Jen and Meg's Excellent Road Trip Recap: The Grand Canyon

Wowza, talk about getting sidetracked.  I started posting about Megan and I's roadtrip, unfortunately, less than a week later, Mike and I headed out on a short road trip of our own for a meetup with some of my family near Charleston, South Carolina (that post is coming soon).  So, without further adieu, I'll attempt to get back on track recapping the big road trip, starting with our visit to the Grand Canyon.

THE Grand Canyon

News flash: The Grand Canyon is big, real big.   Walking up, I didn't know what to expect from only seeing pictures in history or travel books.  But man, it is bigger than you could ever imagine.  At one point a park ranger commented that if you were a bird (or plane), it is just 10 miles across, but to drive around the whole thing is several hundred miles.  Don't quote me on that exactly, but hopefully you get the idea.  The Grand Canyon is so big that it make the Colorado River look like a stream.  In fact, in many places, it was barely visible from the top of the canyon.

The best view of the Colorado River from top of the Canyon

We chose to experience the scenery by walking the popular 'Rim Trail' along the South Rim of the Canyon, which is by far the most popular part.  The Rim Trail is about 5 miles round trip, and a pretty easy hike overall, as most of the path is paved.  Even so, most people seemed to stay within the first half mile of the trail - it was much less crowded as we proceeded further down the trail.  Below, and right, are a few pictures I took.  As the markings on the trail pointed out, the Grand Canyon is billions of years in the making and you can't mistake the distinct layers of rock no matter where your viewpoint.

I remember telling Megan the next time I visit the Grand Canyon, I would take advantage of the numerous hikes available.  I can only imagine how beautiful the view is within the Canyon looking up.

We camped overnight in the Desert View campground several miles outside from the main Visitor's Center, which had modest accommodations (no water), though it did have flushable toilets.  There was a fire ban in effect because of the dry conditions, so no campfires either.  Our one night there was pretty uneventful.  We each had a sandwich and a few beers, and laid our heads down shortly after the sun had fully set.  The next morning we woke up as early as possible and started our drive to Zion National Park in Utah.

Chicago Marathon Training Update: Week 9

I can't believe its only week 9 of the Chicago Marathon training program.  It feels like we have been running FOR-ev-er.  Of course, as my friend Michelle reminded me the other week, we only have about 10 weeks left until the marathon.  The good news is that I am feeling really good about where I am in terms of training.

Things have been going well these last few weeks (despite the lack of posts about my progress).  The night before we headed to South Carolina, Mike and I did a 12 mile run on the lake.  In South Carolina, we did one early morning run on the beach of 3 miles.  That was the only run we did that week, unfortunately, but we also went kayaking one morning, which we rationed was some form of "cross training."

Then last Saturday, while Mike was out of town, I did the longest run to date of our training - 13 miles.  I got a bit of a late start, but luckily the temperature was supposed to be pretty mild, and even a bit cool for most of the morning.  I attempted to change my running form a bit to make my steps/strides a lot easier on my knees, and it seemed to work.  I was a bit sore later in the day on Saturday, but all things considered, I felt really strong after the 13 miles.  Granted it was almost 3 years ago, but I remember being a lot more sore after some of the long runs when we trained in 2009.

This week is a roll back week - not sure if that's the official term - but it means our long run is only 10 miles.  You know you are training for a marathon when you can say things like only 10 miles.  As a result, we should have done some long-er runs during the week - 3 miles on Tuesday, 7 on Wednesday, and 4 on Thursday.  Well, we didn't quite hit that goal, but I personally ran 3 of the 3 days, I just didn't do all the mileage.  On Tuesday, Mike and I did 3 miles at a pretty good pace (see image below).  Wednesday I did just over 3 miles on the treadmill, again, at a pretty fast pace, and finally, I ran a 5k race (3.11 miles) last night with a few friends.  I averaged under 9min/mile, which all things considered, I was very happy with.  Had the weather been a bit cooler, I may have been able to push that more, but oh well.  After the race, I got to catch up and have a few beers with my friends Kate and Roni.  Today is an off day, so I'll spend most of the day watching the Olympics and doing some reading.  Lately, I've been reading a lot of articles/posts on the Gatorade Sports Science Institute website - everything from nutrition advice, how to improve sports performance, the best type of strength training, etc.  Its not just a big advertisement for Gatorade, its a sports performance virtual library. 

Another thing that has been invaluable in our training is the Nike+ running app.  So long as you have a smartphone, it replaces the need for the Nike+ iPod software that is still widely used by some people.  The old version involved a small sensor that tracked mileage based on steps, not unlike a pedometer.  It was linked to your phone or iPod, as the name suggested.  Unfortunately, as I learned recently, the sensor has a certain battery life, and once it dies, the only remedy is to buy an entirely new sensor.  At $20 per sensor, its a big waste of money.  The Nike+ running app was a budget friendly $1.99 at the iPhone App Store.  It remains the only app I've ever paid for, but has definitely been worth it.  It uses the GPS technology of your phone to track mileage (it is very accurate) and plays audio feedback during your run, if you choose.  The audio feedback includes your miles, total time, and per mile pace, which is a must when training for a marathon.  Finally, once you complete a run, you can sync all of your data to the Nike+ website, and not only view the information, but also link up with your friends to "compete," or just to get some extra motivation.

Nike+ running app tracks our mileage and other run info

In other exciting news, I got a new pair of running shoes!  For years, I have sworn by the Asics Gel Nimbus as my main running shoe.  It got me through the marathon last time without any major injuries and I've always found them oh-so-comfortable.  However, they are one of the more expensive shoes on the market, so I usually try to buy the previous year's model at a discount.  I mean, really, who cares if you are wearing last year's colors?  Since I've worn these shoes before and know my size is very consistent, I can also shop for them online and try to find the best deal (free shipping or % off and so on).  All in all, I think I came away with a pretty good deal, and some sweet looking shoes for the marathon.  It should make me a little easier to spot, right?!

New shoes! Asics Gel Nimbus 13 in black/green

Jen and Meg's Excellent Road Trip Recap: Albuquerque

Leaving Oklahoma City left us a short drive across the remainder of Oklahoma, a small part of North Texas, and then just over half way across New Mexico to end up in Albuquerque, which was our next city.  To break up the 8+ hour drive, we agreed to stop for lunch about half way, which put us in Amarillo, Texas, a pretty good sized town, and one you may have heard of thanks in part to its mentions in many country music songs (Amarillo Sky by Jason Aldean, for example).  Our predetermined lunch stop was going to be the Coyote Bluff Cafe.

This place was on our radar because it was featured on Man vs. Food.  I got a little nervous when we pulled up and I saw a crowd of abut 10 people waiting outside.  We walked up and some nice folks let us know about the informal line policy - you basically just find out what group is before you and when they get called into the restaurant, you know you are next.  While we waited, we headed inside to get beers from the famous "beer tub."  That alone made this place awesome.  Its pretty much an honor system with the beers - you take your empties inside and pay with your meal...nice!

Coyote Bluff Cafe in Amarillo, TX

 It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes before we were seated. We immediately eyed the "Burger from Hell," but why stop there?  Megan and I each ordered a burger with the intent to split them so we could sample more.  I got the 'California Burger,' which also sounded interesting.  The burgers came about as quickly as you could expect, and were promptly devoured, along with a plate of fries that we also split.  For getting the burgers done medium well (my request), they were SO juicy!  Seriously, one of the best burgers I've ever had.  With that, we were ready to finish the drive to Albuquerque, or ABQ, as referred to locally.

