It was long after that my friends Puke-y and Blergch came to visit. And they stayed for the rest of the run.

It was not a good run. actually, it was fine in most of Minneapolis. It was around the Franklin Ave bridge that I started feeling like true ish. It was shortly after that I had to stop running. I walked most of the rest of the way home. FAIL. I had a shocking realization that an overwhelming majority of the last, I dunno, third of the marathon will be up a freaking hill. Ask me how I feel about that.

I actually had good luck on the way home when I got really sick right next to awesome, um, facilities with running water, soap, and all kinds of other amenities. WIN number one.

WIN number two came when I took a short cut home. I usually run home along Minnehaha Parkway but there's a running/biking path that veers north of the parkway and out into nature between Hiawatha Ave and Lake Hiawatha (about a mile) and it's the prettiest place I've found so far in my running. And that's really saying something because I've been a lot of places.

Next week is mercifully an off week.

This year, I'm learning a lot more about my body and when I'm likely to get sick on long runs. It's only at certain times that I get sick and I'm learning the signs much better than last year. My fear is that I'm going to wind up running the marathon on a day like this. So I keep trying. Maybe I should come up with an alternate mileage plan. Not today.

Long Run Friday: A nice time at Lake of the Isles

Long run preparation really started Thursday night when one my neighbors had her screaming kid with her in the laundry room, courtyard, too-close-to-my-window, why aren't you in bed, please make your kid stop.
Sorry.
It was ridiculous. Of course the kid was screaming and bonkers, it was 11:00 at night, he should have been in bed. We don't have too many kids here at the condos but with the economy and general ridiculousness of real estate, there's double or triple the number from when I moved here.

Eventually I fell asleep, although much later than I wanted. Because the alarm went off at 5am. I did, in fact, turn the light on and start my day then.

I had some dark chocolate peanut butter before the run. I've decided not to do that anymore. It's upset my stomach and made me all puke-ish the last couple of times. I'm thinking I might have to get some real "peanuts are the only ingredient" peanut butter and have that.

My fifteen-miler took me along Minnehaha Creek, around Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun and (not my happy place) Lake of the Isles. (I'm having issues with Gmaps, so let me know if that map doesn't work.) It was really humid. Like gross, sticky, humid. But gorgeous. The milk weed and other plans are coming out and the flowers smell awesome. The sailboats and Harriet and Calhoun are always nice too.

Because of the heat, I hydrated liberally. I also tried a new nutrition plan which worked well. I took half a Cliff Bar and ate that first. By the end of the run, I don't want actual food. My mouth is so dry it just doesn't feel good to eat it, but early on, I need really food with good protein. I also had two gel packs (yes, I've made peace with the gel) and had those for my second and third food stops.

And I had a surprisingly nice time at Lake of the Isles. Lake Calhoun too, my last run there was horrendous.

The shortcut home, across 40th street (which I didn't know about for all of last year) is my favorite part because it's downhill (not noticeably changing elevations, just a gentle grade) for like a mile. And it's downhill at the end right by my house. And it's so much shorter. (Ha, I'll pay for that later.)

After the run, I headed out to get pooky bear her birthday present. (Luckily I read her blog because someone already got her my original idea). I found some nice things, actually wound up feeling better about them than my original idea anyways.

I had to work for a little while (like 3 hours, I love Fridays) before heading back home where I finally laid down on the couch and took a nap.

I was woken by a teenager calling me. She needed a ride. It's a good thing I said no because a few minutes later my party planner *ahem* Amanda called me and she needed me to stop and get bread on my way. Which I did. I was already back to my car when the heavens opened up. I turned off my iPod in favor of the radio, because I had a feeling the National Weather Service would be needed my attention any minute. I found out just how fast my windshield wipers can move. It wasn't fast enough. The rain was coming down so hard and fast, I could barely see.

Luckily, that only lasted a few minutes. (It lasted from 42nd St and Hiawatha to Marshall Ave in St Paul at 15mph). Even after the rain stopped, the roads were still underwater in some places. At Marshall and Cleveland there was one such sewer-backup-makes-new-lake issue. I watched the car in front of me drive through the lake before making sure the light was green and trying it myself. Once I was on the other side I thought, 'hmmm, I guess I was lucky it wasn't high enough to come in the doors, I wasn't watching for that'. It's ok, I got another chance when there was a similar (ultimately smaller) lake formation on Selby that I drove through after a truck.

