Full Metal Lunchbox

 
  Sadie supports Mayor-for-Life Daley.




  DJ Sadie!










  Dear Leader invited me
  to a disco party after the marathon.

 




Congratulations to Jay for completing the Lou Pinella 5K!

Shea and I lying around, two days after the marathon.  Note the sleeping doggie at the end of the mattress.  Surfing the Internet is about all we can do without discomfort.  Fortunately we have Shea's lovely wife Kathleen to run to Sun Wah for some Hong Kong roast pork and pei par duck.

This will be my most relaxing birthday ever.

Agenda for the rest of the day...

noonish:  More South Park on the TV while we eat Chinese roasted meat and down spicy ginger ale

later:  Trip to Linens & Things to buy a kitchen table and chairs.  Or maybe just a nap.

later:  Nap time!

5:30PM:  Friends over for beer, etc.

6:30PM:  Dinner at Tank Noodle with special birthday beer from Jay.

8:00PM:  Drinks at Uptown Lounge  Stop by and say hello if you are in the area.  The DJ will likely be spinning retro 80's music tonight, but please don't let that frighten you.

Shea & Kathleen return to Champaign tomorrow.  But I still have another day off.  So I'll be lonely, but well-rested.

I return to work on Thursday.  Hopefully I'll be able to go up and down stairs by then.

 

I finished in 5:14:57.

Not as good as planned (and substantially slower than Oprah) but I did manage to avoid further injury.




Intead of the usual race report, I'm just going to give props...

To Shea for going early with me to get a good spot near the starting line.  Shea is also responsible for bolstering my pride with his example.  Pride is all that got me through this race.

To Justyna for introducing me to the sport of running.  Justyna stubbornly believed that this couch potato would make a good runner, and the message finaly got through.  Special thanks also to Justyna for running several miles with me during the critical middle portion of the course--and for carrying my chocolate!

To my mom for more things than I can list!  But mostly for being there on 35th Street when I was starting to crack.

To Muriel for surprising me with a big hug at 35th and Michigan when I needed it most.  This was the turning point for me.  I owe you a drink.

To Alyx, Darryn, Nada, and Kathleen for coming out to Mile 16.  Your good cheer made me forget about my cramping.

To everyone else who came out to watch me but I didn't see and to the legions of friends who tracked my progress online.  Thanks for believing in me.

To the people of Pilsen for being the world's best marathon spectators.  Each one of you is worth at least 100 screaming Lincoln Park yuppies.  And you were the only ones with good music.  Si se puede!!

To Barb and Mike for putting a human face on this intimidating massochistic sport (and for running at the same speed I do!).

To Leah & Jason for introducing me to weird and wonderful world of runner blogging--and for showing me that there is always next year!  When I grow up, I want to be just like you two.

To Ted for joining me at 31st Street and coaxing me across the finish line.

To Jay for bringing a 40oz bottle of Colt 45 malt liquor to the finish line.  Refreshing!!!

And to Jeanne.  For everything else.  I could not have done this without you.



--


It's early Monday morning, the day after my first marathon.  I'm awake now because my dog was insisting that I feed her the dinner I was too tired to scoop into her bowl last night.  

To any of the Chicago Running Blog CRU reading this, I'm sorry Shea & I were so antisocial yesterday.  We both had tough races, and talking took a back seat to beer drinking.  Special appologies to Barb for my stealing the bacon off your uneaten burger.

I'm going to go back to sleep now.  I have a big day ahead of me of doing absolutely nothing.  Later I might order a pizza and enjoy some da ma (inside joke for Jay and Justyna) and watch the entire season 10 of South Park I have stored on my media player.

My motto for the next three days I'm off work: "What would Cartman do?"

Tomorrow I turn 38 years old.

--



Postscript:  I have just received word that I'll be joining the prestigious "Buffalo Warriors" team at the 2007 River to River relay race on 4/21/2007.  What a honor to hear of this the day after my first marathon!  I'm also in the process of assembling a running/walking/drinking team for the 2007 Shamrock Shuffle.  I'm already excited about next year's running season!!

 

Do you know the feeling of when you are at the top of a roller coaster, about to take the big plunge, and you wonder what the hell you were thinking?

Yeah, it's just like that!

Best of luck to my fellow marathoners!!!

 
Good news, everyone!

The weather forecast for this Sunday has changed again.  Things are looking up!

 
  My new ukulele has arrived!



Hold on, ladies, there's enough of me for everybody!!

Happy tapering, everybody!

Just a few more days until the big race.  Are we all ready to run in the rain?  Does everyone have a strategy?

My race day strategy (borrowed from Shea) is called "commuting."  The idea behind commuting is that you run the race you are trained for and commute (i.e. maintain a slow pace) until you get there.  In my case, I only trained for a 15 mile race (due to my injury); so my plan will be to commute my first 11 miles and then run the remaining distance at my best Oprah-beating effort.

Look for me on Friday (around lunchtime) at the marathon expo.  I'll be there with my mom buying packets of gel and engaging in people watching.

Look for me on Sunday.  I'll be running on the right side of the street.  If I seem distracted early on, it's because I'm "commuting."

Manhattans and onion rings with Kathleen. Champaign, Illinois.

 

My marathon shirt has finaly arrived!











front
























back


















Way better than what Oprah wore, no?




(Did you notice that the cat is carrying a little lunchbox?)

..and ready to kick Oprah's ass!




Distance:  10 miles
Average Pace:  9:55/mile




You HEAR that Oprah?!  That's the sound of me coming up fast behind you.

I'm going to BEAT your marathon time!  Gonna leave you in my dust!

Gonna leave you CRYING on Steadman's shoulder, "Waah! That bald geek with the bum knee ran faster than me!"



I gotta go to physical therapy now.

 
Hi, everybody!  Just a quick update to let you know that I'm still alive and happy and walking with less of a limp each day.

Sorry I haven't updated my blog very often lately.  I'm still working a lot of overtime and haven't done anything all that interesting of late.  My apartment is still messy, but I'm gradually unpacking and organizing.  I bought a big bottle of Kettle One at Costco, so now I definitely have to finish setting up my bachelor pad so I can have you all over for a drink.

[Advertisement:  Readers of this blog may redeem this post for one free shot of Kettle One at Josh's place.  If you can find it.  And if Josh is home.  (Offer void in the NW suburbs and where prohibited by your inhibitions.)]

By the way, many people have asked me lately if I'm still planning on running in the marathon.  The answer is YES.

You can cheer me on by registering at The Runner Update Network to get text message alerts to your phone tracking my progress.

The next few weeks will be busy, so I don't know how much time I'll have to blog post.  But please know that I am thinking of every single one of you.

Yes, even you.  Yes you, the one sitting at their computer right now.  Even you.