TGIF

Seriously.  I don't know what in particular made this week so draining, but it was, and i am looking forward to this weekend.  Todays fun facts are about my favorite summer drinks that i will have to have less of now that marathon training has begun.  You drinks will always be in my heart, but only sometimes in my stomach.


1.  My favorite drink of all time, year round - The dirty martini.

Vodka with a splash of olive juice and a splash of vermouth.  It better be shaken and served up or i will be very angry at you.
If you want to be really crazy, you can make it a sara-tini and just add an extra 10 olives.

2.  The John Daly.  It's basically an alcoholic Arnold Palmer.  And if you seriously know nothing about golf references, its half lemonade/half sweet tea vodka, with a splash of club soda.  (or you can just do half lemonade, half sweet tea, and add regular vodka.)

3.  New Glarus spotted cow.
Spotted cow is one of my all time favorite summer beers.  It is light and crisp and oh so tasty.  The one problem is that it is only sold in the state of Wisconsin, so to get my hands on some, i have to travel to the great north, and smuggle it back to Chicago.  Luckily my moms house is only a 20 minute drive from the state line.  It's worth being a beer-runner though, (HA! Get it?  Beer runner?!?)  because spotted cow is worth it's weight in gold in Chicago.  And as long as you're making the journey, you can stock up on cheese curds too!

4.  Ginger & Jameson
In general, i like my whiskey straight, but when it gets hot out, warm whiskey does not have the same refreshing qualities. Ginger and Jameson is the younger, hipper version of the seven&seven our grandparents all drank.  And it has the word "ginger" in it.  It's ginger ale with Jameson whiskey, if you hadn't pieced that together yet.

5.  Sangria.  
It's wine with fruit in it.  How much more healthy eating can you really expect from me?
I like to get crazy and put mango in mine.  I am seriously a loose cannon.

6. Last, but definitely not least, Margaritas.

And i mean real margaritas.  None of that super sweet blended crap you get at Chili's (although i still love you Chili's)  I want tequila, lime juice, and simple syrup in a lowball glass over ice.  And if i am still standing after two of these, you are making it wrong.


*sigh* Its going to be a long summer....

Blunk.

I'm in a "blogging funk."  I have literally nothing interesting or entertaining to say.  I am just way too tired.  I am not sure what this sudden onset fatigue is about, but i have self diagnosed myself with mono.  I am normally a 6 hours of sleep a night girl (if i'm lucky)  But all of a sudden 8 and 9 hours feels like it isn't nearly enough.  I am deeply concerned that i might fall asleep at my desk at work today, which is just very unprofessional- especially considering how much i need to be doing.


I still have first world problems....oh so many, but i am struggling to see the humor in them.  I burnt my toast this morning, and i was deeply saddened - beyond words.


Waffles bit me yesterday in attempt to steal my soup.  She doesn't even like soup.  What a bitch.


And finally i find myself overly-jealous of this kid.

I kind of wish that i lived in the woods right now, where there is no traffic.  Or status meetings.  Or time sheets.  Or printers.  Lucky bastard.


See?  Don't you worry about me.  I will always have problems.  But i am having one of those weeks where i feel super overwhelmed and the blog is suffering.  It's always the first to go.  The worst part about being overwhelmed is work - i actually do have to finish projects, but rather then fill out my time sheets (like i should have done)  My coworker and i wasted a bunch of time making this:

The chart doesn't even make sense!  What is wrong with me??  Why did we just waste all these pencils???  WILL I EVER GET OUT OF THIS BLUNK AND FIGURE OUT A WAY TO PRETEND THAT I AM ENTERTAINING AGAIN???? Tune in tomorrow, i guess.

Photo Challenge #7

So if you read any of my race recaps, first off - thank you, i realize how boring i am.  But secondly, you might have noticed Clucky, my race medal displaying stuffed chicken.

I bought Clucky like 8 years ago at target when he was 75% off (post-easter)  He is actually supposed to be some kind of pillow i suppose.  For some reason, despite moving at least 8 times in those past 8 years, and doing a clean sweep every single time, Clucky always made the cut and came with me.  When i ran my first race last September, i was so excited that i wanted my medal to be out in the open.  So i jokingly put it around Clucky's neck, making him look like a little olympian!  It kind of became the tradition, after every race, to come home and present Clucky with a medal.  You can see some additional medals off to the side - those are Matts, who has yet to find an oversized comical stuffed animal on which to display his race medals.

G-foxxx summer saviors

Despite the fact the summer is still "officially" like two weeks away, its hard not to feel like we're in the thick of it with so many 80 and 90 degree days already this year!  I just wanted to call out a couple things i have discovered this far that will be helping me survive the summer!


