Sick

Sniff, scratchy throat, sniff some more, foggy head and all. Blech. I've caught me something nasty.

I usually am able to beat these things head on with three remedies; sleep it off, sweat it out, and drink it away. I've done the first two, tonight I'll take care of the last.

I really hope this passes by tomorrow. 18 miles will not be fun feeling like this.

My Runs

Here's what my runs look like. This shows my runs since I started using the Nike+iPod.


And, this shows the Remix 5-miler.


I'd show you the longer runs, but they don't look as impressive. By the power of omission I choose to not show you. Around the last few miles little miss runner does a plummet into the bottom of the screen.

A 16-miler, the Remix, and New Kicks

This is what 16 miles looks like.















This is what 16 miles feels like.
Yes, friends, it was a 2-bag run on Saturday after the 16-miler that began at Montrose Harbor, went to Navy Pier, and back to Montrose Harbor.

I think comprehending the run was more difficult than the actual run itself. But, I guess running is really more of a mental game than anything. The team did 10, but since my marathon is 2 weeks before the Chicago 'thon, coach Jack is peaking my runs 2 weeks earlier than the team. That meant I did most of the run by myself...which worked out okay. Just me, the cool, sunless sky, my music...oh, and the millions of people hoarding the beach for the upcoming air and water show.

It probably wasn't the best day to be watching the Blue Angels and jets maneuvering in the sky, but it made for a very nice run. I settled into a nice pace without much effort on my part. My feet kept going...so I went along wherever they took me.

I can't really recall what I thought about to pass the time by. I just remember it being a very accomplished run. I didn't have to play games with myself, or count down each mile to get through. My cardio felt strong and my muscles weren't acting up too much. I did have a bit of stiffness after a water break, but nothing compared to the 12-miler.

The time just kinda passed by till I made it back to the meet up point, grabbed a swig of Gatorade and water and continued the final 2 miles. I finished strong speeding up to a 9:30 min/mile.

I hitched a ride home with coach Jack, hobbled to White Hen and grabbed two bags of ice for a very enjoyable ice bath.

The Remix

Thursday night I joined the other 9,999 thousand people in Chicago for the Nike Run Hit Remix 5-miler. It was a very entertaining course lined with bands; Vertigo, Identity Crisis, an Elvis impersonater, and De La Soul at the finish line. Not to mention the DC and small foam party in the McCormick Place tunnel.

Overall it was a great event. It was a perfect evening for a run--minus the 2 stretches of McCormick Place tunnel. Pack 10,000 hot, sweaty runners in there and it becomes a sticky sauna.

New Kicks

I raced to Momentum after work to try some shoes on before the Thursday 5-miler. Realizing my marathon is only 2 months away it was time to replace the old kicks. I'm now wearing Reeboks. I have to say, they feel awesome! I didn't think my old shoes were that worn out, but stepping into fresh, cushioned shoes felt pretty great. All superstitions aside, I think they will perform well.

The first run in new shoes is always a little iffy. You have to account for the "breaking in" period along with the new blisters it causes. I figured I'd have to hang onto the old pair just in case. After the remix on Thursday, the old shoes went straight to the trash. Not only did they feel spectacular, I ran the 5-miler at 9:25 min/mile consistently. Okay, not that fast, but fast for me.

It's Official!

As of today at 5:20 I'm officially registered to run the KC marathon on October 7th. From my handy counter that's 52 days away!

So I didn't wait until the 20-miler to decide. Yea, well, it was more of a rash decision based on my 2 day respite from running. That's usually when I realize how much I love running. I almost talked myself into signing up for the Austin marathon in February. Probably not a good idea to do until I've finished the October marathon.

This weekend my rents were in town and it was a wonderful weekend full of good fun, delicious and hefty portions of food, and great company. I took Friday off to escort them around the city, saw the World Trade Center movie with my ma [a tear jerker, but nicely made], and carb loaded for Saturday's 10-miler.

I had planned to join the team out by Wilson, but talked myself out of it when the early morning alarm rang. I decided to save time I'd do the run myself by the lake...and I did. Only, it was more of an 8ish miler than a 10.

I started by Ohio and the Lake Front path and ran south of the city all the way to Northerly Island and what was the old Mieg's field. There's a lovely path that veers from the Lake path and travels through a field. The only problem was that it stopped just shy of 4.25 miles out.

*Note: to all of those running on the path by museum campus, you should keep right on the path instead of left that will take you around Adler Planetarium. Going straight will lead you out onto the LSD path that goes on forever.

So, while I didn't technically get lost, I did veer from the path in the wrong direction. I guess that puts me now at 5 runs for getting lost.

