I LIKE POPCORN ON MY PIZZA, I LIKE POPCORN PIZZA, PLEASE...oh god, someone shoot me.

Hmm...well then.

I can't compain too much about Sunday's 10k race.

My final time was 1:10:31 for an 11:21 pace.

Plug those numbers into McMillan's Running Calculator and where does that put me for a marathon? 5:30:56.

Close enough to sub 5:30. I'll take it. :)

I know I went out too quick with my first two miles clocking in at 10:33 and 10:39 respectively. I forced myself to walk just to slow down...but everytime I started running again I was around a 10:30 pace. I didn't get it. But I definitely felt it by mile 5. The sun was getting to me and made me feel a bit sluggish, and my stomach was being a sissy, but nothing new there. I was able to finish relatively strong, so I probably could've pushed it harder during the back half of the race...no big deal though.

The race itself was pretty good I guess. Aside from twisting my ankle the first quarter mile and screaming a slew of four-letter words, and my getting a weird pain in my rib cage around mile 3, and throwing up in my mouth just a lil' bit around mile 5...I'd say it was a good race.

My biggest issue was the song I had stuck in my head for the majority of the race. My sister has these "signing times" videos for my neice. And while I've never seen them first hand, I've heard them singing the songs plenty of times. So by mile 2.5, I had the effing "pizza" song blaring in my head and it was THE.MOST.OBNOXIOUS.THING.EVAAAAAAAAAAAAR.

i like cheese on my pizza, i like cheese pizza please, put the cheese on the pizza, don't forget the extra cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese. i like popcorn on my pizza, i like popcorn pizza please, put the popcorn on the pizza, don't forget the extra cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese...and so on and so forth with jelly and candy and stickers and whatever crazy concoctions a rugrat can stick in their mouth (not that Zoe is a rugrat...but you know what I mean, don't even try to take offense to that one, Susan). Seriously though, if I have to hear another 'kiddie song' in the next few weeks, I may just snap...

At any rate. There's a lot going on over here in Jayhawk land, hence why I haven't been posting all too much. A lot of it's exciting. Most of it is nervewrecking. Mike can even vouche how neurotic it has all made me. The rest of this week is pretty "big," relatively speaking. So be sure to send lots of good vibes my direction on Wednesday morning and early Thursday afternoon.

Yeah. That's all I'm giving you right now. Soooo...you'll have to stay tuned for more details.

Peace, yo!

Oh yeah...I almost forgot...

I have my first 10k this morning.

I sit here and scratch my head wondering how come I've never done a race at this distance before. Should be fun. It's a nice, cool low 70 right now...compared to last year's race with a triple-digit heat index before the gun ever went off (we volunteered at a water station). Let's see how I fare. I've got a loose goal time in my mind, so hopefully we can come in under.

Sorry there hasn't been much blogging this past week. I've been a little busy bringing out my inner-geek with the latest Harry Potter (which, omg, is absolutely fantasmulicious!!). And when I'm not reading, I'm trying to relax and enjoy July...which, we established, weeks ago, was going to be uber-hectic.

And let's not even talk about last week's triathlon...you know...the series of unfortunate events that should have made us turn around and go home, but we, being knuckleheads, opted to ignore. Yeah. Let me tell you how awesome that was...not so much.

Breaking up is hard to do.

Today I was transported back in time to spring semester of my freshman year of college...i sat on the floor in my room, 205 North Corbin...and alphabetized CD’s (oh who am I kidding...I was putting all of my Smashing Pumpkins bootlegs in chronological order)...vacuumed, a rarity back in the day... then I organized and reorganized my notes for my psychology class...downloaded a few songs from Napster...and then went back to reorganizing my music collection for the umpteenth time that night.

I was officially fidgety. Stomach in knots. Very aware of what I was about to do. What I needed to do. And what I hated to do all at the same time. I was about to break up with my high school sweetheart.

Hilary came into my room...looked at me and said “Pony up and just do it already.”

I knew she was right.

