Whew!

The finish line. There was an announcer in the tent on the left broadcasting our names as we crossed. (SO FUN!) He even pronounced my last name OK, and when he did, I did the Rocky hands in the air.
The triathlon was AMAZING. I haven't had time to really process all of my thoughts but I thought I'd report in and start to post a few of the pictures I took over the next couple of days.

Time: 4:22am. Location: North entrance to the world's largest triathlon transition area. They were supposed to open at 4:15am. We were getting pretty antsy from waiting the 7 minutes, but they opened very soon after I took this pic.
As an event, as a spectacle, as a personal achievement, as a physical challenge and mental rush - the whole thing blew me away. I LOVED IT! I am definitely hooked and hope to do another one - the sooner the better!

Ducks in row

Here are some gorgeous flowers and lovely purple pods that grow with them. I have no idea what thy are but I saw them on a dog walk and had to take a picture.
I am on vacation this week. I worked a 4-hour day on Monday (which I will take as flex time next week, you can be sure) but other than that, I have been free. I was supposed to clean my entire disgusting apartment and do all kinds of wonderful organizing and decorating projects, but instead, I have done a lot of lounging around, grocery shopping, laundry, internet bs, and some triathlon prep. I also gave Lois a bath. It's been wonderful so far. I think I need another couple weeks to get to the cleaning and organizing bit. Oh! And the weather has been perfect perfect perfect. Today I am getting a student (cheap) massage at the Chicago School of Massage Therapy.

I went to my last group workout last night. It was an easy run on the lakefront path for 20 minutes, with 4 30-second "accelerations" mixed in. I liked it. I biked fast to get there, ran well, and I sweated a lot. It was good. Then I biked to Lou Malnati's pizza place, where I just drank water (forgot my money and also wanted to eat the 10 tons of food I have at home) and talked with the other ladies. It's fun to be this close to the event - everyone is really excited. The coaches answered our questions and everyone had a good time. I ducked out early, before the pizza arrived, and rode home to eat soup and buttered garlic naan instead.

Yesterday I bought a new bike helmet (they check them at the triathlon) and also had my bike inspected for the race. I was worried - since working on it myself and it being so old, a hand-me-down, etc., I was sure they'd come up with all kinds of repairs I'd need to have done (and pay for) - but they said it was in great shape! Yea for bike class!

The other thing I will briefly say is that I have met two nice guys through the internet. So let's just say that things are going ok in one department - at least as an interim plan. I am still looking for Mr. Right, and am positive that he's out there somewhere. I think being - um, less distracted than I was before - will help with that search.

Lordy Lordy

G, looking pretty damn surprised when he walked in.

Then he was hugged his by son J, who shouted "Surprise!" the loudest of anyone.

My friend G, a drummer in many an excellent band, and an all-around great, funny, wonderful guy that everyone loves, turned 40 last Thursday and his wife, my friend B, threw him a huge, fun, crazy surprise party at a club called Martyr's.


The band onstage when he walked in was Exo, who he played with years and years ago. He was really really touched to see em all together. G even got behind the drum kit at the end of the evening with them (for the first time all night!) when they came up for an "encore" after all the other bands had played.



Now, this party was even advertised as a "show" in the newspapers, on the website for more than a month, and on the club's outdoor marquee, and G was still surprised, hadn't gotten wind of it at all. It was awesome.


I forgot my camera, but I had my trusty, non-flash, less than 1 megapixel camera phone handy. This is why the pics all suck.

Probably the funniest moment of the night, Robbie Fulks and band's improv-rap-scat song about G.

I helped out by stage managing the bands that were playing, all 10 or so of which have a G connection somehow. It was super fun. And it was excellent to have a role - if you know me, you know how I hate to just be at a party.


The emcee was Dick O'Day, who was hilarious. We worked together to make the show run smoothly despite the grouchiest sound guy in Chicago (seriously!) trying to bring us down for most of the night.


Oh, there was bingo! Dick O'Day brought it. It was fun. Whenever there was a "G" called, he asked for a piece of G trivia.


Here's the awesome mom of G, who came in from New Hampshire for the party, and brought great posters of digitized pictures and ephemera from G's childhood/life. Including letters like "No one loves me, I hate you, I do not want to speak to anyone ever again and that's final, Love, G" type things in total kid writing. Have I told you how much I love G's mom?

I only drank 3 drinks in about 6 hours, and still I was a wreck the next day. It was super fun though. B did a great job.

Tri update

The last day of my awesome, wonderful bike class was Monday - that's Don and Steve, my excellent and very cute teacher (on right, looking down) who helped me fix up my bike so it's running much better. I'll miss it!
I'm in the final stretch of triathlon training, and it's getting exiting, and nerve-wracking, and tiring, and all of that. My body is acting a bit strange - I've been exhausted, like fatigued, for the past week and a half or so, and hungry, and sore, and horny, and somewhat depressed all at once. It's like the world's worst PMS. It could be PMS, too, so that's a funny twist.


