Thoughts {1}

•The "agony" of choosing a spring marathon. Who ever thought it would be so "difficult" to choose a goal race? (Haha) 1st world problem for sure. Things I'm considering/concerned about:
-Weather

-Course Profile

-Whether or not I'm healthy 4-5 months in the future. My knee has a bruise (presumably) from the turnstile incident 2 months ago and gives me minor discomfort on longer runs. The bruise showed up a week ago.

Front runners include the Knoxville marathon (hilly) and the Wisconsin Marathon. (Along with a few others) I just can't pull the trigger on a race just yet.


So I continue to base build and enjoy snowy runs.

•Food and running and the holidays and stuff. I don't get the "free pass" mentality of stuffing your face with all the things during the holidays, and marathon training and just because. I say that- yet I struggle with food (eating too much) and am not sure why. Could it be our cultural emphasis on food as a reward, or motivation?

So for December I've made a very conscious effort to eat reasonable portion sizes, not snack (feeling a little hungry is OKAY), and continue to eat more whole foods. And 3 weeks in I'm feeling the best I have in a while.

Last night we made pizza- just heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and some Parmesan. Noms with a bottle of good wine.


This also ties into the potential spring marathon because I want to be in better shape going into training. "You can't out train a bad diet." Cliche I know, but "garbage in, garbage out.Ok I'll stop. But seriously, I plan to improve my running for as long as my body allows- (and I want to continue to look and feel "better.")


•CB is no fan of Christmas either. We are just over the materiality of this season and the fakeness that goes along with it. Be a good person all year long, yo!


- xaar

Winter Bucket List

After almost 3 years of living in Chicago I feel like I haven't done much during the winter asides from run a bit and go to the bars.  It's just too damn cold most of the time to enjoy being outside for any period of time when the wind chill is negative bazillion. So in lieu of yet another "holiday gift guide" i'm making a list of activities i'd like to experience before old man winter releases his grip on Chicagoland. Because experiences > trinkets for me.

• Run outside in the snow. The path is so peaceful when it's snowing. Tomorrow I should be able to check this one off my list.

• Explore the city more. I had to go to another building for work this week and decided to stop by The Bean on my walk home for some night time skyline photos. Best. Decision. Ever. Few people were around, and it was so magical seeing the reflection of the buildings.

• Walk around the Christkindl Market. I went last year and it was too crowded for me, but it was still a cool experience to see all the different gift vendors from around the world and wide variety of food selections (hello potato pancakes!) I'll have to do this on my lunch break one "slightly warmer" day.

ROAR!

• Sled down "Sledding Hill." I've been wanting to do this ever since I first saw the hill out on one of my runs. After some snow fell,  I was super envious of the kids flying down the hill  having a blast. (I almost asked a family last year if I could have one trip down with their sled but chickened out) All I need to do is buy one of those cheap plastic sleds. 

Michigan Ave. This morning.

Go ice skating by the Bean. Haven't been ice skating in FOREVER and never outside (only in the shopping malls of Florida), I think this would be really fun for an hour as long as I dont bust my ass and hurt myself.

The Bean & the Ice Skating Rink

• Build an honest to god snowman. I've never built one. Ever.  I'm pretty sure I have built a sand castle for Christmas at some point.   I bought a "snowman kit" from a co-worker's kid for a fundraiser 2 years ago. The past 2 winters have been on the "mild" side snow wise, and I never was able to build one because the snow wasn't wet enough, and it wasn't around on the weekends. (I didn't want to build one in the dark after work)

Snowman fail.

I broke out the kit today to practice on a small patch of snow that is on my balcony from last week's snow. So I could be ready in case we get enough snow this weekend.
I had no idea how to place the pieces...

I googled the kit and tried again on my little patch of snow.

BOOM! Now it looks a little more legit.

Now i'm going to have to google how to build a snowman. I've heard from my native Midwestern coworkers that you have to make a snowball first, and then roll it around on the ground to pickup more snow. I'll have to test it out this weekend if the conditions are optimal for snowman construction. I just can't envision how I could create 3 large snowballs to make a 3-4' tall snowman...


