Running With a Clydesdale

Restaurant 3/104 - Marc Burger

2009-06-12T12:59:00.004-05:00

Vanessa's Review

Several weeks ago, we decided to take advantage of a nice, Friday lunch hour and hit up Marc Burger. While this was not randomly selected (hope this isn’t a pattern developing), we thought it would be easy and convenient to get to from our respective workplaces on a Friday lunch hour and we could scratch off yet another restaurant off the list.

Marc Burger is housed on Seven on State, the food court inside of Macy’s up on the 7th Floor. We were one of the first people to be up there, since they open at 11 AM. This place is touted as having the “Loop’s best burgers” so we figured we’d give them a try and judge this for ourselves. (My hands down favorite, hole-in-the-wall Peppers still holds this distinction). So I went ahead and ordered a hamburger, fries and soft drink. I knew going into this place that we’d be paying more than your average McDonalds since they serve “gourmet hamburgers” and supposedly the creator of this place is a renowned New York chef. But over $11? A bit much. Granted, the soft drinks came with unlimited refills, but still.

I was given a glass with the pop and waited for them to cook up the burger. This took a while, but I didn’t mind since they had just opened up, plus it meant it would be fresh off the grill. While the cashier was very nice, she kept trying to sell me other things like cookies, custard and a shake; it reminded me of the Subway “chips and drink” mantra. No means no, thanks! In the meantime, I figured I’d step away from the counter and the cashiers’ sales pitches and get my ketchup and other condiments ready to go. Small problem: the ketchup and mustard pumps were broken. I struggled to push down the pump, thinking I somehow just wasn’t doing it right or that my arms were in fact much weaker than I thought. After about 5 minutes of struggling, someone came over and confirmed that something was indeed wrong with the pumps. It turned into a big ordeal, with yet another employee coming over trying to fix these things. Several minutes and four-five people later, we managed to squeeze some ketchup and mustard out of the pumps.

Finally my hamburger came out in a wire food basket and paper napkins, which contrasted with the china plates, glasses and silverware… identity crisis? In all honesty, I didn’t care much about the presentation of the meal at this point. The hamburger looked like it had potential and the fries looked good too; hopefully the wait and ketchup pump ordeal had been worth it!

We finally walked over to the window area seating, but were disappointed that we really couldn’t look out the glass since the window panes were so dirty and the window sills were pretty dusty too. If you’re going to have seating right in front of these windows, you’d think this would be clean, right?

The hamburger was very thick and juicy and hot off of the grill. It was cooked just right and was quite a large portion, topped with crispy lettuce and a tomato slice. It also came with a small cup of cole slaw and pickle slices. The hamburger bun was a bit dry however (I’m assuming it was potato bread?) but the beef made up for it, seasoned with just the right amount of black pepper. The fries were probably my favorite part of the meal – thin and crispy, skin-on fries seasoned with visible specks of garlic, salt and pepper -- and these too were nice and warm.

About halfway into the meal, I thought I may as well take advantage of the free refills. Unfortunately, instead of having a self-service refill station, you had to go up and ask the cashier at the counter to fill you up. I definitely didn’t like this since the counter was far from where we were sitting, plus I didn’t want the cashier to try and sell me more stuff and/or think I was a fatty for getting refills! Dave had no qualms about this though and he did take advantage .

Overall, I give this place a 6. The hamburger and fries were good, but not great. The customer service was average at best and the atmosphere up on Seven on State wasn't all that great either. But the main reason why I docked this place major points was the cost. Would I come back to Marc Burger? No. It’s difficult to justify coming back to eat at this place when you could go just about anywhere else and get the same meal for half the price. I will however, try and come back and eat at Rick Bayless’s Frontera Fresco!

Dave's Take

I would also like to add that the semi-broken pump that was labeled "spicy ketchup" actually contained mustard, so when I put it directly on my burger I was quite upset.

Overall, the burger and fries were okay, but the price really killed it. Everything else was completely un-memorable, which isn't really what you want from an expensive restaurant. I could have had 11 double cheeseburgers from McDonald's and that would have ultimately been much more satisfying.

