small things...

Training hike #3 - it’s okay to be last

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This week’s hike was at the Ryerson Conservation Center in Riverwoods, IL.  A much closer hike then the previous two so you might think that I would have gotten a good night sleep.  You’d be wrong.  Again I woke up at 3am.  Luckily this time I was able to sleep a bit off and on before I needed to get up for the hike.  And this time I decided to join my team despite my lack of sleep (and sore knee – did I mention my sore knee?)

Part of the thought process to convince me that a lack of good sleep was not the worst thing in the world was the idea that people who compete in the Ironman competitions probably have trouble sleeping before their races, right?  I mean they have to swim for 2.4 miles then bike for 112 miles and THEN run a marathon (26.2 miles).  That’ll make you a little nervous the night before.  So I figured if they could do all of that on less then 5 hours of sleep then I could WALK for 4.5 miles.

Yes. yes I just compared myself to an Ironman competitor. 

Whatever. it worked.

The drive into the woods to the parking lot was lovely.  My team was welcoming.  For some reason I felt a little extra shy even though I’d met everyone before – missing a week made me feel like I’d missed out on something and I felt a little self-conscious.  But it didn’t last.  I think people who do the Team in Training events do so partially because they like to be on a team.  Meaning they like to be with a group of people they can support and who will support them.  They are a nice bunch of folks.

Here’s a bit of what I saw on this hike:

:: It was snowing that morning, so everything had a fresh (and cold) look about it.  The Des Plaines River runs along the edge of the preserve and the trail edged up against it a time or two.

::There were a couple of these log cabins on the land.  Old summer homes of Ryerson and his buddies.  It was right here on the edge of the river and so lovely.

::look! rapids!

:: Okay now this was creepy.  A little too much like Children of the Corn for my liking.  But I’m sure it keeps the crows away.  And He Who Walks Behind the Rows…*shudder*

::This is what happens when you spend too much time taking pics and creeping out over scarecrows.  Look how far behind I was!  I was actually quite a bit further behind everyone before this point.  Trouble with my camelbak (had it all hooked up wrong), trouble with my knee and over all chattiness left me in the way back with our coach Kristen.  But we had fun – and I don’t mind being last.

11 more hikes until the Canyon!  I seriously can’t wait until there is a little green in these pictures.

love and crows,

Erin

Training Week #2 + insomnia = hiking alone

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The night before the second week of my grand canyon training I slept only 3 hours.  Insomnia is rare for me (if it’s rare, is it actually insomnia or just a bad night’s sleep??). Not being able to sleep leaves me feeling desperate.  I remember a few months ago after a couple of nights of little-to-zero sleep I seriously worried about the possibility that I’d forgotten how to sleep.   As if it was something I’d practiced all these years like dance steps, but now I didn’t know the next move.  Friday night felt a bit like that.

I got up when my alarm went off though I’d been awake for hours.  I got dressed, I ate something and I started to make my way out the door to go meet my teammates about an hour away for hike #2.  But I was exhausted and hesitant.  I worried that I’d be too tired to keep up with everyone.  or too tired to be friendly.  or too tired to walk all the way down to my car. 

So I went back to bed. 

And about an hour or two later (after actually falling asleep for a bit!) I tried again.  This time I headed over the Harms Woods to do the 3 miles hike myself.  There’s a nice big map just next to the parking lot with the mileage mapped out. It was a gorgeous morning despite the frigid air.  I’d dressed less warmly this week in hopes of avoiding the overheating incident of last week.  It worked!  Here’s a bit of what I saw:

The snow was deep and the trails an uneven mix of other people’s footprints and ski tracks.  I wished I’d had snowshoes to keep me from constantly slipping a little deeper with each step.

Fire hydrants in the woods  Ugly or handy?

I met this man on the path.  As we passed each other he held out his hand for a high-five…and I gave him one.  He called out, “We’re doing great!” a moment later.  People like other people who are out walking in the cold.  We are on the same team.  Team tough guys.

Through the magic of film I was able to convey how steep the climb over this bridge isn’t. It’s actually not so bad.  But I’m going for drama here, friends, I want to impress you with my training experiences.  are you not impressed?

One day soon these trees will be covered in green.  But for now they do well in pointing out how blue the sky is.

As for my trouble sleeping, Saturday night passed without my waking for several hours.  I am hopeful that next weekend I’ll be back with my hiking peeps.

Love and zzzzzzzz’s

Erin

a dinner invitation

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13 Saturday hikes to go and 25% to my fundraising goal!

One of the best parts, so far, about this endeavor is hearing from old friends of mine and from old friends of my parents. Some of the people I’ve reached out to have forwarded my email on to other people.  People who knew my parents, but perhaps not us as a family, or who hadn’t seen either of my parents in many years.  This week I received an email from one such person. 