With a deep breath, I dialed his number, bit my tongue, and shed a tear...

...and that was that.

Today, I found myself in the same break up situation. But rather than cement walls, a bunk bed and my parent’s old oriental rug that adorned the dormroom floor, I found myself here...sitting in my cube, straightening and restraightening my desk over and over...lining up paper clips...restacking notes from meetings...pulling cards from my rolodex...filing old folders...sharpening pencils...and tossing old highlighters...prioritizing my “to do” list. Basically, procrastinating the inevitable in every sense of the word.

And once again I found myself officially fidgety. Stomach in knots. Very aware of what I was about to do. What I needed to do. And what I hated to do all at the same time. Except now, this time, I was about to break up with my boss.

A friend popped into my cube and sensed the tension. She gave me one look.

I gave a silent nod. And got up...started walking into his office...and in a sudden freak-out moment I quickly re-routed my path to the bathroom.

I locked myself in a stall and had a self-pep talk. I thought I might throw up. I may just have. You can do this, Barb. You’ll feel so much better afterward. Rip it off like a band-aid... make it quick and painless. This is your career you’re dealing with and you’ve got every right to steer it whichever direction you choose.

I repeated that last part ad nauseam.

After pulling myself together, I walked back by Lexi’s desk to make sure he wasn’t on the phone...

...a deep breath and a collective moment outside his door...I entered his office to unleash what I thought was going to be a shitstorm.

I wanted to give the “it’s not you, it’s me” speech. But that’d be a flagrant lie. And well, this wasn’t the time to sugar-coat it to that extent. I got most of what I wanted to off of my chest. I told him I was interested in pursuing opportunities on other teams within the agency. He looked at me like I had just kicked his puppy dog. It wasn’t pretty. And neither was the conversation.
But I did what I had to do.

I opened the door for potentially greener pastures. And I’ve got the go ahead to explore my curiosities on that front. I feel very lucky that I’m in a position where I actually can do this. I suppose you can only handle so much unhappiness in a situation before something has got to give. Sure. I probably should’ve addresses my concerns a while ago, but I’m not big on conflict and remained ever-hopeful that things would smooth out over the past year by tweaking my approach behind the scenes. Didn’t happen.

I eventually told my other supervisor, who was a bit more supportive and understood my need for a change. But they're still hopeful that we can work on a way to make things better and ultimately, have me stay.

It was really difficult for me to let them know my interest in other teams. I mean…these guys are the ones responsible for my professional development. They took in this sweet girl from Kansas and molded her into one badass PR machine. I felt like I was abandoning them…and that’s what made it so difficult…

We’ll see how all of this pans out. I’ll meet with HR and see where things take me. Cross your fingers and toes that everything irons out like it's supposed to.

The whole situation reminds of an old colleague of mine, who we fondly called “Kwilly,” she once told me...“People don’t quit jobs. People quit people.”

She couldn’t have been more right.

Tonight’s run provided a little bit of clarity, despite its crappiness with my body not agreeing with what I set out to do. Eight miles on the radar for a 12:27 average…

1 – 11:07
2 – 11:09
3 – 11:03
4 – 13:17
5 – 13:20
6 – 13:31
7 – 13:23
8 – 12:32

Clearly I started out too fast. I got caught up in a local 5k race…a race in where I saw fellow Chicago runner Whitney hauling some serious ass. By mile 4 my hip flexors were screaming and I was getting that weird pinching feeling in my calf. So I slowed it way down, did some stretching and incorporated a healthy amount of walking into the mix.

I felt good about it though and glad that I went out and just did it rather than let the boo hissiness of my day keep me down.

Now...in break up tradition...someone pass me a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream and a spoon.

Marathon Countdown

So this morning I made the mistake of looking at our calendar...and then looking at our respective mileage for our Saturday long runs.

Bad idea.

As if this summer weren’t chaotic enough, I’m already starting to get that sinking feeling in my stomach already that I won’t be ready for the marathon.

