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By kilax, February 28, 2011 5:44 pm

Fat chance of making the lottery, but hey, whatever!

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By kilax, February 28, 2011 6:18 am

Today’s Little Gift of Kindness calendar prompt reads “If you know someone who is pregnant, take today to let them know you are thinking of them.”

I have a very special friend right now who is expecting in April, and I could not be happier or more excited for her and her husband. We just spent a lot of time with them, and I just got that wonderful feeling that their child is going to have such a loving home and such wonderful, caring parents. Friend, I AM thinking of you. Every day. Seeing you glowing and beautiful, and the way your husband cares for you and talks of your future child filled me with so much joy. Love you, friend.

And I have a lot of other blogger friends who are expecting and a few who are trying to get pregnant! I feel the same way for you, friends! (And for my friends who have had children in the last year – Eric, Nilsa, Shannon, Adam – thank you so much for sharing your newborn adventures with us!).

Is anyone special in your life “expecting” right now?

And I have to share this funny pic I snapped of Data yesterday, even though it has nothing to do with this post:

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By kilax, February 28, 2011 2:43 am

Yesterday I ran the Round Lake Frost Footrace 5K. Even though the Frosty Footrace is in February, it is kind of my “goal” 5K race of the year because I actually stand a chance of placing in my age group (2nd place in 2010 and 1st place in 2009). The race is nice and small (although it’s growing in size – up to 322 participants this year!).

Erin came out to run this 5K with me (as she did last year). I was really happy she was able to come, despite her recent shin scare! Racing is just more fun with a friend! And it was nice that Erin’s husband came too – Steven actually had company during the race!

And of course, a ton of Grayslake Running Club members were there. It was so awesome to be a part of the club this year and have so many people to cheer on – and to cheer me on to!

My goal was to run 8:00 minute miles and beat my previous PR of 24:51 (if you’re doing the math in your head, you might see where this is going). I also really badly wanted to place in my age group. So, I was a bit nervous before the race. Even during mine and Erin’s warm-up run, the jitters didn’t go away.

But enough of the dilly-dallying. How did it all go down? I will give you the short and sweet.

Mile 1 – 7:42

Despite an initial hiccup at .3 miles (my shoe came untied!) and hills, I felt good. Erin and I stuck together.

Do you see me?

Mile 2 – 7:51

I felt okay. I was starting to hurt in my stomach. Erin and I stuck together.

Mile 3 – 8:30 WHOA what happened?

So, there is this big hill about 2.2. After we ran past the boys and cheesed it up

I seriously walked for 10 seconds up that hill. I felt like I was going to barf. I was kind of disappointed in myself, because I wanted to push the pain aside, but couldn’t do it. I caught back up with Erin and we ran the rest of mile 3 together. I encouraged Erin to pass me in the end, I knew she had more of a sprint left in her!

Last .1 – 0:54 (7:18mm)

And she did. Go Erin go!

I finished strong. But as you may have already guessed, I did not PR! I ran 25:00, 9 seconds slower than my PR. Oops! (Garmin stats here, and I should note, it was in the 30s and kind of sunny).

Photo Credit to GRC friend, Joe!

Erin and I held each other up after the race to avoid collapse:

Just kidding! I cheered on some more running club friends, then we went inside for awards, and…

I got first place in my age group!

Photo Credit to GRC friend, Joe!

And Erin placed third in her age group! Read her post here!!! I am so incredibly proud of Erin!

Thanks Jason and Steven for spectating, taking photos and generally being awesome husbands who put up with this running business!

We took one more running club picture, and took off to enjoy Steven’s deep dish pizza!

So, I am really happy with how I did in this race! So close to a PR, but I just missed it. Oh well! I was really happy to place.

Although, I have to say – 5Ks are fricking HARD. Seriously, in that last (slow) mile, I thought of saying to Erin, “I don’t like running!” Maybe I am just built for endurance. Yeah, that’s it. Endurance!

P.S. Check out my left foot. What. The. Eff?

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By kilax, February 27, 2011 7:43 am

My next race is the Rotary Shamrock Shuffle (5K) on March 13th. This is the week of the Frosty Footrace (5K) on February 27th.

