Go Erin go!

Alan is a bit lucky that I am a cook’s widow on Fridays.  You see, when training for a marathon, or other major athletic endurance event, you can be quite boring the night before your big training day. 

For me, my long runs are on Saturdays, which means Friday nights I am lowkey (read boring) sitting at home eating pasta and drinking water.  Okay, it’s not that sad, and it’s not always pasta, but it is pretty chill.  I was invited to happy hour again and had to pass.  I need to get my butt in gear and get serious about these Saturday runs.   I do not need to go to happy hour, have a few too many beers, and end up salsa dancing the night before a run.

So, tonight I’m hanging out with Riley doing laundry.  I did whip up a tasty pasta dish for dinner, no recipe involved.  I made lemon-pepper shrimp with spaghetti and peas (I love peas and add them where ever I can).  I added olive oil to a hot skillet and added in about a quarter to half teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  I then added the shrimp and sauteed for a few minutes.  I added the peas, juice of half a lemon, and then tossed with cooked spaghetti.  Man, it was good!  I’m going to have to make that again, perhaps next Friday night.

I remember when I was training for my first marathon.  Alan was training for a cycling event at the same time, but his event was about six weeks before my marathon.  So come Friday evening, he was ready to go out for some cocktails and unwind.  Me, I wanted (and needed) to go home, rest, and go to sleep early.  It drove him nuts at times.  So, with his new career, he isn’t impacted too much by my training schedule.  He’s at work when I’m doing most of my training rituals.

On another note, I’ve been brought on by a local university’s rec center to be a personal trainer!  I had a second interview yesterday and received the good news at the end of it.  I’m going to do a few sessions with some of the student employees to get some practice before I deal with a paying client.  I’m pretty stoked! 

Okay, time to switch out laundry and start to really unwind for the night.  I’ve mapped out my route for my 12 miles tomorrow.  The weather looks okay, it could be better.  It looks like it’s supposed to be about 20 degrees out, 10 degrees with wind chill.  Go, Erin, go!

I went down to the fitness center at lunch and ran 3 miles.  It felt pretty good, plus I got to watch some low-lifes sue each other on Judge Joe Brown.  Cracked me up!

I’ve fully recovered from my dream.  The run helped me clear my head, and Judge Joe Brown showed me what a good life I do have.  If these people can remember to breath, I should be able to remember the proper foot wear and chip for my marathon. 

You know that dream where you’re in college during finals week and realize you haven’t gone to class all semester?  So you run around, trying to write a paper or even find the classroom.  Well, I had the running equivalent last night, well this morning. 

The alarm went off at 4:15 as usual and I just couldn’t get up, so I laid in bed and actually fell back asleep, and so the dream/ nightmare began.  In my dream I was running around getting ready for the marathon on race day.  I looked down at my legs and saw I had my socks pulled up to my knees.  “That’s funny,” I thought.  Upon further inspection, they were the socks you wear when playing soccer, and I had shin guards on.  And I reazlied I even had cleats on.  (I told you this was a stupid dream)

I don’t think I resolved the shoe issue when I realized I hadn’t made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I run with these in my pocket to eat during the race) and I didn’t have time to make one.  What was worse is I had no Goo, ShotBlocks, PowerBars.  Nothing!  Luckily my friend Kelley (a real-life running buddy of mine) stepped up and gave me her Goo, she decided that morning to not run the marathon.

Great!  I’m good to go!  Nope, realized I had to ID nor a CTA card.  Why I thought I needed these to run the marathon, I have no idea.  So I ran around like a mad woman looking for my ID and CTA card.  The whole time my friend Cristen was there trying to calm me down by saying things like, “It’s not a big deal.”  That didn’t help (sorry Cristen, at least you made a cameo appearance). 

