Farmers Market during a Chicago visit
Archive for September, 2012
Perhaps I am related to my mom
Posted in Uncategorized on September 27, 2012 | 10 Comments »
For years I was convinced that I was not related to my family, besides the similarities we have in appearance. I am so different from my dad, mom and sister that is amazing. They have never planned anything in their lives, I have never NOT planned anything in my life.
I love my mom dearly. She is the best. We do not understand each other about 90% of the time, but we are accepting that we are very, very different. Painfully different at times.
While we are very, very different people, we share some quirks.
1. We go from clothes to sweats within 10 seconds of getting home. We cannot talk to anyone until we strip our clothes for sweats. Don’t even bother asking a question until we get out of our some-what more fashionable clothing. We change into sweats even if we know we have to leave in two hours and will have to change back into regular clothes. Life is just better in crappy, comfy clothes duh!
2. We read a lot. My mom has been a member of her book club my entire life. She always has a book ‘going’. And always one book at a time. I never understand how people can read multiple books at once. I get characters confused when I’m reading one book!
3. We like to grocery shop and cook. Grocery shopping is an event. Not to be rushed! When I was little and now when I’m home we spend freakish amounts of time in grocery stores. One word about cooking – she follows recipes, I really don’t. But we do ‘read’ cookbooks. Oh and we watch a lot of cooking shows.
4. We HATE baths. I remember my mom taking a bath exactly once in my life, when she was sick. I’ve taken a bath exactly once in my life, when I broke my wrist. I don’t understand baths. Why would you sit in water while it gets cold? I hear that the bath is about the bubbles, candles and such. Nope. Sound’s awful.
5. We drink one cup of coffee a day. Only black. No fancy crap.
6. We LOVE hot, humid weather. Those nights when it doesn’t get below 80 degrees are the best!
7. We don’t like sweets besides VERY dark chocolate. VERY dark chocolate. No creamy filling.
8. We hate shopping for clothes for ourselves. Her reason is that she has very large breasts. My reason is I have very short legs. Basically, clothes hate us.
What do you and members of your family have in common? Does anyone else hate, hate, hate baths?
Xoxo,
Emily
Weekly workout recap
Posted in Uncategorized on September 24, 2012 | 3 Comments »
First, thank you for all your kind words on my last post. Everyone was so wonderful in their comments. Positive energy is much needed on my end!! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Lets do workout recap.
And and by-the-by, I am officially in the taper!!! Woooo. <– actually I don’t LOVE the taper. But so far no taper-tantrums. Well, more than my usually Emily-tantrums. Taper-tantrums and Emily-tantrums are hard to distinguish from each other.
First. My foot. It is better. Thank God!! The swelling seems to be down (everyone reading this KNOCK ON WOOD, thank you very much!) I got taped from my PT. And iced. And elevated. And ran (the PT didn’t tell me NOT to run… I asked! Don’t worry). And 10 days later it seems to be okay. And my feet are gross. Oh and I discovered that bread pans were simply made for fitting a size 6 1/2 foot.
Monday. 4 miles easy, some elliptical with heavy resistance, arm strength, stretching. It was dark and I didn’t know I was running quicker than ‘easy’ but apparently my legs felt nice. Go with it.
Tuesday. 9 miles. Forgot to restart my watch after stopping at a stop light near my apt. But it was nine miles. Felt good. I was crabby. The run helped me be less crabby. Story of my life. It was also really windy!!! I also did some PT exercises to strengthen my hips using a resistance band.
Wednesday: Spinning, abs, stretching
Thursday: 8 miles. I felt really tired on this run. Legs were lead. I have no idea what was up with that last mile. Clearly the legs were dunzo after seven but I was a mile from my apt. Oh legs. Love me. Thanks. Also went to a PM core class.
Friday: Swimming, elliptical, lots of stretching and a PM yoga class.
Saturday: 12 miles running and 20 mins elliptical. My foot was not happy on Friday so I decided I didn’t want to push anything. It felt good running (foot never hurt running except with it was super duper swollen because my shoe was so tight) but I told myself 12 miles at the maximum. Ideally, if my foot was perfect, I wanted to do 14. Therefore, I did 12 miles running and 20 minutes on the elliptical. This run was good. I had a Gu at mile 7 and my stomach didn’t cramp or anything and I felt good after. Wooo. Good work stomach. My legs were really tired. I think mostly I was worried about my foot. The sub-9:00 in the middle were with my group. I left them to turn around to make sure I didn’t have to take a taxi home and slowly made my way back home.
Sunday: Swimming, easy, low-resistance elliptical, leg strength with a resistance band.
That is all I’ve got,
Xoxo,
Emily
Monday. 4 miles easy, some elliptical with heavy resistance, arm strength, stretching. It was dark and I didn’t know I was running quicker than ‘easy’ but apparently my legs felt nice. Go with it.
Tuesday. 9 miles. Forgot to restart my watch after stopping at a stop light near my apt. But it was nine miles. Felt good. I was crabby. The run helped me be less crabby. Story of my life. It was also really windy!!! I also did some PT exercises to strengthen my hips using a resistance band.
Wednesday: Spinning, abs, stretching
Thursday: 8 miles. I felt really tired on this run. Legs were lead. I have no idea what was up with that last mile. Clearly the legs were dunzo after seven but I was a mile from my apt. Oh legs. Love me. Thanks. Also went to a PM core class.
Friday: Swimming, elliptical, lots of stretching and a PM yoga class.