Day 491 | February 21, 2011: rest

Day 492 | February 22, 2011: 5 m run

I ran my normal 5-mile route through our neighborhood. I didn’t look at the Garmin once, and was surprised to see negative splits when I uploaded the run. I wonder if the treadmill running is helping with my splits.

Distance: 5.0 | Start Temp: 24° | End Temp: 25° | Time: 48:09 | Avg Pace: 9:37 | 1: 9:48 | 2: 9:45 | 3: 9:37 | 4: 9:32 | 5: 9:23

Day 493 | February 23, 2011: cross + strength

During lunch I used the Recumbent bike, and at night, I did Level 1 of The 30 day Shred with Steven.

Recumbent Bike Time: 45:00 | Distance: 8.16 | Set on “Manual,”  Resistance Level 5.0

Day 494 | February 24, 2011: 4.5 m run

Originally I was planning on doing some speedwork on a gym treadmill, but decided to do an easy run, since I had a 5K later in the week. This run was easy. And boring. I think for me, treadmill running may only be good for speedwork!

Distance: 4.5 | Time: 42:55 | Incline: 1.0 | 4.5 miles @6.3mph (9:31mm)

Last week when we went to the library for the running club 5K meeting, I noticed they had a shoe drop off. So, I brought my marathon shoes in for Thursday night’s meeting. Sad. Bye bye marathon shoes!

Day 495 | February 25, 2011: strength + 12 m run

During lunch Steven and I did Level 1 of The 30 Day Shred.

At the end of the workday, a running club member met me for a 12 mile run. The running club has a website you log in to to post your runs, so this member (Yvonne!) saw I was running 12 at the end of the day and decided to join me! I loved having her company! But so much for keeping it nice and “slow” on Thursday’s run. I ran way too fast on Friday. Faster than my goal half marathon time for 12 miles.

I guess that is the only negative thing about the running club. When I run with people I have a hard time slowing down (it was my fault for not slowing down – I posted the run as 9:30mm, but felt good so kept going). Sigh. I can’t do this. I am not a fast runner. I am worried I am going to hurt myself.

Run stats: I wore my orchid Asics Cumulus 12s (the newer ones!). I wore capris, two long-sleeved tops, a headband and gloves. I took the gloves on and off and probably didn’t need the headband! I stopped at mile 10 to go to the bathroom.  I had a Chocolate Outrage GU at mile 5ish and drink about 10 oz. of water.

Distance: 12.0 | Start Temp: 31° | End Temp: 28° | Time: 1:45:52 | Avg Pace: 8:49 | 1: 8:37 | 2: 8:27 | 3: 8:26 | 4: 8:40 | 5: 8:50 | 6: 8:58 | 7: 8:45 | 8: 8:54 | 9: 9:11 | 10: 9:14 | 11: 8:51 | 12: 8:51

Day 496 | February 26, 2011: hot yoga!

On Saturday I took my first EVER studio yoga class – a 75-minute hot yoga with my friend Jen at TriBalance in Schaumburg! (Her husband works at TriBalance and Jen got us in to the class free. Double yay!) The class was mostly poses, held much longer than what I do in my DVDs, and much less “flow,” which is also what I do in the DVDs. It was fun to try something new!

We arrived to the class early to acclimate to the heat. I felt pretty good when class started, and was able to do most of the (basic versions of) poses for my right side. I guess doing yoga DVDs has as least helped me learn some things!

However, as we kept going on the left side, I felt light-headed, like I was going to faint. I am pretty familiar with that feeling from the few awful times it has happened to me in college, so whenever I felt that way, I would do Child’s Pose, then get in to the next pose if I could. Everyone I talked to said that eventually your body gets used to doing hot yoga, and you don’t feel like you are going to faint anymore (ha ha). I hope to try it again someday! I won a yoga package to a local studio, but I don’t see any hot yoga offered… maybe I will have to go with Jen again!

And wow, Jen is a yoga superstar! She could do all of the advanced moves and made them look easy! Whenever I wasn’t sure what to do, I just looked at her, and tried the more basic version (ha ha). She said she has been doing yoga for 3 years, and damn, you can tell – she looks awesome! Thanks for taking me to class, Jen! (and for humoring me while we wandered the aisles of Whole Foods for an hour or more(?) after class).

Have you ever tried hot yoga? Did you like it? If you are a regular, what do you love about it?