Burrito from Frontier Restaurant in Albuquerque, NM

While in Albuquerque, I was on a mission to find some 'Breaking Bad' filming locations...just kidding, though I did find a website dedicated to such a thing.  As per usual, we got settled in around dinner time and set off for the K&I Diner, which was yet another featured restaurant on Man vs. Food.  This time though, we were hoping to try their food challenge, which is the 'Travis on a Silver Platter,' a MEGA burrito covered in green chile and french fries, and served on a silver tray.  Unfortunately, they were closed when we got there, so we headed to another spot for good Mexican food, Frontier Restaurant, located on the campus of the University of New Mexico.  Frontier was setup more like a cafe where you order your food at a counter, then pick it up when you number is displayed on a video screen.  Both of us stuck with the burrito theme and got their signature burrito.  This was more or less "normal" sized but covered in green chile (just about everything was covered with green chile).  I was a little disappointed in the burrito, but perhaps unfairly, as I was really hoping to try the Travis Burrito at K&I.

After dinner, we wanted to check out some breweries, so Megan put together a list of three to four breweries.  The first one we visited, Bad Ass Brewing, was just opened up by a longtime homebrewer, and had a kind of odd strip mall location.  They had a lot of beers on tap, but more than one of them just didn't taste right to me.  In fact, I think I disliked more than I liked.  But, as a fellow beer enthusiast and homebrewer, I gotta give the guy credit for following his dream.  Hopefully he can refine his methods a bit and start putting out better quality beer.

Bad Ass was an OK start, but once we sampled the beers at La Cumbre Brewing, you could easily tell the difference in quality.  I was really impressed by nearly their entire lineup at La Cumbre, including a couple of Pilsner style beers that I normally wouldn't order.  They had a few awesome pale ale's/IPA's as well.  To top it off, since it was a Saturday night, they had two bands playing bluegrass tunes, so we had some entertainment with our beers.  On recommendation from a few locals we chatted with, we finished our beers and headed around the corner (literally) to Il Vocino brewing.  Il Vocino was different in that they had a large indoor space, but a HUGE outdoor patio as well, part of which was covered.  It also appeared they had a stage area, so perhaps they bring in live music from time to time.  Il Vocino had some different styles than La Cumbre - they had more variety overall, but I think we both liked the beers equally as compared to La Cumbre.  I'm definitely glad we found these two places, and I can't wait to come back to try their beer.

Beer sampler at La Cumbre brewing in Albuquerque

To round out the night, as had become another custom, we made a stop for late night eats, this time choosing Del Taco, a fast food restaurant not unlike Taco Bell.  We figured since there weren't any Del Taco restaurants near us, we'd try to eat "local."  Sadly, Del Taco was disappointing, and I might even put Taco Bell above them in the Mexican fast food category.

Albuquerque was a cool city, and I wish we had a chance to spend another day there - my initial impression was that it seemed very old and dirty, but as we drove around and talked to people, sampled some of the local fare, etc. I developed a much more favorable impression and will hopefully return sometime soon to explore what we missed.

Jen and Meg's Excellent Road Trip Recap: Oklahoma City

The second day of our road trip involved us heading from Memphis to Oklahoma city, by way of I-40 through the heart of Arkansas.  We left Memphis around 9am ish(?) and had somewhere around a 7-8 hour drive.  I remember it actually felt a lot shorter than that, thankfully!

I wasn't feeling super well from the night before, but Megan really wanted to see part of Arkansas so when we started seeing signs for "Arkansas Wine Country," we figured this was as good of a stop as any.  I personally had NO idea Arkansas had a wine country, and we were surprised to see how hilly the landscape was in Altus, Arkansas.  I refrained from doing any wine tasting, but we did check out a few cute wineries - Chateau Aux Arc, and Wiederkehr Wine Cellars.  Wiederkehr is apparently one of the oldest wineries in the United States, founded in 1880 by a Swiss immigrant named Johann Andreas Wiederkehr.  Megan picked up a few bottles of wine to take with us for the remainder of the trip, and we made ourselves a little picnic lunch on the Wiederkehr grounds.  

The "Presidential" T bone at Cattleman's Steakhouse

By the time we got settled into our hotel in OKC, it was pretty much dinner time, and it was clear that Oklahomans preferred one thing for dinner: steak.  There was no shortage of steak places in the city, but we heard one noteworthy place was Cattlemen's Steakhouse, located in a part of town known as Stockyards City.  It was a throwback to some kind of old Western town - very strange to see this so close to a big city.  Cattlemen's was a trip - the place was jam packed with just about every type of person you could imagine, including guys with big cowboy hats (score!).  We were told the wait was 45 minutes but we could head upstairs to a waiting room/lounge and grab a beverage.  The upstairs lounge felt like we were at a wedding reception, so we grabbed a beer, and when all was said and done, we couldn't have waited more than 20 minutes.  For dinner, I ordered up the "Presidential" T bone, as George H.W. Bush reportedly ordered this steak when he dined there in the past.  The steak sounded menacing at 20 oz. but I was a bit disappointed. I easily finished the steak, and felt the filet part of the steak was small.  In other words, I'm sure I didn't get the same steak the former President Bush did.



After dinner, we headed out to check out the nightlife in the Bricktown neighborhood.  This is the same area where the Chesapeake Energy basketball stadium (yeah, I had to look that up) is located - where the OKC Thunder play.  Anyways, our first stop was the appropriately named Bricktown Brewery.  We tried a sampler of their house brews, plus their summer seasonal.  The beers were average, but the venue was very cool.  It was huge - two floors, each with a dedicated bar, and the upper level seeming to be more of a pool hall.  Either way, I'm sure it was a great place to watch sports, but there wasn't much going on this particular Friday.


After Bricktown, we walked a short ways to TapWerks Ale House, which has close to 100 beers on tap, in other words...paradise!  We chose first to stick with local brews, and had a sampler of four Oklahoma beers, then Megan and I each ordered one of our favorite beers that happened to be on tap, Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge (a sour beer).  While at TapWerks, we chatted up a guy who lived in town and gave us a few places to check out on our drive to Albuquerque the next day.


To round out the night, we decided to get MORE food.  I read about a taco place in a local food blog that was recommended by Chicago's very own Rick Bayless.  So, we drove across town in search of Big Truck Tacos, and Megan and I each ordered 2 tacos.  The tacos were pricey, but very flavorful and stuffed full of goodness.  We sure didn't need to eat after mowing down steak just a few hours before, but when in Rome...

The outside of Big Truck Tacos...looks like it could have been a Sonic previously

Jen and Meg's Excellent Road Trip Recap: Memphis

Hello!  I am fresh off my recent two week, cross country trip with my best friend Megan, and wanted to share some of the sights and sounds we encountered, as we covered 5750 miles over 16 days! I'll be doing an entry for each stop, which will hopefully make it much easier to read.


Also, I have posted many pictures to my Facebook page, which you can view here.  Be sure to also check out Megan's blog - she was much better about keeping up with writing each day, so her recaps may be filled with a tad more detail than mine.

