A list

Things I have been motivated to do lately:

• Blog
• Weight training/ab exercises
• Run (STUPID INJURY) & join a running group
• Audition for a musical
• Take a tango class
• Volunteer
• Read/speak Spanish
• Cook things Peter will like

Things I have done lately:

• Blog
• Weight training/ab exercises (although this week I have been bad)
  
• Meh, I read a little Spanish last night. That's it.
• Cooked one thing he liked; planning on more

That means I need to make more time for the things I want to do!

Big! Lots

Have you ever actually been into a Big! Lots (or is it Big Lots!)?

I just stumbled into one. I would describe it as a mix between Wal Mart and Marshalls Home Goods, but way messier. There was just stuff piled everywhere with no intent of ever being organized. And about 1/3 of the store was Christmas paraphernalia.

I didn't buy anything, but they seemed to have some good deals on home decorating items.

(This is my 100th post. I'm glad it was on such a pressing and compelling topic.)

Injured :(

So here I was, having a totally rocking week of working out, logging miles and speed and strength and feeling great, and gearing up for my first 8-miler since the marathon... And then PAIN.

Knee pain. And not left IT band knee pain. Random all over right knee pain. And leg pain. What is going on?

I set out on my 8-miler yesterday, in the amazing, warm, not-November weather, and my right leg just plain started to hurt. The wind and sun didn't help, but I had to turn around 1.5 miles out because there was no way I should finish with that pain.

UGH. So, instead of 19 miles I logged 15.64 miles. Not terrible, but still, just grr. I don't like injuries. Especially mysterious ones.

I rested from running today and will rest until it heals. Not taking chances.

Generation gap

Each evening at work, I overhear coworkers chatting with spouses and kids on the phone, planning dinner, asking about days and just checking in.

Each day at work, P and I e-mail, gchat or text about our dinner plans, days and other non-events.

Is my generation more private, more impervious to having cubicle-mates overhear private conversations? Or are we less direct, more apt to type than talk? Maybe we just embrace the convenience of not having to turn from our computers to communicate. Maybe we're just used to communicating this way.

Will workplaces become more silent as my generation ages? I find that my fellow young coworkers IM me questions and comments from 10 feet away instead of turning around and vocalizing them. Granted, sometimes these are comments not fit for everyone's ears, but usually they are things like, "Did you respond to so-and-so's email?"

I'm not sure whether to embrace this quiet, Internet-infused, generational divide. What does it say about us? How will it impact our future?

In need of pants that fit

Yesterday morning as I looked at my sagging, belt loop-less pants that wouldn't stay up, safety pinning them seemed a brilliant idea.

Later in the day, as I walked into the bathroom, I realized the downfall of the idea.

I should probably invest in a seamstress or just some new pants that aren't 2 sizes to big.

New race, new plan

I have been slaving over my indoor 1/2 marathon training plan for the past few days. It's been fun to create my own plan to help me meet my goals.

It is still up in the air whether I will run a full half (but I rully rully want to) or just 10 miles. Either way, the plan is still a work in progress (going to tweak/add speed workouts and do some more tweaking of the overall mileage), but here it is so far.

Main goals: focus on speedwork, don't skip workouts, beat my PR of 1:58:56.

Next endeavor

My IT band has been really acting up the past few days.

But. I am so pumped for my next running endeavor! Indoor marathon. Yes. 95ish laps around an Olympic speed skating rink.

Except I am going to do the relay. Most likely with Jess. We will each run half and it will be a blast!

Lesson from sore muscles

I'm learning what it's like to take it slow.

I'm a constant speedwalker. I walk as fast as possible wherever I go. I am always in a hurry.

My legs are too sore for that now. Now I know what it's like to be a leisurely walker.

Frankly, I'm not a big fan. But I'm sure it's good for me to slow down every now and then.

The Finish Line

Chicago Marathon. Today I did it.

First, let me transcribe my written thoughts from last night:

Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009 10:36 p.m.
I am lying in bed at Katie's condo, about to go to sleep. When I wake up I will pull on my pre-planned clothes, eat the same breakfast I do every morning – 2 pieces whole wheat toast with peanut butter and cranberry honey – and run 26.2 miles.

In a lot of ways this past week has felt like the week before my wedding. I've been planning for tomorrow for months. I've gotten everything in place. I've preserved my body this week, freaking out about every sniffle and cough. People ask me if I'm ready and I'm not really sure what "ready" feels like because I've never done this before. I'm excited, and strangely not nervous. And I feel like tomorrow will somehow change me.

In this case, I'll be proving to myself that I can set my mind on a goal and discipline my body to achieve it. I can put myself through the most physical pain I've ever experienced and still push through and survive. This will be a massive physical test, but possibly an even bigger mental test.

I don't know what to expect. I am going to try to stay with the 4:30 pace group. Part of me thinks it will be a mental battle to stay with them, but it will be possible. Part of me is not sure I physically can do it. I will certainly give it my all though. That is my #1 GOAL: GIVE IT MY ALL!

***

The race is over. And I am so incredibly happy and proud to say I obliterated my goal of 4:30 and finished in 4:16:11.

The morning was cool but not unbearable. Peter walked with me to the starting line and left me with a kiss to push through the crowded corral. I spotted the 10-minute pace marker and planted myself near a couple dressed as bananas. The back of the wife's costume said, "Banana finishes Chicago Marathon. Nobel peace prize?"

The body heat of 45,000 runners packed into the corrals kept me warm as I waited for the 7:30 start. As soon as the gun went off, clothing went flying. People threw their warm "throwaway" clothes from the center of the crowd to the perimeters. It rained sweatshirts. The first few miles were littered with gloves, shirts and ear warmers.

I crossed the starting line 10 minutes after the gun and was overwhelmed by the number of spectators and the excitement of embarking on this journey. I just kept looking around, taking in every sight and sound. I couldn't believe it was happening right now.

I sincerely wish I could personally thank every spectator who was on the sidelines of the race, even the guy holding the kU banner (which I booed, jokingly, as I ran by). Their enthusiasm propelled me through. The high fives were the BEST. I felt like I gained actual energy from each one. I had written my name on a piece of masking tape and taped it to my long sleeve shirt I wore over my St. Jude's shirt. I nearly choked up when I heard spectators cheering for me by name as I raced past them. It was an incredible feeling of gratitude and encouragement.

I kept telling myself to slow down during the first 10 miles or so. My GPS wasn't working properly, so I could only pace myself by taking mile splits. Almost every single one was between 9:44 and 9:46, no matter how consciously I tried to slow it down to 10:00. I didn't want to burn out, and since I viewed a 10:18 pace as ambitious this seemed even more ambitious. But it felt so good. My legs felt relaxed and happy at that pace. It didn't feel like work at all. So I stuck with it. I am so glad I did.

The first half of the race flew by. I had a blast high fiving little kids, enjoying Elvis singing on stage, reading all the funny and encouraging posters people held up on the sidelines, jamming to music at aid stations and soaking in the experience. I reached the 13.1 mile mark in roughly 2:07. I was on pace for a 4:15 finish, and that became my new target.

After the halfway point, crowd support thinned for a few miles. I kept my eyes peeled for my family's Nemo balloon but never saw it. The miles seemed to drag by slightly slower, but my pace stayed steady. I tried not to think about how many miles were left, and instead focused on how many I had already run and how great I felt.

Coming into Chinatown, with its mob of supporters after mile 21, I felt like I was struggling for the first time. I convinced myself that I felt awesome and was taken by surprise when I spotted the fam. As planned, my dad ripped off his jacket and entered the course to run with me for the last 5/6 miles. I was happy to have the support and companionship, but I wasn't feeling as chipper as I was earlier. This was the point where I hit my irritable mark – when you've been running so long that you start to get annoyed by absolutely everything around you. And this time, it was my dad.