Score: 3/10

Overall Average: 4.5

Restaurant 2/104 - Tio Luis

2009-06-02T22:03:00.004-05:00

V's up first:

This place was a late write-in on the Resto 100 restaurant list. Over 3 years ago in a May 2006 story in the Tribune, a list featuring Chicago’s top tacos was printed. Dave and I decided we’d try and visit the top 5 places, but for one reason or another, we only made it to tacos ranked #4 and #5. Since we had recently committed to trying to visit all of the places on the Resto list, we figured we may as well add the coveted “Tio Luis”, voted the best tacos in Chicago, to the list! Since we happened to have a car this weekend, we thought we’d forgo our visit to Hai Yen, our randomized pick for this week and hit this place up instead.

Brighton Park was our destination. On the drive there, we realized that it actually wouldn’t have been that difficult to get here via public transit (so if this place really did have amazing tacos, I was excited we’d be able to get here without the aid of a car in the future if we wanted!). We soon came upon the lit Tio Luis sign – we’d finally get to eat tacos at a place that could legitimately boast to be the “best tacos in town”.

Fortunately for us, there was plenty of metered street parking along Archer Ave. (as rare drivers there was concern over this). As we entered the home-converted-into-taco-place restaurant, we were immediately greeted with friendly service from our waitress. For some reason I thought it would be more crowded on a Saturday evening but I wasn’t complaining. The atmosphere was bright with green/red/white tables and chairs. Pretty, brightly colored murals of Mexican landscapes along with old photos of storied actresses (Maria Felix) and actors (think Pedro Infante) adorned the walls while the Spanish radio station played in the background. We were seated in the front area of the restaurant where the kitchen was visible. It turns out the restaurant did have more patrons, but they were actually seated in another area towards the back of the restaurant.

As we sat down, I noticed that they had carrots in vinegar on the tables and was eager to try them since I really love the ones they have at Los Comales. However these were no match. The vinegar was warm, wasn’t very spicy, and it was lacking cauliflower and onion, the other veggies typically included in this snack mix. The chips and salsa were okay, again, nothing special. I liked that the salsa wasn’t chunky and had fresh cilantro, but it wasn’t spicy enough and had a strange after-taste. I did like the fact that the salsa was in a separate, spouted container where you could pour that salsa into the bowl for dipping (seemed more sanitary that way). The chips however were dry and didn’t have much flavor, but I’m assuming this made them healthier than their usually greasier counterparts. Despite this, we put down the basket of chips & salsa quite fast.

Now onto the main meal, the long awaited tacos! The menu had many, many options but we were there for the tacos, specifically steak ones since the Trib’s list had exclusively rated steak tacos. The prices here were pretty cheap and comparable to most taco places (about $2 per taco). In addition to the tacos, I also ordered a side of “yellow” rice and an agua de horchata (it would be pretty amazing if a “best horchata in Chicago” list surfaced!). While waiting for our meal to arrive, we got our horchata and it did not disappoint! It was very good, not too sweet and with a hint of cinnamon. However as frequently happens, I was halfway done drinking it before even getting our meal. I kept peeking into the kitchen, looking around at others’ plates to try and catch a glimpse of these tacos we’d waited over 3 years for. Soon thereafter our meal arrived…

The steak tacos were wrapped in corn tortillas and topped with only chopped cilantro and onion (as you’d expect on an authentic taco) and were accompanied by a side of key limes and the usual red and green hot sauces in squirt bottles. Neither of the hot sauces was very spicy, but the green one did have a decent flavor so I stuck to that one. The steak was very good and had just the right amount of seasoning and very little fat (but just enough to keep the steak juicy). Unfortunately, it turns out the tacos were too juicy since by the second bite of my first taco, it completely fell apart. I was surprised at this given that the tacos were wrapped in not one, but two corn tortillas, but the fact that the tortillas appeared to have been cooked in oil may have caused this sogginess. While this made the tortilla less dry, it did make them greasy and again, made the tortilla quite frail. Since I’m an extremely slow eater, I am accustomed to rupturing tacos, but was a little annoyed there was no silverware on the table so it was difficult to eat the pieces, especially since there was so much steak in the taco. I turned to the spoon I was given for the rice and proceeded to scoop up and eat the small steak pieces then eat the tortilla separately; not really how I envisioned eating my Tio Luis tacos. The rice wasn’t much better since it was a bit stale and lacked flavor. Aside from the one pea I found towards the bottom of my bowl, it had no veggies either.