This past weekend we missed our 14 miler to be in St. Louis for a funeral. I’m hoping to make this up (at least 10-12 of them, but aiming for all) tonight after work.

This upcoming weekend we have 10 miles slated. But we have the Harbor Lights Triathlon the next day. While it probably isn’t the most brilliant thing to do with a race the following day, I’m going to go ahead and do all ten. I mean...the tri is only a sprint. Just spend the rest of the Saturday off my feet and I rest/hydrate well and I should be golden. Right?

The weekend of the 28th...90 minutes. No biggie. I have my first 10k race the next morning with everyone's favorite vegetarian runner, Nicole. So I should be fine. I figure I’ll get around 14-15 miles in that weekend total. I don't anticipate my 10k time to be fast, especially if the temps are anything like they were last year (people were drenched in sweat before the gun even went off).

Then comes August...where long-distance running panic starts to set in...

The weekend of the 4th, we’re in Ohio for a wedding. We have 16 miles to do. Not sure when/where this will take place since we’re driving down. Note to self, book hotel room.

Then the weekend of August 11th, we have the Chicago Distance Classic. 13.1 miles...shouldn’t be a big issue, right? I’m not worried about this since I know I can pull this from my rear. The trick is convincing myself that this is merely a training run with a few thousand of my closest friends. I can’t get wrapped up in the race hype.

And then craziness ensues with Mike’s graduation and our cruise...
The 18th we have to run 90 minutes, but we’re flying to Miami that morning to set sail on Sunday. I’m hoping I can do this sometime on the 17th in between nursing an inevitable hangover, a Cubs game, packing and entertaining my parents. Heck, I’ll even settle for 6 miles if life will allow it.

During the cruise I’m hoping to run once or twice on the running deck. Even if it is only for 30 minutes. We’ll see how quickly that plan is foiled by frozen fruity adult beverages and Caribbean sunshine.

Then...on the 25th...while we’re at sea...we’re scheduled for 18 miles. I dunno about you guys, but no way in hell am I running 18 miles on the ship’s running deck and treadmills. That’s a lot of circles. I’d probably get dizzy and fall overboard. And that’d just be a big waste of time considering I’m there to relax and celebrate with Mike.

So those 18 miles...will either a) not happen at all. b) happen in a very exhausted state on Monday since I took off work. c) be trimmed down to a more manageable distance like 10 or 12 miles once we’re back on land.

Now. In theory (and everything’s nice in theory), over labor day weekend we don’t have a scheduled team run—just 10 miles on our own...so in theory, I could move my 18 to that weekend and do a nice “get back into the groove of things run” on Aug. 27th. But I’m not big on changing the schedule. Thoughts?

Once September hits, we start to get back in a consistent groove of things, knock on wood. On 9/8 we have 16 miles scheduled, which I’m strongly considering turning into an 18 or 20. Then on the 15th we have 20 miles...which depending on how 9/8 goes, may turn into a 21 or 22.

Then taper. Sweet, blissful, can’t wait until you get here, taper. 120 minutes on the 22nd and 60 minutes on the 29th, which may evolve into a 12/14 and 8, respectively. I can't even bring myself to look at the Pfitz schedule for our weekday runs. Those are getting way too scary for me.

Toss in a quick trip to Normal, IL for the Pumpkins show on Thursday with Mike and my buddy Frank...hit up the expo on Friday...chill and carb load Saturday, and then, of course, it’s 10.07.07 before we know it. A date in which this little Jayhawk, come hell or high water, will find a way to cross the finish line in 5:29:59 or under. But I’m a little nervous. I know that once September hits and I’m able to really focus on my running, everything will fall into place. I’m just paranoid that I won’t be doing enough in August to give me the kind of September (and October) I’m hoping for.

