Training, Week 5

Sorry, I'm a little late on this one.

If I weren't typing this on Wednesday night, I'd be talking about how nervous I was finishing up Week 5. Because Week 6 are when things get tough on my Hanson's plan - all of a sudden I've got to start doing long intervals and tempo runs and six runs a week, instead of five fairly short runs at super duper easy pace. Week 5 involved 24 miles of running; Week 6 requires 39(!). But, er, now that the hard part of the week (the interval and tempo runs) are done, I'm feeling a bit more in control.

So, anyway...how about I just talk about last week's training?

Day 1 - 5 miles easy (11:09 pace)
Laps of Green Lake. Quiet and wonderful.

Day 2 - REST
Went to the gym for a short strength workout, though.

Day 3 - 4 miles easy (11:10 pace)
Waterfront path after work, through the Sculpture Garden. Ugh. Tummy issues. Gotta figure out how to manage these runs right after work. Maybe skip my coffee on days that I know I'll be running at 4:30? This isn't an issue with runs at 6:30 or 7pm.

Day 4 - 5 miles easy (11:11 pace)
Oh, man. Hour's workout at the gym, followed almost immediately by five miles around Green Lake. I took a Gu in between, which I suspect helped me a great deal. Surprisingly, I was tired and glad when my five miles were done, but I didn't feel like I couldn't move another step. I CAN tell you that I was exhausted for two days afterwards, however. Which made for a massive Friday night party of OMGRANTHENWASINBEDBYLIKE9PM.

Day 5 - 4 miles easy (11:15 pace)
Tired, sore, ran my miles anyway.

Day 6 - REST
Well, I mean, I had my skating lesson at 8:30. Decided in my head that I want to do the adult freestyle lessons, as well, since my basic skating skills need work. And then I came home and collapsed again. I think I did something Saturday night, but apparently I have absolutely no memory of what it was. Nor does facebook, twitter or my e-mail, so I guess it didn't really happen?

Day 7 - 6 miles easy (3 at 10:46 pace, 3 at 12:38 pace)
I went to Green Lake to get 3 miles in before the itty bitty Inclement Sprint 5K, where my job to was to try and pace the roommate to a 12:00 paced 5K. Her shins weren't working properly and got all splinty, so it didn't really work out, but since we went and had brunch at Blue Star afterwards, it was all fine. And the adorable gay frat boys of UW raised a nice sum for the Safe Schools Coalition! I will save her the shame of posting the photos where I'm literally walking backwards mocking her for needing to re-tie her shoes in the middle of the race. But they're hilarious!

So tiny that we took a race photo (I'm the one in bright orange)! Awwwwww.

Count Rucifee von Kittenpants

My best friend's little sister keeps photo-shopping photos of my cat. I think they're the best thing ever. As is my cat.

After I announced to the world that he had officially been dubbed Count Rucifee von Kittenpants.
It's the monocle that slays me every time.

In my head, he's a superhero. In Sarah's, he's a supervillan.

Now he's a superhero!

Kittenpants, Kittenpants, wherefore art thou Kittenpants?

I'm wondering when I should tell her about my two other favorite songs: "He's a Kittenpants and he's ok: he sleeps all night and he sleeps all day" and "He's a Yankee Doodle Kitten, he's my yankee doodle boy...." SHUT UP! Doesn't everyone make up songs about their cat?

It's also been suggested that he should be in a scene with the mice from Cinderella, you know, in honor of his namesake. Other ideas welcome!

Eichmann in Jerusalem

And now for something completely different. (By which I mean; OMG NOT ABOUT RUNNING)

Earlier this week I decided that I needed to go to the opening night of the Seattle International Film Festival's Women in Film mini-Festival. Why? Because they were showing the new movie Hannah Arendt. And, because I have a not so slight obsession with Eichmann in Jerusalem left over from grad school. What? Not everyone used a quote from Eichmann as the title of their dissertation? The rest of you aren't enthralled with Arendt's description of the stateless person as "an anomaly for whom there is no appropriate niche in the framework of the general law’ – an outlaw by definition?"

Actually, as my chemistry major roommate pointed out, most people haven't heard of Arendt or Eichmann in Jerusalem, her book about Adolph Eichmann's 1961 trial for crimes against the Jewish people and crimes against humanity. He would have been tried at Nuremburg, had he not escaped to Argentina, and was later tracked down, kidnapped, and taken to Israel by the Israeli security services to stand trial. Eichmann was convicted and executed.

