Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Post Valentines Day Post


Monday night I decided to give the circuit a try again since I hadn't lifted weights in about 2 weeks. It was harder than I remember and a bit difficult to do on my own. I thought it would be weird to ask a random guy at the gym to spot me. Therefore, I didn't try anything too difficult because of the possible catastrophe. My husband (Toph) says it wouldn't be that weird to ask someone to spot me. What are your thoughts? Would/have you asked strangers at the gym to spot you during a tough set?

Yesterday I met up for lunch with Kim at the Ilax Studio. We both work in downtown Chicago, so I was glad our schedules coordinated for us to meet up to grab a quick bite.
It was nice to meet up with a fellow blogger and talk about running, blogging, interests, life, etc. Kim is really nice and you should check out her blog, if you haven't already! We both agreed this to do this again some time in March once our schedules are a bit more forgiving! Yay for new running friends online and IRL!

As yesterday was Valentines day, my husband and I "mildly" celebrated. I walked in to find a clean kitchen and some beautiful flowers waiting for me.
Being the garden nerd that my husband is, he will happily plant this in our yard come spring! It is a gift that keeps on giving all year round! :) For dinner, we ordered pizza from our favorite place.
Deep dish, of course. As a true Chicagoan, is there any other choice? Then, we exchanged gifts. I got him some Star Wars DVDs and Girl Scout cookies.
He got me something we so desperately needed. A new toaster oven! I can't wait to test out this thing this weekend! (Oh the things that I get excited about as an "adult") After exchanging gifts, we watched Empire Strikes Back while eating our Lou Malnati's. It was a perfect evening! What did you do for Valentine's day?

In other news..... It is official. I've registered for the Chicago Get Lucky 21k/Half Marathon. If you are registered, let me know and we can do a blogger meet up. (Gingerfoxxx, I'm looking at you!) As I haven't done an official half marathon since 2008, I think it will be nice to complete one without a specific time goal and to get a feel for the distance before kicking it up for the Southwest Half Marathon on May 6. I'm aiming for a sub 2:00 in May so I'm hoping to get maybe 2:10-2:15 for the Get Lucky race? We'll see how I feel, what the weather is like, and what the course is like.

13 comments:

  1. ahhhh I'm sooo jealous you guys got to meet up! We need to have a big blogger meet up! Then maybe we won't feel so weird obsessively stalking eachother's blogs...:)

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  2. Yes! I know Maggie (Mag Mile Runner) was talking about coordinating something through the Chicago Running Blog for the Shamrock Shuffle since so many folks are running it. Yay!

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  3. I would feel a little weird asking a random stranger at the gym to spot me...I would think they might think I'm hitting on them. lol

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  4. Haha, yeah. This was the first time I went into the weights section with confidence instead of hiding in the side room with the baby weights.

    The Charter Fitness by me is mostly filled with high school kids so I'm not sure if I trust them to spot me anyways... But I'll browse the crowd and highly consider for next time.

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  5. I would ask a stranger to spot me! You should try next time :)

    I had a blast meeting you. Can't wait to do it again. Thanks for the shoutout.

    Wow! That has been a long time since a HM! Why all the time off? :)

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  6. I felt really wimpy benching what I was because I know I could do more, just not comfortably without help. I think I will give it a try next time!

    I ran my first and only half in 2008. In 2009 I focused more on 5ks and did the Soldier Field 10 miler. I took 2010 off running almost completely and did the full Chicago Marathon in 2011. In retrospect, more races in 2011 as training runs probably would have been helpful mentally in preparing for the Chicago Marathon. I'm taking this year off of marathoning and plan to be back in 2012. HOWEVER, I am already signed up for 3 (soon to be 4) half marathons this year. I'm excited for a long yet still comfortable distance to keep building that base for next year. :)

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  7. I saw the link love over at Kim's blog, so I am dropping over to say hi. :)

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  8. YESSSS! I will see you at get lucky!!

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  9. Yesssssss! When are you going to the Expo? I'm going that Friday during lunch and picking up a friend's packet too.

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  10. I probably won't make it until friday night/saturday during the day. Stupid commute!

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  11. Okay. We'll have to meet up post race! Not sure what time I'll be finishing or what the post-race party will be like. Send me an email and we can work out the deets!

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