Fancy Dresses, Containers and Miles

This weekend was jam packed just the way we like them.

On Saturday morning I met up with my stepmom's sister Andrea downtown at Macy's (Yes I miss that it's Marshall Fields...but Macy's bought them.....there isn't anything you can do about it) to do some shopping. Jason has a holiday party for his company coming up on December 1st at a hotel downtown. The invite calls for cocktail attire and as most of our parties at Fermilab took place in a barn on the Fermilab site we are without cocktail attire. So a pretty dress was in order. I tried on tons of dresses and it came down to two, a halter top with some sparkly business on the top, and a plainish strapless deal. I ended up with the sparkly one and it's so pretty! Then we went to get shoes and I got a great pair. They are really high, but they just matched the dress perfectly and I don't think that just because I'm tall I should have to live without pretty high heels. When I got home I wasn't going to show Jason the new ensemble, but of course that didn't last long and tried it on about 5 minutes after we got home. So Jason is tall....but with my new shoes I am taller than him! But when he puts on his dressy shoes we end up at just about the same height. So whatever. I'll just be really tall. I spent my high school days slumped over and so I have learned to love my height....so Leah at 6'3" here I come.

On Saturday evening we cleaned out our pantry and reorganized it and headed to The Container Store (which if they would let me just curl up in one of the containers I would do it...I heart that place). So we got some containers for our pantry and headed home and finished up the reorganization. Later that night we met out my fabulous cousin and her friend for some beers at Easy Bar on Division which was pretty nice.

On Sunday morning we went for a run on the lake front path. Apparently when weather.com says 10mph out of the East, they mean way more than that directly out of the south. So the first 4 miles of our run was a little tough, but turning around felt great. We did 8 miles total putting us at 20 for the week. I haven't worn my Garmin since the marathon. I think we are enjoying just being out there running and keeping our endurance at a respectable level. This week we'll try and get up to 22-24 miles. We aren't training for any race in particular but just trying to run without a purpose.

On Sunday night I met Lisa out for some shopping. Lisa has always made candy for Christmas and last year we did it together and so we are going to do that again this year which will be fun. We wanted to get some containers to put the candy in and found some really cute ones at World Market.

Thus ending our weekend. Happy Monday all.

Holidays

I love this time of year. My favorite holiday of the year is coming up in less than a week, which I can't believe and then we are closing in on the big one for the year. I totally do not believe in buying any Christmas related things until after Thanksgiving. That was until I was a the CVS today and noticed that Sour Patch Kids have come out with a holiday variety where they just have the green and the red flavors in there. Since those are the two best I got a bag. But only because I am going to pick the red and green out anyways so this will make things easier for everyone...and let Jason get to eat something other than orange and yellow. See everyone wins.

Next week we'll be going to my Aunt's (Dad's sister) house as always for thanksgiving. This year will be different however because Jason has to work the Friday after Thanksgiving and so we'll be there only for about a day and a half. I love Thanksgiving. When I was a kid, every holiday was dependent on which parent's year it was to get me....except for Thanksgiving which my Dad got and Easter which my mom got. I am already dreaming of Turkey and my uncle's homemade stuffing...oooh yeah. I can't wait.

Then we'll get into the Christmas season. Decorating and baking cookies and what have you. We are still in an apartment battle, and since our rental agency sucks my ass nothing is moving forward. Little do they know how ruthless and how I have kept track of every single phone call for the past 2.5 months. We'll see. I just hate people that do bad business. It's really really not that hard. I am a reasonable person, just treat me with respect and be honest and we are good to go. But this bullshit they are throwing my way is just too much.

Anyways. I have no updates on the situation. I love the neighborhood, just don't love the apartment, so we'll see what happens. Tonight Jason and I are going to dinner at Hacienda on North Ave which should be a good night out.

I'm the Result of the Week

At Fermilab there is a daily publication called Fermilab Today. It's a general noting of happenings at the lab. On Thursdays however, they have a description of a "Result of the Week". It's just a small article about a new analysis at the lab and this week... IT'S MY ANALYSIS.

You can read about it here : http://www.fnal.gov/pub/today/index.html. It's on the right hand side of the page.

In other news, we don't have any updates on moving yet and I don't want to talk about it here, just yet. I have no morals about apartment people, but I don't want to do anything until I have to. We did see some really nice places yesterday through The Homestead Group and the guy we were working with was really nice.

For those of you who aren't from Chicago or lived here very long....the renting season is October 1st and May 1st and so the number of properties available is a bit lower now. However, the good thing is that we saw a lot of empty apartments and so could perhaps get a better deal because they want someone in the apartment and we are willing to move in immediately.

As far as running. Tuesday was a *highly* stressful day and so chose to drink too much wine and eat too many snacks and so didn't get up early to run on Wednesday morning. Then after another long day yesterday we opted for DVR and Penny's Noodles instead of running.

BUT

This morning, we got up right as the alarm went off at 5:30am and we were out running by 5:50. It was perfect actually. It was a bit chilly but nothing that the right clothing couldn't take care of. We are hoping to do this about 3 times a week and even if we just do 5-6 miles we would get the mileage back up there. We are going to try and go again tomorrow morning, and then 8 on Sunday.

Oh right. I know all the words to the songs that are on the new Fresh 105.9...which makes me feel old as they are advertising it as "hip light music". Add to that, my 10 year high school reunion is a week from tomorrow.....which is terrifying. I am going with my one high school friend that I still talk to and we are meeting ahead of time to study our yearbook so we can know who people are :-)

Running, Volleyball & Perhaps Needing to Move

Yesterday I did 3 miles around the neighborhood around noon. It's so nice to go running in the afternoons. Then I played volleyball at night....we won all three games.

Alright then, fascinating.

More interesting...we are having some problems with our super ghetto apartment and in the process of trying to get of our lease and look for new apartments. This isn't the renting season in Chicago so I don't know if we are going to find anything...but anything will be better than the garbage we are currently living in. I'm not going to go into details but ... well let's just say that we need to move and I'm hoping we can get all the cards in order to make this happen in the next couple of weeks actually.

We'll see. At least I have time to do all the packing if it comes to that. I have to get my game face on...my I want out my lease face.

I Ran 4X

Well well well.....see what happens when you put your mind to something. You run a whopping 16.5 miles.

Ok. Ok. I know it's nothing to cheer about, but the fact that I went out 4 times last week is something to cheer about. Even more exciting is getting out there for a 7 miler this morning along the lakefront path with Jason. I think the less mileage has made a huge difference on our legs as we felt great. It was so nice to run together and enjoy the lakefront path which we haven't done since the marathon.

No pain which is a first in awhile. I think that marathon training really takes something out of you and there is always a little pain here or there. The many days off and lower mileage has really given our legs the chance to relax a bit. So our plan this week is to run on our own tomorrow. And then together early on Wednesday and Friday and then long again on Sunday. I am thinking something like 3 miles tomororw, 5 on Wednesday, 5 on Friday and then 8 on Sunday getting us over the 20 mile mark. Building slow like I like it.

I made a huge mistake in my work stuff. I feel like a bit freakin' idiot. It's always nice having to send that e-mail too. Hi Advisor Perfect Man. I made an error that makes me look like an undergrad. Awesome. It was a good shot for my self esteem. Oh well. It's working correctly now. Because Jason got it working .... cause he already has the PhD and so he doesn't make mistakes.

Oh and we looked at the new iMacs today and drooled all over them. Why do they have to get better. I hate computers, as soon as you buy one it's like....oh....here is a new shiney one, too bad for you. We got a new keyboard so we *feel* like we have a new computer....well that and I spilled water on the old one and we were left without a space bar which just doesn't work.

Lady on Northerly Island

I Ran this Morning!

And by morning, I mean 10:30am.

We went to see some music at Uncommon Ground last night and I didn't get to bed until midnight and so getting up at 5:30am was not an option. We had a great time in the old neighborhood stopping at Bernie's for a burger and some fries and then heading to Uncommon Ground and having martini's and coffees. The martini I had was called Lemon Ginger, I guess it was just vodka and lemoncello.....which tasted *exactly* like lemonade. I only had one, but my god we have to get some lemoncello..that shit is delicious!

I did go run in the late morning and went about 5 miles and felt pretty good. It's still boring running alone, but I'm starting to get into a nice groove and enjoying my iPod a bit more. We are going to go run about 6 miles on Sunday on the lakefront path, which should be fun.

Tonight our Fermilab friends are coming to the city to go out because Tuula is going back to Finland on Sunday. Tuula was one of the first people that we met at the lab and we have been good friends for the past few years and so she will be missed.

Alright.....back to "work".