Okay, shoes, check(ish), food for run, check, ID and such, check.  Alright, time to go.  Then the horror of all horrors (and the part that really makes it like those college dreams) I forgot to go to the packet pickup the day before, I had no chip!  SHIT!  (You can certainly run a race without a chip, but there will be no record of you running it.  We runners like to have proof that we did, in fact, finish things like a marathon.  )

I had no chip and twenty minutes until the race started.  I went running down some stairs to head to where packet pickup had been in the hopes of getting my chip and making it to the starting line when, in real life, Alan clicked shut a clasp on his bag which woke me up.  Thank God!  The stupidness finally was stopped!

I am pretty anal when it comes to the night before a big race.  I lay out my shorts, shirt, jog bra, socks, shoes, CHIP, makings for my PB&J, all of it.  If I keep having this sort of dream before now and the big day, I’m probably going to turn OCD.  

I have three miles to run today which I am hoping to get in at lunch.  I still have a tense feeling left over from that dream.  If it’s not gone by lunch, I know that the run will clear my head.

Today I ran 6 miles.  The temperature is getting cold again, the windchill is pretty nasty, and there’s a nice layer of ice on some sidewalks, so I chose to run on the treadmill today.  I ran 3 miles, took a water break, and then ran another 3 miles which really helped to break up the run. 

It was a good run and I felt strong.  I don’t even feel sore now, which sometimes I do.  I did take ten minutes after the run to do some good stretches which I think really helped.

One issue that popped up for a second time this season is I got a blister on the outside of my big toe.  This has never happened to me before this year.  I think the problem is a combination of my shoes and the treadmill.  I run in Adidas Supernova Control 10 shoes. 

I’ve run in the Supernova Control for about four years now, with every year getting stuck with a different model.  It is quite annoying, and a bit anxiety producing when your shoe maker tweaks your model.  There was one year that the model rubbed the arch of my foot and put a blister there.  That was not fun.  But, with BodyGlide and good socks, it worked out.  The year after the blistery arch model, came I think the 9, which I LOVED.  They were awesome.  They felt good on my feet, kept me going, and carried me through marathon training and my first marathon.

Alas, the dummies at Adidas couldn’t leave well enough alone and tweak they did.  I do like the 10’s, but now I am getting blisters on my big toes.  Aside from that, they feel good and seem to give me the arch support I need.

The blisters only seem to happen when I run on the treadmill though.  I had no problems with the ten miles outside two weeks ago nor the seven miles this past weekend.  So, I can only hope that the weather improves so I can get off the treadmill and spare my toes.  I am using WrightSock socks to help a little. The seam doesn’t seem to go all the way to the toe, which does help, but their two-layer system to prevent blisters doesn’t seem to be working so well.

So, like I said, hopefully the weather starts cooperating so I can stay off the treadmill and spare my toes. 

These are the absurdities your have to deal with as a runner, but they are not absurd to you.  For a runner, they are serious business.   

This week is when I really get into the thick of training.  I’ll running 24 miles this week and it just goes up from there.  Today I did a total of four miles.  Riley hasn’t been on a run for a while, so I did only two miles with her.  She probably could have gone four, but that would have probably made her super tired and possibly sore.  So I am easing her back into running.  She seemed to enjoy the run, although she was also in the mood to sniff a lot today. 

I dropped her off at home and went out for another two miles.  I observed some interesting behavior for 5:30 in the morning.  I ran past a guy smoking a joint.  Right there, in the middle of the sidewalk.  And this was on a main drag.  Seriously.  You have to smoke pot at 5:30 in the morning?  And you don’t have the good sense to do this at home?  Wake up a few minutes earlier so you have time to do it at home, and so I don’t have to smell that stink.  Luckily I was running, so I was able to run past the smell rather quickly.  Definitely not something you feel like breathing in when you’re in the middle of a four mile run.

I finished the run with little incident, although I did pass a couple of girls who I think were making their way home from the night before.  They were not walking in the straightest of lines and seemed a bit dressed up for that hour of the day. 

I got home and logged my miles, only to find out I only needed to run three miles today.  Oh well.  What are you going to do?  And because of that slight mistake, I’ll be running 25 miles this week.

