Feeling Like a PAWStar

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been trying to give myself the full Team PAWS experience. I've heard about how fun the social events can be, and because I've been needing an extra push during my marathon training, I figured that feeling like a part of a team would help make my runs less of a mental challenge.

Tom, Nicco, and I attended a Team PAWS happy hour at Deuces & the Diamond Club up in Wrigleyville. The bar has a huge dog-friendly patio, and Team PAWS had a cabana reserved for the occasion. I didn't know what to expect; I assumed that everyone would be nice, because animal lovers seem to have such great hearts, but sometimes I get nervous meeting a bunch of new people. My ever-present insecurities seem to come out during events like these.

The happy hour was a blast. While Team PAWS has held other happy hours throughout the summer, I hadn't been able to make any of them, so we were the new kids. Everyone was friendly and made us feel welcome, and Nicco seemed to enjoy meeting all of the other dogs. He was the littlest, which is no surprise, but that never seems to bother him. While chatting with one of my teammates, she mentioned that she and another girl bring their dogs to nursing homes to visit with the residents.

Best. Idea. Ever.

One of my biggest fears is that I'll simply go through the motions of my life. When I'm feeling a bit melancholy, it's usually because I'm not fully engaged or I don't feel fulfilled. And when I feel that way, I know that I need to focus on someone other than myself. The worst thing I can do is get stuck in my own head, and I've been trying to think of ways to do more good in the world. Helping others will break up the routine of my days, and also help me focus on someone else's needs.

After the happy hour, I went onto the Chicago Cares website to see if they had any opportunities to bring pets to nursing homes. They had several sessions available, so Nicco and I will begin volunteering during the week after the marathon. I am incredibly excited! Many of the people who we will be visiting are bedridden and cannot participate in the other activities at the home. Hopefully Nicco's sweet demeanor will bring some cheer.

That being said, I need a change in my routine now. Sticking with my training runs has helped me focus on myself and my well-being, but I need to start giving back.

Coming off of the Team PAWS happy hour excitement, I decided to sign up for volunteer orientation at PAWS. I attended orientation this week and will be volunteering a few times a month in Dog Town. As a volunteer, I'll be walking dogs, playing with them (yeah, it's brutal...), cleaning up the dogs' suites, helping potential adopters find their new furry baby, and anything else that needs to be done. My goal is to become an Adoption Counselor, as I found our counselor to be helpful the day that we adopted Nicco. My other goal is to have a PAWS volunteer apron with my name embroidered on it. After all, I want to look fabulous while volunteering :)

The orientation only strengthened my commitment to the PAWS mission and my excitement over being a member of Team PAWS. This week marked another milestone, hitting my fundraising target! THANK YOU to all of the amazing people who donated to my Team PAWS page. You are all PAWStars and I'm so lucky to have you in my life!

I still have two months left, so I will continue my goal to SMASH my target. As I'm $3 over my target, I will be having a party in the fall to thank all of the wonderful donors. To be on that invite list - or to just help a wonderful no-kill shelter - please click on the link below:

http://paws.convio.net/site/TR/TeamPAWS/TeamPAWS?px=1031996&pg=personal&fr_id=1040

Speaking of the marathon, training is going quite well. I had my longest run of the season yesterday, a "light" 15 miles. The first half of the run was fantastic; I felt strong, full of energy, and in great spirits. Once we reached the turnaround point, things went downhill. Yesterday morning was both warm and humid, with zero breeze coming from the lakefront as we headed back north. My body was not happy! But we pushed through the run, and the pace group finished strong. Next weekend we tackle 16 miles, which was my most difficult run last year. I'm hoping to change that story this time around.

Less than two months left until the Chicago Marathon...let's do this!

Adventures in Ageing and Marathon Training

I've never really been someone who fears growing older. Truthfully, I've enjoyed ageing - becoming more secure in many facets of my life, drinking wine that cost more than $5 a bottle, embracing my love of hanging out at home some weekends, and now, I'm excited to move into the next phase of my life - marriage and starting a family.

But when it come to marathon training, ageing, for lack of a better word, sucks.

I've read about how after a certain age, your metabolism slows down, and that is definitely happening to me. In my early 20's, I would eat tons of junk and drink like a fish, and I was fairly thin. Now, I don't have that same leeway - even though I love candy and chips, and I will have a piece of chocolate or two often :) But now I am learning the importance of fueling my body properly during the week, not only to deal with my slowing metabolism, but so that I don't feel disgusting during my mid-week and long weekend runs.

My training pace group leader has been talking about the importance of eating and drinking properly during the week, and I am believing in this much more than last year. I don't know if I was just lucky last year, but I felt pretty good throughout the majority of my runs. This year, I am feeling fine - but I want to feel great.