Pink

Writer's Strike

Ok. I am starting to freak about not having new The Office episodes to watch....although...on the other hand....

My DVR is curretly 85% full. I have episodes of Heros to watch from February. So..if there is not going to be more new shows recording I might actually be able to catch up with my favorites.

So starting with the picture up from yesterday, I'm going to work on bringing back photos of the day. I have been playing around a lot with my new camera which has been fun. Thanks to Jason's friend (boss?) at work, it was recommended that I try using Adobe's Lightroom program and he loaned me a book to work with it. It's really powerful and I tried shooting some photos in RAW and it seems that I have a bit more control over the end product. It does take more work because they come out of the camera looking a little dull, but it has it's place when I would have time to work with the pictures. At Christmas for example when I take 400 pictures of my nieces it might not be the best bet and jpgs might be stuck with.

The old head of my group at Fermilab said a few words at our weekly meeting about Andrzej (the IU Professor who passed away last week) and it was really emotional. He is going to be really missed in our group here.

Jason and I are going to run tomorrow morning. YES WE ARE. We are getting up at 5:30 and doing it. I don't know how Lana does it, I go...hmm...cold floor and then going running? Comfy warm bed and hitting snooze...option 2 every time. I just have to get into a rhythm I think and I'll get there.

Best City in the World

What Kind of Runner?

Well Monday's volleyball game wasn't too bad. We have a new team and managed to score about 14 points per game (we play to 21) against the best team in the league. Not too bad for a group of 6 that hadn't played together before. The ref, Ed, said hi to me when he got there and asked if I had been practicing...I laughed and said haven't touched a volleyball since the playoffs. Which was really obviously when we started playing.

After the game I decided to run on the treadmill because it was cold out and my gym membership is actually due and so I couldn't get back into the gym with my ID. So of course do I just run 3 miles on the treadmill...oh noooo. I have to pick some god awful preprogrammed Cross Country death march. So I punch in 30 minutes, set the pace to just under 9 min/mile and 1.5 miles later I was dripping and dying. I decided to step away for a minute to get my breath and my legs back under me but when I came back someone had taken the treadmill (there is only one). So I figured an hour of volleyball and a mile and a half of death was enough so I headed home.

This morning I did 3 miles around the neighborhood. It was fine. Easy breezy.

Pertaining to the title of this post....there are some runners that can take time off and get right back on the horse pulling out 30,40+ mile weeks. There are others that fall off the horse and fall off completly and watch it run away from them...I think I am somewhere inbetween. I know I do better when I am signed up for some kind of race as it's really hard to go out and run in the winter when it's cold and nasty out. I don't have a problem with 20ish mile weeks...but anything more right now anyways and there is just no way. So I have a tentative training plan to get back up to higher mileages. I just wish that I could be back at those high miles without it being a ton of effort. I'll get there soon enough.

Working at home is going *ok*. It's lonely without Jason here and I am way trying to get out of the funk that I have been in for the last week or so. I just alwyas need to be entertained and it's sooo not happening right now.

Alright, the hair must now be blowdryed.

Wow..I'm so not doing NoBlo..whatever it's called.

Alright then.

So right, the last time I wrote was Friday.

I did end up running the rent in on Friday afternoon. It ended up being a great run. It was so beautiful out and blah blah blah...and I felt really good the first 7 or so miles of the run. The last three were walk/run, but whatever that had been my plan all along. A new running/working out/volleyball plan is in the works. This week getting out there 5 times a week is the goal, even though those days are all going to have low mileage.

We went out for a partial date night on Friday. We ended up meeting Fermilab friends out for drinks at 9pm, so we just did dinner. We went to Moonshine on Division and I have to say I was really disappointed. I had been there for lunch before and had a good meal, and the decor is nice and whatever. The dinner food (we had a good appetizer) was pretty bad and way costly. I got garlic mashed potatoes with my pork chops and they tasted like instant potatoes that were way too dry. Not. Good. I am a going out to eat whore, I like anything so it was really pretty bad. Jason and I are thinking about about doing a restaurant review once a week if we keep date night going and so that should be coming soon.

On Friday night when we were out with friends, we learned that an IU professor had passed away. He and his wife came to our wedding and he was a major influence in Jason's analysis as he was head of Jason's editorial board. He and his wife were both physicists and have been together since they were teenagers. The have been married for 41 years and they have worked together side by side for many of them. His wife had visitors over on Saturday evening in Bloomington so Jason and I went to pay our respects. They seemed eerily like Jason and I and it was just really sad (it always is I know). My apologies go out to his wife and son again, Andrzej was a wonderful person. We did the Bloomington trip as a there and back in one day but got to see Jason's brother and family on the way home which is always fun.

Sunday we didn't do much of anything. Exhausted from Saturday (and to top off the long travel day, I spent Friday evening sampling several (!) martini's at the Blue Line in Wicker park...and just because they look like candy....and taste like candy...doesn't mean that they aren't 100% liquor....hence most of Saturday was done with a hangover on top of it). So we cleaned up and watched the Colts/Patriots game and I made chili and cornbread from scratch.....and had a really nice relaxing day. Oh..don't bother with The Exorcism of Emily Rose...kinda of creepy but not worth it in my opinion.

Today is the first volleyball game of the season and we (new team!) are playing the team that won it all last year. Oh well..might as well jump all the way in. I am going to run 3 miles before the game I think and then work out a little bit after the game. Alright then.

Happy Monday.

ooh....congrats to Mike for a job well done at the NYC Marathon!

Dancing with Nerds & 10 Coming Up

Jason and I attended the Fermilab Halloween party on Wednesday. It was pretty fun. Always good to see old friends now that we aren't ever at the lab anymore. They also had free booze which is always fun in my book!

So I ran 5 miles on Tuesday and have done nothing since. I mean I have sat at home ... and done nothing. This working at home thing kind of sucks. My deadlines are "as soon as possible" I need dates people. Cause then I work my ass off....but as soon as possible...that's really wide open. In all seriousness, most of the stuff I have to do needs to come after I make a new giant Monte Carlo Sample and so that is currently running.

Speaking of running.

I am going to run in our rent today. The rental agency is about 5 miles away which I'm going to do nice and slow. Lots of lights along the way as well to get some breaks in. So should be a total of 10 miles. Tomorrow my new volleyball team has a practice at the lab. Jason needs to wrap up his thesis stuff and publication stuff, so we are going in to do those two things. I think we'll also do some weights at the gym. Going to really try and get back into that at least 2 times a week.

I think tonight we are going to have a date night. We are going to try and go to a movie and dinner most Friday nights. So I think....Dan in Real Life, or American Gangster are on the table. I am a total movie whore though, so they all sound good to me.

Happy Friday everyone.

5 Miles & the CTA

Yesterday me and my iPod went out for a nice 5 mile run around the neighborhood. My arm bad for my iPod broke in the middle of the run and so the iPod fell off which freaked me out...alright, was that not the most boring two sentences in the history of the blogging world I think it might be. Anyways, the run was good. I stopped for water about half way through like usual (it's going to be sad when the turn the fountains off) and chugged right along for the rest. I haven't been timing my runs as I'm just trying to get back into but I think it took me a bit under 45 minutes which is good.

Anyways.

I got an e-mail yesterday from the CTA (because I have chicago cards) with a message about the cuts coming up this weekend. My favorite sentance was :

We are asking all of our customers to avoid the rush hour whenever possible by leaving early or late. With the reduction in bus service, we anticipate greater crowds on remaining buses and trains as customers seek different ways to get to work. Customers should expect longer travel times.

It makes it sound like it's going to be an inconvenience for a week while there is some construction going on or something. Oh no. Just for the rest of your life would you mind not leaving so late or leaving work on time. Actually if you could work like 6am - 6pm that would make our lives soooo much better Thanks! OHH..yeah...and we are going to be raising the fares too. Whatever.

And this isn't even the big set of cuts they have planned for the beginning of 2008 where they are cutting so many bus lines that there will 5 (count them...5) east west bus lines between Chicago Ave and Montrose which is insane...including cutting the Addison Bus...are you fucking kidding me...you realize there is a ball park on that street right?

Luckily I work at home now and don't have to deal with all of this, but the Man does ride the bus and after having shoved himself on a bus one too many times he has started riding his bike to work. Good job CTA....make all these cuts and continue to see people move to other modes of travel.

I love Chicago and those of you who know me, know that it takes a lot for me to say something negative about the city. BUT we look like such a trashy city when it comes to public transportation. Hopefully someone will step in before all these cuts and fare increases go into affect.

Have You People Heard of myspace!?!?