In grad school, we talked a great deal about the Eichmann trial in the international law, and particularly transitional justice, context. What is a show trial? What purpose do these war crimes trials serve in post-conflict reconciliation processes? What is justice? Plus, the whole idea of the "banality of evil" is absolutely fascinating.

I returned to the book because I was writing my dissertation on statelessness and, in particular, on the use of statelessness as a tool to create a dangerous class of "others," whom the state can then attack, as an enemy, at will. Arendt discusses the Nazi use of denationalization as a precursor to the Holocaust ("...one could do as one pleased only with stateless people; the Jews had to lose their nationality before they could be exterminated") - my work was to show that citizenship law and denationalization continue to be used in this way. I thought (and think) that as long as states are allowed to think of the stateless as "outlaws by definition," that this mindset creates a fundamental barrier to solving the problem of statelessness. I'd also like to point out that I wrote about statelessness before it became the trendy new thing in human rights law!

Anyway, that's a long-winded way of saying that OBVIOUSLY I was the perfect target audience for Hannah Arendt. I loved it and I'd really love to see it again (DVD, perhaps?). It was 75% in German, 25% in English (quite a lot of the movie is set in New York). I loved that it put Eichmann in an entirely new context for me. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't know anything about Arendt's personal life, nor the controversy that surrounded the book's publication (or the New Yorker articles that it was based upon) - although, it seems painfully obvious to me now that the book is packed with controversial ideas, particularly about the Holocaust. I also loved that they used historical footage from the trial. I think it had so much more of an impact than recreating those scenes would have done. And, SO creepy to see Eichmann in close-up. The photo of him in my brain is the one from the trial on the book's cover and it's a distant shot.

I had to wonder what it was like to watch the movie without having first read the book. It's been years since I read it (although, I'm obviously reading it again now), but at least I have that background and a firm grounding in the language of international law theory. Would it have been too overwhelming? Or is there enough of a story about Hannah Arendt, the woman and figure of controversy, to make it perfectly accessible? I'd be interested in other views. I will also note that I thought the actress who played her was extraordinary. Apparently both the leading lady, Barbara Sukowa, and director, Margarethe von Trotta, are extraordinarily famous in Germany, but I don't know any of their work.

Gratuitous shot from the balcony in
Bulgaria where I finished reading EIJ.

Finally, I will note that I left with a burning desire to reread Eichmann in Jerusalem. I am a strong believer in the idea that books will mean different things to you at different points in your life. In 2006, I was an idealistic graduate student thinking about pirates and outlaws and stateless people and HUGE questions about justice and international law. I focused on the idea of the trial and the Nazi system of denationalizing most of the European Jewry. Now, I'll completely admit, I'm really interested in rereading about Eichmann the bureaucrat. In my day job (the one I don't talk about), I'm a bureaucrat, too. And sometimes, I really have to take stock and remember that I have to do my job with empathy for the people I serve, because it's so hard to walk that fine line between becoming immune to the humanity of the people whose lives I impact and becoming so immersed in that humanity that I wouldn't be able to do this work with the objectivity it requires. I don't want to be Eichmann, who claims he mere obeyed orders and followed the law, but I also have a duty to the law (which, thank god, is generally not terrible - I'm not comparing it to Nazi law, to be perfectly clear here). And I think it's far more difficult to watch out for our own (my own) unkind impulses when evil is so frighteningly banal.

Dumbo Double Dare

So, I'm completely insane, but I've gone and registered for the Dumbo Double Dare, running the new Disneyland 10K and the Disneyland Half Marathon on consecutive days. I'm really looking forward to it and I'm planning to do actual, specific, planned training for the half this time - it's time to put my 2:15 to bed. And, given that I did an 8K and a Half this fall, I'm not so worried about finishing the distances - I don't think this is anywhere as big a challenge (for me) as the Goofy would be (Disney World Half & Full on consecutive days).

There are a TON of unhappy people over on the RunDisney facebook page, though, who didn't get into the Dumbo or the 10K before they both sold out (Dumbo in less than an hour, the 10K took 2-3 hours) after registration opened at noon EST today. I'm not really fussed (then again, I got in). I was absolutely certain that the Dumbo was going to sell out incredibly quickly - I don't think I expected the same for the 10K, though. This is what races do these days - when the Chicago Marathon opens in a few days, I'm sure it will be less than 24 hours until it's sold out. Ironman's an extreme example, but those events can sell out in seconds. I think that if you're serious about running certain events you learn to plan for them or you enter lotteries and hope that you eventually get in.

