Vida

Have you heard of the possibilty of having high speed trains in the United States (like they already are using in other places of the world)?  And it keeps getting shut down by people. Personally, I find this sad (that it's being shut down). Want to know more?  I recommend reading $20 per Gallon if you want to investigate this further. Today the big news in Chicago (maybe not the big news, but news nonetheless) is people are riding on a high speed train.  Here's the jist:  It's on the amtrak track from Chicago to St. Louis.  The train can go up to 110 mph and only for a small section of the line.  The high speed trains in Europe & Asia go 150+ mph. Personally, I am excited by this news.  I mean, at least it's a start. I've ridden the Amtrak from St. Louis to Chicago before for something crazy like $60 and it took 6 hours.  It was awful and I vowed to never ride it again and I haven't.  (The megabus was sold out on that sad sad day.) If those train

Right now, right this moment, I feel like I'm exactly where I should be. This city is awesome. 7 years later and I'm still discovering new places and things and exploring neighborhoods.  In the past week I went to a peruvian restaurant in it says Logan Square, even though I thought it was Humboldt Park, it's between the two... I also got to try ethiopian food for the first time. There are so many places to discover! As long as I can listen & occasionally watch the Cardinals here... ;) We're back home today & I can't be happier!

It's Monday and for some reason I am less ready for Monday than usual. So let's do something fun! Go to gobarbara.com  and type your name in the large square.  Then click Go!.  They'll add your name in a song.  It's just for fun! Karen gave me a gift card for Starbucks so this morning definitely called for a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  I always take a mug.  Usually a real mug, not the traveling cup.  Then I walk back with my mug.  I used to notice people staring at me, but I don't even notice anymore.  I don't care if it's odd. I got back to my place and the only neighbor I have somewhat of a relationship with (by relationship I mean if we run into each other, we have a conversation or if we see each other on the street, we say hello).  He immediately commented on my mug and said how he does the same thing and also ignores the stares.   I'm not the only one!  Yay! HAPPY MONDAY!  We can make it!!! p.s. In case you are wondering, the Cardinals won las

Yeah, I know.  I seem to only talk about the marathon and baseball right now.  But it's exciting. If you missed last night's Cardinals game, I'm sorry.  It was epic.  EPIC!  (I do not overuse that word.) We were down 6-0 in the 3rd.  Yes, you read that right, SIX!  We battled back and in the ninth inning we scored 4 to win 9-7!  Oh my gosh.   #1 They clearly like to give me a heart attack. #2 So exciting! #3 This morning I had to check if it was real. Said Motte: "They don't give up. They go out there and battle every single pitch until the last pitch is made. And they proved that again tonight." Motte, who debuted with St. Louis in 2008, really experienced it for the first time during the Cards' epic run last season. But rookies like Joe Kelly, who threw 1 2/3 valuable innings of scoreless ball to keep the game within reach, had never really lived it. Until Friday. "I got here as a rookie this year, and I've never felt so welcome an

I literally saw this and said "awww" out loud.  We're talking about two fictional characters here:  Rally Squirrel & Fred Bird.  It doesn't matter, it's cute. " In the end, it’s difficult to argue against the Cardinals finishing the NLDS in four games on Thursday. All of the momentum is with them now. The series is theirs to lose and they have two games to do it in—but I wouldn’t expect that. You can never count out the Cardinals if they make it to October. There is a reason the franchise boasts 11 World Series championships." ( via )

I PRed people!!!   By 17 seconds.   Seriously. Maybe when you think of 26.2 miles you think 17 seconds is no big deal.  Well, it is.  Did you know the first and second place women this year finished 1 second apart.  1 second. It's a big deal. 2008 time 3:54.19 2012 time 3:54.02 (Yes, the official people were very nice to my email inquiring what my time was and used photos to figure it out.  No, I do not get my splits for the last half, but I'll take my ending time and be happy.)

