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

A recap of Life

So I have been MIA for a while now.  I have been very busy and I have done quite a bit since my last post about Lolla.  I started to write a post about a trip I took to Michigan with some friends.  That post has not made it out of edit format and probably never will.  I went to Michigan again for a couple football games, Labor Day, and I have been pretty busy around here in Chicago.  So I figured I will just give a little recap of what I have been so busy doing.

Pure Michigan- Aug 10 to  Aug 14

Walking the streets on Mackinac Island

This is a trip that I have been planning for over a year.  I took a few friends with my to the cottage in Northern Michigan.  We went to Mackinac Island the first day where we walked around the island and then rented bikes and biked around the island.  Along the way around we made pit stops to enjoy a cool beer every few miles!  This trip had lots of inside jokes with one of my favorites being "is this Shelper's?".  The second day we drove to Northwest Michigan and went hiking up Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes which was voted the #1 beach in America!  We went down to the water and spent a little time playing in the waves of Lake Michigan before taking a drive to a few local wineries and a distillery.

Leland, MI

The weekend portion of this trip was spent running from the rain at the cottage.  So when it rains that only leaves an abundance of card game options, mostly involving drinking!  In between the rain and sun we managed to get some time in out on the lake. We played a fair amount of yard games mostly just kubb though.  Tyler and Josh took the weekend title of champions but I want a rematch!  It was truly a great trip with some good friends and I was very happy to share my love for Northern Michigan with some people that had never been up there before.

Running down Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes

Here are a bunch of pictures from that trip

Tyler’s going away- Aug 20

Shortly after returning from the Pure Michigan trip Tyler packed up and left us in Chicago.  He didn’t go without a proper goodbye consisting of drunkenness and fun, laughs and cry’s and surprises.  Jenni flew in from DC for the night just to celebrate with Tyler.  We took over Louies pub and sang lots of karaoke before wandering to another bar (that I don’t remember the name…..) for some dancing and partying.  It was sad to see Tyler leave but I’m sure he will have a great time in Germany and hopefully he makes it back to Chicago from time to time to visit all of us.

Chicago Air and Water-  Aug 21

I went with my friend Ashley to a party for the Air and Water Show down at Diversey Harbor.  Someone from her company was hosting the event and apparently has turned this party into an annual thing.  I got down there and just sorta stared.  They had a pool set up, porta-potties, two roasted pigs, and tons of food and people.  I mostly just hung out with Ashley and Nikki and watched the show and took pictures.  It was the first time I have been to this show and actually enjoyed it.  I think I mostly enjoyed the “water show” which consisted of cops arresting drunks and stupid people and chasing them out of the restricted area. 

Hungry, Hungry for Justice! 

MSU Yacht Cruise- Aug 26

This was sort of a last minute decision.  My friends Newman and Kari were both going and so I decided to join them.  It was a great idea!  We met up at Rock Bottom for a pre drink.  Some time in life I will learn its never a good idea to have a drink before an all you can drink event.  We made our way to the boat and set sail down the Chicago River and then out into Lake Michigan.  It was a great set up on Chicago’s First Lady.  The food, wine, and entertainment was great.  I had a lot of fun hanging out on the water and enjoying the magnificent Chicago Skyline with a drink in hand!  We made it to the after party where I claimed my free drink there though I didn’t drink it.  Somehow I let Newman talk me into going out in Wicker Park that night which I don’t really remember all that well but I do remember having a great time!

Enjoying some beverages on the river

Labor Day/MSU- Sept 2 to Sept 5

I went home for Labor Day Weekend and got tickets for the MSU game which was played on a Friday night.  I met up with a few friends and wandered around campus Friday during the day before I met up with my parents to tailgate and go to the game.  We ended up having 5 or 6 tickets for the three of us so I sat in the better seats of course!  After the game we drove to the cottage for the weekend.  It was a work weekend but that didn’t mean we couldn’t have some fun.  We had a large Labor Day BBQ with our neighbors and bon fires every night.  It was a great way for me to end my “summer”

Touchdown MSU

Tigers/Sox games- Sept 12 & Sept 13

Birthday Brat?

I have been a real fan of the Tigers since my friends dragged me to a game my freshman year on College.  Before that I found baseball to be boring.  So now that I am a fan of the Tigers I only had a short time span to go to Tigers games and watch them at home.  Now that I have moved from Michigan I only get to watch the Tigers when they play away.  I went to both night games this fall when the Tigers came to town to beat the White Sox!  The first night was for my friend’s birthday.  We had 3 rows of people so it was a lot of fun and Detroit blew out the Sox so we had to find some other entertainment towards the end of the game.  We started the wave and cheered obnoxiously for a floating plastic bag in the stadium.  

Go Tigers!

