New England Vacation 2: Boston Day 2

Day 2 also began w/ extravagant eating. (Theme for trip=overeating, theme now that home=undereat to make up for it!). We went to Redbones BBQ in Cambridge. We had ribs 3 ways (Memphis, Texas and Arkansas) as well as brisket. Yum! Though I have to be honest- I've never had BBQ as good as that I had when I lived in the Mississippi Delta and doubt I ever will.


To work off some of that meat, we went for a walk through the Harvard campus. The campus was beautiful especially with the leaves changing. Walking around campus actually made me want to study. (Weird, I know.) The houses around campus were absolutely beautiful as well. I'm not sure what I was expecting- maybe some magical feeling like "ooh, this is Harvard". That never happened. Instead, the campus gave me renewed appreciation for the University of Illinois campus because in many ways, it is just as beautiful albeit with fewer old buildings. And I'm pretty sure the students at U of I have more fun;)







The Harvard Chapel:



For dinner, we ate at Sorrelina in Back Bay. Sorrelina is an Italian restaurant owned by the same folks who created Mistral (French), also in Boston. At the time we made our dinner reservations, I was still hoping to run the Newport, RI marathon thus was planning on carbo-loading. But my cold was still out of control and the thought of running any distance let alone 26.2 miles sounded downright unhealthy. So, over drinks at the bar before dinner, Adam listened to my risk/benefit analysis about running and by the time we were seated for dinner I had decided- sadly, no marathon:(

Sorrelina was very cute and the food was good. About what I would expect for a high end restaurant in a big city, but nothing over the top wonderful. We started with the appetizer special which was porcini mushrooms with a duck egg over toast. This was my favorite part of the meal. Absolutely delicious! I think it would actually be an excellent breakfast dish. For dinner, Adam had crab risotto which was very tasty. I had 1/2 portions of 2 different entrees:

MACCHERONCELLI American Kobe beef meatballs, barolo sauce and parmigiano
CUSCINETTI "little pillows", Maine lobster farcito, lobster sugo

The first pasta dish was so-so. The 2nd was delicious but very rich. I could not imagine eating more than a half portion! Dessert was panna cotta again. Yummy, as always:)

Next, we're off to Acadia!

New England Vacation 1: We went to Boston.......

Adam and I just got back from a quick, 1 week trip out to the East Coast. We went to Boston and Acadia National Park in Maine. While I maintain that 1 week is WAY too short for vacation, we made good use of our time with the predominant activities being eating, drinking, hiking and biking. The leaves were in peak color which was amazing to see- much more vibrant and beautiful than any leaves I've seen in the Mid-West.

The next few blog posts will be about our trip. I'll try to make them short and full of pictures!

Boston was great! What a beautiful city! Very clean, the old (old, old) buildings were very well maintained, lots of cute restaurants and boutiques. The roads are NUTS! They seem to be all 1 way, very small (the SUV we rented to carry the bikes barely made some of the turns!), and people don't seem to understand the concept of parking right next to the curb making the roads even smaller! But since we were in a rental, I didn't mind the cobblestones, etc- not my shocks! We spent most of our time in the Boston Commons and Cambridge though did check out most of the major neighborhoods by the end of the weekend.

Some of the highlights of Boston:

As soon as we got to town, we headed to lunch at the Neptune Oyster Bar. Adam had done a lot of research on the best places to eat in Boston and his picks were all very good! We tried the following oysters:

Thatch Island (Barnstable, MA)
Katama Bay (M. Vineyard, MA)
Pleasant Bay (Orleans, MA)
Fjords (Auckland, NZ)
Littleneck Clams (Wellfeet, MA)


And some clams for good measure:

Cherrystone Clams (Wellfeet, MA)

The local oysters were good and given how fresh they were compared to the ones from half-way around the world, I thought they'd be the best. But, once again, New Zealand comes up on top! The Fjord oysters were amazing! They tasted like cantaloupe! Definitely not typical oysters- not very salty, not very briny- but excellent plump oyster texture with the fresh, sweet flavor of melon. If you have an oyster bar near you, you must try the Fjords!

After the oyster extravaganza we had, of course, clam chowder. We didn't want to make the mistake of coming all the way to New England without having chowder so we knocked it off the "to-do" list at the first meal. Yum!