Plate of barbeque from Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous

Day/night one of the trip found us heading from Chicago to Memphis.  We were on the road by 7:30am, and surprisingly, didn't hit a ton of traffic!  We touched down in Memphis, aka "land of the delta blues," (yes, we had 'Walking in Memphis' on repeat) around 4:00pm.  We unpacked our things and figured what better way to start our vacation than to seek our some famous Memphis barbeque!  Our hotel was only a short drive into downtown, and we parked a few blocks off the famous Beale Street.  Our dinner destination ended up being Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous, which was listed as one of the 7 Best Memphis Barbeque Joints by Travel + Leisure Magazine.  Rendezvous is apparently known for their ribs, so we each ordered a combo plate of ribs + brisket (in my case), and ribs + chicken for Megan.  To wash down the bbq, we also had a pitcher of a local brew, Ghost River Golden Ale.  The beer was nothing to write home about, but as you know, we like to seek out local beer, and it was a nice, cold, complement to the ribs.

After filling our stomachs, we headed out to walk the other famous Memphis attraction - Beale Street.  At first glance Beale Street is not unlike any other, bar/club/restaurant lined street you may find in another big city, but apparently the scene can get pretty crazy, so most nights the local police close off a 5 block stretch of the street to cars so people can walk (stumble) freely.  This also allows you to purchase and walk around with your chosen beverage(s) without fear of ticket.  Being a Thursday, we could tell right away Beale was not going to be hopping as it might on a weekend.  Regardless, there were still a fair amount of people out, especially as the night wore on.  Megan and I bar hopped a bit, trying to take in the city. We made an obligatory stop at BB King's Restaurant / Blues Club, and heard a short set from the band, while enjoying a beer from our new souvenir glass.
Almost every bar we went into had a band playing, which I thought was pretty awesome.  We met and chatted up few random folks in some of the bars, but in the end, we called it a night a little before midnight, knowing we had a long few weeks head of us.

Beale Street by day

Beale Street at night

Chicago Marathon Training Update

Not surprisingly, my marathon training regimen took a bit of a hiatus while I was on my two week, cross country road trip.  Though for all of the days we camped - at the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and Yosemite National Park - we were active, in terms of doing anywhere from a couple mile hike to our Half Dome hike, which was 19 miles, I didn't really keep up with the daily running like I had for the 3 weeks prior to the trip.

I attempted to do one of my long runs (9 miles) while in Albuquerque, but I ran into difficulty finding a suitable (safe) location, and by the time I located a high school track (one that ended up being only a few minutes from our hotel), I was only able to get in 4 miles before it was time to head back and shower up.

I was a bit disappointed at not sticking with actual running, but for as much time as we spent in the car, I'm glad we were still fairly active.  When I got back into town, I was glad to hear that Mike had been keeping up with his running, and we managed to get in a long run of 9 miles yesterday to get things back on track.  With our vacation coming up this weekend, we'll need to do another long run sometime on Friday or Saturday morning, and if I can successfully make it through that, I'll feel like I'm still on track.

Chicago Marathon Training: Week Two

Monday:  Monday is supposed to be a rest day, but its hard for me to take a day off once I get into a workout routine, especially since I kind of let myself go the past six months, fitness wise.  I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the elliptical, some ab work, some pull ups and triceps dips, and then 10 minutes on the stair climber.

Tuesday: According to my Training Peaks schedule, I was to do 3 miles at an easy 10:30 pace. I'm not one who enjoys running on treadmills for any length of time, but since Mike has been going to the gym pretty consistently, its nice to have the motivation of a workout buddy.  So, I sucked it up and completed the miles on the treadmill.  I did some ab work, too.

Wednesday: Scheduled to do 4 miles at 10:00 min/mile pace.  I found a nice 4 mile loop thanks to gmap-pedometer.  Mike and I finished it in just over 36 minutes, which obviously means we were hauling at close to a 9:00 min mile pace.  I've never claimed to be good at pacing, but somehow I usually end up running a fairly consistent pace around 10 min/mile.  Next time, I'll trust my gut to slow down.

Thursday: Same as Tuesday, at least for this week.  We were much closer to a 10:30 pace this time, but still clocked in a little fast.

Friday: Rest day!  I actually rested, too, well resting in terms of not working out.  I was, however, busy running errands for most of the day, so I wasn't exactly kicking my feet up either.

Saturday: I had a CPR class that started at 9am, so I wasn't confident I could be up and moving, log our run, shower and get to my class by 9.  I intended to get the run in later in the evening, but that never happened.  I rode my bike to and from the CPR class, as well as a first aid class I had later in the afternoon, so technically that could qualify as the "cross training" I would normally do on Sunday, the day after my long run.

Sunday: Mike and I made up our long run (5 miles at 10:30 pace) today instead.  We basically flip flopped the Saturday/Sunday schedule.

Two weeks in and I'm feeling really good.  I've had some mild knee pain after running a few of the short runs - not sure what to attribute that to - but even though its been mild, I've been good about icing them for 10-15 minutes afterwards, just in case.  It seems to help, as I don't have any soreness the next day after any of these workouts.

The real challenge will be keeping up any semblance of a running/training schedule when Megan and I are on our vacation.  I haven't quite yet figured out how I am going to do my long runs, let alone the weekly short runs.  We'll be active on our trip, no doubt, but it won't always be the same as actually running and getting that type of cardio activity.  My upcoming long runs the next two weekends are 9 miles and 10 miles, and for the first one we'll be in Oklahoma City (traveling to Albuquerque) and San Diego.  In San Diego, it might be nice to find a route along the ocean, but in Oklahoma, I'm not as sure where to go - perhaps I may be able to find a high school or the University track to run around.  As I start to pack some of my gear, I'll look into my options.  I would hate to get two weeks behind with the good start I have!

Jen and Meg's Excellent (Road Trip) Adventure

By now, I've eluded to Megan and I's epic road trip coming up next week, so I thought I'd share a few details as far as our itinerary.  I've never done a road trip quite like this - the only real road trips I've done are when Megan and I have driven to/from Colorado (with only gas/food stops), or back in college, the two of us drove straight through to Panama City Beach, FL for Spring Break.

Without further adieu, here is our planned route:

Chicago to Memphis, TN (1 night)
Memphis to Oklahoma City, OK (1 night)
Oklahoma City to Albuquerque, NM (1 night)
Albuquerque to Grand Canyon, AZ (1 night)
Grand Canyon to Zion National Park, UT (3 nights)
Zion National Park to Las Vegas, NV (1 night)
Las Vegas to San Diego/Escondido, CA (3 nights)
San Diego to Yosemite National Park, CA (2 nights)
Yosemite to Salt Lake City, UT (1 night)
Salt Lake City to Cheyenne, WY (1 night)
Cheyenne to Omaha, NE (1 night)
Omaha to Chicago

We have a few planned activities in most of the locations - for example, we are going to get some Memphis style BBQ while in Memphis, and of course hit up plenty of breweries.  While at parks like the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Yosemite, we'll of course try to camp, assuming we can get a site (many camps sites fill up a year in advance during the summer months).  In San Diego (Escondido), we are going to the Stone Sour Beer Fest, which we're super excited about.  But, beyond that, I think we're going to wing most of the trip, in true road trip fashion.  If you have any suggestions of where to stay (particularly in San Diego) or what to see while were in each of the places above, please leave a comment.

Chicago Marathon Training: Week One

Having just gotten back from vacation, I knew I had no time to waste in getting started with my marathon training.  In fact, I learned I was already a week behind.  As soon as I signed up for the marathon, I was intent on doing better than I did in 2009.  My finish time then was 4:53:45 - not bad- but well above the goal I originally set (4:20).  I'd say I blame a fair amount of it on the weather - it was a bit colder than I expected, and I don't think my body every really warmed up.  But really, my training plan was equally at fault.  I did all of the necessary long runs on schedule, but I didn't do as much of the mid week running and/or cross training that probably would have helped condition my body to hold up over 26.2 miles.