In other news...apparently tickets to The Cure went on sale this weekend and I missed out on snagging some really great seats. I need to make a decision now about whether or not I want to take nosebleeds (and quickly). At least my hopes for a birthday concert with Robert Smith aren’t entirely crushed. I could handle it at a distance. Though it’s just not the same. Plus The Cure is not exactly Mike’s musical forte and asking him to go to two of “my concerts” in a week wouldn’t be very cool of me (the other one is Smashing Pumpkins). I think I’d owe him complete control on the scary movie front, and I’m not entirely convinced that would be an avenue I’m willing to explore. I mean, I had to surrender myself to the new Halloween remake that’s coming out to get the SP show on the calendar...and I’m pretty much convinced that I’m not going to survive to tell the tale. Hmm...is it worth it? Any Cure fans out there who can chime in on their live performance?

Bah.

Okay.

Back to work.

...and back to stressing.

Cause that seems to be what I do so well these days.

Remembrance.

This weekend Mike and I were in St. Louis for a funeral. While difficult, it was a beautiful service. It was nice to be with old friends (at least as nice as it could be given the circumstances), many of whom we hadn't seen since our wedding, and share in a comforting hug or two.

On the ride home I got to thinking...

how do I want to be remembered?

Honestly...?

...I'm not sure.

I do know that it is vastly different today than it was 5 years ago...even 5 weeks ago...and maybe even 5 minutes ago.

I guess it really doesn't matter as long as a smile is involved.

np: "for martha" - smashing pumpkins

The birthday boy prepares for tomorrow's interview. Happy birthday jason!

the world is a vampire...

Guess who picked up a pair of totally awesome orchestra seats during the Smashing Pumpkins concert ticket pre-sale this morning?!?! The best part? The show is 3 days before the marathon. It's a sign...I'm destined to have a kick ass race.

It's on, bitches. Oh yes. It's on.

Motivation.

Someone who is busier than you, is training right now.

- The window display at Niketown on Michigan Avenue

I saw this on my way home from work today and it struck a chord with me. I often find myself slacking on training because I am so busy and drained from work...life...you name it. This needs to become my mantra on those days.

So I went home, with the intentions of going for a quick run...four or five miles...until Mike convinced me that I should hop in the saddle and go for a ride.

45 minutes and 10.16 miles later (just over a 13mph average, good for me considering the path was packed)...I returned home satisfied.

It's been well established that I sing the same song over and over to myself while I run. Usually the running tunes are sugar-pop crap that I normally wouldn't listen to...you know...Brittney Spears...N*Sync...Carrie Underwood (I can hear Mike gasping right now)...the annoying top 40 bologne that you just can't shake...

Apparently cycling is no different...except when I'm riding I've got a better taste in music. I've got my taste in music on shuffle in my head.

Today's brain track? Smashing Pumpkins. 1979. The carefree song about doing whatever you please and just loving life. Reminds me of "driving the fe" back in high school. The cool air breezing past me put a smile on my face. I imagined myself in the music video (I'm an SP geek...deal with it, folks). Twas good times...

And when I piled everything, including myself back into the car, turned on the radio...and 1979 was playing. Coincidence? I think not. Pumpkins are indeed on my brain lately. But more on that at a later time...

For now, I'm hitting the hay. Tomorrow we're off to celebrate with a certain tall birf'day boy!! Bet you can't guess who :) Have a good night, everyone!

The Danskin Triathlon...also known as: How I became a Triathlete!

Okay campers...I know some of y'all are waiting for the race report. So...here's the short version:

I swam.

I biked.

I ran.

I KICKED ASS.

Seriously. It was an absolute blast. I meant it when I said it's the most fun I've ever had with my clothes on.

Alright. So I'm sure some of you are looking for the not so short version. Welp...here you go!

If you want the technical hodge podge details of the race go here. It's my race log over at BeginnerTriathlete.com.

Weather? Low/Mid 80's at the start, low 90's by the run. Not a cloud in the sky.

Pre-Race...

I am absolutely amazed at how calm and relaxed I was this morning. I'm not sure if it was the nature of the event, or the small little happy pill I took this morning to help keep the anxiety at bay...but the only unusual feeling was complete and total excitement. Mike dropped me off early in the morning and I walked a good 1.5 miles to the transition area to finish getting everything set up. Much to my surprise, some salty wench moved my shit a good three feet over (I'm still pretty annoyed that this happened!) so my spotting in transition wasn't lined up with what I was mentally preparing for...c'est la vie, I suppose.

