What would you do?

This post is alternatively titled - Am I a bad person...

I spent last weekend up in Chicago for a friend's batchelorette party. A good time was had by all, even if I can't really comprehend what makes a drag show batchelorette party worthy (note to any friends out there - if I ever manage to find a guy who wants to marry me - no drag show, karaoke maybe, drag no). I spent the weekend with my friend L and her fiance. I also got to see my future home for the first time.

Anyway, on Saturday, before the party, L & I didn't have much to do. So, we decided to go shopping (not that I don't regularly hit up Ann Taylor and Banana Republic at home, but there is something "special" about shopping on the Mag Mile). As we were walking toward the bus route, I saw something that surprised me. I didn't know how to react.

I saw a guy open-hand slap a girl about a half-block up.

I almost didn't believe it was real. It seemed like something out of a movie or like they were acting or something. That doesn't just happen on the street. My pace slowed. I wondered what to do.

Then, I saw the girl launch herself at the guy. She clearly wasn't trying to get away. She was trying to pull him back, while yelling at him, and hitting him in the arm. At this point, L finally noticed. We slowed and stopped. I told her I didn't feel comfortable walking forward and asked if we could go a different way. We turned.

Suddenly, I heard the girl screaming behind us. We turned toward her, and the guy was now lying on the ground. Other bystanders when running toward them. Laura and I started toward them, but then noticed a cop car parked behind an ambulance on the next street (we sought help from the cop car/ambulance, but no one was there). By the time we got back to the scene - someone had called 911. We hung around the area till the ambulance showed up, but then we headed out. I didn't try to speak to the cops or anything.

A couple things remain in my mind. What should I have done after I saw the guy slap the girl (if the rest hadn't happened)? It wasn't as if she was trying to get away, and we were just a couple more girls. I don't think getting involved would have been a good idea. Should I have called 911 then? Would they even respond to a call like that ("hey, Chicago emergency department...yeah, I just saw a guy slap a girl on the street in the West Loop...you might want to check that out")?

The Evil Lawyer

Have you ever noticed how, if a book has a lawyer character, that character almost always sucks. I mean, the character is almost always inflexible and boring and stuffy and rude (even if the character ends up being a good guy - aka Mr. Darcy in Bridget Jones). The lawyer is never witty and fun, never adventurous and quirky, rarely happy. Does this forecast a sad, boring, stuck up future for me?

things are coming together

I don't admit it often, but I'm superstitious. I believe in Fate. I tend to believe that things happen for a reason and that if a seemingly difficult and murky path suddenly becomes clear and obvious - I'm on the right track. I think this belief has influenced some of my romantic decisions, and I know its influenced some of my life choices (um - my law school=the best one I got into AND the one that gave me the most money, this job, my next job, my current living situation, my last living situation, leaving college early, etc.)

Anyway, over the weekend something fortuitous happened. One of my two friends in Chicago is officially moving to New York for 9 months, starting in September. Now on first glance, this seems like bad news or scary news, but its not. My friend and her fiance own a two bedroom condo in Lincoln Park in Chicago. My friend is not quiting her job for the move to New York, but is instead, going to continue working for the Chicago office of a law firm while "on loan" to the New York office. This means that she will have to come back to Chicago often. It also means that they can't rent out their condo to strangers while they are gone. So, it means that a lovely two bedroom condo would be mostly sitting (fully furnished and) vacant from late August to May. A lovely two bedroom condo that is three blocks from the Brown line (the line that goes most directly to the stop closest to work for me). I think I've solved my living situation problem.

It seems like fate, and it makes me feel better about my future in Chicago. We haven't worked out the details - in fact things are still very much in the "this might work" phase. I'll probably have a great place to live, in a great location, and not have to buy furniture for 9 months till I figure out what I want to do. I'll probably have a great deal on rent (since my friend will be back often and need share the condo with me). I'll be able to pay off debt and save money for a down payment.

