I am me again!

OK., last year blew. I am sure I could describe last year in a more glass half-full kind of way, but the truth of the matter is, it blew - big time.  I lost my mojo and suddenly running, biking and all that other good stuff seemed inconsequential.  As a consequence, I felt a bit lonely, and really missed my friends back in Europe.  Now I know a lot of nice people here, but you know what I mean.....  All the upheaval and turmoil left me feeling a bit blue, totally out of sorts and spending a lot of time on the phone. 
I have tried to 'get with the programme' and start running again, but my heart was not quite in it......and then suddenly, on Tuesday, I got my mojo back!
Yes, just like that.  I guess that when you least expect it, your once lost mojo will tap you on the shoulder and say "I'm back".  Well, I did not sit around waiting anymore, I signed up for some races.  I felt so happy, and so good to finally be able to run 'with my head' again.
My first event comes up on 11 March, - Climb the Presidential Towers (or in my case, only the 1).  It comes up in 3 weeks time, and there is no time to train for this.  Thankfully it is a short climb (41 floors, 585 stairs).  Although I don't have time to train for this properly and am terribly out of shape, I want to do it, because I do a stair climb every year.  It is 'my' annual event, and having climbed the Empire State Building last year, I think I can manage this.  My goal is to finish it to the best of my ability, and a celebration of my refound mojo.  In the past I have always worried about my training, about my time etc., this climb is for sheer enjoyment purposes.  We have the option of climbing all 4 towers, but that I will keep for next year.

The next event I signed up for is the Bunny Rock 5K on 7 April.  This promises to be a really cool event, but it will also be the first 5K I run in over a year, so I want to give myself some time to prepare for it. 
I also signed up for the Windy City Challenge.  You run 2 half marathons and get 3 medals - one for each half, and one for completing the challenge.  The first is the 13.1 Karhu series on 9 June.  I am especially excited about this one, as I wear Karhus, and am convinced that they make one run like the wind!  The second half marathon is the Chicago Half Marathon on 9 September.  I have not signed up for anything else, as I think this might be all I can squeeze in this year.  But who knows, if I get myself together properly, a sprint triathlon might be on the cards for Autumn....or even late summer.  But I am getting ahead of myself.
It feels really good to be me again, and for this I am very thankful indeed!

Hello Chicago and Hello 2012!

The last year has been quite crazy and hectic.  Besides my surgeries which had me laid low (and failed), we also moved house twice in one year, which was equally difficult.  Stuart was also headhunted for a new position in Chicago, and another in Pittsburgh.  It was a a hard choice, but in the end we settled on Chicago.
I did very little running last year, as it was quite a difficult year, and I did not enjoy most of it.  I think my surgeries left me feeling really bad and I was in a lot of pain.  I was glad to see the back of 2011, especially since Stuart moved to Chicago in August and I was left in Boston.  Reason being, I did not want to move without a job.  Thankfully my company have allowed me to keep my job, and work from home.
Although we are still surrounded by boxes, it is nice to be living in a flat again.  Ours overlooks Grant Park, and I have set up my office so that when I look out of the window, the above pic shows the view which greets my eyes.
After an 8 month lay off, I started running again - albeit very slowly.  It is very convenient to have that park and Lake Shore Drive so nearby.  After my first run outdoors on Monday, I thought I was going to collapse after 5 minutes, but I kept at it and managed half an hour.  I ran for half an hour yesterday on the treadmill as it was quite icy outside and it was great to be able to go for half an hour - at a still very slow pace.  I had another operation over Christmas, but luckily it did not leave me as drained as the first one did.  I still have 2 more to come later this year, but I feel more enthusiastic about things than I did last year.
Well, tomorrow is a run day and I am planning on 45 minutes...baby steps, but I'll get there!  Hope you are all well, and enjoying your running.