This weekend is a 16-miler that I am pretty nervous for, considering I only went half of the direction last weekend. The crazy part is that while I am quite apprehensive about the long runs...I enjoy them. I love kicking my ass before noon on any day.

My Thefter Was Caught

My identity thefter was caught last week...ironically before I ever found out that I was a victim.

Tonight shortly after 5 I received a call from an officer in Gurnee, IL. Never been there and would have no idea where to look on a map for it. Officer Rich proceeded to ask if I was aware of the identity theft...I was. He then said that they had caught the man fraudulently using my SSN, name and address.

I breathed a BIG sigh of relief.

Only, he's not in jail for fraud alone. No, that is the least of his problems.

It seems that police were pursuing him as he fled a Home Depot [after just purchasing items using credit cards in my name] in a U-Haul. Apparently, the chase ended in a collision killing a 16 year-old from Buffalo Grove.

While I'm somewhat relieved that this could possibly be over, I deeply mourn for the family. It's scary to be linked to something like this...something I'll never forget.

Here's the story

The Tin Man

The Wizard of Oz was my favorite movie as a kid. I know, how appropriate for a girl from Kansas. But, nonetheless, it was.

I loved the vivid colors and story of this innocent girl, Dorothy, and her cute pup, Toto and their adventure back to Kansas. Well, I loved everything minus the scary flying monkeys.

Actually, I loved it so much that every time it aired on TV I had to tape it. Once in a frantic state, I grabbed the first tape [a Beta at the time] I could find and popped it in without looking. To my sister's fright, it was her tape of U2 playing at Live Aid. I knew I was in trouble when I heard her shreek when "With or Without You" skipped to "We're off to see the Wizard." How I lived down that incident, I don't know. I kick myself today because, over the years, I have become a big U2 fan.

At any rate, my favorite character was the Tin Man and his compassion [without a heart] to a stranger he just met.

I felt like my dear friend, the Tin man, on Saturday just as he comes out of his catatonic state. Unfortunately, there was no one there to pump oil in my joints. I was able to get through the run with minimal stops. However, after stopping for water, starting back up seemed to be a problem--to the point that I wanted to forgo the water stop at mile 10.5. I stopped and when I started back up again, I felt every joint and muscle between my butt, hamstrings, knee, shins and ankles. If there's a WD-40 for the body, let me know.

In comparison to last week's grueling 12-miler, Saturday's 14-miler was a breeze. What a difference 10 degrees, shade, and a different course can make! Instead of the sun-baked, cement Lakeshore path, we ran with the North team in Shaumburg at the Forrest Park Preserve.

The path was beautiful, water stops every 2 miles, lined by trees, and even the elk came out to cheer us on. Yes, elk. I'd love to run there every weekend. It was well worth getting up a half hour earlier to drive to the meeting spot.

I completed the 14-miler in the same amount of time that it took me to complete the 12-miler the weekend before. Again, what a difference 10 degrees and shade can make. I held a fairly consistent pace with my fastest mile being a 9:10 pace [whatever, that's fast for me].

This week, KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See" provided a much needed burst of energy for the last 1/2 mile where I sped up to a 9:14 pace. Not bad after last weeks why-am-I-doing this, confidence busting, no good run.

So, I'm still recovering today. Going down the stairs proves to be a bit more difficult than going up and I feel like I'm walking like I just rode a horse for hours.

Identity Theft

You know the hilarious Citi Bank identity theft commercials? They're great, I get a kick out of them every time I see them.

It's not a laughing matter when it happens to you though. It's real and it's not fun.

Yep, someone running around in Chicago is running around with my name, address and SSN having all sorts of fun. They have managed to rack up around $6,000 in credit card balances along with a Sprint bill for 5 phones for $400. I just found out all of this last night and was on the phone for 3 hours canceling cards, filing a police report and trying to figure out how to prevent it from happening again. I don't know that it will stop. From here on out, I'll have to be super anal about watching credit reports, sifting through mail and I'll probably have to pay for some sort of agency to watch my accounts for suspicious activity.

It's fine, I'm over being worried about it...it just sucks. Why do people take advantage of innocent bystanders?

You know what really gets me? Four years ago when I was a sophomore in college I found $400 in cash and $500 checks that was not mine. I called the number on the checks and investigated it. While I didn't have to tell them about the cash I found near their checks, I did. It was their money and it was the honest thing to do. I gave it back.

No less than a month later my debit card was stolen and $1500 worth of charges were spent in ONE night. After doing a good deed, I guess that's what you get--nada! Karma's messed up.

Now 5 years later, it's happened again...only on a more serious level. Point here is, friends, it will take a while [maybe even a few years] for me to clear up this mess, so do what you can now to prevent it from happening to you.

Here are a few sites that have helped me...read up!
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/
http://www.privacyrights.org/identity.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html