I love it when things fall into place.

homeless or having multiple homes - depends on your point of view

As of Saturday, I am officially moved out of the fabulous apartment. It was a long week of boxing things up, going up and down (three flights of) stairs, scrubbing the bathroom, and vacuuming. I'll admit that I wasn't all that sad to move out - loved the apartment, didn't love the living situation. I no longer have granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, or a washer/dryer in my unit. To be honest, I don't really have a unit.

All of my furniture, plus most of my "household" items are currently sitting in a big pile in my parents basement. All of my clothes, my new laptop, a bunch of toiletries, and a blender are hanging out at my friend J's apartment. Luckily, J is renting a 2 bed and has it fully furnished (she has two bedroom sets). So, I'm living in her spare room until I move to Chicago (gotta love the possibility of living in 4 different locations in the next year). All of my worldly goods will stay with the 'rents until I've settled in to a place in Chicago - when I will have to move them up there - ug!

I've been exploring the new neighborhood. The bad news is, I'm no longer a block and a half away from the Park and a block and a half away from my favorite coffee shop. Also, I don't have Internet access at home, which is totally killing me. But, the good news is - I'm less than 1/2 a mile from metrolink. So, now I've got a metropass paid for by work (FREE!) and I'm no longer spending money on parking and gas. Oh, and a different location of my favorite coffee shop is about 1/2 a mile away as well. And I signed up for Netflix so I'll finally be able to watch the last season of Gilmore Girls (stupid ABC Family not showing it in reruns).

Fall down, go BOOM

I'm officially done with those flip flops and the stairs. Slipping and falling down half a flight of stairs twice is totally unacceptable. This time the welt is on my ass - I was black and blue within an hour this time. Even sitting in my chair at work hurts (though in a bruised butt sort of way, not in a broken tailbone sort of way - the bruise is clearly only on my right "cheek"). Its funny cause of the swelling, I feel off balance.

I feel like I stuck my face in a cat

Yeah, I know that phrase doesn't make much sense unless you know about my allergies. Ug...cats and the eye itches.

Anyway, on Friday, I came down with "Kristin's plague" - well, that's what we're calling it around here. She had it first and gave it to the rest of us, so it gets her name. My throat itched; my head hurt; I coughed; I sneezed. It sucked. Yesterday evening I started feeling better. The headache went away.

Today I woke up feeling almost good. My headache was completely gone, and the amount of gunk in my throat seemed remarkably diminished. Plus the weather outside was perfect. So, I decided to go for a long bike ride out on the Katy trail. I was hoping to ride for between 3-5 hours. Let's just say, that didn't happen. I made it about 2 hours instead. By 40 minutes into the ride, I wanted to start scratching my eye balls out. Even though we've had an abnormally large amount of rain, the trail was dusty and buggy and full of pollen. My eyes ached by the time I had gone for an hour. I stopped, rinsed my heads, and then tried to rinse my eyes. It helped a little.

Then I decided today was a day to cut it short (well, shorter) and head back at that point. By the time I got to the car, I was dying for relief. Luckily I had napkins in the car. I doused them with water from my water bottle and did my best to clean out my eyes.

When I got home, I immediately took out my contacts - BLISS!

jogging

"You're probably jogging right now, but..." Why did this question bother me so much? My friend certainly didn't mean to insult me when he left me this message yesterday. He was just trying to tell me where to meet him after I got done with my run. I'm sure he wasn't consciously thinking that I am a jogger rather than a runner, but ouch.

I'm not a jogger. I don't really know anyone who goes out for a "jog." I think that perhaps people who only run during other sporting activities think of slow running as jogging. I don't really know any runners that do. Jogging isn't really trying. Its bouncing, lumbering. Its certainly not steady. Its not getting your heart rate to 190 bpms. Its not racing. Its not what you do at a 5k, a half marathon, a marathon, or even a training run. Its not even what you do on a short recovery run. Jogging is not what you do to recover from an injury.

Yeah, I'm slow. My half marathon was slower than the fast people's full marathon. Running a mile in 12 minutes is an achievement for me. Hills hurt, and they make me slower. Three miles has been a long run lately.

