this week's travel

What a week and it's not over yet...

• started the week with a horrible cold. it's still sticking around. really how much mucous can one person make?!? (a lot and it's nasty)
• left on Wednesday for a trip from O'Hare to Tampa then Tampa to Oklahoma City with a layover in Dallas, returning to Chicago Friday night. All those connections and random cities make the week feel longer than it is.
• realized on my drive to the airport the bag in which I pack my unders, socks, and sports bra was sitting on my floor at home. (these items are packed in a separate bag so security and the rest of the airport don't see the hot pants if I have a random bag search).
• my flight out of O'Hare was delayed nearly 3 hours because we had no pilots. I was worried I wouldn't make it into Tampa in time to find an open store to buy the necessities. And my visit started at 7:30 am on Thursday morning!
• finally our pilots arrived! and I make it in to Tampa just before VS closes! sweet there's a sport's authority next to the mall and I pick up some new running gear :)
• the Tampa site I was visiting - so rude. Not the way you want to start your day at a 7:30 am meeting. You think you would be nice - I help decide if they get to participate in the study and make some money!
• Finish up on Thursday early and head to the airport to catch an earlier flight... flight is booked :(
• we board our flight (late) but are taken off the plane within 30 minutes for "mechanical problems"
• after nearly 7 hours in the airport flight is cancelled
• all flights on all airlines are booked solid out of TPA... I can't get to Oklahoma City to do the visit that NEEDS to be done. All flights booked until the afternoon.
• my study Lead (sort of manager) questions if I did everything I could to make it to the visit. Really dude, I want this hassle? I would rather make the visit in OKC just to not have to deal with you!
• I can't make it back to Chicago until late Friday morning. But I at least get to go home earlier than originally planned! Wahoo, it's turning around kids!
• now I just need to find a way to fit in that pesky Oklahoma City visit...

A whole bunch of little crap that wouldn't be so bad on its own but adds up to a hot, frustrating mess. Fingers crossed I make it back to Chicago before dinner time Friday! And because of the cold (I can't breath and have continual coughing fits) and this crazyness travel I haven't ran or really done much of anything. I'm feeling okay about that and looking forward to a hot, humid, sticky run this weekend.

what day is it?

And it's been another week... Days are not long enough right now and work is nuts! Since last Tuesday I have been in Birmingham, Atlanta, Little Rock, Chicago, and St. Louis and there is no end in site. I still need to schedule and find time for Cleveland, Rockport, ME, Phoenix, AZ, somewhere in Maryland, and a couple other places they haven't told me about yet... I am barely keeping my head above water right now.

On a late note - Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes! Overall a good 31st last Monday. I caught a nasty head cold that progressively got worse throughout the day but enough drugs took care of that mess. Dinner at Table 52 was fabulous. Who knew fried chicken, short ribs, and 3 cheese macaroni could be so delicious and well presented! And dessert, oh the dessert. A banana and pineapple 3 layer cake with cream cheese frosting... This AMAZING-NESS bumped my current #1 dessert and I can't stop thinking about the brilliance of that piece of cake :) Words cannot do it justice so I'm not going to even try.

It seems the busier I get the better I get at making time to run. It's my "me time" so I hold onto that desperately when everything else seems to be spinning out of control. I didn't quite hit the mileage I had hoped for last week (upper 40's) but I only cut out 4 miles so I feel good about the week. Especially with all the travel. I pushed my long run off to last Sunday and thankfully I did. It was the difference between cold and rainy or cool and sunny. It worked out in my favor this time around! The first 8 miles were quite enjoyable and I was hitting my targeted pace. The last 8 miles were one big swear word. The wind was like no other! No wonder the first 8 were so awesome :) I still managed a decent time for 16 miles despite the wind.

This week is proving slightly more difficult to find time to run. I have two day trips this week which means mornings starting at 4 am and not returning until 6pm or later and family coming to visit this weekend. That means I need to also find time to clean, clean, clean. Plus, it is tough to rationalize going for mid to long runs when family visits. I only see so much of them! So while I may have to cut some of the distances a bit I am confident I'll have another week of mileage in the 40's. It just may take being a little creative to get that done ;)

Now off to finish this ridiculously long work report so I can fit in those 10 miles...

how business travel and running are a lot alike...

Today while walking through O'Hare for the 60-something time this year I was thinking about my lack of running and my time spent in airports across the country. As any runner does you compare everything in your life to running. My life consists of work travel. Therefore, for lack of other exciting things happening in my life I bring you:

How Business Travel is A Lot Like Running (a race):

• You should probably pack the night before. Packing the day of/morning of will cause you to forget something you need (toothpaste, glasses, socks, bib, or the all important chip)
• Arrive early - just in case
• Be prepared! Anything can (and will) happen.
• Inevitably no matter how many times you use the bathroom before the flight or the race as soon as you board the plane/start the race you will need to go again.
• There are a "newbies" or peeps who don't know the rules of the road. There is really no difference between the walkers who line up near the front and the inexperienced traveler in priority lines or blocking said lines.
• Fueling/hydrating are very important and you need to have a plan.
• You're hungry and tired when it's all done (although this one may just apply to me)
• If you try something new fueling wise race/travel day it will probably upset your stomach.
• You are surrounded by a ton of people you don't know in this "thing" together. Often you'll find someone to talk to. Travel/run enough and you start to recognize and get to know these once random strangers.
• The shoes you wear can make or break the day!
• Some days are just not your day and it's completely out of your control.
• Wear layers (I know this really only applies to races/runs on cold days).
• There will probably be a line for the bathrooms.
• Some days you just want to get it over as fast as you can.