Catching up while waiting for data

Mileage update:
154.6 + 38.8 = 193.4

Between this afternoon and tomorrow, I should hit the 200 mile mark!

Rock & Roll Chicago is in 9 days. I'm very carefully tapering--watching food (or trying), keeping each run at an intentional pace and distance--all those things. I'm feeling good about race day. Last week and this week at track practice we did 800 workouts (half-mile intervals). Last week I was running each interval in 3:55. This week I ran each in 3:50 (give or take a second, in general). Both weeks, the workout felt comfortable, and even more so this week even though I was faster. So, I'm feeling good about where I'm at physically. I'm pretty excited about the race! Now we're all just praying for good weather.

In other news, life is going about at its insane pace. Elliot is finally having the surgery to open his blocked tear duct (in his left eye). I'm so thankful that we have access to the medical resources needed to safely get it taken care of! That thankfulness is tempered by the unending doctor's appointments, phone calls, and cost associated with such treatment. But nonetheless, I'm happy for Elliot that he won't continue to have incessant goop in his left eye.

As for me, I've been making great progress on the last paper of my dissertation. I've had to ease up working on it in the last week though to focus on getting ready for conferences and related professional endeavors. I'm getting ready to head out to two conferences, which thankfully are both within driving distance. I'm pretty excited about them. They are both good places to meet potential employers, and they are both a little less stressful than the conferences I'll go to in the fall. I'm happy to have lower-stress places to debut my dissertation work and smooth out the wrinkles in what will become my job talk. I do not plan to discuss job applications here, but will say that the season is slowly starting, and with it, B and I are starting to have long conversations about where we can see ourselves living, and how we might plot out a future in which we both can find fulfilling careers.

Finally, a few shout outs.

1. A HUGE congratulations to N for the successful defense of her dissertation!
2. I've said it privately, but want to say publicly how proud I am of my Dad for doing something that he enjoys, and not just doing it, but making it an integral part of his life. Check out his website here.
   

just busy

mileage update:
125.5 + 8.3 + 4.1 + 4.0 + 5.9 + 3.75 + 3.0 = 154.6

The all-team training was great, both because I got to see some new faces and because I got to run a different course once mid-season. A new course is great for two reasons. The first reason is obvious--just simple variety. The second is less obvious. On race day, you're (usually) on a course you don't know by heart. You don't know, for instance, that there's a 0.2% grade from mile 2 to 5, which is virtually invisible to the naked eye but painfully obvious to your legs. You don't immediately know what is causing the drag or when it will end. Exposing yourself to that kind of uncertainty during training only prepares you better for the big day.

Speaking of the big day--it's only three weeks until Rock & Roll Chicago! I'm not sure I'm feeling as prepared as I would like, but even so I'm really looking forward to race day. The course looks good, and all the bands will be great to have on the course. AND, today I reserved a hotel room for the Detroit Free Press Marathon. I registered for it a while ago and have been training with it in mind all spring and summer. It's really happening. It's going to be a great weekend.

Training news: tomorrow is our first 10-miler for the season.

Aside from running, life has been crazy busy recently! I've been working overtime on my dissertation, which is going well. A few job postings are surfacing with January start dates, so I'm starting to consider those. I have two conferences coming up, other professional commitments, and one very active one year old. Our dear friends and Elliot's God parents, MJ and JT, are moving to Iowa this weekend. We're happy to see them moving into a great opportunity, but are really sad to see them, their son, and their bun in the oven moving a few hours away.

There's been so much going on that, despite my best intentions, I feel overwhelmed by the thought of really outlining it all right now. I'm gonna turn in for the night, and maybe get into more detail here later.

quick update

Mostly just a quick mileage update:

106.2 + 3.0 + 8.0 + 2.8 + 2.75 + 2.75 = 125.5 miles

Tomorrow is our second 8-mile long run. I'll be joining other regional TNT chapters for an all-team Saturday. New trail, new running buddies, here I come!

We're getting ready for a Team yard sale, scheduled for July 18. If you have items you'd like to donate, please let me know!

Pleasantville

It's bad when I have to get out my weekly planner to remember what all needs to go into updating my blog. It's not all crazy busyness though! Part of the distractions recently have been fabulous--a trip to the beach and a visit from my parents. Before I get into all that though, a mileage update. I've officially (finally) broken the 100-mile mark.

82.4 + 3.0 + 6.0 + 3.25 + 3.0 + 6.0 + 2.5 = 106.15

Things here got totally nutsy after my Mom's Swine Flu diagnosis, mostly because she and my Dad were scheduled to fly out here and babysit while Brendan and I were to go on vacation (I have a thing about not announcing vacations beforehand--something about posting online that my house will be empty totally creeps me out). So for a few days we were weighing whether to cancel or reschedule the trip, take Elliot with us, or leave him with a dear friend (who is completely amazing for agreeing to take him). In the end, my Dad never got flu symptoms, so he came out as planned and my Mom came out last Tuesday, after the doctor cleared her for travel and babysitting. So where did we go, you might ask. The answer--Miami Beach. And it was everything I had hoped for. Beautiful, clear beaches, nice weather, a comfy bed (in which we slept past 6:30 am), and time with my hubby away from work. We got to see our friends Junior and Melissa one evening, which we really enjoyed. We also went para-sailing, rented a wave runner, and ate some awesome Cuban food. I also discovered the Mojito. Have one. They're delicious. Here are a few pictures.

