Denver - Hot Chocolate, Hot Tub, Cold Hike, Cold Beer

I am back down to a normal elevation.  Get ready for a lot of pictures from Denver!

Friday evening we went downtown to explore 16th street, which is an outdoor pedestrian mall, blocked off to all traffic except free buses and pedicabs.  Chicago would be a much greater place if Michigan Ave was for solely for pedestrians and FREE buses.  We went in a few cliche souvenir shops, but unfortunately did not buy anything.

We had dinner reservations at a Mexican restaurant called Rio Grande, known for their margaritas.  Anne and I got frozen mixed strawberry and mango - on the receipt that comes up as "Manberry."

For my meal, I had tequila shrimp tacos, which were good, but a little too spicy for me.  We were super tired and had big plans for the rest of the weekend, so we called it a night after 2 margaritas and A LOT of chips and salsa.

First up for Saturday was the Celestial Seasonings tea factory.  We didn't take the tour, but we took advantage of all the free tea samples.  I think I tried 4 different kinds, and then we bought a few boxes from the gift shop.

The main event on Saturday though was our hike!!

Anne and I met up with her friend Darja (who also went to UD!) and set out to climb Bear Peak in Boulder.  The beginning was a little bit of both up and down as we made our way up and around the mountain.

Then it started to get steeper the further we got and was more like climbing than just hiking along a trail.  It also got a lot colder the higher we went!  At one point we made quick conversation with a couple on their way down and they warned us of the cold and wind that we would be approaching soon.  I didn't really believe that it could be such a drastic change in conditions, but it was!  I couldn't take any more pictures because my fingers were numb.  But 2.5 hours after starting, we finally made it to the top!

We quickly turned to head back down since it was so cold up there.  One of my favorite signs along the route warned hikers about bears and mountain lions and one tip said, "If attacked, fight back."

The return trip only took 1.5 hours, which was good since we were all a little cold by this point and darkness was approaching.  We headed to a pizza place in Boulder and then to a coffee shop for a toasty cup of hot chocolate.

 

Despite being so cold, we talked an awful lot about ice cream and made a fro yo trip in the evening.  But before the fro yo, we sat in the hot tub outside for awhile, which was perfect on a cold night, until it started raining a little.

My flight home was not until Sunday evening (luckily, or else I probably wouldn't have made it back to Chicago until super late due to the bad storms yesterday), which meant we had another full day of activity on the schedule.

First up was a trail run!  Anne, her friend Jodie, and I set out on our run and I really didn't know what to expect or how far we were going to g.

It was still hard to breathe in the higher altitude and after just a little while I was really hurting going up, up, up.  But they were powering through so I just followed along!  We made it to the top in about 35 minutes, and then back downhill (not the same way, it was a loop), for a total time of 59 minutes.  It was super hard, but surprisingly went by really fast.  Running for an hour here in Chicago seems like forever, probably because I am usually alone and bored, and Anne said it goeso by faster when you're concentrating on where to put your foot next, going up or down hill, making sure you don't fall, etc.  I wish I could do runs like this all the time, but I sure am sore today!

To re-fuel after the run, we went to a restaurant in Golden, CO that had an awesome salad and pizza buffet.  I had to take a picture of my salad (one of them, you can't have just one when it's a buffet), because it had the very secret ingredient that makes all salads a million times better.

GOLDFISH!!  There's also some pepperoni in there, I wasn't a huge fan of that.  Save the pepperoni for the pizza.  I think the only other place that has had goldfish at a salad bar has been my beloved Pennellwood.

After salad and pizza, it was time for beer!  (Actually, Justin and I each had a beer with lunch too.)  We headed to the Coors Brewery and learned all sorts of great stuff about how the beer was made.  Adolf Coors started the brewery when he was 26 years old...makes me think I need to do something more meaningful/awesome with my life.

The end of the tour meant it was time for sampling.  I had a Blue Moon and a Colorado Native.  Hoppy, hoppy, hoppy.  I learned what hops are, not that I needed to go to a brewery to do so in our age of Wikipedia.  Anne and Justin had been on this tour multiple times, so I'm glad they were willing to go again with me!

I would like to go back to Denver soon, but I'll at least wait until winter is over because now they are going to start getting snow!  I do not like winter.

What is your favorite type of margarita?  Favorite type of beer? 

How long was your longest hike?

Race Recap: CHICAGO MARATHON 2013

Well, the Chicago Marathon is over!  I have so much to say about it and don't know where to start, so this will probably end up a little scattered, but I'll do my best.  And I'll also probably have a post every day this week on various events of race weekend (the expo, the pasta party, the recovery, etc.) but I'll try to keep this one to the actual race recap.

