Finishing on the 50 yard Line

I am in the blue... I refuse to post any close up pictures because I look like absolute ass in them.

Day 1

Day One gluten and dairy free...

Today wasn't so bad. 2 hard boiled eggs and a banana for breakfast, salad with plain chicken breast ad vinegar for lunch, apple and peanut butter for a snack and then rice and chicken for dinner.

The mom and I went to Sunset to get some gluten free snacks and bread so I don't have to eat the same exact meal everyday for the next 2 weeks. One of the employees at Sunset was super excited to introduce me to the world of gluten free.

Unfortunately my stomach still hurts... but it is only day one so I will try and stay optimistic.

I feel EXACTLY the same way

you hit the nail on the head

For Your Information

I have tried to stay away from my stomach "issues" on this blog. In short I am pretty sure I have an undiagnosed food allergy. And when I say food allergy I mean I get sick after almost every meal. Sometimes it is worse than other times but recently it has been worse then ever. I have been reluctant get a food allergy screening, but this evening I had the worst experience I have ever had.

So I am pledging right now that for the next 14 days I will be gluten and dairy free. Yes you heard me right. I am giving up my beloved cheese and glorious bread for at least 2 WHOLE weeks. Something needs to be done... I cannot live like this anymore.

I am also pledging that I will blog once a day to keep myself on track and to bitch and moan about being able to eat basically nothing. I apologize ahead of time to my loyal few readers... I will understand if you decide to move on. Then again it might be fun to read about my misery while you sit back and eat your extra cheese, extra bread, extra anything else I can't eat. P.S. you suck.

On an semi-side note, I was googling gluten free foods and came across an interesting food I CAN eat:

fava bean (faba) Legume. Used whole, cooked as a vegetable or ground into flour. Unrelated to celiac disease, favism is an allergic reaction to fava beans that can be life threatening. Favism is most common in those of Mediterranean descent.

Interesting...

Wish me luck.

Recovery Run?

Scheduled: 3 miles
Actual: 7.5 miles
Time: 1:41:36
Pace: 13:31 minutes/mile

So according to my schedule I was supposed to run 3 miles... however S, Adj and I are running a 10K next weekend and S asked me to run 6 miles with her today. So I kind of had an idea of a 6 mile loop we could run, but I didn't double check it. 7.5 miles later we made it back home. There was about half a mile we walked at mile 5 and then the last mile and a half we ran one minute walked one minute. Basically my legs refused to move. If they could talk they would have said, "What the fuck Jaime... we just ran 10 miles the day before yesterday. What the hell are you doing???" So we covered 7.5 miles but it was a crappy run.

After the run S, Adj and I went shopping for the new apartment. I learned the I can't afford any furniture and that my room is going to consist of an air mattress and like 50 pairs of shoes...

Solider Field 10 Miler

Solider Field 10 Miler
Official Time: 2:08:23
Official Distance (based on the Garmin): 10.15 miles
Pace: 12:32 minutes/mile
Place: 5897/6045

I am very excited to say that even though my time could be considered walking... I ran the entire time. This is my first long distance race that I have run the entire time. AND I ran my last mile in 10:24 minutes.

The race itself was very reminiscent of the CDC... running through the parking garage of the McCormick Place, Running on Lake Shore Drive, running back along the lakefront path. It was amazing finishing on the 50 yard line. My name was announced over the loud speaker and my dad took this awesome picture of me finishing on the Jumbo tron... unfortunately after he showed it to me he erased it...

My time was slow but I did go to the bathroom around mile 6.25 which took a few minutes and I was so excited that I was able to haul ass the last mile. I am now super excited to crush my CDC time from last year.

Year in Review

A review of my twenty third year of life:

May: The Ex and I got into a fight because we went to dinner with my family on my actual birthday instead of just the two of us, I decided to run a marathon, drove my brother to the airport so he could go to China, started marathon training with CES, called my grandma on her birthday.

June: Went on a cruise, got so sunburned my legs swelled and I couldn’t wear any pants, met a bunch of really great women through my running group, started my first summer of work where I was not sunbathing as a lifeguard but white as a ghost in a cubical.