-xaar

So this happened

So this happened Friday...
In his defense, I locked him in a room he is not used to, and scary people came to fix my bathroom. He did not approve of this and used his crazy focused Border Collie skillz to GET THE INTRUDERS. Luckily the carpet was the only victim.
And even though I was in complete shock, I wasn't really mad because he is too damn cute so focused and smart. In fact I actually felt sad for him that he was so scared. I should have known better than to disrupt his schedule.
This reminded me of the "feather pillow incident" of 2009. Just moved to my new place in Alameda, CA and for my first day going to work, I decided CB needed a little extra comfort in the form of an old feather pillow. When I got home he looked pretty pleased with himself. Im convinced he didn't destroy the pillow for the sake of destroying it, but instead it was an accident that got out of hand. All of his toys from the past 9 years are still intact. 
CB and I got in the Christmas spirit by hanging our annual live pine wreath.

Sunday I wanted to go run 10 miles outside. CB wouldn't let me leave without him. And after Friday, I was scared to leave him alone for a few hours. We ended up running 6 miles in just over 47 minutes, one of his fastest paces for a longer run.

Happy CB on top of Sledding Hill with Soldier Field in the background.

It was 20 degrees, with a feels like of slap yo face pain, and we literally enjoyed every step. Seeing my little guy so happy melted my heart.

The wind was a bit fierce but overall I felt pretty good running in the cold. I still need a balaclava and to find a way to keep my fingers warm, but double layers (tights+warmup pants, and base layer+ puffy jacket, double gloves) seemed to be adequate for the cold.
The harbors are starting to freeze, and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I see people ice fishing again on them.

Little man was super pooped when we got home.
Right after we finished running, and I parked CB outside at the local Caribou (Post weekend run tradition) so I could get fancy holiday drink,  it started to snow. And it continued to snow all day and all night. The actual accumulation was only a few inches, but it was beautiful to look at from inside my place. And absolutely terrible to walk through the dirty slush Monday morning.

CB is not amused with the snow at all, and I dont blame him.
And now back to another week filled with my company's holiday party, and the usual month end close stuff.

I also bought a Groupon for 1 month unlimited classes at a dance cardio place close to me.  It's been ages since I've taken any dance classes and  i'm pretty jazzed about trying something new.
GO BEARS!



-xaar

1st annual Santa Xaarlin treadmill 10k

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I enjoyed a low key Christmas with WW and CB at home. We cooked some food, worked out and took it easy.


One of my favorite gifts- an owl hat! :) it kept my ears and head very toasty while walking to work today.


I also got a sweet gift card for dunkin donuts with CB's photo on it from my Daad. If CB is making $$$ off of this, he needs to start paying rent!!

Christmas morning I got on the tread and quickly decided to run my most dreaded distance, The 10k. I don't know what it is, but I have no desire to race a 10k ever. I've raced every distance between 5k and marathon- minus the 10k. So December 25 was the "1st annual Santa Xaarlin Treadmill 10k." 1st 3.1 miles averaged 7:50/mile 2nd 3.1 miles averaged 7:19/ mile My new 10k PR is now 47:00! It was a comfortably hard pace. It wasn't until mile 2 that I decided to start pushing the pace and make it a "race." I'm excited for next year to carry on this tradition of running my most hated distance on Christmas. In other news...


I registered myself and my dad (against my better judgement) for the Chicago New Years Day 5k. The weather is looking clear and free of snow and ice so we shouldn't slip and hurt ourselves. This race will be a nice "recovery" run post saturday's long run with my new running buddy, the super speedy Britt


If you get runners world, I would highly recommend you make Richard Blais's (winner of top chef all stars, and also ran the 2011 NYC marathon) beet salad featured in the issue. It's beets, avocado, orange, basil, shaved licorice in a vinaigrette. It's super easy and tasty. (and I can't wait to eat the rest of it tonight!)


I can't wait to see my dad tomorrow who is braving the cold to visit us for new years this week.

What are your new years plans? We are going out to eat at a secret location. :) - xaar