I have to say that I was a little let down by the “best tacos in town” and give them a 7. The soggy tacos just didn’t do it for me. The steak did have a pretty good flavor, however, I don’t think they were anywhere close to those at Zacatacos in Berwyn which were ranked #5, but were probably some of the best tacos I’ve tasted in all of my life.

Rating: 7/10

Dave’s take:

As V mentioned in her review, we went in with expectations that were probably a little too high. That may have doomed the place from the start. I also agree that the tacos were not nearly as good as Zacatacos. Actually, I think the taco joint right down the street from our place, El Asadero, is better. Actually, Tio Luis barely even beats Garcia’s if you ask me. While the horchata was above average, it was also nothing to go out of your way for.

I DID enjoy the rice and the chips, but again, nothing too special. Although V was excited about the carrots and cauliflower that apparently live on the tables, something about soggy vegetables sitting in broth all day just doesn’t appeal to me.

I was also annoyed by the fact that the waitress brought out the check and didn’t let me know that we needed to pay up front. This led to 5-10 minutes of us sitting there like a fool with out money ready for the waitress. But I guess part of that is my fault for not asking?

We pretty much have no reason to go back to this place, and I’m fine with that. Maybe some day we’ll hit up #2 and #3 on that taco list, so we can see if Zacatacos will remain our champion.

All in all, I’m giving this a 6/10 simply because it was cheap, pretty fast, and slightly above average, food-wise. But I don’t really think that this place is anything to get all worked up about........

Rating: 6/10

Overall Average: 6.5

Next up: Marc Burger

Bears Expo

2009-05-21T13:54:00.006-05:00

V and I attended the Bears Expo last weekend. It was a pretty good time. The first 4,000 entrants received scratch-off cards that were good for an entry to meet with a Bears current or former player (for an autograph). V and I dumbly got in the same line at the beginning and we both ended up with Lovie Smith. I was able to trade one of the Lovies for Richard Dent, so that was good. There were lots of good players in attendance (Cutler, Forte, Pace, Urlacher, for example), but the "secondary market" that formed for the scratch off cards didn't bode well for someone with just Richard Dent and Lovie Smith. I could have gotten Cutler for 50 bucks, but I was in no mood for that.

So I went and got Lovie's autograph:

And V got Richard Dent's:

Funny thing is, V was able to confirm that it WAS in fact Richard Dent that we saw when we were at Sushi Wabi a few weeks ago. And he hit on her and called her beautiful.... Guy was lucky I wasn't there for that, there could have been trouble!

We saw a couple Q&A sessions with the star players, walked around the field for a bit, and headed home. All in all it was good way to spend a morning/afternoon - it would have been nice if the concession prices were lower than normal game day prices, but oh well.

Oh yeah, there were locker room tours as well.

Restaurant 1/104 - Sushi Wabi

2009-05-07T20:21:00.004-05:00

Guest post from V:

Several weeks ago Dave ran across, Resto 100, a list of “essential” restaurants to visit in Chicago. This list is supposed to reflect not necessarily the “best” restaurants but instead is a “cross section of the wealth of culturally diverse and reasonably priced restaurants Chicago is lucky to have”. So we decided that we’d try and visit as many of these places as we could, randomly selecting a place every two weeks or so. Not only would this new little project allow us to branch out and try new, different foods, but it would also give us the opportunity to visit parts of the city we don’t regularly frequent.

Our first stop: Sushi Wabi, located in the trendy Randolph Street district over in the West Loop. It was a late Friday evening and this street’s restaurants were bustling (looks like at least two other restaurants on the list are on this street!). We approach Sushi Wabi and notice there are people waiting outside, but we had reservations so we don’t worry too much. We were a little early so we waited outside for a bit. While sitting on Randolph, who do I spot approaching the restaurant? None other than former Chicago Bear Richard Dent! I immediately start hyperventilating and get really excited that we might possibly be dining next to a former Super Bowl Shuffler!