Nikki and Fran

The next night I went back to the Tigers game with a much smaller group.  My friend from the night before and a mutual friend we both have.  Fran came to Chicago for work and joined us at the Tigers game.  I had not seen Fran since her wedding two years prior so it was great to catch up and hang out!

Me and the Birthday Girl

Birthday Trolley- Sept 17

The Birthday Girls

My “fitness friend” Brittani and my friend Nikki had a joint birthday party and rented out a trolley to take us all gallivanting around the city of Chicago.  During the day Brittani and I ran our 22 mile training run for the Chicago Marathon.  I then went to the bar and had a beer and watched MSU choke and lose to Notre Dame before getting ready for the trolley.  The trolley was a lot of fun though I was so tired from the run and watching MSU.  I had to rally to get some energy for this 3 hour trip of debauchery but it was well worth it.  We made a couple pit stops, first at Sheffield’s then McDonalds and our final stop was Duffy’s.  

Duffy’s was fun till I decided to go home.  The people at Duffy’s were nice enough to allow us to leave our extra alcohol in the vestibule but when I went to go home they were incredibly rude.  I went and grabbed my wine juice box to go home and the bouncer came up to me and said “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”  I said grabbing my wine and going home.  This wouldn’t have been odd till his next response of “Good get the fuck out of here”  That is when I got mad and then said something along the lines like ‘what the hell is your problem’ which just lead to a pissing match.  Needless to say that place would have been mostly empty without us so screw them they are a UofM bar anyways.

MSU/Central- Sept 23 to Sept 25

Me and Mandy at the game

I went home a few weekends later for the MSU vs Central football game.  Since my parents were out in Wyoming visiting my sister I went to Royal Oak and stayed with my friend Mandy.  We packed up the car to go tailgating and as we were leaving Bryan took off and ended up driving over my foot.  Surprisingly a small SUV does not hurt that much though I don’t want to test that out ever again.  Once we made it  to East Lansing we set up our tailgate and had a great time.  The weather was perfect!  It was great to hang out in East Lansing and go to the game.  We blew out Central so the game started to get a little boring but it was still a ton of fun.  Once we made it back to Royal Oak I went out with my friend Kristin for a while.  I have never spent much time in Royal Oak but it seems like a nice area.  Sunday I went up to Lansing and picked up my parents from the airport and hung out with them for a bit while they told me about their trip to my sisters before I made my drive back to Chicago.

Sparty

Driving back from Michigan

Kickball, Food, and Laughs- Sept 30 & Oct 1

Me and Amy.  I got her to join this season

I am playing my 3^rd fall season of Kickball currently and we had our mid-season party.  I first got there and wasn’t really feeling it but after a drink I was loosening up a bit and then by the end of the night I was just living on the dance floor.  I played some life sized Jenga, a little flip cup and of course dancing.  The DJ was pretty good, I kinda felt like I was at a wedding with the style of music they were playing.  They played one slow song and I danced with my friend Rachel and we acted like we were in middle school keeping an arm’s length away from each other.  I mean the DJ did tell us to make sure we save room for Jesus between us!

Chipotle Cultivate Festival

The Next day I met up with my friend Kiernan who I met way back before I even lived in Chicago through my friend Allie.  Kiernan has moved back to the States from Korea and was in town visiting.  We went to the Chipotle Cultivate Festival in Lincoln Park.  I had no idea what to expect from this festival but I was very impressed once I made it there.  The food was awesome and they had a larger selection of healthy vendors that all service Chipotle.  They also had a really good music selection which I went home and listened to for a while on Spotify.  After the festival I went to watch the MSU vs OSU game before going to IO Theatre for a comedy show.  The show was very entertaining especially when they asked for a volunteer and my drunk friend Kate had her hand up before the host even finished the questions.  She went up on stage and shared her story about the day and then the comedy crew reenacted her dream on stage.  It was so entertaining to watch both Kate on stage and then hearing her day in dream format.

Kate sharing her day

Even sitting down to write this made me remember things that I forgot I did in the past two months.  This just proves the point for why I started writing this in the first place.  I just wanted someplace I could go to read about all of my adventures.

Beth, Tyler, Nikki, Me, and Josh at
Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes

Lollapalooza 20th Anniversary

This is only my second Lollapalooza but it was no less amazing then going for the first time.  The biggest difference besides the acts was this time I know what to expect and how to prepare a bit better!  This time at Lolla started out like the last.  I went down early to get my wrist band on Wednesday and then when Friday rolled around I just showed up.