Here is a recap of how my first training week went:

Monday:  To get back into the swing of things, Mike and I went to the gym and I ran 3 miles on the treadmill, then cooled down with 10 min on the bike.

Tuesday: I went to the gym solo and did the elliptical for about 30 min, then rode the stationary bike for about 30 min as well. 

Tuesday night, I learned that with my participation in the Girls in the Game charity race team, that I receive a free membership in the Chicago Area Runner's Association (CARA) summer marathon training program.  The entitles me to a whole bunch of goodies, but most importantly a structured training regimen, including mid week runs as well as the main, supported group runs on the weekend.  I'm hoping this will take some of the logistical pressure off in terms of carrying enough water, etc.

Wednesday:  A little full from dinner, I hopped on the elliptical for 30 minutes of cardio then some ab work as well.

Thursday: I went on an approximately 3 mile run in the neighborhood.  It was HOT.  I am never running at 11am when it is over 75 degrees again!  I could do that when I was 18, but apparently not at 30.

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday:  Mike and I ran together, and all told I logged just shy of 5 miles at about a 10 min mile pace.  I didn't feel quite ready for the scheduled 7 miles, and neither did he.  In hindsight, I wish I would have pushed myself a bit more and done at least 6, but oh well.

Sunday: Cross training - At the gym, did 30 min on the elliptical, plus some ab work.

So, week one is officially in the books training wise.  Kind of a light start considering I should have had better base fitness coming into things.  In the past I certainly would have, but working full time, plus taking two classes for the last six months left me pretty short on time.  Next week I'm ready to kick (no pun intended) things up a notch.  Next weekend's long run is only 5 miles, but I'll need to log some quality miles during the week before the 9 mile long run in two weeks.

Support Me in Running the Chicago Marathon for Girls in the Game

As some of you know, I ran the Chicago Marathon for the first time in 2009.  I enjoyed the challenge of training for such a big goal and the race day experience is one I'll never forget (especially the cold!).  Despite the countless days of soreness during the process, I decided I'd like to feel the accomplishment of finishing the Chicago Marathon again and signed up to run this year.

More importantly, I signed up to run the marathon through a charity race entry for a local Chicago non-profit, Girls in the Game.  Some of you locals may have heard of them, but for those who haven't, Girls in the Game primarily works to support school age, underprivileged girls in Chicago, primarily through sports and fitness activities, education in the areas of nutrition as well as tutoring in academic subjects.  The overall goal is to help these young girls develop leadership skills and self-esteem so they can live a better, healthier life.  I encourage you to visit their website for more about them and their many programs in the Chicagoland area.

Why am I running for Girls in the Game?  Looking at my own life, I recognize many of the benefits playing sports and physical activity had and continue to have in terms on my health and personal development.  I was lucky enough to have these opportunities and a strong support system, but many of the girls who Girls in the Game help serve do not.  Girls in the Game offers nearly all of their programs for FREE to the girls, and the fact is, their programs work.  After a year of participating in their programs outside research showed these girls exercise more, have a lower, healthier BMI (Body Mass Index), eat more fruits, vegetables and healthy foods, have a healthy body image and feel good about themselves, and believe they are leaders with the ability to change their lives and their communities.  I plan on volunteering with Girls in the Game this summer and hopefully throughout my time in PT school as well.

Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of meeting several of the other Girls in the Game race team members at a kickoff party and it was clear that we all have the same goal: to help raise money for Girls in the Game.  I ask that you please consider supporting Girls in the Game by making a donation via my marathon fundraising page here.  All online donations are secured with 256-bit encryption.  If you prefer not to donate online, I would gladly accept a check made out to Girls in the Game, mailed to my me.  Please leave a comment with your email address if you prefer this option and I will send you my address.

As the saying goes, no amount is too small.  Also, if you know of anyone else who may be interested in supporting Girls in the Game, please pass along the link to my donation page.  THANK YOU for your support!

Additionally, I encourage you to follow my training and summer activities via my blog.  As you can see, I have been updating it much more, including the recap of my most recent vacation to the Pacific Northwest.  My friend Megan and I also started a beer/travel blog (admittedly, there is a bit of crossover), which you can view here.  Finally, I'll post updates to my Facebook page often, including the donation link, so don't be surprised if you see it again soon.

Hope you all are enjoying your summer,

Jen

5th Annual Mother-Daughter Trip: The Recap

Warning! This entry will be a doozy, since I'm attempting to capture ALL of our vacation awesomeness in one post!

Day 1: Portland/Seattle
Not much to report here - we had an early evening flight into Portland International airport (PDX), then immediately drove up to Seattle for the next two days.  We attempted to find a place to grab at least one start-of-vacation beer, only to find the pub a few blocks from our hotel was closed (!) by the time we got there.  Boo.  We ended up getting one beer at Fado Irish Pub, but the place was insanely loud, so we decided to call it a night.

Day 2: Seattle
Day two began with heading to the Space Needle and surrounding attractions.  We got some great views of the city from atop the Space Needle, which we learned was built for the 1962 World's Fair.  Located just next to the Space Needle is the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit.  This is a beautiful, colored, blown glass exhibition featuring an outdoor "garden" and series of rooms inside.  Below is one picture of the exhibit (inside the glasshouse).

One thing I wished we would have had more time to see was the Seattle EMP Museum, which features a myriad of exhibits related to music, science fiction and pop culture.  They had special Nirvana collection, featuring tons of random memorabilia from the band.  I also never made time to visit the house where Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love lived during their time in Seattle.  Not really a major landmark, but I am a fan of both their bands, so I suppose it is kind of like the grunge version of Graceland.

After doing the tourist thing, we embarked on a pretty decent walk to Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, which is home to one of the Elysian Brewing Company pubs.  It also happens to be their main production brewery.  We had a few appetizers and of course a few rounds of beers, which Megan and I were both fans of the beer, and especially their new "Beers of the Apocalypse" series, which they started to coincide with the end of the world (according to the Mayan calendar).  We tried two of the beers at the pub and would later buy a bottle of another while in Portland.  I didn't find anything too special about the beers, but the idea and bottle artwork was memorable.

We finished up at Elysian and made our way to another famous destination in Seattle, the Pike Place Market, home to the original Starbucks location, as well as the Pike Place Fish Company.  We enjoyed dinner with Megan's cousin at the Pike Brewing Company, but we were disappointed by their average beer offerings.  For our nite cap, we finally made it to the Collins Pub, a mere 500 feet from out hotel and discovered they had a pretty good tap list, though not much to speak of in terms of atmosphere.  So, we downed a couple of beers, and called it a night.

Day 3: Seattle/Mt. Ranier National Park
For our last day in Seattle, we decided to see even more (natural) scenery by driving to Mt. Rainier National Park.  The drive was longer than we expected, so it ended up taking up the majority of our day, unfortunately.  At the park we went on a short hike along the Paradise River to see Carter Falls (below).  We then drove up to another part of the park known as Longmire to snap a few photos and grab a picnic lunch.  As you can see, the park was beautiful, and I can only imagine what some of the longer trails are like to hike.  Hopefully I'll make it back up this way soon.