The rain was such an event (seriously, there are no words) that several people wound up not coming to the birthday bash. Several of you did show up and I was thrilled to see you. Amanda cooked to win, won, and then drank to win. She won that too. Our birthday cake was 12-layers, homemade, with homemade butter cream frosting.

I did not drink to win, I drank to always have a beer in my hand but not puke. I met my objective.

The Chef showed up with some friends and they all hung out for a while. (Ok, 'the chef' is not the best nickname I could've come up with. Although at least he can laugh about it now too.) Apparently I'd met most of those guys the night of the catfish incident. It's not at all shocking that I don't remember them.

After most people left, Amanda, Kathleen, Julie and I went for a walk on Summit and Grand Ave. (Remember when I said Amanda was drinking to win?) We came home and I put myself to bed on the torture rack. Like Lake of the Isles, this was the most pleasant experience I've had on the rack. I woke up at 7am and fell right back asleep.

I woke up at 9am to Amanda getting water ('ohh, my head'), coming to my bed, curling up and sucking on her water bottle moaning. Kind of brings me some insight into the night Amanda got me that drunk. We got up and had Tex Mex and lots and lots of coffee.

Then I came home, planted myself on the couch and have been here pretty much ever since. I watched the USA - Ghana game, on and off. Sad that the USA lost but a big part of me loves that an African team is doing so well.

Saturday: LINKFEST

Too many tabs open in Firefox is a sure sing I'm overdue for LINKFEST. Woops. Here's what I've been reading about or enjoying lately:

• Oh, to be a female boss in our culture, everyone makes it sound awesome.


• Student debt vs. average income per state.


• 10 HTML codes I should learn. The definition list looks like it could be helpful for LINKFEST days, maybe. I'll have to see if I can make it work.


• Monolingual: How many languages do I want my Mac to speak? The thing is, sometimes it's nice to have the language packs installed when I wind up on odd web pages. (Sometimes one of my RSS feeds pulls pages from Russia or Japan. It's nice to see the language instead of a bunch of boxes and stars.)


• Rent or buy your home? Depends where you live. I'm surprised the average rents in Minneapolis are so high, but it is true that my mortgage+mortgage insurance+association dues is still less than rent would be for a comparable place.


• Just... YES!


• Farm laborers invite the unemployed (and basically the whole state of Arizona) to put your money where your mouth is and pick the food we eat everyday. I love that Steven Colbert is involved in this.


• This is for my friend Sarah, A solution to Shiny Object Syndrome!.


• This is for Amanda, Amy, Alyssa, and everyone else who was at the party last night, possibly the coolest mouse trap ever and one that is less likely to scar you for life.


• My pooky bear and I had birthdays this week. (Someday, someone who wasn't around for the original pooky bear incident and take that nickname in a whole different direction). And then I found a website with the coolest things ever. Some things I found that I liked included the staple free stapler because I like saving resources (no, you should see how much I staple); and many fun things in this section. I've got Thinkgeek in my RSS feed now so I'll see all their new stuff. I'll keep it mind for several of your birthdays/Christmas gifts.

Desperately overdue to...

I got a new phone this week. The only way you'd know is that I haven't really written anything because I'm too busy getting to know the new phone. Sorry.

Why'd I get a new phone? I Went to Austin and got lost everywhere I tried to go. That's not true. We got totally lost the first two places we tried to go while someone else was driving and then I learned that I had to study the map before I went anywhere. And the going route is different than the returning route thanks to a bizarre set of expressways, one-ways, and turn arounds. Two of the cousins present had GPS on their phones so we spread them out among all the different cars. It was ridiculous. And then I was bored in the airport and hotel with limited internet access. (I say boo!)

I came home and ordered a smart phone.

I'm glad I got to see Amanda's experience of getting a Blackberry and hating it because it's not an iPhone. (She's not reading the blog right now, I could say anything I want about her. This is at least true.) I knew I couldn't have an iPhone because there's no AT&T coverage in my unit or most of my building. I did a lot of reading about iPhone vs Droid and found out Droid has some nice things going for it as well. So I was emotionally prepared to own something that's not an iPhone but with similar capabilities. Droid's got a great search function and I'm pleasantly surprised by Gmail. (No one knows why I hadn't tried that yet either.) I've used the GPS and mapping a couple of times. I expect to use it a lot on vacation in New York. (I'm going to New York!)

