Update.

I haven't wanted to do any of the usual stuff lately... I haven't wanted to take pictures, read my books, watch movies, go out to my favorite restaurants, or hang out with friends. I haven't wanted to write on the blog. I've tried; this is the third attempt to write a blog post in the last 2 weeks. I pull up the blank page and stare at it for awhile, and then leave it open on my computer for a day or two before giving up. Sometimes I'll get my normal aspirations to do the things I love; I'll plan a fancy meal I want to make, or make tentative plans with friends. But when it comes time to actually do those things, I want to back down.

I'm not sure exactly what it is! I've been this way for a few weeks; I am not sure if it's the fact that I haven't been able to run for 10 weeks (total drag, btw) or the fact that I just finished up a really rough semester, wrought with tough classes, high demands in my position for the rowing team, and a few personal crises along the way. Maybe it's my anxiety about my upcoming wisdom teeth-removal (1 month away... and not sure why I'm so nervous!). Or maybe I'm having an existential crisis since I'm turning 21 in 47 days or something crazy like that. Maybe it's none of those things! Or maybe it's all of them, working as a tour de force against my usual level of positivity. Usually I have quite the zest for life and I'm always busy, always planning, always on the go. Lately it's been hard for me to keep up with that; I feel like I want to be alone, I'm listless, and I'd rather hide under my covers as much as possible. (Of course, this leaves me also feeling miserable, because it's lonely and boring.)

Basically, I've just been sad lately. I've been in a funk. Which is why I haven't been posting (plus, as I've said many times before, this semester has really not allowed for a lot of blogging time). For me, this blog isn't the place to complain or unload my problems; this is supposed to be a positive space where people can read about travel, fun recipes, rowing, and lots of running. Today is Saturday, and I just got home last Friday evening, so I've been home for a week. In the last few weeks, (apart from final exams!) I've been working on physical therapy so that I can get back running. I've been doing a lot of the elliptical and rowing machine. Not sure which one I prefer. Now that I'm back at home, I plug in my speakers to my computer so I can watch Netflix on my computer while I'm on the rowing machine. I row about 7,000-8,000 meters (4-5 miles) per day. This has kept me focused, and let me sweat out some of my stresses. Still, apart from that, I've just been doing what my brain/body feels like it wants to do right now. I'm barely 1 week out from finishing my final exams, and my mind and body are still reeling from the stress of taking 5 exams and studying for too many hours per day. Mostly, I've just wanted to sit quietly. A lot of the time, I do nothing. I keep my phone in air plane mode a lot of the time now, and save all my messages for brief intervals in the day when I take time to answer them. I've watched a lot of the Kardashians in the last 5 days, too. I've started a few books, which I'll review when I'm done! I've tied up a lot of loose ends (with my exec position on my rowing team, as well as little things like answering emails, sending my broken phone case back for a new one - free! - and ordering/wrapping holiday gifts). I know that soon I'll be out of my weird funk and back to doing things with lots of energy and excitement. I'm just not there yet, so I'm trying to listen to what my mind needs to do to get there. Right now, it's been needing a huge break.

I have been spending a lot of time doing all of the normal holiday stuff with my family. We got our Christmas tree a week ago. It came out beautifully!

Hot chocolate is a holiday must-have for me.

We ventured downtown on a double date with some friends earlier this week. Checked out the old Arcade in all it's holiday grandeur. 

We headed to the Chocolate Bar for desert and had some chocolate mousse cake...it was amazing.

I'm working on a post on my physical therapy activities... I think some of the stuff I'm working on can benefit all women - especially if you're active - because most of us have natural weakness in our hips! So I can show you what I'm working on for that. Also some recipes are in the queue. I don't have very much going on in the next 6 weeks and a big part of my goal for that time is getting some regular blogging back in the works. Talk to you soon - I promise!

Getting Back To Normal.

Hi! Remember me??? I'm back and going to be starting to try to blog regularly again as we head into winter break and the holidays. It's been really hard for me to blog regularly this semester... It's been tough. I am usually in class from 8:30AM-5:30PM everyday, and then I get home, cook dinner, head off to different meetings, etc. Typically I hit the gym for a workout as soon as I wake up every morning in order to get a good start to my day. I've accomplished a lot this semester and had a lot of fun, but it's been a lot of hard work and not so much play. Which is fine, but now I am finally just getting the opportunity to catch my breath. 

Though there has been a lot going on, running has not been included in my activities since the marathon, which is a big part of why I haven't been blogging so much. This blog used to be centered around my training, and suddenly, I was injured! I haven't been able to run for 5-6 weeks, and I'm actually headed to the sports medicine doctor today to start making headway. I am 99% sure that I have IT-band syndrome in my right leg (2 years ago I combatted a serious case of ITBS in my left leg). I won't be doing any Turkey Trots this Thanksgiving, but I'm hoping to start 2015 off running and a new half-marathon goal :) 

In place of running, I've been doing a lot of elliptical, spin classes, erging (indoor rowing machine) and walking. Nothing quite lives up to a good, sweat-inducing run that leaves your heart pounding in your ribcage, but I know I'll be back there eventually. I've really enjoyed spin the most as a replacement for running.

So what's been going on since the marathon? So many things!

Alex and I got to class things up a bit and go to our Honors Program Formal in late October.

I drove 8 hours on the highway (on my own, but with friends in the car to help!) to get to Head of the Hooch... where all of my university's events were cancelled but I got to hang out with my aunt, uncle, and cousins who I never get to see!

I've turned into quite the scientist - I spend about 12 hours per week in a lab conducting research.