Part of the frustration is that a number of spots went to people who registered before the official opening gong, either at the Disney World Marathon expo, the Tinkerbell expo, or because they had special links for Disney Visa Card or Annual Pass holders. That's certainly Disney's prerogative. And, frankly, if you knew where to look, those links were actually available to the public, too. I don't really have much of a point, but to say that I don't think RunDisney did anything wrong here - races are popular and exciting and people want to be part of them. Capacity is limited (thank goodness - nothing worse than a crowded course) and not everyone gets in. As this sport becomes increasingly popular, it's going to continue to happen (maybe people are more likely to be pitching a fit, because so many RunDisney participants don't do tons of other big races?). And it's just something that runners have learned or need to learn to plan for when they draw up their racing schedule.

Training, Week 4

I don't think I have much of interest to add this week. I did the runs. They were fine. I had to rearrange a bit, to facilitate a fabulous Saturday adventure with my wonderful, wonderful friend from Australia! I also think I might stick with the trainer for the duration of marathon training: I was impressed when we met this week.

Day 1 - 5 miles easy (11:02 pace)
Lap of Green Lake.

Day 2 - REST
Took Count Rucifee von Kittenpants. He thought it was no big deal, but I was a mess! I've never taken a pet to the vet before (I've never had a pet before him...don't think that I'm a bad pet owner!). I was super excited to find an Amazon Local coupon to the new Urban Animal vet - located about a mile away from home. I was skeptical, because the clinic is walk-in, but we checked in online before we left (this took a bit longer than expected, because Kittenpants does NOT like being shoved in his cat carrier) and there was no wait at all. Everyone was very nice to both of us and told him that he was a very handsome cat (cue *proud owner thoughts*). He had a rabies shot and was told that he should probably keep working on losing some weight (his goal weight is ~14.5 pounds).

Day 3 - 3 miles easy (11:10 pace)
This was after a workout at the the gym and my legs felt DEAD. Ugh. I was also reminded, via workout, that I am sometimes incredibly pathetic when asked to do any workout that doesn't involve me running. SO. HARD. Sigh. Each mile got slower. On the upside, I loved the Marathon Talk interview with Mike Tomlinson, whose wife did some amazing, amazing endurance feats during the seven years after she was diagnosed with cancer.

Day 4 - 3 miles easy (11:02 pace)
Lap of Green Lake.



Day 5 - 5 miles easy (5.3/5.4 pace)

Apparently this is her country's worst wine!

We've been having some insane fog in Seattle (seriously, like four days of thick, thick fog). I ended up doing this run on the gym treadmill, because I worried no one would be able to see me. AND BECAUSE I HAD TO GO PICK MY FAVORITE AUSTRALIAN FROM THE AIRPORT. And then I promptly took her to Costco, which was hilariously fun. Australian mind blown!

Also, amusingly, I got chatted up by a "random" while on treadmill. He was on the rowing machine next to the treadmills and was clearly trying to hang on until I'd finished. He gave up after 3 miles.

Day 6 - REST
I decided to rearrange and do my run on Sunday. I started off the morning with skating, but the teacher was ill, so I actually just had half an hour of free ice. I had it to myself for the first half hour!

Then, we had Top Pot doughnuts(!) and started the drive north to the Skagit Bald Eagle festival! It was incredible! We made several stops, but the best was at a bend in the river where we saw at least two adult eagles fishing in the water and a few juveniles, one of which landed in a tree just by the side of the road. I LOVE bald eagles and it was so neat to see them so close!

Checking out the model bald eagle nest.

Interpretive eagle dances!

We fulfilled one of her lifelong ambitions, but didn't make it to Walmart.

Day 7 - 5 miles easy (5.3/5.4 pace)
Ugh, another treadmill run due to fog. BUT, then Favorite Sarah and I went exploring - Pike Place was obviously the first stop. Then on to Cupcake Royale to try the cupcake ice cream. Then we entered the lottery for Book of Mormon tickets (we lost), did some shopping (um, I WON at Ann Taylor and Banana...an AT suit for $65? Yes, please!), and had a lovely Italian dinner. Our time went SO quickly, but I'm so glad she visited!

