so then there was this

Power House High

So once again I find that I have not kept up with this in a while...  So where to begin.... It's been a bit busy since I ran the marathon.  First of all I have stopped running, whoops.  On the bright side I am back in the gym on a regular schedule so I guess that is good.

Chicago from the top of the Sears Tower

The Sears Tower

The week after the marathon I volunteered with my friend Kate at Open House Chicago.  The event itself was really a great experience.  I got to see sites I didn't even know existed and visit other sites that I never would get to see otherwise.  In all the three years I have lived here in Chicago I never knew there was a second Sears Tower.  The original Sears Tower was built in 1906 and is still standing today with the Sears name on it unlike that other one that we all still call Sears because seriously Willis just sounds stupid.  I didn't work in the Sears tower but I worked at a different site on the Sears Complex.  I was in the original Sears Power House which has now been turned into a high school.

Kate looking out over the city

I went around the rest of the day with Kate and we checked out some other really cool sites.  We went to the Marshal Field building and went into one of the window displays on State Street.  We also went up to the Board Room before we headed down the street to go into the bridge house on the Michigan Ave Bridge.  One of the really cool sites we got to check out was the Tribune Tower.  The views from the executive offices was amazing.  Kate and I also checked out the original Chicago Motor Club building and the Seventeenth Church of Christ with its giant organ.  Overall this was a great experience to see parts of Chicago I had never seen before.

Over looking the Chicago River from
The Tribune Tower

A few days later I boarded a plane headed to LA for work.  I have not been to California since I was a senior in High School.  Once I got to LA I hopped in my rental car and headed to meet up with my old College roommate Nick.  I hung out with him for a while at his place in LA before we went to dinner at a Burger place called Umami.  It was a good tasting a la carte burger very similar to DMK which is down the street from me.  After dinner I headed East towards my office in California to find my hotel.

I stayed in Ontario which for me is so hard to grasp that this is not in fact Canada but somewhere on the West Coast.  It was a very built up area but one really cool feature was the San Bernardino Forest just a short drive away.  After work the first day I took the road headed to Big Bear and stopped frequently along the way to take a view out at the mountains.  I took a lot of pictures one of them even has replaced my MSU background on my cell phone.  The second night after work I headed to Mt Baldy.  It was much closer and at first I was very disappointed in the bland rocky landscape but once I made it most of the way up the road turned and I was encompassed in solitude between giant mountains on both sides.  The sun was setting so I just parked my car and sat around listening to nature (and misquotes) and just watched the sunset.

The next morning I headed home but first I made a detour for the weekend in Michigan.  I went to visit my friend Kristin.  Once she picked me up we went to dinner and then carved pumpkins with her younger sister.  I have been wanting to carve pumpkins for a while.  I tried all last year and no one would carve one with me so I just gave up on the idea.  It was the first time it really felt like fall just sitting around having a beer and carving pumpkins on a kitchen table.  I would say all three of them came out really well even the "cat rocking out on a guitar".

Saturday we headed up to MSU for homecoming against Wisconsin.  We tailgated at Kristin's sisters house which happens to be directly across the street from my old house, "The Green Monster".  After I had a few drinks I walked across the street to meet the guys who live there currently.  They welcomed me in and showed me the bar they built as well as what had been left in the house when they moved in.  The only thing remaining from our days in the house were the old keg tops we had nailed in the rafter in the basement.  We never ended up leaving Barbie's house but just enjoyed the nice fall day drinking on the front porch.  I tried to meet up with Jon and Alan at Peanut Barrel but we couldn't get in so Kristin and I just ended up watching the game at her sisters house.  This was the first time since high school that I have ever been in East Lansing for a football game where I was not inside the stadium.  The game is so loud you can hear it everywhere around.

Gear check at the Monster Dash that I ran

A week later was Halloween.  It is a great time of festivity around Chicago.  Friday night I went to a haunted house down on the lake with a few friends.  It was really a great haunted house I thought specially for only $10 and I do really enjoy supporting the Chicago Park District.  Saturday before I went out to my friend Nagy's party I volunteered from 5:40am till about 2:30pm at the Monster Dash.  This is a race that I would love to run but this year I was just burnt out from running so i just decided to volunteer instead.  I had just signed up to be a standard volunteer but once I got there I immediately went to work helping above and beyond I think what was needed.  By the time the sun came up the director of the event had asked me to manage about 30 college students and run the gear check.  Not going to lie it was a little over my head at first but after about 15 minutes of figuring out how to set it up I had the gear check running like a well oiled machine.  Afterwards one of the ladies running the event told me this is one of the first races they have not lost someones gear which made me feel really good. 

