Run This Town

admin10.10.10, Chicago Marathon 2010, excited, first marathon, Marathon Expo, nervous, protein, Uncategorized%s Comments

Yesterday was the first day of the Chicago Marathon Expo.  So now, I’m running the marathon in an official “I’ve got a race bib/souvenir t-shirt/more forms of protein than I ever knew existed” (gel? bars? cubes?!) sort of way.

During the expo, I went in between feeling like I-might-throw-up-on-you nervous and super excited about every 2 hours.  However, the expo had some solid ad campaigns that definitely elicited the super excited response.

Run Faster?  Run Unleashed?  Run, Chicago, Run?  Don’t mind if I do!

I can’t imagine running 26.2 miles anywhere but Chicago.  This city is filled with favorites upon favorites upon favorites.  Favorite landmarks, favorite people, favorite neighborhoods, favorite food, favorite streets.  I can’t wait to see and experience all of those favorites tomorrow while running my very first marathon

See you at Mile 27!  10.10.10 is HERE!

Nom Nom Nom

admin10.10.10, Chicago Marathon, chocolate chip waffles, food cravings, ninainthechi, running, The Running Couple, Twitter, Uncategorized%s Comments

If chocolate chip waffles aren’t running food, I don’t want to know what is.

I’m not sure if I’m cut out to have children because the marathon cravings I’ve had the last few days have been so intense that  I can’t imagine what pregnancy cravings are like.  I feel like I’m eating like a college linebacker right now.

In other news, I met the most darling couple from Fort Worth, Texas who are in town for the Chicago Marathon.  We got chatting about the race and I learned that Husband Lee has run a few before, Wife Isis is taking on her first and they had tons of great tips, stories and were just so gosh darn nice.  It turns out that they have a blog called therunningcouple.com and have been blogging about the running and training they have done together.  If there ever was a team (or a “teamie” as Ryan and I call it when we are particularly proud of ourselves for doing something good together), Lee and Isis are it.  They absolutely fueled my excitement for the Chicago Marathon and I am so excited to get reading their blog for more inspiration and advice!  In addition to their killer blog, you can follow them on Twitter: @runningcouple.    I’m @ninainthechi on Twitter, just in case you’re not following my musings yet.

High Five of the Day: The incredibly nice people who spoke with me at ADT today.  All I was trying to do was change a battery but they took me seriously, as if I were dealing with a matter of national security.  I totally didn’t expect that from an 800 number.  Way to go, customer service.

Just Like a Good Bra…

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I’m talking about support, people.

To say I am blessed to have supportive people in my life is an understatement.  I am even luckier to know that I do as these people are also very expressive.  But this week, the support I have been getting from people I love, people I like and people I don’t even know has been overwhelming.  Overwhelmingly AWESOME, that is!

My best friend is in Paris this week so she sent a card because she’ll be mid-air during my run.  My Dad, writer of the best emails of all time, sent me a Papa G classic that made me (and several co-workers) cry at work yesterday.  Mama G is coming into town to be at the finish line.  There have been emails and calls from friends, friend’s parents, acquaintances, readers, friends of friends, all with advice, their own running stories or well wishes.

I’m getting more excited than nervous now and I attribute that to the amazing support I’ve been shown recently.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

4 days!

Marathogging???

admin10.10.10, Chicago Marathon, Chicago running, Go Go Green 5k, running, Running Blogs, Save The Date For Cupcakes, Uncategorized%s Comments

Title: my lame attempt at combining the words “marathon” and “blogging”.

I apologize for the million posts about the marathon but with 10.10.10 being T-minus 6 days away, I have a pretty one-track mind right now.

Today, I met the bloggette behind Vegan by Valerie.  Formerly ChicagoMarathonVal.com, Valerie has shifted the focus of her weblog to her passion for veganism while still blogging frequently about training for her 4th marathon.  Simply hearing that the 2010 Chicago Marathon will be her 4th was impeccably good news for me- someone I have actually met has run one of these AND still thought it was a good idea to keep running.  Helped quell my anxiety a bit.

Since she was super sweet, I checked out her blog when I got home tonight.  She must have known about my recent obsession with jicama because her latest post was a recipe for Jicama and Carrot Slaw with Mango Dressing and Avocado!  Delightful.  I really like how her blog blends vegan love with running, yoga and overall healthy living.  Especially loving on her post “Just Run”.

