Show of Hands

Don't Get Me Sick!

Two common themes in the blogosphere:

1) Chicagoans sick of the weather (don't even get me started on the expected 8 inches this week or I may cry)

2) Everyone is sick! Marathonrunning was sick . . .Girl in Motion was sick . . .See E run. Run, E, run! is sick. Can you catch germs via the Internet? :)

Seriously, my sister-in-law is deathly ill (please Lori, go to the doctor) . . .the kids are starting to sneeze and I've been fighting something off and on for a while. Right now (knocking on laptop keys) I feel good. I'm getting nervous that now that I'm planning on a consistent week of running (I've been sporadic at best) that something sinister will take over my immune system and keep me out of my running shoes.

Crossing my fingers that I stay healthy; need to get serious about the Shamrock Shuffle.

No snow for the Shamrock please, weather gods.

On a separate topic . . . future runner comes home March 21. Names debate still open, so if anyone has any ideas, comment away!

Thank Yous, Hoffman Half and My Ass

Well, I did run but my ass is still very much here (much more to it than I would prefer) so I don't know that I ran my ass off. But at least I ran, right? Starting out slow so not to injure myself like last year, only ran 2 miles on Saturday and Monday. Biggest obstacle for me right now is the mind-numbingness of the treadmill, so the fact that I got on the stupid thing is a victory.

I signed up for the Children's Advocacy Center Half Marathon, which takes place in June. Ideal location for me as it's only 13 minutes from our house, so I can save on hotel costs. I know some people (read: my sister) think I'm crazy for registering for these races so early, but it's motivation for me if I know they're on my calendar. Trying to convince Lisa and/or Don C. to do it. Guys? C'mon, if you can do a triathalon or dualathon or quadrathalon you can do the half.

Thank you to Laura M. and Renee H. for your support of my American Cancer Society run! Not only does it benefit ACS, but it helps my motivation a lot. When the couch and TV were calling I reminded myself of the donations so I made myself put my running shoes on.

Family and friends, please keep the donations coming! I know the Marathon is several months away yet, but your support is very motivating!

Running My Ass Off

I'm going to run my ass off this weekend. Enough foolin' around, I have to get my head in the game.

Oh crap, now I have the High School Musical song in my head. Those of you with kids preschool age and older will know what I mean. I bet you have the song in your head now too. You're welcome.

I also added another race to my calendar, the DeKalb Corn Fest 10k. Mike and I had been talking about it doing it this year but the tragedy at NIU got me thinking about it again. NIU is our alma mater, it's the place where we met so although it might seem odd, I just feel like we have to visit DeKalb sometime soon.

Ok, gotta go sign up for the Soldier Field 10 Mile.

Where are my marathon partners? Jeanine, Kim, Lauren, Keith, Jon H.? Sign up soon if you haven't already! Registration tally is climbing.

First Donation

Thank you to Kevin, Cheryl, Daniel & Noelle for their donation to the American Cancer Society - my first donation! Kevin, Cheryl and the kids are also my Mile 24 sponsors.

I've Hit Rock Bottom

Well, relatively speaking anyway. I'm not in the Britney category.

After sending emails to family and friends requesting their support for my American Cancer Society charity run, I proceeded to plop down in front of the TV, watch The Biggest Loser and eat Betty Crocker chocolate frosting out of the can.

For dinner.

Mike started to question it but after 19 years together, he has seen this before.

Work stress/why can't we get this house organized stress/oh dear mother of God I still haven't sent Aunt Mary Lou her Christmas gift stress -- all of it led me to the tub o' frosting.

But if this is rock bottom, I can only go up. So family, friends, please send some dollars to the American Cancer Society and motivate me off the couch and on to the treadmill.

I have a Marathon to run in 240 days.

Love This!

Fellow running blogger Girl In Motion is infatuated with the Amphipod Hydraform as much as I am. My sister (and fellow Chicago Marathon '08 runner) Jeanine clued me into it and like Girl In Motion, Iloveitloveitloveit.

Now if only this Chicago winter would end . . .Average Marathon Gal appropriately refers to our fair city as the Arctic Circle . . .I could use it again outside.

&*$#&(@$*#(&$ Cold Weather

I don't know if it's because I wasn't a fan of running outside (or running at all, for that matter) at this time last year but I can't recall a year when I've been so fed up with the cold and snow.

When will it end?

I have to force myself to get on the treadmill this week, but mentally that has been a killer for me lately.

Why don't kids seem to be affected by the cold? They notice it sure, but doesn't seem to bother them as much. Our neighbors must have thought I was a crazed mom today as I was yelling, GETINTHECAR!HURRY!GETINTHECAR! to our kids when we were heading to school. And it wasn't because we were late, it's just so freakin' cold. Our six-year-old studies and investigates everything, something I usually admire in him, but I was surprised he wanted to stop and investigate outside today. Almost like he was wondering where the cold was coming from. Our three-year-old, in typical fashion, took her time getting to the car, but then again, she always is on her own timetable (and I think we will still be saying this when she's a teenager) so I guess the cold isn't going to change that. Nothing is going to hurry up our little miss if she doesn't want to. :)

More Motivation

I signed up as a Chicago Marathon Runner for the American Cancer Society today. A great cause and great motivation for my training effort too! ACS hopes to have more than 1,200 charity runners representing the charity in 2008, raising over $1.7 million.

Click on the links on the right to learn more about why I'm running to benefit ACS, and to donate. My personal goal is to raise $3,000. I want to raise $3,000, lose 30 pounds, oh, and finish the Marathon!

Running the Chicago Marathon? You can sign up as a charity runner too, click here to find out how.

On a separate note, it's bitterly, bitterly cold in Chicagoland today and my friend Suzanne sent me a text message to let me know that it's 70 degrees in San Francisco.

So cruel.

Miscellaneous

Been a tough week at work and haven't been feeling 100% so have to commit to running again.

Mike and I did the Lake Geneva 5k last weekend. Two words: cold and hilly. We still had a good time though. Beautiful scenery and nice people. I think we were so worried about the cold that when we were driving through hills to get to the race it didn't occur to us that the course might be hilly. When the locals referred to the "Snake Road" on the map as "Snake Hill Road" we realized it wasn't going to be easy. Mike's dad and stepmom drove the kids up and down the course to see us (roads weren't closed) so seeing them honk and wave was a nice mental boost.

Shamrock Shuffle registration is closed. Glad we signed up early.

Chicago Police Memorial Run to Remember registration is open.

So is the Soldier Field 10 Mile.

Hoping that next week will be a better running week for me.

I'm In!

Apparently it was too many crazies (that should be sleeping) trying to get in at once.

I loved this question on the registration form:

"Is this your first, second third, . . . Chicago Marathon?"

What if it's 1.5?

12:01 a.m.

And I get this message on the registration page:

Scheduled Maintenance In Progress...

Active.com is currently performing scheduled maintenance to this section of our application. It should be available again soon. We apologize for any inconvenience.

The Bank of America site was ready to go, link for registration on the home page, then this message on Active.com, the third party registration site. Lack of coordination? Or simply too many crazies trying to get in at once?