Still, don't refer to my runs as jogs. I don't jog. I run.

Running Under the Arch

Today for the first time, I ran under the arch. I've never run downtown (well, outside a race) before. It was pretty amazing. I ran from work to the arch and then around the arch grounds and then back to work. The garmin was great - I knew I had gotten my three miles in, and I know what my pace was. What was particularly interesting was stop lights. Most of my running routes do not involve many stop lights. In the city today, I hit pretty much every light until I got to the Arch grounds.

Running on the ground themselves was pretty amazing. I was surprised at the number of runners I saw (I left work at 4 for my run). It was fun to see all the tourists wondering around the grounds. As I started my last mile, I decided to run down the arch steps to the river and back up.

I was actually pretty sore from my Monday run/training session with a friend. She's certified as a personal trainer, and if she lets you work out with her, you get free training. I hate squats, but man, are they good for me.

So, I was kind of slow, but I'm still recovering. Plus downtown is surprisingly hilly.

Miles: 3
Time: 39:12
Avg: 13:04 min/mile

Work Out

I have a sad secret little confession to make. I watch Work Out on Bravo. I know, I'm ashamed.

Anyway, last weeks episode has raised quite a controversy. Jackie (the owner of the featured gym) fired one of her trainers after he came to talk to her because she and the office manager had been making fun of the breast implants on one of the trainer's clients (apparently the office manager was the one who made the jokes - but Jackie was laughing). The blogosphere seems outraged that she would be part of making fun of a cancer survivor and that she fired the trainer for refusing to drop the issue. While I agree that's not good, I have to say its pretty terrible any way you cut it. I would be horrified if I knew that the owner and manager of the gym I pay very good money to get trained in were sitting in their office watching my workout and MAKING FUN OF MY BODY!

I don't care whether that woman was a cancer survivor or just had breast implants because she wanted bigger boobs. I don't care whether she had every part of her altered with plastic surgery. If there is one place where a woman should feel comfortable that the people she pays aren't going to making fun of the way she looks, it should be at an exclusive gym. I'm sorry, its disrespectful no matter what.

Also, I don't really care whether Jackie was making the jokes or not, she was laughing at them. And, appologizing to the client's boyfriend and apparently, not repremanding the woman who made the jokes - not cool. Jackie is trying to get obese people on board with her "Sky Lab" project, but what overweight person wants to work out in a gym knowing that the gym manager very well might be making fun of them behind the glass wall - and knowing that the owner is laughing right along? Not me. Women have enough body issues. We don't need to have gym staff laughing at us as we try to tone up.

So, yeah, the boob jokes were unacceptable whether that girl had cancer or not. And, as the owner, Jackie should have told her employee so without being prompted by the boyfriend. I think I am far more offended that she apparently didn't see anything wrong with making fun of the way a client looked as long as she didn't know that client was a cancer survivor.

Still, I'm not boycotting the show, yet (though I would NEVER go to her gym). I used to like it, and I'm hoping that it get better again.

toys and accidents

I boughts myself a new toy yesterday. Something I've been wanting for a long time. Something that I found onsale for about $100 less than I'd previously seen it on amazon. I bought myself a Garmin Forerunner 305 at REI. At $164.99, I couldn't pass it up. Before buying it, I did my research to figure out whether it was worth it to upgrade to the brand new Forerunner 405. While the 405 looks great, I decided to stick with the 305 for the price. The main upgrades for the 405 (which is about $200 more expensive for the model with a heartrate monitor) are its size and the fact that it connects to your laptop wirelessly. Now, as a girl with a pretty small wrist, the size difference really doesn't matter to me. I'm not going to be wearing either one as my "everyday" watch like some guys might. As far as weight goes, the 305 is less than an ounce heavier.

