Much better

I had my second men's league game tonight and felt 100xs better - perhaps it was due to my awesome cheering section in the first period. Thanks Ben and Julie for giving me some motivation out there! I actually felt a lot more confident than I had last week, mainly due to the absence of searing pain in my throat and lungs; it's amazing how quickly it all comes back with a couple nights of hard skating. We wound up tying 5-5 and neither team managed to put one in the shootout. I felt like we looked a lot better this game as a team, generating a lot more offense, and clicking a lot better with the defensive pairings. I really like my new partner, who also happens to be the guy who hooked it up with our scrimmage last season at the United Center (we'll be getting t to it again on the 27th of this month, which I'm really stoacked about!).

Amazing how much better I feel right now though; nothing cheers me up like feeling satisfied with how I played hockey. My attitude has improved towards my race this weekend; out of training or not, I am going to go out there and do what I can. I absolutely refuse to end a summer's worth of training on a downer because life took a U-turn and put me into a funk; if anything it's more motivation to get out on the path and have some mindless exercise to lose it all as the miles add up.

Back on the ice - and White Sox action

Had my first game back on a men's league hockey team this afternoon and things could have gone a lot better.  I felt as though I hadn't skated in ages (I guess in reality I haven't skated at that level in ages).  Sure, some of our women's tournament games can be fast-paced at times, but for the most part I haven't had to put much effort into playing my top game; tonight I felt completely out of shape and in dire need of some conditioning.  It's amazing to me that I can spend the entire summer being more active/healthy than I have been in a long time, yet feel completely out of shape when I step on the ice.  My legs felt fine, thanks to the running, but my lungs were absolutely shot; I guess my theory is that I've been running in the warm weather and used to being active in that environment, but that they weren't ready to make the transition back to the cold rink air.  Every turn on the bench my throat and lungs were burning and it took a bit to get my air back; I definitely wasn't prepared to feel so shitty!

We wound up losing the game 4-2; hopefully I can get back into the swing of things quickly so that they don't regret bringing me on.

In more positive news, Dad and I went to get dinner and saw the first inning of the Sox game on the way home I suggested that we scalp tickets.  We got in after the second inning, but we wound up getting our money's worth as the game went a full 15 innings (7th and 14th inning stretches observed) and resulted in a White Sox winner at the hands of a homer-hitting Jim Thome.  After the game we were treated to a fireworks show, and a nice walk home.  Tomorrow?  16" softball with my dad - the last game of the season.

Stormy Weather

Yesterday was interesting, to say the least - Chicago weather showing all her might (awesome pics here). I woke up in the morning at first alarm to what looked through the venetian blinds to be an average sunny day; by the third snooze I could have sworn it was 7pm it was so dark and yellow-hued out. I decided to drive in. The ride was a slalom of flooded streets, tree limbs, and drivers who forgot the art of driving due to the sheeting, almost horizontal rain. When it was all said and done, the air was still sickly humid and incredibly hot - a sign of more to come.

Fast forward to 7:30pm, again Mother Nature seemed to know that I was about to hit the road because the sky went from brilliant blue to steel gray in about a half hour. It looked like rain again, but nothing to write home about as we set out to Northbrook for my hockey game. By the time we hit the 90/94 split things had taken a turn for the worst and the weather band radio in the car got turned on. Tornado warning in Northwestern Cook, tornado warning in Central Cook, tornado warning in Southeastern Cook - where exactly were the tornadoes NOT headed? Thankfully, for the time being, not towards us. As we prepared to pull off on Willow road, the skies looked like they were preparing to do something - I don't think I can even describe what they looked like to do justice to it, but anyone who has ever had to run to the basement in the middle of July or August knows exactly the kind of pea soup color, low hanging cloud wall, and absolute opacity and inability of the remaining twilight to pass through - one could clearly see the end of the front from the contrast between calm navy-blue twilight, and bruise-colored purple, black, and yellow mayhem to the west. We got to the rink just as people were getting pulled off the ice - sirens blaring - and being told to take cover. Nothing came of it all other than us starting our own game a half hour late, but the storm definitely gave us a few moments of worry.

