Running Through My Head All Day

Not sure why, I haven't been watching '80s videos, haven't seen Footloose recently, but it popped in my head and hasn't left.

(Pause my playlist on the bottom left to hear.)







Now it's in your head. You're welcome.

Not a Running Meme . . .

. . .but a food meme. Because let's face it, I've been doing a helluva lot more eating than running lately. (well, always. Which is why I started running to begin with . . to lose the weight from my pregnancies . . . okay, from my eating. Whatever, shut up and read.)



Saw this on Mike's blog who found it at Unfocused Me's blog.



1. How do you like your eggs?
Until my first pregnancy, not at all. Now, poached.


2. How do you take your coffee/tea?
I don't. And neither does Mike, which is why we annoy the hell out of our family guests at the kids' birthday parties because when you don't drink coffee, you rarely think of buying/making coffee. We started catching on when some family members started stopping at Dunkin' Donuts for coffee on the way to our house.


3. Favorite breakfast food.
Eggs Benedict


4. Peanut butter.
Not sure what I'm supposed to say about this. Do I eat it? Yes, only on toast before a run. (Ha! I've worked running into this post on my running blog!)


5. What kind of dressing on your salad?
Italian or French or Thousand Island or Ranch or Garlic. I'm not picky. (No Mike, I'm not.)


6. Coke or Pepsi?
Until baby #2, Pepsi. Now, ick. Diet Coke, or if I really feel like I need a caffeine boost, regular Coke. (I know that there isn't more caffeine in regular Coke, but psychologically, it helps me. Don't judge.)


7. You're feeling lazy. What do you make?
Nothing. I ask Mike what he's making us. (What do I make ever? I'm not the cook, Mike is.)



8. You're feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order?
If it were up to me alone, just about everything except anchovies and sausage.


9. You feel like cooking. What do you make?
That's funny.


10. Do any foods bring back good memories?
Hmmm. Beer nuggets from NIU. I really enjoyed college.
What are beer nuggets? It's a DeKalb, IL thing. Deep fried pizza dough served with warm pizza sauce (or cheese sauce). Perfect at 3 a.m.

11. Do any foods bring back bad memories?
The chili my husband makes. Wait, I'm not trying to be mean. He knows where this is going. I actually used to love his chili but I ate it when I was two months pregnant - - and sick daily - - with our daughter. I couldn't keep much down, including the chili. The bathroom episode from the chili was the sickest (most sick?) I was during the whole pregnancy.



12. Do any foods remind you of someone?
Cranberry juice. My grandmother drank it every day and she was always scared of running out of it.


13. Is there a food you refuse to eat?
Unfortunately, no. Wait, Italian Sausage. Just not a fan.


14. What was your favorite food as a child? Chocolate.

15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like? Meatloaf. Didn't like my mom's, like Mike's (sorry mom)

16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate? Peanut butter and jelly

17. Favorite fruits and vegetables. Grapes, tomatoes, asparagus (but only very cold with salt)

18. Favorite junk food. Ding dong's. Which is why I never buy them. Because I would eat them.

19. Favorite between meal snack. Pretzels . . .or lately, Hersey's Pumpkin Spice kisses. They are awesome.

20. Do you have any weird food habits?
Not sure about now but as a kid I couldn't switch between foods on my plate. I had to eat all of the mashed potatoes before moving on to the turkey, all of the turkey before moving on to the corn, etc.

21. You're on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on?
Unfortunately everything I'm not supposed to be eating while I'm on the diet.

22. You're off your diet. Now what would you like?
Lou Malnati's pizza or Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Brownie ice cream. Wait, both.

23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai? Very

24. Can I get you a drink? A glass of Riesling.

25. Red or White Wine? See above.

26. Favorite dessert? Chocolate ice cream or Portillo's Chocolate Cake. No Portillo's in your area? You're missing out.

I swear I'll start blogging about running (and start running) again once I get over this damn cold. Now I have to go check and see if we have any Pumpkin kisses left in the house.

My New Winter Home

The track that I will be running on a lot this winter. In beautiful Wasilla, Alaska*

(It's 1/9 of a mile. Not great, but better than the treadmill.)

Question: What is the proper gym etiquette when another runner is running the wrong direction? On certain days you go left, on certain days you go right based on the schedule posted at the entrance. Last time I was here I ran the way according to the posted schedule, but there were two other runners (running together) who were running and walking opposite. So, every time we met up, I would have to switch lanes to avoid running into them.

Am I supposed to call them out on it?

Run the direction they are running in even though it is not the "posted" way?

Or just do what I'm doing and give them dirty looks as I pass?

*Actually, it's in Illinois. That was an attempt to cheer up my sister. She made the mistake of getting into a political "discussion" with my parents today.

