The Accidental Boilermaker

If you've ever run a race or competed in some sort of event, you might understand this post. My mom emailed me an article about the West Lafayette Circular Logic Marathon . Is it crazy to even consider signing-up for this event? The website makes it sound so fun (and it's cheap for a marathon), you forget that the race is a one-mile loop that you run 26 times! Take for example the amenities: Two sets of real restrooms!! Aid Station every single mile!! Flat course with only 26 feet of elevation change per mile!! No street crossings!! What more could you ask for in a race? But I wonder, you would feel even more insane after running 26 miles in a circle than you do after 26 miles in a line? Or would the quick familiarity of your surroundings make the miles seem to go by faster? The longest I've ever run on the treadmill was 12 miles (and I've done it at least twice). Let me tell you, it wasn't much fun either time. Would this race be like that, except like 10...

I ran my second Indianapolis Monumental Marathon today. Compared to the last time , I did and felt lots better. My family was there to cheer me on. Kate, Meredith and my dad even ran a 5K. It was dark and pretty cold at the start of the race At mile 20 I finished! Final time 4:30.53 - 8 minutes faster than two years ago!

Took a trip to Chicago this weekend to see Kate, watch the Chicago Marathon, and go to the Brookfield Zoo (my birthday present from Nate). Everything was a blast. This guy was my second favorite animal. The river otter did not photograph well as he was having too much fun swimming to pose for pictures. Nate pretending to be a polar bear. Very scary. We really wanted these stuffed animals but Nate said no. With our Dad at the finish of the marathon

Check out the super cool birthday present Kate gave me!

The only present I ever need. As some may recall, Nate gets me a giant cookie cake for my birthday every year. I got to pick this one out and while it seems to be more patriotic in nature, you have to remember that the icing to cookie ratio is more important than the design. 2008 2009 2010

My dad and I ran the mini marathon today in Indy! You can't tell, but it was actually raining pretty good at the finish. Overall though, the weather was perfect. Nate and my mom were there to watch. We finished together, 2:13:13.

Sunday we said goodbye to Montreal. I would love to go back someday. Montreal has a nice Chinatown and on Thursday Nate's lab mate discovered this little shop that sold really good Vietnamese sandwiches. I think we stopped in there everyday and on Saturday made sure we had some for the drive back. We got back to the Burlington early, so we decided to check out Lake Champlain and the downtown before checking in at the airport. Even after walking around Burlington, we were pretty early. For a good hour and a half, we were literally the only people in the airport. Our trip home ended up being pretty exciting. We had to run through the Detroit airport to catch our flight back to Indy, but we made it and so did our luggage. Overall, we had a really great trip : )