For the rest of my training, I am aiming to do the following to improve my marathon experience:

- Be in bed by 10:00 each night. I can stay up and read (not on my phone), but I think I would feel a little more rested if I actually started lying in bed early. I would love to do my mid-week runs in the morning, and I'm just not there yet.

- No alcohol Sunday evening-Thursday night. I don't drink much during the week, but I do go to the occasional happy hour, and I use that as an excuse to skip mid-week runs sometimes. This will keep me on track with my mid-week runs, and it'll probably make me feel better anyway.

- More veggies in my diet. I have improved my eating habits slightly, but I really don't eat enough veggies (I do eat plenty of fruit).

- More yoga and pilates. I have a couple of pilates and yoga DVDs that I can do quickly in the mornings, so that my body can bounce back quickly from my longer training runs. Plus, I keep hearing about how a strong core can help your body run more efficiently, and I haven't seen my abs since 2000.

We'll see how this all works out...wish me luck!

The Vegas, Marathon Training, and a Proposal

Well, these past couple of months have been a whirlwind. Let’s see if I can break it down for you….

1.      Vacation to The Vegas….

Many of you know that for my birthday, Tom planned a vacation for the two of us. In the almost three years that we have been dating, we have never taken a vacation by ourselves, without a wedding or other activity attached to it. For the past couple of years, we’ve been talking about taking a real vacation and relaxing together, and I was so excited that we were finally going to get a break from the grind of our everyday lives. We planned to take the trip a week after my birthday, and I began counting down the days.

Except I had no idea where we were going.

Laid back and Type B, I am not, and I kept peppering Tom with questions these past few months. Where are we going? Is it a beach vacation or an adventure vacation? Do I have to buy a swimsuit? (I would typically ask that last question while stuffing Cheetos into my mouth. No shame….)

Two weeks before my birthday, Tom let me know that we would be going to The Vegas. For The OC fans out there, I am like Sandy Cohen in that I LOVE The Vegas. Buffet is my favorite word. Glitter is my favorite color.  On my actual birthday, Tom let me know that we would be staying at the Bellagio (fountains! Chihuly sculptures! BUFFET!) and that we would be seeing Ka by Cirque du Soleil. I was super psyched.

And completely oblivious to Tom’s master plan.

Tom had promised to take me out for a nice dinner our first night in The Vegas, something I deemed as completely not necessary (he had planned the vacation, after all), but I was excited about going out to eat anyway. The last time I went to The Vegas, I was 21 and completely broke – my memories of food include an amazing buffet and daily trips to Burger King. Now that I was a full-fledged grown up, I was looking forward to some good meals.

Dressed up and ready for some Vegas-quality food, Tom and I headed to the Eifel Tower restaurant at the Paris hotel – what I thought would be the last surprise of the trip. While we sat at the bar waiting for our table (Tom is always early….and sometimes I am early as a result…), Tom commented on the tables for two next to the windows. The restaurant has huge windows, and these tables overlooked the Bellagio fountains and the rest of the strip. I agreed with Tom that those tables seemed fabulous, and turned back to my glass of wine. We ended up being seated at one of those tables, which I thought was simply lucky.

And then Tom started talking.

You have to understand that Tom is just a nice person and says sweet things often. We are vocal people and I strongly believe that we should constantly communicate our feelings, so I didn’t think it was weird when he started saying how he’ll always be supportive of me and how he appreciates that I support him, and did I know how he knew we’d always support each other?

Wait a minute. My context clues kicked in and I finally realized that OH MY GOD THIS WAS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. Tom’s hand moved towards his jacket pocket and I said, “Wait a minute, are you doing this right now? Are you being serious right now?” He nodded and asked that big question, and for just a minute, I was cool. I said that I would marry him, and then I decided to express my feelings in the most articulate, calm way…..

“Shut UP! SHUT UP! OH MY GOD SHUT UP STOP IT I CAN’T EVEN WITH YOU RIGHT NOW SHUT UP! When did you plan this?! How did I not know about this? WHERE DID YOU HIDE THAT RING?! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!”

(I know what you’re thinking. Tom is the luckiest man alive.)

It was a truly fabulous night. Tom had worked with the restaurant on planning this, so there was a photographer to capture the entire proposal. Our server brought over a bottle of champagne and roses after the proposal, and we leisurely enjoyed our food and wine. If you have seen the pictures, you can see that I’m staring at my hand for most of them. I didn’t even look at the ring until I stopped my “Shut up” tirade. Once I did, I couldn’t stop staring at my hand. It’s been three weeks, and I still can’t stop staring at my hand.

After dinner, we called our immediate family and some good friends, and went out to celebrate. The rest of the trip was fantastic – we went to the Michael Jackson Cirque de Soleil show and Ka, checked out some fun restaurants, went indoor skydiving, and explored the shark reef at Mandalay Bay. I think we will try to go back to The Vegas at least once every two years!