Marathon #4 is in the books and it was fun.  Fun & hard, don't get me wrong, but definitely still fun. I received SOOOO many encouraging texts, emails, and even gifts  (seriously gifts-my friends and family are too nice) from friends & family that I couldn't be more grateful for.  It was so unnecessary, but so much appreciated!  I totally pulled stuff up in my mind that people sent me along the way.  I thought of others' stories.  I thought of a quote my dad sent me, which I mainly just remembered "persistence"  "determination" short and sweet.  It was awesome! I decided to bike to the marathon Sunday morning mostly to warm myself up before I sat in the coral for an hour before the start.  I wore an extra pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt, which I left at the start and they come through and collect everything after everyone starts and they donate everything.  I'm so glad I wore them because as soon as I took them off I was cold cold cold.

And the day is almost here.  I'm ready.  (Or as ready as I can be.) I've been focusing on veggies and carbs all week, like I was supposed to.  Although Friday I woke up and all I wanted was veggies (maybe I was a bit too heavy on the carbs side earlier in the week) so I ignored the carbs and made a huge stir fry of veggies.  And it was delicious. I visited the expo so I have my bib and I'm ready to go.  I didn't mingle around too long because every year has relatively the same stuff and I was in a bit of a hurry anyway. Nike dove right in following the neon trend right now.  It was cute but PACKED so I glanced around and walked out.  They also did the name wall (every runner's name is on the wall) again this year, which is always cool.  And they had an interactive side where you could scan your bib and there was a huge screen that would say Name OWNS 26.2 with a huge Nike sign.  It was awesome.  I give them the best booth award (which I just invented in my head

And it's finally time to start looking at the weather for this weekend's marathon. And it's going to be cold.  Probably 44º when it finishes.  With rain showers at 7:30.  Seriously.  The first wave start is at 7:30 and everyone else (including me) starts (sort-of) at 8.  (By sort-of I mean it usually takes about a half hour or more for everyone to even cross the start line.  45,000 people is a lot.  They have a new start system this year that I'm not too excited about for many reasons, but we'll see how it goes.)  I'm not even going to complain because I can't control the weather and it's not 100º so this is what it is.   Now.  What do I wear? Here's a quick reminder that I trained through one of the hottest Chicago summers so clearly I am not prepared for this weather. I don't like to wear anything for the marathon that I haven't worn for a 20 mile run.  All my 20 mile runs I wore shorts and a tee.  The old runner saying 'nothin

Today is beautiful here in Chicago! I always get excited when I come home from trips.  For some reason, this week I was exceptionally excited!  I just love this city. And today's perfect 78º day was the perfect weather to enjoy it.  I took complete advantage of this and walked to the lake for lunch.  Then on my walk back to my place the swings by my place were open.  This never happens!  There are always kids and families there.  Since I am a respectable person I do not hog the swings when there are kids around so I usually go under the cover of darkness when they're all in bed.   BUT today it was open!  So I obviously took advantage! Then I brought back Afternoon Dance Time.  This means I get up and dance to one of the songs playing (I usually listen to music when I work from home).  I used to do this all the time.  You know, around 2, when it's just time for the day to be over, but I still have 3 hours to go.  To get more energy to finish the day.  And today it mad

That is all. Friday's going to be an awesome game.   CAN'T WAIT! " Traditionally, in similar circumstances, the team that loses a game yet wins a postseason berth is said to have "backed in." That sells these Cardinals somewhat short. They didn't back in as much as they climbed in, over a mountain of obstacles. They had major departures, from the game's most prominent player, to one of the game's most prominent managers to one of the most widely respected pitching coaches in the game. And then, after the Cardinals managed to get off to a 20-11 start they were hit with a wave of injuries to important personnel." ( source ) - That whole article is awesome if you have the chance to read it. And here we are! I'm wearing my Cardinals hat all day Friday!

Well, hello October & hello fall.  Here you are. I'm glad summer is followed by such a lovely season so I'm not so upset.  I'm a summer girl.  I love summer.  As summer comes to an end fall always helps me feel a little better about my favorite season coming to an end, with fall at a close second in my book. (I hope that makes sense, I'm feeling pretty scattered right now.) Regardless, I'm in Michigan and the trees are beautiful !