A former fraternity brother of my dad’s wrote: 

After our wedding (1966), I went straight to the Navy rather than being drafted.  We were away for 4 years and reconnected with your Dad after returning to Chicago.  He and your Mom married while we were away so I called him and they invited us over for dinner.  I think they were living in an apartment in Rogers Park, close to the Lake.  When we arrived for dinner, your Dad said something about just finishing dinner and cleaning up the kitchen.  Then he looked at my wife and I and said, "We didn't invite you for dinner, did we?".  My wife and I looked at each other and politely said, "No". 

This story cracks me up.  Not just because my dad invited friends over w/o telling my mom then completely forgot the invitation himself. This story cracks me up because I KNOW that my dad would never have let someone get away with this if it had been the other way around.  In fact, I think he would have demanded food and beer while relentlessly teasing the forgetful inviter.

Had I known this story before it might have explained the recurring fear I experience just before I ring someone’s doorbell that they will have forgotten that I’d be coming over. 

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Tomorrow is hike #2!  Pics and wrap-up later on this weekend.

love and dinner invitations,

Erin

Training hike #1 – Thorn Creek

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I arrived late. About 1/2 an hour late. To my first hike?! That is very unlike me. I hate being late. Luckily, I did not read much into this anomaly – which is against my nature, mind you.  Normally, I would wonder if this was a “sign” about this endeavor.  Ill-fated or something.  But I didn’t feel any of that, or didn’t entertain any of that.  The drive just took me longer then I’d anticipated.  I was about 10 minutes late and about 5 minutes from the trailhead when I came across a roadblock.  Literally a roadblock….as in the road, seemingly the only road, was blocked by a police car.  There’d been an accident up ahead and they’d stopped all traffic coming and going.  After calling ahead to my coach, Ted, I tried following the alternate route he’d provided me…unsuccessfully. 

What you may not know about me is that I have a pretty good sense of direction.  What I mean to say is that I have a great sense of direction.  And an even better ability to find lost things.  I don’t know how to explain how it works other then I get a ‘sense’ of where something is and I’m usually right (I’m talking lost keys, lost cell phones here…nothing major like small children or pets or long lost lovers).  Now in this case it was me who was ‘lost’ not the trailhead, but I decided to use the same trick.  I just tuned in to where the trail must be and I turned down the streets that felt right.  I had no useful map and no visual markers but the trees and fields around me.  But after a few winding turns I realized I’d ended up on the road I’d needed to find, Old Monee Road.  My excitement grew when I saw the the little country church that acts as the trail head

::Thorn Creek Trail - Steger, IL

I sent a brief “FOUND IT” text to my coach, pulled on my hat and gloves and headed down the trail.  Covered in snow there was nothing obvious about this trail other then all the other footprints leading the way. Just as I started hiking I saw someone running towards me on the trail and realized it was Ron, my former mentor from the Alaska marathon, and current hiking buddy (Ron has not been informed of his new role of 'buddy').  He’d arrived late too, as did one other hiker, Sandy.  Sandy and Ted were waiting just a little ways ahead. I was all pumped up on my success and excited not to be hiking all by myself.  We caught up to Ted and Sandy and carried on.  Here is a bit of what we saw:

 

::this deer was in a group of about 10 all hanging out and watching us closely.  Don’t miss his little friend peeking out from behind the tree top right

The hike was, at first, as cold and snowy as it looks.  I don’t know if it was the pace, my adrenaline or the one-too-many-layers I’d worn that morning – but about halfway through the hike I was HOT and sweaty.  Hat came off, mittens came off, coat unzippered.  Someone commented on my red face, assuming it was from the cold…eh no.  I am super overlayered…or super out-of-shape.  Maybe both.  We met up with the rest of the group (about 8 more people) not long after passing through these pine trees.

It was a great hike despite my late arrival and overheating.  Most of us went out for lunch afterwards in the little town of Crete, IL.  We ended up at this place called The Edge which, it turns out, is a Christian community-supported coffeehouse.  I heard that the coffee wasn’t too great, but my basil-tomato-mozzarella panini was.  I think we overwhelmed them with our crowdedness and post-hiking chatter, but they were good sports. 

1 hike down! 13 more to go…

love and layers,

Erin

Gym = boo

I belong to a fancy gym.  It’s a big, fancy, chain of a gym.  The locker room feels like a spa’s locker room.  Perhaps I should go more often.  Mostly I go their to swim.  They have 3 pools: 1 lap pool, 1 pool for playtime and a giant pool outside.  When I go to swim in the summer I swim outside and there are moments, every time, when I feel like I’m on vacation.