Saturday: 12 miles running and 20 mins elliptical. My foot was not happy on Friday so I decided I didn’t want to push anything. It felt good running (foot never hurt running except with it was super duper swollen because my shoe was so tight) but I told myself 12 miles at the maximum. Ideally, if my foot was perfect, I wanted to do 14. Therefore, I did 12 miles running and 20 minutes on the elliptical. This run was good. I had a Gu at mile 7 and my stomach didn’t cramp or anything and I felt good after. Wooo. Good work stomach. My legs were really tired. I think mostly I was worried about my foot. The sub-9:00 in the middle were with my group. I left them to turn around to make sure I didn’t have to take a taxi home and slowly made my way back home.
Sunday: Swimming, easy, low-resistance elliptical, leg strength with a resistance band.
That is all I’ve got,
Xoxo,
Emily
Job update
Posted in Uncategorized on September 19, 2012 | 20 Comments »
Non-running blog today. Foot problem post soonish. Feeling better though! Yah!
This post is about my job search (lack) of progress.
Backstory.
I started looking for jobs January 1st, 2012 in anticipation of finishing my Master of Public Health and Master of Public Administration at the University of Washington. I was done with my classes in March but during the months of January and February I applied for 5-7 jobs a week. Starting in March I applied for jobs pretty much full-time until June. That means for 40+ hours a week I was applying for jobs, doing informational interviews, networking… you name it. I applied for about 10 jobs a week for the months of March, April and May. I was willing to relocate anywhere. I was living in Seattle but, seriously, would have moved just about anyway. I had a couple of phone interviews during those six months. That’s all.
In June, I excepted an unpaid internship to gain experience. During graduate school I did work at least 30 hours a week so I did have experience but I was so sick of sitting on my butt (aka applying for jobs) not adding to my resume. So I took an internship that sounded interesting, packed up, and moved to Chicago. The plan was to stay in Chicago and work on finding a job. I changed my job strategy to networking and applying for jobs in Chicago since moving here in June. I’ve applied for about 54 jobs in the last three months. Trust me, I’m not picky.
Where am I now? No where. My internship is ending. On top of my full-time internship, I’m doing some very minimally paid consulting work 20 hours a week that doesn’t even cover my rent (interesting and related to my ‘career’) but that is 20 hours a week and the project is ending. According to my spreadsheet of jobs, I’ve applied to 157 jobs in nine months. I’ve talked to several career specialists. We’ve worked on interviewing (according to them that isn’t a problem except that I look too young), we’ve worked on my resume (I have asked so many people for feed back from career services and HR that it is crazy). Did I mention I am 100,000 + dollars in debt and my loans are in repayment starting today? Oh and I need to find new health insurance.
So here it is. Unless I find a way to make money, I will be packing up and moving in with my parents in Minneapolis. Probably this will happen sometime at the end of October. I love my parents (can’t live with them) and I love Minneapolis. They are understanding and not going to make me pay rent, for internet, or for the use of a car. Well I won’t really have a car so they won’t make me pay to borrow the car from my other family members.
Here’s the thing. I love Chicago. I am IN LOVE with Chicago. I love the dirt of the city, I love the sound of the L from my window, I love the Lakeshore, I love the buildings. The site of the city from the Brown Line still takes my breath away after three months. I feel so at home in Chicago after three months, more at home than I did in LaCrosse Wisconsin after 4 years and Seattle after three years. I realized how unhappy I was in Seattle. I have the beginnings of friends here. Chicago culture makes sense to me. I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE. Like ever. I want to be here.
I am so insanely happy compared to how I was in Seattle. In Seattle, I dreaded any downtime I had on the weekends and during school breaks because I got bored and had nothing to do. I was lonely and wandered around the city by myself a lot. It is totally my own fault that I didn’t make friends in Seattle. I was busy and the people I saw everyday in my graduate program just weren’t very inviting. Most of them were married… I didn’t exactly fit in. I simply did not put the effort in. My own fault.
In Chicago things are clicking. I love the weekends. I smile on the weekends. I feel strong, independent, outgoing, able to be myself in this city that understands my type A personality. A couple of days ago I was talking to my mom (aka crying to my mom) and said that I am so happy with Chicago that maybe I don’t deserve a job. The worse part is that I am starting to believe I don’t deserve to be happy. That I don’t deserve to be able to live in this city that I’ve fallen in love with. I don’t deserve to work in the field of public health. I am so insanely passionate about the field of public health. I read policy briefs and the journal articles for fun. I get giddy with new reports and interesting opinion pieces. I want to help. I love prevention programs and policies. Like really, love them. But I am starting to think I don’t deserve to have a rewarding career. The worse part about this is that, for me, time has stood still for the entire year. I am 26. I have yet to be in a relationship because I don’t know where I am going to physically be. I have never had a paid-day off or insurance from a job. My friends (or so I am told on Facebook) are doing things like getting married, having babies, getting promotions, buying houses. For me, none of these ‘adult’ things can begin to happen without some sort of job-type thing. I am still 18.
So this is where I am. I am going to keep applying for jobs. But I am also going to create a new resume without my Masters Degrees (I’ll keep my BA) and apply for some jobs in retail, service, and catering. I don’t have any experience with coffee shops so I don’t think I can get a job at one of those unless I have a connection. Luckily, I worked a lot while I was in graduate school so my resume won’t have too many time gaps between jobs without my degrees. Hopefully I can make enough money to pay for my rent, gym and health insurance (I have food stamps! and I am so thankful) and figure out how to defer my loans. However, loan deferment is a rather tricky thing for the amount of debt I have. If I can get a job at a grocery store (I have experience at a liquor store) or catering (I was a caterer during undergrad) I think I can stay in Chicago for a couple more months.