We had our practice "mini-tri" last Saturday morning - 1/3-mile swim, full (14-mile) bike, and then a 1.5-mile run, with transitions, the whole bit. I did it all in exactly 1.5 hours, which is Ok, not super-great, but way better than I thought. Especially because I dropped my chain once, and my bike bottom bracket was all f-ed up, and I even ran the whole time, didn't walk once! I was about in the middle of the group, time wise - 2 women finished before me, and 5 finished after. I felt HORRIBLE on the ride downtown - woke up late, felt tired and woozy, almost didn't go, etc., so if I can feel a little better for the actual event, that would make it even better!

Here is my little transition area - the only thing I forgot to put on was the pink racing belt, between bike and run.
I haven't done a situp or pushup in a couple of weeks, I have to also admit to you lovely readers. There are "strength" workouts on our daily schedules once in a while - usually 2 or 3 times a week - and I have been totally ignoring them. This week all I've done training-wise is an open-water timed half-mile on Tuesday (22:00 - eh). I was rained out of a bike/run workout Wednesday, and yesterday I had the party to attend, so today is supposed to be a rest day, but I plan to go running with Lois after work to make up for yesterday.

Tomorrow morning is our last bike/run brick workout at the forest preserve. I have to be up and out by about 6 to get there on time, but I still bought a ticket to see Tony Clifton (yes, that Tony Clifton) tonight at the Chopin theatre with friends. Should be crazy. Apparently the show is like never-ending (starts at 10:30, goes to 3am?) because he wants to torture people into walking out.

I've taken the whole next week off of work, too, which will give me some much-needed rest time, prep time, time to clean my apartment, and time to move me and Lois to my parents' condo for a few nights before the triathlon, so I can practice sleeping there, in the twin bed, with Lois, and getting to bed early enough to get up at 3 on the day of the event (to take Lois out, eat breakfast, and bike to the triathlon by the 4:15am course open time). I'm also doing a 5K run on Thursday night with my brother, which will be fun. I'm mainly looking forward to the break from work - the ickiness has been getting to me.

More updates coming soon!

Family

This is my nephew D. He's 5. He's the only son from the first marriage of my stepsister C to the guy she eloped with after knowing him for 2 weeks. The managed to stay together for 2 years and produce this wonderful little munchkin. Now C is married to a good friend of my brother's, who she met at my brother and sister-in-law's wedding, and they have a second son, J, who's 2-1/2. They live in St. Louis and I never get to see them, except on the occasional Christmas.


My parents picked D up this past weekend in my Mom's new Prius in Hannibal, MO so he could stay with them and have a weekend in the "big city."

I loaned my camera to them because they forgot theirs. Here are a couple examples of my mother's handiwork behind the lens:




I saw D on Thursday night after my Elvis 5K and then also came over after my minitri on Saturday morning, too. I ended up spending the whole day with them Saturday and slept over with Lois that night.

We went to the beach on Saturday with my brother and sister in law (above - can you tell?), and they went to the zoo while I went to the bike shop and took a shower. We went out to dinner and D got really tired.



The next morning, at 6am, Lois started barking and I woke up to see that D. had woken up. I dragged myself out of bed and took him and Lois to the beach again, where, before like 9am, when it officially opens, they allow dogs.



On the way to the beach he showed me some of his tricks. It was nice to spend time alone with him. He's a pretty neat kid! Plus, he and Lois got along great, which was a relief, because she's not fond of many kids. But she loved D.



Although it was dog swim time, and the waves were crazy, and it was 6:30am, and only about 65° out, and we weren't wearing swimming suits and I hadn't brought towels or a change of clothes, the first one in the water was not the dog, but (of course) D. He went in and got his shorts wet and I said, "Just don't get your head wet!" for fear that he'd catch some horrendous cold and have to walk all the way home all purple-lipped and freezing... well, his head was under the water within about 10 seconds. He loves the water. He was like - "it's not even salty!" (which I know, means he was tasting it, ugh) and just kept flinging himself into the waves and playing. It was fun to watch.



On the way back I got a taste of what my parents had alluded to when they said he'd been difficult. He stopped and sulked. He wouldn't move. I talked, I poked I joked I promised and I threatened, and he would not budge. He did this twice on the way back, but luckily I got him going. He just would get in these foul, obstinate states that were insanely hard to figure out or to 'crack.'

Then, we all went to one of my favorite breakfast restaurants and he ordered Swedish meatballs. He loved them!