I could not stand the fact that he was running just slightly ahead of me. I felt like he had cheated, jumping into the race at this point, and it wasn't fair that he was ahead. It made me feel slow, like I had to struggle to keep up. After mile 22, it was a struggle to just maintain my pace and keep moving, so I was in no mood to mentally try to keep up with my father, who had only run 1 - 2 miles at this point. I couldn't stand his loud, bizarre breathing. Again, he'd only been running a few miles – how could it be that big of a struggle relative to the rest of us who had run 23 miles? I couldn't stand his enthusiasm, cheering and dancing when we ran through music while the rest of us struggled to put one foot in front of the other. I was ready to punch him.

Of course none of this was necessarily his fault. I was just irritable and it really didn't matter what he did. Looking back, I do think it was wrong that he jumped in. He ended up crossing the finish line because there were fences up. That bothers me because he didn't do the work to get to the point. It was like cheating – enjoying the glory but not the pain.

But before we talk about the finish, let me just say: the last 2 miles were entirely brutal. I was reduced to chanting in my head "15 minutes left. 15 minutes left," and "I can do it. I can do it," just to keep myself going. I thought about the St. Jude kids whose battles are much longer than 26.2 miles or the 15/14/13/etc. minutes until I crossed the finish line. I thought about my pact to give it my all and not hold back. The 26th mile marker was at the top of a not-entirely-large-but-incredibly-difficult-and-disheartening hill. I felt like I was barely moving as I struggled up it. But at the top, the finish line came into view, down a slight incline.

I was very thankful to have Dad behind me yelling encouragement as I sprinted to the finish. As wrong as I now feel it was for him to run to the finish, I must say my post-race experience was much more pleasant with my dad by my side than it would have been had I been alone, waiting for 20 minutes in the St. Jude tent before the rest of the fam arrived.

I threw my arms in the air as I sprinted across the finish line. I couldn't believe I was done. Immediately I became aware of how much my legs hurt. I hobbled over to grab a heat sheet and then some Gatorade. I took as much food as Dad and I could carry from the runner refreshment area. And despite my stiff legs, I felt awesome! I grabbed a 312 beer and enjoyed it greatly.

The St. Jude tent was lovely. I finally met Kristine, the woman behind the St. Jude marathon experience. They provided food, drink and more beer (eventually I had a Blue Moon – after my barf-a-thon half marathon experience in August who woulda thought I'd be imbibing after 26.2?). I got my first massage, which was more like stretching and loosening up my muscles. It felt amazing and I could go for another right now. Mom, Peter, Lauren, Kevin, Nanie and Pops eventually made it to the tent. Good times '09.

My statz:
5K - 30:25 (30:25) - (5)
10K - 1:00:27 (30:02) - (2)
15K - 1:30:42 (30:15) - (4)
20K - 2:00:47 (30:05) - (3)
HALF - 2:07:22
25K - 2:30:35 (29:48) - (1)*
30K - 3:01:07 (30:32) - (6)
35K - 3:31:40 (30:33) - (7)
40K - 4:02:48 (31:08) - (8)
FINISH - 4:16:11

*My fastest 5K split was in the start of the second half - awesome!

Things I saw:
-Guy in bear costume with sign, "Run faster. A bear is chasing you!"
-Indian (native american) man with one leg. Beating me.
-Guy running in black suit, dressed as one of the Blues Brothers.
-Sign: "Your feet hurt because you're kicking ass."
-Elvis!
-Sign: "You're all Kenyans to me."
-Shirtless dude (it was freezing out for spectators) screaming and cheering.
-Guy: "It's not cold enough for you! You're all animals!"
-Another banana runner.
-Superwoman runner.
-People holding pieces of cardboard with Vasoline smeared on it for runners to use.
-Back of girl's shirt (roughly): "My boyfriend would be running with me but he's serving in Iraq. Run for the 32nd battalion thingie, etc."
-Group of guy runners with thick Boston accents shouting for donations for injured soldiers.
-In Pilsen, signs: "Sí, se puede!"

FOUR DAYS

I just ran my second to last training run. EEP!

Let me back up...

18-MILER - 5 weeks ago
In short, my parents are amazing. P and I drove down there to stay with them for two nights before we headed out to D.C. and Pennsylvania for a vacay and the JJ wedding. We got to their house late Saturday night. Ate some leftover narsty Chinese food. I mentioned to Mom that I should probably run 18 miles the next day, but I think I'd just put it off till Monday morning before we left on our road trip because it was so late already. She convinced me it'd be a much better idea to run the next morning, and volunteered to bike with me at a nearby lake/forest preserve!

Well, needless to say, the next morning I hit snooze when my alarm went off at 6 a.m. I groaned that my shins hurt, I was too tired, I'd just run tomorrow, etc. (the usual). Mom forced me out of bed. I groggily got ready, like a robot, and learned that Dad would be joining us. How lovely!

They stuck with me the whole way, on a lovely run through forest, bog and horse training areas. Mom dropped out with 6 miles to go and Dad got off the bike and ran the last 6 miles with me. Talk about great, supportive parents.

I finished pretty strong, and due to route miscalculations walked/jogged another 1.75 miles to the car. My knee did hurt, and I had some painful chafing in some unmentionable areas, but I had done it. My pace was slow, but I was going for distance, not speed.

20-MILER - 3 weeks ago
Was it really almost 3 weeks ago? Wow.

This run was pain.ful. It was a fairly warm day. I begged P to ride his bike with me, or at least meet me on the way back and bring me water. He finally said he "might."

The first 10 miles were great. I made it all the way out to Waukesha, couldn't find the Glacial Drumlin Trail, so just ran around downtown Waukesha and along the riverwalk. I actually went out 11 miles because I planned on running 22 if I could, and if not then I'd walk the last 2 hilly miles.

The way back started to get a little tougher. I kept anticipating that P would show up on the horizon at any moment. I started to get low on water and Gatorade... then I ran out of water. Around mile 14 or 15 I realized P was not coming. I started to hyperventilate because of the lack of liquids. Then I started to imagine P laying dead on the side of the road and not wearing a helmet. I wondered how I would find out if they took him to the hospital before I got to that part of the route. I pictured my mangled bike laying bloody at an intersection. I hyperventilated even more and seriously almost started balling.

I was going insane.

Seriously, I lost control of my emotions. I was going batty from too much exertion. Eventually I got a grip, but my pace suffered. I had to walk quite a bit. I savored every last drop of Gatorade and finally finished my 20 miles. Then came the torturous, hilly, dry walk for the last 2 miles. I got home, and P was nowhere to be found. Again, I nearly flipped out and started crying as I chugged cold water.

Turns out he had gotten a flat bike tire and RODE the broken bike 2 miles home. He was so exhausted from the heat and exertion of riding a friggin broken bike (smart!) he puked in someone's front lawn. I'm sure you can guess how sympathetic I was to his little tale after I had just run TWENTY miles. Oy.

That run was the hardest physical thing I've ever done. I can't believe in four short days I'll be running that PLUS 6.2 miles. Yikes.

THIS WEEK
This is it. Taper week, I suppose. I have been focusing more on speed for the past couple weeks, and honestly, I can notice a difference. I feel faster and more confident. I hope this will pay off on Sunday.

Saturday I ran 10 miles at a 9:46 pace. My somewhat lofty goal pace for the race is 10:00 miles. The 10-miler seemed pretty moderate at 9:46 so hopefully that's a good sign for my marathon intentions.

People keep asking me if I'm ready for the race, and I'm not really sure if I am. My runs for the past week have felt awesome and strong, so going by that alone I'd say yes. But those runs have been short. Based on my 20-miler, I'd say heck to the no. But that was 3 weeks ago.

I honestly don't know if a 10-minute pace is realistic for me. My 15+ mile runs have been slower than that by at least 30 seconds for the most part. I would love love love to run it in less than 4:30:00 though, and staying with the 10-minute pace group might help me stay motivated to do that.

Essentially, I'm just rambling. I have no idea what to expect, and as this is my first marathon I think my goal should be to finish and do my best. I REALLY want to stay mentally strong and not give up. I want to push it and give it my all. This is it. Who knows if I'll ever do this again (although I secretly am already planning my next one). So my goal is to just run my heart out.

Hard, humid run

A good, hard, humid 6-mile run this morning. I did NOT want to get up and go, but after putting it off for so long P layed down the law and made me leave. Thanks, P!