Mentally, I am a disaster. I cry several times a day. My mom would love for me to find someone else to cry to because I guess (according to her, my sister, and my dad) she is also taking this really hard when I call her crying at all times of the day. It is really hard that she, as my mother, can’t help. I apply for jobs sobbing or so angry that I can’t I have to walk away from my computer to calm down. BUT when I am not having a breakdown, I am insanely happy compared to the last couple years. So really, it is like an hour or two out of 24 hours a day where I am a mess. I can usually snap out of the sadness and frustration after a good cry and call to my mom. That drives her crazy though. She has told me I can’t keep calling her, so I’m trying to not call her as much.
So… Chicago people… I need connections. Please. I have a soft spot for Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. I could host or be a table runner at a restaurant. Target would be okay. Clothing stores could work. I could babysit or nanny.
Sorry for the downer. I am just truly exhausted, resentful of my education (I HATE that I feel this way because I LOVE education… in theory… in reality it isn’t working for me), and want to feel like an adult.
But I love Chicago. And for that I am so happy.
Xoxo,
Emily
I am so insanely happy compared to how I was in Seattle. In Seattle, I dreaded any downtime I had on the weekends and during school breaks because I got bored and had nothing to do. I was lonely and wandered around the city by myself a lot. It is totally my own fault that I didn’t make friends in Seattle. I was busy and the people I saw everyday in my graduate program just weren’t very inviting. Most of them were married… I didn’t exactly fit in. I simply did not put the effort in. My own fault.
In Chicago things are clicking. I love the weekends. I smile on the weekends. I feel strong, independent, outgoing, able to be myself in this city that understands my type A personality. A couple of days ago I was talking to my mom (aka crying to my mom) and said that I am so happy with Chicago that maybe I don’t deserve a job. The worse part is that I am starting to believe I don’t deserve to be happy. That I don’t deserve to be able to live in this city that I’ve fallen in love with. I don’t deserve to work in the field of public health. I am so insanely passionate about the field of public health. I read policy briefs and the journal articles for fun. I get giddy with new reports and interesting opinion pieces. I want to help. I love prevention programs and policies. Like really, love them. But I am starting to think I don’t deserve to have a rewarding career. The worse part about this is that, for me, time has stood still for the entire year. I am 26. I have yet to be in a relationship because I don’t know where I am going to physically be. I have never had a paid-day off or insurance from a job. My friends (or so I am told on Facebook) are doing things like getting married, having babies, getting promotions, buying houses. For me, none of these ‘adult’ things can begin to happen without some sort of job-type thing. I am still 18.
So this is where I am. I am going to keep applying for jobs. But I am also going to create a new resume without my Masters Degrees (I’ll keep my BA) and apply for some jobs in retail, service, and catering. I don’t have any experience with coffee shops so I don’t think I can get a job at one of those unless I have a connection. Luckily, I worked a lot while I was in graduate school so my resume won’t have too many time gaps between jobs without my degrees. Hopefully I can make enough money to pay for my rent, gym and health insurance (I have food stamps! and I am so thankful) and figure out how to defer my loans. However, loan deferment is a rather tricky thing for the amount of debt I have. If I can get a job at a grocery store (I have experience at a liquor store) or catering (I was a caterer during undergrad) I think I can stay in Chicago for a couple more months.
Mentally, I am a disaster. I cry several times a day. My mom would love for me to find someone else to cry to because I guess (according to her, my sister, and my dad) she is also taking this really hard when I call her crying at all times of the day. It is really hard that she, as my mother, can’t help. I apply for jobs sobbing or so angry that I can’t I have to walk away from my computer to calm down. BUT when I am not having a breakdown, I am insanely happy compared to the last couple years. So really, it is like an hour or two out of 24 hours a day where I am a mess. I can usually snap out of the sadness and frustration after a good cry and call to my mom. That drives her crazy though. She has told me I can’t keep calling her, so I’m trying to not call her as much.
So… Chicago people… I need connections. Please. I have a soft spot for Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. I could host or be a table runner at a restaurant. Target would be okay. Clothing stores could work. I could babysit or nanny.
Sorry for the downer. I am just truly exhausted, resentful of my education (I HATE that I feel this way because I LOVE education… in theory… in reality it isn’t working for me), and want to feel like an adult.
But I love Chicago. And for that I am so happy.
Xoxo,
Emily
Work-out recap (last 20 miler before MARATHON)
Posted in Uncategorized on September 18, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Here is a rundown of my weekly workouts! It is late in the week. I was having foot drama yesterday. More on that in another post. This post will be positive.
Ready GO!
Monday: There was no running or cardio of any kind after my half marathon Sunday. I did go to the gym to do some upper body lifting and stretching.
Tuesday: 10-miler Tuesday! Really good run. My long runs during the week are mentally a huge challenge. It is early and a lot of miles. But I get ‘er done. During mile 9 I stopped to take a pic and forgot to stop my watch. Doh! I was clearly distracted by the sunrise… it was spectacular!
Wednesday: An always awesome spin class. I was feeling oh-so-very blah at the beginning but by the end I was happy. I knew that would happen!!! Tuesday night was a classic Emily-breakdown night (aka sobbing to my mom on the phone) so I needed a good workout to get my day started. I also did abs and leg strength stuff
Thursday: 8 miles. Plus PM abs class and arm weights. I also wore new shoes. Same shoes as always. Just new. I did several Fartleks based on where I was along the Lakeshore. So rather random speed variations. Felt good. FYI this is when the top of my foot started hurting. This is the foot drama I referenced at the beginning of the post. Still, I’m gunna leave you hangin because I have no answers. I don’t want to write about it yet.
Friday: Swimming and water jogging due to foot pain.
Saturday: 20 miler!! Third and final of the Chicago Marathon training cycle. Wooo. Fun fact. Each of my 20-milers have felt progressively easier and faster. This might have something to do with the fact that the temp was much better for a 20-miler than the previous ones. But I seriously felt I could keep going. Couple things to note. I have a kinda goal for the marathon to average around 9:00 miles. That was accomplished on this long run with an average of 8:59 minute miles. Also note that the last mile happened to be dominated in 9 minutes. Why, that is neat.
