A Boy, a Beagle and the Big City

Injured?

Jim was so wonderful and said it was fine to leave for the lake later on Saturday so I could go for the “long one”. We had a 12-miler on our plate for our group run! I was a little scared and it turns out…rightly so. I ended walking about 6 miles because this left knee of mine hurt to the point that made running impossible. Even the 6 miles of walking hurt pretty badly. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh! I was near tears when Tammy, the wonder pace leader, who happens to be pregnant and a little slow herself, came up behind me and asked if she could walk the rest of the way with me. Thank you, Tammy. 

We deducted that the pain is from my IT band. Tammy sent me some stretches and some other information and Jim gave me lots of sympathy. I am going to take it easy this week, do some cross-training and see how I feel. What a frickin’ bummer. Two weeks away from the race I have been training for all summer and now the knee decides to go. I don’t want to do anything permanent, so I won’t be dumb, but if I think I can run half the race, then I will go for it. That pesky little time limit makes me even more nervous now…but…I think I can do it. 

Ugh. 

On a MUCH happier note, the Lake this weekend…beautiful. Have you seen weather this great on a Labor Day before? I feel like there is always at least one rainy day in there, but this…this is beautiful :)

Happy Labor Day, all. 

To be a dog…

Izzy loves to rolled around…anytime, anywhere. She will be walking along and suddenly, without warning, she will just flop onto her back and started doing her “happy dog dance” (this is what the vet calls it!). She rolls and rolls, trying to rub every inch of her little body on the ground. Every once and a while, she will stop mid-roll, look me in the eye and just wait. She knows if she is patient enough, I will walk on over and pet that bare tummy of hers. Oh, belly rubs!

While really rolling around anywhere will do, Izzy especially loves to roll in tall grass. You know, the kind that hinds things like ticks, spiders and skunks. Yeah, that grass. I try not to be neurotic about it and I try to keep her from killing the hostas in the park, but occasionally, I will find a bug crawling on her after an episode or I will see a skunk come out of her favorite rolling spot. Those are the times when the mom genes kick in and Izzy is quarantined to short grass rolling only for the evening. 

She gets it. She has learned the important word ‘Up!’, which means…”Babe, I am in a hurry. No rolling on this walk.” She has also learned that a gentle tug on the leash quickly turns to a hearty yank if not heeded within a specific time frame (this time frame depends on the hurriedness of the walk). 

Every time Izzy rolls around, I still laugh. It is so frickin’ funny. Have you ever seen a 30-pound ball of fluff rolling violently on the freshly cut lawn? Generally, this rolling is accompanied with violent sneezing as well, which makes this ever more hilarious (again this depends on the hurriedness of the walk). When we are walking on the sidewalk, this scene makes passing cars slow down (no joke!). 

This is one of the many things that I love about my little rescue dog. Just thought you would like to know.

Monday, Monday

So it was back to the ol’ desk today. I was ready. It was such a nice stay-cation. My place isn’t quite as clean as I was hoping it would be, but honestly, why do I care at the moment? It is just me and dog…and now that Jim has his place, he isn’t spending as much time over here…so it is really just me and the dog! So yes…relaxing but productive stay-cations…I highly recommend them. :)

Work was ok. I came back to a few surprises. Some good (the old office partner had a baby boy! He cheeks are huge and he is such a beauty!) and some not so good (thanks for being an idiot and requesting 25 more backpacks weeks after the deadline, jerk), but all in all, it was a good welcome back. 

Sad news…the shoes that I bought this weekend with my fabulous Nordstrom gift card…I wore them today and they were horrible. I felt like my feet were bound–you know, like old Chinese foot-binding. Not ok. Still haven’t decided what I am going to do. I wore them all day, so I highly doubt I can return them. But then again…it is Nordstrom, so maybe? If all else fails, I may Craigslist them because these bad boys and my big ol’ feet do not get along! Ugh.

Had a great run this morning (sorry this post is so random…I am tired and need to go to bed, but I am stalling). This was the first good run I have had in so long. I needed it. The half-marathon is 19 days away. I am getting a little nervous! Yikes!

Ok. Off to dreamland so I can have a great Tuesday. Wishing ya’ll the best.

Stay-cation

Even though my boss threatened that I wouldn’t be able to take my few days off if I referred to them as my stay-cation…I can’t help it. It was exactly what I was hoping it would be. Relaxing but productive. I got to clean, sort through my inbox (the basket where all my crap lands when I am trying to quickly pick-up), see a few baseball games (Go Cubs and err…Brewers?), hang out with my studly man, get a little shopping in, and SLEEP! Oh everything was glorious, but the nap on Saturday was the topping on the cake. 

So, here it is: Monday morning. I am going for a run, taking a shower and heading off. Though I am a little sad to see this day come, I think I am well rested and ready to return. Man, it is incredible what a fews days off can do.