Stats:
Mile 1: 9:33
Mile 2: 9:37
Mile 3: 9:12
Mile 4: 9:53
Mile 5: 9:24
Mile 6: 9:05
TOTAL: 56:44
average: 9:27

I pushed pretty hard. Did my usual neighborhood route, which has some good inclines and a couple steep hills. I was drenched in sweat by the end.

The marathon is less than 3 weeks away, so I am officially "tapering." The problem is, I haven't done a whole lot of weekday running the entire time, so my tapering will just be like normal weeks, minus super long runs.

I will have to recap you on my 15.5-miler, 18-miler and 20-miler sometime this week. Can't believe I've run that much...

Get smart

I've been training stupidly. And it's finally caught up with me.

Let's backtrack a bit.

I've been embarrassingly bad at doing my weekday runs. I always end up sleeping in before work and then there's inevitably something going on after work. And even days when I do have time to run, something else catches my attention and I make up an excuse, or tell myself I'll get up and do it the next morning.

So over the past four weeks I've done anywhere from 0 to 2 runs during the weekdays and one long run on the weekends. That is so NOT a good way to train for a marathon.

After skipping yesterday and completely chowing down on Twizzlers and ice cream instead, I vowed to run 7 miles this morning. Then I slept in, and finally had the drive to do it this evening.

I felt great for about 3 miles or so. Then suddenly it felt like my shoes lost all support. I actually looked down to double check that I didn't accidentally wear my old running shoes. They felt worn out and my feet and ankles started to hurt.

After 3 1/2 miles I decided to cut it a little less than a mile short to save myself for my 17-miler planned for tomorrow morning.

At mile 4 I flat out headed for home. My left shin was in terrible pain - worse than it's felt all year. In fact, I was just the other day thinking about how great it is that my shins haven't been acting up whilst training. Well, today they decided to remind me that I have to take care of them if they're going to cooperate.

I made it home, with a walk break after the shin incident, in 5 miles (47:31). My body felt great, and ready for more. My legs felt bad.

I really need to get smart if I want to run this marathon without getting injured. I need to dedicate myself to training during the week even if my schedule is busy. Long runs alone will not get me to the finish line injury free.

I've decided to ditch the 17-miler tomorrow and maybe do 10 miles instead. This week I'll focus on training every day and then do my 17 or 18 miles on Saturday. The following week I have the milestone 20-miler.

Theme from now on: GET SMART! TRAIN HARD!

Back it up a week...

Let's back up a little to the past week.

Well, last Saturday I ran my second half marathon! The Full Moon Race from Plymouth to Sheboygan.

This was a night race - it started at 6:30 p.m. and I am so glad it did. Saturday was one of the first really hot, sticky, humid days of summer, and I am so thankful that I didn't have to run much in the sun. I wrote a full recap for Tom's blog, so to keep from repeating myself, just read about it here.

I finished in 2:04:03. Slower than my first half marathon last May in Madison (that one was 1:58:52 or something around there). But it was a pretty course and I knew I wasn't in as good of shape as I was then.

I felt awful after the race. My stomach was queasy and I ended up puking on the car ride home. My whole body was sore the next day. I took a couple days off to recover. And then my training fell off the track and believe it or not, I did not run again until my 15-miler. Bad deal.

Daylong runner's high after new PDR

WOW.

I am still in shock that I was able to roll out of bed at 4:55 a.m. and hit the dark and dewy trail at 5:20 a.m. (okay, so my alarm started going off at 4:45 and I almost didn't get up).

I ran a new PDR of 15 miles! It took me 2:36:53. 1,587 calories burned; 10:27 avg pace.

Man, those last two miles were painful, but up until that point I was feeling totally awesome. I finished with an incredible runner's high -- how could you not after running 15 miles before 8 a.m.?

I ran smart, sipping water throughout and eating a Clif Shot about halfway through.

I've found the gel is key to feeling good after the run. The past four weeks I've done 4 long runs of 10, 11, 13.1 and 15 miles. The 10- and 15-milers I ate a gel during and felt great after. The 11- and 13.1-milers I drank water and a little Gatorade, no gel, and felt sick afterwards. After one run I almost passed out, and the other I actually threw up about a half hour after I finished.

So I've come to the conclusion that gels are my savior.

Back to the run... I was a little nervous leaving before sunrise. I clipped my flashing red bike light to my shirt just so cars would for sure see me. The funny thing is I didn't even see any cars at that hour, ha.

Once I got on the trail, the sun was up, but my mind was racing with possible rapist attacker scenarios. Young girl alone on a deserted trail with no one in sight at dawn... could be a recipe for disaster.

My imagination truly went wild, as I pictured a biker coming up from behind me and knocking me down to attack me. My plan was to hit him over the head with my water bottle and race into the tall grass to the right of the trail, hopefully running to a house or some nearby building and screaming for help. I figured the tall grass would slow him down on a bike.

And if you don't think that's crazy, I'm ashamed to admit I then started thinking about possible scenarios with knives, guns and even with them chaining me to the railroad track. Yes, I am psychotic.

So I think I should just invest in some pepper spray to put my mind at ease if I'm going to do any more early morning long runs.

And I hope I will, indeed, have the discipline to run early from here on out. Yesterday I tried to head out for my 15 miles at 9 a.m. and it was just Way. Too. Hot. And humid. I turned around and headed home less than a mile out. There is no way I would have survived. And today, I can't imagine starting any later than I did and surviving. Wisconsin does not get a whole lot of hot humid weather, but August is the one month when we get a little bit of it. It's times like these that I am thankful I don't live in Florida (although throughout the rest of the year I am ready to pick up and move there at any given moment!).

Time to refuel

This morning was overcast and a little cooler outside. I didn't end up leaving for my long run until noon, but it still was only 70 degrees out.

1 hour 52 minutes and 56 seconds and 11 miles later, the temperature had risen by 10 degrees and I arrived home. I chugged some water as I cooled down.

The run didn't feel great. I walked more than I did during my 10-miler last week. I didn't have much shin pain or chafing, but I just didn't feel fast. I only had water to fuel me throughout the run, and I had stupidly only eaten a bowl of granola before heading out (and that was about 2 hours before heading out).

So I felt really weak and nauseous upon my return. Hoping a shower would perk me up (the thought of food was sickening), I jumped in and started shampooing, only to feel like I was about to pass out. I jumped out mid-shampoo and Peter helped me get some grapes and toast in me.

The food was hard to get down, but it slowly but surely improved my state. I was able to shower, and then after an hour or so of grazing on light snacks including more grapes, black beans, cheese and tortilla chips, I was feeling up to speed again.

I do NOT want to have another post-run recovery like that. It was really uncomfortable and scary.

This is my reminder to start bringing Gatorade or Hammer Gels with me on my long runs from here on out and to always be sure to fuel up properly before a run.

The brink of new

In a week's time I've gone from hum drum to completely nostalgic for my place of employment.

Tomorrow will be the last day for 30-something colleagues who are choosing to accept a buyout offer. One has been working there for 42 years. 42 YEARS!

I've been there exactly a year and a half. It doesn't seem that long and yet it feels like ages. In recent weeks I feel I've grown even closer to my colleagues. This nostalgia as a chunk of us prepares to leave has made me fall in love all over again with my job, my desk, my coworkers and my industry. The romance is rekindled!

I've been wondering what it must be like for someone who has been there 4, 5, 17, 25 or 42 whopping years to come to their last day of this ingrained routine and to say goodbye to this family of sorts.

It's virtually unfathomable for me at this point, to imagine how that must feel. I'm totally nostalgic for them. And nostalgic for myself that I won't get to spend the next however-many years working with them.

Tomorrow will be one tick in the timeline of "the way things were."

I've entered this business at a strange time. I work with people who have been here since the days of typewriters, since the golden days of newspapers, since the days of a 90% smoked up newsroom, since the days when my job didn't exist. They reminisce about those days, and I suppose in time I will reminisce about the days before our paper shrunk (for the second time since I've been here), for the days before the buyout (the third one since I've been here) and who knows what else.