He did the stubborn thing a few more times and my parents got furious. He had also spent most of the weekend not saying please, or thank you, which made them very upset. By the time they were ready to go, I tried to get a picture of all three of them, but D refused to look up, and that was it - they just got him into the car and pulled away. I felt bad that I couldn't say goodbye to him before he left Chicago, but he wasn't even looking at me, and I couldn't force him. Sort of a big bummer.

They were packing up I guess, because about an hour later, I got a phone call. To my surprise, it was D. Here's the conversation:

(Very quiet, high 5-year-old voice): "Sorry."

"Hi D! What are you sorry for?"

(Still quiet) "Sorry."

"But why are you saying you're sorry?"

"Because I'm sorry!!"

"No, but I mean, what are you sorry about?"

"Because I wouldn't smile when you wanted to take our picture and I was..."

"Sulking?"

"Yeah..."

"OK, I accept your apology - I'm glad you called!"

"OK. Bye." (fumbling with the phone in background) muffled voice: "Poppy? Where's the off button?"Click.



It's funny how family reacts to different personalities. I almost feel that the way I had giant screaming fits as a kid was easier for my mom to handle because a) it'd be obvious what it was about (usually something very appropriate, I am sure..!), b) I'd be really done afterward, quickly going back to being the perfect little girl, plus, c) then she could react with yelling and somewhat chaotic behavior, too, which was sorta all she was capable of at the time. But with the way D behaves, we all were just like, "What the hell do we do??" ...and I think he liked that.

I am also sure that spending more time with him will be a really good thing. I get to see all of C's family in less than a month for my mom's surprise 60th b-day party. THAT will be fun!

I know

...I am lame at posting with regularity. I loaned my camera to my parents while they had my 5-year-old nephew in town this weekend, so I just got it back and took some myself - it was an exhausting weekend, but super fun. This next week is CRAZY with parties and social events, and I am getting scared of being sick or otherwise debilitated for the triathlon, which is less than 13 days away.

YIKES!

Elvis was a hero to most

A lovely bunch of runners. They tried to get me in the picture but I declined.

I ran this HILARIOUS, great 5K last night called the "Elvis is Alive 5K" - it's organized by the running store that put on the women's 5K I did, and I decided to do this one at the very last minute yesterday. I went home and walked Lois, changed, and biked downtown to get there like 3 minutes before race start, not really knowing what to expect, but they were blasting Elvis music from two points along the path, there was a beer tent, and they allowed me to register that late - already a cool race by me! Plus, the first song they started us off with was "A Little Less Conversation," which was fun because I know a go-go routine to that song!

The runners' post-race beer line

The run was self-timed, which means no chip to wear and you don't have a large # of superfast superrunner types participating - way more of a 'fun run.' Plus, starting downtown at 6:45pm on a Thursday along the lakefront is conducive to people doing it just to blow off steam. The funniest thing was the people who ran in costumes - SERIOUS costumes - men, women, kids, dressed from head-to-toe in Elvis outfits and in hawaiian stff (this year's theme was Ble Hawaii) - and running in these getups! Even the people running in just the Elvis glasses with the sideburns attached made me smile.

The last of the sandwich quarters. They were sooooo good.

The very best part was at the end. You run past the finish line and there are the water people and the gatorade people and then there are two tables, one on each side of the corral - filled with cut up peanut butter and banana sandwiches!! Not just the usual bagels and bananas! And then the free beer that comes with your race registration, and then the Elvis impersonator takes the stage, and it's just fun. I sorta wish I'd gone with someone else, but the people watching was great, even alone.

And know what? I ran faster by two minutes than I did in the other race (even though I really wasn't hurrying), and I chalk it up to the constant crack-up from the costume people and the music playing. Helps a lot for someone who still doesn't love running.

Film/music, food, etc.

Not much to report, but I forgot to post pics of a fabulous thing I attended last Wednesday with friends S, M, and M. It was at Millennium Park, where they were showing "A Throw of Dice"


- an amazing 1929 silent film from India. It was the U.S. premier of the film's new soundtrack by British/Indian Dj Nitin Sawhney, performed by Sawhney on keyboards, a male and female vocalist and tabla player, PLUS the entire Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. It was awesome.


Here's a lawn shot from behind where we were sitting - not as packed as I've seen for pop music shows, but still crowded nonetheless. Lovely night, too!


In other news I have been craving two things lately: random foods (see delicious tempura chicken, above, with farmer's market broccoli and brown rice) and - well - a man.

I call it being "boy-crazy," but you can call it what you will. I hope I'm not getting desperate - I think with the 6-month mark since my last - um - contact (?) fast approaching, I will get very brave, though. I'll keep you posted. With my training-limited alcohol intake of late, it should be interesting...