EXCEPT for that foot thing.
Spoiler: it doesn’t really hurt when I run.
Fact: Something is wrong with it anyway.
Reality: Cut the plan of 22 miles to 20 and be happy.
So here’s the thing. The run was AMAZING! Legs felt wonderful (take that with a grain of salt – I’m no super woman – 20 miles is painful) and I have actually recovered really well from that run. Except the foot.
Here’s the other thing. My stomach. OH LORD MY STOMACH. I’m going to not get toooo far into it. My own mother told me I should not feel like I need to be so detailed while discussing this. I’m assuming the general public doesn’t need a good amount of detail.
Well. Here is the summary: 2 GUs (nothing new, consumed at mile 7 and 15) –> felt good on run except for some random waves of stomach cramps (also, again, these waves are pretty normal… but my stomach doesn’t love fueling while running but they are waves and I work through them) –> Finished run. Very happy. –> My stomach feels awful as I’m walking home and I need to stop at Starbucks for an emergency bathroom break (no details here… you get the picture) –> I get home and spend the next several hours in the fetal position near my toilet.
Once food seemed manageable I tried to focus on getting calories in (scary low on calories following that run = tons of peanut butter with a spoon) and fruit and veggies (increase fluids) with protein. I drank tons of water. My stomach was still not 100% at lunch time on Sunday but it is perfectly normal now. I’m going to brush that off as a one time thing. I didn’t eat anything different the entire 24 hours before the long run. My stomach actually has been more fussy the last month (during all parts of my life, not just running) or so since I’ve been off my birth control. Hmmm. Anyone else have any experience with this?
That is all for now folks.
I will discuss the foot in a future post. Get excited.
When was the last time you spent a lot of time in the fetal position next to the toilet? I was having flashback of my Sophomore year of college. Fun times.
XOXO,
Emily
Wednesday: An always awesome spin class. I was feeling oh-so-very blah at the beginning but by the end I was happy. I knew that would happen!!! Tuesday night was a classic Emily-breakdown night (aka sobbing to my mom on the phone) so I needed a good workout to get my day started. I also did abs and leg strength stuff
Thursday: 8 miles. Plus PM abs class and arm weights. I also wore new shoes. Same shoes as always. Just new. I did several Fartleks based on where I was along the Lakeshore. So rather random speed variations. Felt good. FYI this is when the top of my foot started hurting. This is the foot drama I referenced at the beginning of the post. Still, I’m gunna leave you hangin because I have no answers. I don’t want to write about it yet.
Friday: Swimming and water jogging due to foot pain.
Saturday: 20 miler!! Third and final of the Chicago Marathon training cycle. Wooo. Fun fact. Each of my 20-milers have felt progressively easier and faster. This might have something to do with the fact that the temp was much better for a 20-miler than the previous ones. But I seriously felt I could keep going. Couple things to note. I have a kinda goal for the marathon to average around 9:00 miles. That was accomplished on this long run with an average of 8:59 minute miles. Also note that the last mile happened to be dominated in 9 minutes. Why, that is neat.
EXCEPT for that foot thing.
Spoiler: it doesn’t really hurt when I run.
Fact: Something is wrong with it anyway.
Reality: Cut the plan of 22 miles to 20 and be happy.
So here’s the thing. The run was AMAZING! Legs felt wonderful (take that with a grain of salt – I’m no super woman – 20 miles is painful) and I have actually recovered really well from that run. Except the foot.
Here’s the other thing. My stomach. OH LORD MY STOMACH. I’m going to not get toooo far into it. My own mother told me I should not feel like I need to be so detailed while discussing this. I’m assuming the general public doesn’t need a good amount of detail.
Well. Here is the summary: 2 GUs (nothing new, consumed at mile 7 and 15) –> felt good on run except for some random waves of stomach cramps (also, again, these waves are pretty normal… but my stomach doesn’t love fueling while running but they are waves and I work through them) –> Finished run. Very happy. –> My stomach feels awful as I’m walking home and I need to stop at Starbucks for an emergency bathroom break (no details here… you get the picture) –> I get home and spend the next several hours in the fetal position near my toilet.
Once food seemed manageable I tried to focus on getting calories in (scary low on calories following that run = tons of peanut butter with a spoon) and fruit and veggies (increase fluids) with protein. I drank tons of water. My stomach was still not 100% at lunch time on Sunday but it is perfectly normal now. I’m going to brush that off as a one time thing. I didn’t eat anything different the entire 24 hours before the long run. My stomach actually has been more fussy the last month (during all parts of my life, not just running) or so since I’ve been off my birth control. Hmmm. Anyone else have any experience with this?
That is all for now folks.
I will discuss the foot in a future post. Get excited.
When was the last time you spent a lot of time in the fetal position next to the toilet? I was having flashback of my Sophomore year of college. Fun times.
XOXO,
Emily
Football
Posted in Uncategorized on September 13, 2012 | 10 Comments »
Now, I am rather opinionated about some things. Shocking, I know. However, I have decided to change the way I think about certain activities and people associated with those activities and give them a little respect. And yes, this is random and really going nowhere. Keep reading… yes?
Football.
Yes. The entire sport of football and all football fans. Now, it’s not that I don’t like football. A younger me (and by younger I mean me yesterday) would say that football is rather stupid and the fans are rather annoying. However, I am a brand new person with a brand new outlook.