Summary/spoiler alert: I finished in 3:23:15!  A PR by close to 6 minutes and Boston Qualifier!

My parents dropped off Angela, Olivia, and I as close as they could to the starting area and we made our way through the security checkpoints.  The weather turned out to be absolutely perfect for marathon running, but the morning was rather chilly.  We were wearing clothes that we could discard at the start line and never see again - to be donated to a homeless shelter in Chicago.  Angela and I discarded our clothes right before entering the corral and a man with a vest that said "Clothing Donations" was on his walkie talkie saying "we are going to need way more bins."  There were mountains of sweatpants and sweatshirts all around.

We also waited in a really long porta-potty line...but glad we did so before the race.  Once we got settled in a spot in the corral, it was time to go within about 5-10 minutes.

The first 8 miles of the race flew by.  It was definitely the easiest/most fun hour-ish of running I've ever done.  Our goal was to start at 8 minute pace for 4 miles and then pick it up to 7:30-7:40.  I don't remember splits exactly, but I think the first mile was 7:49 so we said we could ease up a bit.  The problem was that we were stuck behind the 3:30 pace group which was huge and taking up a lot of space all running together.  So over the next 3 miles, we were still doing about 7:45-7:50 working our way up and around that 3:30 group, but still not trying to go too fast.

We saw so many people throughout the course - the first being Catherine and Matt around mile 3.  I almost missed them but luckily they saw us and called out...and I heard them over my awesome playlist of music which will be a whole separate post because obviously you need to know exactly what I listened to for 26.2 miles.

 

I think I could also write a decent amount on all my spectators and signs, so I will save that for later, but the important thing right now is that I saw my family around mile 4.5 for the first time and I was STARVING (I'll explain why when I write about the pasta party...do you like all my cliffhangers?) so I yelled to my mom to buy me a bagel.

Sure enough, when I saw them again around mile 11, my dad had the bagel for me so I grabbed half and ate it while running.  I took water at every water stop, and Gatorade at I think only 2 during the first half and every station the 2nd half.  Apparently when you lose a lot of sodium, your body essentially starts producing salt, so I had a white ring around my face when I finished.  I also took GU Energy Gel 3 times throughout the race - around miles 9, 16, and 22.

Angela and I didn't talk much throughout the race, but when we did, the conversation went like this:

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:32"

"We should slow down a little and save it for later"

"Yeah, we should"

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:26"

"We should slow down"

"Yeah, we should"

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:34"

"This is comfortable, but we should maybe slow down a little more"

"Yeah, we should"

But we did not slow down.  I personally am glad we did not...hopefully Angela feels OK about it.  I know it is best to run negative or even splits (or even slightly positive splits at the marathon distance since negative/even splits are extremely difficult at that distance), but I also knew that by the time we were at mile 9, I needed to just go with it while I felt good.  And I did feel really good.  Angela decided to ease up a little and dropped back from me around mile 15-16.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto)

Around mile 19, Mac magically appeared.  I was very surprised because he had passed Angela and I around mile 10, but apparently he made a bathroom pit stop somewhere along the way.  He and I ran together for about the next 2 miles until he started to fade back a little.

I was actually pleasantly surprised with how even my pacing was for all of the race.  Yes, I died off the last 10k, but not nearly as much as I could have (or did during my previous marathons).  I ran it pretty exactly according to my plan.  Since I knew I wanted to beat my time from the Columbus Marathon in 2010 and I knew my splits from that race at the 10k, half, and 20 mile marks, that's what I was comparing myself to.  I was 1:40 ahead of pace at the 10k, which worried me a little because I was afraid maybe we did go out a little too fast.  But actually, I remember thinking I was only 40 seconds ahead...not a minute and 40 seconds.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto) 

And it's a good thing I did think that because at the half, I was 58 seconds ahead of my first half of Columbus.  And knowing myself, if I would've thought that I went from being 1:40 ahead of pace to only 0:58 ahead of pace, that might've mentally screwed me up a bit...but what you don't know can't hurt you.

After we hit the halfway mark, my plan was just to make it to 20 as fast as I could, knowing that no matter what, the last 10k was going to be miserable.  I wanted to/thought I could be at mile 20 between 2:31 and 2:34.  My brain was shut down at this time, but I think I remember being there right around 2:32:00 - 2:32:30, which was 2 to 2 and a half minutes ahead of my Columbus pace.  I didn't mentally put that split into my head though because I thought they recorded a 20 mile split with the chip so I figured I'd look later, but I guess not.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto)

Where I started to really struggle was around mile 18.  I knew I had about an hour or so to go and knew I could do it, but that's where I did start to experience some mental doubt in how fast I could realistically do those last 8 miles...I went from feeling pretty awesome to not so great pretty darn quickly.  I made the decision to walk through the next water stop I saw and that I'd walk through each one after that, which is also exactly what I did in Columbus.