Two Door Cinema Club

Day 1 started out by me meeting up with Katie for some Qdoba before Lolla and went to meet up with Tim at Young The Giant.  I must say they play a great set.  It had a lot of great energy and good sound.  I only knew their one hit but I really liked everything they played.  The three of us original 3-dayers moved down to the opposite end of the festival for The Naked and Famous and Delta Spirits and Foster the People.  Katie bailed on us and went to another show but we met up with my roomie Jana and her sister Erin for Foster the People.  After Foster Tim and I just hung out at the Sony Stage for White Lies and met up with my friend Nikki and her friend Heather for Two Door Cinema Club.  They absolutely rocked; they were my favorite show overall at Lollapalooza.

Heather, Myself, Tim, and Nikki at
Two Door Cinema Club

After Two Door Cinema Club myself, Tim, Nikki, and Heather found our friend Betsy and then met back up with Katie and we all grabbed some dinner.  Most of us went to Kuma's Corner (which I still not actually been to).  It took forever to get food there but we did end up eating.  I had the Neurosis Burger which is a pretzel roll with horseradish mayo, cheddar, swiss, caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, and onions.  I must say it was really tasty even if it was festival food.

Tim, Katie, and Nikki at Muse

After we had our food we all moved down to Bright Eyes and Ok Go.  Somewhere in there we all meet up with Heather's sister so our group grew a little bit bigger yet.  After Ok Go we parted ways for the night. Tim, Nikki, Katie, and I all went to Muse and Heather, Holly and Betsy went to Coldplay.  We only stayed at Muse for half of the show before we all split off.  Katie and Tim went to Girl Talk while Nikki and I and her friend Ryan moved down to Coldplay.  I was very happy with that choice because both shows were amazing.

Laser show at Coldplay

It was a great first day. I had so much energy left even though I had been dancing non stop since Two Door Cinema.  Nikki and I ended up heading to a friends house party for a hot second before going to grab a little more food at Pita Pit. It was the first time I have been to Pita Pit in about three years.

Myself and Nikki

Day 2 of Lolla started out earlier then the first.  I met up with Nikki at the train station around 11 after my roommate Beth and our friend Amanda cooked me breakfast!  Since we got to Lolla early Nikki and myself just wandered around.  We checked a few of the Lolla vendors like Toyota and got free bandannas as well as getting our picture in front of the light up Lollapalooza sign.

Shows that I wanted to see didn't start till 12:45 so we slowly made our way to Walk the Moon where we met up with Tim, his girlfriend Jenn and eventually Katie, Heather and Holly.  After Walk the Moon we all went over to Phantogram and then wandered to the opposite side of Grant Park to Maps & Atlases and Friendly Fires, followed by Black Lips before we started to branch apart and check out different shows.  Tim, Jenn, Heather, Holly and myself went and checked out The Green Street and grabbed some food there as well as some awesome cheese curds with a rhubarb romesco.  I had the largest salad I think I have ever purchased.  Even after splitting it with Heather there was still a whole salad left for anyone else that might want it.  The salad also came with a shot of Wheat Grass.  I had never had one before so I tried it and found it surprisingly sweet even though it tasted just like grass.

Everyone from Michigan before the Eminem Concert
Jenn, Ryan, Betsy, Nikki, and Myself

Everyone regrouped for Local Natives and we started out in the thick of the crowd but the heat was just so much that we decided to just go sit on the hill next to the stage and relax and listen to the music.  We all headed down to Cee Lo Green after he started his set.  He came out dressed as a Roman warrior in a kilt and body armor with spikes.  I was sadly not super impressed with his set, I had expected more energy.  This again was the time we split ways with Tim, Heather, Holly and myself leaving everyone else at the stage so they could get right up close for Eminem.  While they did that the four of us went and checked out Lykke Li.  I really like her and think she is awesome and I was happy I found some people that would go check her out with me!  After her set we returned back to the South end of the park for Eminem.  Even though I do really like him we had no desire to be way up front.  We picked a spot in the center of the field and I just had a blast.

Holly, Heather, and Tim at Eminem

I had every intention of making it to my friend Nagy's Partypalooza Saturday night but by the time I finally made it out of Lolla and home it was so late plus I had some friends staying the night with me so I ended up just hanging out with them and talking and catching up.  Heather had recommended a couple groups that were playing on Sunday that I might like so I ended up just listening to them and finding out that I really liked them alot.

The final day of Lolla, Day 3 started with a plan of meeting up at 10:50am with Nikki.  That however was not the case.  I ended up meeting Tim at Einstein Bagels at 11 before heading downtown to Grant Park.  It rained a lot over night and even into the morning so I knew it was going to be a muddy mess Sunday.  Tim and I wandered around a little before shows started at noon.  We started in the shade at the BMI Stage for The Kingston Springs before meeting up with Katie at Gold Motel.  The three of us moved over to watch The Fences for a while. We tried to catch the end of the Joy Formidables but they ended early so we didn't catch anything from them.  Our whole group met up after that and made plans for the rest of the day as we all were doing lots of wandering.  Tim and I left and went down to Ryan Bingham who is a bit more country rock than the rest of the Lolla lineup.  They put on a great show and really got into it.  I think one of the best parts of that show was when one of the guitarist was rocking out and went to jump up on the speaker and bit it and then just played it off and just kept on rocking!  Really made for a lot of fun.