Hi.....yeah....uh... right...I created a myspace page like a year and a half ago. I had one friend. I didn't go there ever. Recently, I have been checking out some friends myspace pages, and then I would want to see pictures and it was all "You have to log in to see these". So I was like...ok, this is probably the e-mail address I used, a few more attempts at a password and I was in.

So then I looked at my inbox. Hello! I had messages from yes a bunch of random losers...but also from really old friends of mine. Including my old highschool track teammate. She sent me an e-mail like 4 months ago on there....hmm...I wonder if she still checks her page cause I finally wrote her back. I also had a message from someone *I think* I remember....but they are remembering running into me at the Indy 500...and I don't remember that...but that's probably because I had a few Budweisers at the time.

Anyways, what a strange little world we live in. Hi I would like to find a friend I knew like 10 years ago. Type in the name and there they are. Random crazy awesomeness.

Alright, I'm going to run this afternoon before Jason gets home from work. Yet again we didn't get up early to go. But tomorrow! Tomorrow people we are so on that. Just have to go to bed before the am rolls around.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

Did we do something fabulous, have adventures that took us far away, end up on a ship with no socks and look forward to Gandolf's return (hello....bizarre Friends reference)?

Anyways.

No. We didn't do anything super fabulous, or exciting and yet...yet!...it was the best weekend. Friday night I hung out with Lisa and some of her librarian friends (which by the way...just as nerdy as physicists...ok...well almost) for a book club deal. We never got around to the book, but did get around to pizza and wine which is always fine by me.

Saturday morning we got up earlyish and headed south-east to see little miss jayhawk compete in her first ever 50K. We took pictures, we cheered, we took more pictures, we took pictures of #93....we laughed, we waved goodbye as she went out for her last loop. We headed to small bar for burgers and beer...home to nap. Then we watched movies and stayed up really late. By the way the original The Omen, is exactly the same as the remake...all you people that told me it was way better owe me 2 hours of my life back. And to think we could have watched Slaughterhouse High (or something like that).

Sunday we went for a run (oh yeah we got in a whopping 12 miles last week....getting back in at the pace I like to get back in at...slow). A nice 4 miler around the neighborhood. Then we went to our old neighborhood in Lakeview east and hung out, went to our old neighborhood bar to hangout for the second half of the Bears game. The game was horrible, but it was great to be back. A lot of the people haven't changed, and are just as friendly as they have always been. We went to Borders, we drank coffee.

To round out the evening we went to the Lakeshore Theater with Mike, Barb, Mouse & Dice to see the six finalists competing for Funniest Person in Chicago. When my parents lived in Joliet, before I was born they were friends with Jill and Bill who had a kid named Danny...which apparently when my mother saw said, "That's the cutest little boy in the world...let's have a kid!" and thus I came along. Jill and Bill had another kid Robbie and when I was a kid and they were kids we all hung out and so on. I haven't seen any of these people for about 10-15 years probably and I had found out earlier in the week from Jill that Danny was one of these 6 finalists! So we headed out to see them. It was so good to see everyone, and I loved Robbie's question of, "So being an adult...how's that going?". Danny (hmm...they might go by Dan and Rob now....) got third in the competition and did a great job so congrats to him!

On the walk back to our car we realized that we would have to walk past the Weiner Circle .... which if you don't know has the best Chicago dogs (& fries!) in the city. So we stopped by and had some food...which was good as always. It was a bit strange because there was just two people sitting in there, not ordering. They said something to us like, it gets really crowded in here you know...and I was like...uh...yeah...I guess...I just want my hotdog.

And then it was home and a quick Roseanne Halloween episode on Nick and Nite and then it was off to bed.

I am meeting the Dr downtown for lunch today which should be fun as it gets me out of the house!

And So It Hits Me...

that working at home...means I am in this god awful apartment alone for 10 hours a day.

awesome.

if i start thinking the cat should talk back.....then we'll know we have a problem.

Seriously...this fucking sucks.

Running Fast and Fancy Free

Yesterday I went out for a 4 mile run around noon. Sunny and 50s, or really just the perfect weather for running...nice to get out of the apartment in the middle of the day as well.

With my iPod strapped to my head and a number of bobby pins securing my new short hair (I guess that's the solution for now) I went out. I ran fast. I ran slow. I walked. I sprinted. I walked some more. I felt like I was running like Pheobe. I listened to the most random arrangement of music including Jessie's Girl (shut it), I Wanna Be Sedated & American Music.

It was fun. It was the first time in a long time that I didn't care if I went too fast, or if I walked or whatever. Just nice to get a run in around the neighborhood.

The apartment people are coming to fix our bathroom today. Of course I love when people are late and this guys is continually...ok, we'll be there ins 45 minutes and 2 hours later he shows up. Yesterday he said that he would be here at 8am to start the work......it's now 8:20. I wonder what time they'll get here.

Gone Gone Gone

This morning my dad and stepmom left to go back to their boat which is Luperon, in the Dominican Republic. They have been here since the beginning of September and although our apartment is a wee bit small for 4 people it was great having them here. They were September saviors when our life was crazier than I don't know what, helping us with food and cleaning and whatever. So thanks again to them. I'll miss them but I am going to go and try and visit them in BVI and then they will be back to see my defend whenever that happens. Thanks again kids.

Speaking of my dad....he's an author! He wrote a book called The Why Book of Sailing which is now available to buy at any Borders, Barnes & Nobles or Amazon of course. For anyone out there that likes to sail and have sometimes asked, "Wait why does this work..." or any other questions you have had while out there this is the book for you. My dad was a high school physics teacher for 20+ years and has been sailing for about....I guess a bit under 10 years now. It's written in a very funny and conversationalist manner. So everyone go buy it!

With them gone, the apartment of course feels a bit bigger...but way a lot quieter. Since I am working at home from now on mostly I am going to have to find things to do during the days so I don't go crazy stuck in this apartment. Today we'll start with a nice 4 milish run around the hood...that's right kids....getting back into the thick of it.

I am actually getting more and more upset about the marathon. At the time, I was so busy, I knew the weather was going to be bad ahead of time, but knew that in 5 days we were leaving to go to Bloomington for Jason's defense and then going to straight to Germany so I didn't really have time to worry about it.

So the question has been asked, well why not run another one soon and try and qualify before the deadline.

Because I don't fucking want to. Ok. That's too harsh. Of course I want to run another marathon. But I had put most of my summer time and energy and effort into training for THIS race and I was, I think, in the best shape of my life. I don't know how easy it's going to be to go from two weeks off back into blasting through a 22 mile run like it's nothing and get back into race shape mentally and physically. So I'm frustrated.

Qualifying in Chicago, running Boston in April of 2008 was all part of my life plan. Yes I plan too far ahead. Now I'm not old....but I'm not exactly young....and Jason have been waiting to start a family since we were married (over 3 years ago)...waiting for better jobs & insurance...waiting for me to qualify...waiting for it to be a "better time". When is it ever a perfect time. For the next 10 years of my life I can see things that will always be...well if we wait just one more year...then what..then you are just waiting another year.

I'm not saying that we are running out to have kids right now, because that's not necessarily true, but it's just been talked about more lately. I am going to start running again and see how the legs feel. We'll see. Either way, marathoning is in my life to stay and it's just a matter of how fast marathoning will become :-) Hell if things feel good and miles fall off easily I'm going to look for a race in 6 weeks (or at least right before the cutoff) to do.

Fucking 90 degree marathon. Damn.

More Pictures

I have a website setup which has pictures and stories from the trip which I have updated to include pictures from all days of the trip. I haven't updated the stories from our last few days in Hamburg, but it will be coming in the next few days.

Anyways, if you are interested in seeing pictures and reading the stories up there so far you can head to :

http://web.mac.com/leah_rieger/iWeb/Germany%202007/Welcome.html

More news and stories and running plans to come in the next few days. In short, I am dying to get back out there and run and will probably head out tomorrow for a few miles....I need one more day to get over the jet laggyness.

In short though...it's good to be home!

Stuck in Transit

Well well well....as much as I love to travel....not so much the getting home.

We are currentlz waiting in a train station in Hamburg (citz of nothing to do....literallz walked from one end of town to the other todaz......the 'y' and the 'z' are flipped on the German keyboard I am using....and saw everzthing there was to see).

So we got to the train station at about 5:30pm for a 9:18 (thinking there might be somethign to do....but it's similar to the city) train back to Berlin...where we will then make our way to the airport to wait for our flight at 6:05...then a one hour flight to Amsterdam...then a 3 hour layover....then a 7 hour flight...THEN we'll be home...so if zou were counting, we are currently about 20 hours away from Chicago.

Alright time to give the Dr. Jman a turn on the computer....a mean 90 minutes awaz from our train departure.