I can't kick the feeling that we're on the brink of a big turning point. A turning point in a good way. This huge decrease in our numbers will be a sad and difficult hit, but I think those of us who are left (assuming I am even left) will be invigorated with a new fervor to be efficient, beat our competition and pave the way for the future of top-notch journalism.

I have hope that this is the kick we need to get ourselves back up. Our product has never been a problem. It's just our revenue stream. But our product has to change to make way for a new revenue stream.

I need to stay focused. I do not work a 9 to 5 desk job and I can't let myself fall into that slump. If I want to stay here and I want my industry to survive, I have to be highly efficient, highly innovative and highly enterprising. That will be my new mantra.

I am so blessed to have my job. I am not yet sure how it fits into God's plan for my life, but I know it somehow must. The timing of everything, from my serendipitous finding of the job posting, to the fact that my editor replied to my e-mail query, to my ability to graduate early, to the timing of the economic recession and essential hiring freeze. I don't know if the fact that I'm in the city I am or the fact that I work at a newspaper are the key parts of this blessing, but either way I feel compelled to embrace every aspect of it and give it my all.

So tomorrow I will breathe it in and commit it all to memory. I will refocus and begin the next chapter.

Back on the boat

I got back on the running boat this week - yahoo!

Stats:

Tues: Super hot out, ran/walked approx 5 miles, didn't time (hour maybe?) and did strength.
Wed: Garmin died. Ran circa 4 miles in 40 minutes.
Thurs: Ran 3 miles in 28:35, plus strength.
Sat (today): Ran 10 MILES!! 1:39:14. Avg pace 9:54

Totals: ~3:47:49. ~22 miles.

Today was the first time I have run ten miles in over a year. I waited until the evening so the heat and sun would subside, and left at 5:45. Headed up Sunnyslope and then hit the New Berlin Trail. I felt great for most of it. My pace was decent, mainly in the mid 9s.

I did a few new things on this run. First, and this is kind of TMI, I decided to go commando with my built-in-underwear running shorts. I've never done that before, and I guess I didn't really feel any difference.

Moving on... I brought a water bottle. So glad I did. I also brought and consumed a Hammer gel around mile 6. It actually didn't taste that bad (strawberry cheesecake flavor), but I'm not entirely sure if it boosted my energy all that much. I did finish strong though, with my last mile averaging an 8-minute pace (which seems kind of fishy to me, Garmin).

Lastly, I put some Vasoline on my inner thighs to prevent chafing. It didn't really work, because by the time the chafing started (around mile 8) the Vasoline had already worn off. I will have to work on finding a solution for this problem, because it's pretty painful!

I took walking breaks to consume water every mile and a half or so. I think that was a smart move, and it didn't destroy my overall pace either.

All in all, today was a great run, I am motivated to kick my training up another notch and I have exactly two weeks until I run the Full Moon Half Marathon (eek!). After today's run I am feeling more confident.

I am a total bum

This has been a bad week for running.

I skidded through my 8 miles last Saturday, ran 30 minutes Monday, and haven't hit the road since. I was planning on running 10 miles with the Striders tomorrow morning, but since it's 12:30 a.m. already, I think I blew it again.

BUM.

Unrelatedly, I was just looking at a few pics on Facebook, one being of the Zeta house. Man oh man, where did college go? I thought it would last forever. I can't believe it ended and I can't believe how much I miss it. Truly, the best years of my life.

Day off

Today, being Wednesday, I decided to rest. I've got a big run on Saturday and a 5K tomorrow, so I don't want to wear myself out. I figure I'll gain more by resting today than by doing 20 minutes of cross training.

Instead I planned on focusing on fundraising. That, well, sort of happened. I wrote an e-mail letter to family and friends. And I created a facebook event. But I just can't bring myself to send them yet. I'm not sure who it's appropriate to send these requests to. Honestly, I've never gotten a request for donations from any of my friends or family members before, so I feel weird doing it.

What makes me feel weirder is that I already hit up all my relatives and family friends for money for Dance Marathon in fall of 2007. This is for a similar cause, and I just feel like a total leech.

I could use some real input on the Facebook thing though. Do I send it to everyone I know, assuming most will ignore it, but also assuming a few unexpected people will donate a little? I sort of feel that Facebook is informal enough that it's okay to just send it to a bunch of randoms I never talk to anymore. But I'll have to think a little more before I decide who to send the invite to. We shall see.

Books

I haven't written about books lately, so here's my updated list of books I've read in the semi-recent past. I joined a book club so a few of these reads are thanks to my lovely clubbies. This list is in reverse chronological order

-A Thousand Splendid Suns
-Water For Elephants
-Bel Canto
-The Time Traveler's Wife
-Little Altars Everywhere
-The Post-Birthday World (blogged about it previously)
-The Buenos Aires Broken Hearts Club
-Love the One You're With (blogged about it previously)

I feel like that list is missing something but I can't remember what.

I'm supposed to start and finish reading The Bird Cage Chronicles (I think that's the title) by Monday (eep). Need, need, need to get cracking on that. I haven't read anything in a month!

Now the question is, what do I choose for my book club month? I was thinking either Water For Elephants or A Thousand Splendid Suns (not coincidentally, the last two non-club books I've read). I loved both books, and I especially think ATSS is appropriate for an all-female group, but they aren't exactly fluffy summer reading. I guess WFE is a fairly quick read. I dunno. I'll have to ponder summore.

Runner's high

Icing my shins right now after an excellent 6 mile run!

Last night I ended up just biking 8 miles instead of running. It took me 37 minutes I think. Felt good.

Tonight I almost gave up and didn't run, because once again I ate too much right when I got home from work (I was hangry!). But despite my two Mississippi Mud Bars (thank goodness there is only one left now) I dragged my butt off the couch and hit the road just in time to get back before dark.

Took me ~57:30, at an average 9:34 pace. The route was lovely, and I did no double looping - just ran out three miles and back. I actually took splits this time, every 2 miles. Interestingly, the last third of my run was much faster than the rest. I think my splits were 19:16, 19:25 and 18:40 or something along those lines.

This is flat out disgusting, so don't read this paragraph if you're weak, but right at the beginning of my run I had a coughing fit and (ewwwwwww) threw up a little in my mouth. That first half-mile tasted disgusting, and I never thought I'd feel strong. Thankfully, I recovered and took my mind off it after a few minutes.

All in all, I had a really positive outlook all throughout the run. The weather was absolutely perfect, and I am so thankful to have fine gravel in the shoulder of the roads in my neighborhood. It makes my stomping grounds the best place to run around here, since all the wooded running/biking trails are paved with no good shoulder. I also feel safe in the neighborhood, with people out mowing and doing yardwork and walking their dogs.

This Saturday I'm taking a plunge and running 8 miles with the Badgerland Striders. Today's run gives me confidence that I'll be able to handle that distance, and get back on track with marathon training.

This week is, however, a big bump in mileage from previous weeks. I know that's bad for my shins, but I need to get up to the distances on my training schedule that I've been ignoring up to this point.

Long run day

Picked a bad day weather-wise for my long run this week (the first long run in a while... eep). It could be worse, but it is in the 80s and sunny and I'm planning on heading out soon. I'll wait till 7 or so before I go so it cools off a little.

Got home from work and fueled up on some strawberries, almond butter, oh and... uh... Twizzlers and Mississippi Mud Bars. Whoops ;)

Planning on going 1:15. My mind is trying to convince me to do my long run tomorrow when it will be in the 60s, but I'd hate to put it off another day. We'll see.

Exciting news - ran the National Dash 5K on the Fourth of July and finished respectably, IMHO. 26:17 according to my Garmin (26:29 according to the race results, but those are never right anyway). It's roughly an 8:30 pace. I felt strong and it encouraged me that I can run if I put my mind to it. I just need to stay focused and dedicated to my goal.

Speaking of goal, my fundraising goal sits untouched. I really need to get cracking on that.

Additionally, as you (if there is a nebulous "you" reader out there) may have noticed, this blog is becoming my marathon training blog. I thought long and hard about changing the name to reflect this, but then decided one name change is enough for a blog. Also, I couldn't think of anything catchy that had to do with running. So Post-College Alison now has a training and fundraising goal that will be discussed as often as I deem worthy of posting.

