Existence updates + 100 mile challenge

The past couple of months have been pretty hectic for ole Granny Rose, but in good ways. Among other things, I have been involved in Away Day 2013 both as a planner and a talent show contestant, transitioning from a Business Analyst role to a Project Manager/Iteration Manager position on my project, embarking on a series of mini-vacation/adventures every other weekend, and moving into the boy's condo - all while still traveling every week and nursing a broken hand, yowza!

The bad news is that my itty corner of the internetz got a bit neglected in all of this excitement. The good news is that much of the dust has settled and I feel mostly normal/inspired to blog again. Away Day is over (thank jebus), my hand is mostly healed, and both moving and role transitioning are going fairly smoothly.

Here's some fun footage from the Away Day talent show. Fast forward to the five minute mark to check out the act that I'm in, "Matrix Ping Pong."

In essence, my "talent" was to go up on stage in front of 500 of my colleagues in a full-body skin suit, crouch down with my face four inches away from somebody's butt, and half-blindly execute a complex series of movements, all while trying not to be seen, heard, or to pass out from the lack of oxygen. Huzzah!

As for the various vacations I've been on... well, they really deserve their own posts, and at least the most recent trip, Mackinac, will get one. So look for that in the near future.

Now that I'm splint-free, I've been really eager to get back into running. So much so that I've been pursuing something called the 100 mile challenge. It's very simple - the challenge is to run 100 miles in a month or any other 31-day time span, which averages out to roughly a 5k every day. What I like about it is that this challenge requires diligence and consistency, two qualities I want to improve in as a runner. 

I'm currently on day two and have exactly seven miles under my belt - so far so good! Both days' runs have been on the hotel treadmill and therefore logged manually on Endomodo. While I prefer running outside, it's just not really feasible here in Dallas in July when the feel temperature easily reaches 100+ F (37+ C) and there's a heat advisory almost every day. 

At the end of the challenge I hope to see some improvement in my 5k time. My best time ever was in the Austin Gorilla run (go figure) with a 23:01 5k, or a 7.5 minute mile average. Right now I'm easing into the routine with a pace around an 8.5 to 9 minute mile. But my goal will be to gradually increase that speed through some interval training and hopefully beat my personal best - and then some (I've got my eye on you, sub-20 5k!). But really in the grand scheme of things, even if I don't go super duper fast, just getting through all 100 miles without breaking any more bones will be something I'll be proud to say I did. 

Oh, and in anticipation of/as a reward for me completing the challenge, the boy has made reservations for two at The Girl and the Goat for the end of August. If that isn't enough motivation to get my ass on at treadmill, then I don't know what is!

well, scratch "broken a bone" from my "never have i ever" arsenal...

womp womp

my glorious return to my blog is predicated upon a rather unfortunate incident that took place yesterday afternoon on a quiet tree-lined street in wrigleyville. i was on mile 3 of a run with the boy when he asked me, "what is the most romantic thing that you can think of?" i furrowed my brow and thought deep and hard. and then i tripped and lost my balance.

in a decidedly unromantic effort to upend the gravitational forces pulling me towards the pavement, i more or less threw the weight of my entire existence on my left hand, which smacked into an iron railing/fence - hard. i caught myself and managed to straighten out but my hand was not having a good time. at all. it quickly swelled and after a few minutes, i found that i had a limited range of motion with a few fingers. i was still in shock - tripping is always so disorienting - and was alternating between laughing at my absurd clumsiness (who trips over air?) and holding back tears. in middle school someone told me that if you laugh and cry at the same time, you grow white hairs on your butt. i guess that happened then.

anyhoo, i walked it off with the boy, who was very supportive. we decided to stop by his brother(an orthopedic surgeon)'s place and have him check it out. by this time the immediate sharp pain had dissipated. there was still a dull ache and it was painful to flex my fingers but on the whole after the shock had worn off, i felt okay again - just with a gimpy left hand.

the boy's brother examined it and recommended i get it x-rayed. i decided to wait a day - after all, didn't real broken bones render people thrashing on the ground in crippling pain? that's what i'd always thought, anyway. after a thoroughly normal evening and next morning (which consisted of more running, painting, eating out, cooking in, showering, playing with Thundercat, and all around the same stuff i usually do) i thought it was probably time to get it x-rayed just to be safe. the boy and i walked on over to the ER at illinois masonic. lucky for me, it wad a slow day in the ER and i was seen almost immediately. the x-rays showed that i had a metacarpal fracture on the bone of my left ring finger. (i have the x-rays on a dvd, but my macbook air doesn't have a dvd drive! #firstworldproblems) the bone was not displaced, meaning that it was still lined up/that i wouldn't need surgery - whew - but i had to have the finger stabilized nonetheless. i couldn't believe that such a tiny crack called for a splint like this - it felt absurd to have my whole wrist and forearm swaddled - but i will see a hand specialist in the next few days and can hopefully soon downgrade to something less dramatic.

i should also add that i am no stranger to falling whilst running. in high school i tripped over an elevated sidewalk square and had to run home with bloody cut up knees. a few months ago i tripped while talking about spicy chicken jambalaya (i know...) on a run and smashed my phone's screen. this time it was an actual bone that i broke! all three times i think my ego was hurt more than anything else though.

all in all, i count myself lucky. lucky that i had the boy with me for support, that his brother happened to be an ortho resident, that i wasn't in much pain, that there was a short wait at the ER, that my fracture wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been, that it was on my left hand, and that my insurance covered the bill.

i guess the one thing i will complain about is typing with one hand - it's a ton of work and i feel exhausted from typing this! i better go ruminate over some badass reasons as to why i am wearing a sling in anticipation of questions from curious coworkers tomorrow. can't decide between i wrestled a shark and i punched my own rock-hard abs too hard.

i have three arms, bitches.

Pictures with roommates at DMK

Fun fact #1: I have a really big head.

Fun fact #2: the mac and cheese at DMK is delicious!

Fun fact #3: the flash was way too bright.

DMK Burger Bar is one of my favorite places to go to in the city. It's got all the qualifications I look for in an eatery: a hip atmosphere, fine cocktails, and mouth-watering burgers. Oh and it's close enough to my apartment that I can still guarantee to be in bed by 11 PM! *grandma fist pump*

I went there this weekend with some old friends and it was swell. I've been on a real cocktail kick lately and tried a couple of DMK's. Their Manhattan was decent but the real winner was the second drink I had. It was gin-based and had a lump of strawberry jam tossed in there, which doesn't sound very appealing but I swear it was very much so. According to various tasters throughout the night, was reminiscent of everything from "summer" to "juniper tree branch" to "the bottom sugary part of a mojito." In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed it - too bad I can't recall the name, which was unconventional and did not lend well to being remembered...

Anyway, in light of Kuma's Too opening shop down the street I wanted to show DMK some local love. Turns out DMK showed us back some love by giving our table free mac and cheeses! (macs and cheese?) This was splendid because I probably would never have tried their mac and cheese (the burgers are just too good) but now that I've tasted the forbidden er, elbow macaroni, I now know it's bona-fide delicious. And next time instead of the fried dill pickles I will probably go for the m&c with my #4 burger.

...who am I kidding. I will order both.