Following our drive back to Seattle, we stopped at a few touristy spots - one being the famous 'Fremont Troll' (right) and Gasworks Park (right, below)

Feeling famished, we made our way to the Pyramid Brewing Company alehouse across from Safeco Field (home of the Seattle Mariners).  Megan and I split a sampler of beer and were glad to find they had a good lineup of beers outside of their flagship hefeweizen and apricot ale.

Day 4: Vancouver
The drive from Seattle to Vancouver was easy breezy, and we even got through customs in just a few minutes.  Since it was relatively early in the day, we got in some sightseeing/exploring at the Capilano Suspension Bridge park.  The Capilano Suspension bridge is apparently the longest and highest suspension bridge in the world.  They also had a cool, "cliff walk" experience where you walked along a narrow, curved platform that was suspended 30 feet away from the face of a cliff.

After the morning thrills, we ventured back into Vancouver and over to Granville Island to seek out Granville Island Brewing, as well as Dockside Brewing Company.  Granville Island was a nice spot, but they didn't serve anything more than snacks, and had a goofy 12 ounce rule, which meant we couldn't have any more than 12 ounces of beer per person (crazy, right?!).  Supposedly it is because of the way their business license was setup.  Dockside ended up being more of a restaurant than bar or taproom (and a bit pricey for lunch) so despite our efforts, we decided to go elsewhere for lunch.  We finally settled on Yaletown Brewing Company as our (late) lunch spot.  Good grub, good beer, so I couldn't complain! 

Later that night, Megan and I wandered out to find a local place to get a few drinks and ended up at a spot across from our hotel called Back Forty.  It was pretty dead, but then again it was a Monday, but we enjoyed our time, chatting up our bartender and having mugs full of Big Rock Brewing beer.  As you can see to the right, their beer mugs were pretty unique! 

Day 5: Vancouver
This day started off rainy and dreary, so we decided to stay indoors and visit the Vancouver Aquarium.  It has been many, many years since I've been to an aquarium, so it was kind of neat to view the various exhibits, especially the larger marine life - sea lions and sea otters, dolphins and beluga whales.  After visiting the aquarium we took a quick lap around Stanley Park then headed off to get some lunch at Steamworks Brewing Company.  Beer was good, and food was good, but expensive, as would seem to be the theme in Vancouver.  Fortunately *most* places took American dollars at an even exchange rate which made things much easier.

When dinner time rolled around, I wrangled the group into taking a long walk to a place that I read was the place in town to get authentic poutine, a Canadian culinary delight.  Apparently, poutine originated and is most popular in Montreal, but nonetheless, plenty of places in Vancouver peddled the dish.  Poutine is pretty simple - its basically french fries, covered in gravy and cheese curds.  Sounds delicious, right?  And it was!  Having fulfilled this craving, we ventured back to the hotel, where I considered stopping at Japadog, a Japanese style hotdog place, but I decided otherwise.

At night,  Megan and I decided we'd venture out for a "late night."  We bar hopped to three different places, all located in Vancouver's Gastown neighborhood.  The first was The Cambie, a sort of dive bar, which happened to be connected to a hostel of the same name.  I read it was a favorite spot for locals and known for having cheap beer (yay).  We indeed drank a few cheap beers then headed a few blocks away to Six Acres, a tiny gastropub with a small plate menu and extensive beer selection.  In keeping with our usual M.O. we ordered beers and snacks.  One of the beers we tried was a watermelon witbier, 'Seedspitter,' from a brand new brewery, Parallel 49.  Girly and fruity? Yes, but it was really tasty!  Our last stop of the evening was to a highly recommended pub, the Alibi Room.  Widely known for having the biggest and best taplist in town, we were not disappointed.  The atmosphere inside was dim, but like so many things in Vancouver, pretty hip.  I got a "frat bat" (sampler) of various Canadian brews, and can't say I didn't like a single one.  I wish we would have checked out this place sooner because it was my kind spot.  It reminded me of a larger Map Room.

Day 6: Vancouver
Our last day in Vancouver was (finally) sunny and fairly warm, so we decided to be adventurous once again and head to Grouse Mountain a nearby mountain resort/park.  While our moms opted to pay for entry to the park, which included a sky tram ride for getting to the top of the mountain, Megan and I took the challenge of doing the 'Grouse Grind' a steep 1.8 mile long trail to the top of Grouse Mountain.  It took us approximately an hour a a half, and we huffed and puffed most of the way!  Our reward was some pretty sweet views at the top (right) and only $10 for the sky tram ride back down.

Later, in keeping with our pact to take it easy before the long drive back to Portland, we had a chill night consisting of dinner at Back Forty, and then Megan and I stayed for one beer afterwards.  I also made a necessary stop at a drugstore to pick up some dill pickle flavored potato chips and some Canadian candy for the full Canadian culinary experience.

Overall, I was impressed by how diverse Vancouver was and couldn't escape just how "cool" of a town it felt like.  I wish I would have better prepared for how much more expensive food and drinks were, but luckily my credit card charges weren't as bad as I thought.

Day 7: Portland
By the time we arrived it was close to 3:30pm, so we were able to check into our hotel, nicely located in the heart of downtown Portland.  Megan and I convinced the moms to take a short hike across the Morrison Bridge to check out Hair of the Dog Brewing, a place we managed to miss on our previous visits.  The beers were worth the wait, albeit strong!

The original Voodoo doughnut

Beer sampler at Hair of the Dog

And of course, since we were in the neighborhood, we also dragged our moms to Cascade Barrel House to introduce them to the world of sour beers.  Much to our shagrin, they weren't really fans, but Megan and I certainly enjoyed our 3rd visit to Cascade.  Before getting dinner, we couldn't resist a stop at Voodoo Doughnut (especially when the line wasn't long).  We justified it as "dessert" and brought their famous pink box to dinner with us to Deschutes Brewing Company.  Megan and I had been to Deschutes before, but just for one beer, and the fact that the pub was family friendly and had more than just burgers and sandwiches, was something we thought might appeal to our moms.  I had some awesome mac and cheese with fennel sausage and opted for their "regular" sampler of beer, whereas Megan hand picked a few of their pub exclusives/limited releases.  Back at the hotel, we scarfed down one of our doughnuts and promptly passed out from a full day. 

Day 8: Portland
Much like we did for a day in Seattle, we ventured out of the city and towards Mt. Hood,  ending up in the quaint town of Hood River, about an hour away.  Hood River reminded me of Lake Geneva, but on a much cooler scale.  There were tons of little shops, coffee/bagel houses, restaurants and of course, beer! 
Megan and I were stoked to finally make it to Full Sail,  one of the larger Portland area breweries, as well as one we'd never heard of, Double Mountain.  I was impressed by both places, which had some really great beers.  At Full Sail, I was drawn to their Session Black Lager, and at Double Mountain, we all agreed that the Clusterf#ck single hop IPA was amazing. 

On our drive back to the city, we stopped off at a few scenic spots to snap photos, and once back in Portland, mowed down some delicious pizza from Sizzle Pie.  For our night out, Megan and I opted to check out The Commons Brewery, which we learned had just opened back in December.  The place was so small we almost walked right by it, but once inside, we were literally drinking IN the brewery (right).  Even though they were just starting out, they had some interesting styles of beers (including a sour) and all the beers we had were solid.  Just like with Cascade Barrel House from a few years ago, it felt pretty cool to have discovered this place early on, and I'm excited to see more from them.  We also hit up what is perhaps my favorite place for beer in Portland, the Green Dragon.  We ended up chatting with a few locals (including our bartender from back in October), munching on some snacks and ordering up a few sampler trays.  The favorite beers of the night for me were "Sweet Heat" by Burnside Brewing, as well as the Russian River "Supplication" (sour beer).