Running has been an off-and-on kind of thing. This week I did 10 miles on an elliptical on Sunday (because when I wake up late, running indoors is mandatory). Monday morning I ran 4 miles (practice for the victory lap down Summit at the end of the marathon) with the St Paul runners who then treated me to coffee and croissants for my birthday. Tuesday I turned the alarm off and rolled over. Wednesday I woke up to rain and ran sprints on the track at the Y. (Yes, that is my first indoor track experience this training season and also my first sprint experience this season.) Today I was scarred by the alarm and rolled over for another couple hours of sleep.

Tomorrow, I'm planning in my head to think 'turn on the lamp' when the alarm goes off instead of 'oh, no, I'm too tired'. I'll get up if there's light. Tomorrow I'm planning 15. I could go bat shit crazy and do 18 but it seems unlikely. My plan is to head over to the lakes. At the top of Lake Calhoun I will decide to either go north to Lake of the Isles, run around that and take a short cut home, or, skip the third lake and take the regular distance and route home. It's good to have options. Hopefully this will calm me down about Lake of the Isles where I've had some rough times in the past. I've had some rough times around Lake Calhoun too. It's good those both come early in the Marathon when I won't be freaking out.

Why'd I wait 'till Friday (a day on which I rarely run) for the long run? That decision was on instruction from Amanda who told me I had to have enough calories to eat whatever awesome food will be cooked for Pooky Bear and my birthday party. And then also have enough calories left over to drink whatever kinds of alcohol I want. Although I have some calories to play with since there will be dancing.

I told Amanda that I want to sleep it off on her couch and go have Tex Mex in the morning. Amanda usually sleeps 'till 3pm (no, seriously, she works 3rd shift) so I'm thinking I may just have to wake her up when I'm ready for food because I won't be sleeping like that.

Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday: It's like a giant hug

As it should be. Since it's my last birthday in my twenties, I'm trying to stretch it out.

But first, as a gift to Heather, (one of the St Paul runners), all of you who use Firefox and Chrome should install this extension and then click "search and share" instead of the regular search button every time you Google.

For my birthday:

• Last Thursday: I went out to Cat Man Do (I have no clue why this website plays sound) with my former adviser from school.


• Saturday afternoon: I went to see Doll House at the Guthrie with my clinical supervisor. I had a nice time. It's a modernization of the Ibsen play, although I hated the ending. (The ending in the original play wasn't so hot either really.)
  


• Saturday night: I went to a party with the Ragnar/Amsterdam/Bolder Options crowd. Most of it involved hanging out in the backyard around a campfire. I stayed much longer than I anticipated. (Amanda, you would have been proud.)


• This morning: The St Paul runners got up, ran me around their neighborhood, decorated my car and fed me coffee and breakfast treats! It's the perfect level of party and calm relaxing for me.


• At lunch: Bonnie made me lunch. I love it when people cook for me.


• Tonight: I had a fourth piece of bacon. (Actually stayed within my calories too.)


• This coming Friday: Amanda is throwing Pooky Bear and I a party. I've already told Amanda I want to drink, dance, spend the night at her house, wake up and eat Tex-Mex at the Uptowner. But I don't want to get puke-drunk. Amanda has already told me I have to do my long run that day so I have enough calories to eat whatever I want all the awesome food she's about to cook.

LINKFEST Thursday

I'm laying here trying really hard not to get out of bed. Here's what I've seen for the last week:

• Strategies for surviving airports and airplanes, relevant given my latest trip.


• Arizona Still hates Mexicans.


• Not good out-loud words for email? Huge mistake. Ha ha.


• Lifestyle changes may not prevent Alzheimer's? That means I can eat red meat and drink all the beer I want, huh? No, I'm sure trying to be healthier can't hurt.


• As everyone from Cincinnati already knows, Touchdown Jesus was struck by lightning. FAIL.


• Learn more about the house, senate, and governor elections in your state with this infograph.


• How does society see African American women? How do they see themselves? A nice piece.


• Krustbuster. Funniest idea ever. This might have been the one eating issue I didn't have as a kid.


