Slacker

Yeah, sorry. Facebook is my blog these days.

I've been trying to keep up with the runs, but Chicago hates me this year. Cold, wet, cold, damp, cold, and gray--all of June, and quite a few of my running days in July too. It's enough to drive a girl to the desert.

But I'm running the Fleet Feet Women's 10K this weekend. Then jetting off to the West Coast. I'm sensing a pattern!

I haven't been completely lazy though. I've been doing wushu at Chicago Wushu. It's completely perfect for me. I love the school, the instructors, the teaching style, and the art itself. I'm really digging it.

So, to combine my two limited athletic talents and keep me moving and motivated I worked out a summer plan: I got permission to go to work early on Friday mornings so I can leave by 4:30. That'll get me home in time to change into running clothes, grab my wushu shoes, and run the two quick miles up to the guan (school). It's not a long run, but it's a heavy warm-up for a two-hour class! But I've done it a few times already and it really feels good. It's a great intro to the weekend, when I do a lot more playing that working.

Well, hello

So I ran a marathon, then went to Mexico and retired my shoes but good. I didn't do a stitch of running all winter. I blamed the busted toenail at first, then the snow.

Alas, my hiatus has come to an end. I signed up for the Race to Wrigley 5K for the end of the month. Then found out a friend is running the Ravenswood Run 5K the day after. So I may do that. Apparently, I'm back to running. But, y'know, about 90 percent shorter distances. I went for a "training" run last night and it felt pretty good. Two miles, no problems. I wish I could go tell that to my middle-school self! She'd be impressed.

I've invited a bunch of my lady friends to be my running buddies this summer, to up the motivation factor. I've also decided that I should sign up for as many 5K (or 10K too, I guess) races as I can find. It'll keep me beholden, for one thing. But these races also have great charities that they're supporting (Wrigley is Cubs Cares, and Ravenswood is a food bank). It's a nice way to feel good about giving back, and in a really local way. (Plus, free technical shirts!)

I'll do my best to keep you posted about how the runs go!

Hey! I Ran It!

It was crazy hot for October (I heard it hit 80), but I did it! My official time was 5: 37: 01. I came in 25, 872 of 31, 344 finishers. Not so bad, hey?


Check out my proud parents and that city skyline.



And this is the after effect of all that running!

I kept the picture nice and small so as not to traumatize you too much. All that hot weather meant that there were kind neighbors and also marathon officials out with hoses, spraying the runners down to keep us cool. It was wonderful and felt great, but try as we might, our shoes got damp. My feet started sliding toward the front of my shoes around mile 22, and my mile 25 I knew I was doing some damage to my left big toe.
However, I'd gotten a manicure two days before the race, so I didn't know what was under that red polish after I finished! Since I was heading straight down to Cancun the next day, I decided ignorance was bliss and waited a week before revealing this purple beauty.

Ahhhh, Cancun.


Of course, one month later, it was even more gloriously purple! You can even see where I got a blister between my first two toes. Oh, that was truly sexy, believe me.
I was really thinking there was no way it wasn't going to just fall off, but it's been pretty hardy. I have polish on right now, and I broke my camera recently (SO SAD), so I can't give you an update, alas. But it doesn't hurt anymore, and it still firmly attached to my big ole toe, so I'll take that as a win.

Thank you all for your support on my meagerly updated blog and for cheering me on virtually through my training. If you never got around to donating, or just have some spare money looking for a charity this Christmas, I AM still able to accept donations through the end of the year. The link is http://www.cff.org/LWC/MichelleSchoob9252


Come on, do it for the toes.

Labor Day Part II

Only a month later, right? Quick wrap-up, then, so I can talk about how it's only ONE WEEK to the marathon, holy craparoondog.

SO, after I saw the Washington Memorial, I walked down the Mall to the new World War II Memorial.



Up at the entrances are sections of bas-relief showing scenes from the war, from men signing up to battles in the Pacific and Europe. This one shows D-Day.



