First post of 2009

Well, I'm enjoying my last few moments of freedom before returning to work on Monday after a nice, long break during the holidays. I'm looking forward to what's in store for me this year, and hopefully I'll make the best of it.

I wound up the weekend joining a friend at a birthday party for a friend of hers. It was a nice wrap up to long weekend away from the office. I played bocce for the first time. I thought the game was more complicated than it turned out to be having never played before. It's kind of a mashup of bowling, pool, and marbles. Definitely a low impact sport which was good for my sore legs!

Speaking of sore legs, I'm hoping to get some normalcy back into my running routine. The holidays sort of threw the schedule out of whack. The only sure thing have been my long runs on Saturdays, and a scattering of strength training in between. Not to mention I DO have a half marathon and full marathon to train for now! I better get to it.

Well, I hope everyone survived the holidays and are off to a good start in 2009.

I'm ready for it.

Goodbye Long Runs... for now

This is Lindsay. She's a running rock star.

She also hates my guts. Well, at least she did for the second half of our 13 mile run this past Saturday :0)

This was her first training run in Chicago, and it was my last long run before the Chicago marathon in two weeks. It turned out to be a beautiful day, but since we got a late start, the heat of the sun started to take its toll on us. We could have used more of that refreshing lake breeze, too.

So as she started to fade a bit after our turnaround at the 6.5 mile mark, I yelled at her to keep moving! She told me a few times she couldn't continue on, but I wanted nothing of it! Poor Lindsay. I think my brief stint as an assistant cross country coach during high school kind of showed itself.

In the end, we both finished all 13 miles. I thought for a minute I may have ruined our chances of running together ever again, but a high five at the finish as she said, "I couldn't of done it without you," was an encouraging sign :)

I know we all need a bit of encouragement to pull through the really tough miles. As a mostly solo runner myself, I didn't get much of that during my training, so it was nice to help a friend finish strong.

After our run we headed to Millennium Park to check out WiredNextfest:



This is just one example of the crazy contraptions that will be "transforming our world" in the near future. From personal transports, to robotic wonders, it was neat to see the different types of innovations already taking shape.

So that's it. My training is done for the most part. It's mostly just maintenance runs for the next two weeks until Oct. 12.

Here's what's ahead:

Mon: 5 miles
Wed: 5 miles
Thur: Cross train
Sat: 8 miles

Updated links and weekend wrap up

This weekend turned out to be a decent one. I'm on the tail end of a cold that's kept me on the down low since about Wednesday. The worst day was Friday, as I didn't leave work until 6 p.m., got a quick dinner, and crashed early. I ended up missing the grand opening of this great, new music/teen venue in Grayslake that will, I think, be a great benefit to the local music community here in Lake County. Let's hope so.

Saturday, Lidia and I went to a friends birthday party that started at Bistro 17 in downtown Waukegan, and ended at Bacci's directly across the street after an impromptu bar hopping quest through all of the bars on Genesee street. It ended up being a good time, and it was nice to revisit the downtown area. You can see some of the photos I shot as events unfolded on my Twitter page here- look for the "twitpic.com" links.

I will say that Bistro 17 and Bacci's are great little gems resting on what Waukegan hopes will become a bustling Genesee street in the downtown area. Bistro 17 will be showcasing local blues and jazz acts in the upstairs lounge area, and I hear the food at Bacci's is to die for. Follow the links above for more info on these venues.

My running schedule has been in the dumps since last Wednesday due to this crazy weather and my annoying head cold. It will become even more complicated as I leave for El Paso, TX. on Monday for business until Wednesday. I'll have to squeeze in a couple of miles in the warm weather down there!

So that's my weekend wrap up. I've updated the links under "Friends" on my page along the right with links to blogs by friends of mine. I really enjoy reading them, and hope you do too:

• Biggie Handmade Goods
• Greg's iPhone Blog
• i only listen to death metal
• Through My Eyes
• Razor's Ride

I'll be sure to write next from the great state of Texas!

Beach Days

Capping a beautiful Labor Day weekend at Waukegan's north beach.

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Sent with a Sprint Treo 755P Smartphone

Softball Sunday

Everyone's putting in their annual workout playing softball at Victory park, Waukegan.

My legs are a quite sore after a couple of consecutive 3 miler's this weekend... Ouch.

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Sent with a Sprint Treo 755P Smartphone

Beach Bums

Enjoying the end of summer days at Waukegan's beautiful north beach with friends.

The sand has been battered down by all of the recent rains, but the sun is warm and the drinks are cold.