So I would run all the way to the very last Gatorade person at each water station, take that cup, and start walking while I drank it and then take one of the very first cups of water, drink what I could, and make myself start running.  I imagine each stop was about 30 seconds, but really I had no concept of time.  I once again surprised myself with the fact that I really did make myself start running ASAP after drinking my liquids.

The last mile was pretty much the worst thing ever, especially "Mt. Roosevelt," the small hill within in the final 400 meters of the course. By this point I really knew I was going to finish in a great time though, so that made me push throug that final mile. And I saw Aunt Bernadette  saying "you're doing it!" Because she knew I would PR.

And then I finished!!

 (professional photo by MarathonFoto)

So I have a lot more details I could share and want to share, but those will come later this week because I've done enough rambling for now.  Basically, the race went as perfect as it could have and my pacing was better (more even...not quite as much dying at the end) than I could've ever expected from myself.

Race Recap: Chicago Half Marathon

I finished the Chicago Half Marathon yesterday!  I was not particularly pleased with the time, but also not as upset as I have been over bad races in my past.  I finished it without quitting or crying, so that's a success in my book.

First of all, I was supposed to be picked up for the 7am race at 6am.  Mac has a history of oversleeping when we are supposed to run (ok it happened once) and thought it would be hilarious to text me at 5:58am saying he just woke up.  I freaked out for about 2 minutes until he called and said he was outside.  Well played.

After parking, we warmed-up by running about a mile to the start.  We were a bit late because of the parking situation (typical Chicago), so there was no time for the bathroom and we hopped in the corral and started almost immediately.

 

This was my first race in the 25-29 year old age group.  These ladies are much faster.  I've read that women distance runners peak in their late 20s, which seems consistent with the age group results.  I would've been in the top 20 of the 20-24 year old age group.  But none of that really matters, just an observation.

There actually wasn't anything super eventful about the race.  I obviously made a sweet playlist for the occasion - all my recent/usual favorites.  The course was flat, a few tiny "hills" like when we had to run up an exit ramp off Lake Shore Drive and over a bridge.  There weren't spectators throughout the entire course, but there were enough that it didn't seem desolate.  The volunteers at all the water stations were high school students who were very enthusiastic and helpful!

The splits that the tracking device got for me were:

5 miles - 36:18 = 7:16/mile

10 miles - 1:16:31 = 7:39/mile total average and 8:02/mile for miles 5-10

Finish - 1:42:04 = 7:47/mile total average and 8:13/mile for last 5k

I also know after the first 5k I was at 22:08, which I thought was perfect because that is the exact time I was at during the first 5k of the North Shore Half Marathon in June.  My plan was to try to do the same pacing I did there, but then not die as much at the end.  I thought I'd be able to do this because my training has been  better in between that race and this one than it was the few weeks/months before that race.

It was about 5 miles into the race that I really started to feel like I couldn't keep up my pace and became a little mentally overwhelmed.  Mac was with me for about 4 miles and then he got ahead (or I slowed down, or a combo of both) and that didn't really bother me because I knew he would be faster, but I also think I should have tried a little harder to keep up.

Throughout the last half of the race, I walked about 30 seconds each mile when I was going through the water stations.  I did have one walk break that was probably about a minute long, but managed to get going again with the encouragement of some of the other runners on the course.  I really should be able to get through a half marathon without walk breaks and obviously I know I can considering I've done it plenty of times before.  But at least I know that while I was running, my pace was still decent... but a few short breaks will really get ya.

After the race, I had a lot of time to stretch out and relax while we waited for Mac's friend Bryce to finish the race.  Then the 3 of us went to get our free slice of Lou Malnati's pizza which is basically heaven on a plate.  I'm pretty sure the walk back to the car was at least as long as the race was.  But after we got in the car, put Teenage Dream on, and were heading for pancakes, life got a lot better.

And once we got to Elly's, I ran into my friend Nani who ran a PR in the race!  Pancakes are always the answer after a race.

I also used this race to see how my Chicago Marathon outfit would work out.  I have to say that I'm pretty happy with it.  I was unsure of the spandex shorts because I have only ever worn them for short runs before.  I bought the compression socks Saturday afternoon with a Fleet Feet gift card I got for my birthday and now I'm basically obsessed with them.  But I'm even more obsessed with my new blue sparkly headband.  Overall, I think the outfit was successful and comfortable.