Shortly thereafter, we’re seated (unfortunately, not next to the Dents, but I still managed to sneak peaks over their way throughout the night). The décor was pretty cool. Dim lighting, rustic seating and a brick wall back drop. The place itself was small and the seating was pretty tight (for instance, to get out of the chair, the whole table had to be moved). However, it was still quiet enough to be able to carry on a conversation, without hearing our neighbors’. There was also music playing in the background, but again, nothing too loud or distracting. It was mostly a dating scene with what appeared to be several couples enjoying an intimate sushi dinner, but also a younger, trendier group of clientele too. Maybe because of the long wait (30+ minutes without reservation) they probably wanted to get us out of there as quickly as possible, so the service was pretty fast. However, having said that, we didn’t feel rushed.

I immediately felt like we were in over our heads as far as food was concerned, having never formally been to a sushi place. We weren’t quite sure what to do with all of the stuff on our table. The warm towels? And the stones? How do we separate these chopsticks? We decided to scan around and see what others were doing. We apparently didn’t need the towels since we weren’t eating sushi and Dave eventually split his sticks apart. As for the stones, I used mine as a chopstick holder and… turns out that’s what they were meant to be used for, yay.

Now onto the food. The sushi looked like small works of art; very pretty and colorful. I was relieved that we had read over the menu a few weeks earlier and had both opted for entrees instead of sushi. To get things started we ordered the yakitori – skewered grilled chicken and scallions brushed with red miso paste. We got two skewers and the chicken was very tender and juicy. So far so good and I was excited to order my meal. I ordered the chicken teriyaki (I know, lame to go to a sushi place and order a meaty entrée instead) and it did not disappoint. These grilled, glazed, boneless, skinless chicken thighs were like the appetizer, cut into very tender, juicy strips and covered in a sweet and tangy sauce. It was served with rice and steamed veggies (broccoli, green and yellow peppers, and eggplant?) which were also very good and tasty. To make up for not eating sushi at a place renowned for it, I ate my entire meal (except some of the last bits of rice) with only chopsticks :) . The portion size was very decent, and it was filling enough that I took a pass on what looked like amazing dessert. Dave ordered the hibachi salmon, which was grilled with home-made plum sauce, seared mizuna greens and rice.

The drinks were a little pricey and not very strong ($9 for a martini) but the good food made up for it. The environment was pretty intimate (despite sitting very close to others) and was very hip and trendy – overall a fun night! And it was topped off with the Richard Dent sighting, so the next restaurant stop will have a lot to live up to.

Rating: 8/10

Dave's Take:

I think it should be noted that I devised a great way of selecting which restaurants we go to. I assigned each restaurant on the a number, between 1 and 104 (we added a few restaurants we were interested in). Then I go to random.org and let the random number generator decide where we're going next.

It's hard for me to expand much upon V's review, but I will give her mad props for figuring out what the heck that rock was for.

Overall, I thought the food was really good, but I didn't really like the atmosphere. The "bar" area was non-existent, and the tables were too close together. I could hear what the people at the tables next to us were saying, even if I didn't want to. It DID feel cool to be at a "trendy" place, and it's fun watching others wait while you're enjoying your meal (haha). And as V said, Richard Dent was there, so that was cool.

The bathroom was nothing special. For our meal after tip, it ended up being $70. We could have made it cheaper if we avoided the drinks (my bottle of Sapporo was $6) and the appetizer. But I'm happy with the experience overall. I'm pretty sure I will not be going back any time soon, but that's mainly because we have plenty of other places we have left on our list.

Rating: 7/10

Overall average: 7.5

Race that's Good for Life 2009

2009-04-20T06:19:00.003-05:00

Initially I planned on trying to run a perfectly paced 24:00 for this race. As you probably know, I had surgery back on July 22nd, and this was going to be my first race back. After months of easing back into things, I decided that shooting for even splits was a better idea than actually racing the race. No sense in getting carried away and hurting myself in the process, right?

Unfortunately, any way you looked at it, I was going to have a PW (personal worst) with this race. But hey, I'm just happy to be running again. If you would have asked me to give up running forever in order to make my back pains go away, I would have gladly accepted. As it stands now, any race I get to do in the future is just icing on that cake :)

Just before the start, I realized I was feeling good enough to change my goal from 24:00 to 23:00 (again, perfect splits). This would require running at a 7:25 pace for the entire race.