Leah...signing off and dreaming of dreaming.

Stories & Pics So Far

Well I got my iWeb/.mac back on and made a website to track the trip so far.

Head here : http://web.mac.com/leah_rieger/iWeb/Germany%202007/Welcome.html

to read stories and see lots of pictures from our first two days in Berlin..stay tuned there cause there will be more to come.

Talk is Over

My talk at the conference went well...although the first thing Jason said was that I talked really fast....he claims that he didn't say it...but whatever :-) I kid, I know that I tend to talk really fast and I go up a level when I'm really nervous. But I think it was ok. Most of the questions were not on my analysis but rather on the other analysis I presented which I don't know as much about.

We were at the conference yesterday from about 8am to 7:30pm and so haven't gotten much of a chance to explore Hamburg. We have plans to head to do the downtown area tonight and see some of the harbors. Our adviser who lived here for a summer when he was an undergrad suggested going to see that as well as heading down to the Reeperbahn, which used to be the biggest Red Light district in Europe, although we have heard that it has become a bit touristy now.

I also am working on getting a full detailed trip report page with lots of pictures, but am thinking about the best way to do that.

He's a Dr & Berlin Rocks

Hello from Germany!

Just a quick update that Jason is now officialy going to have to be referred to as Dr. Jason. He did great on his presentation and much fun was had in Bloomington.

Our flight to Germany on KLM airlines was *awesome*. They had FREE BOOZE, two full meals and a snack. Very good stuff, the Dutch really know how to do it.

No time for a long update, but pictures and a travel log will be following in the next few days.

Oh and we didn't bring our running shoes....one more week off works for us.

Soon to be Empty Dance Card

Well these two Chicago kids have been extremely busy since the marathon. Jason of course has a real job, while I have been stressing and working on getting my analysis submitted to collaboration review. That made it through alright, now I just have to hope they approve it for the conference. I really don't see any reason why it shouldn't as it's a solid analysis.

Aside from that Jason is defending his thesis tomorrow. He's not that worried about it because he has given the talk so many times, but it's still another thing that needs to be done and something that if he won't worry about, at least I can.

THEN we leave for Germany on Saturday. So we are going to have two days in Bloomington, then it straight to Ohare, meaning anything we need will have to be packed and ready today.

Oh and I have to give a practice talk for the Germany talk tomorrow.

Just have to survive a few more days and then it's all the German beer I can drink.

The New Hotness

Alright, the marathon is over.....my head was getting that 5 year itch that it tends to get...and so it was off to the salon I went yesterday. It was time for a change and I think I'm going to love it!



I have had short hair in the past....and I love it...and then I wake up and have monster bead head and do a slight *freak* out, but this morning it was pretty smooth sailing which was good.

Mike Downey is an Idiot or We Are Stupid

For those of you that caught Mike Downey's editorial in the sports of section of the Chicago Tribune probably know what I'm talking about. For those of you that have yet to see it check it out here.

I would love to write a long commentary on the poor organization of the race and how the race director keeps shooting himself in the foot......but I am uber busy with my upcoming conference presentation and getting ready to go to Germany AND getting Jason ready for his defense in 2 days. So needless to say I don't have time. My dad on the other is retired...and so does. He sent the following letter to the Chicago Tribune this morning in response to the Downey article.

Mike Downey calls everyone who ran the Chicago Marathon stupid. There are several obvious problems with this simplistic conclusion. First he claims that their were 10,000 "smart" people who didn't run but he offers no data as to how many of those didn't run because of the weather. Moreover how does this year's 10,000 compare to how many typically don't end up running the marathon for whatever reason in previous years.

Having helped Mr. Downey with his math let's get to the stupid part. A basic marathoner has trained 25 weeks after paying $110 for the privilege of running in this prestigious event. As a former runner and a close observer of my daughter and her husband's training regime I know what smart runners do. Upon seeing the weather report they instantly give up on running a personal record. My daughter knew she would not qualify for Boston (her goal) this year due to the weather. They expect to run slower and perhaps even walk some of the race. They know that they will have to take on more water (and yes perhaps splash some on their heads) than they normally do. Is it not reasonable then to expect that the race committee could also be as smart as the runners and put out 5 to 10 times more water than normal? This should have been doable for the nearly 5 million dollars collected in entry fees not to mention the support offered by the sponsors. We're talking water here not champagne.

The weather didn't get hot the day before. This weather had been predicted at least a week in advance. Indeed the race committee sent e-mails to all the competitors warning them of the weather. Here's that e-mail receive 3 days before the race.

Heat Advisory

Attention LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon Participants:

The weather forecasts for race day – Sunday, October 7 – are indicating that we could have a warm and humid day with temperatures expected to be in the 82 F / 28 C range on race day (according to weather.com). We recommend you stay tuned to local weather forecasts to properly prepare for the race.

Medical Director George Chiampas suggests the following preparation for race day:

* Dress appropriately – avoid cotton fabrics, long sleeves and long pants. Wear lightweight, breathable fabrics that will help to keep you cool.

* Wear sunglasses and waterproof sunscreen. With the amount of time you will be on the course, you want to be sure to protect your skin and eyes.

* Pay special attention to hydration. Drink plenty of fluids the day before and morning of the race. Drink enough fluids to maintain your baseline body weight, but be aware of overhydration. If you begin to gain weight above your baseline, you are drinking too much water and depleting your sodium level which is important to maintain.

* Be sure to stay hydrated during the race. Make note of aid stations and prepare to utilize them. You will need to drink more to compensate for the rapid depletion of your body's fluids in the heat.

* Plan to adjust your pace for the weather. The humidity and heat will require more of your body so a slower pace than planned is recommended in order to get you to the finish line without overheating.

* Most importantly: PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BODY DURING THE RACE. If at ANY time your body gives you signals to slow down or stop, abide by them. Be aware of your heart rate, body temperature and hydration. If you feel light-headed, dizzy or overheated or experience chest pain, visual disturbances, cramping, vomiting or headache, slow down or stop and consult the medical personnel on the course immediately.

There will be a cooling/misting tent next to the Medical Tent at the Finish Line to assist with post-race cool down.

We want everyone to enjoy race day and that means being in the best possible condition to complete the course. Take it slow, pay attention to your body's stress signals and be aware of medical staff and aid stations to help you along the way.

Notice that nowhere in here are the runners advised to skip the race altogether. They offer important and helpful advise especially the advise to take on plenty of water during the race. How can you offer this 'tip' and then not have enough water? That's a mean trick!

According to race officials, each of the aid stations was outfitted with 50,000 to 70,000 servings of water and 37,000 servings of Gatorade, said Shawn Platt, a senior vice president of LaSalle Bank. That's about one Gatorade per person and 1-2 cups of water per person. That's not exactly rallying the troops for the heat. Should have been a LOT more. Moreover, race director Carey Pinkowski, is quoted as saying that they didn't anticipate people pouring water on their heads. How can you not expect this little cooling effort on such a day. Have we not all seen runners pour water on themselves?

Marathoners sacrifice a lot for their sport. They don't go out when their friends do. They may miss some important events (Cubs game!) because their training dictates their schedule. When you've made a commitment like this to excel and to challenge yourself, it is not so easy to suddenly become "smart" and not run at all. No. The smart runner just runs a different race. Some likewise support from the race organizers and sponsors would have been much appreciated.

Chicago Marathon 2007 - Leah's Death March

**First of all if you haven't seen all the pictures from the race, head down to the previous post for a slide show of pictures. There are a few of the choice ones included below. Also, there are probably typos...the report is happening between work stuff that has to get done, i.e. quickly. **

My third marathon is over and done with. The first year we did the race it was cool and a perfect day, last year the weather at the start was in the 30s and windy, and this year as most people know the weather was record high hot with temps reaching into the high 80s. I know that some people would get to aid stations only to find that there were no more fluids left. I was lucky enough to not have had to deal with that, so I can't comment on it.

We started the day already sweating. My dad met us at our apartment and I gave him a quick instruction on the new camera and convinced him he really wanted to take it. Then he seemed more nervous than us as he was standing around and jingling the keys. We left the apartment at about 6:30am, picked up Chad and Bridgette on Chicago and Wabash and then headed south towards the start line. We jumped out of the car at Lake St. and headed to our start corral.

As usual the corrals were a bundle of nervous and excitement. We stationed ourselves with the 3:40 pacers and started chatting with some of the guys around us. One guy was from Atlanta and this was his 6th marathon and the other guy we talked to was a marathoning newbie. I was worried about this guy because he said when he drinks water or Gatorade he feels sick so he wasn't going to do that during the race.....I hope he ended up ok as the day would prove there would be no room for that kind of behavior.

