The Ragnar Relay - Kelly

This weekend I completed my first Ragnar Relay- a running event where a team of twelve runners covers a distance of around 200 miles by running non-stop, overnight relay style.  I did the Madison to Chicago Ragnar but there are races all over the country (and a few new trail events, too!).  

This is the way it works: you rent two huge vans and split your team into two groups of six.  You cycle through the same running orders three times so you cover the 200 miles in 36 different chunks.  The shortest leg was around 2.5 miles and the longest was 11- mine were 6.6, 3.9 and 5.5 miles.  You go through the night (the vans can take turns driving ahead while the other van's runners are doing their legs) but for the most part you're either running, driving, navigating or cheering for your friends. 

A bunch of my friends did it last year and raved about how much fun it was but I’m not going to lie- I was a little skeptical.  Running three legs over the course of about 36 hours, sleeping in a van, and no showering?  I figured it would have it’s moments but I’d spend a lot of the time being cranky and tired.  

No joke, people- this event is AWESOME.  Yes, you’re tired and you smell bad (and your legs hurt like they never have before if you didn’t train…) but it’s such an amazing experience- you feel like such a team and it’s seriously kind of insane how accomplished you feel after covering so much ground.  

Below are some pictures from the event- definitely something I'll do again!

Photos: My van after we all finished running// vans lined up in WI near the lake at 6 am// trail on the IL/WI border// Jen and I piloting/co-piloting the van// our insane octopus of cell phone chargers

• Jun 9, 2013 8:44 pm
  
  

In the famous words of Joey Gladstone... -Amy

 

I am going to....

 

 

Gluten and dairy, that is.

 

 

I decided after careful consideration and a lot of stomach aches that I should attempt to take the lead of some of my friends and cut gluten and dairy OUT of my diet.  I am planning to do this for a month.  It should be interesting.

 

For anyone who doesn't know me, this is NOT going to be easy.  I am a CHEESE-O-HOLIC.  I am actually not as worried about the gluten part, although that will definitely be tough too.  I have NEVER been a vegetable eater, so I am going way out of bounds of my normal diet.  I really am excited to see what happens and how much better I feel- I've heard it's amazing. 

 

So, as long as I can keep my mood in check when I am jonesing for some gouda, I should be fine.... or at least I hope so.

 

 

I'll keep you posted about my progress and any interesting concoctions that I come up with.  Here are some options that I've come up with for each meal.

 

Breakfast:

Fruit!  Bananas so far.

 

Gluten free breakfast bar- not the best I've had.

 

Naked Smoothie- Red Power!

 

Lunch:

Quinoa pasta with olive oil, onions, and lemon juice.

Fine, but not something to write home about- definitely edible.

 

Chicken wrap (currently consuming).- Shredded chicken, raw green and white onion, roasted garlic hummus in a Rubi's Gluten-Free Wrap. - REALLY GOOD! 

 

 

Dinner:

Turkey burger (no bun or cheese) with hummus on top and sweet potato chips.

Really delicious, just chop up some sweet potato, put some olive oil on it, and season to taste (I just use salt and pepper, maybe a little garlic salt).  Then bake it at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.

 

Snacks:

Hummus and Carrots.

If you can overdose on hummus, it's going to happen to me.

 

 

 

I'm excited about trying some recipes with other "good" sources of fat (which my body is now using for energy... woo hoo!) like eggs and avocados.

 

 

 

This should be interesting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Big City to the Twin Cities - Brady

I mentioned in my last post that I had a conference up in St. Paul, Minnesota last weekend. It was nerve-wracking for two reasons. One, I, for the first time, was presenting a poster - a poster with very, very preliminary findings from one tiny piece of my dissertation. (By the way, a poster session is a lot like an elementary school science fair - you print out a description of your study on a giant sheet of paper, tack it up, and stand by it as other researchers walk around and ask questions. No ribbons awarded, however.) Two, Kevin and I decided to bring Molly with us up north.

I'd say it was a success all around. I got my poster there with only minor dents, dirt, and typos, didn't sound too clueless when people asked me questions, met some nice grad students and professors, and overall enjoyed myself at the conference. But Molly was the true superstar. She loves vacation as much as her "bosses" do. She was curious and friendly and absolutely perfectly behaved in the car and in the hotel - even when we left her alone for a few hours!

I'm posting some pictures below. Hope you're enjoying this spring day (which feels like a fall day in Chicago) wherever you are.

On the road!

The first of many dinners on patios.

Molly getting her dog park on.

My favorite bar anywhere - Nye's Polonaise Room. 

Wading at the base of Minnehaha Falls.

The falls.

Another great patio meal - Sea Salt, the restaurant at Minnehaha Falls.

Last patio night - W.A. Frost. (Also, can I just say I really love how this picture turned out?)

Me. At W.A. Frost.

After an early and rainy Sunday morning running around another dog park and rolling in mud puddles. Too tired even to eat breakfast in bed. I think this is how we all felt by the end of the weekend.

Lots Going On - Brady

Ah...Finally today I was able to sit down and work on my dissertation proposal after weeks of prepping for a conference,  traveling, and getting used to a new dog. But just as I started to open the file I thought, "Eh. I only have 45 minutes. I'll write a blog post instead."