Training, Week 3

I can't tell you how exciting it is that Jantastic (over on marathontalk.com) finally kicked off this week, for my third week of training for Eugene. Overall, a good week. Lets are a little tired, but I should be making some good gains now (since the book says that it takes about 10 days for your body to adapt to the training). I'm so glad that there's a build-up phase built in that lets me spend a month working on the whole "running five times a week" thing before ramping up to six runs, since the most I've ever done regularly is four times a week - when I was in marathon training last year.

I've had an ongoing set of issues with trainers. I originally signed up for a year's worth of training sessions at the gym in November 2011. Since then, I've had three different trainers (just starting with #4), which has been a massive ordeal. Two of the three never told me they quit - I just showed up at the gym expecting to see them and they weren't there. I had to ask the gym's management what was going on and it's sucked. I feel really bad for the new woman, who seems nice, but I'm so not invested in buying more sessions (and I only have a few of the original ones left). I also don't particularly want to spend a ton of time at the gym during marathon training. I completely acknowledge the need for cross and strength training, don't get me wrong, but spending hours there isn't something I'm willing to do on top of higher milage than I've ever done in my life (and, let's remember, that at my paces, that milage takes quite a bit of time to achieve). I AM willing to pop into the gym for 20 minutes or so before or after a run (and that's what the Hanson's book suggests anyway), so I'd really just like a basic set of things to do in that time frame and check in with the trainer every once in awhile to see how it's going. I think I'm self-motivated enough to not need constant supervision, although the new trainer's argument is that she likes to check people's form and what's been hurting and adjust as necessary to address imbalances that come up in the course of more intense training. I can see her point. For now, we're going to see how things go during the base phase of marathon training (so, through the end of the month, more or less, and go from there).

I've also been concentrating on nutrition. I think I'd like to write about this separately (maybe I need a Training, Week X Food entry on the blog, as well), but I've been following four main strategies:

1. Cook for myself. I'm loving this. It's cheaper, the food is perfectly suited to my individual taste, I never have to stare at the fridge after a run to decide what to make, and I definitely feel more satisfied after I eat non-processed things. Whole grains, organic lean protein, and veggies are the cornerstones here.
2. Incorporate more fresh fruits & veggies. Luckily, I love both. I just have to make sure I prep things or have them on hand. I'm still not sure that I'm getting to 5/day, but I'm probably close. Definitely closer than before.
3. Not panic over my sweet tooth. If I want something sweet, I eat it. I'm trying not to panic about it or set weird rules for myself, which I inevitably don't follow and then feel guilty about. However, I'm finding that all of these food strategies are combining to actually diminish my cravings for sweets.
4. Small, frequent meals. I can't even tell you how awesome it's been to "give in" to the "eat small meals every 2-3 hours" school of thought. I always wanted to eat that often anyway and I think my biggest "junk food" cravings came when I really, really needed to eat, but was trying to hold out until society's appointed lunch or dinner time. I think my blood sugar was crashing. My inner hobbit LOVES second breakfast and afternoon snack (keeping walnuts and pecans at my desk has helped with the making of good choices, too, to eat with a piece of fruit). I'm more productive, I eat less junk food, it's a win all around!

To the training, batman....

Day 1 - 4 miles easy (11:08 pace)
Lap of Green Lake - met my running club peeps and did a lap while they were doing track night. Some of them were doing the same track workouts that I get to do in a few weeks. Dear god, do they sound long & hard - there were some uphappy faces out there!

Day 2 - Rest
Done!

Day 3 - 4 easy (10:59 pace)
Up and down the neighborhood - man did my legs feel fresh after a day off, even though I TRIED to slow down!

Day 4 - 4 easy (11:07 pace)
My usual Thursday night social run with running club. Had to go out a little early to make sure I got my super-slow lap (and a bit extra) done. Kinda sucks that my "social" run is going to be a "lonely" run for a good few months now, but that's how it goes.

Day 5 - 4 easy (11:09 pace)
Ran right after a quick circuit at the gym. Oh, man. It was really, really hard to force my legs to turn over at first and get up to pace!

Day 6 - 5 easy (10:57 pace)
So much for easy. I really did try! I ran on the Interurban North trail right after my skating lesson - thinking of it as a warm-up. Conveniently, the trail runs across the street from the rink, so I think I'll be getting at least a few more runs in on it before marathon training is over.

Day 7 - Rest
I'm sure I'll succeed on this one. :-)

Latest running reads

I did some serious reading over the Christmas Break, so I thought I'd say a word or two about the two running books I attacked.