Back at home, thinking it was all over with, we got hit by another wave at 11:30pm - somehow I think this one was the worst of all, but maybe that was because I actually got to watch it. The homes across the street were completely blocked from view by the walls of rain, and the tree our front was blown nearly horizontal by gale-force winds. The lightening and thunder were pretty much non-stop until this final cell blew over about 20 minutes later. After that, the night returned to calm until we were jolted awake by the realization that the power had gone out and it was already 7:40am. Another hectic drive in, and here I am - tomorrow it'll be back to normal, back to taking transit, and enjoyment of the cooler weather - hard earned.

Home again

Three days, four hockey games, a few pounds of junk food, and about 940 miles later, and I am finally home from my tournament in Nashville, TN. A great time was had by all - we went undefeated and brought home the hardware. I got to have a baptism by fire at playing center (I am normally defense) because I was a late add-on to the team, and the rest of the guys had first dibs on the positions they wanted; I was a bit lost now and then, but I think I did all right. It was fun to get to play with the boys again, as the level of play was heads and shoulders above what I've been enjoying for the last year or so playing strictly women's hockey - I look forward to playing future tournaments with these guys, as we all got on really well.

As for the city, Nashville was a pleasant surprise - I really wasn't expecting much, but I found it to be a really pretty place with extremely nice inhabitants. In all honesty, the only thing I could have done without was the oppressive heat and humidity; I spent most of my time feeling like I was about to melt into a fleshy little puddle on the sidewalk, but it made for nice poolside weather at the hotel. Now it's back to work, sore but happy, and facing down the last week before I run my half marathon. The training schedule looks really laid back, so all I really have to do is stay healthy and get some rest. Here goes!

Oooh yeah, play with my hockey organ

So awesome.

Safe for work, I swear.

A bit after the fact but...

my brother just posted up pics from a skate we had Sunday night at the United Center. Bill plays on a men's league team with a member of the Wirtz family, so as a celebration for them winning their league championship they invited a bunch of people to participate in a rat hockey session on Blackhawks ice (right after a game too). It was a total blast, and Jamie, my sister-in-law managed to get some great shots. Here are some (click to enlarge):

Dad, me, Bill (my brother) at center ice

On the visitor's bench: Dad, Me, Bill, Dan, Aaron

Me taping my stick, Bill mincing around for the camera

Suited up

Not sweaty yet

Between shifts on the home bench

Me probably getting beat in the corner by the fast guy

About as much action as any of my action shots had

Rinse and repeat

Letting out some inter-sibling rage

On the hunt again

I'm not sure if I ever made a big deal about it on here, but we accepted an offer on our condo a couple weeks ago. Now, after a couple weeks of complete apathy, we are on the move again, looking for a new place to rest our hats (and bikes, and hockey gear, and shoes, and on, and on...). Tonight we apparently have about 7 showings all over the Bridgeport area, and a few more tomorrow night to boot. Hopefully something looks nice, as we'll be homeless as of June 1st. After that, it's on to rat hockey with my brother tonight at Johnny's Ice House; it's been a while since I skated there with these guys, so it should be fun.

Boobies!

Now that I have your attention, perhaps I can get some help from you as well. I signed up last night to participate in the Y-ME race for empowerment which is a 5k run that takes place on Mother's Day to raise money for providing services for breast cancer patients. Check out my website here for information on how to make donations; every penny goes to helping a great cause, so donations of all sizes are greatly appreciated. Thanks to all of my family and friends who have already given; they've helped me pass my fund raising goals twice in under 12 hours - amazing.

If you're more of an ice hockey fan than a runner, you can also help my team raise money for the Stick it to Cancer tournament that we're playing in in MN. All money raised also goes to help breast cancer patients. Here is the site explaining the tournament, and here is the page where you can make the actual donation. Remember to choose the name of our team, Chicago X-Factor, so that we get credit for the donations; the team with the most donations wins in case of a tie in points when it comes to advancing on to playoff and championship games. It's a great time and a great cause, so any help would be wonderful.


Thanks!