The race started and I was surprised to see our first mile hit in 7:46, this is about 40 seconds too fast for a 3:40. The pacers all started yelling for the 3:40 people to slow down. We saw our full group of spectators at about mile one with my dad looking like a pro taking pictures of us. I'm such a ham for the camera! Mile 2 hit in 9:08 and we were way ahead of pacers so I know they had slowed too much. During Mile 3, they came sprinting past us like they were going to make up 50 seconds during the next mile. At that point I said forget it and we'll just do what we can on our own since the pacers seemed to be all over the place.

We saw our spectators again a little bit after mile 4 and smiled and waved and high fived. Although at this point I was already not feeling great. We were keeping up with an 8:15ish pace but just didn't feel right. You know getting into that groove didn't seem to be happening. We saw Mouse and Dice at about mile 5.5 and I tried to smile, but realizing already that there was 21 miles to go was making it a bit tough to look happy.

As we made the turn onto Addison, people were still in good spirits. Someone yelled, "Alright everyone this is as far north as we'll go!" I thought...yeah still not yet 8 miles into the race. We saw our spectators after making the turn onto Broadway and we did our best to look good. We were still on pace for a 3:40 at this point but realized there was no way it was going to happen as we were exhausted. We got to the next aid station, got some Gatorade and walked through the whole thing. Had some water, dumped some water on the head and started running again.

At this point, I was asking myself what the point was of going through a 16 mile death march and maybe we should just bail when we next saw our spectators. Jason said, maybe we should just run to the next aid station, and walk through the whole thing getting enough fluids down and cooling down a bit. I thought that was a good idea and so we aimed just to do that. When we saw our spectators at mile 13 however we were not looking our best. They said, afterwards, that we looked *horrible* at that point in the race. I think that this picture is a perfect description of the race this year. I'm about to cry and the guy next to me is already walking and looking bad.

But then we crossed 1/2 way.

And then, I heard Jason scream out in pain. I looked at him and we stopped and he said he had a horrible cramp in his leg. He stretched a bit and then we were back on it.....for a block or two when the pain came back to him. I know he was really pissed off, but as far as I was concerned, just finishing today was the goal as our original time goal was out the window. We stayed together up until a point and then I told him that I was going to go on because it was too hot for me to take longer that I needed out there.

I went ahead and met up with our spectators at the Halstead Blue line stop, just before mile 17 I think. I never stop in a race....but yesterday I did. I pulled up next to them and chatted for awhile and drank some of the water they had with them. I decided to wait on Jason because another 10 miles alone was going to be lonely and maybe we could just finish together. Plus I realized he had the 2nd Gu in his pocket that I might want. So I waited for him to come by. I told my dad to call ahead and tell our spectators not to leave that we would be there eventually. Jason continued to suffer from leg cramps and at one point said that his foot was facing in the wrong direction and that he had to stop at the next available medical tent. I told him that I was going to go ahead because the stopping to walk was making me more exhausted than just running along slowly. He said he would be fine and be careful and if he got stuck he would find a phone to call someone.

So off I went.

I didn't really have any goals at this point. I just kept doing the run to the next aid station and walk through it getting a glass of Gatorade and water down at each stop and then picking it back up to running.

I stopped and told our spectators in Chinatown what was happening with Jason and then ran into the lovely Lisa and Evin a few blocks down. I slowed down and they walked with me for about 3 blocks and said I looked great and people were just dropping left and right.

I left them and continued on. I knew that the 22 mile marker was just past this point and the last 4 miles of the marathon I'm usually pretty good with. I know there's only 4 miles to go and that I could do it. I looked at my watch and also realized that if I kept doing what I was doing and averaging just under 10 min/mile I would be faster than my slowest time which ended up being my only goal. You have to think of something while you are out there.

With over 2 miles to go we made the turn onto Michigan Ave. and it was horrible. It was about noon and there was no. shade. anywhere. No where to escape the sun, just plodding up the street. There was a hydrant open somewhere along here and I stopped and just let it soak me before I continued on. I stopped at two of the aid stations along here which I don't usually do since it's so close to the end, but I was keeping with my game plan. I kept looking at what street were on and be shocked that there was still 16 or 17 blocks to go. Finally the one mile to go sign came into view, followed by the big turn onto Roosevelt. I looked for my spectators and ran strong up the hill. I gave them a thumbs up and a fist pump and continued on.


Making the big turn onto Columbus and seeing the finish line and knowing that I was going to complete a marathon in one of the worst conditions ever made me very happy.

I crossed the line in 4:10:35 which I'm thrilled with.

Then I crossed the line and all I had been thinking of for the past 20 miles was to finish so I could get an ice cold towel in the finishing shoot. But oh no. What do they have there? The mylar blanket things they usually have to keep you warm. What the ass? How hard would have been to get big buckets of ice and put towels in them. I made my way through the shoot, and had a beer which I don't usually do. I told the woman handing them out that I could use about 12 of them. I kept seeing people with bags of ice and asked where that was. When I finally found it (at the very end of the shoot) they were all out. I asked a girl who had 4 bags of ice just sitting on the ground if she was using them all and she gave me a very snotty look and said she was...ok, glad the ground was getting a good icing.

But I headed over to Columbus and Michigan and found my Dad and Chad. I started crying because I had left Jason when he was in pain and I didn't know where he was or if he was ok. Eventually we heard that he was ok, and so we waited for him to come by. We were exhausted and sweaty and gross, but we had again completed a marathon. I was so happy that I didn't quit even though I wanted to. A sense of accomplishment, even though the goal I had worked on all summer was out the window before the race even started.

There will be other marathons, and other chances to run fast. For now I am taking a couple weeks off. With a trip to Germany coming up next week and a busy week of work with us, we don't really have time to think about our next race or to run at all...and right now, I'm really ok with that and looking forward to the break. I do love marathoning....but it's been a long hard summer and I don't want to think about the next race for awhile

Pictures

Thanks to my dad getting the first go at the new camera we got tons(!) of great pictures from the race. My stepmom also took a lot of pictures so they have been upload to picasa and reorganized for your enjoyement. So here they are...the good...the bad...and the sweaty

Four Hour Ten MInute Death March

well. we aren't dead.

ok....let's not ever run a marathon in 90 degree heat. Ok?

I never felt great in the race....but managed to pull out a 4:10 something. So it's not my worst time, but....my god....horrible. ah...well...I'm still smiling and I finished. Stay tuned for race reports from both of us.

Wow...The Cubs are Bad...

shit man. When does my team get to win. It's not over yet....but my god they look like they should have been in the NL Central cellar.

Leah got a present today...oh yes she did...she's a little terrified of it...yes she does like to refer to herself in th 3rd person....but something she can grow into...another thing to learn.....the Canon 40D (whoo hoo to real money!) I hope to get back into a photo-a-day thing with this sucker. Also should have some good pictures of us running tomorrow because not only can it do your laundry, but when you press the shutter....the picture takes immediately! So Chicago people, be prepared to talk to me with a camera strapped to my face for awhile.

So right. The marathon.....wait let me do a weather check as I sit in a pool of my own sweat like it's the middle of fucking July...yep....no magical weather gnomes coming with cooler weathr. 75 degrees at the start....no clouds. Well here's to a fun day anyways. Look for signs like these (yes...yes they were taken with the new camera) all over the course as our spectators will be along the course every 5 miles.

When I say CHICAGO you say MARATHON....When I say Chicago you say "GOING TO SWEAT MY ASS OFF"

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE.
DO. NOT. BE. A. HERO.

This is probably not the race to PR. Be careful and have fun out there! It's a great race with lots to look at along the course...plus when you tell people that you ran a marathon in 88 degree temps they'll think you'll a total badass.....or a moron.

I Don't Usually Toot....

my own horn that is.

But.

My talk today....went really well. I got a huge vote of support and a big compliment after my talk in front of the rest of the folks in the meeting from the old head of my physics group and two congratulatory emails from my advisor.

It feels good to have done so good. It's been a rare feeling these past few years. But today. Today I did good.

Uh...It's Friday

Well kids. Sunday we have this "marathon" to run.

What?

I have been so busy with work stuff that I haven't been up to my usual 8 posts a day that usually grace this blog the week before the marathon. Good on one hand because I haven't really had time to freak out or get too worked up about it. Bad on the other since...well i haven't analyzed every step of the race :-)

Today I will be giving the biggest presentation so far in my graduate student career. I'm presenting my analysis to the entire collaboration (well...of course not all 600 people will be there, but it's available for anyone to go to). I am hoping to have it approved for the conference I am going to next week.

That's the other thing...uh yeah....Jason is defending his thesis a week from today and we leave for Germany a week from tomorrow. Right then.