Thanks to everyone for all of the support, love, Facebook “likes”, and general awesomeness. This has been such an exciting and wonderful time, and we are lucky to have such kind friends and family around us!

2.      Marathon Training

I’ve officially started training for the 2014 Chicago Marathon. For some reason, I thought that training would be a breeze the second time around – and maybe it would be, if I had run regularly during the off-season. This brings me back to D2: The Mighty Ducks, when Gordon Bombay is watching his reunited team play for the first time in a year, and asks Averman, “Haven’t you guys been training in the off-season?” Averman replies, “I knew we forgot something…”

I’m the Ducks, basically. I tried to keep in shape during the off-season with occasional runs, barre classes, and CorePower yoga, but I failed a bit. And while I’m fine with my extra padding, it’s not making my training any easier. I now have extra motivation to be in great shape (since I have to fit into a dress next year), so I will be super committed to my training this time around.

I’m training with Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA) again this year, making the long runs bearable because of the company/pace groups. I am trying to figure out which pace group to run with, as my old pace group leader Robyn is leading the run/walk group again this year (and I love her!) but I am debating kicking things up a notch. We shall see….

3.      Bravo, Pretty Little Liars, and Books

Can we talk about my favorite Bravo shows? Is anyone watching Real Housewives of Orange County? I am loving the new women (Shannon and Lizzie) and though I love Heather Dubrow, the ladies are correct in that she totally comes across as if she thinks she’s above them. Make no mistake about it – she IS above them – but she could stand to loosen up a little bit. When Vicki “Woo hoo!” Gunvalson is becoming the show’s voice of reason, you know that everything has turned upside down.

I'm also completely obsessed with Ladies of London. It's my new goal in life to somehow move to London and become BFFs with Caroline and Marissa. Those women have the most fabulous lives and I'm enjoying them so far.

PLL is back for its fifth season, which somehow is not nearly as outrageous as seasons past - in a good way. Tom and I continue to scream at the TV on a weekly basis, of course, but at least now the show is moving somewhere. I also continue to scream every time Toby comes on screen, and my precious Caleb is returning for this week's 100th episode. Clearly, I am going to be freaking out during the entire episode.

Lastly, I have been reading a ton. A friend started a book club at the beginning of this year, which meets on a monthly basis. I've never been part of an actual book club before and it's fantastic. I've been reading a lot of books I wouldn't normally pick up, and the meetings have been so much fun. It's awesome meeting interesting and fun people, but it's even better that they like to read too! My high school girlfriends started a book club as well, so I've been able to read even more. Some favorites have been The Fault in Our Stars, Where'd you go, Bernadette?, Orange is the New Black, Labor Day, Wonder, and The Happiness Project. I've read some other books on my own, and am always game for new suggestions!

That's all I have for now. I'll be back in the next few weeks - off to keep looking at wedding hair and makeup ideas and to read my new book...

Happiness Projects, Dog Beaches, and Atlanta Housewives

About two weeks ago, I started a happiness project. Inspired by a book with the same name, I decided to embark on a mission to improve my life and work to become just a bit happier. While I have a wonderful life - a fantastic partner, good friends and family, a job that I enjoy - there is always room for improvement. I will be tackling a different goal every month, continuing to build on previous goals each month so that it is a cumulative effort.

My first goal? Improve my mental and physical health.

I can be a bit of a ball of stress, have a bit of a coffee addiction, and need to get off my lazy butt most days. I am working to exercise fives time a week, meditate and/or count to 30 when I'm stressed or anxious about something, remind myself of five things for which I am grateful on a daily basis, and limit myself to one cup of coffee a day.

So far, I'm doing OK. I've been exercising four times a week (trying to get to that five!) and I've been sticking to my one coffee drink a day. I am trying to go to bed earlier, so that I'm not as exhausted the next day (and so I don't need as much coffee!), and that has been hit or miss. Some days I'm able to fall asleep by 10:30, while the next day I'm up until midnight. As a night owl, this will be the hardest goal for me to achieve, but I think it will be the most satisfying.

I've been doing yoga again and I'm not sure why I stopped doing it in the first place. While it's hard to drag my butt off of the couch, I feel so much better after a class. Working out more has been lowering my stress level, which is incentive enough for me to continue practicing yoga. This week, I am going to start running frequently and I hope that will only continue to improve my mood.

In other news, I continue to be obsessed with my sweet baby Nicco. Tom and I have been taking advantage of the warm weather and bringing Nicco to the dog beach. When Nicco goes to the dog beach, he thinks it's the best day of his life. We're able to take him off the leash and let him run around with the other dogs, and he's sporting a serious doggy grin on his face the entire time. My only wish is that we could find a dog beach or a huge dog park a bit closer to us, although it's been a ton of fun meeting other dog owners up at Montrose.

