Author Archives: admin

Shamrock Shuffle 2009

{30 March 2009}

(normally this stuff goes into the training log…continue only if you’re actually interested in dorky running stuff)

woke up to 3″ of new-fallen slush outside my window. it took me a good 20 minutes to decide i was really going to get up and run, but somehow i made it, on the basis that it would 1) be an adventure, and 2) i was relieved of the pressure to run a competitive time given the unfavorable conditions. have i mentioned how sick i am of running races in unfavorable conditions? the last three races have been: half marathon in the POURING rain, marathon in the (second) freakish october heat wave (in two years), and now this 8k in the snow.

some thoughts:

1) i can’t believe race officials didn’t plow the streets just before the race! we were running in ankle-deep slush the whole way, grey puddles that filled in and disguised potholes and made the bridges treacherously slippery.

2) for all the unpleasantness of the wet, it wasn’t too terribly cold – right around 32, with no wind, so temp-wise it wasn’t that bad. i discovered that i do, in fact, know how to dress to run in 30 degree weather.

3) post-race dry socks mean nothing if there are not also post-race dry shoes.

4) being in start corral B was AWESOME. i wasn’t packed into the corral shoulder-to-shoulder like in the open corrals. there wasn’t enough room to jog, which would have been helpful since they kept us penned in there for 15 minutes prior to the start of the race, but at least there was room to wiggle, jump up and down, and stretch, which i did to try and loosen my muscles up at least a little. then, when the race started, i realized that everyone around me was running the same pace as me! which means i wasn’t wasting energy on weaving around those groups of people who, bless their hearts, have decided to participate in a “fun run” by linking arms with their 5 best girlfriends and then WALKING (i swear i’m not being a snob here – more power to you, running is an all-inclusive field…just for the love of god DON’T START IN FRONT OF ME IF YOU ARE GOING TO WALK!). so, two thumbs up for the start corral system.

5) i didn’t get enough warm up time. i ran into my friend Kevin at gear check, and we jogged together over from the Congress Hotel to our start corrals, but that was *maybe* 1/4 mile. after that, standing still for 25 minutes before hitting that first mile at an 8′ pace was hard on the legs. i need to figure out how to really get a full mile warm up before races, especially fast/short ones.

6) especially when i first started running i was lonely going to races by myself when i saw other people with their friends and running buddies. but i think i’ve gotten over that loneliness, and realized that it’s sooo much better for me to race alone. when i can just get up, go to the race, be on my own time table, it’s so much less stressful for me.

7) i don’t like running short/fast races. it’s too HARD. i really prefer the half marathon over all distances.

8) this was definitely a mind-over-matter race. for starters, even tho i’d given myself permission just to go out and jog, considering the weather, by the time i hit the starting line i knew i’d be chasing after the PR and time goal i’d set for myself. i always do this. i am not a participation-is-everything runner. i dont’ care much how i stack up against other runners – i will always be middle-of-the-pack – but i *am* competitive against myself and against the clock. very much so.

9) i flagged a bit in mile 4, in my own head, if not in actual pace. mile 4 was when i just didn’t want to go on, when all those fleeting thoughts of quitting start creeping in. so from 3 to 4 i made myself go on, saying that it’d be a PR alone just to do 4 sub-8′ miles in a row, i’ve never done that. and i settled into that same miserable mindset that happens around mile 22 in the marathon, when you are no longer thinking, just putting one foot in front of the other, and then once i got to the 4 mile marker, it was just one more mile in to the finish, so i might as well do that. though, on the uphill on Roosevelt just before the finish line, i was making those deals with myself that if i could just finish this race strong, i could never run again if i didn’t want to. come to think of it, i wonder how many times i’ve made those deals with myself while running up that exact same stretch of Roosevelt road (which is the last quarter mile before the finish line on almost all big chicago races).

10) it was a nice feeling to have finished, gathered my goodies, picked up my gear, changed into dry clothes, walked to starbucks (my racing bib was good for a free beer at the post-race party, but at 10:15 in the morning, who wants to stand around in 3″ of slush and drink a michelob ultra?), and THEN cross the race course on my way to the el station and see that and there were still people racing.

11) stats:
time: 39’34” (goal was 40′)
1811th out of 13,294 overall
330th out of 6550 women
64th out of 1324 division (women 30-34)

email me a recipe or 50 years bad luck for you it’s true it happened to this girl my cousin knows

{27 March 2009}

hi internets!

i’ve committed to throwing a dinner party for my birthday. i wanted to be all retro and grownup, or something. now i need help with the menu planning!

parameters:
+ somewhere between 6-16 guests (final numbers will impact somewhat what i can afford to do).
+ at least two fo’ real veggies (no chicken stock, no gelatin)
+ at least two there’d-better-be-an-animal-for-dinner-or-else-it’s-not-dinner-it’s-a-snack carnivores.
+ i really really heart dessert, which means that i’m willing to go more all-out with the dessert than the rest of the menu.
+ a gas grill is at my disposal for the day. as is my boyfriend/sous chef.

i’ve dined well with a number of you. so…hit me with your bestest ace-in-the-hole recipes, will you*?

*and if no one responds, i’ll take it as a sign that those recipe-exchange chain letters that i ignored and deleted really DID come back to bite me in the ass with bad karma.

found objects

{26 March 2009}

stages of intoxication, as illustrated in 1949. moral of this story? hang on to your hat, folks.

does anyone have any idea how many drops of blood are in their bodies? no? well then how is drops of alcohol per 1000 drops of blood in any way a useful measurement? no wonder why everyone drank three martinis at lunch back then.