Life has been very full, very busy, and very happy. Here are the highlights.

- Molly's great. She's a solid B+ dog, moving closer to an A- all the time. She's had a couple of accidents and can get a little too enthusiastic about chewing, but all in all she's a joy to have around. She can sit, lay down, stay, come, jump up (we're working on "down") and, I discovered today, do a great imitation of Chewbacca.

Molly after her first trip to Sherry, the groomer.

- My sisters, Kevin, and I ran the Indianapolis Half Marathon. Kelly and Amy didn't train much, so they ran for fun (although they ended up with a pretty fast time for a "fun run"). Kevin and I actually did great. Our time was about a 2:08, which means we averaged 9:45 miles (actually 9:36 miles, but our official time will say 9:45... you always end up running a little bit more than 13.1 because you kind of zig zag all over the course). We were very proud, very happy, and it re-inspired me to keep working to become a better runner.

At Rock Bottom Brewery after the race. Happy as can be.

- I've been on the road a bunch. I attended a conference in San Francisco which was awesome, awesome, awesome (the city AND the meeting of nerds) and I took zero pictures because I forgot my camera. I also just got back from a bachelorette party in New Orleans and leave today for another conference in St. Paul. We're taking Ms. Molly with us on this weekend's trip, so we'll see how that goes. Below are three of my favorite shots from Louisiana.

Swamp tour!

Just a photo I like...at one of the first bars we stopped into.

Frenchmen Street on Saturday night.

- I've got to get over and get my hands on Mona. What a sweet face. I also haven't seen Kelly and Nate's new place yet. Bad sister alert.

- Last and definitely least, I'm sick. I knew the short nights of light sleep, tossing and turning at every dog sound and the hours on airplanes and the generally higher stress levels that come when life gets a bit crazy would catch up with me. Even my fancy iced coffee with cream doesn't taste very good right now. Yuck. I think, taking into consideration everything you've just read about my fabulous life and exciting adventures, that you should feel really sorry for me right now. Don't you agree? ;)

Mona - Kelly

Meet Mona, the newest addition to the Jones-Santana household!  (Which is an update for another day... new apartment, new neighborhood, new living situation!)

Mona is a rescue from Thailand who (after LOTS of help and support) arrived in Chicago yesterday and was delivered to our apartment today.  You can ready more about Mona's story here.

We have a little work to do (specifically on walking/re-housetraining and the difference between rough play and nice play) but she seems to dig her new home and we all (including Lucy!) love her.

More updates to come!

Molly - Brady

We got a dog!

We've been trying to adopt a Golden Retriever from a rescue organization called GRRACE for a couple of months now, and on Saturday they matched us with Molly.

Other than a little bit of excess puppy energy (she's only 1), she's just about perfect. Sweet, cuddly, smart(ish). We've all spent the last few days getting used to each other and she's fitting right in. She loves Kelly's dog Lucy - in fact she taught Molly how to walk up the stairs to our condo. (She was terrified of them at first - we had to physically place each foot up on the stairs, one at a time, for two flights. She only did it on her own after she watched Lucy go up and down a couple of times and Kelly bribed her with a treat.) She loves Roger, who taught her how to wrestle. She loves the water. And she's developing a keen interest in anything that bounces. (Dad, you're going to love playing with her.)

We're feeling good. There's a little bit of "What have we gotten ourselves into?" But mostly just a lot of fun.

(Less than) 48 Hours in San Francisco - Brady

Last weekend Kevin and I traveled to San Francisco with two of our good friends from Fort Wayne. Tish taught with me at Carroll and David is her super awesome, super funny, super photographer husband. There aren't very many photos of either him or me because we both just bought fancy cameras and spent most of the trip behind them.

First off, let me just say that I think San Francisco is the most beautiful city in the United States. Here are some photos to prove it:

Flowers at Fisherman's Wharf.

Hendry Vineyard in Napa, where we did a tour and tasting.

The Bay Bridge.

Sunset on the drive over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Land's End Park.

Land's End Park. 

We spent lots of time walking, eating, wine tasting, and sightseeing. Two particularly interesting activities, for me, were seeing the sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf...

And going to the Musee Mecanique, a museum of old carnival games also at Fisherman's Wharf. There were games like "English Execution" where you watch little dollhouse figures hang somebody (and "French Execution" where you watch them chop off the person's head), old "moving pictures" (you turn a crank to make them move) of the San Francisco earthquake or "Tiger vs. Snake," games where you shot basketballs or BB guns, and this little number...

Yes. It was exactly like the movie Big, except it was a grandmother instead of a scary wizard.

It was an amazing, whirlwind trip. We had two 6 a.m. flights, one the night after we "sprung forward," so I think we got 5 hours of sleep on Thursday, 7 hours on Friday, and less than 4 on Saturday. I think all four of us went as hard as we could until we were about ready to crash...we stepped off the plane in Chicago just in time.

I say it all the time, but traveling is truly just about my favorite thing to do, and I feel so lucky to live in an era and a situation that makes is relatively easy for me to make it happen.