Can we talk about the Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion? Momma Joyce is just drunk the entire time now, right? I seriously thought she lost her mind on tonight's episode. And why does Nene seem to think she's so above these women? Is it because she's been on a couple of episodes of Glee? Does she seriously turn down acting roles? Because last time I checked, she seems to just be playing herself when she's on a TV shows besides Housewives.

I just can't watch this show after the reunion. This season was ridiculous to watch and I just need to cut a Housewives series from my TV lineup.

THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to my Team PAWS page! I am overwhelmed by all of the support and I am just incredibly grateful. I am halfway to my target and it's still early, so I think I'm on track to have a party in the fall for all of the fabulous donors :)

See you in two weeks!

-LC

Running 26.2 - The Second Time Around

Remember that time I ran the 2013 Chicago Marathon and said that I was going to run it again in 2014?

There was a part of me that thought about putting off the marathon until 2015. Training for the race was a fantastic experience, but it was a huge time commitment. I was tempted to sleep in on Saturdays this summer and be able to enjoy a couple of beers at Friday night happy hours, but something (or rather, someone) made me change my mind.

His name is Nicco.

The day we adopted Nicco, cone and all.

 

When Tom and I moved in together two years ago, we started talking about the idea of adopting a dog. We both realized that taking care of a puppy would be a great deal of work, and agreed to put it off until we were really ready for the responsibility. I began pushing a bit harder for a dog last year, and when I signed up for the marathon in 2013, Tom said that we could get a dog when I finished the marathon.

 

Best. Motivation. Ever.

 

As you all know, Tom and I adopted our sweet baby Nicco right before the new year. Judging by the hundreds of photos I have on my phone, I love our puppy quite a bit, as does Tom. We have PAWS Chicago to thank for helping us find our wonderful dog.

 

PAWS is a no-kill shelter in Chicago that saves the lives of nearly 6,000 homeless pets every year. Started by a DePaul alum, PAWS takes in animals off the streets and from other shelters, treating those with illnesses and providing spay/neuter services to those in need of them. Animals are kept in a cage-free environment and the wonderful volunteers provide them with love and support as they find their forever homes.

 

I am eternally grateful to PAWS for the care they gave Nicco as he waited for us to find him. I sometimes wonder how Nicco felt in the days leading up to his adoption, if he was scared, hurt, or alone. But I know that PAWS provided Nicco with everything he needed, and because of PAWS, we found the best part of our little family. The day we adopted Nicco, the volunteers tied a red PAWS Chicago Alumni bandana around his neck as we prepared to take him home. As we walked down Clybourn Avenue with our little buddy, a number of people walking down the street congratulated us on our new dog. It's exciting to see the impact and reach that PAWS has on the community, and I've met countless dog and cat owners who adopted their pets from PAWS.

 

When I decided to run the marathon this year, I signed up to run as part of Team PAWS. If you've watched a big race in Chicago, I'm sure you've seen the Team PAWS members in their navy tanks, often with the names of their pets written on the back. Team PAWS raises about one third of the funding that PAWS needs to carry out their valuable work. As part of being on Team PAWS, I will be working hard to raise money to support this wonderful organization.

Running a marathon takes a great deal of dedication, from committing time to training to mentally preparing to making it through the race. Last year, this seemed like a daunting task, but it ended up being a wonderful experience. I'm even more excited to train this year, especially as a member of one of the best teams around.

I will be posting blogs every two weeks, talking about my training, new developments with Team PAWS, and sharing cute pictures of Nicco. I may also dish on my favorite Bravo shows, as I anticipate spending many more nights in, catching up on my DVR shows.

To donate to Team PAWS, please visit my fundraising page here. If I hit my goal, I will wear a tutu on race day and if I exceed my goal, I will throw a party to thank all donors. Let's save some animals!

 

 

 

 

In Which Our Heroine Becomes a Marathoner

About 8 months ago, I pretty much lost my mind.

I signed up for the Chicago Marathon.

I started running in June 2011, when my friend Shara suggested that we run the Lincoln Park Zoo 5K together. While I had never run more than two miles at once - and that was in college - I was in fairly decent shape thanks to a regiment of hot yoga (with weights!) and long walks several times a week. I figured I could hang for at least a 5K, and running through the zoo would be a great time.

I ended up having a blast with Shara, and decided that I would make running my new workout. I signed up for the Hot Chocolate 5K in 2011 and vowed to run at least a few times a week.

Except....I hate running by myself.