Tim and I went and met back up with Heather, Holly and Nikki for the rest of day.  Tim and I made a quick pit stop for a snack and I had the fingerling from Franks 'N' Dawgs before we met back up at City and Colour.  They were really good but it was just so hot out that it kind of made it a little hard to get into it.  Little did we know this would be our last show in the heat for Sunday.  Once City and Colours finished Nikki left us and we moved over to the Google+ Stage in the shade for Lissie and then moved across the way to the BMI stage for Boy & Bear.  Both Lissie and Boy & Bear I had been listening to since the night before so some of their stuff I could recognize.  I really enjoy both of those groups alot.

Tim, Heather, and Myself

While we were at Boy & Bear the temperature dropped and the sun disappeared.  We left their show a little early to go get food before it was going to rain.  Ended up having the cheese curds again from Bonsoiree and also grabbed the falafel wrap from Goose Island.  This whole time it had just been very lightly drizzling but as soon as we were finishing our food the rain really started to come down.  We took cover under a large tree which worked for a while but eventually it was useless and we got soaked.  We had planned to go see Arctic Monkeys but since it was pouring we just stayed under the tree and ended up listening to Best Coast because they were playing on the stage behind us.

Myself, Holly, Heather, and Tim in front of the
double rainbow after it stopped raining

Once the rain finally stopped we just stayed where we were to wait for Manchester Orchestra to start.  While we were waiting we got to see a double rainbow!  This isn't as exciting as this guys double rainbow but it was still cool.  Everyone around us was all reciting lines from the Youtube video.  Once Manchester started Katie came to meet back up with us.  Turns out she had found a tree right next to us during the rain and we never knew it. Manchester put on a good show.  This was the third time I have seen them and I must say he looks very different when he is groomed.

Mud Wrestling during Manchester

So as you can imagine the rain that lasted about thirty to forty minutes made everything muddy and swamp like and since this is a music festival, you guessed it people went mud diving.  People were just dancing in the mud as well as wrestling.  The rain may have made us all uncomfortable and wet but I think it added to the level of energy.  After Manchester we made our way to the South fields which flood regularly regardless of what kind of festival or tournament is going on.  That field was absolutely destroyed.  People had turned the hill into a giant mud slide and you couldn't walk anywhere with out getting stuck in the mud.  I just took off my shoes and went barefoot which was so much easier.

Myself, Heather, Tim, and Holly in the downpour.

We found a spot that wasn't as much muddy as just soaked for Foo Fighters.  Just in front of us however was a huge mud pit where people were sliding and trying to knock over people walking through it.  Really at this point it didn't matter there was no coming back from being dirty.  Katie decided to join them and went and looked like she had a blast (see video below).  While we were watching Katie mud dive and listening to Foo Fighters another rain storm came.  This one was much shorter but I think stronger.  The rain drops were huge yet we didn't even both to move.  We just stood there and got even more soaked.  At some point you just have to say screw it, whatever.  I will say one of the best things I own is my water proof point and shoot.  It made for a lot of fun to play with in the rain.

The beginning of getting muddy

After about the first hour of Foo Fighters we were all a little curious about Deadmau5 playing back on the North stage.  I for one could have stayed a Foo Fighters all night but since Tim, Katie, Heather and Holly were all going I decided to join them.  We got to Deadmau5 and I just sort of stared.  So many lights and the smell of weed was so strong and people everywhere just dancing like crazy.  The five of us started to move our way into the thick of the crowd before Heather, Holly and myself stopped and let Tim and Katie keep moving their way in.  This was not my normal scene at all but it was great to just break out of my comfort bubble and just go with it.  I really had a lot of fun dancing and just stomping around in the mud.  This is the only time I can say I have walked around downtown Chicago in Grant Park barefoot and it really scared me alot that I might cut my foot open on something in the mud.

I am really happy with my three days of Lollapalooza and the old friends I got to hang out with and the new friends I made.  Overall, I still think I like Lolla better in 2009 but this was just as fun in different ways.  I hope to make it to another festival again next year.  I don't know if it will be Lolla again but I definitely want to go to another festival.  I really want to thank everyone I went with, Tim, Katie, Nikki, Heather and Holly for making this weekend so much fun!

Collection of things on my wrist by Sunday night

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Here is a video that I compiled from the weekend.  Be nice about the editing as this is the first time I have ever done anything like this before.  I welcome all tips and suggestions about this.

Note: I have not proof read this post.