Day 497 | February 27, 2011: Frosty Footrace 5K

Today’s the day of the Frosty Footrace 5K! Wish me luck! I am going to need it. I am still sore from running too fast on Friday. That was so, so stupid of me!

Update: read my race report here!

Week Summary: 21.5 + 3.1 miles

I feel like I am still getting back in to the swing of things, workout-wise, after traveling, this week. I think I need to work harder on fitting more yoga in, even if it is just my DVDs at home. Ugh, they’re just so boring! Ha.

The good news about strength training is that I will be participating in once-a-week (for 6 weeks) group strength training classes with my running club starting Tuesday. So that should be a new fun challenge!

I am going to try to participate in Jill‘s (Finishing is Winning) Monday Brain Exchange. She asks one fun question (or series of questions) a week, on Monday (I will probably answer on Sundays). This week’s question is::

Do you use Facebook, Twitter, Daily Mile etc… to socially network for your blog?

I have my blog listed on Facebook, but I don’t socially network for my blog (post status updates about it). I am not even sure if it is listed on my twitter profile (I log in to twitter maybe once, twice a month). I guess that is something I have not gotten in to yet!

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By kilax, February 26, 2011 5:36 am

I wasn’t going to write a post about this, because I didn’t want to sound sappy and I felt like Mica covered it well in her “Here’s to you, Aileen!” post* – BUT – when I flipped over my mini calendar last night and saw what today/tomorrow’s page said, I had to share.

Hopefully this will come off how I think of it in my head, but I doubt it!

I’ve been feeling pretty good this year, and I keep asking myself why. What has changed that I am feeling so good? And when we got back from NYC on Monday, I was asking myself, why did we have such a freaking awesome time? And, how is it that I feel more relaxed in “busy” NYC than I do at home?

It’s so simple and silly – friendship. Being social. Being around people who genuinely care about me. Laughter. Being care-free. Being stress-free!

I’ve tried to make it a point to be more social this year. I joined a running club and attend many events. I am making new friends. I spend lots of time with my best friend. Steven and I traveled to see very close friends we didn’t want to leave and wish they lived closer. I have fun future dates planned with bloggers (some more set in stone than others)! There are many local bloggers I want to catch up with (there are many bloggers I wish I could meet!). Even the email exchanges with friends (you know who you are!) make me feel good.

And it’s simply because it makes me feel like people genuinely care about me, my well-being, what I think, what I want, how I am doing, blah blah blah.

And that is NOT to say that I don’t get that from my blog, from my husband or from my family. I DO.

I was just thinking about how at some places (which will go unmentioned), I sometimes feel like people don’t really care about me at all. And it makes me feel pretty crummy. It makes me feel sad.

It’s so nice to have the opposite – friends who listen to you and remember your interests. Who you can tell care what you are saying (and you care back). Who want the best for you. Who are sad when you’re sad, and happy when you’re happy. It sounds selfish when I write it all out as “me me me” but really, I feel the same way in return.

So… friendship is an affordable luxury. It takes time and you have to build on it, but it’s so worth it. And I know you are thinking, “Duh…?” but honestly, I have never experienced friendship like this before. Sure, I have had “close” friends for awhile, but we never keep in touch. And I have never been the type to have “dates” with friends. Seriously. I am pretty independent, and even in college, kept to myself. It’s nice to get out with people now! Even if just to chat at their place!

Alright. Sappiness over.

Tell me, who are the people in your life with whom you have this sort of relationship?

*A post about how despite dealing with some crappy stuff, Mica’s friend Aileen always has a smile on her face and makes Mica feel motivated with running and helps her deal with this crappy winter.

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By kilax, February 25, 2011 6:03 am

What is your favorite candy?

A nice and simple question, because my brain is fried.

Hands down, DOTS and Swedish Fish. They’re chewy, soft and sweet, just the way I like candy. The only problem (?) is that you can’t eat too many before you feel sick.

I even like Swedish Fish so much that I made a special trip to Sweden to buy some:

Alright, alright, I was actually already there, but I made sure to pick up some Swedish Fish to take back to the States!

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By kilax, February 23, 2011 5:48 am

What would I do without Helper Cat there to assist me in the bathroom

and in the kitchen in the morning?