Lunchtime 5k

Another week, another challenge. I've decided (and have had it suggested to me) that I should try running some 5k events after I train a bit more. Keeping this in mind, I decided that from here on out (unless I have more than a 1/2 hour to run), I'll try to do roughly a 5k run every session. Because our treadmill at work only goes one decimal point, I set my goal at 3.2 miles (a little overkill, but having that little extra bit can only help).
The run went fairly smoothly, but the gym was stupidly hot today; I guess that is a good wakeup call for when summer begins and I start running outside again. I was able to finish the run in 27:20, but cramped up a little in the middle; I guess when it's hotter I need to try to hydrate even more. I just find it hard to run while the ground is rapidly moving under me while trying to drink out of my travel mug - perhaps I need to get myself some kind of sport bottle that is a little more user-friendly. All in all, it was a good run. I have hockey tonight, so it'll be interesting to see how my run inpacts, if at all, my energy level while skating. One thing I learned from this weekend is that I really need to find a way to increase my speed on the ice; I get by, but when I'm skating the puck up from the defensive zone, I always feel like I'm going in slow motion. If I didn't have decent puck handling skills and didn't know how to protect it with my own body, I'd get picked off every time. I'd like to get to the point where I can actually make a move and blow past forwards (defense are easy, they're all slow like me!).

A successful weekend

This weekend the mighty Team Glacier took on the Red Raiders of St. Louis in a no-holds-barred competition of good versus evil on the ice. Game #1 on Saturday was a fiasco from the word 'go' due to the incredible incompetence of the officials. In the first period alone, they called 12 separate penalties (including one that the ref called 'body contact' - I'm sorry, we forgot ice hockey was a contact sport!); it was so bad that all the stoppage cut into out ice time so much that we had to play 12 min periods instead of 20 for the rest of the game. During the first period I received a 10 minute misconduct, essentially because the ref thought that I called him a naughty name; in reality, this comment was directed at a girl that I had gotten into an altercation with because she purposefully dove to take me out at the knees. While I'm not above trying to draw a penalty by harassing people in front of the net, I would never purposefully try to injure someone like this girl did; it was something I couldn't let go. Regardless, I didn't deserve to spend half the game in the box, chatting with my dad who was running the scoreboard!
A funny side note to my little vacation in the box was that whenever a member of the other team was brought in for some minor (b.s.) infraction, she and I would inevitably sit there and rip on the refs until her time was done; yes, the reffing was so bad that it united two violently-opposed teams under one common goal - ridicule for terrible officiating. In the end, we wound up beating the Red Raiders both on Saturday and Sunday, which was a nice confidence boost because they will most likely be the team we will have to face to advance to nationals in PA.
More updates to come next week, when we face our new rivals (who we will see in nationals if all goes well), Michigan Tech. Last time we met, there was a brawl, so it's going to be good. Who knew a women's league where ages range from 18-50+ could get so feisty?

Different Strategy

For today's lunch run I tried doing things in reverse: this time I set a time limit and ran at a comfortable pace to see how far I could get. I wound up doing 3.41 miles in the 30 minutes I allotted myself. While the run was pain free, and I comfortably ran at a slightly faster pace, I felt much more fatigued in the last five minutes; this makes me wonder if it is a better strategy to soldier through at the same pace, slightly reduce my pace on days when I am more tired, or skip a day between runs while I'm first starting out. I know people who run every day, but they're experienced runners who are probably in good enough shape not to injure themselves due to fatigue and sloppy form. I plan to take the weekends off because, for at least the next month and a half, I have hockey every Saturday and Sunday in preparation for nationals, so I am guaranteed at least two consecutive days off a week. Anyone out there have any opinions out there? As of right now, due to the fact that I can only spare about a half hour a day, I would only be running shorter (~3mi) runs, so it's not like I'm really going for it. I plan on giving it a go again tomorrow, so I guess we'll see how my body feels about the matter; as it is, I intend to take it easy because this weekend's games are against a team from St. Louis that we will have to face in a couple weeks for regionals. I'd like to be in top form when we face off Saturday night because it's going to be a good game.

NYE retrospective

I'm sure there won't be time tomorrow for a year-end wrap-up in my shortened work day, so I might as well get to it while I'm bored at home. 2007 wasn't the most eventful year of my life, but that isn't to say it was by any means a bad one. The year kicked off with me finishing up work on the new permanent exhibit at The Field Museum called The Ancient Americas; this job, probably my last in the Anthropology department for near future, was probably the biggest, most (hopefully) enduring thing I've ever taken part of. Hopefully The Ancient Americas will be around for many years to come, and will continue to educate the public about the latest research that has been conducted concerning the various amazing cultures that existed in the Americas before the coming of the Europeans.