As I said, I belong to a fancy gym and the truth is I rarely go.  It’s not because I hate working out, it’s because the gym makes me feel kooky.  My head spins, I feel anxious and I never have a plan so I end up wandering around from machine to machine wondering how all these people seem to know what to do at the gym. 

Tuesday was the second training day for me this week, and again it was a 15 minute walk.  Normally for such a short walk I wouldn’t bother going to the gym to walk on the treadmill.  However I was wide-awake at 4am on Tuesday and figured I might as well get my exercise in early.  And that is way too early for walking outside alone around here. I live next to a cemetery, for Pete sake!  If nothing else, I am sure that’s when the ghosts are getting in their lunges and whatnot.  plus there’s the coyotes.  maybe a mugger or two. 

Of course at 4:45am when I got there the parking lot is packed.  Of course it is.  Who are these people? Why do they love the gym so much they’d rather be there then in their own cozy beds?  And why was I one of them today?

I take a moment to enjoy the spa-like locker room and then head up to the treadmills.  There are people everywhere.  Sweaty, stinky people stretching, and push-up-ing, pumping iron and the like.  I find a treadmill as far away from other people as possible and start walking.  I look around for a moment.  It’s like a freaking exercise army in that place.  Rows and rows of people running in near unison, eyes straight ahead, getting nowhere.  In front of them 5-6 people all in a row climbing staircases again to nowhere.   A whole cycling team ahead of the stairs, speeding along to stay put.  It’s bizarre..this place.  So unnatural and weird.  But people like it right? The gym?  They work out, they feel good, they get all sweaty and feel accomplished. Right?  Why can’t I like that?

All I kept thinking about was how much I wanted to get out of there. And when I did finish my workout, it took a few minutes for my legs to shake that “phantom floor” feeling. I departed quickly and headed back home, the sky still dark.  Whenever I leave the gym after having tried again to workout upstairs I think I ought to cancel my membership – it seems ludicrous to belong to a gym just for the pool.

But man it’s a nice pool. And I *do* like to feel like I’m on vacation.  Plus they let you bring your flippers (which I bought last summer) and there is nothing like swimming with flippers.

Perhaps I’ll wait another summer before I quit.

Erin

ps – today was the 3rd training day ( 1 mile) and walked outside again.  Much nicer.  Colder, but nicer. 

Sashay, shantay

So this morning was the first official day of "training" for the big hike.  The Team-in-Training people provide a day-to-day schedule for getting all fit for the big hike and today was "Day 1". 

Day 1 = 15 minute walk. (I like this starting off slow business!)

So this morning I strapped on my shoes, tried to dress in the appropriate number of layers, remembered to wear my watch so I would be sure to turn around at the 7.5 minute mark so that I walk 15 minutes exactly, grabbed my keys, my phone (in case of emergency!) and my camera (?) well I thought maybe I'd see something worthy of a photo in 15 minutes. It turns out I did...more on that later.

This wasn't the first time I'd gone for a walk in the early morning in my neighborhood. In the warmer months I go all the time - heck some mornings I actually run.  But in the winter it is tough to get motivated. The only people I came across were people walking their dogs.  People in all form of dress walking their dogs.  Some were bundled head-to-toe in down jacket/hat/boot/mitten combos.  Some were clearly not warm enough in their Evanston-Hockey jackets and no hats.  One lady was clearly wearing her pink bathrobe and pjs under her jacket. bravo, sleepy lady.

Just after my 7.5 minute turnaround I peeked up ahead of me to scan the nieghborhood. 

(Let me point out that when it is this cold people tend to keep their faces turned as far towards their chest as possible to ward off the frigid air.  Not the best policy for walking alone in the early am, I know. Perhaps I need a face mask) 

Up ahead I saw this small person coming towards me.  I couldn't make out whether it was a man, woman or child, but whoever it was they were walking fast!  As I got closer I realized it was an elderly woman, but what was most noticeable was the walk..or rather the swagger this lady had going on.  She held her arm out to the side -  just above her hip, arm loose, but extended.  Her left arm was tucked in above her purse, her hand firmly placed on the strap just at her breast.  With each step her hips hit a silent beat to the left and then to the right.  And her loose extended arm snapped at the wrist in time with her hips.  eyes fixed up ahead on wherever she was headed.  She belonged on a runway with that walk.  Or in an old movie where they'd have her walk just like that past a group of men who'd crane their necks to watch her pass, eyes bugged out, jaws to the floor...someone would utter "humina, humina"

It was awesome and envy worthy.  I could nearly hear the beat she sashayed to.

Boom-boompa-boom-boompa-boom-boompa-boom