The One Where Sophia Saves the Day

Did/Do you ever watch "Friends"?  All of the titles of the episodes start with "The One...", where, when, with, etc.  Today's episode (in my life) began when I woke up early and took off for a run well before Harry or Sophs woke up.  I got five easy miles done, where the air had that slight bit of crisp smell to it.  Makes my heart smile every time.  :)

I won the "Girlfriend of the Year" award again by picking up some breaky from the Dunkin' Donuts for Harry and Sophs.  Afterward, Soph and I chilled out while Harry ran and went to an appointment.  We were really ready to rock our day, putting up event signs for the ZOOMA Chicago race next weekend.  Sophia was happy to help!

Some lunch before taking off:  American cheese with mayonnaise on white bread.  Um.  What a weirdo.  :P

We took off less than a block when Soph calmly asked "So how are we going to put up the signs if they're at home?"

Holy Frick.

Harry and I laughed and praised her for saving the day!  Seriously, what a wreck that would've been!  We don't live far from the Lakefront, where we were placing the signs, but we didn't exactly live close, either.  So seriously.  The day would've sucked had she not gotten all inquisitive on us.

After finally getting to our first spot (Brooke from ZOOMA sent me an e-mail with all of the places where we were dropping signs; we went South to North, since it's wayyyyyyyyyy easier that way), we broke into the package the signs came in.  All they are is an event notice to cyclists and runners, that the race will be held the following weekend (August 2nd), and that the course runs along the Trail.

 

However, I noticed that the signs said "Saturday, August 1st."  I have never been more thankful in my life that I had my brief stint as a Starbucks Barista (MANY YEARS AGO), but still felt the need to hold onto permanent markers.  I had three in my purse (and I've changed purses several times since working for Starbucks; how strange).

We had to go back and change these, and all of the other signs after.  Sophia got to practice turning a '1' into a '2', so it was a good time.  We had to walk for a relatively awesome amount of time at some stops.

I started getting a little worried about how gloomy it was getting outside.  I knew we were expecting thunderstorms (which never came), so we hurried where we could.

One thing's for sure:  Sophia is now a master at throwing signs into the ground.  

We got home just in time for Harry to take Sophia to the train to take her back to her other house.  I couldn't thank her enough for being such an amazing sport throughout the entire day, as well as completely saving our afternoon!

We proceeded to order sushi (which I didn't take a picture of; just imagine a crap-ton amount of sushi covering a coffee table..that's how much we devoured), and celebrated "Christmas in July" with a Great Lakes Brewing Company Christmas Ale and "Bad Santa".
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Favorite race course, hike, or bicycle trail?

Do you like sushi?
-It's practically a necessity in our house.

Last fun thing you did with a kiddo? 

Long Run With Built-In Drills [Also, It's Really Cold]

I seriously can't stand the treadmill.  I just can't.  I lose my mind during a shorty three mile run on that torture machine.  The beauty [sarcasm] of moving from one place with extreme temperatures to another place with extreme temperatures?  I will eventually have to jump on the stupid thing for long runs.  I thought I did that enough when living in Texas, where the summers are brutal with 85*F temps and 100% humidity at 6am.

I knew that the sidewalks were going to be pretty crummy this past Saturday for my ten-mile run, but not bad enough to force me onto the 'mill.  It was only 28*F when I head out, so it "should be fine".  

Or that's what I thought before I went out.  *le shrug*  After putting on two layers, sunglasses, gloves, a headband that covered my ears, a balaclava, and the hoodie to my thermal top over my head, I took off!  Harry voiced several concerns about me going out (regarding the temperatures, the wind, the windchill, the roads, etc.), so I took along my CTA card in case I needed to hop a bus to get back home.

I got stopped at a red light about a mile into the run.  Normally, I'd either run around the block or take a different route.  I didn't want to jinx going down a different street, so I embraced the break.  The sidewalks were fine up to this point, but of course the corners were pretty ugly from trucks plowing the ever-piling snow.  I was hurdling huge piles of ice and snow at every intersection.  

Then I got here.  About half a mile further.  I did the VERY IRRESPONSIBLE, UNSAFE thing, and ran in the road (only when there weren't any cars coming).  Past this point, high-knees and butt-kicks happened.  Thank goodness I've been doing those drills for most of my life, 'cause if I were any more awkward while trying to work my way over the snow, I'd fall.  On my face.

Around mile 3.5, I though I might seek some refuge at one of the nearby trail systems.  Alas, this is what I found when I got to it:

Yikes!  Not even the trails were safe!  I kept moving along, getting the most hilarious stares and looks from drivers.  There were hardly any people on foot at this point, and I didn't see any other runners.  Ah well...I thought to myself "just keep moving and get this stupid thing over with!".  I was still leaping over giant snow mounds and tip-toeing or shuffling through thick, untouched snow banks. My quads were burning, my hips, ankles, and feet were aching from the tiny movements they weren't use to over this long period of time, but my breathing was fine.  My lower back was also starting to ache, presumably from looking down the whole time.

THIS is where I thankfully turned around and started heading back home.  Ughhhhh!

All in all, a good run.  I'm happy that I moved it from Sunday to Saturday, considering this is how Saturday night ended up, and what I woke up to Sunday morning.

 The rest of the weekend was filled with "30 Rock" on Netflix and football.  I made ribs Sunday evening, pairing it with some of the leftover black-eyed peas and a Shiner Bock.  Harry LOVES these ribs!  He paired his with a Great Lakes Christmas Ale..

The meat just falls off the bone!  I'd like to think that it really sealed our easy Sunday, and my winter break.

However, I am celebrating my very first snow day in Chicago today!  I got the text late last night that my school was going to close for the day.  Yep.  It's cold.  Really, really cold.  With -(NEGATIVE)45*F windchill, I'm celebrating by staying in my PJs.  All day.  :D

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