I have tons of work to do for the conference, including finishing up the analysis note and working on the presentation since I have to give a practice talk by Thursday of next week. So the race is just another thing on my dance card this week.

Oh...and the weather is up to a high of 88 and mostly sunny on Sunday. Sigh. Given that it's two days away now, it's looking like it's going be a hot one. So everyone running be careful out there! I know (believe me) it's frustrating after training for 18 weeks and doing everything as right as you can only to have the only thing you can't control come and bite you in the ass.

Good Luck Everyone! Most of all HAVE FUN!!!

I Just You Just Have to Laugh?

From Tom Skilling :


Well that's it kids. My favorite part is that the highs might exceed the record that has stood for 6 decades.

86 degrees....ok so say in the morning, about 10 degrees cooler....so 76 degrees.

hmm...well yeah. that pretty much sucks.

My new game plan is to try and just stick with the 3:40 pacers....and see what happens. I think I am in shape for somewhere between 3:30-3:35....but not in that kind of weather. Hell, I don't actually think I trained to do a 3:40 in that weather. I'm not trying to be not positive, but realistic. That temperature is about 30 degrees too warm. Given what happened during the warm (read : fucking hotter than hell) Chicago Distance Classic 1/2 marathon, I think my fears are grounded. I'm afraid of dehydrating and ending up in the medical tent...or dead.

oh yeah...and work stuff...please. Busier than I have ever been in my life. Perfect.

***editors note...the title should have been "I Guess You Just..." ...must have been a bit out of it when I wrote it***

Remember when I said I had Calmed....

uh yeah...now that weather.com, Tom Skilling, Accuweather and Weather Underground agree on the weather for Sunday I'm back to slightly stressed....

all have predictions of 84-87 and partly cloudy for race day. That's really really warm! Still time for it to change, but the surrounding days aren't looking good anymore.

Oh well.

Calming Down

Alright.

Well.

I feel way more relaxed today. At some point one has to go ... I've done what I can do, and thus that is that. I've put the training in for the race. I can't change Chicago weather but it will be what it will be and stressing about it won't change. I've worked hard on my analysis....if it doesn't get through....it doesn't.

The talk on Friday should be ok. It's a much more main talk than the usual talks I give because it is for the whole experiment (well those who show up) and not just my little comfortable physics group.

So that's that.

Focus on a good race. I kind of have a plan for the race but I'm sure more will go into that as the days pass.

The Cubs are in the playoffs. And yes Bob....don't want to talk about the Bears. But I gotta say...anything can happen in a Bears/Packers game so I wouldn't get too comfortable up north. Maybe the Packers will do the nice choke job that your Brewers did.

6 mile recovery tonight.

Closing In On Me....

the stress that is.

The marathon is this weekend.
The race weather looks like it'll be warm and thus I worry.
I think my analysis is broken.
I leave for Europe in about 10 days.
I have a big presentation on Friday.
I am worried my analysis won't be approved by the time I leave.
I am having major attitude problems (at least I kept it away from my advisor this time).
I want to move out of our ghetto fabulous apartment...like tomorrow, but then there is a thing called a "lease".

Trying. To. Breathe.

Ok, Time to Start Freaking....

I told myself I wasn't going to do this, I wasn't going to hit refresh on weather.com every other minute because the weather will be what it will be and there isn't anything you can do about it. Ok. so I peeked. Leave me alone. Could it be more opposite from last year :

So if the weather all moves back a day, we are good, if it moves up a day....85 degrees and thunderstorms....uh...that's horrible! Race day weather looks way too warm. Paces all go up a little when the weather is warm....and 78 degrees is not just a "little" warm.

Sigh. Well we have a week to go so it's still early to look at the temps. Hopefully we'll have Monday's weather!

GO CUBS GO!!!!

AND THUS..........

THE CUBS HAVE WON THE NL CENTRAL!!!!!!!

YAYA!!!!!

27th Mile

Calling all Chicago marathon runners or spectators. If you haven't responded to the lovely Jayhawk's evite OR put your name in her comments, then keep reading.

Come out and celebrate the end of the marathon with your fellow RBFers! Here's the details :

What? The 27th Mile Celebration...RBF Meet Up...Post-Race Celebration
When? Sunday. 10/7 at 6:30
Where? Garrett Ripley
Why? Do you really need a reason to come out and drink...I don't think so. Come out and share your marathon stories!

If you are interested in coming out, leave a message in the comments (again if you haven't responded to the evite or already let Barb know)! Of course thanks to the lovely Jayhawk for getting this set up again this year. She's a rockstar.

The Last Run

Well hard run anyways.

As I mentioned yesterday we had our last tough run of the training series last night. V02 Max 8miles with 3x1600m. Last year our times for the repeats were 7:10, 7:20 and 7:18. This year I looked up what a 5K pace should be for a 3:35 marathon and 7:06 was the big number. We ran down to the track and then started repeating ..... and we did them in 6:57, 7:03 & 6:55. So we saw a nice big improvement from last night. I think this is my favorite workout of the series.

The Dad picked us up from the track and we headed home to a disappointing Cubs game...but (and I can't believe I am going to say this...) a great Cardinals game...go you red birds!

Alright, meeting time and work to do.

Tapering

The good thing about the taper this year is that we are so busy with work and other stuff that it hasn't really hit yet that the marathon is next weekend.

Tonight is the last tough workout of the training series with a V02 Max workout. It's 8 miles with 3x1600m at 5K pace. Shouldn't be a big deal.

Life so far at 28 is feeling good. I had a great birthday dinner on Monday night at Wildfire (my favorite Chicago restaurant).

Alright, that's all from here.....lots of work.....bleh

Wiiiiiiiing!!!!!

Well I might be a little late in the techno-geek world....but whatever. Videos of people wiiiing are always funny!!! Enjoy the video below of these nerds boxing! (I am using the new blogger video thing so hopefully this will work)

I'M NOT THAT OLD

JASON GOT ME A WIIIIIIIII FOR MY BIRTHDAY12!@!1!

WIIIIIIIIIII!!!

Rationality...LOVE IT

Closer to 30

Today is my birthday and I turn 28....you know that's the age where you are closer to 30 than you are to 25. It's going to be a good year though. Last year was rough because I felt like I had gone nowhere with my career or life or anything. This year things are progressing nicely with my analysis being closer to done and Jason having a job and us being able to move this little family right along.

So yes. It's my birthday. Twenty. Eight. (The people that are 28 when you are in college sound like they are sooooooo old....oh well.)

Alright. My birthday brings a lot of work though, so I best get on it.

You have GOT to be kidding me!!!!

The Cubbies are looking like they are going to the playoffs.

Jason, my Dad, my stepmpm and I got tickets online for the NLDS home game 1.....standing room only....but whatever it's a ticket into the ballpark.

The Cubs won again today...the Brewers lost again (sorry Bob!) and so we are up 3.5 games. Looking good...when is that game going to be that we have ticekts to?

How about....FUCKING OCTOBER 6TH. Are you kidding me. ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME!?!?! Not only am I not going to the game, but I'll probably be in bed before the game ends to get enough sleep before the race the next morning. I have never been to a playoff game. In 2003 we were in Bloomington.

THEN if they win the first series...and go to the National League championship....the games start on the 11th and end on the 21st or something. The four of us leave Chicago on the 11th for Bloomington and his thesis defense...so we'll be there for the start.....THEN on the 13th Jason and I go to Germany....So we'll miss ALL the Chicago games in Chicago....damn. But.....we'll be here for the World Series if needed :-)

Oh and we ran today. 16 miles...felt "eh". Went too late and it was warm out and the Fleet Feet Gatorade stands were alread down. You know what's gross...The Accelerade gu.....it's all we had in the house and I choked most of it down but YUCK. Alright. Well that's it.

Go you Cubbies!!!!!

You see, Leah would never make this mistake

So, I was all set to run after work. I had it all planned out. I would come home around 6, say hi to my father-in-law, then go out to run. I totally had it all planned out.

But then I beat him home, so the agreed upon plan was to meet at the bar around the corner. Fine. I went to the bar, ordered a beer. As the beer ended and I ordered another, I realized what beer doesn't go well with. Running. It took me a beer to remember that I had to run. You see, Leah has to always be around to be my personal trainer. I can't be trusted.

Oh well. Instead of running I had two martinis. It all works.

87

I thought we were done with the shitty hot weather? Of course it gets all heated up again when it's time for Jason and I to V02 Max. On the way home I saw a temperature on a bank sign of 87 degrees. Awesome.

