Running hiatus, Jose Garces, and ZOOMA weekend getaway

It's been another ridiculously busy week for me.  Workdays ranging from 12-14 hours, back-to-back-to-back meetings and deadlines, early-morning PT appointments, catching up with out-of-town visitors.  I am STILL trying to fend off a stuffy nose and cough, too.  I said a week ago that I thought that I would be 100% in a couple of days, but my recovery has been painfully, frustratingly slow (and I don't think the stress of work has helped).

I still have not done any running since the Chicago Marathon.  Not a running step for almost two weeks (unless you count when I had to sprint for half a block to catch a bus that was about to pull away).  There was a period of a few days last week when I was getting the urge to run again, but that has now dissipated in its entirety.

For now, I am just content to enjoy the beauty of autumn without my running shoes.

A lot of folks have asked me if I have the post-marathon blues.  My honest answer is that I don't.  I do not miss the rigorous training schedule or the enormous amount of time involved with stretching, doing physical therapy exercises, foam rolling, etc., etc.  I still do want to run more marathons in the future, for sure, and I'm already thinking about running Chicago again next year.  But for right now I am really, really enjoying the mental and physical break from running that these last two weeks have afforded.  It's a little addicting to NOT run, actually.  Bad, I know.

Moving on from the post-marathon talk!  The next 36 hours are going to be quite the whirlwind for me.  For any Food Network fans out there, Iron Chef Jose Garces is hosting a cookbook launch party tonight at Kendall College (he is an alum).  He'll be doing a meet-and-greet, serving appetizers and drinks from his new cookbook, and then doing a cooking demonstration (hopefully with some samples for the audience!)  Adam and I have tickets to attend and I can't wait.

Iron Chef Jose Garces

It'll be very cool to meet Jose Garces in person.  I have all kinds of burning questions to ask him about being an Iron Chef (e.g. Do you REALLY find out about each show's secret ingredient completely on the fly?  Is Alton Brown really as much of a walking food encyclopedia in person as he is on TV?  Does the Chairman really make wind-whipping noises when he turns his head?)

Immediately after the conclusion of Chef Garces's event, I am heading up to the Lake Geneva area.  As I'd mentioned here, a big group of the Chicago Running Bloggers have rented a house for the weekend for the ZOOMA Great Lakes Half Marathon.

In lieu of running the race, I decided to volunteer.  This will be my maiden voyage as a race volunteer and I have been asked to be a course marshall.  It should be fun since I'll get the chance to cheer everyone on as I'm marshalling.  Although, unfortunately my excitement about the festivities has been dampened by my lingering cold and crazy-busy workweek.

Additionally, I am frustrated because as I type this, the race organizers still have not provided us any information on when or where I should report tomorrow morning.  I don't know yet where I'm supposed to park, how I'm going to get to whatever point I'm assigned on the course, how much time to allow myself, or anything.  I've followed up with the organizers twice now.  Both times have been told that they would provide more information soon.  But we are less than 18 hours away from the start of the race now, so this is not cool.  It's really not my style to dishonor a commitment.  But given everything that has been transpiring this week, I have to admit that I'm getting more and more tempted to cancel as a volunteer and just go be a spectator.  Sigh.

In any event, I am looking forward to a great weekend hanging out with other inspiring women and enjoying the beauty that Lake Geneva has to offer in the autumn.  (And who knows, maybe it'll finally inspire me to lace up my running shoes again in this lifetime?)

More to come soon.  Happy Friday!