Fun run and bike

Bill and I ran yesterday along the Lakefront. It was HOT HOT HOT (90+ degrees) and super crowded with families and teens hanging out at the beach and parks there.

I had an absolutely horrifying encounter with two people carrying a gigantic snake. I almost died, but luckily I was able to avert their path and run onto the grass, keeping a large distance as we passed each other. People should not bring disgusting, terrifying pets like that to such public places.

The first half of the run was great; we kept a decent sub-10-minute pace. The way back was brutal: hot, sweaty, thirsty and ready to pass out, we took several walking breaks. In the end, we ran 3.7 miles in 38:36. Not bad, considering the heat.

This morning i went into work late, so I had time for an awesome hour-long bike ride along the New Berlin trail. What a great trail for biking! It is completely flat, straight and paved. It follows the railroad tracks and you can see for miles along it.

Stats, from memory: 58:56, 13.29 miles, 576 calories, avg pace around 4:30

Eating has been healthy for the most part, although yesterday I had chocolate cake, homemade ice cream and licorice!

Today:
-FF vanilla yogurt w/ raspberries, blueberries, walnuts & flax
-1/2 veggie wrap
-Banana w/ almond butter
-Veggies & low-cal dip
-15 plain almonds
-Luna bar
-Leftover chicken/artichoke dish for dinner
-4 squares dark chocolate
-Low-cal Frappachino mocha
-Green Monster smoothie w/ spinach, strawberries, blueberries, banana, almond butter, flax & skim milk

I guess I really did eat a lot today, but it was mostly very healthy and low-cal. I had a pretty good appetite throughout the day, probably sparked by the long ride this morning.

Hubby returned today and it was glorious to see him again!!

Slept in... again

It happens every time I attempt to work out in the morning - I sleep in.

This morning I didn't get out of bed till after 8. Whoops.

I just missed a quick bike ride though, so no biggie.

Man, my legs were really sore today. Sitting down and standing up were quite the challenge!

Food:
-Strawberries w/ small bit FF vanilla yogurt
-Peach w/ FF cottage cheese
-Banana w/ almond butter (YUM)
-Spinach salad w/ strawberries, walnuts and feta cheese
-Egg noodles w/ butter and Muenster cheese
-Apple w/ almond butter
-1/2 cup vanilla ice cream w/ strawberries & blueberries
-1 square dark chocolate
-3 pieces strawberry licorice bites
-8 raw almonds
-4 slices celery w/ almond butter

Can you tell that my latest obsession, which I just tried for the first time today, is ALMOND BUTTER! It has such a great texture and flavor. Yum.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to go for a run with Bill and then make dinner for him. He mentioned wanting to skip the run, but I fully support persevering and running along the lake before dinner!

Time to do some quick power-cleaning and then hit the sack, though. Gotta grocery shop for dinner before work tomorrow morning (it's double coupon Wednesday at Pick 'n Save!)

Neither

That's the answer to the question I posed last week, "Paranoid or dying?" (in case you're wondering).

Thankfully, I am neither.

I went to the doctor (luckily I was due for my annual check up) and told her I had been having chest pains. She asked me where it hurt, and determined it was most likely from irritation of the muscles and nerves around my ribcage. Weird, right?

Well, it makes sense, and just knowing that makes me so much more relaxed. I seriously thought I was having a heart attack. Crazy, right?

I'm on regular doses of Ibuprofin for this week and hopefully that will calm it down. The doc said it could be caused by heavy breathing from exercise. Not that I had really been exercising all that much when it flared up...

Well, I'm just relieved I don't need a heart transplant or anything.

Shred + longest training run so far

Today was great, as far as training goes! (And eating.)

Woke up late (worked till 12:30 last night; went to bed at 2 - whoops) but shredded with Jillian before 1 p.m. It was excellent.

Ran a bunch of errands today, did some cleaning (although there's lots more that needs to be done) and then around 7:45 went for an hour-long run! This is the longest run I've done since I started training for the Chicago Marathon (my farthest run in history was 13.1 miles in the Madison Half Marathon last spring).

It felt great. I'm glad I waited till later in the evening. The heat wasn't bad, although I was a sweaty mess by the end.

I kept a slow pace and didn't walk at all. Did a neighborhood route and tried to stay on gravel as much as possible. Unfortunately, my left knee and left shin were not feeling the best during the run. I'm icing the shins a little. I really think I need good orthotics, which are expensive and P is very unlikely to support. Ugh. We'll see.

Stats:
1:00:02, 5.89 miles (although I think it was closer to 6), 635 calories, average 10:12 pace

Food:
-Strawberries, kiwi, half apple, ground flax, fat free vanilla yogurt
-Ants on a log
-1/2 turkey wrap w/ veggie dip, spinach, cucumber, red onion
-3 strawberry licorice bites
-Egg noodles w/ nasty cottage cheese/onion sauce
-3 squares dark chocolate

Tomorrow's goal: Bike 30 minutes and shred before work.

Side note: I've been listening to "positive, encouraging K-Love" on the radio and it really is just that! I've never been a devoted fan of Christian radio music, but it really is encouraging and I always try to sing along even though I don't know the words.

Thank you, Jillian

I DID fail to wake up and run this morning. :( I was tired.

I also failed to run after church, but managed to get in some 30-day shred with Jillian Micheals just before heading off to work.

I found the workout on YouTube and I'm so glad I did. It wasn't as terrible (hard) as people on other blogs make it out to be, although it definitely was a good, challenging workout. I only did Level 1. It was nice and quick.

I need to start watching what I eat. Here's today:

Strawberries, kiwi, granola, vanilla fat free yogurt
Big bowl air popped popcorn with butter powder
Chewy granola bar
Black beans, corn and cheddar cheese
Applesauce (2)
Twix bar
BBQ Lays potato chips
Chocolate chips

The last two items I totally could have done without, but instead wanted to be a glutton at 1 a.m. when I got home from work. Yuck.I hate looking at that list already.

Broke the streak

Today I finally broke my week-long non-exercising streak and got in a good workout.

It was my first workout with my new Garmin Forerunner 204 GPS watch.

It was the hottest day of the year so far (upper 80s).

And it was at high noon.

Needless to say, this was a tough workout that should not have been hard at all.

Biked to Root River Trail: 1.99 miles, 9:23, avg pace 12.7 mph, 58 calories

Ran on Root River Trail (okay, walked some too): 2.18 miles, 20:51, avg pace 9:33, 253 calories

Biked home (stopped the watch at a stoplight and forgot to hit start again): 1.08 miles, 6:39, avg pace 9.7 mph, 58 calories (seems a little fishy)

Man, it was rough. Tomorrow my aim is to wake up at 6 a.m. and run before it gets hot out (and before church - I know it will be tough to get motivated after church).

But in other news, this has been a very productive - or at least action-packed - day. Is it weird that while the husband is out of town I'm not lonely - I'm actually having lots of fun. It's like a vacation. I'm sure that's horrible, but I'm just being honest.

So, back to today. Woke up bright and early, popped over to the Farmers Market by 7:30, bought some strawberries, drove (top down) to church for a music meeting, met up with Janet, Lisa and Paula for breakfast at Pano's (YUM!), biked/ran, met up with Rachel and her "friend" Mike and went to Lakefront Festival of Arts, chatted with the parentals, weeded the front yard, did laundry, planted more herbs, worked for an hour (UGH) and am now settling down to fold laundry and plan tomorrow's Sunday School class.

Um, so, I really do feel bad that I feel so much more free and happy with husband out of town. Maybe it's just that the weather is nicer and my social calendar has been full...

Or maybe it's that I don't feel guilty for having a full social calendar because I have no one to come home to...

Either way, I do miss him and hope we'll have double the fun when he returns. Summer is finally HERE!

Marathon

So, about a month ago I registered for the Chicago Marathon. And ever since then I have totally fallen off the wagon with running.

I still have time, but it is freaking me out how easy it is to miss workouts. Sleep, social events, dinner, errands... they all have been taking priority lately and I NEED to get back on track.