The run went fine actually. I think we both started to get affected by just how tired we were from our 4 hours of sleep the night before. But all the same 5x600m :

1. 2:33
2. 2:32
3. 2:38
4. 2:37
5. 2:34

So probably started off a bit too fast...but whatever, it's done. We ran back to Noble and Chicago where my dad was waiting to pick us up. Jason and I owe my Dad and stepmom and big thank you. They are staying with us while they are in town and have been able to help us with workouts, (meeting us at the end with Gatorades and driving us home) and Sue has made us dinner most nights which is nice. With all the stuff that has been happening with Jason finishing his thesis and starting a new job and me finishing my analysis and trying to make it through the last few weeks of marathon training, it's been great having the extra support. So thanks you guys.

Speaking of my analysis, it has been handed into the group. Very exciting.

Tonight it's a 5 mile recovery...Friday it's a 4 mile recovery....where the hell is my weekly 11 miler? Gone Gone Gone.

Busy weekend ahead with dinner in Chinatown on Thursday, a girls only family sleepover on Friday, a Cubs game on Saturday (don't even want to talk about last night)....then Monday is my birthday. I'll be 28. What. That's closer to 30 than to 25. Boo. But we are going to go out to dinner at Wildfire which will make the extra year totally worth it.

Jason is really liking his job so far. He said that the guys he work with are all really nice and funny. He's learning a ton and quickly as he already has deadlines and todo lists. So good for him on that.

Like Dawn...What Should I not do....

Oh have a cup of coffee at about 9pm.

Then I'm twiddling my thumbs, watching a movie, opening new circuits on Mario Kart....and then it's 1:30am....still looking at the clock and double checking that yes in fact the alarm is set for 6am.

I am turning in my analysis to the group today and I'm all nervous about it.

No running yesterday and such a light week this week. Today being the toughest at 8miles with 5x600m, but we are pros at this workout so shouldn't be a problem.

Getting. Antsy. About. Race. Day.

Good post huh? Alright, that's all from here. Keep on enjoying the taper everyone.

What's Up Bitches?!?!

22 MILES that's what!

Yesterday morning Jason and I headed out for the last long training run before the taper starts. Since the Fleet Feet people were going to be out there for a their "Ready to Run" run we decided to go as early as possible so we wouldn't have to deal with them too much.

This ended up being a great plan. We got down to the lakefront path at about 6:10am and after about a mile we were treated to a beautiful sunrise over city.

I have to make this short because I have a ton of work to do today, but in short, the last many miles were fast (less than 8:30). Our last mile was in 7:29 and we finished this run in 3:11:39. I went and checked the archives of this blog and found that we had done this run in 3:25 last year. So about 15 minutes faster which is super nice to see. I'm feeling way confident about the marathon now and looking forward to tapering.

Ok now I must get my physics on.

After a Long Night & Early Morning

The boy turned in his thesis to his committee.

I don't know what else to say except that I'm so proud of him! I can't believe it's just about done. In one month from today he will defend the thesis in Bloomington. So not quite done yet as he still has to write a defense talk and then will have more corrections from his committee after the defense. But getting in the 180+ page paper in, is a huge milestone.

No running yesterday.

Today it's a 10miler. Hopefully Jason does end up sleeping while he's running.

Tomorrow it's Notre Dame vs. Michigan....hmm....a big game as always, but fun as both teams are sucky sucky so let's see who goes to 0-3.

Sunday is a 22 mile long run and I must say that I am a bit irritated at Fleet Feet. They are hosting their "Ready to Run" run or whatever (which by the way if you aren't a CARA member AND signed up for their marathon training plan this event is $45 bucks!) They are using the whole fucking lakefront path with 3000+ people participating in the run. What about all the people that aren't part of the magic "I'm loaded so can pay to run with people" that still have a run to do on this day. AND what about their usual Gatorade stands? Now that people have paid for the event are those going to be gone? I'm guessing the official ones for the race are only going be for people with numbers or whatever.

Anyways, I'm sure we'll be fine as they said that the would be separated into groups of 50 people or so, but I'm just annoyed that they feel then need to use the whole path. Not everyone racing on October 7th is signed up for this run and so we'll get pushed around a bit I am thinking. I'm not exactly thrilled about running 9 miles "upstream" dodging people all the way (The plan is to run from the house to the lake front path, then south for 9 miles and then back north for 9 miles. The fleet feet run starts at 7 on the north side and runs to the south end, so I'm thinking I'll get caught up in some traffic on the return part).

So we'll see how that goes.

Ohhhhh SWEEET

Yesterday we had another V02 Max workout. I would have to say of the tough workouts V02 Max workouts are my favorites. They are tough, but unlike LT workouts they end. (I hate LT runs)

So on the calendar was 4x1200m @ 5K pace. I did some running math and a 3:30 marathon had us projected to do 1200m at 5:12 and 3:40 at 5:26. I just checked on the McMillian calculator actually and for a 3:35 1200m should be between 5:11 and 5:26...go figure that I'm doing the math correctly.

The workout also calls for 2 minutes between each repeat which we just about did, but rather took 400m jogging inbetween, this ended up at about 2:30 instead of 2 minutes, but I do like the one lap recovery.

So what were the repeats?...take this :

1. 5:02.26
2. 5:11.83
3. 5:12.67
4. 5:07.18

YAY!

Actually we felt pretty good on each repeat and weren't to labored on any of them. I'm not saying I was thrilled on that last 200m.....but you know what I'm saying.

Anyways.

In work news, I gave an update to my analysis today at the lab and it's looking good to getting approved for the conference I am going to, in fact I might get my own talk now instead of having to talk about two separate analysis. In Jason's work news it's going well so far. Tonight is an off day from running which is good as he'll put the final touches on the ole' thesis.

Weather in Chicago

I love this town for several reason, today displaying one of my favorites...

It's been sticky and hot and stickier and hotter and swealtering and steaming and horrible in Chicago I would say the past month or so. I woke up this morning and my little weather widget came on with a '48' degrees outside. WHAT. You mean not 90? Wait..that means it probably won't get up to 90...and I was right. I walked down to a local coffee shop to get out of my apartment for a little bit (working at home is good..but you don't see anyone else especially now that the boy is all mr.ihaveadowntownjobandimreallyfancy and not home). And I walked in jeans and long sleeve shirt type thing....and was still a little chilly.

IT"S HERE!!!! FALL IS HERE!!!

Now, I just want to hold on to this weather for a little under 4 weeks and have a perfect race day.

Yesterday we did a 5 mile run with 6 strides thrown in during the last mile. Tonight we have a V02 Max workout 10 miles with 4x1200m@5K pace. I'm a little worried about it...but it shouldn't be too bad. I think that the longer the repeat the easier it is...not easy....but you get time to get your stride and your pace under control.

Alright, that's all from here. Time to walk back to my apartment.

She Likes When I Work From Home.....

Cause she has a warm place to sit......spoiled kitty.

17 Miles

On Sunday Jason and I got through a 17 mile long run.

I wish I had more interesting things to say about the run. We ended up averaging 8:55 min/mile. With about 5 miles to go I got a little cranky, but kept putting one foot in front of the other and the run came to an end like it always does.

We did the last mile at marathon race pace coming in at 8:10.

Alrighty. That's about all that's happening here. Jason is having fun at the new job and he already has a project and a deadline.

It's chilly in Chicago these days which is a nice change from the heat and humidity that the end of summer brought. Ok. Fascinating post I know.

No more Fermi

Well, Friday marked my last day at Fermilab (other than the day I go in to clean out the office and, probably, the nerd Halloween party). To mark the occasion, we did one last run around the accelerator ring. For those of you who aren't familiar, Fermilab sports the world's most powerful particle collider, smashing together protons and antiprotons, creating energies not seen since minutes after the Big Bang. For these reasons, we've always though it kind of cool that we were able to run with the protons.

But, probably not anymore. I'm starting my new job tomorrow downtown, leaving the physics world for the finance/banking world. It's exciting stuff, to be sure, but sad all the same. Physics has been a part of my life for parts of the last ten years and it has defined the way I think. But more importantly, I've worked side-by-side with Leah for parts of the last eight years, and pretty intensely for the last five. We've struggled through grad school together and made it out to the other side and it's been everything...everything from fun to frustrating, challenging to elating. I would never trade in the last five years with Leah for anything. Everyone's always been shocked that we work together and live together, but to me it seems the most natural thing in the world. She's my best friend, why wouldn't I want to work with her?

So, yes, I'm going to miss that. But it'll be an exciting new world as well. We'll actually get to miss each other and then share our day with each other, which'll be a nice treat. Plus, we won't be everyone's broke-ass friends who have to duck out of any commitment that costs more than about 10 bucks. That'll be quite nice. So, in summary, it's sad to have to move on, but it'll be good in the end, especially since it eventually means condos and kids and all that.