My mom thinks I should wear a headband like Rafael Nadal and sent me this picture as an example:

Maybe if you added some glitter to it, I would.  I hope I look that intense in my official race photos.  I would however like to personally hunt down the jerk photographer who took a picture of me during one of my walking breaks.  That was not cool, dude.

Photo credit for the pictures of the race medals goes to my friend Megan.  After the race, I saw she had posted a few photos on Facebook from the finish line and she said she was there as a volunteer!  I wish I would've known ahead of time to keep an eye out.

I Ran 19+ Miles Last Night

Yesterday afternoon, I made the executive decision to try doing my long run after work.  Why?

• I'm going to a lake house in Michigan this weekend with Angela and her family!  Angela and Olivia are training for the Chicago Marathon too so I'm sure we will get in some awesome runs up there together.  However, I know that alcohol will be involved this weekend, so I really don't trust myself to be 100% sure that I'd get in a run as long as I want to while I'm up there.
• I considered doing the long run Saturday morning, but I figured if I get it done during the week I could leave earlier for the lake house.
• What better way is there to spend a Wednesday night?  It was actually cooler out than it has been the past few days...definitely still hot though.

I figured I would start going and if I felt terrible I could always stop and just make it a regular distance or slightly longer mid-week run.  I probably shouldn't even give myself options like that and just do what I'm supposed to.  But, I ended up making it through all of my 18 planned miles, plus some!

First of all, here's what I had as a little pre-run meal:

(There was more Smart Start in there before I took the picture...)

I also updated my running playlist with a few new songs before I left.  Some of the songs that were really great during this run were:

Come on Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners
Kokomo - The Beach Boys
Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
That's My Kinda Night - Luke Bryan
Rollout - Ludacris
I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet A Woman - Britney Spears
Get Big - Dorrough
Alive - Krewella
Runnin's Out of Moonlight - Randy Houser

Normally I would just let you assume that Teenage Dream would always be on this list, but want to know something? I didn't listen to it at all during this run.  2 hours and 34 of my playlist on shuffle and it never came on.  I thought about putting it on near the end of my run, but then I was finished before I knew it!

It is about a mile from my apartment to the lakefront path.  I ran north just about as far as the path went and then turned back to head south.  I did not stop a single time during the whole first 1 hour and 30 minutes of my run.  When I got to North Ave Beach, I took my Gu and a bathroom break and then continued on my merry way further south all the way to Navy Pier.  By the way, the "Chocolate Outrage" flavored Gu tastes just like chocolate frosting.  It's like dessert combined with running!

I had to take a little 30 second break to get this picture in.  I also probably stopped each mile from miles 13-16 for a quick water break since there are fountains along the path.  The last half of my run was completely in the dark.  It was a little scary at times, but I made it home safely...obviously, or I would not be writing this.  I ran all the way to the end of Navy Pier and then back onto the lakefront path to head back home.  I was almost done!!  Once I got on North Avenue and had only 10 minutes left to run until I reached what I figured was about 18 miles (I didn't have the Garmin so I was just going off of time), I decided I felt awesome and was going to go for 20.  I kept adding on, just around the city streets.  This made me more nervous because of cracks/uneven sidewalks and I couldn't really see, so I was afraid I was going to trip!

I made it back home at 2 hours and 34 minutes, which I knew wouldn't be quite 20, but figured it'd at least be 19.  I mapped it out to 19.25 miles!!  That averages out to exactly 8 minute pace, which I am really happy with.  And I actually think I maintained that pace the entire time.  When I stopped at North Ave Beach, I was at 11.25 in 1:30, which is also exactly 8 minute pace.  So, no majorly slowing down at the end!  During the whole first half I felt like I was really cruising and doing very well.  Miles 12-16 were a bit tougher, but then I felt great again at the end.  I think this was the strongest I've ever felt on such on a long run!

After the run, however, I did not feel so hot.  I felt like I was going to pass out and needed to sit.  It was hard to prioritize between stretching, showering, and just laying to rest for a few minutes.  Erin came to pick me up to take me to Walgreens for some essentials.  She was a savior!  I needed chocolate milk and I needed sugar (not pure sugar, I mean in candy form).  I also considered getting ice to take an ice bath, but decided to hold off on that.  This was my post-run meal:

I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back asleep, so I got out of bed and watched an episode of Desperate Housewives and made pasta at 3am.  I was so hungry.  There was some cool stuff that I saw or thought about during this long run that I was going to write about, but this is long enough already and since I'm taking today off of running, I can just write about that fun stuff tomorrow!