I love it. I've tracked two workouts so far (a 2.75 mile walk and a 3.39 mile run). I love being able to see exactly what my pace is. I love being able to see my heart rate. I love having an easy tracking system with motion based. I'm particularly proud to see that even with walk breaks my average moving speed (stopped at 2 lights) was 12:09 minute miles. That's awesome for me with the walk breaks. I'm super excited about the purchase and being able to just run and find out later what the distance was - especially with the multiple moves coming up. Its going to be great since I won't know the running route distances like I've known (well, been guessing, but guessing almost exactly right) my current favorite routes. I feel like the garmin gives me a lot more freedom.

On the accidents side - don't worry I wasn't involved - just watched in happen. As I approached a stop light in the park, I slowed down and was going to wait for the light to change. The runner on the other side of the street ran across to the median. The car that was on my side saw this other runner (I assume it was the other runner cause it was pretty clear I was stopping at the light) and stopped her car even though she had the green light. BAM - a bicyclist ran into the back of her car. Now, the biker was pretty pissed (he had some right to be - the car had the green light and stopped), but still, if the biker had been paying attention, he wouldn't have hit her. The car didn't really have many options; it could: (1) keep driving and hit the stupid runner who was crossing against the light, or (2) stop and let the runner go by. Clearly, stopping was the better option. If only the biker had been paying attention. As I ran off (after the light had changed), the driver and the biker were still engaged in an argument about how stupid the driver was. Fun stuff...

Guess now I know why bikers hate runners.

Doing Something

I've posted about this before, but I want to do something. I've never met Elden or Susan (and I probably never will), but Elden has touched my life in profound ways. I read his blog daily, and it has been a source of much amusement. I've laughed with him and now I'm crying with him. Anyway, this is my little attempt to help.

His friend Kenny set up a place for donations - Here's what Kenny had to say:

Dear Readers of Fatcyclist.com,

This last week has been truly tragic learning of the down turn of Suzan’s illness. As I read these comments left by all you good people, the over all theme is the same. “What can we do for Elden, Susan and their kids?” I decided it was time to stop wondering and time to start doing. I set up a bank account in Elden’s name at a local bank here in Utah. It is linked to pay pal. The pay pal account is winsusannelson@gmail.com . If you don’t have a pay pal account you can also donate by going to my business’s website http://www.kennysphoto.com and clicking on the link in the middle of the page, where you can donate with the credit card of your choice. Please know that all funds collected will go directly to this bank account and after a two month period will be given to Elden, Susan and Family. Elden is unaware of this account, until now, of course. I’m not sure how he will react to this comment, but if he removes it, I’m going to continue to put it back on his blog and I invite you as fatcyclist readers to also put this on your own respective blogs. I truly believe that we bless our own lives, when we help others, so I hope that Elden will allow us to help him through this very trying time in his life. He truly has touched each one of us, through his writing and his friendship.
Respectfully yours,

Kenny

This isn't tax deductible and its not going to research. The money will go towards the Nelson family - taking care of Susan.

I wonder what a palm reader would say about me now

I've had my palm read twice in my life. Once was on a bus in Vietnam - by a girl who wasn't a professional. I liked what she told me -- I would be rich (not my parents, not my spouse, but me), I would have one great love, and I would have the opportunity to travel for work.

The second one was at a bar in this city. She guessed that I was in a creative field (she was SHOCKED I was a lawyer) and predicted I would be changing career directions in the near future.

Both of them remarked on how smooth my hands were (yeah, I guess I'm not used to manual labor).

I wonder what the would say if they saw my hands now. My hands can no longer be regarded as smooth. As my friend Jenny said - no boy wants to hold my hand. The rock climbing has left me with torn calluses, ripped up fingers, and short jagged nails. I'm proud of my hands now.

Then, there's the fact that I can't turn my right hand over (stupid broken elbow). I wonder what that would tell a palm reader...Maybe when I'm in the 'burg I should go to the scary palm reader place and find out.

My Heart Hurts

walkin' to the beat

In the past, when I've been recovering from an injury - I've followed the instructions in my favorite book (Complete Guide to Running for Women) and have done a structured run/walk program. I've gotten back into running shape by running specific amounts of time and walking specific amounts of time. It was always on the treadmill.