I lined myself up near the middle of the pack (which was a very strange feeling), and when the gun went off, I got elbowed a few times. But I quickly found a groove. I hit the first mile in 7:22 and the second in 7:22 as well, a little fast but generally on pace. Honestly, there wasn't much excitement in this race. It's traditionally one of the fastest 5k's in the area, but there is little to no crowd support (aside from the volunteers). The last time I ran this race (in 2007) I finished in 18:08. Since I wasn't technically "racing" I didn't have any memorable duels or anything of that nature. Just good, moderately hard running. Oh yeah, this was a men's only race (the women ran their own separate race earlier), so that meant it was a less crowded race.

In the end I DID run the third mile a little fast, along with a short "pickup" at the end. I finished ahead of my goal, with 22:40. That all sounds fine and dandy, but I'm a little disappointed that I was not able to come in closer to 23:00. I know that sounds odd - but part of my goal was to NOT run faster than I wanted. I failed in that regard - but at least I didn't hurt myself in the process!

All in all, it just felt great to be out there again, running in a race. Although it was a PW by over 2 minutes, I'm more than happy with my progress at this point.

Time: 22:39.9
Overall: 185/429
Male: 185/429
Age Group: 23/40

Architecture Tour

2009-04-20T06:15:00.003-05:00

I went on an architecture tour with John and V on Saturday. Here are my 5 favorite pictures:

Tournament Recap

2009-04-05T12:18:00.002-05:00

My final four: Louisville, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma.
ACTUAL Final Four: Michigan State, UConn, Villanova, North Carolina.

This year I managed to get 16/16 right into the Sweet Sixteen and 7/8 into the Elite. I was riding high! And then I didn't get a single freaking team into the Final Four. Whoops!

Can we PLEASE stop hearing about how bad the Big Ten is now? Sure Illinois got knocked out in the first round, but at least Purdue made the Sweet 16 and now MSU is in the title game. Every year we hear how terrible the Big Ten is, and how great the Big East is. What happened to the powerhouse teams of Lousville, Pitt, UConn, Syracuse, and Villanova. Gone. See ya. Adios. I can buy the criticism of Big Ten FOOTBALL, but basketball is a whole different story. And the great thing is, the conference is going to be very good for the next couple years. The All-Conference Team is all sophomores, and there isn't even a single senior on the Second Team either. Say what you will about games that end up with final point totals in the 50's and 60's.... Sure, it's not as exciting as seeing some ACC teams run up and down and put in 90 points in a game, but I'll take the rough and physical defensive nature of the Big Ten up against those other conferences any day. Plus, in a team like MSU or Purdue, they can run if they have to as well. Okay, enough ranting.

Shamrock Shuffle

2009-03-29T13:08:00.001-05:00

I did not run this, but I was there in the blizzard to spectate V and Becky. Thanks to John for the top and bottom pics.

Parade

2009-03-13T12:10:00.003-05:00

For the short time I lived with my Aunt and Uncle in Beverly, I had the experience of being home one year for the South Side Irish Parade. I am now SOOOOOOO glad that I will never have to go to that damn parade ever again. The parade is simply full of drunk idiot spectators that think it's cool to start pregaming at 8 AM, get plastered, pee on the local lawns, and puke in the alleys. It was a pure hell to be living near the parade walk. Take the annoyance of typical Cub fans after a night game, and multiply that times 100. Then add stupid green outfits, green antlers, and tons of underage people wandering the streets with 7-11 cups (like we don't know what's in there).

I just don't understand the draw. Grow up people! Weeeee, green beer! Give me a break.

I know I sound like a bitter old man at this point, but the sheer amount of drunkeness at the parade is pretty appaling. And living there made me seriously hate society for a little while after that date.

I can't WAIT to not go to that damn parade this year :)

Vacation!

2009-02-25T09:36:00.001-06:00

Took a great trip last week. I'm finally getting around to loading the pictures up. Spent 2 days in Reno by myself, and visited Lake Tahoe 1 day. Then I drove from Reno to San Francisco, where Vanessa flew in. We met there and spent the evening doing the Alcatraz tour. Then we drove all the way back to Reno and flew back to Chicago the next day. It was a travel-filled time but well worth it. I have posted some of the better pictures below.....

