Jeff's Half Ironman and Indian food

Today I carpooled to Michigan to watch Jeff’s half ironman. We left at 5 AM. It was raining sooo hard! We were worried about all the athletes. I saw Jeff come out of the water, leave on his bike, get back from his bike, ran with him for some of the run, and watched him finish. It was actually quite a workout for myself as a spectator. Jeff did very well- a PR! Unfortunately, we both got sunburned pretty bad : ( When we got back to Chicago Jeff and I went out for Indian food. We then rented a movie which I guess I fell asleep during the first 10 minutes- guess I was tired!

Marathon training

Well the marathon is less than 12 weeks away now! My coach is friends with Coach Vigil (former coach of Deena Kastor). He called Coach Vigil for suggestions on my training and the result was a new 12 week plan that is going to be rough! However, I love the challenge. I have a workout called an LT-V every week. This workout is done at the pace that you can run an all out mile + 40 seconds. The goal is to sustain this pace for as long as possible. When you can't sustain the pace you have to stop. So far I can sustain this pace for 4 miles- this is not going to cut it. Hopefully by the marathon I can sustain this pace for 8 miles. I will keep you posted on that : ) Each week also consists of a long run, a speed workout of a distance less than 400 meters repeats, a speed workout of less than 5k distance repeats, a core workout (focusing on improving running form), a strength workout (done with bands), and a power workout (jumping, skipping, etc.)...whew! Olympic trials here I come : )

Jammin' at the Shedd

What a fun day! Laura and I met Jenny Z for a run in the AM and then Jenny came over for breakfast. I tried a new recipe and it was pretty tasty. Afterwards, Alona and Laura and I biked to the beach and took a dip (it was REALLY cold so swimming would not be the right word). Then we came back and played wii for alittle bit. Around 5 Laura and I biked over to the Shedd Aquarium with Laura. We met Mel and Tyler at the Shedd. They have this event on Wed. nights where they play Jazz at the aquarium. So we got a drink and perused the exhibits while listening to Jazz. It was a cool experience. We left and got Thai food and then came back to see the fireworks. Then we biked back. It was neat to see the view of the city in the dark. Here is a picture of my favorite fish...Toad Fish : )

Holtrop in Chicago!

Laura Holtrop arrived from Peru today! It was so fun to have her in town. Alona had been wanting to go to her favorite deep dish place before she leaves Chicago at the end of the month. This provided a great oportunity to do this. We had a lot of fun hearing about her trip to Peru and catching up.

Torch

It was a nice day at Torch. Jeff, Dave, and Mr. C and I went on a pretty bike ride through farm land with views of the lakes. I also went water skiing and wakeboarding. Fun times! Jeff drove me to Grand Rapids where I carpooled back to Chicago with Haagsma (I have to call her Haagsma because she will no longer be Haagsma next week! She will be married!)

The Culminator

Today Jeff and Dan and Paul planned to do a workout they called the "Culminator" (which I wrongly kept calling the Terminator : ) because it culminated their training for the half ironman next weekend. The workout was to swim across Glen Lake, then bike around the lake and up pierce stocking two times, and then run 8 miles...umm ya- they are crazy : ) I watched them start their swim and then I went for an AMAZING long run. I explored all the trails in Allegator Hill and I ran up Pierce Stocking (a seven mile climb). Afterwards, we had some lunch and headed to Torch Lake. The Crawford's took all of us "kids" out for dinner. We had a great time.

Dinner with Grandma and Grandpa and drinks up north

Today I headed to Kalamazoo. My grandparents picked me up from the train station and Jeff met us at their home. We had a great time catching up. Grandpa made a lot of tasty food from his own garden (salsa, grilled peppers, pod peas...etc.). It was great to see them! When we got up north we went to Art's Tavern with friends. We slept at Dekorne's and all the guys were crammed in one room and I had the guest bedroom with a queen sized bed. Kind of nice being the only girl for the weekend : )

Fleet Feet Women's Festival 10k

This morning was the Women's Festival. This year the weather was the worst- sooo humid. Heather picked me up at 6:15 except what we didn’t realize until that morning was that the parking lot closed at 6:30. We got there right before 6:30 but the off ramp was backed up with people going to the race…eek! We were a little worried but we were one of the last people let in and got one of the last slots- phew! It was hot and humid for the race. Looking back on it I am kind of disappointed at my finish. I ran 30 seconds slower than last year in the 10k. It was much worse weather but I still feel like I didn’t push myself hard enough. I got second place for the third year in a row. The prize was a heart rate monitor which I already have.. (but I already sold it for 50 dollars : ). I also got these pretty flowers. That’s one perk for a women’s race. Holly and Daryl drove Alona and I back from the race and then we showered at my place before heading over to church. What a nice little morning!

imagination

Today I babysat for a new family. I should have realized these kids were going to be into imagination because there parents work at the theater. I arrived and I was like “Hi, I’m Christina” and the little 3 year old was like “No, you’re not Christina. You’re a mama barracuda chasing me through the forest!” The whole night was like this. It was interesting.

Thai Festival

Today Alona and I went to the Thai Festival downtown. We met our friend Meg over her lunch hour. We got some good Thai food and we also saw some very impressive fruit carvings!

