two year quitaversary!

I still can’t believe I managed to quit smoking – two years ago! Training for marathons is in no small part responsible for this success… part of my motivation for signing up to do Chicago again was the perfect excuse training gives me NOT to smoke! I know it sounds weird, but my resolution alone is often not enough when I am really tempted to bum a puff off someone else's ciggy. But using the marathon as an additional restriction helps fortify my resolve. Hopefully I won't always need a marathon as a "crutch," but I suppose there are less healthy smoking replacements...

forever bittersweet

Saturday was my 30th birthday. I used to dread them (getting older always seemed so depressing), but I look at them a little differently, now. Instead of dreading the wrinkles and gray hairs and the sag and inevitable droop of age, I want to embrace these things. Because with the slow physical changes come all of the amazing life experiences. I want to earn my wrinkles – especially the laugh lines :)

As many of you know, my dear friend Kat passed away on the day after my birthday, in 2008. She was barely 27. So however painful a reminder my birthday is of that loss, it is an equally important reminder to be thankful that I keep getting older, and to look forward to what is to come.

Remembering Kat, always a little bittersweet.

TRI, TRI, TRI!!!

Gozen and I did something a little crazy for her birthday this year – A TRIATHLON! I have wanted to tackle one of these for awhile, I am so glad she let me talk her into giving it a shot – on her birthday, not less!

We did the Naperville Women’s Tri and for any of you ladies out their considering this fun challenge, I would highly recommend this particular race. The venue is great (and the “open-water” is as pool-like as you can get!), and the atmosphere of an all-women’s event is always very positive and uplifting.

Next up, the Fleet Feet Women’s 10K, another of my favorite all-women’s events, and an annual tribute to my friend Kat’s passing. This race was one of the first things I did after finding out she had passed away, two years ago.

Chicago Marathon 09 & 10

So the last marathon (Chicago 2009) was mostly a success; sure I wanted to crawl the last three miles, but other than that it was pretty "fun." Actually, Bill joined me in Wrigleyville (around mile 8) and ran the WHOLE REST OF THE WAY WITH ME. Without training. That is about 18 miles... Not only that, he did great - and he kept trying to get me to go faster! If I'd had a little more energy I would have killed him. He got me through, though. And my friend Nicole came out and cheered for me in Chinatown (near the end). And my TNT teammates were everywhere; everyone did a really great job. It was really hard...

So after that I figured I was done.

But I was wrong.

I signed up to do Chicago again for the American Liver Foundation in 2010. Why? Many, many reasons, really. I plan to get married in the fall of 2011, and we hope to move to the East Coast shortly thereafter, so 2010 will be my last shot at the marathon here. I also need the challenge to keep myself motivated to run (and not to smoke!). I really enjoy raising money for great causes. And perhaps most importantly, I want to run this for my dear friend Kat, who fought the good fight against liver cancer but lost in 2008. She died the day after my birthday. She was only 27. I have been wanting to do something in her memory ever since. Recently, my friend Lisa mentioned that she wants to do something to honor Kat's memory, and that was the final prompting I needed. This year is the year, Kat. This Marathon is for you.

Irish Eyes (part III)

Another success! Thanks to all that came out last night to support THE CAUSE one final time. Special thanks to Sam W. who rolled up after work and hung out with me, despite having an early flight today! Stay tuned for our next big fundraising extravaganza…

Half Marathon #4

WE DID IT!!! Gozen finished her first half marathon with a phenomenal time – she finished before I did, because unlike some people (me), she didn’t need to walk :)

The race was great – the weather could NOT have been more beautiful, the course was awesome (though a bit hilly) and everything went relatively smoothly. Team in Training was represented very well (lots of purple) and many of my TEAMmates finished this event, either as their primary goal, or as a part of their marathon preparation (like me).


To top it all off, a woman, CU fellow alum Kara Goucher, won the whole enchilada in an astounding 1:08:05!!! She BEAT ALL THE MEN!!! Go Goucher!

(leaderboard race results: note the "F" in the

top column, followed by all the "M"s)

the big ONE

Today is my one year quitaversary. I have been a quitter for ONE FULL YEAR! This day was unfathomable to me a year ago when I struggled to make it through day one… apparently I have saved over $2000 by not smoking over 5000 cigs (isn’t THAT a gross thought?), and I have “added” almost six weeks to my life! Cheers!

Congrats to my dad, too, who is staring down his one month quitaversary and holding strong!