It was nice to get to go see this new (to me) memorial. It was really beautiful, but extremely loud. There are a gazillion fountains all over the place, and the rushing water is noisy.


I continued the walk down to the Lincoln Memorial. I checked out the punctuation on the Gettysburg, but the guy who carved it into stone was rather lazy--no commas.



The I walked back around town for a while, catching some wildlife:






















And some Smithsonians:














And got to see a rather hilarious (to me, at least) depiction of the grand circle of life:


Are you as tired as I was? I grabbed some dinner, then saw the Willard Hotel where President Grant would hang out and talk to the "lobbyists," and walked by Ford's Theater.


Whew.
It was a full day, and I loved it. My feet were killing me, but I had a great time.

My Historical Boyfriend

So for Labor Day 2008, the Four Swordswomen got together, as per usual. We've considerably expanded though, to include Three Swordsmen and four (4!) Swordslettes (plus Baby Husiman). Gracious, but that's a lot of loved ones.

BUT! Before I get to all that and talk about my dearly beloved and post their pictures, I have to tell you about My Historical Boyfriend. It all started back at my previous place of employment, and my ray of hope and light that was the historical books. I worked on the paperback edition of George Washington's War and my new love bloomed. It only increased when working on The First American Army and Young Patriots. Aside from being engrossing historical reads, the authors on those books, Bruce Chadwick and Charles Cerami, were also incredible to work with. And they will forever be dear to me for indulging me in my passion for the father of our founding, George Washington.

Yeah, I've got a thing for our first president. Bruce told me it was understandable, as women tend to have a thing for men in uniform.

In any case, since the annual reunion followed the tradition of being located near the youngest baby, we were in Virginia this year. Which of course meant that I got to fly in to D.C. and do the tourist thing first. I touched the Washington Monument, and took some crazy pictures of it's towering height:



I walked what felt like the entire metro D.C. area, then collapsed. The next morning, after a nice tour of Arlington Cemetery, I headed out to Virginia...and Mount Vernon! The beloved home designed and decorated by my one true Historical Love, G. Washington. Oh my. It was lovely.

I really, really enjoyed getting to see this place. It was just beautiful, and the guides were wonderful. We got to hear all sorts of details about George and about the home. I had such a great time. And, really, that man had some good taste. Check out this view:


In all? A wonderful trip. More pictures can be seen over on my Flickr.
More to come, of course, about the rest of D.C. and my time with my ladies.

Another Number: 13.2762

Hey, guess what? I ran extra. Apparently something went awry in the measuring and marking of the course, and we all ran a wee bit farther than we thought. It comes to about 880 feet extra, so maybe I can shave a minute or two off those extra five!

2:42:21

My coach says at this point in our training (disregarding any improvement to come), we can estimate our marathon time by doubling our half time and adding five minutes. So I'm looking at around five and a half hours. And five minutes. (That extra five minutes cracks me up. After five hours, does that really make or break you? I guess if you're going for Boston or whatever, but for me it's just funny.)

Unlike a few people I saw out there Sunday, I did not bring my camera to the race. Greg snapped a picture with his phone of me all sweaty and tired, posing with my finishing medal by the fountain. However, I can't share it with you because he can't send it anywhere without upgrading his plan. I'll work on that. There should be pictures from the race photographers soon though, and I'll post that link. I always look so goony in those, but I'll share the laughs.

Anyway, the race felt pretty good. I was tired afterward but not overly exhausted. I felt pretty strong through the whole thing. I did come to the sad realization that my shoes just aren't going to cut it, though. I've been less than thrilled with them for a while (my feet are exceptionally tired after every workout, more than I'd expect even at high mileage), but after about eight miles Sunday I started to get a painful blister on my left arch. No good. I'll head over the Fleet Feet this week and try to upgrade.

Final thought on the race? I'm really glad the marathon doesn't start until eight. Getting up at five to head out to run was not my cup of tea.