I am going to start updating this blog more often with training updates (hopefully there will BE updates!)

At this point I am just thinking I am completely insane and never should have registered for this race. I cannot picture myself running 26.2 miles, but I know I just need to focus and get out there and RUN and I will be able to do it.

Paranoid or dying?

I honestly don't know if I'm paranoid or I'm dying.

Peter says I'm paranoid.

I really, really hope he's right.

Bad news

I failed to get my butt out of bed on time to run this morning before work. Then I ate two donuts instead of lunch.

Eek.

Ejercicios

First day I didn't run (or bike) after 4 consecutive days of great workouts (40-minute run, 45-minute run, 35-minute bike ride, 30-minute run).

Also first day of practically stuffing my face on a margarita, enchiladas, seasoned lodge fries and Samoas.

It's okay. Tomorrow morning (in about 6 hours) I will force myself out of bed (or let P force me out of bed) to run 35 minutes before work, followed by Team in Training info session and Shepherd Group. Bizzy Wendsdy.

Oh, and I know there will be free donuts until 9:30 a.m. at work tomorrow. I am only allowed to eat a donut if I a) run and b) get to work by 9:30. So how's that for edible motivation?

Long-Haired Linda

Today's realization:

My hair is getting long again!

Maybe I just straightened it extra straight today, but it didn't even look like a bob anymore. It was just like, above-the-shoulder hair. And I realized the short layers in the back that I love to play with are not so short anymore.

It's only been a month and 5 days since my chop-chop. Now I know why most women cut their hair at least once every two months. This is too fast a pace for me. Slow down, hair, so I can enjoy you while you're short and sassy!

Art

Last night was nice. I went to Gallery Night in the Third Ward with Rachel, a member of my book club who I had never hung out with outside of book club before.

It was nice for several reasons, one being the fact that I feel like I am slowly collecting a handful of friends that I can contact and invite to accompany me on little excursions like Gallery Night. So much of the stifling that I've felt since moving here and getting married has come from the fact that my husband does not share all my interests and, furthermore, is very much a homebody. He doesn't like to go to things like Gallery Night and if I force him to go he gets annoyed and therefore annoying. I'm glad I finally have gotten to know several people well enough that I'm comfortable inviting them out with me. And I hope to deepen these shallow friendships and thereby deepen my roots here.

Gallery Night was also nice because it was inspiring. Had I not spent the day working outside in our yard, creating a garden and enjoying the warmest day so far this year, I would have been painting today. I long to pick up a paintbrush and create. It's on my constant to do list and it keeps getting pushed further down. I need to put it at the top.

Time is such a constant battle in life. "Oh, if only I had more time..." I'll die wishing I had more time. But I shouldn't. I should just prioritize. Just do stuff. Stop talking about it, thinking  about it, writing it in lists, putting it off, pushing it back. Just do it.

And so, in no particular time frame, but sometime soon, I prioritize painting. I am fighting the incredible temptation right now to list out the ten other things I prioritize doing, but I won't because that would detract from my moving of painting to the near-top of the priorities list.

I think I could be an okay artist if I had the time...

Our first holiday dinner

I've been a bad old blogger ::slaps wrist::

I can't promise to update more regularly, but I can promise to tell you something very exciting right now.

I am hosting my first holiday this Sunday! The whole Fredenburg fam (minus Uncle Jim & Aunt Jan) are trekking up here for Easter dinner. That's only a total of 11 people, but I think that's the perfect size.

I've got a whole lot planned, too.

So far here's the menu:

TBD appetizer
Matzo crusted salmon
TBD second meat (cornish hens?)
Asparagus
Honey wheat rolls with honey butter
Roasted potatoes
TBD pasta salad
Carrot cake
TBD other dessert (cookies? sorbet?)

Kind of a lot, but I am too excited to limit it!

My favorite memories of Easter celebrations are Pa's Easter egg/scavenger hunts. They were so creative and surprising and fun. I would love to bring that tradition back and come up with some sort of scavenger hunt/game for everyone. I just need to sit down and brainstorm on that one.

I also want to arrange some flowers and make the house look nice and spring-like. I am hoping to scoot over to Goodwill sometime this week to start my random china collection and buy a cute butter dish and things along those lines.

Lots to do! I'm in the midst of finding recipes and making a shopping list right now. I test baked the rolls and they didn't rise properly so they didn't taste great :( Wish me luck!

Freakishness

How crazy is this... every week I look forward to the weekend, even though I usually don't have much planned. This weekend we're flying to Florida and I'm taking a week off work. I should be counting down the days, hoping the weekend will come as soon as possible.

But, no. I have so much work left to do this week that I literally wish today was Wednesday instead of Thursday.

What the heck is wrong with me?!

What I would do if I lost my job

My company is in the midst of bargaining with our union right now. They want something like the equivalent of 24 low seniority jobs.

The company is not doing well. Blame the economy. Blame the Internet. Blame Craigslist. I see light at the end of the tunnel, but it's a long, dark tunnel and everyone will suffer.

After my employee review last week I feel a little more confident than I would otherwise at this point. My boss told me he will do everything he can to keep me. I hope that will be enough.

But this dire, nervous situation is making me reflect on my young career and what I would do if I were to lose my job.

First off, I would get a job waitressing while I looked for a new job. Ever since age 4 I have dreamed of being a waitress, and the closest this dream has come to fruition was when I was a barista at Applause coffeehouse. I still harbor a secret longing for this career path and I don't think it's too late to pursue it temporarily.

I would keep my cooking blog going on a new domain. I would drum up advertising for it and market it hardcore to try to make some extra dough.

I would finally start up my greeting card business that has been in the back of my mind since high school. I would start selling on Etsy and local craft fairs.

All the while I would apply for marketing and advertising jobs. If, by any slim chance, there were any newspaper jobs out there, I would definitely apply for those too, but if I can't have a job at a newspaper I'm not sure I want a job in journalism at all. Weird and harsh, but my passion truly is for newspapers.

Although I really have no advertising experience, I think my skills would translate well to that field.

And if there was no hope for finding a job, I wouldn't mind going back to school. I have no idea what I'd study - more journalism? More Spanish? Law? Advertising? Graphic design?

At some point later in life, but probably not right now, I would love to be a teacher.

But as exciting as all those opportunities sound, I am happy at my job and I think I have a lot of growing to do there. I would hate to end my affair with newspapers so soon, especially when I have such hope for their future.

I love spam

Bah-diddly-ha!

Just got this awesome e-mail, addressed to "recipients:"

Hello,
hey where have you been recently ? I did not get any mail from you for a long time. Anyway, I found a very quality online pharmacy. I ordered some meds and I got them in 3 days. I remember last time you were asking for a cheap and quality pharmacy.here it is :

Then they post their URL. Lame-o. You may have fooled me for about .00004 seconds, but into the junk folder you go. Click.

Oatmeal update

I tried Strawberry Cream -- it needs some sugar.

Oatmeal treats

I bought a large container of plain old-fashioned oats earlier this week and ever since then I've been jumping at every opportunity to have a bowl and try new combinations of add-ins. Here are the one's I've tried (all include oats and flax seed):

Mixed Berry
Brown sugar, frozen strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, topped with vanilla yogurt.

Cinnamon Raisin
Brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins.

Apple Pie
Cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, diced apples, topped with vanilla yogurt.

Here are some I've concocted in my head and am looking forward to trying:

Strawberries & Cream
Sliced fresh strawberries, milk, topped with vanilla yogurt.

Bananas & Cream
Sliced banana, milk, topped with vanilla yogurt.

Apple Walnut
Diced apples, chopped walnuts, brown sugar.

So far my favorite was the mixed berry. Adding a few spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt to the oatmeal really ramps up the flavor and cools it down if it's too hot.

I love the New Berlin library, but...

They sent me this in the mail the other day:

I didn't know they even made this type of crazy carbon paper any more.

And yes, I paid my $0.70 fine (one good thing about staying in the dark ages).

The Post-Birthday World

My bag was a lot lighter today.