But the transition area was out of control. Nearly 4,000 bikes all racked up in a small confined area. That was my only beef with the race was the crazy number of participants. But really, that's my only complaint. It was well organized given its size and the course support was incredible.

After getting everything all set up in transition, I started to make my way over to the swim start since it was a point to point swim across a lake. I had my first "YOU GO GIRLFRIEND!" experience (it's apparently a Danskin tradition to high five everyone around you and say that) and then watched the elite women take off, followed by the wave of cancer survivors. A quick trip to the porta potty and a dip into the lake and I was ready to go...

...with the exception that I was wave 24.

...and so I waited. And waited. And then waited some more. Probably an hour and forty minutes or so total. Mike came and found me...and then in turn, had to run back to the car for the camera battery.

The waiting part was amazing because the first woman to finish the race was done before I even took to the water. I told you it was a big race!

The Swim...

Standing in the swim corral waiting to be led into the water was the first time I felt the butterflies in my stomach. I think it was more excitement than anything else though. There were probably around 60-70 of us in my wave...

I positioned myself in the middle/back on the right hand side of the pack. From the side of the lake, the distance didn't look so bad, but when you're wading in the water waiting for the countdown it was slightly unnerving. The swim finished seemed like a tiny speck on the horizon. A half mile never looked so far away. I focused on the first buoy...just get to the first buoy, Barb, and then you can worry about finding the next one.

Before I knew it, we were counting down and without hesitation I plowed right into the water. It took about 80 yards or so before I slipped into an okay position and got comfortable. Some hoss swam over me at one point, but other than that everyone was really cool and supportive of each other.

I rotated between strokes...freestyle and back stroke...breast stroke when I needed to make sure I was going the right direction and for relaxation. I nearly ran into the halfway mark buoy mid-stroke (which actually was more like 65% of the way there). Totally awesome, right?

A little over halfway there I had caught up to some of the folks in the far back of the pack of the wave in front of us...and in turn, the front of the wave behind us caught up to me. The swim, much to my surprise, was a smashing success.

When approaching the swim finish you could actually hear the crowd cheering 80 yards out while under water. It was nuts. As soon as my hand grazed the bottom of the lake mid-stroke, I put my feet down and sloshed my way up to the shore.

I'll definitely need to invest in tinted goggles for open water swimming. Everytime I looked up to sight the next buoy or finish line all I got was the glare of the sun off the water. In turn, I did a good amount of zig zagging across the lake...which wasted energy. Some more practice in open water ought to do the trick.

My goal on the swim was to just do the half mile in under a half an hour, since I wasn't really sure what to expect. Needless to say, I'm pretty pleased with myself on this one...

Swim Time: 19:38

Overall swim rank: 2323/3919

Transition 1...

I kept telling myself to just take it easy and stay calm in transition. So I walked. Part to keep

myself from getting in a tizzy and part to save my legs for the bike/run portions. I had some technical difficulties with my helmet and my pony tail and easy lost a minute or so trying to get everything situated and comfortable.

My T1 time was 5:35. Ridiculously long. Definitely need to work on speeding things up here.


The Bike...
I was amazed at how quickly I was able to clip in and go to town. I shouted out to Mike just as I was riding by him and gave a hearty cheer.

It took about a mile to get comfortable on the bike. At this point the wind was working to my advantage. It helped push my up the hills and I was able to pass a few folks...and of course, get passed in turn as well. I played cat and mouse with 2 women the entire course (and ended up beating both of them in the end).

The first six miles flew by in 20-something minutes it seemed. Just around mile 6.5 we turned a corner and BOOM...HOLY HEADWINDS AND CROSSWINDS, BATMAN. I dropped from 17-18 mph to about 8...and of course, we have to go UP. It was awful. All I could think about was...how in the hell am I going to 56 miles of this in May?!