Danielle, Kari, Ashley, Me, Josh, Nikki, Karen, and Bryan

Saturday night was the Halloween party.  I dressed up in my costume I had made from miseclanous items I had gathered around the city.  Once it all came together I was Peter Pan.  I had tights, tinker bell, a knife, and I was ready to party!  My friend Josh came up and we went to a friends for a pre gathering before heading to Wicker Park.  It was great to see lots of my friends all dressed up and there were some really impressive costumes.  Though I must say my favorite costume was of these two girls I met wearing cheerleader shorts and shirts that said Go "Ceiling" and Go "Osolating".  I though the ceiling fan and osolating fan idea was very unique and smart and after I got it I really liked it.  Considering how little sleep I was going off I must say I was proud that I made it till 2am before I started to get cranky and went home.

A lot more pictures

View of Chicago from the
103rd floor

Back in July after a few glasses of wine Kristin and I decided to do the SkyRise Chicago Tower Climb at the Sears Tower.  Kristin got sick and never ended up making it out here so I did this solo.  It was kinda lonely going up the stairs alone but it was still a great experience.  I had no idea what to expect as this is not a traditional event.  I started out in the lobby and climbed 103 flights of stairs (2,109 steps) to the Sky Deck on the 103rd floor.  I was shocked that it only took me 22 minutes and 22 seconds to reach the top.  I was also surpised to find out that I took 196th place out of 2,231 participants.  My legs were sore but they healed.  It was a strange event but one that I think I will repeat next year as well!

After finishing the tower climb

Last weekend I ventured back to Michigan once again.  This trip really did turn into a venture as Michigan saw its first real snowfall which I happened to be driving through.  There were a few times it was a complete white out and the roads had a few inches of that really slick hard packed snow that cars just love to slide on.  I might be one of the few that find these conditions exciting to drive in.  I know go ahead say im crazy I don't care its nice to have to actually drive a car rather than just sit there and move a wheel to turn.

Walking around at home

Otis going for a walk at home

Grapes in the vineyard

Inside my Grandpa's old dairy

Old door

I had not seem my sister in almost 4 months and it had been January before that so it was great ot catch up.  I also met her boyfriend Dave who she now lives with.  I guess I had better get used to that idea that my little sister is living with him.  Mostly we just hung out but on Saturday we went to my old roommate Nick's (the one in LA) film "My Barista" at the East Lansing Film Festival.  It was a short film which really was the best out of the ones I saw that day overall.  Another film called "Poke" I really enjoyed and had a great message but the sound didnt match with the characters which was annoying.  After the film we all went out to Roadhouse for dinner and then on to the Film Fest after Party at Beggars Banquet.  We had to cap the night off with shots somewhere so we tried PT's but apparently their last call is at 1:15AM so we walked across the parking lot to The Riv where they had no problem taking our money in exchange for shots.  It was really great to see Nick and some of the people I spent a lot of time with in college all back in East Lansing!


My Barista from Nick Hurwitch on Vimeo.

Jesse, Me, Nick after Nick's film out in East Lansing

Own Chicago 26.2

a free photo Nike gave us at Niketown Chicago

Mom, Me, and Dad

So I am really getting bad at this posting thing.  I wrote one about the marathon and never posted it.  So whatever this is my blog and I can do what ever I want right.  I just have to listen to my friends make fun of my grammar because I never proof read these things before clicking publish.

I wrote about this before in this post way back when.  I used to be a runner in High School and then stopped and last year I started back up.  Well this year  I tackled the Chicago Marathon.  Yes I went from being a sprinter in High School to running 26.2 miles for fun.  Yup something might be wrong with me but oh well.