Have you ever done a really long run or workout on a weeknight after work?

Do you like running at night/in the dark?

What do you like to eat before or after a run?

Why I Love UD

A few weeks ago I posted about one of my two favorite places in the whole wide world.  Well, my other favorite place is the University of Dayton.  All the recent Facebook posts about students moving back to campus or their younger siblings moving to campus makes me wish I could go back (for college again, not just to visit...visits are nice too though).  Today is the first day of classes, so what better day to post about UD?!  I'm really not sure I can convey all of the awesomeness in just this blog post, but I'll do my best to give the highlights.  :)

- Community! - How could I not start with the cliche reason everyone loves UD?  I don't even know how to describe it, but it's there.  One of the things I remember hearing in one of the videos shown at an event about the community is how EVERYONE holds doors opens for people behind them, no matter what or how far behind you that person is.  I realized that was so true around campus.  Everyone is so friendly and kind to each other, in little and big ways.  Even now in real life when someone doesn't hold a door for me, I automatically think "that person definitely did not go to UD."

- Friends! - Some of my very best friends are the ones I made while at UD. We have the best memories ever and will continue to for years to come :) (after we force all our own kids to go to UD so that we have an extra excuse to go back all the time)

- Basketball! - The UD Arena is consistently ranked as one of the best arenas in college basketball with the best fans. Basketball is also a great excuse to go back to campus.  This past winter, my friends and I went back for the game against Xavier.   We will have to figure out a different game to go back for this year though due to all of the conference re-alignment business going on.  Also, the Dayton Flyers fight song is awesome.  And I really like the fact that it's not one of the super big, popular schools that everyone has a t-shirt from.  So if I see someone walking around Chicago (or anywhere) with a UD t-shirt or driving with a UD sticker on their car, I know they almost surely went there (or have kids that do/did).  There is even a bar in Chicago with UD affiliation to go watch the basketball games at with other fans!  (This photo below was taken at Milano's at UD though)

- Tim's! - Most UD students either love Tim's to no end, or hate it and usually refuse to go. It's one of the dirtiest most college-like bars out there I'm sure.  I'm on the love end of the spectrum.  I really like to dance (not well, but everyone there is too drunk to notice anyways) and Tim's facilitates my love for dancing.  There are never good pictures taken at Tim's because nobody is capable of decent pictures by that time, so this is me and one of my favorite people to go to Tim's with, Brigitte - a Tim's VIP.

- Dining Halls! - UD had some pretty great dining halls. I don't have much else to compare them to though except the few times I visited ND (also great dining halls).  The fact that I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain a pound was pretty great too. If I went back to that lifestyle, I would gain at least 50 pounds in a week. Through my sophomore year, VWK was all-you-can eat and despite being in my picky eating stage still, I ate as much grilled cheese and pasta as I could.  Pita pizzas from KU, ice cream from The Galley, and chicken tender wraps from VWK and Marycrest were all my favorites.  I think I ate the exact same thing for lunch every day freshman year at the Empo - a turkey sandwich and a Crunch bar. The dining halls were also a great place to just sit with friends for awhile and chat and people watch.

- Ghetto! - I guess this goes back up to the part about the community.  For anyone who isn't familiar with UD, juniors and seniors (and 5th years) can live in the student neighborhood lovingly referred to as the Ghetto. Some of the houses even have their own names. When the weather is nice, everyone is outside on the porch or in the yard. Sometimes you can bring your couch in the yard...

- Dayton 2 Daytona! - This is the greatest vacation ever created...for college students; nobody else would survive this. It is also the unhealthiest trip ever created. There really isn't any other way to spin this besides a very cheap vacation with all UD students drinking all day long at the pool, beach, and the local hotspots for 6 days. I went 2 years and as much fun as it was, my body would not be able to handle something like that ever again.

The UDXC Team! -Probably the best group of girls ever.  I only competed on the team my senior year, but it made the year so enjoyable and I became friends with the best people!  Actually I was friends with the majority of them before senior year, but then running together every day brought us even closer.  I think it was during my training to try out for the team and then competing with the team that has made me realize my potential as a runner.

There's so much more I could say about UD and stories I could tell, but those are the parts that are most memorable to me.  Obviously, it's the people that make it so memorable, not just the place.  Oh, and I learned a lot and got a couple degrees.  That part is important too!

I'd like to especially wish a happy first day of classes to my brother Kyle and to the siblings of some of my best friends.  It's a family school.  GO FLYERS!!

UD Friends - Why do YOU love UD??

Why do you love YOUR school?