A little known fact about Boston is that in addition to being famous for historical sites and happenings, the Boston Marathon and Harvard, Boston is the capital of metal animals. Really! We first realized this during a walk in Boston Commons when we came across a family of metal ducks. So, of course, I had to pose with them:

The next day before dinner at Sorrelina in Back Bay, we came across a metal tortoise and hare! So, again, posing was in order:)























Dinner the first night was at a great little place in Cambridge called Ten Tables. We ordered the Chef's Choice 4 course meal and it was GREAT! And only $65 dollars!

First Course: charcuterie plate w/ wild boar meat
Second Course: Squash pasta w/ brown sugar and other deliciousness. So good- I think this was my favorite course of the entire vacation.
Third Course: Pork loin- very tasty, cooked to perfection, but nothing particularly creative
Fourth Course: Greek yogurt based panna cotta. So good! Perfect taste and texture. This was 1 of 3 panna cotta's we had this week:)

I definitely recommend this place for anyone who lives in Boston. Very good food at very reasonable prices. Good ambiance, very friendly service. And the eclectic, "anything goes" atmosphere of Cambridge pervades the restaurant (people in formal wear next to people in t-shirts next to the stereotypical corduroy professor and our waitress w/ visible tattoos). If I lived in Boston, I would go back again!

Stay tuned for Day 2!!

Forget running.....

So as many of you already know the past couple of weeks have been big running let downs for me.

Fail #1:
10/10/10 goal: 4:15
10/10/10 reality: 4:40. Yes, it was hot. Yes, most people were off their goal times by 30-60 minutes. Yes, that makes me feel a little bit better. But, I'm still sad. So, what exactly happened? I'll save that for my race report. Basically it was hot, I'm a wimp and that's that.

Fail #2:
I got a wicked cold 3 days after the race. I've actually never gotten sick post marathon before so I was super bummed. I was even more bummed when I was still sick the night before I was supposed to run the marathon in Rhode Island. I thought long and hard about whether I should still run. I knew I could run (or walk) slow and finish thus at least accomplishing my goals of getting Rhode Island and qualifying for Marathon Maniacs. But I also knew that if I got a time even slower than 4:40 (which was likely given how sick I felt) that I would be very, very depressed and might swear off running for a while. And since I want to keep running and the main reason to run is to ENJOY running (why start a marathon I knew was going to inevitably be painful, miserable, and possibly might ruin the rest of my vacation?) So, I bailed on the run. I don't regret not running- I really was in no shape to do so. But, I guess I have to find a way to get back to Rhode Island in the future and I need to come up with a new Marathon Maniacs plan. I'm going to start looking at races in the spring, I'll let you know what I come up with.

So, in light of all these failures, I'd like to present you with a new store whose products are right in line with my mentality these past couple weeks. It's called The Weak Shop. If you haven't seen this before, you must check it out. They sell products for lazy ass folks like myself (I haven't worked out in 2 WHOLE WEEKS!) to make our lives easier.

For lazy runners, there is the "Downhill Treadmill Converter":





For the person who doesn't want to stand in line (or stand in general) ANYWHERE, there are the "Chair Pants":






And, for the laziest of all- the folks who are too lazy to even bring food from a plate to their mouths, there is the "Food Lift". Wow. Explains some of the obesity in this country, doesn't it;)




The web page is quite funny, so if you found this at all humorous, check out all their products at The Weak Shop!

A Great Day of in the World of Val

(Note: I wrote this post a couple weeks ago, but didn't have the chance to edit it until today, hence some of the weather and pre-marathon comments may seem a bit off...)

So, today was a very good day. Virtually all days where I don't have to go to work are particularly good days, but today was exceptional. Here are the ingredients for a good day in my (sad, little) world.


2 hours of sleeping in (which means getting up at 7am, yeah, very luxorious)




1 leisurely drive to and from Highland Park with the top down on a sunny, 73 degree Fall day in
Chicago in my Elly


15 min of quality chatting with Sheila at the Highland Park VW Dealership when I dropped my
car off for routine maintenance. I actually look forward to bringing my car in for oil changes and routine service because I get to catch up with Sheila! Very nice lady.



5 hours tooling around the North Shore in a loaner Suburu Legacy. My thoughts on the Legacy: excellent pick-up, decent handling, good base package sound system but UGGLLYY. Both inside and out. Ick. Always fun to try out a new car though!