• THERE'S GONNA BE A SMURFS MOVIE?!?


• UN Data on refugees and the nations that accept refugees. I had no idea so many refugees (from the wars we started) went to Iran.

I should have known better

Yesterday I had the worst headache which miraculously did not turn into a migraine. Turns out I only drank half a can of Pepsi in the morning. Which resulted in a killer caffeine head ache. Consuming caffeine later in the day did nothing to address the issue. Taking medicine similarly did nothing. Fail. I wound up taking some pretty strong medicine because, hey, I fear migraines.

I planned to get up this morning at 5am and go for a long run. I was still hung over from the head ache medicine. (It was not alcohol but it was powerful.) Obviously, I did not run.

I did go to work and had basically a productive day.

And then I went to the gym and got on the elliptical. And stayed on the elliptical. And then got on a different elliptical and stayed on that one for a while too. Thirteen miles later....

I have twelve miles left to run this week. I'm not sure how they'll get done but I'm hoping I can do all of them outside. (Can you believe the rain this summer?) I'm trying to gear up for a birthday run with the St Paul runners. (I'm also trying to convince them that costumes are completely unnecessary for the occasion although I dared them to come up with a good costume so we'll see what happens.)

My birthday is actually Monday and I'm celebrating the Friday after it with Amanda, Kelly, and whomever else Amanda invites.

Messing with Texas

I had a blast in Austin, and my first time in Texas. I may go back but it will likely be in the winter. (The lows in Texas were warmer than the high temperatures in Minnesota.)

When I arrived Mom, Dad and Uncle Tom picked me up at the airport. Dad tried to kill us all by taking a U-Turn at 60mph (not realizing it was a u-turn) until I started screaming. (The only time I haven't been scolded for screaming while Dad was driving. Ever.)
Austin is an exciting place to drive because of the expressways, service roads, one ways and 'turn arounds'.

Ultimately Dad let me drive his car for the rest of the trip. I studied the maps (and found the Google Maps app on my iPod completely helpful) before I went anywhere. I didn't get lost at all. The one time Dad rode with another driver, said driver went up an exit ramp the wrong way. A lot of Austin looks like this in my mind. See that little 'U-Turn' sign. It's easy to miss when you're doing 60.



Friday was the bride's lunch and rehearsal dinner. I took pictures at dinner but they didn't turn out well enough to post. I know some family members got some great ones though. I'll get my hands on them sooner or later. This is Aunt Mary (groom's mom) and I at the Bride's lunch.



Saturday we got all dressed up and had a wedding! Here's Mom, Dad and I in our 'nice clothes'. You may recognize this dress from the time I finished grad school, the time my pooky bear married Eric or the time Mark married Irmghard. (This is a good dress pooky bear, thanks for helping me pick it out! You too Amanda.)


My newest cousin Ben (I think he's still the newest but not for long) spent a lot of time entertaining me. As did his big brother Luke.


This is how Mark entertained himself for most of the ceremony. Entertained me too.


Just in case Brian forgets the big moment (Ha, don't think there's much chance of that) I have it on film.


More from the wedding day.



After the wedding we went to the hotel and changed into jeans (read: watched as much as possible of the USA vs England soccer game) before heading to the reception which was a true Texas barbecue at a ranch. It was a really pretty setting. Those pictures are on my dad's camera because I forgot to charge mine.

Sunday we saw Brian and Allison's house. Then Mom, Dad, Aunt Anne and Uncle Dave and I headed to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center where I sweated at least half of my body weight in the 95* Texas sunshine. It was pretty but very hot. The best part was this windmill creaking in the wind. You could hear it from a long way off and just had such a great Texas character and feel.

Sunday night my plane was mildly delayed but I made it home in one piece. Steve (thanks again!) picked me up at the airport and took me home.

The one thing the trip taught me is it's time for a smart phone. I was the only one without GPS/mapping on my phone and we needed it in Austin. Also, with a smart phone I don't have to worry about internet access in the airport. I'm looking now. I think Uncle Dave talked Dad into getting a new toy too.

Second Cincinnati Update

In honor of finally getting all the pictures off my camera, I thought I'd tell you about The Cincinnati Tradition that is Grater's.

Rule 1: Always go with friends (or family) and prepare to have fun.

