I had a blast and a half yesterday, thanks to the Chicago Marathon! My mom and I stayed at my brother Jon's apartment on Saturday night, and Jon drove my mom to Grant Park (the start of the race) at about 5:30 am. I slept in for a few hours, ate breakfast, read over my notes for my microbiology exam that I had today, took Libby for a walk, lost the spare key in the park, went back to the park two more times to look for the spare key, told Jon that I had to buy him a new spare key, found it twenty minutes after I gave up in my pants (WHAT?!?!?), and then walked to S Michigan Avenue. 

By the way, technology amazes me in the fact that I got regular text messages throughout the race from a computer chip that told me where my mom was and her estimated finishing time. Runners put an orange tag on their shoe, and it registers when you go past certain checkpoints. Pretty neat, right?

The weather was ideal for walking. The sky was a perfect shade of blue, and the city looked perfect. I can't say that the marathon runners enjoyed the warmth as much as the spectators, but it could have been a lot worse. 

When I got close to Michigan Avenue, I saw runners with medals everywhere. I knew that they ran the marathon based on how they were walking just as much as I knew from the medals. I mean, I certainly would not be able to walk normally if I just ran 26.2 miles!

I finally made it to S Michigan Avenue. Once I found the actual race, it was very hard to move. The spectators were up to five people deep. I waited at the 25.3-mile mark for my mom and dad (my dad jumped in and ran nine miles with my mom- you are allowed to do that without a bib!). The support from the spectators was overwhelming. Everybody was clapping, cheering, and shouting out names if runners had their names on their shirts. The girl standing in front of me held out her hand and tried to high-five everybody. She touched a lot of sweaty hands. 

After standing around for about 30 minutes, I saw my parents! I jumped up and down and started screaming and ran onto the course. My mom hugged me, despite my protests to keep running, and I actually ran about a half mile with them while holding my purse. My dad took the awesome sign that I brought from me (there's a picture at the end of the post) and ran with that. We stayed on the course until we heard the announcement that everybody without a bib had to get off the street. Fair enough. 

We were basically at the finish line by that point, so my dad and I walked over to Charity Village. If you ran and raised money for a charity, as my mom did, your charity provides a tent for you where you can go before and after the race and store your belongings. A limited number of family and friends can meet you there and celebrate with food and drinks. 

When we got to the DetermiNation tent, we found runners cooling their feet in a kiddie pool filled with ice. I bet that would feel great!

CONFETTI!!!! WHOOOO!!!

We spent about 25 minutes waiting for my mom near the DetermiNation tent. 

I thought this sign below was very inspiring!

We found my mom, and then we walked 2.5 miles to the car. My poor mom. According to Hal Higdon, at least, walking after running that much is good recovery! 

My tired and happy mom!

We "refueled" with turkey spaghetti bolognese casserole (recipe to come for the pasta later!)

and grilled salmon (my mom's fave)

and broccolini with leftover pasta. Good carbs and veggies!

I got some more pictures of my mom today. If you're wondering if she left her sweaty singlet on for 24 hours, you are mistaken. She did wear her medal today, though!

That's the sign that I made for her at the Chicago Marathon Expo. GO BARB!!!!

What a strong, determined lady! Almost 60 and still running strong! My mom is such an inspiration. 

Watching the marathon yesterday really makes me want to lace up my running shoes and give it a go. One of my best friends also wants to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February, but I still worry about my leg pain that partially prevented me from running the Rock N Roll Chicago Half Marathon this summer. If I could run a half marathon, then I could certainly try to go for a full one. Maybe I'll try going for a short run this week and see how it affects my leg. Baby steps, right?

I had so much fun with my mom today. After beating cancer and running the marathon last  year, she decided to run it again this year. The race is on Sunday morning, so I went to the city with her to pick up her race packet at the marathon expo at McCormick Place. 

We got there early. It was packed by the time we were ready to go home.

Once my mom got her packet, we looked around. One of my favorite things to look at was the marathon route from last year (which is the same as this year) shown through a video camera. Obviously, somebody drove the route with their camera last year right before the race commenced. They sped it up on the TV and labeled all of the streets and neighborhoods. It was fun to watch. 

As usual, I got very emotional watching it. I almost always tear up when I watch people running marathons or half marathons, because it is such a long and personal journey for every individual who runs it. I also think about people who lose somebody they love to a disease and then decide to run a marathon so that they can raise money in their memory. 

After watching the marathon course 1.5 times, we explored the exposition. Give me some 312!