Here's the thing - I'm incredibly lazy when I have down time. I have a fairly strong work ethic and I work hard at my job, but when I have a moment to relax, all I want to do is sit on the couch. While I enjoyed running a race, running by myself was a different story. My thought pattern was typically, "What a nice day! This is great for a run. Wait a minute, why do I suddenly have a side cramp? And why is my foot hurting? Better turn around and head home to my couch. Might as well stop and pick up a pizza on the way. I did just run, after all."

And then I met Tom.

As many of you know, Tom and I met on OkCupid. When we met, he was training for the 2011 Chicago Marathon and mentioned in his profile that he would love to have a running buddy for long distances. Look, I don't advocate embellishing online dating profiles, but Tom was super cute, his emails made me laugh, and he once ate at Mickey's Diner from The Mighty Ducks movies. I had to get a date with him. So....I said that I was a serious runner too. He suggested that I sign up for a race he was doing before the marathon, the Bucktown 5K, so I convinced Shara to do it with me.*

Tom quickly found out the truth about me, and he stuck around for some reason. But after seeing him train for the 2012 Ironman, I wanted to do something out of my comfort zone, so I signed up for the 2012 Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon. Tom wrote me a training plan and it worked - I had a lot of fun and finished at a decent time. Afterwards, my mom asked me if I would ever do a full marathon. I believe my response was "ABSOLUTELY NOT." While the half marathon was fun, it hurt towards the end. A marathon would hurt twice as much!

And then I changed my mind.

Inspired by friends who completed the 2012 Chicago Marathon and Tom's training for the 2013 Ironman, I vowed to sign up this year. My friends trained using the Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA) Marathon Training Program and couldn't say enough nice things about it, so I signed up for that too. I ran a few races with Shara (and some on my own) after my half marathon to stay motivated, but I entered the training program with a very low running fitness level. I've learned that if you don't run to maintain your fitness level, it goes away quickly.

When I did the Rock 'n Roll in 2012, I ran with a run/walk pace team. CARA offers a run/walk pace group, and I immediately joined the group during my first training run in June. We would run for 6 minutes and walk for 1 minute, and repeat until we were done with our distance for the day. We would average around 11:40-12:00 minute miles, which was manageable for me. I really loved running with my group and enjoyed getting to know everyone during the past 4 months. We were one of the smaller pace groups, but I felt like that made us stronger. I felt accountable to the members, and I often pushed myself out of bed at 5:00 every Saturday morning, knowing that if I didn't go, everyone would notice.

The 20 mile training run took place at the end of September. It is organized like a race, and runners select their pace group during registration. I signed up a couple of months in advance and placed myself in the 11:30 run/walk group. My buddies, Ben, Abby and Kathryn, signed up in advance as well, but none of us could remember the pace groups we selected.

On 20 miler day, I discovered that I was in a different wave from my friends, which made me quite nervous. 20 miles is a long distance to run by myself, and I had really started to rely on the energy of the group. Luckily, I found that I was in a good groove with the wave pace leader, Pam, and another woman, Jessica. They both trained at my CARA training site but with different pace groups, so we'd never run together before. The 3 of us stuck together the whole way, and we ended the run finishing strong. We exchanged contact information and tossed around the idea of running the marathon together, since we had such a great run that day.

Pam expressed that she was hoping to go a little faster than we had during the 20 miler, and Jessica and I agreed that would be fine. I let Abby and Ben know my plan and hoped that we would either all run together, or that I would see them during the race. Kathryn was not going to be running the Chicago Marathon, but will be running the Detroit Marathon next week. I was nervous about the possibility of running without my usual buddies, but knew that Pam and Jessica were awesome too.

Enter race day. The best laid plans often go awry.

After leaving our bags at the special CARA gear check, Jessica, Pam, Chavella (another awesome woman from our training site) and I headed over to the corrals. After waiting for awhile, we took off running. Pam was determined to finish in less than 5 hours, and I had a hard time keeping up initially. I've been generally healthy and uninjured during my training, with the exception of one small issue - my feet. My feet swell occasionally, causing me to experience some tingling or numbness in one or both of my feet. I can generally fix this with slipping my feet out of my shoes, relaxing them a bit and then putting them back into my shoes. This generally only happens on the first or second mile of my runs, and then my feet just adjust.**

Not today.

My feet and legs were cramped the first mile, causing me to immediately panic that I was going to have a horrible marathon day. My goal was the same as Pam's, to finish in less than 5 hours, and I started to see that slip away. As I passed mile 2, my legs and feet started to feel worse, so I pulled over to adjust my shoes. I ran to catch up with the group and started to feel pain again, but decided to push through it. As I was clenching my jaw, I saw somebody out of the corner of my eye waving - Abby! I was so happy to see a familiar, smiling face and she joined up with our group.

Happy to see Tom! Abby is next to me and Chavella is in front of me.

