Chicagoooooo!!

Well last week (I cant believe it has already been a week) Alex and I made our way to Chicago! Tuesday evening we spent at Daniel's Grandma's place since our flight was SO early (7am). I was in charge of food for the trip and brought dinner for the night. We had breaded chicken, sugar snap peas, and 2 types of desert ;)
I woke up at 4:59 the next morning to get a jump start on the day. I know Im weird with my wake up times. O well... We got to the airport and had plenty of time to relax and eat our free bagels for breakfast. Our flight was interesting to say the least. First the turbulence was terrible! The gals behind me were chatting on how they were scared half the time and the other half they were talking about vet stuff and how to fix a cat! The other half of the trip I apparently fell asleep on the shoulder of the guy next to me. (He was HUGE!) I swear he took up half my seat!
We made it to Chicago safe and sound and my grandma picked us up to go to downtown for a day with her! We wandered all around downtown in the car since it was an icky day and then parked to take a look inside macy's (marshal fields). They have the most amazing decor in there! Its like a palace! We then found a big time steal of a parking space for 4 bucks and parked the car there for us to get some pizza at ginos. Its deep dish pizza and it was so good!
After lunch we ended up going back to the condo and seeing Grandpa. I was warned before I went to Chicago that Grandpa was loosing his memory and I would be asked the same thing many times. He would not be the same as I had remembered. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was different and he talked a lot about the war and asked about the homes that I grew up in. He has a very good long term memory but short term... not so much.
My mom's sister came by after dinner and spent time with us for an hour or so. Its nice to see her and hear what is going on in her life. She now has 2 grandchildren! Its hard to believe.
We called it a night after a while and when we woke up the next morning it was something like this....


WOW!!!! What a treat! Alex and I were blown away and had to take a picture! Go Grandma!
We had plans to go to Alex's, Grandma's, Cousin's house for the remainder 2 days. Her name is Joyce. So Grandma dropped us off at her house and then went off to work. Lets just say I never expected to go to a house that was on lake shore drive! Can you say what a view?!?!? Her dining room and family room overlooked lake Michigan and she shared a place with some other super neat people.
Joyce drove us around the city both days and explained a lot of things to us. We ate polish food, jewish food, and other food. We saw a lot of Alex's family over the next two days. I felt like we just ate our way around Chicago. We went to the 95th floor for lunch one day with Alex's cousin.


We had a tour of Millinium park, went to fanny mae chocolates, and walked around Navy Pier.
The weirdest thing that happened during the trip was how we got to my hometown.... Alex made plans to see her cousin at her house for dinner. Alex handed me the phone to get directions on how to travel by train to her house... WELL.... we didnt need directions because she lives in my hometown! How weird!!! I knew exactly where to go and what exit to get off on... unfortunatly we were a bit too excited and took the express train and bypassed LaGrange and had to backtrack. We got stuck in Downers Grove which we named Downersville. :)


Overall... everything was good. Alex and I had a good time with a lot of laughs... especially during the plane ride back.

race report...

So I decided pretty much last minute that I wanted to run a half marathon. I had this feeling that I just had to do it. There are slim pickings out there for half marathons that are not already closed due to overwhelming participation and of course I wanted to stay fairly close to home. After talking with my Dad, he took off work and was my "coat hanger" Hehehe. I spent Friday night in Charlotte with my parents. I woke up pretty early, had all my items together and got on the road to downtown. I found my race bib, race tshirt and waiting for an hour until the race started. Dad took my stuff and went to go meet me at the 7 mile marker. (I thought it was more around mile 5.5 but o well) I told him to meet me there at a certain time to get my running coat from me and then find me at the finish line. Here is a run down of the things I saw before, during, and after the race...
A man had a bird poop on him, a guy putting fire down his mouth, a juggler, someone on stilts, a man running in docker shorts and a polo, some crazy colored pants, a homeowner handing out pancakes, lots of cheerleaders, 2 bands, lots of cops, and someone running with a crying kid in a stroller. I think I was mostly shocked by the fire eating man. Never seen that in real life before!
During the race I was well aware of my hydration until I got somewhere around mile 9ish because come mile 10, I got the hydration cramps. grrrr!! I was doing SO GOOD up until then.
Regardless, I finished the race. My garmin said 2:19 with a running of 13.23miles (not 13.1) but the chip time said 2:20. Its better than November, not as good as last Charlotte race. Also, a very hilly course. Overall happy with the time, but I was most happy about the amount of volunteers and how organized the race was. It was by far the best organization I have seen! So big high five to all the volunteers. They make ALL the difference!!
My next goal is to focus a bit more on hills and sign up for a race in April and get a faster time on the next race.

highlights of February

February came and went. There was a week (Valentines week) that I had to go to a conference in Charlotte for work. I have never been so tired from sitting and listening than I was that week. Each day required me to get up before the sun to get a workout in, then to each a prompt breakfast followed by listening until 5 and then a scheduled dinner and drinks each night. I was able to visit my parents for a bit while I was there. I then came home and the following day I slept so much.
After that time, I decided to get back and do a half marathon. I trained for it but did not make up my mind until a little bit ago. The race is this Saturday. Its in Charlotte and my goal is to finish. I also am hydrating like crazy because I believe that is what lead to my terrible stomach cramps in November. (miles 2-7 were bad) So I have a goal to finish but secretly I have a personal goal.
Over the past month I have also mastered the following things... samoa girl scout cookies, beef and broccoli (its better than the chinese place we get it from) and Mcdonalds fruit and maple oatmeal.
The first accomplishment came from finding out that the girl scout cookies are 4 bucks a box and that very little proceeds actually go to the scouts. So I found my own way of doing things. My next batch I plan to put chocolate on the bottom of the cookies, unlike what I did the first time.
The second came from me being hungry and looking in the freezer and seeing everything I needed.
The third came from me getting multiple free coupons to md's and deciding that the maple stuff they put in the oatmeal is pointless (in my opinion) and adds more unneeded calories and knowing I had everything at home. Shabang I had great tasting oatmeal!