If I Twittered, This Would Be a Tweet

I am currently feeling oddly proud that my parakeet totes digs The Mountain Goats. He's singing along like crazy! My bird has taste.

CDC

Yeah, I just registered for the Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon. I guess I'm really doing this.

Next weekend, August 10.

Should be done before most of y'all even get up. (Starts at 6:30, I'll aim for at least a 12-minute mile.)

Hatcha!

Tidbits

Motivation from Marketing: Recently Nike (apparently illegally) put down posters along the running path in Chicago. I ran across one that read "Forget the wind. Run like a freight train." I'll take the stance that while I don't think companies should feel free to plaster stuff on the trail without permission (or with it, really, since it's a nice run and shouldn't be covered with ads, really) I have to say I appreciate the new motto. I certainly don't run wind-fast, but I can get behind the mental image of a freight train. I like it.

Mileage: Eight miles yesterday. I was beat.

Modesty: Runners often wear the shortest shorts that ever shorted. I'm not quite that kind of runner. I went over to Fleet Feet last weekend and bought two bags worth of stuff. I picked up two of these newfangled running skirts, and I have to say I like 'em. They've got the shorty shorts underneath, with a cute, longer skirt on top. Fashionable! Kind of.

Music: I brought my iPod out on Saturday, in case I was the only one at my pace out there. I didn't want to go all eight miles in silence. But I did have a running pal, so I kept it in my pocket. Well, about the last mile and a half, I told her to go ahead, since her pace was a bit faster than mine (thirty seconds per mile does add up). I put on my iPod for a bit, but ended up taking it off. It seemed distracting. I've always had music while running, so it was an odd change. I did listen to one Leonard Cohen song though, with is rather surprising for a running song. It worked, though. Good beat.

Miraculous Ways: I was running with Greta, one of my pace pals, on Wednesday. I noticed a tattoo on her shoulder and asked about it. She told me about it a bit, and I mentioned I had one too, on my back. We talked about how you think of your tattoos as you get older and such, and I said, "Well, as long as I don't renounce my faith, I'll be all right." When I told her it was a Trinity symbol, she asked if I went to church in the neighborhood. I told her I'd been looking around, but hadn't settled. She invited me to come over to St. James, the Lutheran church she belongs to. I plan to check it out next week. Odd how a conversation about tattoos can lead to a church invite!

Just Keep Running, Just Keep Running...

I'm finding it hard to get myself motivated for the Thursday non-group runs. If I know the group will notice I'm not there for practice, I'll show up. And they will notice, too, because there are only four of us who are consistently there. But by Thursday, I'm just feeling pummeled by the time and effort all this is taking. I'll work on it next week--maybe I'll recruit a friend to get out there with me.

As far as the group runs go, Wednesday was great. There's another trainer, Barbie, who runs at my pace. This is her first marathon. She was there Wednesday, so I had company. We also had another woman at our pace. Know what acts as an incredible motivator? Having a woman who just last week had outpatient surgery for a cancerous molar pregnancy challenge your pace. (Warning, incredibly sad link, though the occurrences are rare.) She was incredibly upbeat and had such a positive attitude. It just reminds me, like the CFF fundraising does, that I'm incredibly lucky to be healthy enough to be doing all this training.

Last night we had a five-mile run and then did some strength training. I had planned to meet up with friends doing karaoke at a bar in Uptown, but I just couldn't make it. By the time I showered and had dinner, my legs refused to do anything but sit on the couch watching AFI's 10 Top 10.

Week One, Done

Well, I made it through the work-week training. Five-mile Monday and six-mile Wednesday were with the group and yesterday I was on my own. Well, OK, "with the group" more being me and a trainer, and the other guys (7:30 mile pace, egads!) with the other trainer. But I made it, I ran it, and I even made myself go out yesterday alone to do a few miles. I don't think I made it the whole five miles, but I give myself a pass since it was really windy and 80-some degrees out. I did get at least four, I think.