Reno, Tahoe, San Francisco

2009-02-25T09:27:00.006-06:00

Random Pictures

2009-02-08T14:09:00.004-06:00

February

2009-02-04T15:50:00.002-06:00

I really don't like February. It's also really cold outside, and sometimes very windy. Sometimes the sun doesn't come out for days. It's annoying (sometimes completely impossible) to run outside. Football season is over so Sundays are free (which is both annoying and nice at the same time). College basketball season is gearing up, which is cool, but it's still not post-season tournament time. There are no paid work holidays in February, and none of the horizon for any of the upcoming months either. Really, Chicago in February is a bear.

The best part about February is that it's only 28 days.

This year though, I am trying to break things up a little. Vacation! I will be going to Reno, Nevada, for a few days in the middle of this month. There was a really good deal available on Southwest Vacations that offered round trip (non-stop) flights from Midway to Reno, PLUS 3 nights in a 4 star hotel/casino, for under $300. I jumped at the opportunity and took 3 days off work. Should be fun. I actually plan on spending 1 day in Reno (probably gambling), 1 day in San Francisco (3-4 hour drive), and maybe 1 day in Lake Tahoe (or maybe 1/2 day). Should be fun!

Maybe February won't be so bad after all. But I still can't wait until March!

Note

2009-01-20T22:34:00.002-06:00

There was torn up note in pieces in our apartment's lobby. So of course, I had to collect all the pieces and put them back together to see what the heck that thing said. V did the actual piecing together, so it was a team effort. Here is the result:

This may be the best thing to come out of this building in the year and a half I've lived here.

Yo

2009-01-15T09:13:00.002-06:00

Got a new camera, so maybe I'll be putting some pictures up sometime soon. Then again, maybe not.

Don't think I mentioned it, but I'll be flying to Reno, Nevada, next month. I will spend one day gambling, one day in San Francisco, and then one day at Lake Tahoe. Should be a great trip, and there will definitely be some pictures from that.

Weather: The high today is -2 degrees. The HIGH. Cue the obligatory dumbass people saying "so much for global warming!"

2008 Running in Review

2008-12-30T16:08:00.004-06:00

Needless to say 2008 was not the best year, running wise.

But at least it started off fun. I ran in a 2-weekend series of track meets at a local high school in early January. It was my first (and only) time running timed races at distances of 1600m, 400m, and 200m. Unfortunately the track was very small (160m) so it was 10 laps to a mile. I'm sure my times were slightly affected by excessive turning, but that's okay.

January 11th
Niles West All-Comers Track Meet
1600m: 5:15.09
400m: 59.35 - 3:57/mile

January 18th
Niles West All-Comers Track Meet
1600m: 5:11.00
200m: 27.35 - 3:39/mile

Then there was a pretty decent sized break until the Wacky 5k. I took this as a "training race" because I was coming off a strange Sciatica injury (little did I know)......

March 2
Wacky 5k
19:04 - 6:09/mile
28/996 overall
28/406 male
11/84 age group

Starting in April I decided I was back to 100% and would go full out for the rest of the year.

April 5
Chicago Lakefront 50k
5:04:22 - 9:49/mile (PR!)
44/140 overall
36/102 male
9/18 age group

April 27
Ravenswood 5k
17:57 - 5:47/mile
56/2502 overall
54/1202 male
9/227 age group

May 17
Share your Soles 5k
17:50 - 5:45/mile (PR!)
2/62 overall (best overall finish ever!)
2/30 male
2/10 age group

And just like that, it was over. If you don't count the track races, it was 2 PR's in just 4 races. If you do count those, it was 6 in 8. Not too bad of a percentage! But of course, I'm realizing that I will not be running those sort of times any time soon. It's sad, but I'm also happy to have SOMETHING to show for this year.

What lies ahead in 2009? I'm hoping to run the Shamrock Shuffle without having to walk. I MAY do the Wacky 5k again as a "training" race again, and the goal for that would be to run the whole 5k without having to walk as well. My how my goals have changed! If things go according to plan, and I don't suffer any further injury or setbacks, I can resume "normal" racing in 2010. I'm in no hurry.

2008 Year in Review

2008-12-29T16:35:00.003-06:00

This was quite the year of ups and downs, to say the least.