1.  I have always been a firm believer that anything over SPF 30 is basically a marketing gimmick.  That is, until i picked up this baby The Coppertone Sport Pro Series SPF 50-

I picked it up at Walgreens the night before the Rockford marathon because i forgot to bring sunblock to the 90 degree no shade marathon (who lets me pack my own bag??)  any way, i got this because i like the spray better than the lotion, and i figured that "Sport: PRO series" was obviously targeting me.  This stuff is awesome.  I was in full burning sun at rockford for like 6 hours, dumping water on my head and sweating like a whore in church, and i was STILL completely sunburn free, except for one little spot on my arm where i very obviously missed.  I used it again at Sunburst, (although only the second half was super sunny) but still - no burn.  This is a gingers best friend.


2.  Legends of my ability to both consume martinis and run marathons has spread far and wide.  The nice folks at Rebootizer sent some of the Sweat Pink ladies this to try, and i was a little afraid of it to be honest - it looks super hi-tech.  

But once i tried it, it was awesome.  Its basically like a super-duper vitamin detox drink.  So lets say I drank a few beers friday night and then had to run a half-marathon in the morning. You take one of these before bed, and wake up feeling fresh as a daisy.  Obviously, these are intended to be part of a healthy lifestyle and aren't miracle workers.  (you can't stay up all night taking tequila shots and then run a BQ in morning.  Well, maybe you can.  I can't.  Yet.)  I also took one every day after Rockford to help keep me from getting the post marathon sickies, because i knew i would have a revenge marathon in the following weeks.  You can get it online, but i just found out you can also get them at 7-11 too, so you can multi-task and just pick some up when you run in to pick up a case of Miller high life and a few bags of gummy bears (wait, am i the only one doing this at 7-11??)


3.  Salt Stick!  Oh how i love you salt stick.  

They actually have tons of salt replacement products available, and i am sure they all work fine.  I like the salt stick because you can buy a little pack of three at REI, and then just take the pack of three with you for a marathon.  I just wist the material of the little pack was more water resistant, because it always starts to disintegrate in my pocket.  They definitely have helped me with the heat though, and are much easier on my stomach than gatorade.


4.  Mission anti-chafe cream

I know a lot of people swear by body glide, but i like this better because it is thicker.  Its like vaseline only creamier and not so "globby"  I love this stuff, and it works.  I usually don't have many problems with chafing anyway, but in the summer when i start dumping water on myself sometimes things start to rub.  This is a summer staple for me!  I bought mine at Dicks Sporting Goods.  


I still haven't figured everything out- i have a handheld water bottle that i despise with a passion.  And i still am having trouble finding gel flavors that don't make me gag, so if anyone has some awesome summer staples, please feel free to contribute!!


Happy Summer Running!

If you ain't first, you're last!

Oh Ricky Bobby, you are so wise!

Lets face it - i knew i wouldn't be in first yesterday at the 13.1 half marathon (or ever, for that matter).  Despite the high temps, i keep forgetting that i ran a marathon last weekend.  And another one two weeks before that.  I am both physically and mentally not up for racing right now.  And probably not for a little bit - but i did pay for this race, and as the only one who actually paid to run it - i better freaking show up.  And there would be other bloggers there.  And cameras.  If i ever miss a photo-op you should probably be concerned.  

I am far too lazy to link everyones blog, but luckily, Maggie already did it here.

I saw three potential outcomes for this race:


1.  Push myself, and while i would not be able to sub 2:00 in these conditions, i probably could have run a 2:05, but i would have had to push myself to the absolute limit, and risk getting heat sick again, or worse - injuring my still tender footsies.


2.  Push myself, realize somewhere around mile 6 that i would never meet my unrealistic goals, and lay down and start crying.  Finish race, but realize i am so burnt out that i take the next month off from running.


3.  Not race at all, and just try to spot people out on the course, work on my jokes and dance moves, and have a generally awesome time.

photo: Erin

Obviously, i chose number 3.  I just mentally can't handle racing right now, especially not in heat.  But man, did i have a good time.  And i don't mean to sound like a total asshole, but after Rockford, which was about 10-15 degrees hotter, this actually felt like a nice day.  I was warm, but i never felt too warm, i never felt sick, and i never even felt the need to dump water over my head.  I felt really good, and finished the race feeling like i could run a few more miles.  Granted it was my slowest half marathon time ever, but i was more focused on chit-chatting with my friend Keren the entire race.  She was definitely hating the heat for the last few miles, but i like to think that my side splitting humor helped her forget about it.  And i got to see lots of people out on the course!  Super speedy Chicago Runner Girl (way ahead of me, obviously), I saw Kim a few times, Zack blew by me, and i saw Cary twice!  (although she only saw me once)


I tried to make myself stand out so that people could see me easily too, so i wore bright colors and giant pigtail buns.  It was really nice to just run this casually.  It makes me want to be a pacer for future races.  