That's because I stopped lugging around The Post-Birthday World - the 515-page book I've been reading for the past month.

I finished it last night. And of course I cried hysterically (like I do at the end of every book, it seems).

This book was chosen as the first book of the book club I joined last month. I have to admit, I was a bit resentful at first, with it being the shortest month of the year and the book being so freakin' long.

And it took me a little while to get into it. It wasn't a light read at first. It's set in London so the Brit-speak slowed me down. So did the slow start in general.

It gradually picked up though, and thankfully my book club decided to postpone our meeting a week, so by last night I was flying through the last chapters and loving it.

As a general rule, I do not read the backs of books I'm reading. I don't read summaries online. They usually give away too much in the interest of hooking you.

This book was more intriguing because I didn't read the summary on the inside of the cover. It confused me for a chapter or two before I picked up on the fact that this book simultaneously explores two possible ways the protagonist's life could have turned based on a decision she makes at one moment in time: to kiss or not to kiss.

I hate infidelity as a rule. I hate break-ups and divorce too. And those biases made me hate parts of the first half of the book.

But the characters are so complex and so well-developed that it's hard to take sides as the plot progresses. You see each character's strengths and weaknesses. They were real people - it was impossible to entirely love one and hate another because people are not black and white like that.

I found the theme throughout quite agreeable - that there is no such thing as the perfect life, that one decision may change the course of your life but things generally even out in the end. There are good times and bad, and if you're smart you'll cherish them and learn from the ones you don't.

The ending was satisfyingly ambiguous. And all throughout I was marveling at the clever storytelling techniques and details used by the author, Lionel Shriver.

And of course, the telltale sign of a book well-enjoyed by me: the tears marring the last 20 pages.

I will probably write more after my book club discusses it. But if you can survive the first quarter to third of the book then I think you'd enjoy it. (You, being the ambiguous you of the Internet.)

$500 worth of hair

All this time I've been living my life, getting my hair cut every six months or so, wearing it in a ponytail or clip when it's too long and I don't know what to do with it, planning to donate it to Locks of Love and occasionally cursing it for being unruly.

All this time and I've never realized how valuable my hair is.

To cut to the chase (no pun intended - really!) - I posted an ad for it on TheHairTrader.com. Within minutes I had an offer. Within days I had six offers. Then just when I was about to finalize my sale for $200 to a girl who wanted to make hair extensions, a $400 offer came in.

$400 he said, or more if he could be present when I cut it.

Mysterious. How much more?

$500. Cash. And he lives in Chicago so would be willing to meet me halfway to get it cut.

Sold!

Except I'm going to Chicago for sister's birthday in two weeks so I'll get it cut then. Cha ching! How 'bout 'dem apples?

Morsels of silly freedom

One unexpected (although it shouldn't have been) side effect of marriage is that alone time is hard to come by.

Pre-marriage, I saw hubby maybe three out of seven days of the week.

Post-marriage, we spend nearly every non-working minute together. Granted, sometimes we are lost in our own little worlds of the Internet (me) and TV (him), but we are usually sitting on the same couch.

I absolutely love this part of marriage.

But a tiny part of me misses the freedom to eat cookies for dinner with no one knowing, or to stay up till 2 a.m. reading wedding blogs, or to go to the gym and run errands for three hours after work and not have to worry about being home to eat dinner with someone.

I think it's for that reason that I stay up till 1:30 a.m. writing blogs and playing on Twitter when P is out of town for business. It's for that reason that I kind of enjoy a night to myself, where I can drink a glass of wine and watch junky TV.

Any more than one night and I'm homesick for my hubs, but one night alone is almost like a treat now.

I'd take marriage over complete independence any day, but little morsels of silly freedom are nice indulgences here and there.

Power I didn't know I had

I'm still getting used to experiencing situations from a new perspective now that I no longer identify myself as a student or a dependent. Recently I've noticed myself looking at families (at church, the grocery store, wherever) and identifying more with the mom than the kids. How freaking crazy is that?

This morning I had a surreal adult experience of another kind.

I went to the bank to try to get three $20 service fees removed from my old checking account before closing the account for good.

After trying to explain my situation to a goober of a personal banker for about 10 minutes and being noncommittally told that he only has the authority to refund me $5, I was calm but a little annoyed. I knew these fees could and should be removed; I just wished I wasn't stuck dealing with this man who seemed inept and none too eager to straighten out my finances.

He called over the manager and determined the problem was because it was an Illinois account, a joint account with my parents, one of my several remaining legal ties to my youth.

Honestly, I just wanted the fees removed so I could get to work on time. I explained that I thought the fees were an error, or at the very least unfair, hoping there would be some legitimate banking reason to back me up.

"Well, let's take a look at the accounts," the manager said.

The goober told me it would be inappropriate to discuss my parents' accounts with me, but he and the banker pulled them up on the computer next to my accounts.

"Here is their account..." Goober said with an exaggerated sideways glance to the manager. My parents' account apparently flicking on a light bulb in her head, she now nodded in enthusiastic approval, "Oh yeah, yeah, we'll definitely remove these fees."

The goober murmured in agreement and they both assured me everything would be taken care of.

I was in slight disbelief as I watched the situation unfold. Now, I definitely think those fees should have been removed regardless, but I was just shocked by how easy it suddenly became once the bankers feasted their eyes upon the undoubtedly large dollar sign that is my parents' account. The money they saw in my parents gave me a new power -- one you see in the movies but never think little old you could actually wield. 

I think all customers should be treated well if a company intends to keep their business, and it makes perfect sense to bend over backwards (not that they did in this situation) to keep their more invested clientele happy, but it just made me feel a little uncomfortable. I'm grateful to be treated well, but I wish it were because they cared about me and not just my money.

Welcome to the real world, I suppose.

Seeking anonymity

Yikes -- I just randomly decided to Google myself* and much to my unpleasant surprise, this blog showed up a few (okay like 8) pages into the search.

I blog publicly for work, but I seek anonymity in my personal blog. Sure, it's not hard to put two and two together, but a journalist should maintain some semblance of a private-public life (whaa?)

I removed my last name from my profile long ago, but this just goes to show that the Internet remembers. Always. Watch out.

*Maiden name, of course. I haven't been married long enough for much dirt to show up on my married name. It's too common anyway.

Today's workout in numbers

Locker number: 25

Classes taken: 1

Elliptical machines tried: 3

Total minutes on ellipticals: 45

Towels used: 3

Water bottles drunk: 2

Employees behind front desk as I finished up: 7

Days left before my gym membership ends: 34

Speed queen

Today at work the News Hub got into a random discussion (as usual) about speeding. I don't know how the topic came up (probably inspired by a Newswatch posting, as usual) but everyone went around revealing the fastest speed they'd attained while driving.

Most impressive was JK's 130 mph on a Harley. Yikes.

Funniest was G's response to everyone's 100+ mph responses. His fasted was closer to 85 mph.

Most surprising, apparently, was my 115 (okay, really 120) mph response.

G and the other Hubsters just could not believe that young, innocent Alison was such a daredevil.

Frankly, I can't believe I ever did that either, but there's your exhibit A of teenagers' lack of risk adversity development in their brains. I was fearless at age 16, speeding home from cast parties at 1 a.m. on a dark Naper/Plainfield Rd.

"What else don't we know about you?" they asked me. "Do you have hidden tattoos? Smoke cigars? Have secret piercings?"

It was entertaining telling them how I smuggled a Cuban in from Prague and smoked it on the front steps of Benet after graduation.

Apparently they will never look at me the same.

But doesn't everyone have stories like that?

I was far from a wild child, but I had my moments of rebellion. Now they're lovely gems of my youth. And I plan to continue collecting them.

If anyone's reading this, what wild gems have you collected over your lifetime?

Friendship takes patience

As of today, I've lived in Milwaukee (well, Milwaukee area) for about one year minus one week. I moved to the East Side Feb. 2, 2008 and started working at the Journal on Feb. 4.

Although I've lived here for what, at any other stage in my life, I would consider a long time, I still feel like we're just getting settled here.