July: Ran a 4th of July 5k, ran my first double digit run, celebrated my dad’s 50th birthday, went to my cousin’s wedding, cried because I wasn’t tan and my brother was so tan he looked like he was from a different race.

August: Saw a man have a heart attack on the side of the running path, ran my first half marathon, went to an engagement party for my cousin, saw the EX for the last time, realized that I did not like my job.

September: Broke up with the EX, went to Wisconsin for Labor day and visited the state fair, started going to dinner with the girls, cut 12 inches of my hair and donated it to locks of love, ran 20 miles in one day, got plantar fasciitis, started talking to shady jay again, had my one year anniversary at work, started interviewing for a new position, got a “raise”.

October: Accepted a new position, ran in the bucktown 5k and got great presents, attempted the Chicago Marathon only to have the race cancelled at mile 16.5, cried about the months of training down the drain, visited the brother at school, signed up for the Miami half marathon, went to a Halloween party, threw up from drinking for the second time in my life.

November: Celebrated my brother’s birthday, ran in a thanksgiving day 8k with my dad, wondered when I would get to start my new job, started my blog.

December: Ran outside despite it being DECEMBER, ran 10 miles on the treadmill, went on a 12 bars of Christmas bar crawl, played boggle, went to an ugly sweater Christmas party, walked home from the bar in knee deep snow, met the national yoyo champ from 2005, hung out with Fish, went to a New Year’s Eve concert.

January: Met New Years Eve guy, went on a crappy date, kissed shady jay, smoked, ran the Miami Half Marathon, took a vacation in Boca, saw Aunt Ginger for the last time, ran in the rain.

February: registered for the trail half marathon, didn’t have a valentine, FINALLY started my new job, trained for the hustle up the Hancock, walked up a lot of stairs.

March: tried a personal training session at Bally’s and decided I hated it, de-friended the EX on facebook, got a ridiculously short haircut, cried about my hair for 2 days, made out with a random on the dance floor on St. Patrick’s Day, tried to bring Spring break to corporate America, shoveled a lot of snow multiple times, went on a bar crawl in Highwood, saw the bro in a play, ran in the shamrock shuffle 8k with my girls.

April: fought with my mom about laundry, decided Ash, S and I would move in together, started looking for apartments, joined a gym that has TVs on the treadmills, ran the race to Wrigley with my dad, had a cold, drove to Michigan, ran the Trail half marathon, fell in the bushes and bruised my leg, peed in the woods.

May: neglected my blog, went to a cinco de mayo party, ran in the mother’s day Race to Empower 5K, found an apartment, signed a lease, bought a laptop, had a birthday party. Turned 24.

:)

Today I am 24 :)... birthday post coming soon.

Concerned

A few months back I was out at the bar with S, Mal, and some other fun ladies. We were seeing Sixteen Candles and I was admiring what it was like to be at a bar with lots of tall guys... aka non-jewish. Many drinks later I started chatting with this guy, who bought me lots more drinks and by the end of the night "the Indian" and I were making out all over the bar. He begged for my number and that was that. A few days later I texted him and got a pretty blah response. So I deleted his number.

Fast forward a week and I get a text from an unknown number asking how my weekend was. After the awkward dove "um who is this?" he later called and we chatted for over 30 minutes. That is pretty big considering the only thing I knew about him prior was his lips.

The weeks go by and I find myself starting to develop a slight crush on the Indian. He has potential... he is studying for the MCATS and he sounded like a hard worker. I enjoyed talking to him and the conversation flowed nicely. That is until last week. He called me on Sunday night to fill me in on his birthday celebration. During the conversation he called me "dude" at least 20 times and was excited about how he had headbutted some other guy at the bar...

First let's start with the dude... Does he not know my name??? And headbutting... EW.

I think he may have sensed my disgust for the conversation because I haven't heard from him all week. Tonight he called me to see how I have been... but he was out and it was hard to hear and he said he would call back. Should I answer?