The night wouldn't have been complete without a late night snack after our walk back - I ate my bacon maple doughnut and Megan got some nachos from a food cart (I managed to help here a bit with those, too).

Day 9: Portland
We found out that Saturday was the annual Rose Festival parade, which apparently is a pretty big deal to the folks in Portland, as evidence by the closing of city streets and the large crowd that gathered to watch the action.  In addition to the parade, we also checked out the scene at Portland's Saturday market, which I likened to the Bucktown Art Fair, but on a slightly smaller scale.  There were various merchants selling crafts, apparel, food, etc. 

Around 11:30am, the four of us headed to the Portland Fruit Beer Festival at Burnside Brewing Company, which Megan and I had bought tickets for prior to the trip.  The fest started off well, with a small crowd, which made it easy to sample the 20+ brews available. 

Despite the "fruit beer" theme, there was quite a wide variety of beers represented from traditional to the more exotic.  As always, we identified a few hits and misses in our book.  Quite possibly my favorite beer I tried in Portland was not one featured at the festival, but one we tried the night before at the Green Dragon and again at Burnside Brewing Company in their pub.  It was actually an imperial version their Sweet Heat, an ale made with apricots and some type of chili peppers.  It was exactly as described, sweet then heat, but on a bigger scale than what we'd tried the night before.  If only they bottled it!


After seeing the crowd that had gathered, which made lines slightly unbearable, and seeing the moms had enough of their beer fill, we headed back to the hotel for some downtime.  For dinner, we decided this would be the night we sampled from the array of food trucks located within a few blocks of our hotel.  I opted for something slightly more exotic and got a great falafel sandwich, while my traveling companions opted for a cheap (yet excellent) Mexican food truck.  Back at the hotel, we chowed down our food, Megan and I finished a few of our stockpiled beers at our hotel, had a mini karaoke session, and hit the hay shortly after midnight.

Day 10: Portland/Home
We made one last trip to Voodoo Doughnut, where I picked up (another) bacon maple bar and an original glazed for my breakfast of champions.  We made it back to Chicago safe and sound, and although I really enjoyed our time in the Pacific Northwest, I'll always say, its nice to be home.  I couldn't ask for a better start to the summer with my best friend and our moms.  We even started planning our 2014 vacation, which more than likely, will mean a return to cruising the seas!

UP NEXT: I have approximately three weeks until my next major vacation, which is an epic two week long, cross country road trip with Megan.  We'll be making our way from Chicago to as far west as San Diego, with stops in Memphis, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park (Utah), and Las Vegas.  On our return leg, we'll spend time in Yosemite National Park (California), Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, and Omaha. Most of these places I've never been to, so it should be pretty exciting.

First day of (Fun) employment

Today was my first official day of what I'm going to call (fun)employment.  The plan all along was to take this summer off in anticipation of the next three years being pretty busy year-round with school, and today was the first day where not having a job actually felt real.  My last day at work was actually May 31, but the next day, we left for out Mother-Daughter trip and I was pretty busy doing last minute errands, cleaning, packing, etc.  I knew it wouldn't actually set in until we got back from vacation. 

To be honest, it didn't feel much different than just having a day off.  I suppose I had been preparing for the day for quite sometime, but for some reason I thought it would feel odd, especially after I had a rather emotional last day - yes, I cried - but I also knew that would happen.  I really enjoyed working at Scoutware for the last 6 years, and will especially miss the people.  I was able to say goodbye to a lot of folks in the office and others via Skype.  I'm fairly confident I'll keep in touch with everyone through various means, but I know it won't make up for the day-to-day interaction I was used to.  Some of the folks had become my quasi brothers and sisters, and that meant a lot to me.

Anyways, enough with the sappy stuff...

On the whole, I'd say I had a productive day.  I woke up, took the dog for a walk, went to the doctor to get some shots/tests and blood work done (for school), did laundry, vacuumed, took out the recycling, accepted my school financial aid loan package, completed my entrance counseling for the loans, put together a shoe rack, picked up some medications for Inga, dropped off my bike for a tuneup, ordered some textbooks and supplies for school, and took Inga on another walk.  And with all that, I've pretty much done everything I needed to do for the whole week, so it should be interesting to see how I fill up the rest of my time!

Though I will not have any sort of 9-5 routine, I do plan on keeping busy, however.  I have approximately three weeks until Megan and I take off for our epic, two week cross country road trip.  This also means I have approximately three weeks to get in *some* kind of shape for our various adventures, one of which includes a 12 hour + hike in Zion National Park, known as The Narrows.  Plus, this week begins the typical 16/17 week training program for the Chicago Marathon.  Mike and I hit the gym tonight so I could work my legs back into running.  I think the last time I really ran at all was probably the Shamrock Shuffle back in April.  Yikes!  We'll see how sore I am tomorrow.

Beyond working out, I'll be doing a fair amount of reading, starting with reviewing medical terminology and anatomy and physiology, as well as knocking off all the unread books from my Kindle (which numbers 8 at the moment).  I'm open for any suggestions as to more good books I can pick up along the way.  In addition to these things, I'd really love to (re)learn basic Spanish and guitar.

Finally, at some point Mike and I will also be taking a vacation or two (location TBD).  All of these things should lead me right up to my PT school orientation on August 23rd and our first day of classes on August 27th.

In the near term, I found out that Girls in the Game is having a kickoff party for their marathon race team at Goose Island on Clybourn tomorrow night.  I only found out about it after emailing the race team director about joining the CARA marathon training program.  I guess they had the wrong email address for me, which is odd, considering I had received previous race team correspondence. Oh well, at least I didn't miss it!  I'm looking forward to meeting a few new people and finding out more about getting ready for the marathon.  I'm also hoping to connect with someone about logging a few volunteer hours per week.  See, I told you I would be keeping busy!

I'll also work on posting something about my first vacation of the summer to the Pacific Northwest.  All I will say for now is that I drank A LOT of beer and ate a LOT of good food.

Megan's blog

To all three of you that read this blog (three may even be a generous number), you should check out the work-in-progress that is my best-friend Megan's blog.  Megan has traveled WAY more than me and is the one who I really credit with inspiring me to want to travel more.

Anyways, here is her blog.  She is going to be doing big things someday too: http://theworldthrumegslens.blogspot.com/

PS, she has a better memory than me, which I'm pretty sure I've made a point of before, and just to further prove that point she reminded me of the following details that I was hazy on in a previous post: "I graduated with my International Business degree in 2004, which is why my mom was taking me on the cruise...and then we grabbed the two of you to come along:) I graduated with my education degree in 2005..."

So, there you go!  Megan by the way has more degrees than I have pairs of jeans...which is a lot.  

Oops, I did it again

Apparently, the mental and physical torture of the Chicago Marathon in 2009 was not enough, that I decided to do it again this year.  The marathon sold out in record time this year, but I was "lucky" enough to secure a spot.  I should I also mention I'll be joined by a few of my favorite people, who ALSO ran in 2009 with me - my boyfriend, Mike, and my (only) Aussie friend, Michelle Henstock.

This year will be a bit different though, because I will be running on behalf of a local non-profit organization called Girls in the Game. To quote from their website, "Girls in the Game provides and promotes sports and fitness opportunities, nutrition and health education, and leadership development to enhance the overall health and well-being of girls."