The expo was all about health and fitness, so I naturally enjoyed it. There were a few free samples that I enjoyed, starting with mini Larabars. 

Cascadian Farm Chewy Granola Bars. 

Strawberry-flavored Lifeway Kefir. 

And Smucker's natural peanut butter. 

My mom is running on the DetermiNation team, so we stopped by their booth. I made a cheer sign for my mom, and we also filled out a little plaque with my uncle's name on it. He recently passed away from a lost battle with cancer. 

Before we left, I made sure to stop by the Run Disney booth. I am dying to run a half marathon at Disney World. I just want my leg to get better so that I can finally do it! 

The Disney medals were on display. Maybe one day, I will earn them all. 

The Disney World Marathon is in the shape of Donald Duck!

The Disney Princess Half Marathon!

This is the one I really want to do! The Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon. Maybe next year? 

There were a lot of shopping opportunities, too. I almost bought a Sweaty Band, but one head band was $15. It seemed steep to me, so I didn't get one. 

On our way out, we ran into Hal Higdon! This guy is a marathon legend! He is well-known for his marathon training books and websites. There were a lot of people coming up to him and asking for photos. 

He was so nice,and he was more than happy to take photos with us. 

Before we left, I stepped outside to get a picture of the lake. Chicago, I love you. 

Did I mention that I have an autographed copy of Hal's book? I don't plan on running a marathon anytime soon, but he recently added a chapter about training for a half marathon. 

It doesn't have my name on it, so I either need to admit that it's my mom's book or I will legally change my name to "Barbara". 

One of the other highlights from the day was getting a Bondi Band running headband that says "Will Run For Beer". Maybe this is a sign that I need to hit the pavement. I would definitely, definitely run for beer. 

Before I go, I have to leave my mom's website here in case you want to donate to the American Cancer Society. My mom has done a magnificent job with her fundraising, and every penny goes to a good cause!

Have a great weekend!

There are lots of announcements today. For one thing, I am very sad that it's Sunday. I enjoy sleeping later than 5 am. For another, I am so close to picking my wedding dress. My mom and I took my dad to Volle's Bridal yesterday so that he could see my two favorite dresses. As it turns out, the one that I thought was THE ONE may not be the one after all. One of them makes me look very elegant (my first choice), and the other makes me look like a princess. When our consultant asked me how I imagined myself as a bride when I was younger, I said that I always wanted to look like a princess. That pretty much made up my mind for me. I may have to try them on one more time just to be sure. 

For breakfast on Saturday, I ate a Panera whole wheat bagel with cream cheese. We were in a hurry to get to Volle's, so I had to eat it in the car. I took the plate to minimize crumbs. 

I also did a workout before Volle's. It was something like this:

20 minute warm up on the elliptical
 
4 sets of 10 pushups (body weight, 20 on my toes, 20 on my knees)
3 sets of 15 alternating dumbbell rows (12 pounds)
30 tricep dips (body weight)
30 tricep dips (body weight plus 8-pound weight balanced on my hips)
3 sets of 15 military shoulder press (10 pounds)
3 sets of 15 bicep curls (8 pounds)

30 squats with 8-pound weights

30 plie squats with 8-pound weights
10 back lunges on each side
10 single leg squats on each side
10 single leg deadlifts on each side (8 pounds)
20 lying-down side leg raises on each side

5 minutes of abdominal work and stretching

I try not to do too many lunges, because they really irritate my right leg. Boo. 

After Volle's, I went to Costco with my parents. Since it was a Saturday, I had my lunch there. There are samples everywhere you turn, so I had a blast. 

I still wanted a snack later on, so I ate Chobani Greek yogurt in the pomegranate flavor.  

I think Chobani packaging is so pretty. 

I was expecting a lot from it, but I honestly didn't like it as much as I like the other flavors. The yogurt tasted fine, but the pieces of pomegranate arils just didn't seem right on the taste buds. They seemed a bit stale. Who knows, it could have just been my batch. 

My parents met friends for dinner, and I stayed home with the pups. Have I mentioned that I am nerd when it comes to studying? I'd go out up to five days a week when I was in college. When I started graduate school a few months after graduation, I didn't go out for months. That was certainly part of the reason that I was so unhappy in my psychology program. I was confined to my room all the time. 

I'm very busy with this summer program, but at least I'll be able to get out more. I'll try to keep one night per weekend to study. I think it's equally important that I go out and see my friends. I seriously ran the risk of losing my friends the last time, and I don't want to do that again!