Now I just have to gird my loins for the Seven A.M. 5K time trial run on Saturday. Seven. On Saturday. As Holly Golightly would say, "Quel nightmare!"

And, hello to any Abby & Izzy readers! Welcome to my humble abode. The link to my donation page is over there on the right, under the apropos heading "Shameless Begging." Thanks in advance, and know that if you donate, I will likely get all verklempt and teary.

"Please don't kill it! . . . It's unfair."

Yes, I was definitely the runt of the training group. But the group leader, Johann, was as kind as Mr. Arable and didn't kill me. The other three runners took off at a faster pace, but he stayed back to keep me going. I ran all five miles.

I was feeling a bit down about it, about being so slow. But then today my contact at CFF, Jeremy, e-mailed to see if I'd made it to training. I said I had and that I was going to have to work pretty hard to catch up with the group. He wrote back to tell me "the most important thing is that you run your race." It really cheered me up. I think I may adopt that as my motto for my training. That, and "Keep Up, Runt!"

This whole experience has been really amazing so far. I feel completely surrounded by wonderful people: every single donation has made me cheer and feel supported, every e-mail from my new group training leader and CFF contact has encouraged me, and every run has made me grateful for my health and ability to do something this big.

*Just in case you didn't recognize it, the title is a quote from Charlotte's Web.

Five Mile Monday

Tonight training with the CF Team starts. We'll be doing five miles together. The e-mail said we'd do an "easy run so we can get to know everyone." I'll let you know how that goes! I'm pretty nervous about it. I hope I keep up, and that it goes well. And that it doesn't rain! (knock wood)

I went over to the shiny new gym that ate my membership to Sweatshop (LVAC) to tell them not to transfer it. They offered to let me freeze the membership at $5 a month so I could keep my discount price ($62/month) instead of coming back in the fall as a new member (after marathon training is done) at the full price ($110!!!!!/month). I took the deal. It's a nice gym close to home, so it should be worth it for next fall/winter. Sigh. It really is impossible to quit the gym.

Anyway, running hasn't completely taken over my life. Yesterday I worked at CRP's table for Printer's Row. We sold a few books and had a nice morning, until a big rainstorm blew in. We covered up the books with the table tarp and took cover in a nearby building. It cleared up enough to open back up after about an hour, thankfully. And it stayed clear for the rest of the day, so Greg and I went to see B.B. King close out Chicago Blues Fest. It was crazy muddy, but a lot of fun. B.B. was great. It feels like it's officially summer now, with the crazy heat and the Chicago festival season.

Training Time, for reals

So my cute, grody little neighborhood gym got sold to the big, shiny corporate chain gym that built a facility across the street. Oh, quel surprise on that one.
I debated for a couple weeks about what to do. It's a nicer gym, with nicer stuff, but at the current rate. And get this: two pools, one on the rooftop. Swank, right?
The more I thought about it though, the more it seemed that I'd essentially be paying $60 a month for use of a crowded pool on sunny Saturdays. In the end, it didn't seem like a good way to spend money, what with the lakefront path for running...and the lake alongside it for swimming on sunny Saturdays.
The other factor was this exciting news: running for the CFF team (Support Me!) gives me a temporary membership to the FFC gym just a few blocks away. I'll run with the team three times a week, and do cross training (yoga! pilates!) on the other days. If I can't make it to a team training, I can still go to the gym on my temp membership.
That really clinched it for me. I think having a team there is really going to help me with my motivation. It will definitely help me with speeding up my training: I'm scheduled for five miles Monday! Oh my. I think it's going to be a great summer of working my gluteus maximus to the maximum.

Reluctance Won This Week

I haven't done any running this week. Horrible. I'll be getting up tomorrow to at least get one run in before the week is over. And to find out about the news I heard that my gym (little, family-owned, kinda grungy) got bought out by the Athletic Club group (brand new, swanky, built the new gym across the street from my gym, grr) and our memberships are transferring over. I think I'll miss my comfortable little place. I guess I'll adjust, sigh.