Firefighters 5k

Tonight was the firefighters 5k. I was babysitting until 5PM and the race started at 6:30...however, public transportation is not very reliable and I ended up arriving only 20 minutes before the start of the race! It was a very hot day (like 90 degrees!). I won the race and only 5 boys beat me : ) I had a great time!

dinner party

Tonight we had a full house! Kristin returned from her Calc class and Jeff returned from his Clinical Skills test. Alona had a couple of friends over as well. Alona and Eileen (who is in culinary school) cooked a buckwheat soba noodle dish with grilled tofu and collard greens from the Moosewood cookbook. We all had a great little evening…I think Jeff did the majority of the talking : ) Jeff had to head back to Ann Arbor that night : ( Later that evening I sat down to take a timed exam for psychology and Kristin went to move her car closer since parking is free after nine pm in front of my place. She came back and told me that she could not find her car. I thought she just didn't know where it was so I went down to show her where her car was....and it was gone! I didn't know what we should do- so we called 911. I assumed that the car had been stolen. It ended up that her car was toed. I am still confused as to why it was no parking when there was no sign indicating that :( It was such a pain. However, she got it back...but paid a pretty penny for it :( What a way to taint a fun trip to the city!!

Kristin and Jeff in Chi-town

Kristin picked me up from the airport yesterday night and spent the night and this morning I went to RIC and Kristin went to Loyola to learn to teach AP Calculus. Jeff got into town around 3PM. We went and swam in lake michigan! It was really fun and it wasn't that cold. Around 5pm Kristin got back and we all went for a short run together. I made mexican for dinner. It was really fun!

World Cup

This morning we went all went to church together. Then we went back to our hotel and went swimming and played ping pong. When we checked out I got a free Venti coffee specialty drink because our TV hadn’t worked the night before. I was really excited about my free beverage because I haven’t had a coffee specialty drink in months! We all got together to watch the Netherlands vs. Spain world cup game (we are all Dutch so you can bet who we were rooting for : ).



(Grandma and Grandpa with the first great grandson)

Devil's Peak

This morning I woke up early to go for a run. I had a map of a loop that went through Cherry Creak Park that I was excited to check out. However, I got a little lost and ran alittle farther than I was thinking! Later in the day I went with my cousins and Aunts and Uncles to climb Devil’s Peak. It was a fun hike however right when we got to the top there was a thunder storm so we hurried into this little house on the top of the mountain that was grounded to wait out the storm. It was pretty exciting to be on the top of a mountain in a thunder storm. That evening we went over to my Aunt and Uncles for pizza and salad. I was in heaven because one of my aunts had made three pies with fruit from there trees- sour cherry pie, strawberry rhubarb, and peach. Yummy! I got to play with my cousin’s little 2 year old. He and I had a great time : )

60th Wedding Anniversary

This morning I flew to Denver for my Grandpa and Grandma’s 60th Wedding Anniversary Party. My Grandpa and Grandma really went all out for there party. It was at the country club with an open bar and sit down steak dinner. They had a neat slide show that went through there whole life together. My Grandpa also told the story of how they first me. I enjoyed sitting at the cousin’s table and reminiscing on all the fun times we have had. What a nice party!

Unemployment

Alona and I had a trip to the Unemployment Office. Man was I glad we both had to go so we could go together! This office was in a bad neighborhood and Alona and I stuck out as the only people who had had dental care. Everything went smoothly. I hadn’t received unemployment since I started taking a psychology class online. The guy told me that online classes were okay so I was cleared. The people at the office were knowledgably and I had to show them a document showing what jobs I had applied for and what people I had contacted about networking.

rollerblade run and fireworks

This morning my Dad and I did our traditional Sunday morning rollerblade run…however with a little bit of a twist….getting video taped for the documentary! It was fun. It was a hot day so by the end of the run we were pretty beat. We had some breakfast burritos and headed to Church. After church we stopped by Mel’s and got my chair. We carried it a half mile back to my apartment- gotta love city carless living : ) The time went by too quickly and my Dad had to leave.

http://vimeo.com/13121095

(check out the video trailer of my dad and I)

That evening Alona had a couple friends over and made dinner for all of us. We then went and watched the firework show at Navy Pier.

4 on the third and Chicago Film Tour

This morning I got up at 4:30AM to take the train to Oak Park where Alona picked me up and we headed to Elmhurst for the 4 on the third race. Everyone went out really fast but I was able to hold back and run my own race. This worked out well. I was the 8th girl at 1.5 miles but then slowly started to pick people off. It felt great to pass people the whole race. I ended in fourth which was kind of a bummer because I was right with third place. She started ahead of me on the line so chip time I beat her but gun time she beat me. However, this race was really an exciting race for me because I felt much smoother and stronger over the course of the run than I have for a long time. I am starting to feel like myself again!

After the race, I went back home and my dad had made a lot of progress without me. I thought he would sleep in a lot because of taking the red eye the night before but he had been awake for awhile when I got back. Later that day we went on the Chicago Film Tour. This tour was my father’s day gift to him. I enjoyed the tour. I had never driven through many of the neighborhoods that we drove through. It was fun to watch clips from different films and then see the actual location in Chicago.

Dad arrives

This morning my Dad came into town to help me get situated in my new apartment. It was more fun to unpack than it was to pack. It was nice to have my Dad’s good and helpful company. That evening we went to Bonsouri- A contemporary French restaurant in Logan Square. The dishes were beautiful and had things like tiny mushrooms and rainbow colored cauliflower….but it was too expensive!

first night in new apartment

Move in went well! For the first night in our apartment Alona and I made pizza and watched Avatar. Fun night.