The run that sucked ass

Last week I wanted to run outside after work. It was a gorgeous day and also the first day of autumn so I couldn't resist heading outside and enjoying a run before the weather gets too cold. I had run a little in the morning to warmup for a circuit workout I completed before work, but wanted to go for a nice run outside later on.

The first half mile My legs felt rusty and heavy which was to be expected after a day of sitting at my desk and a strength circuit in the morning. After another mile the feeling never went away. I had planned on running 4 miles but around mile 1.2 I just wanted to give up and walk home. I kept going, only to have to amend my planned route of northerly island due to a concert which didn't make me any happier.

Each time my foot hit the ground I felt like it was making a huge thud. I began to remember how springy and agile I felt just months prior which made me even more upset. My anger was amplified due to carrying around an extra 8lbs that I accumulated over the past 5 months because of stress and eating and drinking too much and not running enough to balance it out (along with clothes not fitting properly which is really what is causing my anger). And with each thud of my foot my weight gain and being out of shape were made painfully clear to me. If that wasn't bad enough- I wore my Nike shorts which aren't spandexy and snug and to add insult to injury, they started chaffing my legs with each step.


I finished the 5 mile run and was so ridiculously happy to be done. I even caught a glimpse of "ChicagoHenge" which didn't make up for the entirety of the sucky ass nature of this particular run, but it helped. Gaining weight, being out of shape, clothes not fitting, northerly island being closed, chaffing, & an early morning morning strength session which destroyed my legs made for one of the worst runs I've had in a while. It can only get better from here.




-Xaarlin

Friday Fluffy Stuff

I caught the sunrise for the first time in a long time and it was everything I hoped it would be. Usually I miss it by 15 min- but this time I was early and it was so gorgeous.


I went to Zumba last week with Emmers. It was so fun and such a nice change from running or cycling. It was hot and sunny out and I am pretty sure I sweated out my soul but I had a big goofy grin on my face the entire time.


Cb and I have been running a few times a week. We have a lot of fun on our runs of 3-4 miles.

Between work getting ridiculously busy + some stress in my personal life, I'm really happy that I'm not training for a marathon, or anything for that matter. I can do whatever I want (or do not want) to do workout wise- because usually the last thing on my mind when I leave work late is to go workout.

Which also reminds me that I've been pushing back on social media a lot lately. Reading blogs and looking at IG used to be relaxing- seeing fun photos or reading about running or personal stories. But now most blogs are poorly written shills or "how to's" from people I would never ask advice from (non experts). And Instagram is full of shitty "fitspo" photos/"quotes." So with both, I've been unfollowing accordingly. I don't need to read something that invokes a negative feeling because I didn't work out or push it hard enough that day. That shit is just super spammy, not "inspirational" and not worth my time.

After Cb ate my sunflowers a few weeks ago, I planted more seeds And now I've got 5 sunflower plants! I put them on a table so they would hopefully be a little less enticing than before when they were on the ground.

When I planted the sunflowers, I looked to see what type they were. Supposedly they will grow to be 8-12' high! It will be interesting to see how big they get in this small pot.
While life has been super busy and quite stressful at times, I'm always thankful to come home to my small family who always put a large smile on my face.

Lollapalooza 2015 {Friday}

On Friday (July 31,2015) we went to Lollapalloza. This was our 3rd time going, and Cris' first time.  The first thing we did was take the obligatory selfie in front of the Lollapalooza sign.
Then we went straight to the "bar"to get beer, aka stay hydrated.
We made it our mission to stay hydrated as well as mix it up with some sweet 8% beverage from bud..
The first set we saw was Sza.
I had not previously heard of Sza before (as I live under a rock most of the time) but she was pretty good and had a nice voice.
After listening to a few of her songs we walked over to Perry's stage for Peking Duk.
Again, I had never heard of Peking Duk before, but they were laying down some nice beats so we stuck around and listened for a while.
Their set was full of energy and really entertaining to listen to.
Then we walked back over to the Samsung stage to hear Glass Animals. I have heard of them before, and do enjoy their music quite a bit and was very excited to hear them play live. And I was so happy to hear songs performed live that i've only heard on my ipod.
Next up was Tove Lo and I was excited to hear her perform too. (Friday had a bunch of bands I wanted to hear!!) We ended up too close to the stage and suddenly we were in a mob of people. Also, the sound quality was terrible for her. She kept gesturing to the microphone (to get the attention of the folks in the sound booth) but they didnt see her and consequently we could barely hear her singing.
After a few songs of Tove Lo, we got out of the crowd, took a deep breath and then started walking around.
I started taking artsy photos.
And then we watched Cold War Kids- ANOTHER band I wanted to see! (Maybe I dont live under a rock after all)
Cold War Kids was awesome. I saw a guy with a Chicago flag and had to go take a photo.
All of this listening to music got us hungry so we decided we needed food- and after hearing Pete mention a lobster corndog earlier in the week, we knew exactly what to order for lunch. And it was so OMG DELICIOUS.
Next up was the band I was *most* excited to see: Alt-J!!!! I own several of their albums and love the creativity in their music.
Their set was AMAZING! I knew all of the songs they played and had a huge grin on my face the entire time.
Post Alt-J we walked back to the other side of Grand Park to see Sir Paul McCartney (who I was also super excited to see.)
The field was filling up fast and we found a nice place near the back to avoid being trampled.
And then this living legend began to play. It was so incredible to hear someone who has had such an influence on music over so many years perform. He is so ridiculously talented- playing guitar, ukulele, piano without blinking an eye when switching from one to another.
He began making jokes about the loud bass music playing from the stage near us. Which after more songs devolved into the loud bass music being called shit- (and I couldn't have agreed more).
He sang Beatles songs as well as his own music. I was in awe listening to Paul McCartney perform live- a guy I grew up listening to thanks to my daad's love of the Beatles. I had the biggest smile on my face singing along to "let it be," "Paper back Writer," and many other favorites.
He sang "Live and Let Die" and there were fireworks. It was so damn cool.
Then he performed "Hey Jude." I got emotional during this song-remembering that I played the piano part to it while I was in 8th grade jazz band. I never thought I would hear it performed live, by freaking Paul McCartney!!
Paul encouraged the crowd to sing along for "Hey Jude" and it was amazing and everything I could have ever hoped out of a Lolla experience. We left after that song because I had a raging headache due to dehydration. Plus, I couldn't imagine how the show could have gotten any more perfect after that (I'm sure the rest was equally as amazing!)
It was a fantastic day where I got to hear some of my favorite bands perform, and I was so ridiculously happy.
I had one hell of a day getting to spend time with some of my favorite people in the world (L and Cris) while listening to some kick ass music.  I can't wait for next year!