I realized that I mostly don’t get why other people like football. Obviously, I am simply ignorant. I have never really researched why others find football is appealing. Growing up I was unaware that people were, you know, obsessed with football. I mean sure, some years the Superbowl stole my birthday (February 5th by-the-way). I guess football was sometimes on TV at my house growing up. My dad claims he likes football. I have little evidence to back this up but that is what he says. I went to a Superbowl party every year when I was little but I can’t remember ever watching the game. I’ve always been aware the Minnesota Vikings existed.
I realized I was different when I moved away to college and into the land of Da Pack.
Suddenly, I wasn’t from Minneapolis but rather from the land of the Vikings. I realized I was different when people asked my opinion on Brett Favre (I added a link for those of you who don’t know the Favre) and informed me that we couldn’t hang out because A) I don’t like the Packers and B) I don’t like football. Okay it was more like, I’m sorry, I can’t hang out with you because I simply cannot stand the idea of wasting a couple of hours of my day watching football or talking about football. It was weird when class got canceled because Da Pack lost some ‘huge’ game or something.
From here on out I promise not to judge you when you tell me you are watching football. I might even join you. Why? Because I am going to get past my ignorance. I would like to be invited to some football game related events. I going to fully research this football appeal thing. I realize my no respect for football has prevented me from several, perhaps fun, social events in my life. Da Pack and Da Bears play tonight. Now, I can’t say that I am happy that football seems to be happening on a Thursday. Football already seems to have many days of the week – Friday (high school), Saturday (college), Sunday (pro), Monday (pro) – I like to keep my Thursday facebook feeds football free. But okay. I will respect all those who find this exciting. I am not saying that I will wake up at 6 am and start drinking or know the names of any quarterbacks. Heck, I can’t promise I will know the current scores for the game I am ‘watching.’ I probably won’t be able to ever contribute to a conversation about football. BUT I probably won’t run away at the mention of the f-word (that is football people). I might even take ‘self-declared football fan’ off my list of no-goes in a future romantic partner.
However, I will never ever respect this person:
Alright. Now this is the important part. What is appealing about football? Tell me. Is it the sport itself? Is it the history of the sport? Is it playing the sport? The food? The drinking? Family and friends? I’m serious. Why you love football in 100 words or less. Go.
Woooo Da Bears (I do live in Chicago now and I don’t want to… ya know… die.)
Xoxo,
Emily
I realized I was different when I moved away to college and into the land of Da Pack.
Suddenly, I wasn’t from Minneapolis but rather from the land of the Vikings. I realized I was different when people asked my opinion on Brett Favre (I added a link for those of you who don’t know the Favre) and informed me that we couldn’t hang out because A) I don’t like the Packers and B) I don’t like football. Okay it was more like, I’m sorry, I can’t hang out with you because I simply cannot stand the idea of wasting a couple of hours of my day watching football or talking about football. It was weird when class got canceled because Da Pack lost some ‘huge’ game or something.
From here on out I promise not to judge you when you tell me you are watching football. I might even join you. Why? Because I am going to get past my ignorance. I would like to be invited to some football game related events. I going to fully research this football appeal thing. I realize my no respect for football has prevented me from several, perhaps fun, social events in my life. Da Pack and Da Bears play tonight. Now, I can’t say that I am happy that football seems to be happening on a Thursday. Football already seems to have many days of the week – Friday (high school), Saturday (college), Sunday (pro), Monday (pro) – I like to keep my Thursday facebook feeds football free. But okay. I will respect all those who find this exciting. I am not saying that I will wake up at 6 am and start drinking or know the names of any quarterbacks. Heck, I can’t promise I will know the current scores for the game I am ‘watching.’ I probably won’t be able to ever contribute to a conversation about football. BUT I probably won’t run away at the mention of the f-word (that is football people). I might even take ‘self-declared football fan’ off my list of no-goes in a future romantic partner.
However, I will never ever respect this person:
Alright. Now this is the important part. What is appealing about football? Tell me. Is it the sport itself? Is it the history of the sport? Is it playing the sport? The food? The drinking? Family and friends? I’m serious. Why you love football in 100 words or less. Go.
Woooo Da Bears (I do live in Chicago now and I don’t want to… ya know… die.)
Xoxo,
Emily
Chicago Half Marathon
Posted in Uncategorized on September 12, 2012 | 11 Comments »
On Sunday I ran the Chicago Half Marathon. I am totally in the nitty-gritty of the Chicago Marathon training thing so I took this Chicago Half Marathon as a training run and a cut back long-run week. First off, there was absolutely no taper into this race. Four miles Monday, ten miles Tuesday, spin Wednesday, eight miles Thursday, easy cross training Friday, 5 miles Saturday. Actually this was my highest week mileage perhaps ever. Okay. No taper. Second, that being said, I am too close to the marathon to run any faster than what I’ve been training at. Injury is not something good. So yup, training run = Chicago Half. Third, I haven’t run a half marathon since November of last year and it is my favorite distance so I really, really wanted to do it.
This is how it went down:
I did not add any mileage to this distance. My marathon training plan called for more than 13 miles. But I felt like I wanted to simply enjoy the half marathon for exactly that distance and not stress about miles before or after. My goal was to keep my average pace under 9:00 miles with some quicker miles at the end. I achieved that.
I woke up insanely early. Okay. Not really since it was the exact same time I wake up during the week but it felt really early. I brought my breakfast with my to eat in the shuttle to the start. I had 1/2 cup oatmeal soaked overnight in an almost empty jar of peanut butter in 1/2 cup milk with raisins. I walked the mile to the shuttle from my house and was pretty excited!!