Anyway, as I said, we did one lap around the ring. We were supposed to do strides as well, but we were caught in a surprise rainstorm, so we decided against it. And it was really more of a walk-run anyway, with an emphasis on "walk." Here's one last look at the ring:

Then Saturday we were supposed to do an 8-15k race. So, we decided to do 5 miles and maybe do them kind of fast...which we did until we decided to walk. Lots of walking in the last couple of days. So, that run was probably a fast 3 miles and then a 2 mile walk-run. Whatev. We wanted to get out and buy my new school work clothes. I'm going to be Mr. Business Casual. Really, my new place of employment puts the emphasis on the casual part of business casual, but I don't want to be on the low end of the dress spectrum. So, I've got lots of nifty button-down shirts, new jeans (my old ones were being held together with safety-pins), and some khakis. Look at me! I'm not a grad student anymore! Whee!

And then tomorrow starts my first day at a real job in over 5 years. Am I nervous?

Yes.

Cubs play today at 12:35. Am I nervous?

Yes.

Bears play at San Diego at 3. Am I nervous?

Nah. They've got Urlacher.

Go Cubs. Go Bears.

11 Miles on the Campus

Yesterday Jason and I headed out for probably our last long run at Fermilab. We had 11 miles on the schedule which is a perfect distance to hit all the major points of interest here. As we were running, in the 90 degrees, with no shade and no water, Jason said, "Oh how I'm going to miss you long straight stretches of death". I said, "You probably could have just known that you were going to miss this without actually going out there and killing yourself in the heat". It wasn't *that* bad though, although the effort that was being put out was not equaling the paces per miles. I hate days like that, where you are feeling like you are working really hard and the Garmin beeps and you are like really.....that was my pace....45 seconds slower than what usually feels comfortable. We ended up pacing about 9:05 min/mile for this run which is fine.

I have been very much, "This is the last time we'll have lunch at the high rise" or , "This is the last time we'll go for a run here" this week. Jason goes..."yeah, uh huh that's sad. I have to finish my thesis, stop talking." Leave me alone. I'm a girl.

Tomorrow really should be the last day. Jason is just finishing the last few changes and can hand the advisor the final revised, plots added, 175 page goodness tomorrow morning. The idea being that at this point any changes that need to be made shouldn't be huge and any additions should be minor. That way he can finish up what he needs to do there in the evenings next week when he gets home from work...that's the idea anyways.

Are We Still Sweating in Chicago?

Jesus H. Christ...what is going on with this weather. Why is it still 90 f'in degrees on September 4th and today we have a high of 90 degrees. However, looking at weather.com relief is on the way with the next 10 days all having a high in the 70s. That's the nice fall weather that we all cherish.

So we had this V02 Max workout last night : 8 miles with 5x600m @ 5K pace with 90s recovery inbetween. I don't know why whenever we run down to the track we feel like crap. It's hot, our legs hurt blah blah blah. No change with that yesterday but I had the added benefit of a super sore stomach. I didn't know if I was hungry or having bigger problems.

We did our first 600m repeat and I realized I was having much bigger problems. I quickly jogged over to the field house that is next to the track and beelined for the bathroom. Not good what happened in there....ANYWAYS, I came back out and finished up the splits and to my surprise they all went really well, taking a few seconds off from when we did this 2 weeks ago. Also we stuck mainly to the 90s recovery aside from inbetween the first and second when I was in the bathroom. The splits were :

1. 2:33
2. 2:38
3. 2:37
4. 2:38
5. 2:35

Nice consistency throughout the splits. We did our usual run back to Ogden and Chicago and stopped in the CVS for some food and Gatorade. Since we smelled super awesome we decided to walk home from there.

I am looking forward to some relief from this weather and that looks like it'll be here tomorrow.

Jason and I have decided to do the next two runs at Fermilab because we realized it was probably the last time we would run here. Jason starts the new job on Monday and there won't be any reason for us to run here anymore. We have a a nice 11 mile run today that will take us all around the campus and then Friday we have a 4 miles run with strides that we run around the ring. One last ring run for this fearless duo.

These times they are a changin'. It's going to be fast, too, like a ripping off a bandaid. We aren't easing into the change by any means. It's going to 1-2-3 your life is the opposite of what is has been for the past 5 years. Yowza. Exciting though!

Hello Florida Humidity!

This past weekend saw me in Florida to celebrate my Grandfather turning 90 years old! I had a fun time with my family and it was good to see everyone. My cousin Erik and his family even made a surprise visit with their little boy Will.

But what about the running? Where would I run, what about water and Gatorade? Before I got there my dad and my Uncle Ken mapped out a route that I would run out in the country. I got up early on Sunday morning to try and beat the heat. The sun didn't rise until about 7am however and I didn't want to be running in the pitch black solo on these country roads so I didn't get started until about 6:20am. My dad and stepmom would leap frog me in the car. They would go about a 1/2 mile ahead and wait and then after I passed do the same thing. It was great and I felt like I had a entourage following me. They would hand out water and Gatorade out the window.

Right at the start of the run there were some roosters roostering and I looked at them and I said, "Well it's obvious we aren't in Chicago anymore". The run was supposed to be 17 miles with 14 at Marathon Race Pace. Due to the heat and the fact that by the time I got to 15 miles I was soaked through all my clothes I decided to cut it off at 15 miles. Good decision on my part because when I looked up at mile 15 there was a giant about 1 mile long hill ahead of me. Could I have finished the full run...I think so. But I didn't think it was worth it to make myself sick as I was already feeling really dehydrated even though I had been drinking water/Gatorade. Had I been in Chicago on the flat and in the cool I think there wouldn't have been a problem to get through the run fully.

I would like my splits for the race to be at 8:15. That is a 3:35 marathon. So let's see how I did :

1. 9:06
2. 9:03
3. 8:52 (Water)
   
4. 8:15
5. 8:19
6. 8:14 (Gatorade)
   
7. 8:03
8. 8:06
9. 8:07 (Water)
   
10. 8:01
11. 8:37 (Gu)
12. 8:07
13. 8:43 (Elongated Gatorade)
14. 8:11
15. 8:36

First thing to note is that the miles that were all at 8:05ish felt really comfortable. I didn't feel like I was pushing that hard and my stepmom took a video of me and I looked really comfortable running. Maybe not that comfortable since I ended up cutting the run short though....but still felt good.

Second, when I had a water or Gatorade stop I didn't lose any time at all when I was feeling ok. This was good because I wanted to test my race method and see how much time I would lose. So I grabbed the water or Gatorade walked a few steps to drink it without dumping it down my shirt and carried on. Nice to see that should work without too many problems.

Third, the Gu stop looked to take about 30 seconds longer than the miles around it. Same method as the other stops, I stop and walk to take it and continue on my way.

You can see the fatigue at the end of the run with the elongated Gatorade stop and then the last mile at 8:36 and of course stopping a few miles early. I am pretty sure that it's not from the previous miles, but rather just the heat and humidity getting to me (It was 80+ degrees at the start of the run). Anyways, I looked back to last year when I did this run and I didn't make it anywhere. So I'm really happy with how it went and feeling more and more confident about the marathon pace I am hoping to keep.

Jason did really good on his run in the city doing all 17 miles and keeping all miles between 8:10-8:20. Yay!

I'd rather be at home

It's just me, stuck here at Fermilab. Bored. A million little fixes and changes to make to this stupid thesis and I'm not really feeling it. The fun part, though? Printing out half my thesis just for editing purposes, thus killing hundreds of trees. I can almost hear their screams of anguish.

We've hit 158 pages and I won't lie to you, it's compelling reading. It's a page turner.

Alright, back to work.

Sigh.

It's 3am, I Must Be....

Running!

This morning I am leaving for Florida for a family reunion type thing to celebrate my Grandpa turning 90! I am picking the lovely cousin up at 5:30am and had originally planned on doing this run when I got down there. Then I was like...If I just get up really early I can squeeze in a 5 mile recovery. So that's what we did.

You know who is up at 3am? All the cool kids going home from a night of partying...I always feel really stupid running by these people. Out of a car window we heard, "HEY THAT'S SOME DEDICATION RUNNING AT 4AM....WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE JUST LIKE YOU". Yes I am dedicated...thanks.....when you grow up? Really? I'm that old? Although if my 22 year old self could see my almost 28 year old self she would be all, "Dude...how are you out there running? Didn't you just get home?"

Tomorrow my dad is going to help me out with my 17 with 14 @ MRP. I guess he has a course all marked out in Florida where he could follow me in the car with Gatorade, water and Gus. Excellent.