We arrived back in IL on Thursday (6/11), my Dad's birthday. Because it was both his birthday and we were in denial about the end of vaca, we went out to dinner at one of our favorite local places. On Friday, Brendan sadly had to return to work. I, on the other hand, played hooky and took my parents to Springfield to tour the Dana-Thomas House. It was an absolutely perfect day. I can't say enough good things about Springfield in terms of its preparedness for tourism. I didn't even print directions, we just drove there and easily found both the visitors center and nearby parking. Inside, they had walking and driving directions to nearby restaurants and attractions. While walking to a nearby restaurant (which was amazing) for lunch, someone from the visitors center asked if we were finding everything. I was totally impressed. And it didn't stop there. The tour of the Dana-Thomas House was also excellent. The tour started with a short video, then a volunteer led us through the 1902 Frank Lloyd Wright house. We weren't permitted to take pictures inside the house, but my Mom did take a few outside, which I'll post when she sends them. The inside has two (?) barrel vaulted ceilings, which I'm not sure I've ever seen in American residential architecture. He used them a few other times in his houses, apparently, though they are not a common feature of his design. The predominant theme in the art glass is an interpretation of Sumac, which I liked. There was a secondary butterfly theme in the glass, but the Sumac is the clear star. There are three musicians balconies in the house. Can you imagine having a quartet playing above your dining room? Wild. After the tour we went back to the restaurant where we'd had lunch and had some dessert before leaving town. It was a great outing.

On their last night in town, my Mom got some last Grandmothering in. I couldn't resist capturing it.

On Saturday morning I went to the park half an hour early to start my 6-mile long run, then came home to pick up Mom and Dad and take them to the airport. We finished out the weekend with a totally unplanned picnic with friends after church. I love, LOVE feeling like I have friends to whom I can say, "Hey, wanna go home, grab whatever you have in the 'fridge, and meet us at a park in an hour?" And they do. They show up, and we have a great time. That's what it feels like to feel at home someplace. And I love it. I finished the weekend by baking a loaf of cinnamon-raisin bread, scrapbooking, and watching In Plain Sight with Brendan.

This morning I jumped back into the reality pool with both feet. I'm feeling the pressure to keep moving my dissertation along. Today was the goal deadline I'd set for myself to finish the all-but-the-data draft of my third paper. I have most of that draft finished, but I've also done a significant amount of the data work, so I think I'm on track. Determined to inject something pleasant into the chaos, I went for my run after dinner. It was cool, and sunset was nice, and I settled in and enjoyed a short 2.5 mile run. I'm sort of inspired by stress to purposefully inject fun, even just small snippets, into as many evenings as possible. It makes for a nice life.

a decision on races

First, a mileage update

74.4 + 8 = 82.4 (5 this past Saturday and 3 today at the track. Running got a little fuzzy in between)

And finally, I have chosen my races for fall. I will be running the Chicago Rock & Roll Half in August, and the Detroit Free Press Marathon in October. I'm excited now that I have these decisions nailed down. I hear great things about the Detroit course, plus I'll get to see The Detroit Contingency (brother + sis-in-law + niece).

Otherwise in life, things have been a little bit crazy here. I think most of you know this already--my Mom has swine flu. Seriously. So it's been crazy getting up to speed on that and rearranging life a bit to accommodate the doctor-prescribed quarantine. She's feeling mostly better, and is medicated, thank goodness! My mother-in-law was visiting last weekend. She hadn't seen Elliot since Christmas! It was long overdue. She went with us to look at the proofs from his one year portraits. We also took E to the park on Saturday, and had a nice dinner out on Sunday at a local Mexican place. It was a nice weekend!

first track practice

Today was the first track workout of the season, and with little surprise, it kicked my butt. My leg muscles have been really tight recently. So tight, in fact, that I went home and iced them after practice, and during practice I felt like my legs just wouldn't move. I'm not sure what the deal is. If you have insights, leave a comment and let me know! The workout itself was one of my favorites--6 x 400m. I ran each 400 between 1:37 and 1:50. Big range, I know. I blame the fast early intervals on peer pressure. :)

71.4 + 3 = 74.4 miles

Before practice, Meg (who, thank goodness, has some time off from work) and I went to Body & Sole so I could get some new shoes. Here's a recap: we walked in and a sales person greeted us. I held up my old shoes and said "I need a new pair of these." He got said pair of shoes from the back. As we were waiting for him, I thought I might check out some other shoes just in case there was something else great out there. So when he came back I said, pointing at Meg, "she has these shoes now, but before she had these she had Saucony's and liked them better. I thought maybe I should try on a pair and see if I like them better, too." The sales person laughed (a habitual, nervous sort of laugh) and said, "Oh, I thought you were starting a story of something she wanted to say and you were just going to speak for her and not let her talk." A few minutes later he said that one of us smelled nice. The whole interaction was vaguely awkward. However, my new shoes are in much nicer colors than my old ones. They're shiny, and that makes me happy.

All over the place

I am waaaaaay behind on updating miles. Here's the update:
Monday/Tuesday = 6.0 miles
Thursday = 2.0 miles
Saturday = 3.7
today = 2.4
Total = 14.1
57.3 + 14.1 = 71.4 miles

Otherwise, things have been up and down here. My aunt (Mom's sister) died in a car accident on May 16. I made the trip to Pennsylvania sans husband and baby. I wanted to be there for my Mom and family. My brother also made the trip from Michigan. It was really nice to see my cousins, but of course we all wished it could have been under better circumstances.

This weekend my brother, sister-in-law, and niece came to visit to celebrate Elliot's birthday and hang out. It was a weekend filled with good food and good company. We had a batch of the filled pancakes in my new pan, dinners of tri-meat kabobs, homemade pizzas with beer crust and great toppings, and chicken oro bianco. I also made cupcakes for Elliot's birthday. We went shopping, stayed up late playing games, and hung out. I bought a shirt over my sister-in-laws objections (it was fun!). Dan, for funsies, changed my homepage to the Youtube video for my least favorite song on the planet just before he left. We had a good time.