Now, I think I'm heading downtown for another open-water swim. Can't decide if I should ride my somewhat busted bike (bottom bracket trouble for you gearheads) or take a train...

Phone pic catchup

Friday night was the awesome Polkaholics doing a "musical" of the life of Li'l Wally Jagiello, but they did a whole regular set first, and we were tired, so
...B (above, in bad no-light pic) and I had to leave early. We'd been out to delicious dinner beforehand, and got to visit a little more at the bar during the break, too, so that was the main thing anyway. We definitely thought their set time choices were lame - wouldn't you want the people less ridiculously drunk for the thing you've worked on for a year, and have them plastered for your regular stuff?
Saturday morning I was up with the birds to get down to Ohio St. beach for an open water swim. I was a little late, though, and couldn't find my training group among the spandex-and-neoprene crowd that was there. It's amazing how many people are up and out that early as it gets closer to the event!
This is my favorite photo. It doesn't quite capture how high (and super frightening) the waves were. I swam a crazy half-mile in it. I have never had such a treacherous swim in my life! Luckily the triathlon will be in a harbor, and the waves won't be as bad. You can see how few people actually swam once they saw the 4-foot waves. Grueling.
Even more ridiculous than the wetsuit crowd are these incredible herds of runners who are out at 5, 6, 7am on Saturdays on the lakefront in August. I know they are part of running/training groups, but it's sorta scary when you see them coming. Like, there are hundreds and hundreds of them, stampeding along the trail out of nowhere. Hard to bike around, too.
I have to say though, that the triathlon people are all very friendly and super cool. I feel like I've discovered a whole new world I never knew existed! Plus, it is really great to be up and already all worked out before 8am on a gorgeous summer Saturday!
After a coffee and walk with Lois, it was off to my friend S's (with A, above) yard sale, where a bunch of us hung out and kept her and her landlady company while they peddled their wares.
It was a fun group of people. D, A and J (seated on left) brought sausages, hot dogs and buns and D grilled them for us for a lunchtime treat.
But the best part was the amazing lemonade J sold for 50¢ a glass, and the delicious ghirardelli brownies that were 50¢ each, too. His mom made it and he and his brother were splitting the profits with charity. Cute, huh? The kicker was that he poured you your yummy lemonade and then if you wanted, you could add a "splash" of vodka from the cooler. We were all very relaxed that afternoon.
Then I rode home for a bit, and rode back, and S and I rode to A's lovely house for a LOVELY dinner! She made penne with vodka sauce and caesar salad and R grilled sausages and J brought fresh bread from Red Hen Bakery and we all brought wine and a fantastic group of 7 was there and the great conversation, out in the beautifully lit backyard at night, was funny and mellow and fabulous. S and two friends joined us later, after they were out to eat. No one wanted to leave. I didn't get any pictures (besides the spread, above) because really, it was too perfect to spoil. I found out J and I went to the same grade school and middle school! He's 6 years older but still, it was fun to know that. We talked religion, and libido, and future planning, and art - it was a perfect dinner party.
SO, then on the ride home at 2am, a rear spoke on my bike broke as I rode through Logan Square from A's place in Humboldt. I rode on it anyway because it was so late - to the bike shop - and locked and left it there over night. Then I walked home, stopping at about 3 at the Burrito House, above, for horchata and guacamole. I have never seen so many people in line there! (But I've also never been there at Saturday bar closing time.)
And though I've spent like 150 dollars in transport already this month, I rented an iGo on Sunday afternoon (after sleeping until 1pm and the hour-long walk back to the bike shop to bring it in) so I could take Lois to the dog beach for the first time in a long, long time. She had a blast - but there were so many people there (lots of unattended kids that didn't even seem to have dogs with them, annoying), she really didn't play with other dogs and focused on playing ball.
Lois loves swimming, but she's really slow going in and getting to the ball. If another dog goes for her ball, she just lets the dog take it. It's funny.
It was a great weekend. Then I worked yesterday and subbed a couple of art classes and went to the dermatologist and then to awesome bike class where I replaced my brake cables and housing and learned about tire trueing (sp?), which was too late for my spoke problem, but still cool to learn. There was a massive storm while we were in there - we heard that a tornado hit. But we kept going. I love my bike class. Then it stormed again, all night almost, and poor Lois freaked out. Seems calm this morning, but I saw some serious downed trees and pieces of building on our late between-storms walk last night. Also three birds that were hurt badly by the storm on the sidewalk - I didn't realize until Lois sorta chased one that that's what was going on. Sad!

Today I'm up early for no good reason. I have a "big" tri practice tonight - our group is meeting at the race site to go over transitions and get the lay of the land for the event. Maybe I'll take pics. I hope my good bike is finished being fixed and I can pick it up!