WOOOOOOHOOOOO

Some more very exciting news. I am sitting on my couch, watching a re-run of Seinfeld and typing on my NEW laptop. Technically it is my FIRST laptop… but who’s counting? I am sooooooo excited. The problem is now I’m poor. Between the new computer and the cashiers check I just took out to pay the security deposit my checking account is feeling very empty.

Moving on… this week I started training for the Chicago Distance Classic in August. I decided that I was going to use the same training plan I used for the the Miami Half. It forced me to get 2 longerish runs in a week as well as 2 shorterish runs. Besides my knees hurting from training almost solely on the treadmill and then running the race on concrete, I feel like the Miami Half Marathon was my most successful half marathon thus far. It is also exciting that after I complete the CDC I will have completed 4 half marathons in 3 states in exactly ONE year. Pretty cool.

Scheduled: 2 miles
Actual: 2.9 miles
Time: 33 minutes
Pace: 11:25 minutes/mile

I have a problem with waking up early and only running 2 miles so I ran for 30 minutes plus a few minutes for a cool down. My goal for this half training is to actually stretch after I run. So after my short and sweet run I stretched my little heart out. Hopefully I will keep this up.

almost official

On Thursday I will be signing the lease to an apartment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Race report

Running Fit Trail Half Marathon
Pinkney, Michigan
Scheduled:13.1 miles
Actual: 13.1 miles
Time: 3:34:25
Pace:

Let me start out my saying I knew I was not prepared for this half marathon. I'm not sure if I would have PR even if it was flat road I was running on. I had an idea of the terrain that the race would be on, but it wasn't until I rounded the first corner that I threw all expectations out the window and my only goal became to finish.

The race consisted of both a half marathon and a marathon. The marathon started an hour before the half since they would be running 2 13.1 mile loops, instead of just one. Laura and I waited patiently for the race to start. Finally they started the half marathon. I was in the last wave (aka back of the pack) and I started out strong. The first quarter of a mile was on grass before you hit the trail.

As we rounded the corner and started onto the trail I my goal became to finish. And my stretch goal was to not finish dead last. The trail was pretty narrow and the footing was out of control. I had to watch the ground the entire time I ran as to not trip over a tree root, or a tree... As I passed the first mile marker I felt as though I had already ran at least a 5K. This next picture is at the top of a hill looking back.


I started to fall into some sort of of a groove. I realized that this race was not only physically challenging but it was also mentally challenging, Most parts of the race I was running by myself. I had to force myself to keep running. Come on Jaime, just run up the beginning on the hill. Come on Jaime this is relatively flat, lets pick up the pace a little. Around mile 6 I started getting passed by the elite marathoners on their second lap. Everyone was very nice, but as I was gingerly taking every step (especially on the downhills) they were running as fast as they could... almost every single marathoner who passed me during the race was covered in dirt and blood and who knows what else from wiping out.

At mile 6.5 it happened. I must have stopped paying attention and all of a sudden I was tripping. There was not regaining balance, I just started to fall... and the next thing I knew I was in the bushes. I jumped up as fast as I could, just as this man caught up to me. He said: I know sometimes you have to rest in the ground... but try not to have it happen again. Nice. And then at mile 7.5 I tripped again!!! Luckily this time I was able to catch myself, but it put me into this scared state were I thought I was going to trip every mile.

By the time I hit mile 10 I was being passed constantly by marathoners. They were all so nice. Everyone that passed me said good job, or keep having fun, or you are doing great. Then we came to mile 12. Mile 12 consisted of the biggest hill in southern Michigan. When you thought you finally reached the top you were wrong... there was a slight downhill and then it climbed at least another 200 feet straight up. It was absolutely insane.

Finally I reached the end of the trail and the course opened back up to the grassy path. I saw the finish line and mustered all the energy I had to get to it. I crossed the finish line and they gave me my medal. I finished! I didn't finish dead last!!! Here is a picture of Laura and me with our medals.

This race was hard. This race (as advertised) was definitely not for wimps. But in the end I really enjoyed it. I felt strong after I finished that I was able to complete something so hard and so different from anything I had ever done. And the athletes that were running it were amazing. There were marathon finish times that would have been respectable for a flat marathon and they were putting up that time on THIS course. AND the winner was a female. Very cool.