I could not have found an organization that is more perfect.   I'll give a shoutout to Michelle for originally recommending them.  I thought about running for Team PAWS, since I volunteer there, but I was really hoping to find an organization that is more relevant to my future aspirations. I've always been passionate about sports, and owe a lot of personal development and great memories to my days of playing sports. This, combined with the burgeoning obesity epidemic, and general lack of education about health & fitness in young people, especially girls - makes this one area where I can feel I can make a difference.

Unfortunately, I don't have much firsthand knowledge about Girls in the Game...yet.  They have some pretty big corporate backers listed on their website, so I get the impression they are closer to the level of a PAWS non-profit, as compared to a more grassroots organization.  I also played on a flag football team with a girl who volunteers regularly for them, and has shared some of her experiences with me. 

As part of running for their team, I'll get some of the usual perks like invites to special dinners/events, access to a CARA training program, and a dedicated tent on race day.

At the same time, a big part of the process will of course be fundraising for Girls in the Game, which is where I'll need your help.  I will be sending out some emails (starting soon) asking for monetary donations from you, my family and friends, or even total strangers you know who might like to help me reach my goal for Girls in the Game.  I need to start getting the word out soon, but at the same time, I want to really get a hands-on feel for what the organization does before I really start to beg you all for money.  I want to be able to speak intelligently and honestly about the impact their programs are having on young girls, so you know your donation is making a difference.  Unfortunately, I may not have a great chance to do this until after my classes are over and I'm no longer working full-time, which will not be until May.  Until then, please consider checking out the Girls in the Game website I mentioned earlier and heading to my fundraising page, which I'll put up in a subsequent post.

Of course, I'll be chronicling my training this summer, as well as all of my volunteer activities and various travels, so you will be able to see what I'm up to along the way.  Below is a photo of me from 2009 - look how much fun I'm having!!!  I think this was probably before mile 17, when things really started to go downhill.  For those of you into physical (and mental) challenges, I HIGHLY recommend putting a marathon on your list.  Even though the Chicago Marathon is sold out this year, there are plenty of charity spots available with organizations like Girls in the Game, as well as many other deserving groups.  If you aren't into running, consider coming out on raceday to cheer the runners on.  The crowd was unbelievable in 2009, and almost moved me to tears on more than one occasion. 

See you all on October 9th!

Mother-Daughter Trip, the 5th Edition

As previously mentioned, for the 5th edition of our mother-daughter trip, we are taking our talents to....the Pacific Northwest.  We'll be making stops in Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, and Vancouver, Canada.  The four of us nailed down the dates of the trip this past weekend, along with which cities we'll be visiting which days.  Some of the specific activities we'll be doing while there are still to be determined, but I'm sure there will be a lot of beer drinking, ala the two trips Megan and I have made to Portland the past two years.

I'm not exactly sure how we came to select this as our destination, other than Megan and I love Portland, but neither of us have been to Seattle or Vancouver.  Their close proximity (approx 3 hrs between each) meant we could rent a car and make this our first ever mother-daughter road trip.
The biennial (which I've incorrectly labeled before as biannual) mother-daughter trip began in 2004, which was the summer after I graduated college (I'm pretty sure Megan graduated in 2005).  I have no idea who's idea it was, but we decided to take a cruise to the Caribbean.  This trip took us from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to St.Thomas, Aruba, Barbados, and Dominica (not in that actual order).  We found cruising to be a nice way to see a lot of places in a short period and do so from a "home base." 

Thereafter, we began planning mother-daughter trips every other year and have been to some incredible places.

The next edition of the trip was also a cruise, but this time from Hawaii.  For 7 days, we cruised to several of the Hawaiian Islands in what still may be my favorite trip.  The scenery was unbelievable.  Mom and I played golf in Kauai on a course that lined the ocean and it was worth every penny.

In 2008, we took our third cruise, but set our sights towards Europe and the longest ever mother-daughter trip was a 12-day Mediterranean adventure.  Our ports of call included Civitavecchia (Rome), Naples, Venice, Dubrovnik (Croatia), Cannes, and Barcelona.  We spent a few days in Rome after the cruise was over and practically walked the entire city.  We tried our hardest to see everything we could in two days, and for the most part, I'd say we were successful.

For our most recent trip, we bucked the cruising trend and visited Costa Rica.  We stayed in two different parts of the country - near the Arenal Volcano, then in the Guanacaste Peninsula region.

I saved a lot of the details of each trip but most of the photos are online via my Facebook account and I think they tell a pretty good story by themselves.

I never really had a travel "bug" but in the past 8 years, I would definitely say its become something I'm really passionate about.  Its hard for me to fathom not seeing as much of the world as possible before I die. I think mostly I like seeing new places, and meeting new people.  Seems pretty simple, but its true.

This is perhaps one reason why I am so excited about this summer.  During college I had one professor tell me that some of the best advice he could offer is to take the summer after we graduate, max out a credit card, and travel all over Europe (or wherever).  Regrettably, I never did anything like this.  I spent most of the summer after college working a retail job, and holding out for my first "real" job.  Obviously, I've still traveled quite a bit, but in some ways, this summer may be a last hurrah.  Since I'll be starting school in the Fall, and pretty much locked in for 3 years, this feels a lot like the summer after college graduation.  I may be 30, but I feel like I'm just getting started with my next life.  Depending on what happens these next few years, I may be getting married, starting a family, etc. and travel could be one of those things that takes a back seat.  So, at the expense of my savings account, let the adventures begin....in June!

The Home Stretch

These next four months will be what I affectionately refer to as the home stretch.  Though as I mentioned, I have been admitted to UIC and gave them my money and all, technically I am not actually admitted until I finish my last two prerequisites with a C or better.  Easy enough, right?  Well, not so fast my friend.  These last two classes look like they're going to be a doozy.  Physics 2 and Chemistry 2.  I'm in class four nights a week, Monday through Thursday.  Hence why I am writing this on a Friday.  And even then, I've already done a little bit of physics homework. 

The reality is that I'm going to have almost no social life for the next few months, that, and I am going to have to be really good about time management.  Sundays used to be my homework day, and now, it will probably be Saturday AND Sunday.  Oh well, such is life.  After I grind this out, I have an entire summer of travel to look forward to.

Speaking of travel, Megan and I have almost certainly postponed our Kilimanjaro trip.  We both got super excited about the idea of heading to Tanzania and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, but after considering the cost, and our various other future endeavors, we both (separately) came to the conclusion that its probably not a good idea.  I was relieved.  Don't get me wrong, this trip would be a once in a lifetime event, but we're talking close to $5000 for one trip.  Megan, like me, is planning on going back to school this Fall.  Having already worked her way through two Master's degrees, she is looking at several PhD programs.  So between the two of us, we're about to have a LOT of debt to our names.  Kili will remain on our short list, but there are plenty of other adventures we can have for a lot less than 5G.  My guess is we'll end up in Colorado for at least a few weeks, adding some more names to our 14er lists. 

Beyond that, my summer is pretty open so far.  Of course its that time for our bi-annual mother-daughter trip.  We're getting together next weekend to hammer out some details, but as far as destination, we are headed to the Pacific Northwest, making stops in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver.  Mike has talked about wanting to do a trip, but we haven't really tossed around any ideas.  It would be nice to do a "big" trip of some kind, but we'll see.  I also want to do some kind of trip for my mom's 60th birthday, which is in September.  It sounds like part of the family is headed to Charleston again, so I might just tag along on that trip, and plan a lades spa day or dinner one night.  Some other options...my friend Holly just found out she got a fellowship position for a non-profit organization called HELP.  She'll either be headed to Uganda or Belize, and selfishly, I've got my fingers crossed for Belize.  In the meantime, I'm keeping my eyes and ears open for any other type of adventure.  