Glorious Autumn in Cambridge

Well, I girded my loins and went out for a run at lunch time today.  It was such a beautiful day, that it was easy.  On my return I discovered that I had left shower stuff etc at home.  I always carry a packet of Nathan Power Shower Wipes in my bag, in case I run out of time, but alas, that too was nowhere to be found.  So what could I do except try and get rid of the sweat as best I could and then get dressed.  Anyway, for the record, I had drenched myself in les Delices de Cartier this morning, and that will overpower any other smell - it's now a proven fact!
The run itself was short - just 30 minutes.  I had also gone out for a run on Sunday past, and run 2.1 miles in 25 minutes, at a very, very leisurely pace.  I think I might have covered the same distance today, as I also took a few walk breaks.  Sunday's run was fine, just one short break at the turn around point - today was a bit harder.  But I enjoyed it, and came back to the office feeling revitalized!  I don't know if that is solely due to my little run, or the fact that I had some very good news from work.  My company has agreed to let me transfer my position to Chicago and work from home.  I will need to come down to Boston on occasion, but that will be decided upon later. 
I am starting to feel excited about the move.  Not only is Chicago a stunning city, but there are lots and lots of tall buildings to run up.  I guess I am going to be doing a huge amount of stair climbing next year. I love it, and it gets me going like nothing else.  It also brings out a really competitive streak in me, as I am always trying to improve my time.  Running should be the same, but stairs somehow seem to have more 'bite' to them.....
I am slowly getting back to reading your blogs, and my how much has changed!  But it will be fun to see what you have been up to during the summer.

What I did this summer......

Well, one thing is for sure, I did no running. OK, so we had the usual spate of visitors, but I was too exhausted to enjoy them, because our big news is that we are moving - again. So summer was spent trying to decide whether to move to Pittsburgh or Chicago. I enjoyed visiting both, but in the end we plumped for.....yes, we are moving to the Windy City!
The idea of another move after not even 3 months of moving to this place, left me reeling. I did have a little bit of a burn out, so much so, that I did not even get to Italy this summer. Ahime' it was a sorry business, but there were so many logistics to sort out. Anyway, a very long story short, we managed to find a very nice 2-bedroom flat right in the city.

                                           View of our building from the park.

                                           View of Lake Michigan from our living room.

                                             Early evening view.
I am slowly getting ready to move.  Since we will be having space issues again, I am trying to get rid of stuff I have not used/worn in a long time.  These items though are mostly books.  Unfortunately almost all of them are non-fiction.  I have decided to put all my anthropology books into storage, and just keep the art, science and exercise books out.  Oh and I also bought a Kindle as I felt I was being smothered by books.  No more buying of books, unless they are art or architectural books.

Next big ticket item of the summer was that I started going to church again - the Catholic Church.  I was born a Catholic and became a very strong secularist this past 25 or so years...anyway, I won't bore you with the details, but here are some highlights from the summer.

The Feast of St Francis has the traditional blessing of the animals.  Mine were blessed, and the Franciscan monks kindly gave them a certificate and a medal each.

I have rather been enjoying myself - especially when I finally found out that I actually do have a saint.  When I was teaching at the  University of Siena, my students always wished me for my saint's day, but this was before the days of the internet, and I could find no trace of my saint.  My mum had always said that the priest refused to baptise me because "Natalia is not a saint's name".  My mum held fast to her guns as she is a a Dostoevesky fan.  Now, in high speed internet land, I finally found out who she is.  And since tomorrow is All Saints Day, and it is traditional to celebrate all of them, but especially your patron saint, I intend having a very good day indeed!

                                                                     St Natalia

Finally, we get to the topic in hand - running.  I have missed it dreadfully.  But I have just not had the time or will to run, especially as I have been busy running up and down to Chicago on job interviews!  Still, our new flat is below a beautiful running path, which stretches northwards for more than 25 miles.  There is a bike path too......Oh, and the Chicago Marathon runs past our building.  My goal is to start running again at the start of December......the move should hopefully be done then.  I feel like a complete novice - any advice fellow runners?  I also feel I should do my usual World Run Day run which comes up quite soon.  But what can I do after not running for more than 6 months now?