And then after a while, I just loosened up and had fun with it. Yeah...it was really hot. The sun was brutal and there was no shade at all...but I smiled...and enjoyed myself. Savored the aches in my legs and the crazy amount of effort it took get to the crest of the hills...and of course, I loved the downward zips. Pure bliss.


I hadn't done much timed bike work in training so I was hoping to average 12mph throughout the course and come in right around an hour...clearly there's plenty of room for improvement...

Bike Time: 58:59
Average mph: 13.2
Overall Bike Rank: 3248/3919

Transition 2...
With jelly-like legs, I ran my back to transition area, racked and got everything ready to go for the run. I pulled my fuel belt out of my mini cooler, doused my head, changed shoes, and took off...

T2 time: 4:20

The Run...
Oooooh, I wish I could say this was the best part...but not today. It just wasn't my day to run. I was hoping to pull around an 11:30 pace. But with the extreme heat in the mid-90's at this point and absolutely no shade whatsoever on the run course, I knew I was in for a long run. The course was flat and took us around the lake with one out and back portion about halfway through. My mantra? Just get under 40 minutes.


Not even a quarter mile in my right calf started cramping up. I sucked down a Gu and a few swigs of gatorade/water and walked it out, stopping to massage it for a moment. My legs felt like jello. Mike had warned me that I may have issues finding my running legs...and boy did I! I brought it down to a run/walk and then finally, somewhere between mile 1.75 and 2, my legs felt strong once again.

I grabbed water at both ends of the out and back portion of the course and took my time walking through the hydrants and water hoses they had out spray the athletes (which was heavenly). Even though I was soaked, the sun dried me up rather quickly.

There were tons of folks walking because of the awful heat, so passing the slow(er) runners and walkers was a nice confidence booster. I cheered folks on that were struggling and go a big boost of energy with about a half mile left.

I kicked it up and passed a handful of folks on my way into the finish...

Mile 1 - 12:34
Mile 2 - 12:54 (water stations and hoses/hydrants)
Mile 3: 12:08
.1: 8:24 pace



With a high five to Sally Edwards (the Danskin Tri Series spokeswoman and Ironman Masters Champ) I was grinning ear to ear and cruised right on through the finish line.

It was complete and total awesomeness.

A whole different kind of accomplished feeling for a whole different kind of race. Euphoric, if you will.

It wasn't your local 5k race or a marathon. It was three disciplines. Three separate obstacles. Three challenges to overcome. Each one taking you closer to the finish line.

Throughout the entire race I was smiling. I truly enjoyed challenging myself in this new way. And I loved every last minute of it. I really think that everyone who is physically able to, should do at least one triathlon in their life. There are no words to describe it...even in its most brutal moments with the weather and with leg cramps, it was absolutely fantastic.

I know where I need to improve and I'm hoping to make those adjustments before Harbor Lights in two weeks...

Holy cow, kids...I'M A TRIATHLETE!!!!!!!


Overall Ranking: 2886/3919
Age Group Ranking (25-29): 315/363
Final Time: 2:07:17

And...big kudos to my hubby extraordinaire...the rockstar made a shirt to wear during the race that said "Swim Barb! Bike Barb! Run Barb!" ...and on the back it said "Go Barb!!" Apparently he was asked to take photos with another athlete named Barb.

He even surprised me with a shirt of my own...

And on the back it says, "GO ME!!!" I looooooove it. :)

And this little triathlete went Zzzz Zzzz Zzzz all the way home...

HELLS YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

That was seriously the most fun I have ever had with my clothes on.

Triathlons....are TOTALLY...HELLA AWESOME.

...full race report to come later...I'm pooped and hungry and in dire need of a shower and a nap. :)

All racked up and ready to roll...

What a day it's been...

This morning we made our way up to Wisconsin to get me all set up for tomorrow morning's triathlon.