My biggest regret is that they did not blow the horn three times when they switched the flag from green to yellow.  They sent an email the day before saying the would, and i had an AMAZING game of thrones joke lined up.  (One horn- "ranger returning!"  Two horns- "Wildlings!" Three horns- "WHITE WALKERS, RUN!!!!")  Ugh, i was denied.  That was a good one.


Either way, i had a great time, mostly because of all the friendly faces.  I felt great for the entire race, although i am still burnt out on racing and will be taking a little break-a-roo to focus on training.  The race did a good job of preparing for the heat (its mid-June, are we really surprised?) but for me, the course was really familiar and a little boring.  I ran down there all last summer, so it wasn't very exciting.  I wouldn't run this race again because of the price.  It's WAY too expensive for what it is.  There are at least half a dozen half marathons that take place on the lakefront path, so i don't understand why this one is SO much more expensive.  And, again, as they only runner there that they didn't give a free entry to, you can believe me.  I would much rather run the Chicago Half Marathon, which in my opinion is a more exciting race. Or one of the suburban races that would have a more interesting course and parking. 

The tastiest Michelob Ultra EVER.

So you signed up for a race and now it's going to be 90 degrees.

Today's fun facts are all about modifying your goals in in-climate weather!

I am by NO means an expert on running in the heat.  In fact i suck at it, proven by the fact that i have already collapsed from what was most likely heat stroke once this year.  But, I have had almost every single race i put my heart and soul into this year end up with a heat warning, so here are some of the lessons i have learned the hard way.

1.  There is always going to be someone in the race who is a seasoned runner and is completely unaffected by heat and humidity.  They will make you look like an asshole, but there is nothing you can do.  You run your race, they run theirs.  Every seasoned runner probably at one time had a race that was way too hot where they severely underperformed.

2.  Adjust your goals.  This is the hardest one (for me)  Maybe you have worked for the past four months training for this race.  Maybe you are running it to honor someone.  Maybe your whole family is watching.  It doesn't matter - if it's hot, you have to slow down and send your time goals packing.  You aren't going to meet them, and you might hurt yourself.**

**Luckily, i think most of us this weekend were running this race casually anyway, so hopefully there aren't many disappointed people.

3.  If you need to pull out at any point, no one will think any less of you.  I made that mistake at Rockford, when i knew i should have quit because my body couldn't handle it, but i was more concerned with people thinking i would be a failure if i didn't finish.  That's bananas.  No one will judge you if you don't start the race, nor will any one judge you if you don't finish it.  People WILL be upset if you die during the race though.

4.  Bring water.  You might not need it.  In fact, if it is a properly stocked race, you absolutely won't need it.  But do you really want to risk it?? At the same time, don't freak out and over hydrate.  If you drink 30 glasses of water today, you are just going to be up all night peeing, and will in no way have an advantage tomorrow.

5.  Don't over dress.  I can't tell you how many people i saw lying on the side of the road wearing black capris at the Rockford Marathon.  Are you kidding me?  If there is a heat advisory don't wear black pants!  As a general rule, dress like it is 20 degrees warmer.  So if its going to be 80, dress for 100 degrees.  If it's going to be 90, dress for 110.  I don't actually know what i would wear if it were 110 degrees though....i doubt i would leave the house.  And if i did, i would probably be naked. 

6.  Run with a buddy.  Or make a friend out there on the course.  You usually don't realize when the heat is frying your brain (i didn't).  You think you're running a nice steady pace, but you are actually weaving all over the place, mumbling something about tacos.  You're going to want someone who can intervene on your behalf and recognize that it is NOT your normal behavior.  Unless it is.

7.  Wear Sunblock.  I do not understand the whole "I'm too much of a badass for sunblock" movement.  I am bringing SPF 50 tomorrow if anyone wants in.  And even if you "don't burn like a ginger" do you really want to look like this?? 

8.  Just try to have fun.  If you want to whine, go to town, i encourage you.  I might whine myself.  But try your best to make light of the situation, because while you may be miserable, so is everyone else.  Yay to misery buddies!

But seriously, just be safe out there this weekend - I kind of like all of you!

No words, just emotions.