First up is Meb Keflezighi's Run to Overcome, Meb's autobiography from the time he was born in Eritrea through his win at the NYC marathon in 2010. I wouldn't be wholly surprised to see a new edition soon with an update after he won the 2012 US Olympic Marathon trials and then had an amazing run to come fourth in the Olympic marathon (and was the only American man to finish...I have thoughts about that).

Anyway, I'm mostly surprised that it took me so long to get around to reading his book, since my two favorite topics for reading are definitely running and refugees. (Yes, I've got Lopez Lomong's book from the library now, too.) I don't think reading Meb's book is going to change any lives, nor is it literary powerhouse, but it does what it says on the tin. I learned a ton more about Meb and like him even more now, impressive given that I thought pretty highly of him already. I am always drawn to books about the experience of being a refugee resettled in the United States, so the early parts of the book were especially interesting to me and I think really put his journey into context. Finally, because I'm not a religious person and I reach my "God" tolerance rather quickly, I have to say that I thought Meb did a really good job with this particular aspect of his life. I absolutely respect his deep faith and how it has helped him on his journey; his discussions of religion were almost entirely personal and weren't too much for me at all.

I also read Neal Bascomb's The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It. (In a great coincidence, I had it out from the library, but was given a copy for Christmas, too!) Shockingly, it's the story of the four minute mile and the race between the UK's Roger Bannister, American Wes Santee, and Australian John Landy to be the first person under four minutes. I rather enjoyed this, as well. I particularly enjoyed reading about the different training methods that the three men were using, mostly because I'm simultaneously astonished and appalled at the results they got while training in ways that are SO different from what's now considered normal. But, man, were some of those training regimes impressive (and nutty). It's also the second book I've read fairly recently where the AAU was a villan (Marathon Woman being the first), so that was interesting. Finally, I feel like it gave me a little bit of insight into just how hard it can be to be an elite runner even today - finding good competition, having training facilities that are adequate, how much depends on the conditions, etc. Again, nothing earth-shattering, but I do enjoy my running books.

Up next are Lopez Lomong's book about going from being a Sudanese Lost Boy to running for the US in the Olympics and PRE, because I think I need to have a slightly better understanding of the obsession before running the Eugene Marathon. I'd like to read Bradley Wiggins' autobiography, but it isn't out in the US yet. Booooo. Are there any new books about women runners out? I think I need a break from all these men.

Training, Week 2

Things proceed on track here at Eugene 2013 training HQ. I was scheduled for and completed 5 short, very easy-paced runs this week. My weekly milage was only 15, but I'm pretty convinced that the point of this part of the training is to get your body used to running many more days a week than it's used to (mine is used to 3-4, so the bump to 5 isn't toooooo bad, but I'm glad to start here instead of jumping up to 6 immediately).

I'm also very excited because Marathon Talk's Spring Motivation Challenge starts tomorrow. I really loved using it to log my runs last year, since I knew my "rivals" would see if I slipped up and didn't maintain my 100% ratio of planned runs to actual runs each week. I think it played a huge part in helping me stay on track last year, especially as I was doing all of my training on my own. This year won't be nearly so lonely, thanks to my amazing running club.

However, I'm working on embracing my inner introvert, who actually loves doing long runs on her own, with a podcast for company. I'm constantly shocked at the number of people who can't even fathom the idea of a solo long run and I worry that they think I'm a freak for preferring them. But I can motivate myself to get out on the run and I enjoy not having the pressure to keep up with someone. I suspect that doing so would make me faster, but...not worth it.

Finally, in exciting exercise news, I started ice skating lessons this week (another reason I'll be sticking to solo long runs, since my lessons conflict with running group's long runs)! I skated from third grade until I left for college and I've always missed it. But now, I have a car and I can drive myself to the ice rink! I'll be doing an 8-week series of adult ice dance lessons to relearn some of the patterns and basics. I feel a little bad, because I'm definitely ahead of the other people in the group (apparently ice dance is something that people do in couples when they grow up...because it was two couples and me?), just because of my past experience. It's nice, though, how it comes back. I'm also wondering whether I need to incorporate a practice session in somewhere in my week.

Anyway, it's lovely to be back on the ice! The coach is very nice and is a guy, so it evens out the M/F ratio. I can still skate, but my legs are a little wobbly and there are all sorts of little technique things that I'm looking forward to working on alongside the people who are less confident on their skates. And I think it will be a nice bit of low-impact cross-training, since it forces me to move in ways that are COMPLETELY different to running. We had a lecture yesterday about how runners are really good at moving forwards and backwards, but not about using their bodies to rotate or go sideways...skaters do a lot of that.