This time I'm doing something different. I'm kind of not interested in structure. I certainly don't want to be on a treadmill if I can be outside in the park on a beautiful evening. So, this time, I walk to the light at the end of my street, stretch while waiting for the light to change, and then start my run as I cross the street into the park. I run for the legnth of a song, then walk for the legnth of a song, then run for a song, then walk etc. Its amazing how quickly a run goes by this way. Park of me is tempted to keep doing this even once my leg stops bothering me. My runs never hurt, and I'm still running each mile in about 13-14 minutes.

Maybe its the weather, maybe its the month of no running, and maybe its actually just that I'm in the mood for some non-stress running right now. I know I'm not training for anything - partially cause the heat kills me and partially cause I need to properly heal before I training again. It could be that I'm just running for the joy of running again.

Back on track

Last week I ran Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I did the whole run/walk thing. I felt great on Monday and Wednesday, but Friday, well - not so much. I still have pain in my right leg tonight. So, more rest is in order, I guess.

As instructed, I iced my legs after every one of the runs. I streched after a walking warmup. I didn't push myself (all three runs less than four miles each). I've taken my aleve about an hour before running - not much else to do.

Still, I think I'll be able to run again tomorrow (if I don't have any pain). Also, I'm actually paying attention to the eating again - the biggest change being eating less often in the building cafeteria and drinking less alcohol. I don't want to gain more - and I really don't want to buy new clothes.

I'll get back in the swing of things. Give me a couple weeks.

when the future's uncertain...travel...

I've been on a airline ticket purchasing binge the past two days - spent close to $1500 that I don't have for fun trips in the future (and dang it its gonna be worth it). After months of deliberation and slight sadness over the fact that I have no friends who have the money or time to take two weeks off in August to travel around Europe with me, I finally took the plunge.

I'M GOING TO ITALY!!!

I bought round trip tickets to Venice (cheapest tickets I could find - save enough to pay for a train pass). Now I get to spend the next few months planning my trip. Do I want to go to Capri or the Amalfi coast? How much time do I want to spend in Rome or Florence? And most importantly, where should I eat? I'm excited and nervous - its a trip I've always wanted to take. Still, I'd love company. If you have some free time at the end of August/beginning of September (and I know you) and you want to bum around Italy for a couple weeks, let me know. Otherwise, I'm going to have this adventure all by myself, and I'm okay with that too.

The other ticket was slightly less exciting but still very fun.

I'M GOING TO WILLIAMSBURG!!!

Seriously - yay weddings and seeing college friends and eating snow-to-go and seeing historic sites and driving down the colonial parkway and sitting by the beach/James river and going to the cheese shop and everything.

Who needs to worry about work when you have vacations to look forward to.

And my doubts just got bigger

Last night, I learned that one of my 2 good friends in Chicago is probably moving. Again, I felt my stomach drop, and I suddenly wondered, "what have I done?" I not normally one for regrets, but this doesn't seem like my normal situation to me. Have I made a big mistake?

Earthquake

So, I woke up at about 4:30 this morning to a vibrating bed. I quickly realized it wasn't just the bed that was vibrating - the whole building was shaking and rattling. It really freaked me out.

the wait is over

And the winner is...Shin Splints (or tibial periostitis if you are medically inclined).

Mere minutes after writing that last post, my doctor called. The good news is its not a stress fracture and whatever the heck is wrong with my connective tissue is not in danger of "rupture," whatever that means. The bad news is, its actually in both legs...yippy! And apparently, the right leg is just worse. So - the treatment is: warm up with walking before running, stretch, go back to running slowly using a walk/run pattern, ice after every run (whether my legs hurt or not), and take naproxin (as I can't take Celebrex - yeah Sulfa drug allergy). Also, the doc recommended that I bike or swim instead of running for a while - till the inflammation goes down a bit more. We'll see about that one. I mean, its been 3 weeks of no running at this point, and its slowly sucking my will.

still waiting

so, yeah...Still waiting on the test results. GRRRRR!

The good news is that the bone scan tech said she didn't see anything extraordinary.

Waiting sucks...