Surely, I would be at least 20 minutes behind schedule. Thanks Helper Cat!

Now, if only Helper Cat could help me get through all the unread items I have in Google Reader… yikes. It may take me some time folks, but I will eventually catch up with reading your blogs!

What do you use to keep track of the blogs you read (Google Reader or other/nothing)? When you travel and fall behind on reading blogs do you try to catch up or just “mark all as read”/skip the posts you missed while you were gone?

I always try to catch up – yeah, that’s me, commenting on the thing you wrote over a week ago!

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By kilax, February 22, 2011 11:00 am

Steven and I didn’t really approach our trip to New York City as a “sightseeing” trip. We had both already been there once (not together), and were really just going to see our friends, Gina and Steve! So instead of planning out things to do or see during our trip, we planned out things we wanted to eat. And actually, when I say “planned,” it makes it sound like we did a lot of work and research. In reality, we just came up with a wishlist of foods to try and Gina and Steve coordinated it all for us! On our list:

• NYC style pizza
• Babycakes vegan bakery
• Fries in a cup
• NYC style bagels
• Street cart falafel*
• Local restaurants

And as you’ll see below, a few things got added to list!

Friday

We had dinner at Mojave, a “Southwestern Mexican” restaurant really close to Gina and Steve’s home in Queens. I loved Gina and Steve’s neighborhood. They live on a quiet little street, but can walk a few blocks to a mainstreet area where there are shops and restaurants (and where they can get on the subway).

This is the only place I didn’t snap a picture of my actual food! I had awesome fajitas. I loved that the menu already had vegetarian and even vegan options called out! That is one thing I found about NYC – it was very easy to eat vegan while there.

And I should mention, it was in the high 50s/low 60s on Friday. Awesome!

Saturday

On Saturday, we drove in to Manhattan, which worked out perfectly, because it was really windy and a bit cold outside.

For lunch we went to the Peanut Butter & Co Sandwich Shop. It wasn’t on our list, but Gina mentioned it the day before and I wanted to check it out. It was our first experience (of many) of ordering and dining in a super tiny little shop, with lots of other people. A lot of the places we went to turned out to be this way – just little slivers of space with people packed in. I guess we hit up a lot of popular places!

The Peanut Butter & Co Sandwich Shop had a huge menu and we all ordered something different, as well as a sampler platter with all 8 kinds of their peanut butter! I got “The Elvis” – PB & bananas (but not grilled) and Steven got “The Club” – a double-decker sandwich which I included in the photo above.

After lunch we checked out Economy Candy, a huge candy store,

and Babycakes. Steven and I bought five things to try – a red velvet cupcake, a carrot cupcake, a cookie, a cookie sandwich and a doughnut. We didn’t dig in to our Babycakes sweets until we got back to Gina and Steve’s place after dinner Saturday night. We all thought that the sweets were really good, but too expensive. It was about $18 or so for the five things we bought! I know the ingredients are all natural, but wow. It was still a fun place to try though! And it’s always nice to walk in to a bakery and know that I choose anything from the menu.

For dinner, we ate at Buona Notte, a restaurant that Gina and Steve recommended, in Little Italy. Walking through Little Italy was fun. Nearly every Italian restaurant had someone outside luring people in to eat. Steve and I kind of ignored them, but Gina and Steven had some fun talking to them!

I ordered Penne all’ Arrabbiata – (whole wheat) penne sauteed with arugula and hot peppers in tomato suace. Nom nom nom. I ate it all!

Sunday

We started Sunday off with New York City style bagels from the Brookyln Bagel and Coffee Company near Gina and Steve’s home. Steven and I actually decided that the bagels were the best thing we tried throughout the entire trip. I can’t even begin to describe how delicious they were – just so chewy and dense and filling. Just what I like! Oh, and did I mention they were huge?

I thought it was fun to go in to a shop and see a zillion different kind of bagels spreads. I tried the tofu spread on my Everything bagel. Steven got a whole wheat bagel with butter and jelly.

After our bagels we took the subway in to Manhattan and hung out around Times Square,

then made our way to Famous Original Ray’s Pizza (811 Lexington Ave.), so Steven could have a slice! The criteria for the pizza was that it was huge and Steven had to fold it in his hand to eat it. Check, and check!