Rule 2: I don't know why I gave Chris anything that belongs in my wallet. He must have given it back because I had ID when I flew this time.

Rule 3: EAT!

Rule 4: Hungry runners finish first. I'd just run 13.1 miles and I was ready to EAT. That's why there's nothing left.

Rule 5: Spoons are not required.

Rule 6: You may look silly if you try to eat Grater's with a spoon. (Although there's a very real possibility Chris was just being silly when I took this picture.)

Making marathon shirts

Remember when Deb and I ran the half marathon? Remember when my pooky bear helped me make the shirts for the race? I finally took the pictures off shirt-making off the camera and thought I'd share.

No one knows why I didn't take pictures of the front. The backs actually turned out the best. I wanted Wild Cat Blue (it's a color in Kentucky, trust me) for Deb. Kelly cautioned me about the metallic flecks in the blue but they actually make the shirts look even better.

Painting the shirts:

Final product:

The funniest part of the race was when I ran by these two girls. Deb was a few feet behind me so she passed these girls a few seconds later. And one says to the other, "I wonder where they got those shirts, they're so cool". (Serious.)

LINKFEST Wednesday

It's an off week for running so I find myself with little to talk about. Work has been... busy. Busy is a good out-loud word to describe the experience. I 'ran' on the elliptical yesterday and I'm planning on more work outs at the end of the week. Right now, I'm enjoying the down time. Here's what I've been checking out on the webz:

• Fact Check of Arizona's 'we hate Mexicans' law as I've dubbed it. (See, it's not a good day for me to talk out loud at all.)


• How to clean gel from an ice pack off wooden walls. Who would need that information? I'm sure I'll have kids one day and then I'll find out.


• Should plastic bags be banned? Yes.


• Where do smart people live? In Minneapolis and St Paul apparently. You'd think Ohio would have more cities on there for all the people who grew up ten minutes from a major university (that's everyone in the state by the way).


• Speaking of Ohio, learn a little bit about my city since you're probably not from there if you're reading this. The sections they show with all the abandoned buildings (Over the Rhine) have always been in poor neighborhoods but were absolutely devastated by the race riots 9 years ago. And Hyde Park Square, the 'money' neighborhood - that's where I turn around when I do runs from Mom and Dad's house. Money is right.


• Children of Lesbian parents outperform peers on social skills and academic tests. I'm horrified there are states that don't allow same sex couples to adopt. Even scarier is Florida who (according to the article) doesn't let single people adopt either. WTF?


• And, What is DWB? I was actually impressed that 50% of whites acknowledged DWB / racial profiling exists. I thought the number of whites acknowledging the problem would be lower. (Guess which 50% I'm in...)

Is it a PR if you've only run the distance once?

A couple days ago, Beth decided it would be fun to run the Grand Old Day 8k this morning. I was, um, less than enthusiastic because the two other times I ran this week, I got really sick.

I was almost a complete hermit yesterday. The only other human being I spoke to was while I was getting cash so I could run this morning. So I decided I could get out today.

I decided a good goal for the race would be speed/time related. I finished my last 10k at an 11:05/mile pace. So I decided on an 11:00/mile was my goal.

It was a really fun race. Beth and Robin took off like a dart. It was about ten steps before I decided not to even try staying with them. (One of the better decisions I made today.) All that hill training paid off because if I passed people, it was always going uphill. About quarter-mile from the finish line this girl and I pulled even. I could tell she wasn't going to let me get by her (I do love the competitive types) so I just drafted off her until we both decided to pass a third person and fly to the finish line.

When I crossed the clock said 54:??... something. I think I made my goal. But they haven't posted the official chip times yet so I'm not sure. (It's 6pm, why aren't the times posted yet?)

After the race Beth fed me awesome coffee and her girls took me to the parade. We were about 50 feet from the staging area so we got tons of good candy and stickers. Then we went up to KidLand (that's what I'd call it). The kids rode some slides. We found some games (didn't win but they were free and the volunteers were from Habitat for Humanity which was cool) and we found baby animals including the cutest baby kangaroo (also known as a Joey).

I stopped at Chipotle (like it was going to be anywhere else) for breakfast/lunch. Since I got home, I've been enjoying Ice Road Truckers which I find problematically addicting.