Wait, You Mean Running Isn’t My Real Job? March 29, 2009

For the past year, working in a temporary, non-career position, I’ve had time to run and run and run.  I didn’t earn much money at all and I can’t say it was a fulfilling position in any way, but I had the luxury of leaving work at a relatively early hour.  As it turns out, this was the perfect formula for marathon training and high mileage weeks.  I had hours and hours to do 8, 9, 10-mile runs on weekdays, and very little stress.  I didn’t always have the money to pay rent on time (thanks Fiance!), but that’s a whole other story.

As it turns out, having a career means having to make sacrifices.  Who knew?  As it stands, some current deterrents to my running are:

1.)  Working 13-hour days between 2 jobs (one full-time, one part-time)
2.)  A total commute time of 3 hours a day
3.)  Starting the process of finding and buying property with Fiance
4.)  Getting married in (probably) late summer

But these are also the reasons why running has taken on more of an importance in my life than ever.  Before, it was important for me to get those 10, 15, 20-milers in for a large race, or do hit my 7:40 interval pace, or do those ab-crunchers and stretching sessions.  My runs were explained in numbers – seconds, minutes, miles; I was TRAINING.  Now, without the time to really train for the larger races I enjoy, running has become the one hour (or so) in my day when I don’t have to think, or work, or answer to anyone.  Although I miss having a close companionship with my Garmin, I also enjoy having no expectations on the 4-6 miles I run, no formulas or deadlines, no set time I have to hit.

I run after work as part of my commute, or during lunch.  Last week, I asked my boss if it was ok for me to leave and get my runs in during lunch – we’ve all been in those environments where technically, you get an hour for lunch but it’s frowned upon if you’re not working during your lunch break.  “Professionally, I could care less,” he replied.  “But personally, I think you’re really weird.”  So I run at lunch, I run along the lakefront in Chicago, and past the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is free.  Sometimes I use the bathrooms in the petting zoo, and I stop to pet the ponies and coo over the bunnies in the rabbit hatch before continuing on my route.  My mileage is much, much lower now, but lacing up and hitting the pavements is, ironically, more important than ever.

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Because I’ve been neglecting this blog and everyone who reads it for such a long time, here’s a plethora of food photos for a visual feast!

Dinner at Carnivale - Peppers and Beef

Caramel Flan w/ a Coconut Cookie

Churros w/ Chocolate and Caramel Dips

Recently, the Meatloaf Bakery opened up in the neighborhood I work in.  The concept is gourmet meatloaf shaped in the form of cupcakes, with the various meats as the “cake”, and mashed potatoes (or other various sides) as the “icing.”  I walked by it the other day on my way to dinner with a friend, and decided to stop for some samplings, since meatloaf is one of Fiance’s favorite foods.  I picked up their basic meatloaf cupcake – The Mother Loaf, which is beef, pork, and veal ground up with onions and ketchup, “iced” with a giant mound of mashed potatoes.  I also picked up some “loafies,” which are hors d’oeuvres-sized versions of their cupcakes.  Delicious and very cute, but definitely overpriced.

Meatloaf Cupcake

Bite-sized Loafies

After our meeting with the real estate agent yesterday, Fiance and I headed to Pizzeria via Stato for their extremely crispy, thin-crust Roman style pizzas.  I was hungering after the meat-and-potatoes pizza I had heard about – fingerling potatoes, pancetta, mozzarella – and it didn’t disappoint.  The pizzas there are AMAZING.  I love the soft, paper thing pieces with the burnt, swollen crusts.  It might not be Chicago-deep-dish-acceptable, but I don’t care.

Potato and Pancetta Pizza

Sausage Pizza

Potatoes and Pancetta - Yum!