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Sent with a Sprint Treo 755P Smartphone

Labor Day Weekend

They let me out of my cage a little early this Friday, so I went to Independence Grove to fiddle around on the laptop on the pier overlooking the lake. This is Lake County's finest forest preserve, and I try to get there every chance I get. The view from here is just beautiful.

Labor Day weekend kind of came as a surprise to me. I didn't notice the three day weekend until I opened my calendar at the beginning of this week. It was a little sad in a way because it meant that summer is winding down. I can already see the shadows are looking a little different these days as we move towards.. cough... cough... winter. The summer has been OK to me. I've had some great times, and some personal dissapointments. But thats fodder for another post.

The weather looks to be just dandy this weekend, so I'm going to spend it outdoors as much as I can. Perhaps I'll hit the beach, and join some friends for some good 'ol softball on Monday. I'll also be hard at work training for my upcoming 5K race on September 16- joy!

So I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I'll be posting again soon I'm sure.

I have some new photos up on my Flickr page, so check them out if you're able.

Summer Fun Continues...

I stole this bulletin from Jonny Pekkarinen's Myspace...

Just a few events you should be doing this summer if you're in Lake County:

"Upcoming Events July 28th and August 4th

So, as usual, Summer is quickly cruising by. So in order for you to maximize your party time, I figured I would post this blog to inform as to some hot spots to rock.

First of all, this Saturday at the Up North Pub in Waukegan, The Jonny/Reggie Motovun Duo will be opening for 17 Years. aka Drivin' South. This is a guaranteed good time as the Drivin' South will be playing every single song they have EVER written. They gonna bring it funky old school. Showtime is 9pm. There will be a cover at the Door. which will probably be the back door man.

Saturday at Noon I will be at the Waukegan Beach. I funna kick it real chill and just chillax lakeside. Get ready for the show. I plan on also hitting the beach on Sunday after the Mayhem that will be Saturday nite.

NOW, most important . . . August 4th. Saturday. It has come to my attention that I have NOTHING planned for a Saturday. Which leads me to the conclusion that it will be the perfect day for a MASSIVE BEACH PARTY!!! I am for real about this people. I will be bringing a grill and plenty of beverages and I plan on spending the WHOLE DAY and well Into the night on the beach. If you are wise, you will join me. I will have the guitar. I will bring a frisbee. IT will be a party like you've never witnessed before but ONLY if every single one of you shows up. So get with this. Let's make it a summer party to remember for EVER and EVER.

If that is not enough for you . . . on August 11th there is ROCK FEST at the Waukegan Beach. ANOTHER chance to enjoy the beach baby. Rockfest starts at 3pm and Goes until. 10pm. After wards there will be an after party at the Burgundy Room. You dig? with performances by Bug and Sam from 1908. Myself. My brother and some dude named Rob. You got that? Get with it.

Also, August 18th Gipsy King's at Ravinia. Let the party continue."

Scoopin' Weekend

(Taken at Scoopin' Genesee 7/13/07).

I once owned a car just like this one that I won at a raffle, say, sometime back in the late nineties. A friend was selling tickets for the owner who became paralyzed and was unable to drive the car anymore. I remember the tickets were $10 each and I bought two because all I had was a $20 bill at the time. A few weeks go by and a knock comes to my door. Sitting in front of my house was this muscle car and a guy telling me I had just won it. After picking up my jaw from the floor, I went out for a ride in it with my dad.

I'm not sure what exactly happened to it except for the fact that my mother ended up selling it a few months later. The only way I can justify my sadness for getting rid of it was to think that the money probably got her through another month's rent, or put food on our table. It makes me feel better. But darn!

Scoop was fun. I wasn't sure what to make of the event's new look, but it seemed well organized. The new scooping rule of no cars made on or after 1980 was a nice change, but it seemed like it was the same cars over and over- not much of a variety as in past years.


The weekend ended on a nice note with about 15-20 people attending my annual picnic at Old School forest preserve. I knew it was going to be a rough day to get out for another party with it being scoop weekend and all. Still, it ended up being a good time with some good people.

The highlight of the picnic were the ice bucket wars that took place near the end of the day. I think it started when someone decided to pour ice water into a bucket and put their feet in to cool off. It ended up being a contest as to who could stay in the longest before toes were lost. I think I survived about 1 minute and 24 seconds before my brain started to freeze. The max was an impossible 20 minutes or more!

Check out some of my weekend photos on my Flickr here...

White shades are cool!

Originally uploaded by automatic_man2.

Lidia being silly on a Saturday night.