My race, storified.

More on the race later, but I Storified the whole thing...

See for yourself here. (Spoiler alert: I finished. And felt awesome.)

13.1

It's been nearly a year since I first started running. It hasn't been easy. It hasn't always been fun. But somehow over the hundreds of miles, it's become an undeniable part of me.

I leave on Friday to go to Miami where, God willing, I'll finish my first half marathon. Last February, I couldn't run for more than a minute. This month, I toughed out an 11-miler when it was 9 degrees outside and five days later did sprints when it was a down-right frigid -8. Sunday, winding though the streets of a new and strange city, I hope to cover 13.1 miles before I collapse at the finish.

There's a lot to say about the journey. And a lot of stories to share. (Like the time a well-meaning colleague said I was aiming for distances beyond my ability. Or the first time I got scared about having to run for 20 whole minutes -- an inconceivable amount of time when you've just started. There was my first five miler, which left me so giddy I called my mom from the running path, still panting so much her first question to me was "What's wrong!?" And of course the 15K where I spent MILES dead freakin' last in a field of 20,000+ runners, which also happened to be the time I realize you cannot run and cry at the same time -- especially when police are yelling out you because you're going too slowly. But those are stories for another time.)

For now, as I pack my bags, I want to say this: It wouldn't have been possible without my friends.

From my friend who came over to keep me company during my first Couch to 5K workout ...
To my pals who ran with me in races and stood on the sidelines in freezing, raining and burning hot weather to cheer me on...
To the peeps who've listened to me endlessly prattle on about nothing but ridiculous details ...
To training partners who've become like family ...
And to the people at the table during carboloading dinners...

My friend's 5-year-old sent me this letter for good luck.

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.


I haven't said a lot on this blog lately, because sometimes it's hard to really process how much your life has changed when you're in the eye of the storm. But 30 pounds, three sports bras, two pairs of sneakers and one well-used stick of body glide later, I'm beginning to wrap my head around it.

So there you have it. As they say: Running changes everything.

Say a prayer for me on Sunday.

Love,
Noodles

P.S. If all goes according to plan, I'll be sharing details from the weekend on Twitter and under the #runnoodleesrun hashtag.

Ear Worms

I'm still mulling over a super-introspective running post, so for the time being, I thought I'd let you listen to some of the songs I've been loving recently.

First up: Old Enough, by The Raconteurs, featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe:




Continuing the Ashley Monroe theme (don't you just love her old-timey voice?) here's the Pistol Annies singing Hell on Heels.




Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons:




And last, but God knows, not least: Alison Krauss & Union Station's Lie Awake, which is a track on their newest album. Which, P.S. you should listen to RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND.

Ferrous Wheel

Image via ThinkGeek.com

How is it possible that I *don't* own this tshirt? ThinkGeek.com, I think I love you.

Sunshine

This weekend Chicago was, in a word, succulent. Sunday was everything you'd want September to be: it was in the 60s and low 70s, sunny, breezy, virtually no humidity. Like I said, perfect.

My friend was visiting from St. Louis so we wound up downtown, walking along the water and visiting the Bean. Since this is not exactly shaping up to the most exciting blog post in the history of blogging, I figured I'd cut my losses now. And rather than continue gushing about how gorgeous it was, I'll just show you some photos.

Chicago's Burnham Harbor. Snapped on my cell phone.

The Bean.

Can you see us? Hint: I'm in black. She's in white.

More Bean, reflecting the area north of Millennium Park.

Aon Building, BCBS, and other bits of downtown Chicago.

Julie's photo of a bike.

Guest Post: Why I Run

Today I'm super honored (and a wee bit nervous) to contribute a post to Jennifer Luitweiler's series Why I Run.

Jennifer is one of my biggest runner cheerleaders on The Twitter. For that I am both forever grateful and forever bummed that we aren't friends in real life.

If you like to run, or think you MIGHT like to run, you should check out her forthcoming book, Run With Me: An Accidental Runner and the Power of the Poo. 


So please, click over to her blog and read my contribution. And know that I'll be over here sweating bullets while you do.

Liquid Awesome

My wonderful friend Margaret surprised me at church today with a present. It's a lavender running shirt from One More Mile, which means it comes with a hearty side of fab.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!?!

I've been meaning to do a post on running gear (because isn't that exciting!? No? Oh.), but I thought I'd post pictures of my super-sassy awesome shirt and show you a few more of my favorites by One More Mile. (The first time I encountered this company, I saw a woman wearing one of their tanks that said: "This IS my race pace." After that, it was love at first sight. Seriously, check out their website and show them some love. This is not a paid endorsement, I just dig awesome.)

Dear God: Please let there be someone behind me to read this.

Who moved the finish line?

I know, I know. I'm almost there.

I'm not slow; I'm just getting my money's worth from the entry fee.

I thought they said "rum."

You can thank me now for making you look faster.

WTF! Where's the finish?

So tell me, is there anything sporty like this that entertains you? Any great slogans you love?

Speaking of....

Speaking of books, the super-awesome Nicole over at Nicole is Better just posted about her experience plowing through the entire Harry Potter series (for the first time) in the last two weeks.

An excerpt from her post:

The upside of this is that Harry Potter makes your heart feel good. The downside is that you’ll quickly realize how boring your stupid ordinary life is, and you’ll be very sad when the books are over and no one around you is making cars fly or spontaneously morphing into a dog. See also: cooking dinner by bewitching knives to chop the ingredients, disappearing from one place and immediately appearing in another, regrowing broken bones, and fighting dragons. Nothing gives you street cred like fighting a fucking dragon.

Damn, I have a girl-crush on her. Anyway. Read it. Remember the books. Peace out.

Turning pages

A brief selection of my summer reading.