True, a lot of changes have happened in the past year. But I never thought it would take me this long to feel like I'm just starting to really consider this place home.

I've always seemed to adapt rather quickly to new places and situations. I started at a new school in junior high but found a best friend and other close friends nearly instantly. I went into high school knowing two people. It took me mere days to find a few good friends and a little more than a semester to find the ones who would become my Friends. In college it took me all of one week to find my best friend and grow our circle from there. 

In my post-college life... well, it's been a year and I still feel like I haven't found my "circle" here. Maybe there never will be a "circle," and I'm okay with that, but it has been a hard year not having very many friends.

I have Peter, and he means much more to me than any friend, but I think our contentment with ourselves, coupled with a concentrated focus on wedding planning for our first seven months here, has really set us back in the social realm.

Peter keeps telling me that in the "real world," aka the non-school world, these things take time. I understand that, and I continue to be patient.

Lately I've been feeling more settled and a little more content with our social situation. Sure, we still spend most weekend nights cuddled up on the couch together, but that's mostly because we're too tired/cold/lazy to do anything else.

We're getting to know more people from church on a more personal level. I've joined a book club and a running club (I will meet the members of both this week). I've become much, much more comfortable with my coworkers and I honestly really enjoy their company while I'm working.

It's taken us (me) a while to get to this point, but I'm willing to be patient. I have a feeling that it will all be worth it in the end. God has a plan for us here and I just need to let Him lay it out.

Mathematical running

Some people daydream when they run. Some analyze their life. Some put their thoughts into perspective. Some runners clear their minds of everything.

And me? Well, I do math.

I know, it doesn't make any sense at all. I've always thought of myself as a right brainer. After all, I'm a journalist.

But for some reason, whether I'm circling a track or taking in scenery, my thoughts always turn into calculations while I'm running.

What kinds of calculations, you ask? I calculate my pace, my anticipated finishing time, what percentage of the workout I've completed, how many laps I have left, what percentage of a mile I've completed, how many laps XX miles would be, what my half marathon time would be, what my average pace is, etc., etc.

The more challenging the calculation, the more excited I get. This hard and fast mental focus gets my mind off my physical pain. It also serves as a mental boost when I reach certain milestones and realize that I'm 66.666% done with my workout. Who wouldn't be excited about that?

Sometimes I wish I could focus on thoughts rather than numbers while I'm running, but for some odd reason my brain doesn't work that way when I'm on the track.

Add up this workout

This evening by the numbers:

Tries it took to parallel park: 4

Fully nude 40-or-older women I saw in the gym locker room: 2

People talking on their cell phone while on a stationary bike/elliptical: 2

People texting while on a stationary bike: 1

Miles I ran: 3

Miles my Nike+ thought I ran: 3.11

Benet chorus songs that randomly came on my iPod while running: 1 (Battle of Jericho)

Pushups I did: 71

Pounds I want to lose: 6

Corndogs I ate when I got home: 1

Corndogs I wanted to eat when I got home: 17

Weak holiday spirit

Our first married Christmas in our first home was not very festive.

I forgot to go "shopping" in my parents' basement for old Christmas decorations, and neither of us wanted to spend money on decorations, so here is what we scrounged up:

(For about three weeks this vase solely held garland. Then I finally bought some fake flows on sale.)

Merry belated Christmas!

Commit to (and love) the one you're with

I just finished reading an embarrassing girly novel, "love the one you're with," by Emily Giffin, and I feel like I cheated on Peter just by reading about the wand'ring heart of the main character. Sheesh.

All in all the book was very addictive and I enjoyed reading it. I even thought it was pretty well-written (for a chick lit novel).

I hadn't finished a book since my 24-hour "Twilight" sprint (even more embarrassing, I know) on the last day of our honeymoon (spent traveling, don't worry) and it felt good to read again. As silly as it sounds, getting caught up in the story gave me something to look forward to in each moment of my day that I could spare to slip in a chapter. It was like an alternate life I could escape to.

It kind of scared me how much the feelings of Ellen, the protagonist, would influence my own feelings. Every time she would think excessively warm, loving thoughts about her husband I would be compelled to pull Peter into a bear hug and repeat how much I love him. When she began to question her life, her choices and her loyalty, I (on a much, much lower level) began to do the same. (SPOILER ALERT!) Thank goodness Ellen ended the story with her head on straight.

The difference between Ellen and me is that all along, no matter what minor questions the book might have brought up in my head, I knew that my commitment to Peter is much more powerful than even my love for him. Every time Ellen was seduced by her own memories, feelings and attraction to her ex-boyfriend I wanted to rip into the pages of the novel and shout at her, "IT'S NOT ABOUT FOLLOWING YOUR HEART!" It's about your commitment. (Why did it take her so long to figure this out?)

If you think marriage and "forever" are based on love, then you're setting yourself up for failure. Obviously love is an ingredient in the mixture, and an important one at that, but loyalty and commitment are really at the heart of it (no pun intended, really.) That's what gets you through the rough patches. You won't always look fondly at your partner and marvel at how he/she makes your heart flutter. At times you'll feel quite the opposite. Working through those times when "love" is the last word that comes to mind is what makes marriage so intense, unique, frustrating, difficult... and rewarding.

Who am I to say this, at the tender age of 22, being married for little more than four months? I have the Bible to back me up. I have wonderful role models and counselors with 25+ years of marriage experience who echo my sentiments. I have anecdotes left and right of why following your heart, wherever it may lead you, is a recipe for divorce.

I may be young, but I am very confident that I'll be singing the same tune 20 years from now. (An important part of this entire equation is that Peter feels the exact same way. Aww shucks, now I'm feeling all gushy about him again...)

Goals: A look back and a look forward

New Year's Eve 2008 was begun with wine and apps at D.O.C. wine bar in Lombard, Ill. It was our first New Year's Eve as legal, 21-year-old adults so of course we wanted to whip out our IDs and order a few bottles (but not too much, as we were driving to Matt's afterwards).

In typical friendship style, someone proposed that we go around the table and share our top three New Year's resolutions. Fresh out of college and just a month away from beginning my first real job and 9 months away from wedding my sweetheart, here were my three 2008 goals:

1) Stay on top of wedding planning deadlines.

2) Run a 10K.

3) Eliminate the words, "like," "um" and "whatever" from my vocabulary.

Reasonable and useful goals. Did I succeed?

1) Meh, I guess all that matters now is that we had the most amazingly perfect wedding and now are blissfully married. I felt perpetually behind on bridal magazine-imposed "deadlines" and had countless wedding nightmares (literally, like bad wedding-related dreams) but in the end everything was just wonderful, and the photos and memories from the entire wedding weekend bring me joy every time I look at, think of or talk about them. :)

2) I did, indeed, run a 10K. Not only did I complete it (in the freezing, windy, freezing cold of April in Milwaukee) but I achieved my time goal of circa 50 minutes AND I won the gold medal for my age/sex group. Even better, I went on to complete a half-marathon in May. I ran the Madison Half Marathon and then promptly fell off the running wagon and have yet to regain any semblance of a fitness level (see this year's goals...)

3) Those words are still, like, totally in my vocabulary, but, um, whatever.

So that brings me to 2009. I didn't officially set resolutions this year (no one asked at our New Year's party, which was more of a debauchery than ever before) but I have one measurable goal that I would like to officially set.

Run a half marathon.

Okay, yeah, uh, like, I know already did that last year. But it was hard. And fun. And right now I can barely run 2 miles, so I don't think setting any higher of a running goal would be wise. I do not think this will be easy, but I would like to run the South Shore Half Marathon on April 11.

Then, if all goes well, I hope to continue training for either the Chicago Marathon or the Lakefront Marathon (preferably Chicago). Yeah, I said it.

Last year my goal was a 10K. I did it, and then moved on to the next challenge.

This year my goal is a half marathon. I hope to both do it and move on to the next challenge in 2009, but I will be quite satisfied if I only (ha, "only") run the half and don't quite make it to the full.

So, in conclusion, tonight I was one of those schmucks who went to the gym for the first time in two months because of some silly New Year's resolution they will probably forget in two weeks. Except I fully intend to keep mine.