Minneapolis-Star-Tribune-runningkellometers

Food trucks are the new craze in delicious dining in lots of cities throughout the U.S. Chicago is no exception, with the caveat that there are some strict rules in place which have made it difficult for some folks to conduct business. I've been a huge fan of this movement an have seen some delicious food trucks come and go as some found it was easier to close up shop than to deal with the regulations. There are certain food trucks that I've been following for a few years now, deliciously devoted. I never really thought that so many NEW food trucks would be popping up along the way, so I didn't really frequently check out new arrivals. The other day I came across an article talking about some of the food truck laws and it cited some new truck names that intrigued me. Thankfully with Twitter, lots of these trucks are super easy to follow.

Last week I got an email from Steven (of FakeMeats.com fame who is also Kim's husband) inviting me to a surprise birthday and ACE test passing celebration for Kim. It was in Greyslake, IL (aka about 1.5 hours from my house) on a Wednesday night. Regardless of the logistics, I knew when I got the email that I was going to go. Kim is just one of those great people that always does great things for others. It was time to return the favor. :)

I drove to work that day and met up with Maggie afterwards (now that we are work neighbors) who was keeping me company on the drive up. We arrived early and made ourselves comfortable while waiting for Kim to arrive. When she came in, you could tell by the expression on her face that she was totally surprised!

Kim's chair complete with orange balloons

The Chicago Running Bloggers wanted to get a group shot so we could post it to our blogs (duh). It was nice and surprising to see so many of my running friends, not in running clothes.

L to R: Emily, Erin, Kelsey, Anne, Kim, Maggie, Me, Kelly

Although the party was still in full swing, I had to leave early to make the trek home as it was a work night and Baby Wilson needed some sleep. Although, not before Kim and I got some photos together!

"Baby Wilson is telling me the secrets of the universe..."

Kim didn't get to feel a kick yet, but that just means we have to hang out again for lunch before Baby Wilson comes. I think I see a NFC lunch in our future. :) Of course, I couldn't come to the party empty handed so I picked up a sweet cat shirt (unfortunately, not Loop Looks approved), some cat socks, and a necklace set. I couldn't find socks with grey cats on them, so I picked grey socks with green cats instead.

Data is not impressed (If you don't know who Data is, click here)

All in all, it was a really fun night. I'm glad we all got the chance to surprise Kim! She is such a great friend and great person, it was nice to see her celebrated appropriately. :) Now that she has her official personal training certificate, I just might need to go to one of her strength classes after Baby Wilson arrives!

As I may have previously mentioned a few times before, I run with the Frankfort New Lenox running club. We call ourselves the FN Runners. This past Saturday, the group put on a supported 20 mile run out on the trail with help from a local grocery chain (Berkot's supplied water, cups, Gatorade, bananas, and oranges) and a local running store (Running For Kicks provided Gu). The stations were manned by other members of the group and helped by local high school kids. So many people helped to make this run great and I was happy to be a part of it! I didn't help by manning an aid station, though. I cheered at the half way point, helped direct some folks where to go until I met up with Maggie and I ran the 2nd half with her. I know Maggie's had a few posts lately about how she's burnt out on running and tired all the time. It is at that point in the training cycle so I was happy to help lend some fresh legs and fresh energy out there for the 2nd 10 miles!

I hadn't run 10 miles in a few weeks so I wasn't sure how things would go. However, knowing someone was depending on me, I knew I couldn't let them down. In some of the chaos of the morning, I forgot my Garmin. I was kind of glad because I wasn't obsessing about how far we were, etc. we chatted a lot about food (what can I say? I like food) and the miles seemed to breeze by. There was tons of support along the way which was really amazing. (This running club seriously rocks. And there isn't a membership fee to join! You just have to show up!) Before I knew it, we were at mile 8 and only had 2 left to go. I think I said a couple times, "Only 2 left?!" We had a little fun quoting Dylan from Modern Family. (I couldn't find a YouTube video of the clip.) "This is the farthest I've ever run....... Now this is the farthest I've ever run...... Now THIS is the farthest I've ever run." that never got old (to me at least).

Thanks for snapping this great photo Amanda!

When we finished, there were cold beers, water, and more Gatorade waiting for us. I was so excited for those that finished their last long run before the marathon and now it is taper time. I gotta say, I like vicariously living through my friends running the marathon without having to complete the entire distance. Haha I'll be back out there to run another marathon some day, but I'm glad that time isn't now.

Have you gone out and supported folks during a training run or race before? Do you have similar thoughts as me? :)

When I was finished, I went home and ate a delicious cupcake from Cupcakes for Courage in Chicago. It is a food truck (with a recently opened store front) and their cupcakes are THE BEST in the city. That's right. I said it.

Best in the city.

Don't forget to enter my Haeleum giveaway! You have until Monday, September 24th to enter.

Last night was the standard Thursday night run with the FNRC. The group is kind of small this week but I'm hoping it continues to grow as the weather gets nicer.

Genevieve, Kate (with Bo), Maggie, and me

The workout on my plan was a tempo run. 1 mile warm up, 3 miles at tempo 8:08 pace, and a 1 mile cool down. I ran the first mile with Maggie and then took off. I forgot to switch my watch from average pace to current pace so I had no idea what my pace was until I hit the first mile marker. Mile 1: 7:17... I stared at my Garmin in disbelief. Well, that is about 1 minute too fast... I consciously tried to slow it down for the 2nd mile. Mile 2: 7:27... Not really slowed down. Since I haven't done a tempo run before, I guess I underestimated what is comfortably fast. I was definitely out of my comfort zone and pushing pretty hard. I tried to slow down more for the last tempo mile, Mile 3: 7:54. Then I did my cool down and couldn't believe what just happened. First thing I thought was how I need to remember to adjust my Garmin to show current pace instead of average pace for my next tempo run. Then, I couldn't decide if I was mad I didn't meet my targets, or happy that my 5k goal seems more achievable than ever (goal: to have a 22:xx time).

I got home and felt sick but it was pretty obvious why. I pushed it really hard in my run today and my pre-run fuel of cupcakes and beer probably wasn't the best idea. I knew it wouldn't be, but I couldn't pass it up. I guess there were quite a few lessons learned from yesterday's workout. Tomorrow is another day. This weekend I'm going up to my husband's family summer cottage and will be doing a loop around a nearby lake.

P.S. I'm not really a huge fan of Crumbs Bakery! Their red velvet cupcakes were made with buttercream frosting and not cream cheese frosting. Although, they are still better than no cupcakes. :)