Change of Plans

Hey blogging friends, remember me? I know, I've been MIA for awhile. Such a bad blogger I've been . . .no posts, no Virtual Run Club posts, very few visits to the blogs I usually frequent.

Why? I've been in an "I hate running" funk for some time. And finally, I think I realize why.

I am in no way, shape or form prepared for the Chicago Marathon. This isn't just anxiety talking. I truly am not ready. (Kinda like how a certain Alaskan is not prepared or ready to hold one of the highest offices in the land, but I digress.)

Back to running . . . This has not been a good training year. As I look back at my race reports, all of them are pretty negative. And I really don't consider myself to be a negative person. Sarcastic at times, maybe, but not overally negative. Between my plantar fasciitis (ah, finally I know how to spell it!) issues in both feet, my recurring ankle pain from last year's Marathon effort and a simply subpar effort to keep my training schedule, I've realized that this is not my year.

Despite good intentions, I've trained like an asshole.

So, here's the plan: I'll be at the starting line this year, but my intent is to stop at the halfway point . . .I'm making it my own little half marathon. I figure this way I get to experience some of the excitement of the Marathon, still put in a fairly significant amount of miles . . .and have time to get to the Finish Line to cheer for Chipper Kim, my other cousins, Keith, John and Lauren - - and Karin of course! (Jeanine has also trained like an asshole so we're going to train for Chicag0 '09 together.)

I've thought about this a lot and don't get me wrong, I am really, really, really ticked and disappointed. I'm mad at myself, mad at my feet, and wish I could turn the clock back four or five months. I really feel bad too, about how wonderful and supportive my friends, family and co-workers have been and here I go and (kinda) drop out.

So I'm trying to focus on the positive:
- Thanks to the generosity of my family, friends and co-workers, I've raised $1,475 for the American Cancer Society.
- I've learned A LOT about what works for me and what doesn't.
- Training this year has been a great way to stay in contact with Chipper Kim, Jeanine, Lauren and John.
- I've met some great virtual friends through this year's training efforts . . .Karin, Lisa, Terri, Kai, Unfocused Life, Jill, e, Tamara, Chris, Kitzzy, Razz and all the runners at Virtual Run Club.

Now I know you may be wondering, what have I been doing since I haven't been blogging? A few things:
- I visited the new gym we've joined a few times. Would have been more, except for . . .
- This sore throat/cold that I've been trying to get rid of for two weeks now.
- Certainly have not been doing enough laundry. (Where do these clothes come from?)
- Researching ideas for Mike's 40th birthday gift. I still have time, but I really would like to surprise him one year (no Mike, not a surprise party)
- Been driving Mike nuts as I've become absolutely obsessed with the Presidential Election. I was obsessed before Palin entered the picture, now I'm just fired up. And not in a good way. I'd love to see a woman vice president or president some day, but she is not the candidate for me. I am a CNN, MSNBC.com, Chicago Tribune and NY Times groupie (Horrors, I'm reading stuff from that liberal media.) I could go on and on but won't . . .instead I leave you with this. I mean, does the McCain campaign really think people are that stupid? Wait, I've seen the comments on Foxnews.com. Nevermind.

(Click pause on my music playlist on the left to hear video.)

Race Report: Nike + Human Race

The Nike + Human Race (10k) was in Chicago last night, here's a quick recap because I have something bigger weighing on my mind . . .

• Lots and lots and lots of people in the red Nike + shirts
• 14,000 people and 17 porta potties. Seriously, I counted.
• 14,000 people makes baggage check a bitch.
• 14,000 people and having to pee while waiting in line to check bags is a bitch and a half. (I have no idea what that means, I think I just made it up.)
• Liked starting off at Soldier Field, a Chicago landmark.
• Despite this race being half the size of Chicago's Shamrock Shuffle, it felt like it was twice the size when we were squeezed in the corrals like sardines.
• Chipper Kim had three beers and some garlic pretzel cracker combo. Chipper Kim, my nutrition idol, I expected better from you. :)
• My ankle (same ankle as last year's stress fracture) started bothering me about 0.01 miles into the race.
• My feet started bothering me (yeah, plantar fasciitis in both feet now) about 0.05 miles into the race.
• The Chicago 2016 crew cheering before the first (and only) incline was fantastic, very motivating when runners needed it.
• Struggled to get through 6.2 miles with ankles and feet issues. Ran/walked the whole thing. I'm sure I pulled the Chicago average time down. (But hey, Chicago's average was better than New York and L.A.!)
• Running on Chicago's lakefront with the Chicago skyline in view was a very pretty sight.
• Caught a few songs from Fall Out Boy after the finish before I decided to head home, take as shower, ice my feet and have some wine. (I decided to do that, but in reality, I headed home, picked up some Taco Bell, took a shower and had some Gatorade.)

What's been weighing on my mind? Too much to get into right now, will update soon.

Happy running!