I got to go to Rowing Formal with my favorite people :)

And cook a fancy dinner with Alex's aunt and uncle

Dye a chunk of my hair purple (post-marathon blues can make you a little crazy!)

I got to enjoy our first snow earlier this week...

And celebrate 5 years with my favorite.

Stay tuned for workouts, recipes, and maybe some funny anecdotes in coming days! Happy almost-Thanksgiving!

Race Recap : Chicago Marathon (and long time no see!)

Alright, I think I am back to blogging now that I am done with marathon training. I will have a lot more time in my schedule!

Thought the best way to start back up here would be to talk about the CHICAGO MARATHON. What an amazing race. If you're thinking about doing a marathon, I highly recommend you try to get to that one. You will have an amazing first-marathon-experience. 

I drove up to Chicago on Saturday by myself, and met Alex and our friend there. We were able to stay in his condo, which is right in the heart of Chicago (and one convenient mile from the Start Line), and 2 more friends were flying in. 3 of us were running officially, and 2 were going to run alongside. I was lucky that I was going to have someone to meet up with halfway through to get me through the tough part.

First view of Chicago - I came right in on the lake!

Let's start at the Expo : We went on Saturday evening and it was AMAZING! Definitely the BEST Expo I've been to.

The 3 (registered) runners!

I got everything ready the night before. Laid out my outfit, made sure everything was charged, etc. I wrote myself a note for when the goings got tough.

Got some pics before the race

I started out FAST (sub-7 in the first 1/4 mile) but knew that I absolutely had to slow down because every second you over shoot in the beginning, you slow down significantly in the end). I kept thinking to myself "hold it," or "sit on this pace" because those are things we say in rowing. Usually a coxswain is saying it, but I thought of it in a coxswain voice and it was effective.

My Garmin lost satellite under a bridge before the first mile marker, but it quickly regained it. I was surprised to find that I'd started the first 5k slower than I wanted (usually adrenaline gets me right on pace at the beginning of a race!) and I actually finished the first 5k in about 25 minutes (8:19 pace). However, I realized at that point that I had to GO and I dropped down to my marathon pace, which was between 7:40 and 7:55 minute per mile pace (depending on whether you looked at my Garmin or the course clocks). I was right where I wanted to be. I took my first GU at mile 7 and was feeling great. Before I knew it, I was flying through my half marathon, and my friend met up with me at about mile 14, and I took another GU. By mile 18 I was still feeling strong and confident ("only 2 4 mile runs left!"). At mile 21, I was on pace to run a 3:26. At mile 22 I hit the wall. Ouch.

I made the conscious decision after hitting the wall to drop my mile splits by a minute per mile. Instead of running at 7:40-7:50 pace, I went to 8:30-8:50. I was totally aware of doing this, and I knew I had to do it or my body might quit. I knew I still was going to clear my goal by a long shot, and slowing down was not only fine by me, but necessary. At mile 23 we found our other friend. He had started in Wave 1,  and he was actually running the race and had a bib number, so I knew we could finish together. 

During the race I took GU at miles 7, 13, and 18. If I could change anything, I would also have taken my fourth GU at 22...but I kind of forgot. My thinking started to get fuzzy around 22. I took water at every aid station and Gatorade at almost every aid station. If you ever do a marathon, definitely do this too.

Miles 24, 25, and 26 (and the .2) were the most difficult thing I have ever done. I felt like death. I had hit the wall so hard, and I don't think it's a reflection on my training but was probably more due to nutrition and fueling prior to the race (I probably needed a bigger breakfast). The friend that I was running with single-handedly got me to the finish line. At a few moments, I was afraid he would have to support me across the finish. It was all I could do to keep my legs going, but I had to make the decision to pick up my legs for every step. My friend who jumped in at the half brought me water from the aid stations so I could keep running straight and not slow or stop. In the last mile, my calves started clenching and cramping so hard that my feet were forced downwards, causing me to trip every couple of steps. That was hard.

.1 of the final .2 was UP HILL. The whole course was flat except for that. Then there was a final .1, which was downhill. I heard them call my name, and I grabbed my friend's hand and we ran under the archway together. I finished with a time of 3:31:16, which allowed me to qualify for the Boston Marathon by almost 4 minutes. My buddy grabbed me when we stopped because I seemed a little wobbly but after a few moments I was totally fine (except the legs haha). 

We got as much water/Gatorade/bananas/nutrition/as we could hold and slowly made our way to our meet-up spot.

We couldn't find Alex for quite awhile but I did get interviewed by NBC News Chicago.

While we waited, my friends took amazing care of me. They were really excited that I'd qualified (and so was I!). They got me coffee, water, and foil blankets. 

Before we found Alex...

After we found him!

The girl that got me through!

We got lots of Bean pictures

Things that kept me going during this race:

-Looking down and seeing the note on my hand. There are so many reasons, people, and experiences that drove me to want to run this marathon. I dedicated this race to them.

-Seeing my shadow on the ground and feeling that my form looked strong; I tried to keep it up

-Thoughts of wearing fuzzy socks ASAP

-Remembering all the people that have done training runs with me or lent me marathon advice

-Hearing a spectator say "Now, she looks like she's a good runner" as I ran past at mile 8."

-Thinking of the friends and family that cheered me on from afar

-Thinking of all the work that I've put in; all the sacrifices I've made; and how bad I wanted to do this

-Thinking of all the people that will never have this opportunity, but might want it

Now Ryan as some deco hanging around him.

More on life and running and rowing later :) Now time to sleep!