As we approached mile 3, my feet and legs were getting worse, so I pulled over and adjusted my shoes again. By that point, I realized that I was not going to keep up with Pam, Jessica and Chavella - and that was ok. I knew that I was going to risk burning out too early at that pace, and that I could stick with Abby and feel comfortable and strong. I caught up with Abby and although I had to adjust my shoes one more time, I felt great the rest of the race. I have theories about my swollen feet, but I'm grateful that this is the only problem I seem to have when I run.

By this point, I had seen Tom twice on the course. My wonderful boyfriend bought a giant Hello Kitty balloon to attach to his hat, so that I would be able to easily spot him. Tom's mom did this (but with a different balloon, of course) on Ironman day, and it worked really well. I knew that I wouldn't see Tom for another 5 miles, so Abby and I kept a good pace and enjoyed the scenery. Running through Lincoln Park was quite pretty, and I grew excited as we approached Lakeview, because I knew that I was going to see two of my most fabulous and closest friends, Kristin and Andrea, and their wonderful significant others, Ryan and Stu.

I knew that Andrea and Stu would be near Roscoe and Lake Shore Drive, and I got ready to call out to get their attention. I spotted them quickly and started screaming as loud as I could. Andrea held up her sign that said, "Go, Budday, Go!" and I felt a boost of energy. I sped up slightly, as I knew that Kristin and Ryan were just a couple of blocks away, and started screaming when I saw them and their awesome signs, "Team Cooney" and "You are so smart and pretty!" I screamed a happy babble (like a drunken baby) and headed down to Boystown.

I spotted Tom again just south of Boystown, and unfortunately missed my aunt Nancy and cousins Elizabeth and Matthew shortly after! I felt a lot of positive energy and love from the crowd where they were stationed, so their cheers definitely worked. I was strong and confident.

And then....I hit mile 9.

Let me preface this by saying that while I am naturally pretty clumsy, I also have pretty quick reflexes. I almost wipe out at least once a day, and I catch myself 90% of the time. I have never fallen during a race. Ever. Nor have I ever fallen during a training run.

But of course, I would fall today.

While running through Lincoln Park, my mind started to wander and my foot caught on an uneven portion of the street. I went flying, and luckily Abby noticed because she quickly got out of my way and yelped, so the runners behind me avoided tripping over me. As I was going down, I thought to myself, "This is it. You're done." I landed on my right hand, left shoulder, left knee and sunglasses. I jumped up and noticed that my right shoe had come off as I fell so gracefully plummeted to the ground, which some spectators pointed out. I threw my shoe back on, inspected myself for road rash and cuts, and realized that other than a couple of scrapes, I was just fine. Abby and I walked for a moment to make sure my knee was ok, and took off running. She jokingly pointed out that I was going to feel the pain in my knee in a few hours, and I laughed that she was right, but hopefully we would be done by then.

I was mortified, but also really grateful that it wasn't worse. I would've felt terrible if I'd taken down Abby or someone else in front of me, and someone behind me could've been seriously hurt as well. But the fall did one good thing - it lit a fire under me. I was going to finish this race, and I was going to do it in under 5 hours. I still had a shot.

Around mile 11, Abby decided to slow down, so I sped up a bit. My goal was to hit the 13.1 mile marker in 2:30, and then I would pick up some speed before I hit the 20 mile mark. I felt quite strong, and smiled when I remembered how painful the Rock 'n Roll was in 2012. I had come far, thanks to my training.

My mom and Allie came in from Naperville to see me on the course, and Kati met up with the crew. As I approached 13.1, I saw my family with Tom and Hello Kitty. I read their signs ("Do this for Gordon Bombay!", "Cooney! Show me something, now!", "Zack Morris wants you to run!" and "Run, Lauren, run!") and cheered as I passed them. I was halfway there. The next time I would see them would be in Chinatown, after mile 21.

I picked up time during those 8 miles, and as I hit mile 18, I realized that I could slow down a bit and still finish in 5 hours. While Abby and I stuck to our run/walk intervals, I decided to ignore my watch and listen to my body. If I needed to walk, I'd walk - but if I was feeling strong, I'd keep running. I didn't want to overthink the run; I just wanted to enjoy the last stretch. I saw my CARA pace leader, Robyn, in the crowd during this stretch and gave her a big hug. She was sidelined with an injury a couple of months ago, but remained a great leader for our little group. Pace leaders like Robyn make CARA a great training program!

Everyone who's run a marathon talks about the wall that you hit at mile 20. On the Chicago course, there are few spectators from mile 22-24 and your body really starts to hurt at that point. I hit a small wall during that point, as my legs and feet were sore, but I pushed myself to keep going. If you keep going, I told myself, you will finish faster.