My name on a wall of all the marathon participants

I can now say I have run a marathon.  I have thought about buying one of those little decals for my car that say 26.2 but then I stop and think wait I have driven 25 miles in the past month who cares!  Starting June 13^th I started officially training for the marathon.  I was fortunate to have an awesome running buddy, Brittani, to train with all summer long.  I honestly think without her I would have skipped out earlier specially on those really really hot days in July and August.  One of the most memorable training runs was a 95+ degree night where we altered our course to end in Lake Michigan.  We jumped in the lake fully clothed and I have never been so happy to live along the lake as I was that night.  Through out  the training, over 118 days, I ran 352.1 miles leading up to the actual Marathon on October 9^th. 

Mom and Dad

I had an awesome cheering section consisting of my mom and dad!  I also had some awesome friends who woke up very early to either volunteer along the course or just come out to cheer.  I also had one of the best cheering sections running next to me for the first 16-18 miles.  We each had shirts made with our names on them and had lots of fun joking over who was getting more cheers along the course.  I am pretty sure I won that one!  I am very fortunate for the people that were on the course that day because without them it would have be so easy to just quite.

View from my parents hotel room

My parents came into Chicago Friday night and came with me to the Expo.  I have run a number of races before but the sights of that expo were something I was not expecting.  I felt like I was at a trade show not a race expo.  Vendor booths were super elaborate filled with tvs, demos, equipment, merchandise, and freebies.  I am not sure what my parents had expected but I know that I was a bit shocked.  After we left the Expo I took my parents to one my favorite restaurant in Chicago, Uncommon Ground.  After dinner we went back down to my parents hotel and hung out for a bit while they told me about their trip to visit my sister in Wyoming a few weeks prior.  I wish I could have joined them out there because they got to do some really cool behind the scenes type things because of my sister and her friends who work out there.

Saturday I joined up with my parents after I finally woke up.  We didn’t really have much going on so we just wandered around Michigan Ave and looked in shops and stuff.  We ended up down along the river at a little snack stand.  It was nice to just sit still for a few moments.  Normally I am always on the go and its really nice to just stop and let the world move around me.  Later in the day we went to dinner.  Since it’s the night before the marathon that means its pasta night.  I went with my parents to a small restaurant near my house called Rose Angelis.  The service was a bit slow but the food made up for that.  I left there after an appetizer, dinner, and desert uncomfortably full.  I don’t know if I have ever felt so uncomfortably full before. 

Elites and their crazy fast pace where their
feet hardly ever touch the ground

The morning of the marathon started super early with my alarm going off at 5:15am.  I met up with Brittani at the Belmont Redline stop along with many other marathon runners.  Once we made it downtown we made our way to Grant Park with everyone else to get to gear check, and the start corrals.  The start corrals were a bit too packed and we actually had to hop the fence to get into the pace we were looking for because the entrances were blocked.

Near mile 26!  So close to the finish

Once the race actually started it sorta didn’t even feel like a race.  I felt like I was in a parade.  There were so many people cheering and watching.  So many people kept cheering us on along the course.  At mile 4 FFC, one of the gyms in Chicago, was throwing out small water bottles.  I had one thrown to me and I was more amazed that I was able to catch it because my hand eye coordination is not the best.  That little water bottle proved quite helpful along the day so thanks FFC!  I saw some friends at mile 3.5 later on I saw them again at 11.5.  I also saw my parents twice on the course and a few other scattered about.  I had a few friends volunteering at the water stations and I managed to see all of them except for 1 which turned out to be standing behind two of my other friends at the water station at mile 12.

Brittani and I right after we finished

Somewhere between mile 16 and 18 I lost Brittani and I finished the remainder of the race by myself.  I was still getting cheers along the course from strangers which helped a lot but it just wasn't the same as having Brit next to me running.  I was slowly dying along the end of the course.  The sun was getting warmer and the trees more sparse along the course which took a toll on me.  At mile 25.8 I saw my parents again and they cheered me on which was enough to get me the remaining 1/4 mile.  I finished the marathon with a time of 3:57:30 which was super amazing because I was going for anything under 4:20.

Nikki, myself and Brittani post marathon

It was an amazing experience, one that I do not want repeat anytime soon.  As much as I enjoyed the experience of the actual marathon the 18 weeks leading up to it is not something I want to repeat again.  So much of my summer was lost to training.  Too many nights I couldn't go out because I had to go run in the morning.  The joy of the marathon was wonderful and I am so fortunate that I could train with out injury and complete this once and run it in an amazing time.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience for my first (and only) marathon.

Thanks to everyone who came to cheer it meant so much to me!

Mom and Dad with their signs