Right, records:
Day 1 - 2 miles easy (11:03 pace)
Yup, still struggling to stay at 11:15 pace. Barely made it back in time to greet the first guest at our New Year's Eve party!

Day 2 - REST (New Year's Day)
It was BEAUTIFUL in Seattle on Tuesday! I eventually forced my roommate to go for a lovely walk in Discovery Park, which neither one of us had ever actually visited. But, it was great! I can't wait to try some trail runs there, too.

Day 3 - 3 miles easy (11:10 pace)

Day 4 - 3 miles easy (11:23 pace)
Yay! My friend Tiffany kept me on pace for our lap of Green Lake at Thursday night running club. And, then, I proudly at a salad at our post-run pizza place. Win. Then, I picked up my friend Alison from the train station, who was visiting before she flew back to the UK!!! I haven't seen Alison since April, so it was a special treat.

Day 5 - 3 miles easy (11:06 pace)
Late night treadmill session after a day of playing tour guide. Had a fabulous brunch at Coastal Kitchen (OMG, gingerbread waffle and smoked salmon scramble!), spent an hour getting Alison fingerprinted at the King County Courthouse for new teacher's licenses, forced her to try a Top Pot doughnut (which allowed me to remind her of my 5K PB...even though she's a much faster runner than me), saw Silver Linings Playbook (lovely...great acting, although I thought the chemistry wasn't amazing), and had sushi dinner. Fun day!

Day 6 - 4 miles easy (11:07 pace) + ice dance lesson
LOVED my dance lesson! Took Alison to the airport afterwards, "watched" the Georgetown-Marquette game with alums, and went to the running club talk on surviving marathon training. About 10pm, I finally made it out the door for my run in the rain. You know, I actually adore night running (as long as I have a headlamp, high-viz gear, and tail light). It's so peaceful and calm. Although I totally can't do this on work nights!

Day 7 - REST
Well, I haven't officially finished this, but I'm working on it! I will roll out my hips, though, later, because they were feeling a little tight yesterday.

Right! On to week 3!

Training Week 1

Day 1 - Rest Day
Way to start out with hard core marathon training! Rest day woo! Except that I went for a C25K week one run with my friend Juliana. We took the requisite "we are tough and ran to Lake Michigan in December" photo. It was great!

Day 2 - Rest Day
Christmas Day! Hurrah! More crazy hard training.


Day 3 - 3 miles easy (11:07 pace)
I foresee really struggling with the paces I'm supposed to be hitting on these easy runs. I think they're supposed to be 11:28. I'm shooting for 11:15 and still haven't hit it, even with my awesome Garmin 610 virtual pacer. Ran around Juliana's neighborhood. Also, went downtown in Chicago to meet other friends for lunch. I definitely OD'd on yummy German food over Christmas!


Day 4 - Rest Day


Day 5 - 3 miles easy (11:07 pace)
Treadmill day in Duchie's gym. Awesome company, but, man, treadmills are BORING! Good chat, though!

During the day, I had yummy Ethiopian food with my best friend's husband for lunch and then took myself off to explore Andersonville and the Swedish-American Museum. They have a Children's Museum of Immigration on the top floor of the museum, which I was really intrigued to see. I LOVED the idea, but it was largely "here's a cabin in Sweden to play in, now compare it to this cabin in Wisconsin that you can play in!" Which, I think could really, really work, but it was hard to find the orienting information for the parents to turn it into an educational experience (especially if you weren't someone who knew a ton about immigration already...it would work better if the parents knew the content in the "adult" museum downstairs already). I suspect it works really well when the museum people do it for school groups, though.

Day 6 - 4 miles 5 miles easy (10:39 pace)
Duchie can't run easy. It's a proven fact. She also wanted to do five miles, instead of four, so we did. This was lovely, on the Chicago Lake path, even if I laughed at her lone "hill." Running with my favorite and oldest running buddy is always the most wonderful thing in the world. I love it! That was a good one. :-)

I met her puppy!

Day 7 - Rest Day
Travelled back to Seattle from Chicago. We're not even going to talk about the cabbie who asked me if Duchie was my daughter, after she stuffed me in the cab. She's older than I am (barely, but STILL)!

So, that's 11 miles for week one. Right on plan!