The running year got off to a good start with some fast track races. . Unfortunately I was unable to PR in the Shamrock Shuffle or Ravenswood 5k, but I eventually dropped my 5k PR down to 17:50 at the Share your Soles 5k. Perhaps the best accomplishment of the running year was my new 50k PR. I will delve more into the running year in a separate post though.

There were lots of changes in day to day life. I moved into a new apartment, and V moved in with me. After a cardiac scare I started eating better and dropped my cholesterol back to normal levels.

But of course, everything was dwarfed by the "dark ages," which was the period from the time I hurt my back (June 1st) to the time I had my surgery (July 22). Life was pretty damn miserable at that time. I hope to never go through anything like that ever again. My life will be forever changed by those two months.

We traveled a bit as well. Arizona (Grand Canyon) in May and Dallas in November.

History was made and we were a part of it.

I had a marathon of concerts and lived to tell the tale.

Three people I once knew were lost.

All in all, it was a year of changes. But what year isn't? There were trying moments, and there were great moments. The most important thing is that I am still here, still living, and still loving. Although not everyone is here with me, I will press on, and I will try my best to make my life, and the life of those around me, better.

And Now for Something a Little More Upbeat....

2008-12-22T13:51:00.001-06:00

50

2008-12-19T11:57:00.003-06:00

I can remember when one of my Aunts turned 50...... My mom jokingly said that her 50th birthday would be one of the worst days of her life. She'd probably spend half the day crying about how she got old, or how she didn't do some of the things she wanted to do, or how the best years of her life were gone. I always wondered how I would celebrate the day with her. Would I try to play jokes on her to lighten the spirit? Would I not say too much to avoid making her sad?

I even remember way back in the early 90's, flipping though a computer calendar do see the date. It was so far off in the future. I was amazed that the computer even had a calendar that could go that far into the future! I remember thinking "hey it'll be a Friday, so that's good. I'll probably have a normal job and hopefully will be off on the weekend. If I don't live in Chicago (hopefully I'll be living downtown at that point, but who knows) I will be able to fly or drive or whatever and not have to worry about the weekend."

Things seemed so much different then.

And now that the day is actually here, right now, this moment, I guess it's just another day. I DO have a normal job, and I DO live downtown. But the day I thought would be such an important day is now going to just come and go without much of a whimper. It's been a hard month and a harder week. And although things do get easier and easier, they never get better, especially on days like today.

300th Post

2008-11-20T21:53:00.003-06:00

I don't have anything special planned for my 300th post. I never thought I would make it this far. I think my college website got up to around 100 updates, so I guess I'm three times better than I was back in school, right?

I've been swimming more than ever these days. Usually just for about 30 minutes, 3-4 times a week. I'm getting much better. I can pretty much swim for most of the time with minimal rest. When I first started I was having to stop every length or two.

I'm not quite comfortable "running" more than once or twice a week (still 3 min walk, 3 min run) x 3 or 4. I usually ride the bike when I'm at NAC and I still am trying to lift once a week.

One thing that I wasn't expecting was a lot of weight gain. But right now I'm 13 pounds heavier than I was at my lowest running weight. I'm certainly not fat by any means, but the weight is there, no doubt about it. However, I'd like to think that some of the extra weight is because of the development of additional muscles from the different types of training I am doing. Admittedly, I've gotten worse about my eating. After this year's cholesterol scare, I'm going to have to try and get better about what I eat.

Do I miss running? Yes, but not as much as I thought I would. I think I was beginning to take things a little too far. Yes, I DO want to run a lot again someday. Maybe even ultras again! But I think I was missing doing other things in life, like watching movies, playing video games, etc. I didn't realize it at the time.....But I might even be happier overall now, as I feel like I "do" more these days. Some people can have no other interests besides running, but I don't think I'm that way anymore. Thankfully!

Anyway, I've been doing some stuff lately, but this has also been a little bit of a slower time. Trying not to spend too much money these days. Never know when you're gonna need it!

On a side note, I need to start taking more pictures. Here's an old one, from my 21st birthday!

Child's Play

2008-11-07T15:39:00.001-06:00

I don't do much donating to charities, but I'm trying to get better.