In lieu of running news, I'll share my weird CTA experience of the day: I worked late, and got on the bus (22 Clark) around 6:30. A few stop after me, a guy got on. I don't know why I noticed him, but I did. I got off a few stops from home to go to the bar to see Greg and get dinner. I hung out for a while, then grabbed the first bus that came along (36 Broadway). One stop later? That guy got on the 36! It was odd. I think we might be neighbors, since he got off one stop before me. Big city, small world.

Sigh

I've been struck with malaise. I didn't get out for my weekend run, and I had too much laundry/no clean workout clothes yesterday. I'm bound and determined to go run tonight, and plan to do so outside. There's finally enough sun to break through my crankiness, I think. Wish me luck.

I also just made plans to go to a fancy pants bar tomorrow night with my friend JT. That should inspire me to get up and do a morning run again tomorrow. Mostly because if I hang out with the guy who is the inspiration behind all this and don't run? I'll feel like a total punk.

Day Off

I did manage to get up all three mornings and run. I didn't have a song yesterday because my iPod battery ran out after the first mile. I ended up having to run to the gym's music. Ms. Spears's latest is perfectly acceptable running music.

Today is a rest day. Tomorrow is five miles. I'll likely do that outside if the weather is decent. Spending that much time on a treadmill goes really slowly. It's better if I just run in one direction for half of it, then spend the second (more grueling) half working on getting home.

Today is also a day "off" in that I'm working from home. Which is good, since I haven't done laundry all week. Audrey doesn't mind if I work in my pajamas, but I think my coworkers would frown on it at the office.

Some friends and I went to see Eddie Izzard last night. Laughed quite a bit and had lots of fun. We didn't get home until almost one though, so I was extra glad I didn't have to get up to run this morning. "Sleeping in" till eight, how decadent!

Uuurggghh

So the first day running after a bit of a break is great. My legs are all, "Oh hey, this is nice. We can totally pull off a couple miles. Whee!" Today, the day after the first run after a break, they were all, "Hey. We did this yesterday. Whatever, I'm done. What? Two more? No." Rude legs.

Reluctant Runner's Surprising Song of the Day: Tear Stained Letter, Johnny Cash

But, day two of Project Wake Up was a success. And it proves itself worthwhile, as I can now go straight over to a friend's to help her pack. I'm getting paid in Leona's Italian food, hoorah.

Please check out these shirts. They are beyond the description "hysterical" and right on into "incomprehensible." Keep an eye out for the "Dracula style grillz" though. Also, darn tootin' Lassie loves me. It's because I give her bacon. (Found, insanely, by searching for something by one of our authors. I heart Carlos Moore, indeed. I really do.)

Reluctant Runner's Suprising Song of the Day

The music at any gym can be a crapshoot. LifeTime Fitness was all right, though a little heavy on the '80s hip-hop at times. David Barton usually felt like a scenester club on house night. My current gym, SweatShop, lets employees plug in their iPods, so it varies a lot--this morning was trance club stuff, but I've heard a lot of '90s rock (love that).
I generally bring my own iPod so I don't have to listen to myself breathing and my feet hitting the treadmill. I just put it on shuffle and see what comes up. I also have found some songs that are surprisingly fun to run to. Surprising because one would absolutely not expect them to be good "gym songs." I'll try to post one from each of my runs, just to share that little happiness I find each day (or, each day I run, which is four times a week).

Today:
Skin Is, My (video), Andrew Bird

Yeah, I wrote "this morning." I'm trying out running before work since I was having a hard time getting over to the gym in the evening. It's just hard to work around social events and time with friends and eating dinner and and and. So, 6:15 A. M. today! I actually had a good morning, with extra time to get ready and have breakfast and be early to work for once. I'll let you know how the rest of the week fares.