My first couple miles were slow due to the crowds of runners (started in corral F but I have a sneaking suspicion that many first time runners don’t understand the corrals and were all up in my grill) and my cold body. I was having a Raynaud’s attack (again, I’ve self-diagnosed myself with this disease. Haven’t had health insurance that would help me figure this out) so my hands were completely white and I couldn’t feel my feet. It was colder than the last couple months and damp and I couldn’t keep myself warm before the race. When my hands go white and I work so hard to stay warm it is really exhausting. So I started this race with a very negative mindset and pretty exhausted. Plus it is hard to run when you can’t feel your feet. I had to start with a fleece because I knew I needed it for a couple of miles to get warm and not injure myself with cold muscles and I knew I probably would need it within minutes of finishing the run. I cool down insanely fast. So I tied it around my waist around mile five. No biggie.
I felt really good during this race. I was in it mentally most of the time and enjoyed the crowds and other runners. I didn’t need music to stay entertained. The course was out and back, so that meant that I got to see all the really fast runners heading back. I really enjoy that. Some people hate to see fast people almost done with a race but I find fast runners totally inspiring. Oh and the course was beautiful, right along the lake.
There were tons of water stops (personally I say too many but it is always better for races to have too many than too few) with Gatorade (I can’t tolerate the stuff) but no other fuel. All of the other half-marathons I’ve run offer gu of some kind at some point so I found that odd. I brought my own and consumed it around mile 7. I only stopped for water once. <– not smart. C’mon, Em, use your head. No surprise but I was really pretty dehydrated and yucky that afternoon. I was pretty cold the entire race but that does NOT MEAN NO WATER. But I was pissed at my body for being so cold and decided to protest my own body by not consuming water. I also couldn’t bring myself to drink water much before the race because I was so cold. So, yup, dehydrated.
All in all a really successful half-marathon considering my opposite taper aka high miles. Not a PR by far! About 10 mins slower than my PR.
A fabulous morning! The late afternoon and evening, not so much. I felt okay but I was clearing dehydrated. I passed out for a good hour while watching tennis. It is unusual for me to be exhausted after a half marathon. No doubt the dehydration was the problem. I tried to drink a lot of water and ate a big dinner with lots of veggies and woke up Monday feeling much better.
Does anyone else think it is weird they didn’t provide gu/chomps whatevs during the race? Anyone else have the urge to inform people about the corral system when people are clearly just trying to get to the front despite the fact they will simply be run over? It is for everyone’s own good that the slower start in the back among similar paced runners and the faster start in the front with faster runners. I am perfectly happy following my corral placement! Less weaving and it is always mentally discouraging to by passed by everyone!!
Have a wonderful day!!!
XOXO,
Emily
I did not add any mileage to this distance. My marathon training plan called for more than 13 miles. But I felt like I wanted to simply enjoy the half marathon for exactly that distance and not stress about miles before or after. My goal was to keep my average pace under 9:00 miles with some quicker miles at the end. I achieved that.
I woke up insanely early. Okay. Not really since it was the exact same time I wake up during the week but it felt really early. I brought my breakfast with my to eat in the shuttle to the start. I had 1/2 cup oatmeal soaked overnight in an almost empty jar of peanut butter in 1/2 cup milk with raisins. I walked the mile to the shuttle from my house and was pretty excited!!
My first couple miles were slow due to the crowds of runners (started in corral F but I have a sneaking suspicion that many first time runners don’t understand the corrals and were all up in my grill) and my cold body. I was having a Raynaud’s attack (again, I’ve self-diagnosed myself with this disease. Haven’t had health insurance that would help me figure this out) so my hands were completely white and I couldn’t feel my feet. It was colder than the last couple months and damp and I couldn’t keep myself warm before the race. When my hands go white and I work so hard to stay warm it is really exhausting. So I started this race with a very negative mindset and pretty exhausted. Plus it is hard to run when you can’t feel your feet. I had to start with a fleece because I knew I needed it for a couple of miles to get warm and not injure myself with cold muscles and I knew I probably would need it within minutes of finishing the run. I cool down insanely fast. So I tied it around my waist around mile five. No biggie.
I felt really good during this race. I was in it mentally most of the time and enjoyed the crowds and other runners. I didn’t need music to stay entertained. The course was out and back, so that meant that I got to see all the really fast runners heading back. I really enjoy that. Some people hate to see fast people almost done with a race but I find fast runners totally inspiring. Oh and the course was beautiful, right along the lake.
There were tons of water stops (personally I say too many but it is always better for races to have too many than too few) with Gatorade (I can’t tolerate the stuff) but no other fuel. All of the other half-marathons I’ve run offer gu of some kind at some point so I found that odd. I brought my own and consumed it around mile 7. I only stopped for water once. <– not smart. C’mon, Em, use your head. No surprise but I was really pretty dehydrated and yucky that afternoon. I was pretty cold the entire race but that does NOT MEAN NO WATER. But I was pissed at my body for being so cold and decided to protest my own body by not consuming water. I also couldn’t bring myself to drink water much before the race because I was so cold. So, yup, dehydrated.
All in all a really successful half-marathon considering my opposite taper aka high miles. Not a PR by far! About 10 mins slower than my PR.
A fabulous morning! The late afternoon and evening, not so much. I felt okay but I was clearing dehydrated. I passed out for a good hour while watching tennis. It is unusual for me to be exhausted after a half marathon. No doubt the dehydration was the problem. I tried to drink a lot of water and ate a big dinner with lots of veggies and woke up Monday feeling much better.
Does anyone else think it is weird they didn’t provide gu/chomps whatevs during the race? Anyone else have the urge to inform people about the corral system when people are clearly just trying to get to the front despite the fact they will simply be run over? It is for everyone’s own good that the slower start in the back among similar paced runners and the faster start in the front with faster runners. I am perfectly happy following my corral placement! Less weaving and it is always mentally discouraging to by passed by everyone!!
Have a wonderful day!!!