Let me tell you. There are about one hundred billion million trillion women at this thing. Okay...so that's an exaggeration...it's more like 4000-some odd femmes running around with their bikes and looking for body marking and course maps and such. Nevertheless, it may as well be one hundred billion million trillion cause everyone seems to have brought their entourage of kids, parents, husbands, boyfriends, lesbian lovers, partners in crime, old sorority sisters, best friends, neighbors, dog walkers, mailmen, milkmen and pizza delivery guy. There are waaaaaay too many people in a small space (can't imagine how the course will be). And all the estrogen is in the air and it's making me really nutty.

I was relieved to get out of the expo area quickly. After checking in and sitting through the course talk, we made our way to transition so I could start getting everything set up. I figured I'd leave my bag there overnight and lay everything out in the morning. I found a strategic place to set up my transition (conveniently next to a brilliant gal who outlined her path with chalk, so I can follow her markings) and made friends with the gal who racked to my left. She's a first timer, too...and unlike me, has absolutely no clue what she's doing. I'm sure we'll have a blast together tomorrow running around in T1/T2 with our heads cut off.

I also had the priviledge of being body marked by Cutie McCuterson who claimed that he had the best job in the world as he got to "mark up a bunch of beautiful ladies like yourself all day long." Awww. Yes. I gushed. :)

Once we finally high-tailed it outta Pleasant Prairie we found lunch and then hit the outlet mall here in Gurnee. I managed to pick up 4 pairs of shorts on a MAD SALE for the cruise. Shopping definitely helped keep the nerves at bay.

Tonight on our way to pick up dinner I found a live feed of the Smashing Pumpkins playing Live Earth in NY. If that's not a sign that I'm gunna have a kick ass race tomorrow, then I don't know what is. And as Ryan would say..."The world is a vampire." ...and yes, they played that one.

So here I am...chilling in our hotel room, trying to find my "tri zen." (om.) Nerves seem to come in waves. At this very moment, I'm okay. Dice and Mouse just called to wish my luck...and I actually had to call my mom to remind her that my tri is in the morning. We've got one of Mike's old high school friends and her hubby here hanging out with us. All I have left to do this evening is shave my legs and indulge in a nice neck massage.

Welp, it looks like the next time I check in with all you crazy campers I will officially be a triathlete (well...hopefully, at least).

Stay tuned for details...

Let's hope I make it through this sucker! See you on the flip side!

Good Run. Bad Run.

Good Run.
Saturday, June 30th.
9.06 miles. 1:48:22.
11:58 pace.
Brilliant run with runners high and felt I could continue running on forever. Had I not stopped to stretch and take an extended water break at castaways, pace would've been significantly lower (that mile was 14:58, but all other miles were right at 12 or under).

Bad Run.
Thursday, July 5th.
10.00 miles. 2:11:05.
13:07 pace.
Awful run. Nearly threw up my Gatorade just before mile 5. Made for a hellish 5 miler back home. Let's not forget proper nutrition and fueling before a run...cause well, that's totally where I screwed up.

After the craptacular run last night, we indulged in some "grilling" (and by "grilling" I mean charring some burgers, but having hot dogs at perfection) and a smorgasbord of food back at our place. I ate so much I couldn't even move. And then...the icing on the cake last night that absolutely tickled me pink...this. And of course, the incoherent comments she left on the previous post...So Jess, thank you for perking me up after a crappy run. :) You gave me a case of the giggles.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Wisconsin. When I return, barring any unforeseeable issues, I will be a triathlete! Am I as trained as I should be for this event? Nah. But I seem to be slowly becoming the master of "winging it." I'll just take it easy and have fun. I'm not uber-competitive, and someone has to be last...so why not have it be me, right?! I think the number 3061 is bubbling with good vibes...don't you?

Hopefully I'll have a chance to pop back on here sometime between now and the big race. Until then...party on!

Feeling Patriotic.

I hope everyone had a super stellar holiday! We managed to keep ourselves relatively busy here in Chicago...