I’ve had my blog for a little over a year now and I am just becoming aware of what a community blogging is.  And how many wildly creative, and might I add hilarious, titles there are out there!  I totally regret not calling my blog “Seriously, You’re Taking My Bagels?!?” or “Save The Date For Cupcakes“.  And, I totally, definitely regret that my table doesn’t look like this everyday:

I mean, shut the front door SaveTheDateForCupcakes– now I want Gummi Worm Shooters and Mini Caramel Candied Pears Infused with Peach Honey Sticks at my Halloween party!  Simply gorgeous.

A quick Google search for Chicago Marathon Bloggers came up with about 307,000 results (or at least that’s what Google could muster in .19 seconds).  There’s a kid w ho has run 17 Marathons, a guy who compiled selected blog posts from last year’s race, one who wrote a funny and really true post about being a Jekyll and Hyde runner.  Super inspiring, powerful stuff- why didn’t I think to read this stuff during my training, when I needed all the inspiration and motivation I could get?  You live and you learn, I guess.

Moral of the story: there is a blog for every topic under the sun and when one is taking on running 26.2 miles, one might consider reading one of said marathon blogs.  Ahem, Nina.

In other news, the Go Go Green 5k is coming up on October 23rd.  It’s an eco-friendly race designed to raise awareness about our urban ecosystem.  Recycling, running, Lincoln Park…what’s not to love?

It is truly, without a doubt, go lace up your shoes right this second, fall running season.

Marathon Update Part 3

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Niketown came out with the 2010 Chicago Marathon gear on Friday.  I don’t love Nike running gear but since they’re sponsoring the marathon and I am running the marathon, I pretty much want all the 10.10.10 I can get.  Loving the incorporation of the Chicago stars.  Good one, Nike folks.

Forecast for 7 days from today is 69 and sunny.  Today is 55, cloudy and windy.  I’d take somewhere in the middle.

1 week!

An Apple a Day…

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After an hour of discussion about what to get for dinner and a 4 mile run on the treadmill while watching college football, Ryan and I headed to Fox and Obel for a little dinner “and”.

I say “dinner and” because you can’t go to Fox and Obel without picking up some delightful little treat to bring home.  I’d have to rob a bank to be able to afford entire grocery shopping there but Ryan and I love grabbing brunch or dinner and a few special things to bring home.

After sharing a burger, salad, their to-die-for homemade potato chips (thick enough and perfectly under-cooked enough to still taste like potatoes), and a pear salad with candied walnuts (which are just incredible), we trudged home through the rain.  While unpacking our little bag of goodies, I noticed a theme:

JK’s Organic Hard Cider, honeycrisp apples, apple pie squares… can you tell we are loving this cold, cozy season?

Fiery Pit.

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The other day, I was simply enjoying my morning cup of coffee when something came on the news that caught my attention.  No, that’s an understatement.  It made my head jerk up violently and the actual words that make up the acronym “WTF” come out of my mouth.  I was so angry, so disappointed, so disgusted that the only thing I could do was something. Moved to action about something I felt was a huge wrong.  I made phone calls, I wrote emails, I joined Facebook groups, and called my Congressman.  I also called Mama G because when anything happens, well, I call my Mom.

The thing is, it doesn’t really matter what it was that moved me so much.  It just matters that it did. How often do I have feelings or convictions about newsworthy events and just pour another cup of coffee?  More often than not.  But today, I got that fiery pit in my stomach.  That fiery pit, that conviction that reminds us that we are members of communities, the ones we currently live in and the ones we grew up in, members of society as a whole.  The fiery pit that says “Not on my watch, douchenozzles.”  I’m not saying any of my stand will stop intolerance in its tracks but man, we’ve got to start standing up when we see things happening that have nothing to do with us moving forward as a human race.

To iPod or Not To iPod?

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That is the question.

10.10.10 is quickly approaching (11 days!) and during my run this morning, it occurred to me that I need to decide if I want to bring my iPod on my little 26.2 mile run.  They say you should do on race day what you did on training runs.  Well, I’ve done a lot of things.  I’ve run with my iPod, run while watching Oprah, run while talking to Ryan and run just to the tune of city sounds.

Pros of running the marathon with an iPod: I can zone out to my favorite bands and if I hit a wall, a pump-up tune is only a click away.  Cons: I miss out on being fully present to the crowds out to cheer on the runners and all the sounds that come with that.  I could also get too pre-occupied with song changing.

Runners!  Fill me in- which do you prefer on long runs?  iPod or running au naturale?