XOXO,
Emily
Workout recap: ++ a halfzie
Posted in Uncategorized on September 10, 2012 | 12 Comments »
Happy Monday. The sun in shining over here in Chicago. I hope it is shining wherever you are… or that you are shining despite gloom.
Workout recap. I ran a halfzie yesterday aka a half-marathon. I’ll do a recap of that later this week.
Side note: apparently halfzie is a real term according to urban dictionary. It doesn’t mean half-marathon to the general public. Shocking, I know. Here is the definition according to urban dictionary. I also learned what superpowers means… not exactly what I thought superpowers meant. And Jessica Simpson is a totally sexy halfzie.
Anyway. Moving on. Who feels smarter already? I do.
Monday aka Labor Day aka HOLIDAY: 4 easy miles, some type of elliptical and stair mill stuff (maybe like 20 mins?), arm strength stuuuuf AND YOGA ON A ROOF!!! One thing on my summer bucket list was free yoga outside. Okay this is a lie. I’ve never made a bucket list. But free yoga seemed cool. It was really hot so it was like free hot yoga. Neat-o. It was on the roof of Whole Foods. Even better because yoga made me happy and hungry so I felt the need to spend some $$ at Whole Foods after and have a lot of samples.
Yoga:
Run:
Tuesday: 10-miler. I woke up at 4:45 am and it was storming. So storm running or treadmill running. I decided the storm was done (clearly I wasn’t awake because why would I ever decide a storm is probably done?) and headed out. I was probably safe because there wasn’t really any lightning and I didn’t have anything shiny on. Anyway. I got a little wet. But it stopped and OH MY GOD the humidity. Sweet LORD! It was so humid my glasses wouldn’t stop fogging up! So I ran with foggy classes. I probably looked really good. Wet, sweaty, with foggy classes = biggest nerd ever. But I did 10 miles so that is cool. Little slower than I planned due to the humidity and the not being able to see thing. I decided to run to Navy Pier:
Wednesday: Spin! Abs! Oh my!
Thursday: 8 miles run with ‘one-song pick ups’. What this means is once I felt warmed up (after like 1 or 2 or something like that miles) I ran faster for every other song. Keeps me amused. I was thrilled with the splits of this run but it was sure exhausting. I am real far into this marathon training thing and focusing on adding miles with minimum focus on speed. Getting those splits, for me, is something kinda awesome. I also did 15 mins arm strength stuff and a PM abs class.
Friday: I have no idea. I swam for a while (like 20 mins). Stretched for a while. Took it easy.
Saturday: 5 easy miles and 15 minutes of arms. I was rather confused about what I should be doing Saturday morning since I was running a halfzie Sunday. I was nice and awake so I ran some easy miles with my running group who was doing their normal long run. I peaced out at mile 5. Boom!
Sunday: Chicago Half Marathon. More on that later this week. But here is a preview. Not a PR. Didn’t think or want a PR. My body is not at all doing the speed running thang. I went in thinking, ‘No injuries Em. This is a marathon training run. Marathon in less than one month. Do NOT BE STUPID” So I took as a jazzed up training long-run. Also took it as a cut back week and didn’t add any mileage to the 13.1. Felt strong and happy (well after about mile 5 when my body finally warmed up…more on that later)
I am at my highest mileage perhaps ever. And (everyone knock on wood as you are reading this) I am feeling good. Below are my September stats. 60 miles in eight days. Cool. My average pace is slower than the past. However, this is the height of marathon training. In fact, only one 20 miler stands in the way of me and the taper. Me gusta mucho.
Anyone else make interesting decisions early in the morning? Like assuming that the storm will end because I need to run?
Xoxo,
Emily
Anyway. Moving on. Who feels smarter already? I do.
Monday aka Labor Day aka HOLIDAY: 4 easy miles, some type of elliptical and stair mill stuff (maybe like 20 mins?), arm strength stuuuuf AND YOGA ON A ROOF!!! One thing on my summer bucket list was free yoga outside. Okay this is a lie. I’ve never made a bucket list. But free yoga seemed cool. It was really hot so it was like free hot yoga. Neat-o. It was on the roof of Whole Foods. Even better because yoga made me happy and hungry so I felt the need to spend some $$ at Whole Foods after and have a lot of samples.
Yoga:
Run:
Tuesday: 10-miler. I woke up at 4:45 am and it was storming. So storm running or treadmill running. I decided the storm was done (clearly I wasn’t awake because why would I ever decide a storm is probably done?) and headed out. I was probably safe because there wasn’t really any lightning and I didn’t have anything shiny on. Anyway. I got a little wet. But it stopped and OH MY GOD the humidity. Sweet LORD! It was so humid my glasses wouldn’t stop fogging up! So I ran with foggy classes. I probably looked really good. Wet, sweaty, with foggy classes = biggest nerd ever. But I did 10 miles so that is cool. Little slower than I planned due to the humidity and the not being able to see thing. I decided to run to Navy Pier:
Wednesday: Spin! Abs! Oh my!
Thursday: 8 miles run with ‘one-song pick ups’. What this means is once I felt warmed up (after like 1 or 2 or something like that miles) I ran faster for every other song. Keeps me amused. I was thrilled with the splits of this run but it was sure exhausting. I am real far into this marathon training thing and focusing on adding miles with minimum focus on speed. Getting those splits, for me, is something kinda awesome. I also did 15 mins arm strength stuff and a PM abs class.
Friday: I have no idea. I swam for a while (like 20 mins). Stretched for a while. Took it easy.
Saturday: 5 easy miles and 15 minutes of arms. I was rather confused about what I should be doing Saturday morning since I was running a halfzie Sunday. I was nice and awake so I ran some easy miles with my running group who was doing their normal long run. I peaced out at mile 5. Boom!