A little after mile 23, I felt a tap on my shoulder and heard a voice say, "Hi!!" It was Ben! I was so happy to see one of my pace buddies, and we began running together. He was hurting a bit, but in great spirits as we were getting closer to the finish. I looked down at my watch to see if I could still finish in 5 hours, and Ben encouraged me to run ahead and finish strong. I wished him well and took off towards mile 24.

And then my watch died. Crap.

I knew that I had to keep running if I was going to make 5 hours, especially without my watch to guide me. By this point, we were running north on Michigan Avenue. I knew that when I passed our condo, I would have 1 mile left to go. I would have just 6 blocks to go until Roosevelt - and then I was practically done! I kept running, and began looking for Tom and my family as I approached Roosevelt. I was going to see them one last time before I finished.

 Approaching Roosevelt. I may be smiling, but I just yelled, "I'm ready to finish now!"

Before approaching the finish chute, runners must run up Roosevelt to Columbus, which is on an incline. I have run up this hill many times, and it's certainly not my favorite thing to do - especially not after a 26 mile run. I vowed to run the entire hill, but stopped to walk for 10 seconds as I felt my heart race. The rush of almost being a marathoner was kicking in, and I was terrified that I was going to pass out!

I heard Tom's voice say, "I better see that kick at the finish!" in my head as I ran toward the finish line. I raised my arms over my head as I leapt onto the timing mat, relieved and incredibly happy to have conquered the marathon.

Walking through the finish area and to the spot where runners reunite with their posses took ages, but it was good to keep moving. All I wanted to do was sit down, but I knew I wouldn't be able to get up. I quickly found Tom, my mom, and Kati, and we chatted while I sipped my post race beer. Tom had been tracking me along the course, and confirmed that I had come in sub-5 at 4:59:31. It may be sub-5 by 29 seconds, but I'll take it!

Tom and me at the post-race party. I am so happy, but a bit sweaty!

My sister Kati, me and my mom at the post-race party. I am lucky to have such a fabulous family!

We headed to the Hilton so I could grab my gear (and bump into Jessica, who had a strong finish too!) and mentally prepare for the walk home. Kati took my mom back to Union Station so she could head back to Naperville, and Tom and I went to the Recovery Room. My legs felt much better after some time in the Normatec compression boots, and it gave me time to go through the texts and Facebook messages I received today.

I really am overwhelmed by all of the well wishes and kind things that people have said today and throughout my training, and I am forever grateful for all of it. This has been such a wonderful experience, and just reinforces the fact that I have the most fabulous friends and family.

I celebrated my race this evening with Tom, Kati and my sister Meg (who had to work today, unfortunately!) at Lou Malnati's. A couple of slices of deep dish pizza and a beer were exactly what I needed to finish this day!

Again, thanks to everyone for their awesome support today and always. And a special thanks to Tom and my family and friends for coming out today and spending their Sunday running around the city. Your support means a ton and made my race day great!

And before anyone asks, I'll do this again - either in 2014 or 2015. I want to go sub-4:30.

*I have such fabulous friends.
**My shoes do fit, so I know that's not the problem. It's usually only an issue when I try to go out too fast and my body reacts poorly.

My Spring/Summer of Blankets and Books

I'm clearly not a dedicated blogger at the moment...but I am a dedicated knitter.

Remember the blanket that I was making for my mom as a belated Mother's Day gift? The one I hoped to finish in July?

I finished it the day before Mother's Day!

This project still took quite a bit of time, but went much faster than I anticipated. I put in a lot of hours, especially as I finished this up, but the end result was well worth it:

Finished blanket and close-up of detail

I used the F343 Coffee Beenz Textured Throw pattern from Plymouth Yarn Company, which was available for free on Ravelry. I wanted to remain true to the pattern and use Coffee Beenz yarn, so I ordered some from yarn.com. I talked with my mom about what color she'd like for the blanket, and she said she would like either blue or green. The Coffee Beenz green wasn't super pretty, so I ordered Wedgewood. The pattern called for six skeins of yarn. I have only worked with balls of yarn, not skeins, but this yarn was easy to work with. 

I spent a lot of time knitting in late April/early May, and I realized that I would be able to finish the blanket for my mom in time for Mother's Day. I turned up the speed on the project pretty quickly once I had an actual deadline, and grew slightly frustrated once I realized I would need eight skeins of yarn instead of six. I placed my order for the two extra skeins a few days before I needed to complete the project, and pulled an all-nighter the Friday before Mother's Day to finish up the blanket.

The pattern is very easy and was quite manageable on large circular needles. I love the texturized look of the blanket, and the finished product is super cozy. The pattern said that the finished blanket would be 32x32", but it's definitely bigger - which I like. I tested it out on my own lap before giving it to my mom, and it was the perfect size. She was very happy with her Mother's Day gift!