I made it out this morning for my 7 miles.  It was in the mid 20’s here, nice and mild.  The sun was shining and there wasn’t much traffic yet, so it was a nice run.  It felt really good and I really enjoyed it.  The sun helped a lot.  Running really helps my clear my head, and when I have new surroundings to take it, it helps even more. 

I am now very tired.  Very sleepy.  I’m thinking it is because of the run, but it could also be that I don’t really sleep straight through the night anymore.  Riley barks when Alan gets home which wakes me up.  Oh well.  I’m adjusting.  I have to take Alan to work in an hour.  I think when I get home I am laying my butt down on the couch and watching a movie, or simply taking a nap.

warning. . . this post was typed whilst a wee bit drunk. . .

 So I was sent an innocent enough invite to happy hour.  The instigator, I mean, the organizer swore she was only going to have two drinks and head out on her way.  Seeing as how I’ve nothing else to do on a Friday night, and I like the organizer, I choose to attend.  Well, she stayed for only two, but my boss, and his boss, and another co-worker stayed for a few more.

We had some cocktails (Blue Moon for me) and a lovely platter of tasty goodness including grilled chicken breasts, potato skins, and veggies.   My boss’s boss had to leave to meet his son for dinner, but didn’t go until he covered the whole tab.  A very nice surprise!

So, it’s me, my boss, my co-worker Helena, and the organizer’s $20 which she left for her beer.  So we hopped in a cab and headed to Rrrrrrrrroomba.  (There aren’t that many “r”s in the legal name, but that’s how you should pronounce it).  This is a Latin bar/ restaurant/ lounge that has free salsa lessons at 9-ish. 

Helena loves to dance, and it was her idea we end up there.  Given that, she made me go out and take the free salsa lessons.  My boss somehow gracefully excused himself and went back to the bar.  I, on the other hand, stayed and proved just how uncoordinated I am. 

Despite my lack of talent at Salsa, Merengue, or other Latin dances, I had fun.  I had one more round with Helena and my boss and decided it was time to go.  I went to pay for my beers, and my boss denied me that.  Drinks were on him!   Mind you, he and the other person in our group went out to lunch earlier today where he picked up the bill as well.  So, I greatly appreciate his generosity.  Between him and his boss, the only money I spent this evening was the $9 cab ride home. 

It was an unexpected, fun night!  I suck at dancing, but it was still fun.  Given the amount of beers I’ve consumed this evening, I’m thinking I may do my 7 miles on Sunday morning.  It’s supposed to be warmer then anyways. . .

Yeah, I’ve been “bad” this week.  Today is the first day I ran since Saturday.  It’s been cold and miserable here.  So I choose not to run.  So there.

Today I got my lazy butt up, away from my desk at lunch and ran at the fitness center.  I was supposed to do 3 miles, but ended up just doing 2.5.  It’s cool. It’s a step-back week for me, and the last week I can probably goof off like this. 

I have a seven mile run this weekend which I am looking forward to, especially if the forecast stays as it is (or impoves).  After this weekend, it is time to get serious.  This is how my Saturday runs look:

Week 6 (this weekend) = 7
Week 7 = 12
Week 8 = 13
Week 9 = 10
Week 10 = 15
Week 11 = 16
Week 12 = 12
Week 13 = 18
Week 14 = 14
Week 15 = 20
Week 16 = 12
Week 17 = 8
Week 18 = MARATHON!

We don’t give Riley “people” food, which makes for relaxing meal times with no begging dog.  That is not to say that she has never had “people” food though.  Oh she has helped herself to a few items while we were out, jumping up on the counter to steal the food.  Her favorite food seems to be carbs.  In her time, she’s had a bag of raw white rice, a bag of mini-pitas, a loaf of homemade banana bread and a bag of potato chips to list a few.  She also loves raw pasta, especially spaghetti.