1.5 hours doing my last medium run before the marathon on the North Branch bike tail, watching the beautiful leaves changing




30 minutes eating McDonalds: a cheeseburger, small fries and vanilla shake. Oh, I love the
dietary indiscretions that count as carbo loading;)



3 hours shopping for fun stuff! I never do this so it was a special treat! Got some new Under
Armour T-shirts for running, a new visor (my old ones are ggrrooosss!), and a North Face
fleece to keep me warm in Maine! Then moved on to Banana Republic where they were
having a 70% off sale- sweet! Got a great plum dress for $50 that was original nearly $200
and a fun t-shirt that with a scarf can be my "casual dining" outfit for vacation.



30 minutes window shopping at White House Black Market. I was so overwhelmed by all the
wonderful dresses, I became paralyzed and wasn't able to pick out my "fancy dining" outfit. I
think I'll have to go back this week.

1 hour getting a Mani-Pedi at my favorite Pinky's. I love that place. And I love my "Siberian
Night" dark purple nails:)

15 minutes making spaghetti and broccoli w/ cheese

30 minutes of reading "Run" by Matt Fitzgerald before going to bed at the wonderful hour of
8:30.

I realize that probably sounds incredibly boring to most of you out there in the world, but I am old, I work A LOT, and I need at least 9 hours of sleep a night, so it was perfect for me:)

In 24 hours, I hope I have my 4:15!

Tomorrow's the day! I have a lot to do between now and then- charge i pod, charge Garmin, organize goo chomps, make sure outfit is clean, eat, nap, eat again, drink gatorade, so no time to write. Wanted to post some pics of the always awesome marathon expo at McCormick Place.

A new addition this year was a wall with the name of every single registered runner on it. From elite to back-of-the-pack all were listed alphabetically. The wall with its quote "We Are All Marathoners" really embodies the spirit of distance running. It is very egalitarian. In very few other sports do the best in the world (the super elite runners) run in the exact same event as the average joe runner. Very cool.


So, I found my name:




I also bought some gloves for the winter running up ahead (though won't need them for tomorrow- high of 80!) and a cool track jacket (picture to follow-it's bad luck to show off marathon merchandise before I finish the race!).

I am super excited about all the spectators who come to cheer us on every year. I have a long list of people who will be posted at various spots on the course and will be so looking forward to seeing them! Special shout-out to my friend, Julie, who I see just about every year:)

For those looking for me (thank you, thank you, thank you for your support) here's what I'll be wearing:

But with shoes- I'm not one of those barefoot running people. I like my shoes just fine, thank you!

Good luck to all my fellow runners! I'll see you at the finish with your 312 in hand!

Marathon Maniacs Bid....And my 4th State

10/10/10 is in just 4 days!!! But this post is about looking past the Chicago Marathon race day and on to my next challenge, likely the Amica Marathon in Newport, Rhode Island. If you look closely above (I know it's small), you'll see that the date of the Amica Marathon is 10/17/10. Wait! Aren't I doing a big, important, 'A' race on 10/10/10? Why, yes, I am. And this race is only 1 week later. Let's call it a recovery run, (or maybe a recovery run/walk?), or.....my qualifying race for the Marathon Maniacs! A few posts back, I wrote about this eccentric group of uber fit individuals who run marathons like it's their job. While there are many ways to qualify for this group, most realistically I will need the "easiest" way to qualify which is the Bronze Level:




My work schedule will NEVER allow me to get 3 marathons done in 90 days (at least for the next few years) so #1 it is: "2 Marathons within a 16 day time frame". So, Newport, Rhode Island, here I come!



Adam and I will be traveling to Boston and Maine (Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park, Portland) next week for vacation and since Newport, RI is only an hour from Boston, this works out perfectly! I initially wanted to do the Mount Desert Island Marathon in Acadia, but it sold out. The MDI marathon looks absolutely incredible (in the picture below, you can see it won #1 best marathon in the country according to Runner's World readers) and I hope to be back to do it in the next few years. I think the Amica marathon, though, is a great consolation prize!



I had never heard of this race before, mostly because Rhode Island is generally not on my radar of places I want to go. But as I started googling and marathon-guiding marathons within a short drive of our intended vacation destinations, Amica popped up. As I researched further, I was very pleased to see that the same ranking that put Mount Desert Island #1, ranked the Newport, Rhode Island marathon #4! Who knew! I looked at the course with Google Earth and can see why it is so well-liked. As the map below shows, the majority of the race is on residential streets along the coast, offering breathtaking views of the ocean. And, apparently, there are some beautiful homes in Newport, so those will be fun to see as well.

An additional bonus: since the Chicago Marathon may turn out to be a bit too warm for my taste (sunny and high of 78!), Newport should be nice and cool--> a true Fall marathon.