There are actually a ton of Ray’s pizza places in NYC. We’ve even seen a documentary on the Food Network about them. Of course, while in NYC, we couldn’t remember which one was the actual original.

After lunch, Steven, Steve and Gina split a Black & White cookie that Steven picked up at Zaro’s Bakery near Union Station. Another item that was not on our list, but luckily, we thought to pick one up since Steven loves them!

We went to the Guggenheim Museum (just to see the building, not the art) afterward, then strolled through Central Park. The weather turned out to be great – sunny and less windy than Saturday. I loved seeing all of the runners in Central Park! I will have to come back and run there someday… maybe I can get in to the 2012 NYC Marathon lottery! Ha.

After our stroll, Steven and Steve went to a cigar shop to smoke cigars, and Gina and I went to the mall on Columbus Circle. We thought we were making chili for dinner**, so we bought all of the ingredients at Whole Foods, went to Borders (where we saw Robin Williams) and then had tea at Argo Tea Cafe. Steven and Steve weren’t done with their cigars until close to 8:00. We got back to their place at 9:00 and decided it was too late to make chili, so we ordered local diner food, which was fun!

I got a stir fry type thing and Steven got the Mediterranean sandwich.

Monday

We made vegan pancakes for breakfast, then headed in to Manhattan for one of the last things on our wishlist – fries in a cup. Steven swears my sister had fries in a cup in NYC when she was there in August, and that is where he got the idea. My sister does not remember said fries, but luckily, Gina came up with something for us to try – Pommes Frites, a restaurant that only sells, you got it, fries in a cup (well, cone really, but let’s not get technical).

Originally, we planned on having our fries as an appetizer, but we all ordered one, with different sauces to try, and that ended up being lunch! It was a really fun experience. There are 26 different fry sauces to choose from, then you sit down (if you can find a seat) at these tables with holes in them, where you place your fries. Fun!

After lunch, we decided we wanted something sweet, and we stumbled across Viva Herbal Pizzeria (179 2nd Ave.) – a vegetarian and vegan pizza (and other items) shop! I had wished I wasn’t so full and could get a piece of pizza to try, but we just got a cookie and sort of cookie sandwich to share with Gina and Steve. I will have to check out that place more the next time I’m in NYC!

We all decided the vegan sweets from Viva Herbal were just as good as the ones at Babycakes – and a lot cheaper too!

We had to leave Manhattan after eating our sweets and head straight to the airport. Wah!

So, did this post make you hungry? Have you ever taken a “culinary” vacation like this? (Well, if I can call it “culinary.”)

This trip ended up being awesome. It felt low-key, even though we did a lot. We were never rushed or felt like we “had” to do something. We were kind of just going with the flow, having a great time chatting and telling jokes. Usually my vacations are not like that – they are usually “go go go!” but this was so nice. We stopped a lot, just to sit and chat, which I really enjoyed. I need to do that more often!

*We never got around to our falafel – we’ll have to save it for next time!
**Which literally fell through, we got home too late, and I dropped the bag and one of the glass jars inside broke (hence the “literally fell through”).

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By kilax, February 21, 2011 7:44 pm

Our short trip to NYC to visit our friends Gina and Steve was exactly what I needed.

In Central Park

Gina and Steve showed us an amazing time, hosting us in their home, and taking us all over Manhattan (and some of Queens!) to fulfill our culinary wish list (which I will post about tomorrow!). We had many wonderful conversations and told many jokes. It felt so good to spend time relaxing with friends, not thinking about work or any other silly stressful things.  I didn’t want to leave NYC and feel quit bummed that I don’t know when we will see them next! Steven and I get along really well with them, which is funny, considering we have only formed a relationship in emails and this is only the second time we’ve ever been together in person!

In the Guggenheim Museum

One more day off of work, then back to reality. Hopefully this awesome mood will last some time!

Gina and Steve’s cat, Manny!

What was the last awesome vacation you had?

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By kilax, February 20, 2011 8:15 pm

Guess who Gina and I said hello to (and he said “hey” back) at the Borders by Columbus Circle?

I saw his stand-up routine with Steven and my parents in September of 2008. Totally hilarious.

Have you ever run in to a celebrity?

I ran in to Tony Hawk in Chicago a few years ago, and saw one of the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy stars in NYC in 2005.