For dinner last night, I put leftover pizza from the night before in the toaster oven. I put it on top of foil so that I wouldn't have the same cheesy mess that I had the last time I did this.

It was a big-ass piece of leftover pizza. My dad does make great pizza, though. This one had eggplant, grilled onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and some other goodies. I'm not sure what kind of cheese he used. 

Today has been very eventful. Another reason I stayed home instead of being a social butterfly in the city was because I wanted to see my mom finish the North Shore Half Marathon. My mom can run 13.1 miles on any good day, so it wasn't like I was worried about her finishing. I just wanted to see her do it.

I woke up at 8:36 am, got ready, fed the dogs and ate breakfast. Our pantry is full of Kashi cereal right now, because I can't stop requesting it. It's so, so good. I was eating this Go Lean Crunch by the handful yesterday. 

I took the two young and sprightly dogs, Mickey and Cody, with me. They were so happy to experience a change of scenery with new smells. 

Cody could not wait to see Mom finish the half marathon. 

Mickey tried to lift his leg and pee on everything. 

My dogs made friends with that dog below. 

I've never even seen a long race before in the flesh, so I had a great time watching people go over the finish line. 

It fueled my desire even more to run a half marathon.

After standing there for about an hour with the pups, I got a call from my mom's cell phone. I was confused. Why would she call me while running? As it turned out, she was home already! My parents were looking so hard for me that they split up and started looking for me, the dogs or my car. I guess there was a terrible miscommunication when we talked about what time I should get there. She finished right before I even arrived. I was livid when I found out, but I was calm by the time that I got home. It wasn't anybody's fault. In the end, I just felt bad. She was so excited to see me and the dogs, and it didn't happen. 

I still had a lot of fun there. I got emotional watching people finish. I cry at everything these days, so it doesn't surprise me. In marathons (and half marathons), there are so many people who run for causes. One of the biggest fundraisers, for example, is the American Cancer Society. You may want to run on their team if you lost a loved one to cancer and if you or someone you know survived it. It's those things especially that make me emotional. Then, I saw so many children greet their parents to walk over the finish line with them. Obviously, everybody put in a lot of effort to be able to to finish the face. You can see it on their faces when they cross the line. It just makes me tear up. I can't help it. 

When I got home, I didn't eat a real lunch. I just snacked. I melted a piece of Finlandia Chipotle Jack Cheese onto a corn tortilla, for instance. My mom also made a smoothie, and I had some of that. 

Later on, my dad made grilled corn on the cob, grilled turkey breast with mushroom sauce (thickened with black beans instead of flour) and a green bean salad with turkey sausage and porcini mushrooms. What a great summer meal!

A lot happened between lunch and dinner today. When I was eating the gigantic smoothie with my mom (I say "eating", because it was thick), we talked about the possibility of me running the Chicago Half Marathon in August. My mom, my dad and my brother Jon are all signed up. My mom has been asking me for a while if I want to do it, but I keep telling her that I need more time to train. Also, I am very worried about my leg. 

Well, something interesting happened. I went outside after lunch, and I ran at least 6 miles. I've been saying for months that I can't run more than 3, but I was somehow able to do this. A few hours later, I signed up for the race. If I do one long run per week for the next 8 weeks, I should be ready to run it. There is just one problem: the sartorius muscle on my right leg.

This muscle has been giving me hell for a year now. The pain comes mainly from running and lunges. I've rested it for up to six weeks at a time, but it still won't heal completely. I could even feel it flaring up today during my run, but it made such a difference when I turned my foot inward (I naturally run with my feet turned out, and that may be part of the reason that I get the inflammation). 

The good news is that when I am on top of my stretching, icing and foam rolling, it makes a significant reduction to the discomfort. For the next two months, I will have to be extremely vigilant with that. Otherwise, I won't be able to run the 13.1 miles.

Of course, if my leg gets so bad that I can't walk, I won't run it. I'll have to rehab it until I am able to run another one. I've wanted to run a half marathon for so long, though. We'll just have to see how everything goes. Please feel free to send advice my way if you have had similar experiences or know about the issue. 

P.S.- Flights are grounded in Australia and New Zealand from the volcano eruption in Chile! I'm pretty sure that fights can't fly to/from Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand. That sucks! These tectonic plates have been getting very temperamental lately. 

Okay, bed time at 9 pm! I'll tell you more about my training schedule later. Not much is going to change except for adding one day of interval training and one long run. Be good to me, leg!