Happy week, all!

Now THIS is August

…and it is HOT. I am currently hiding in my bedroom, with the air conditioner cranked, the fan blowing on me and my poor, poor dog sitting next to me panting so hard, I fear for her well-being. For anyone not living in the midwest, you may balk when I say it is only 90 degrees, but with Chicago’s humidty…this is hot. Walking the dog at a leisurely pace makes me sweat…significantly. 

This temperature made for an interesting run this morning. I am doing much better at being prepared. I drank TONS of water both yesterday and Thursday, I refused soda yesterday (which would have tasted SO good with dinner) and I finally got some midweek runs in. I think all this helped make this morning a bit easier, but I was still wiped. We had a 10-miler on our plate this morning. There was a triathlon happening at the lake front so that cut the parking by almost half. Yikes! Who knew you could search and search for parking at 6:45 on a Saturday morning? 

Our group was big today which was nice. We ultimately split into two groups: the fast and the slow. Can you guess which group I was in? I was trailing the slow group by the end. Ugh. I am not super sure I like our pace leader. She is fine, but I love the “assistant” pace leader. She is in tune with the group, asks lots of questions, knows when we are melting and is very realistic. Our true pace leader just kinda runs at our set pace (10:30 miles) and says she feels like she is going really slow (ie “Why are you running slower than my really slow? It must make you really, really slow!). Ugh again. 

When we got to the start, it was overcast and cloudy. Perfect. But as we moved along, the sun came on out. We stopped at nearly every water station, but man, did I mention it is hot? I pulled out my awesome PowerBar gel (it tasted like vanilla cake batter, what is everyone complaining about?) about half way through and didn’t get the anticipated boost that everyone always talks about. I really liked the group that I paced with so I pushed as far as I could go, but ended up walking the last half mile.

I hate walking, especially at the end but I just couldn’t get my legs to move fast anymore. I really, really want to be able to finish next weeks 12-miler without walking it out (and um, finishing the half-marathon without walking over the finish line would be nice too). Come on, Elizabeth, you can do it! 

Let us all pray, pray, pray that the actual race has no humidity and is in the low 60’s, shall we?

What a week…

I am exhausted. My running, my dog and my poor boyfriend has definitely suffered at the hands of my VERY busy work week. I saw it coming, but man alive, I always forget how hard these bad boys are. 

My job is very cyclical. I have set projects around the exact same time every year…so why I am always surprised by them? and why do I forget how long and hard the hours are? I am SOOO not cut out for the corporate world, clearly. A few of my friends work the “climbing the corporate ladder, stepping on anyone I need to, sleep under my desk” jobs. They make a boat load of money and I still say, NO thank you.

So this week, three big projects are coming to a head, in addition to the normal stuff and still working the volunteer coordinator position (OH PLEASE if any of you know someone who is qualified to be a volunteer coordinator….send them my way…PLEASE). So right now, I am doing my normal job, the volunteer coordinators job and I have taken on new responsibilities as a result of my promotion (when they hire the new coordinator, I will have some old responsibilities taken off…Thank God!). So needless to say, I am a little wiped. Am I whining? You betcha. Isn’t that what a blog is for?

Regardless, this too shall pass. Small (and not so small) children will get backpacks by the end of the week (400 of them!), the Auxiliary will have had a successful fundraiser, the grant proposal will be submitted and I will be on my way to a “stay-cation”! I am taking off next Wednesday through Friday to clean, go to a few baseball games, and sit outside with my dog and a book. My boss said I could take the much-needed time off, only if I never call it a stay-cation again ;) I can make to next week….I can make it. 

Hopefully by then, my motivation to run will increase and the pain in my left knee will continue to decrease. I will keep you posted.

My Day

Frequently throughout my day events will happen and I will think, “Hmmm, I should put that in my blog.” Inevitably, it comes time to blog and  can’t remember a single one of those events! So…here is my day today :) Enjoy!

8:10–alarm goes off. I slept in this morning…a lot. And I loved every second.

8:40–Ready for work (and I looked cute!) and walking Izzy. We say hello to Vicky and Boo as we stroll through the park. Boo is a 12 year old something or another fluffy black dog. He is ADORABLE. Vicky is a 60+ retiree who just walks Boo all day. 

9:00–In the car, heading to work.

9:03–At work. I love a short commute.

9:30–Boss arrives, we talk work stuff (ie I show her some pics my mom sent and she tells me about looking through the garbage before the garbage crew arrives at 6:00am for her son’s blanket that the cleaning threw away…)

10:45–I head to the country club for my first solo Auxiliary meeting. The ladies are wonderful as always.

11:45-I eat the most delicious caesar salad (while at the club of course). Yum.

1:00–Arrive back at work. Talk work stuff with my co-worker Judy who is sharing my office for a few hours (IE Judy and I talk about our glorious weekends).