Tuesday after work Mike and I headed down to the Taste of Chicago to meet up with the crazy and fabulous Leah/Jason tag team. Naturally, I got stuck working late (we closed at 3 and I wasn't home until 5--blah)...so by the time I got back, we had one foot out the door to leave again. The sheer volumes of rude and obnoxious people managed to escape me from years past...the Taste is just...well...ridiculous. Imagine a mob of people, with screaming kids, angry moms, over-agressive stroller pushers, friends looking for the rest of their group, dropped rainbow cones with kids crying, big ass turkey legs doused in bbq being juggled, messy pieces of pizza, ignorant folks not paying attention, but talking on their cell phones, etc. etc. Simply said, it was some fun chaos. We stuffed ourselves silly with turkey legs and pulled pork and chocolate covered frozen bananas, drank beer and listened to the Grant Park symphony. Dice and Mouse arrived shortly thereafter for the firework festivities.

It was an impressive sight. Better than I remember them being in Chicago...It was all fabulously patriotic (Star Wars theme and all). And as mother nature would have it, the fireworks ended just as the sky was opening up with some storms. Awesome. Walking home in the rain...not so awesome.

Dice, Mouse, Mike and I eventually found refuge in our condo...only to have a stranded Leah and Jason stop by a few minutes later. So...what better way to pass the time than to drink more beer and chat it up?!

Excellent times.

The Fourth of July was certainly productive. It started off strong by sleeping until noon (nothing more American than that, right?). Whoever said sleeping in was overrated must be an insomniac. We peeled ourselves from bed, eventually had some food, Mike napped, I did some Soduko and then we headed down to the beach for an open water swim.

Finally.

Everytime we've planned on a OWS it's either been storming like hell or the beaches have been closed to treat bacteria in the water. I've been determined to get at least ONE in before my first tri (have I mentioned it's this Sunday? Cause it is!!). And yesterday was THE day it was going to happen.

The swim went well. I covered just under .4 miles according to Google maps...took around 25 minutes. And considering I had to stop every 10-15 strokes to drain water from the goggles I was pretty pleased with myself. Needless to say, I won't be wearing Mike's OWS goggles during the tri, I'll rely on my trusty speedo ones. Glad I had the chance to test 'em out before this weekend. But the water was perfect and with the sunshine I couldn't have asked for better weather. Open water swimming is more challenging than I thought it would be, so here's hoping to a successful swim portion on Sunday.

The rest of the 4th was spent organizing my closet/dresser drawers and donating old clothes. For dinner we headed up to mouse's place for the best homemade lasagna I've ever had. Dinner...wine...and apple pie a la mode...all while watching no less than 50 firework shows on the western horizon. It was amazing...all the little neighborhood and suburb spectacles off in the distance (the view from her place is fantastic). And with a full belly and a smile, I fell right asleep last night, feeling all warm, fuzzy and patriotic inside.

Not too much else is going on. Just trying getting myself mentally prepared for this triathlon and coming up with an effective race plan. Luckily my mentor group over at the BeginnerTriathlete boards has been stellar on this front.

...and thanks to this same group, I haven't been flipping out about my half ironman decision. I can totally bust out 70.3 miles in one day...right?! :) If only I can convince Caru to take the leap for the Florida 70.3...

We have 10 miles on tap for tonight with the speedy kids and it looks like we'll be joined by Dice and Mouse (yay for me being the slowest person in our group!). I'm hoping it won't be ridiculously hot outside. Especially since we plan on firing up the grill after we're done running.

And so with that update, I'm going to leave you with two spectacular pieces of information...

1. By Christmas 2008, Chicago will be the home to a Chick-Fil-A. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW EXCITED THIS MAKES ME, PEOPLE!??!?!? I adore Chick-Fil-A. I am really psyched about this...

2. THE CURE IS HAVING A WORLD TOUR AND THEY'RE PLAYING CHICAGO THREE DAYS AFTER MY BIRTHDAY. It.is.so.on.

Mmmk...that's all...Happy Thursday, everyone!

oh.em.gee.

What.
the.
hell.
have.
I.
done?

Somebody hold me.

I'm scared!!!