Last, but not least, Amica will give me my 4th state! As you may recall, a goal of mine is to run a marathon in all of the 50 states. And due to its small size, Rhode Island could pose a logistical challenge. But, assuming I don't wuss out, on October 17th I could qualify for Marathon Maniacs and check Rhode Island off my list! Sounds like a great start to a vacation to me! (Because then I can eat all I want for the rest of the week: lobsters, clam chowder, take cover, I will be HUNGRY!)

The only downside to Rhode Island is that it won't show up well on my map because it is so small. For my next marathon, maybe I should do a big state so my map looks more filled in!

Looking Forward to 10/10/10.....

The time has come. 10/10/10 is upon me. I've been reading other runners' blogs about their last long runs, their tapers and their race strategies for upcoming fall marathons. It's great to feel the enthusiasm of other runners as they gear up for their big days. Well, my big day is coming soon too, and it's time to think about my race strategy.

The first and most important aspect of my race strategy this year is confidence- both physical and psychological confidence. This is the weakest link in my running and always has been. As my personal trainer used to say "I'm a head case". Yup, I am. I've tried to focus on this confidence over the past few weeks. I've been using various tactics I've read in books, even the really goofy ones, in hopes of convincing myself that I can run my 4:15 marathon this year. (Of note, 4:15 will be 20 minutes faster than my current marathon PR.)

One of the "goofy" tactics that I read about in a book is creating a mantra. I've read about this a bit in Runner's World in the past too, so I guess folks actually do it. The book recommends writing a paragraph of optimism to repeat to yourself during tough times. So, yes, now I have a mantra. And, no, I do not plan on sharing it.

To help improve my physical confidence (i.e. my body's belief that I can finish the task at hand), I did many long runs. More long runs that any conventional training program recommends. Since I started keeping track of my mileage on the daily mile on the last day of May, I've logged 10 runs of 15 miles or longer and 4 runs over 20 miles. I did this because, without fail, I fall apart somewhere between miles 15-20 during marathons so thought if my body and mind could begin to view 20 miles as just another training run, the marathon would be a cinch! Many of my long runs were enjoyable, a few were unbearable, but during all of them I suffered a certain amount of boredom. For the first time, I realized that part of the challenge of "racing" a marathon instead of just getting through it, is staying focused. I know I can physically run at my goal pace for 26.2 miles; the challenge will be staying concentrated on the goal rather than my boredom. The Chicago Marathon itself is an entertaining spectacle, so hopefully that will keep my boredom at bay!

Up until my 15 mile marathon pace run two days ago, I was not at all confident that I could run a 4:15. I figured I could from a muscle, respiratory, and cardiac output standpoint but wasn't at all confident that I could keep my head in the game. The Busse Woods 20 miler was supposed to be my marathon pace run, but when that didn't work out I was starting to doubt myself.

I started this marathon training cycle full of optimism after my half-marathon PR of 2:00:19 at the Rockford Half Marathon, which was 7 minutes faster than my previous best. Training went okay, though my work schedule generally only allows me 3 runs a week...at best. Then the MICU started. Let's just say that working 30 hours straight every 4th day is NOT conducive to running. Despite my best attempts, I'm sure I lost fitness during those 4 weeks.

But I tried to stay optimistic and as I caught up on sleep after the MICU, and the weather grew cooler, I got my running mojo back. Tuesday's pace run confirmed for me that I'm back! I'm just as fast as I was back in May and my endurance has certainly improved.

So this post is my final pep talk to myself before the big day. Hopefully, knowing I have to post a race report after the race will be a little extra motivation to push me for that 4:15!

So what's my race plan?

--Stick with the 4:15 pace group for the first 20 miles. Relax and enjoy the comfortable pace.
--Only stop at every other water stop and drink extra so that I don't have to sprint to get back with the pace group. (I can't drink on the move at all.) If it is like "the hot year" this part of the plan will go out the window!
--At mile 20, I can pull ahead if I have anything left.
--No walking. Period. I don't care what my mind, body, or soul says. I will not walk (except through the water stations). I concede that walking can be part of a good race strategy for some but for me, once I start walking, I have trouble running again so it's a no-no.

So, here I go! Marathon #6, Chicago Marathon #4! Here are some pictures from Chicago Marathon's past.....

My family (Grandma, husband, Mom and Dad) after my very first marathon. It was so cold and they were such troopers!

Adam and I after last year's marathon. You'd think after a summer of running in the sun, I wouldn't be so pale. Oh well, I'm a pale one. ;)