Last week, I found myself splayed on the sofa one afternoon after work, windows open, dog barking, house a mess, and run sidelined for the afternoon. Why? I was finishing a book. And I refused to put it down until I was done.

Ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you I'm a year-round book geek. But there's just something about summer and endless reading that goes together like peanut butter and jelly. (Milk and chocolate? My credit card and a shoe store?)

I've made heavy use of the Chicago Public Library's book request service this summer, plowing my way through more than a dozen books since the end of May. I won't pretend I'm reading super-intellectual books, But after a semester at seminary, I decided to sideline the deep stuff and bury my nose in Jodi Picoult, Anne Brashares, Jennifer Weiner and Sara Gruen. I've also tried to knock off a fair share of YA books (word to Maureen Johnson!), Tina Fey's autobiography, and some nonfiction thrown in, too.

So that's what I've been reading. What about you? Do you dive into a certain type of books in the summer? Or is it a 12-months-a-year affair? Anything you're dying to recommend?

The Least Amish Amish Craft Fair In History

I found myself in Indiana's Amish country this past weekend and on my way back to Chicago I took a side trip to Napanee, Ind. That's how I wound up at Amish Acres, a sort of Colonial Williamsburg knockoff of the Amish variety. Except, you know, without any actual Amish on site.

They happened to be having an arts and craft festival that featured some truly hideous things. (One guy was selling carved wooden signs that said "Tequila makes my clothes fall off." Like I said, TOTALLY. NOT. AMISH.) But amidst the calico and spice dips and rag quilts (side bar: rag quilts? No. Just no.) there were some cool pieces of folk art.

And thus, I present to you, a selection of the non-heinous items at The World's least Amish Amish Arts & Craft Festival.

Spoon art.

Carved wood gnomes. GNOMES, PEOPLE!

There were lots of letter pictures.

I'm bummed I lost this artist's card, but her mixed-media work was cool

A dala horse.

Reclaimed metal turkey! Gobble.

Reclaimed metal flowers. I ALMOST bought one.

This was the most Amish thing there.

A pageland eulogy.

Thanks to my editing gig, I don't write much for work these days. So when I was asked to write an essay about the end of the 200-year-old U.S. House of Representatives Page Program, I jumped at the chance. (I also almost yakked before the thing got posted, but that's another story.)

Here's my short piece on the year I spent as a high school junior living and working on Capitol Hill and how it changed my life.

Enjoy.

- Noodles, whose cover is officially blown by posting a link to something with my name on it. But that's OK.

Overexposed.

I've been braving the fully manual setting on my camera this summer. It's been an adventure. In not all awesome ways. But sometimes, your dumb mistakes turn out to look sorta cool. Witness: my peony.  Mayhaps there's a metaphor in there somewhere.

So tell me, what are you working on this summer?

Unitedish States of ... Something

As viewed by hipsters:

Created by HaleyForEtsy

As viewed by New Yorkers:

Via Funny or Die

Click to enlarge. (That's what she said.)

AmazingAwesomeTasticFabuRificness

The Popster is whiz in the kitchen, so I know that when I get an e-mail from him about a new and easy recipe he's whipped up, there's an above-average chance it'll be awesome. And, true to form, his latest concoction didn't disappoint. In fact, it was so good that I made it twice in one weekend. (You know, for research. And because it takes about 10 minutes to make.)

I offered to let him name the recipe before I blogged about it. He demurred. So as punishment, I'm calling this Dad's Speedy Summer Corn Niblets and he'll have to deal with the fact that his internet infamy comes with a stupid name. (You're welcome, pops. Next time, come up with a title.)

Depending on whether you're making this as a main item or a side, this recipe serves about 1 as a large-sized main dish and 2 as a generous side. It's super easy and delicious. Do not expect left overs. If you want to make a larger batch, figure you'll want about two ears of corn per person.

And please, for the love of God and all that is holy, do not buy bland grocery store corn for this recipe. (Do not even think about buying, shudder, frozen corn. No. Just no.) This dish is ALL about highlighting the super sweetness of fresh summer corn. Run, do not walk, to your local farmer's market or farm stand to buy your corn. (And while you're there, pick up some bell peppers and shallots. Your tummy and your local farmer will thank you.)

Ingredient list:
3 ears of local, farm-fresh corn
1 fresh bell pepper, any color (or, hell, mix and match. Go wild.)
1-2 shallots (I used two, but I like shallots.)
1 clove garlic, the bigger the better. (This is optional. If you are a vampire, do not add garlic.)
Tabasco sauce (several shakes)
Worcestershire sauce (several shakes)
Olive oil (I used grape seed because it was all I had.)

First things first, get everything out. Look at that pretty produce I picked up fresh from Chicago's Green City Market.

The ingredients.

 Next, you're going to shuck the corn and cut off the kernels from the cob with a chef's knife and put them in a bowl. Do not cut your finger. Trust me.

Corn, removed from the cob.

While you're cutting things, dice up a sweet pepper and your shallots. Put the pepper in with the corn. Throw your shallots and your garlic in a saute pan with some oil and saute.

Shallots and garlic, sweating in oil.

Once your shallots are getting clearish, dump in your corn and peppers. Stir on medium-high heat for 2 or 3 minutes. Inhale the sweet smell.

The corn mix.

Next, it's time for spice. Add a few splashes of Tabasco (or in this case, my generic awesome Louisiana hot sauce.)  Then two or three shakes of Worchestershire. Mix together and then continue to saute until corn and peppers are cooked, but still crispish. (Another minute or so.)

Mmmmm. Spicy.

Serve, and voila!I ate the whole damn thing for dinner and was one happy camper.

Voila! Bon Appetite.

Say it with me, people: Thanks, Dad!

These things made me giggle.

 

Random selection of my nerd humor, courtesy of one of my pinterest boards. You're welcome.