If you are at all considering donating to a charity any time soon, I would strongly suggest you check out www.chidsplaycharity.org. Basically it is a charity created by the creators of Penny Arcade (a hilarious web comic mainly about video games). They have partnered with various children's hospitals around the country. You pick a hospital and are redirected to an Amazon.com page with various toys, video games, and books that the hospital would like. Then you place an order like any normal Amazon.com order, and the items are shipped directly to the hospital. Last year they raised over $1.3 million is cash donations and gifts for hospitals around the country.

I purchased 2 things this afternoon ("Cars" P22 game and Boggle board game) to be sent to the Kenosha children's hospital. Unfortunately at this time there are no Chicago area hospitals, but I e-mailed somone at Children's Memorial Hospital and I got a very quick response that they were going to contact Child's Play and try to get included. That would be awesome.

Anyway, that's it :)

GOBAMA

2008-11-05T15:49:00.003-06:00

Yes we went! Going to the Obama rally was definitely a great time. I'm very happy that the election turned out the way it did (blue state holla!), and actually being there to be a part of history was truly amazing. As you might already know, as soon as the polls closed at 10 PM central time, they made the announcement, leading to what can only be described as a combination of utter excitement, happiness, and relief.

Admittedly, those who were not physically in attendance missed some MAJOR buzzkills in the form of horrible country songs being played repeatedly over the loudspeakers and one of my top 5 worst national anthems I've ever heard being sung a few minutes before Barack came out. Seriously, it was sooooo painful to watch this woman butcher the anthem with incorrect words (with bright stripes and bright stars, through the peril-less time????? COME ON), etc. What should been a time for us to go nuts like at a Blackhawks game, ended up with stunned silence. I almost wanted to boo.

But other than that, it was awesome. And 70 degrees in November!

I don't know if I've ever been prouder to be an American.

Realized I haven't done any photos in a while....

2008-11-01T23:08:00.005-05:00

All are from our Arizona trip from May.

Running

2008-11-01T22:52:00.003-05:00

Thursday October 30 marked the first time since June 1st that I ran. 3 minutes at 10:00/mile pace, then 3 minutes walking. Repeated 3 times. So in all, not even 1 mile. But you have to start somewhere right? This was all under supervision at physical therapy. Everything seemed to go alright. I wouldn't say I felt great on the treadmill, but there were no back-injury related pains, so I think that's a great start.

I have been cleared to run 3 minutes at a time at no greater than 9:00 pace, up to 4 or 5 sessions every few days. So tomorrow V and I are going to go out for 4 x 3:00. I'm very excited! I actually have strict orders to pay attention to my running (no headphones!) and keep my abs moderately tight throughout. Much of my physical therapy currently involves strengthening my core muscles to properly support my back through various exercises. The idea is that once I get back into running, my core will be strong enough to support all the impact.

Progress has been somewhat slow in my mind, but I've been told to be back under supervised running after just over 3 months is very impressive. At least for someone that isn't a professional athlete or anything.

Slowly but surely!

Running

2008-10-16T17:31:00.003-05:00

First off, HUGE congrats to Melissa who completed the Chicago Marathon last weekend. Anybody who is interesting in becoming a marathon should read her latest post to see how all the struggles & hardships are totally worth it in the end. Congratulations on becoming a marathoner Melissa!

As for me, my physical therapists (yes there are 2 now) seem to think I can start running again in a few weeks. I feel like that would be okay, but I'm still a little worried. I mean, it hasn't even been 3 months since my surgery yet! But they say I'm progressing remarkably well and there's no reason for me to wait if my body says I'm fine. So I think they are planning on having me run while at PT for my last session (I think I have 3 sessions left after today, and we're doing one every two weeks, so that would mean I could be running in 6 weeks - yikes). In the meantime I will continue doing elliptical and bike as much as possible, and swimming once a week (which I hope to up to twice a week).

Vanessa and I went and watched some of the marathon in person. And of course, I was inspired and am hoping to do (at least) one again some day. I'd actually like to get back into Ultra Marathons even more than regular marathons. But first things first! One step at a time I guess. Maybe if things go well I'll sign up for Chicago next year (where I WON'T try and PR).

I wish I had some cool pictures or something to post, but I really don't. But hey, this weekend I'll turn the big 2-6, and hopefully there will be some pictures from my b-day bash!