After the installation of The Ancient Americas concluded, I was offered a job in the library at The Field Museum, which I accepted on the condition that I could delay my start date by a month because I was about to leave for Peru. During the month of May, I traveled through Peru with my best friend, Claudia; a fairly thorough account of my travels is contained in the first few posts in this blog, and also can be seen in these photo galleries of mine on Flickr:
Lima
Arequipa
Santa Catalina Monastery
Cañon de Colca
Lake Titicaca
Cuzco and the Sacred Valley
Machu Pichu

After returning to Chicago, I soon started my new job in The Field Museum's library, and my masters in library and information sciences through the LEEP program out of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This primarily-online program has allowed me to do the majority of my coursework from home or work without having to move elsewhere to attend a top school; on the other side of the coin, the on-campus visits have given me a nice, bite-sized taste of what it must be like to actually attend a big-ten university without having to stay there long enough for the novelty to wear off. Despite all this, it has become pretty obvious that library work isn't in my soul, so I have spent my time focusing on archival work, preservation, public policy and programs; I hope to get involved with the community informatics track within the gslis program, which focuses on targeting information needs in under-served communities and working with those same communities to make them self-sufficient. It was either focus on this, or drop out all together to go back for a masters in anthropology at UIC, which I might still do, but I felt that riding this out and finishing while making some connections and getting experience was the right thing to do.

This September marked Dan and my one-year anniversary. and things are going quite well. To celebrate, Dan and I did what any other overly-romantic young married couple, deeply in love, would do, and went to Detroit for the Paxahau 9 year anniversary - featuring Hardfloor, the act that first got me into the wonderful world of dance/rave music. For those of you who don't know Dan and I well, Detroit was where we initially got together (or at least realized we wanted to) during a trip to DEMF in 2004 and a healthy weekend of urban exploration, binge drinking, and techno. That's love...

The final stretch of 2007 included the Sadie Hawkins Day Race/Ride, which was a pant-load of fun. Again, big big props to Julie, Kisha, and everyone else who made this event a reality; a great time was had by all. I hope we all can look forward to a year 3 in 2008. Other notable events that happened in the final gasps of 2007 included a victorious weekend in lovely Green Bay, WI with my women's Nat. C hockey team, Team Glacier; our game against Michigan Tech was a particular treat - I think it's been about 10 years since I punched anyone in the face, so that was a real highlight. We'll be playing Tech again pretty soon here in Chicago, and I strongly urge any of you locals to come watch if you want some free entertainment.

That brings us up to the last few posts I've made here in Let's Rock, so I don't really think I need to recap. As for looking forward, here are a couple big things I'm hoping for in 2008:

• First and foremost, good health to all my friends and family (hell, anyone good enough to have read this far deserves it as well)
• Selling our condo and buying the house we've fallen in love with over in Bridgeport
• Maybe getting a new job in the anthro department or the archives at the museum
• Kicking some ass in the Fat Race
• Kicking some ass at the Nationals with my hockey team in PA
  
• There is a slim chance I may finish my degree by this time next year - getting my special collections certification would be an added bonus
• Thinking of taking the GREs - maybe I'll get it over with this coming year
• Add to that last one applying for a grad program in anthro at UIC as a possibility

Thanks to all my readers in 2007 - I will see you on the other side of a champagne countdown, and a mean hangover I'm sure. Be safe and smart tonight!

Playing with the boys

Tonight my brother and I are heading to our first Lyons Township High School Hockey Club alumni game; we've missed in the past for various reasons, so this year it's on. This will be the first time my brother and I have played together since we were both on the same men's league team about 4 years ago. Needless to say, it's going to be fun.

From the looks of the team lists, I think quite a few of the guys I used to skate with my Freshman and Sophomore years are going to be there, though those I skated with in my Junior and Senior years and fairly small in numbers; perhaps people closer to my age happened to have roamed a bit farther away from home or, like a few I can think of, sold their gear to buy drugs or turntables (same difference really). So, I am looking forward to a good skate, chatting with some old friends, and possibly being defensive partners again with my brother for old times' sake.


My team frosh. year of high school with my name misspelled (1995-1996) - I bet you can't pick me out of the crowd.