So it shouldn’t have surprised me when she stole a piece of raw potato that dropped on the floor last night when I was cooking.  Well, her theft didn’t surprise me.  What did surprise me is that she proceeded to eat the whole thing, taking small bites and chewing it up.  Raw potato.  That’s just weird.

Speaking of weird, I had a very weird dream this morning.  Alan is working the cafe at school now which means the alarm has to go off at 4:15 AM (ugh).  I lay in bed for about forty-five minutes before I get up.  I’m usually not able to get back to sleep, but I like to just lay there.  Today, I did fall back asleep and had a truly weird, and stupid dream. 

Alan is working the front-of-the-house right now in cafe, and so has to wear black khakis, a black button-down shirt, and a tie.  In my dream he wasn’t cleaning his black shirts and his black pants had a huge hole in the crotch, none of which he seemed to care about but I was freaking out about.  I told you it was a weird dream.  Luckily it didn’t last too long.

It’s Monday evening and I’m chillin’ with the dog.  That’s it.  I had today off thanks to all of our country’s dead presidents, one of the perks of working for a bank.  Alan had off school today as well, which was very nice.  We went to see Juno which cracked me up.  We then headed to the Soup Box for lunch and then headed home so Alan could chill a little before his shift started. 

 But now that it is Monday evening, I’m bumming a bit.  Alan’s new schedule is taking some getting used to.  I knew what I was getting into when we decided almost a year ago for him to say “Up yours” to the corporate world and head into the culinary world.  He is so happy and our time together is that much more appreciated.  But, like I said, I am still getting used to all of this time to myself. 

Sure, I could be working on my continuing education credits for my personal training certification, I could be filing the pile of bank statements and 401k statements, I could be finishing our taxes, but I just can’t motivate myself.  I think part of this problem is this shitty-ass weather we keep getting.  If it’s not snowing, it 2 freaking degrees out.  I’d love to sit on our back porch on our little wicker love seat and read, I’d love to take Riley for a nice long walk, but no, it’s cold and miserable, so I am stuck inside. 

I am so happy for Alan, and can tell how happy he is.  His hours are awesome (for the industry he is in).  He has Tuesday and Wednesday nights off, and doesn’t have to be in till 4:00 or 5:00 when he works, which means we have Saturday and Sunday mornings as well.  It is just taking me time to create my own routine.  Given my new circumstances, I want to give a little shout out to my fellow cook’s/ chef’s widows out there! 

First to Amelia, the one that introduced me to the term “chef’s widow”.  I found her blog when I was trying to find any commentary on being married to someone in the “industry.”  She and her chef have two kids and she is my inspiration.  Her blog cracks me up and shows me that this can work and can truly stand the test of time.  Like me, she married her high school sweetheart.  

To Kim, my friend from the past who has become a chef’s widow as well, with her first little one on the way (due in about two weeks), I am so happy to be back in touch with you and find it funny, ironic, eerie, I’m not quite sure what that in our time apart, you married a chef, and Alan has become a cook (someday to be a “chef.”)

And to all the other women out there (and a few men) that are married to a cook/ chef.  

I have to admit, though, I had quite a good time on Saturday night.  I met up with an old co-worked and one of her friends that just moved to Chicago at Jack’s on Saturday night.  We had some tasty food and a nice bottle of Malbec.  Afterwards, we headed north to Sopo (sorry, but that is a totally lame name, since they are trying so hard to be like New York, but we are CHICAGO!) where we met some other folks she worked with (I still do) including my boss.  He’s cool though.  Heck, he bought me a beer.  It was a fun night.

So, it’s taking some adjustment being a cook’s widow (I’ll let you know when I’ve been upgraded to a chef’s widow).  I have tomorrow off, as does Alan, from work.  He has school in the morning (six weeks left!) and then home by 11:00.  I’m looking forward to having a full day with him.  I have some beef bourguignon cooking right now, so neither of us have to cook dinner tomorrow evening.   I’m thinking dinner together at home and then a few drinks at our local watering hole.  I’m looking forward to it very much indeed!