2:00–WORK like crazy. Though there have been fun parts, I had LOADS to do. (Intermittently, gchatted with a friend regarding some crazy stuff going on in his life. It was a very productive conversation…I am excited for the changes, though hard for all).

5:30–Leave work, walk Iz. I love that doggie. She is so good and makes coming home such a joy.

6:00—Leave for Fleet Feet run (you know the run that actually doesn’t take place on Tuesdays…would have been smart to double check that huh? So I run 5 miles alone. I did buy some life/knee/hip saving insoles which will hopefully cure this pain in my left leg.)

8:30–Arrive at Jim’s for dinner on the beach. I love Jim. So very much. He is so good to me. 

9:45–Home and walking Iz again. I do that frequently huh? She appreciates it. 

10:00–Shower, blog, bed.

What a day!

Wooohoo!

Two very exciting updates:

1) I signed up for the half marathon last night. Yep, I did it. The transaction is already on my credit card (earning me the points I deserve). Yippee!!

2) I ran my first ever double digit run tonight. TEN miles. Yow! And it was not half as scary as I expected it to be. I ran along the Lake Shore Path from Montrose down to the Magnificent Mile and back. LOTS of people were out enjoying the weather, getting in shape, checking out the other athletes. It was fabulous and a great new motivation to keep running. 

I am not sure if it was signing up for the half or the change of scenery or a combo of both, but I was able to motivate myself to keep going so much easier than I have ever experienced. “Come on, Liz, you can make it past the bridge.” “The bridge was a way too easy goal, you can totally make it to that sign…to that tree…past those walkers…” And soon enough I had run over 7.5 miles before one walk break. Thank God for the water foundations on the path, those are life savers! 

You know, I may actually run this half marathon…Psh, I was doubting myself ;)

I feel loved.

I love birthdays. Yours. Mine. That guy’s. They are the one day out of the year when the world stops and thanks the heavens that you were born on this day X number of years ago. It is the day that we celebrate each other, celebrate the passing of time, and express our hopes for the future. Yes…all this pressure for one day. 

Today was my birthday and it was glorious. I felt so loved and thanks to Facebook, I felt remembered by people I haven’t talked to in eons. I got presents (oh some REALLY good presents too!), I got emails, I got posts on my wall, pats on my back. Today, I felt celebrated, needed….loved. 

Now, I am very blessed to have amazing people in my life who generally make me feel this (in a less intense way) on a daily basis. But I challenge you, do we really need to wait for birthdays to celebrate others? That means that 364 days out of the year we act like we really aren’t too happy to see, aren’t too thrilled that you are you and you were born X number of years plus some change ago. 

I am not a big fan of bumper stickers (REALLY not a fan actually), but I can’t help but think of the cheesy “Commit random acts of kindness” sticker. Super Cheese, I know…but maybe it has a point? Bring flowers to your wife, girlfriend, friend; write your co-worker a nice email; buy the random guy a cup of coffee; give change to the panhandler on the corner…just generally, make the world around you a better place…one cheesy act at a time. 

WARNING: Some may misunderstand you. Some may not react the way you hope…but know, someway, somehow that your small celebration of that individual impacted their life, your life and ultimately, the greater public for the better. 

Maybe my entrance into a quarter of a century has me all sentimental…but truly, if I can help the people around me feel half as appreciated and loved as I felt today, I don’t think a little sentimental is all that bad ;)

Thank you to all who helped make my birthday so special. I am now going to go have the best sleep :)

PS…The XYZ Affair rocked my face off….check them out ;)

GREAT run!

I was complaining to a co-worker (who happens to be an exceptional tri-athlete) that I just don’t feel like I am progressing as fast as I should be with this running business. She assured me that it would come…soon enough. Just keep plugging along. Ugh. It is like telling a four-year-old to be patient.

So…I keep getting up early. Keep tying those running shoes. Some days, even after I start running, I think, I would MUCH rather be in bed right now. Other days…like today, I started running and I thought…”hmm, this isn’t that bad. Actually, this feels good. I think I can actually run my milage today. Lala…good song on the iPod” as I float into running world (not to worry all you anxious folks, I am still totally in Chicagoland focusing on not getting hit by any cars/bikes/small children).

Well, sure enough, I ran a nice little route today and ran four miles and I actually felt great. Who would have thought?! Maybe this plugging along thing actually does work :)

Here are a few components that I think contributed: 1) the humidty finally broke last night, 2) the temperature was a-ok, 3) I ran a different/less-sunny path, 4) I got a great nights sleep, 5) I walked Izzy first (so my legs/body was entirely awake when I actually started running), 6) I was REALLY, really needing a good run for my morale!

So yes, that is my adventure for today. Oh…and my computer is being delivered as we speak! OH YAY!!