Sunday: Chicago Half Marathon. More on that later this week. But here is a preview. Not a PR. Didn’t think or want a PR. My body is not at all doing the speed running thang. I went in thinking, ‘No injuries Em. This is a marathon training run. Marathon in less than one month. Do NOT BE STUPID” So I took as a jazzed up training long-run. Also took it as a cut back week and didn’t add any mileage to the 13.1. Felt strong and happy (well after about mile 5 when my body finally warmed up…more on that later)
I am at my highest mileage perhaps ever. And (everyone knock on wood as you are reading this) I am feeling good. Below are my September stats. 60 miles in eight days. Cool. My average pace is slower than the past. However, this is the height of marathon training. In fact, only one 20 miler stands in the way of me and the taper. Me gusta mucho.
Anyone else make interesting decisions early in the morning? Like assuming that the storm will end because I need to run?
Xoxo,
Emily
Workout recap… + 20 miler #2
Posted in Uncategorized on September 4, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Howdy!! Happy Tuesday… post Labor day… aka Monday.
I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend full of smiling and catch-up (either with friends, family, chores, workouts…relaxing…sleep!). Mine was a great mix of fun and relaxing. Oh and running too : )
Here is my workout recap.
Monday: 4 miles slow. I’ve really starting to ‘get’ these recovery run things. I only wear my watch so I know to turn around at the second ding (aka second mile). These were tough miles for sure! Stiff and slow. I also did some upper body strength stuff and stretching.
Tuesday: 9 miles. This was the run (from my previous post) where my knee tweaked. I was really tired and it was really challenging. Knee is weird still but doesn’t hurt when running…. It almost feels like an improper lunge injury (it isn’t) and feels weak when standing up. Weird. LOTS of icing (as in all the time at work) and stretching (as in freaking my office mate out with ‘the stick’) and I *think* it is okay. My legs are insanely tight and stiff. Grrr…
Wednesday: Spinning, elliptical, abs. Spinning did not hurt my knee at all so I was happy. And it was wonderful, as always. Kept the resistance lowish and didn’t go super fast.
Thursday: 7 miles. This was kinda a test out the knee run and, like I said, it doesn’t hurt when running. Certainly didn’t push it. I also did some arm strength and went to my PM abs class.
Friday: 60 mins elliptical, 30 mins foam rolling and stretching
Saturday: 20 miler! This is the second 20-miler of my marathon training. Originally I was going to do 22 miles but given my tired legs and strange pain and tight muscles, I made the executive decision to keep it at 20 at the max. It was SO humid!!! Ahhh! The first four miles I ran solo to meet my group. With my group we ran south along the lakefront for 10 miles. I’ve never been that far south and it was really nice down there!!! Somewhere around mile 16 I realized we were really a lot further than 4 miles to my house. I carry a credit card with my on my long runs in case of emergency. Thank God!! The minute that Garmin dinged (dang?) at 20 I jumped off the path and went a waved my sweaty arm on Michigan Ave for a cab. Best $13 I’ve ever spent. Good lord.
My legs felt good. Tired for sure but duh it is 20 miles! NO PAIN. Phew. I’m certainly not out of the ‘injury woods’ yet and not pushing any runs with fast times. The soreness and stiffness is worrisome so I am going to focus on foam rolling and stretching. Play it day-by-day.
Have you ever ran too far and needed to take a taxi/beg for a ride home? That was a first for me. The cabby really didn’t understand when I tried to explain I was training for a marathon. He had heard of the Chicago Marathon but was confused why I was running a month before the marathon. Hmmm.
Xoxo,
Emily
Tuesday: 9 miles. This was the run (from my previous post) where my knee tweaked. I was really tired and it was really challenging. Knee is weird still but doesn’t hurt when running…. It almost feels like an improper lunge injury (it isn’t) and feels weak when standing up. Weird. LOTS of icing (as in all the time at work) and stretching (as in freaking my office mate out with ‘the stick’) and I *think* it is okay. My legs are insanely tight and stiff. Grrr…
Wednesday: Spinning, elliptical, abs. Spinning did not hurt my knee at all so I was happy. And it was wonderful, as always. Kept the resistance lowish and didn’t go super fast.
Thursday: 7 miles. This was kinda a test out the knee run and, like I said, it doesn’t hurt when running. Certainly didn’t push it. I also did some arm strength and went to my PM abs class.
Friday: 60 mins elliptical, 30 mins foam rolling and stretching
Saturday: 20 miler! This is the second 20-miler of my marathon training. Originally I was going to do 22 miles but given my tired legs and strange pain and tight muscles, I made the executive decision to keep it at 20 at the max. It was SO humid!!! Ahhh! The first four miles I ran solo to meet my group. With my group we ran south along the lakefront for 10 miles. I’ve never been that far south and it was really nice down there!!! Somewhere around mile 16 I realized we were really a lot further than 4 miles to my house. I carry a credit card with my on my long runs in case of emergency. Thank God!! The minute that Garmin dinged (dang?) at 20 I jumped off the path and went a waved my sweaty arm on Michigan Ave for a cab. Best $13 I’ve ever spent. Good lord.
My legs felt good. Tired for sure but duh it is 20 miles! NO PAIN. Phew. I’m certainly not out of the ‘injury woods’ yet and not pushing any runs with fast times. The soreness and stiffness is worrisome so I am going to focus on foam rolling and stretching. Play it day-by-day.
Have you ever ran too far and needed to take a taxi/beg for a ride home? That was a first for me. The cabby really didn’t understand when I tried to explain I was training for a marathon. He had heard of the Chicago Marathon but was confused why I was running a month before the marathon. Hmmm.
Xoxo,
Emily