{17 March 2009}

took my car in to see my mechanic yesterday, fully expecting to spend $$$ on new shocks. the guys greased some squeaky part and sent me out the door for $25. took my cat to the vet, my perfectly healthy cat, and paid $306 to be told that, guess what? my cat is perfectly healthy.

it doesn’t even cost $306 for ME to go to the doctor and have her pronounce me healthy.

oh yeah, and when i got home from spending all that money, yesterday, i found a $100 parking ticket in my mailbox. back in october i got a $50 ticket for parking on a street cleaning day, and it totally wasn’t posted so i contested the ticket. i heard nothing back for 6 months, so i pretty much forgot about it, until i got the final declaration back. the ticket still stands, only NOW i owe $100, not $50, because the ticket has been outstanding for 6 months and the penalties have doubled the cost. except that i didn’t pay the ticket for 6 months becuase i was waiting for the results of the contestment*. so…i have to pay the penalties for the fact that the city chicago can’t process paperwork in a timely fashion? yup. what a racket.

chicago, are you just trying to make me hate you, so that the breakup will be easier?

*is contestment a word? well it should be.

never underestimate the power of feminine wile

{13 March 2009}


spent bulbs for cute theatre chick

so in the show we’re producing right now, there’s a scene where a character goes out into the hallway and breaks three light bulbs. the sound designer decided that a live bulb-breaking sound was better than the recorded version, which meant that i needed a source of light bulbs to break (about 25 per week). it seems ridiculously wasteful to break brand new light bulbs, so i called the facilities services on campus to see if they could hook me up with a source of burned out light bulbs. about 6 conversations and referrals later, i ended up in touch with a guy at the campus steam plant, apparently one of the only buildings on campus that still uses incandescent bulbs instead of recyclable fluorescent ones.

so i explained what i was looking for, and the next week i hiked out there and a nice guy about my age gave me the box of burned out bulbs he’d saved for me. as per my usual, when someone does me a favor like this, i told him we’d be happy to comp him a pair of tickets for the show, and gave him my business card.* we set up a standing appointment for me to drop by at 1pm on fridays to collect spent lamps for the rest of the run of the show. so today i stopped by, and my pal wasn’t there but his manager was and when i explained what i was looking for he remembered what was up and had some other guy bring out the box of bulbs. it wasn’t until i was bringing in the box later that i noticed the penned inscription on the side. tee hee. what i love about this is not that the steam plant guy was willing to save light bulbs for me because he thought i’m cute, but that his buddy went to the trouble to scratch out the phrase “cute theatre** chick” with a ballpoint pen before bringing the box out for me.

bets on whether anyone asks me out before the last light bulb pickup? or maybe the scratching out of “cute theatre chick” was an editorial on the part of the second guy.

*by coincidence, last friday was the first time in two weeks of tech that i didn’t need to be dressed in grungy working-on-the-stage jeans and t-shirt, so i took advantage of that and the spell of warmish weather to wear a pretty new shirt. and actually wash and fix my hair, and put on some makeup. apparently it worked to my advantage. i don’t think a lot of women hang around at the steam plant, is my guess.

**i give the steam plant guys props for spelling theatre with an “re”

more theatre closings

{}

my old pal Kevin (hi Kevin! how are you? where are you? how many beautiful kids do you have now?) reminded me that i left a major company off the list of regional theatres who have closed their doors in the past year – Buffalo’s Studio Arena. which is silly that i left it off the list, given that i worked there for most of a season. so, yeah: add Studio Arena to the list.

i am valentine

{09 March 2009}

i’m only a month behind on photo blogging the ski trip gene and i took last month, but, well, it took that long for me to get around to downloading the photos. anyway, we spent valentine’s weekend* at my parent’s cabin in idaho, skied till the lifts closed every day, ate good food every night and then passed out cold about 10pm. ah, vacation.

i gave gene shit repeatedly about whether he was going to buy me this trashy pink plush unicorn that we kept seeing at the general store all weekend as my valentine’s day gift, but alas, he did not. we did, however, spend the most hated of all holidays skiing, then checking out the ice sculptures in town left over from the previous week’s winter carnival, then hiked out into the middle of the frozen-over lake at sunset, followed by dinner at a cozy wine bar. i gotta say, it ranked pretty high as valentine’s days go: skiing, hiking, ice skating, wine-tasting. and wearing sweatpants all the while!

* with my parents! isn’t that every young man’s dream? to spend valentine’s day with your new girlfriend and her parents? ha ha. gene was a good sport, my parents are pretty cool, and it was technically coincidence that we planned our trip around valentine’s day. oh, and president’s day.**

** this latter scheduling oversight presented a problem in that we were flying standby. standby on a holiday weekend doesn’t work quite so well. we did make it to idaho and back, but not without mishap: i managed to misplace gene (well, technically, united airlines misplaced gene) in denver for three days. standby fliers, beware the monday holidays.

the elvish problem

{08 March 2009}

okay, in an effort to stop griping about the impending great depression for a moment, here’s a fun little cultural tidbit for those of you who heart iceland:

Alcoa, the biggest aluminum company in the country, encountered two problems peculiar to Iceland when, in 2004, it set about erecting its giant smelting plant. The first was the so-called “hidden people”—or, to put it more plainly, elves—in whom some large number of Icelanders, steeped long and thoroughly in their rich folkloric culture, sincerely believe. Before Alcoa could build its smelter it had to defer to a government expert to scour the enclosed plant site and certify that no elves were on or under it. It was a delicate corporate situation, an Alcoa spokesman told me, because they had to pay hard cash to declare the site elf-free but, as he put it, “we couldn’t as a company be in a position of acknowledging the existence of hidden people.”

(april 09 vanity fair)