Applied, Admitted, Deposited, Enrolled?

And now for some of the catching up...I mentioned I decided to make a career change and settled on physical therapy.  Never in my life had I considered a career in the health sciences, except perhaps when I was 11 and thought it might be cool to become a Vet.  Turns out, I'm not much into blood, hence why I never considered medical school, or even nursing.  Where the idea came from actually started with Michael Vick.  You all know that story, so I don't need to revisit it, but when all that happened, I started feeling like I should be doing something that contributed more towards society.  I thought about working with animals, but decided to take some time to think about things.  **On a related note, I became, and am still an active volunteer at PAWS Chicago, where I have since adopted a dog (more about her later).

The desire only grew stronger and I started considering other options more seriously.  The first real idea I had was to become a personal trainer and eventually open my own business.  I've always been passionate about sports and fitness and felt I could help people transform their lives and bodies.  In order to become a personal trainer, really, you just need to become certified by one of the main certification bodies, which means simply passing a test.  But, I would want to have a strong educational background too, so I looked into some Master's programs in kinesiology.  During that process, somehow I came across physical therapy, which I saw as a logical extension of the personal training idea, but a higher level.  I checked out what it would take to become a physical therapist, and I figured if I was going to school for a minimum of 2 years for a M.S in Kinesiology, that frankly, I might as well go to school for 3 years and pursue a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree.  The deciding factor came down to career prospects.  Yes, a PT degree pretty much locks you into becoming a physical therapist, but there are so many diverse settings and patient groups you can work with.   It is a more specialized degree, but I felt it would open more doors and provide more direction than a Master's degree in some other field.  The more I looked into physical therapy as a profession, the more attractive it became.  Some recent publication (I forget which) named physical therapy 2nd only to clergy in terms of highest job satisfaction, as reported by workers themselves.  The job market is strong, and PT's make pretty good money.  It will be a challenging 3 year program, but I feel confident that I will be successful.  Am I 100% sure this is the right decision?  No, I wish I could say I was.  But, 90% is good enough for me.  If this doesn't work out, I'll figure something else out, but I'm not planning on that happening.

Applied - I applied to 4 schools: University of Indianapolis, Northwestern University, University of Illinois-Chicago, and University of Florida.  Of the four, UIC was my top choice, based on a combination of cost and strength of the program.  According to some US News and World Report rankings, UIC's program is #15 in the nation.  For what its worth, Northwestern is #7, Florida #15 and UIndy #41.  Had none of these worked out, I would have been scrambling for programs who had due dates after January 1st, 2012. 

Accepted - UIndy and UIC.  I was put on an "alternate" list at Northwestern. The shitty part about that is when I was in high school, I applied to Northwestern's journalism school, which pretty much everyone knows is the best in the country.  I thought I might want to be a journalist (one of about five different majors I had, by the way), so I made Northwestern my "reach" school.  I was a decent writer, but definitely not Medill material, especially coming out of high school.   I'm sure you can figure out where the story went.  Flash forward to 2011 and I thought I had a good shot at getting accepted to Northwestern's PT program for a few reasons.  First, they admit a larger class than UIC (70-ish compared to 54 at UIC).  Second, I had done just about as well as anyone could expect in terms of all the metrics they look at, such as undergrad GPA, prerequisite GPA, GRE scores, etc.  Just about the only thing I could have done differently was have a more relevant undergrad major.  Most PT applicants majored in kinesiology, biology, or something along those lines.   But, as I learned, most classes of applicants had a least a handful of "career changers."  I even felt I had a very well written personal essay this time, compared to God knows what I wrote when I applied to Medill.  So, yeah, I was disappointed to hear I was on an alternate list.  I'm not ashamed to admit that getting into Northwestern would have been all about the name.  The Northwestern PT program is a part of the Feinberg School of Medicine, and something about that had a nice ring to it.  I told myself if I got in, I would buy a t-shirt just to wear around the house, even if I didn't decide to go there.  Silly. 

Anyways, I am still waiting to hear back from Florida, but that was mostly a backup in the event I didn't get into UIC or Northwestern.  My co-worker Dan, will surely be disappointed that I'm not going to be a Gator, but going to Florida doesn't make a whole lot of sense at age 30.  Age 22, maybe, but not age 30.

Deposited - UIC.  I told Northwestern they could suck it.  Really it was more like "Please take me off your alternate list as I will be accepting an offer of admission from UIC."  I will be a Flame!  UIC DPT Class of 2015!  I'm mostly over the Northwestern thing because the odds of me actually going there were slim.  UIC offers a much better opportunity in my opinion, and costs about 1/3 as less!  I'll do awesome work under the UIC name.

Enrolled - not officially yet, not until August, and not until I finish my last two prereq' (Chemistry and Physics).  

So, there ya go.  Those few things make up pretty much of the last year of my life, give or take a few other noteworthy events, which I'll talk about eventually.  It seems like getting accepted to PT school was the end of a pretty long, grueling process, but I know its just the beginning.

Drats

Well, this blows.  I had a pretty nice (old) post that I must have deleted in my cleanup efforts, but it painted a really nice picture of where I was at in my life last summer...or perhaps it was the summer before that.  In any event, I'll probably try to recreate that as best as possible sometime soon, because a lot of the content is still relevant.  A while back I made a decision that I was going to go in a different direction with my life and career.  After more than 5 years of working at Scoutware, I decided it was time for a new challenge, and I set my sights on a career on physical therapy.  

I'm not very good at keeping promises

I'n not very good at keeping promises.  Clearly.  I looked back at when I actually started this blog and it was 2009.  The last time I wrote an entry was about this time last year.  Writing is something I love doing, and yet I couldn't manage to write ONE thing in the last year.  All I have are three words: Piss poor effort.

Why now, why again?  Writing helps me.  It helps me clear my head, and figure things out.  And, just like many of the last few years, this year is going to be big for me.  A LOT of things have happened since my last post and I'm excited to share them.  If you know me, you already know why.  For one, I've read more books in the last 3 weeks than I've probably read in the last 3 years, excluding textbooks.  That's not really a big deal, but more of a general sign of where I'm headed.  Reading will be one thing I do much more of in 2012 and beyond.  So will writing, I hope.

I won't promise to keep this up, since we've seen how well that's worked for me, but I'm going to really try.  I'm reading an interesting book right now called 'Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything (http://www.amazon.com/Moonwalking-Einstein-Science-Remembering-Everything/dp/159420229X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326591111&sr=1-1)
Its basically about the author's quest to "train" for the US memory championships and about how the art of memory used to be highly valued, and taught, just as you might any other subject in ancient times.  I'm only halfway through, but one of the points he's made about our memory declining was not only the invention of writing, but virtual memories, such as blogs, have really removed the need to remember anything.  We can catalog our entire lives (which one person is literally doing in the book).  That's not my goal with this blog per se, although I'm sure it will be fun to look back at the person I was a few years from now.  For me, its more about working a few things out from time to time, and giving you a better glimpse of what's inside my head.  I have a renewed ambition in several areas, and I can't wait to get going.