I was happy with it too...so happy, in fact, that I decided to make a blanket of my own.

While searching for a pattern for my mom's blanket, I came across one that I liked on Ravelry. It was a little complicated, but I loved the colors used in the pattern. I decided to make myself a blanket using the same pattern that I used for my mom's, but with some of the colors in the other blanket pattern. Instead of being one color, my blanket would be striped. 

The yarn I used is called Manos del Uruguay Maxima. The colors I chose are Oxygen (a very light blue), Eucalyptus (a dark green), Foil (gray) and Coral (....coral). Knowing that I would need eight skeins of yarn this time around, I wanted to be prepared.

While I am thrilled with how the finished product turned out, working with this yarn was a bit of a pain at first. I may have thrown a slight tantrum, screamed, "KNITTING IS STUPID!", and thrown my yarn on the ground. Because I'm a child. 

See, this yarn arrived in skeins, like the Coffee Beenz yarn. Unfortunately, these skeins were very difficult to work with. The yarn was knotted at some points, and the strands would stick to the rest of the skein as I would try to knit. 

Luckily, I have Tom. He suggested that we wind the skeins into balls ourselves and offered to help me do it. This was a huge lifesaver, but took up a lot of time. If anyone has suggestions on how to wind skeins up quickly, I would love to hear any advice!

Once my yarn was wound up, I was ready to rock. This was my first time working with multiple colors in a pattern, but I was confident I could handle the challenge. As long as I attached the new balls of yarn on the same side of the project, I knew that the blanket would look great.

I took my time on this one, as I didn't have an actual deadline. I love the final product, but of course, there are a couple places I could've improved.

I didn't have any set plan as to how many rows I would do for each color. I figured I would simply knit the first color until I ran out of yarn, and then handle the other colors the same way.

The problem was that the skeins of yarn were not uniform in size. They were advertised that way on the website, but there were definitely differences - especially with the Coral, which was my final color. I could've knit five more rows with one of the skeins, but I ran out of yarn on the other skein. The yarn is held double throughout the pattern, so once I ran out of a skein in a certain color, I was finished with that color. This was slightly annoying, but since I was just making the blanket for myself, it wasn't that big of a deal.

Here's the (sort of) final product! I still have to weave in the ends, but I wanted to put up a picture here:

I'm really happy with it! I like that you can see the texturized pattern a bit more, since the colors I used in my blanket are solid. I do think the colors offered in the Manos del Uruguay line are beautiful, and I'm glad that I stuck with this project. I'm so excited to use this for my fabulous Real Housewives/movie nights.

Now I need to think of what I'll do next. I need to finish up a hat that I started making for Tom a couple of months ago, which should take about an hour to finish. I still need to work on my cowl scarf, which I put down once I started working on my mom's blanket. 

I think blankets may be my favorite thing to make though. I like having a long-term project, especially one that I can work on while watching movies. I'm currently training for the Chicago Marathon, so my knitting time has been reduced, but I still want to have some things to work on for the rest of the summer/early fall. I may take a socks class at Loopy Yarns, as Bree has raved about making socks, and perhaps I will look into making a sweater as well!

In other news....I have been reading like crazy. If any of you are looking for some funny reads, I have been going through a bunch of good books this summer. Here are some of my favorites:

• Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan: I (obviously) don't have kids, but I thought this book about raising five kids is hysterical. I love Jim Gaffigan (Tom and I went to see him in April) and love his self-deprecating humor about being pale. If you've ever seen any of his comedy specials, some of the jokes will be familiar, but the book has plenty of new material.
  
• The Potty Mouth at the Table by Laurie Notaro: I love Laurie Notaro. She writes incredibly funny memoirs in a short story format, so they're easy and hilarious reads. I read Autobiography of a Fat Bride last summer and couldn't stop laughing at how suspicious she was of her husband when they started dating. He acted like a gentleman towards her, and she kept thinking that he was obviously some sort of freak. Clearly, that's how I felt about Tom when we started dating. The Potty Mouth at the Table made me laugh out loud and I'm already excited for her next book to come out.
  
• Dear Girls Above Me by Charlie McDowell: Recently dumped Charlie lives below two twenty-something girls and can hear all of their (not so fabulous) conversations. He details his breakup, trying to decide if his fabulous roommate is gay, and dealing with the annoying girls upstairs. As someone who could once hear a little too much of her neighbors, I thought this book was hysterical. This is a very light read - I finished it in a day - and good for someone dealing with annoying neighbors.

Right now I am working on The Tao of Martha by Jen Lancaster (my favorite Chicago author - check her out!) and Cool, Calm and Contentious by Merrill Markoe. Clearly, I like memoirs - but I am always up for  good fiction! Any book recommendations are always appreciated.