Chicago Trip

Darren and I got home from Chicago late last night (this morning, actually). It was great seeing everyone, and we always love to visit the Windy City (even in February). Here's a quick rundown of our activities.

Day 1: We got stuck at Philly's airport for an extra hour while they cleared the runways from the blizzard of '08 (two inches). Sylvia and Niko picked us up at the airport and we drove back to their house on the North Side. We had Giordano's famous Chicago deep dish pizza and turned in to bed early.



Day 2: The highlight of the day was going to Hot Doug's Sausage Superstore for lunch. I'm vegetarian and even I love the place. The line on a cold Saturday was still nearly half an hour to get in the door. Where else can you get hotdogs like wild boar with chipotle dijonnaise and raschera cheese or duck sausage with mandarin oranges? I, of course, got the veggie dog. Here is a funny video of Niko's new favorite game, headbutting relatives.

We spent the rest of the day at Lewis University watching men's volleyball. Darren and Eric may be old and out of shape, but they still think they could play with those guys. They're so cute.

Day 3: We woke up early and had brunch at a cafe near Eric and Sylvia's house. Niko is apparently obsessed with ice water and we have to keep him away from the glasses. We then watched the UofL v Pitt game. The afternoon was spent at the Shedd Aquarium, which is one of my all-time favorite places to go. It was a little over Niko's head, but I think we all had fun. Dinner was at Costa's, my favorite Greektown restaurant. The best saginaki in the world!

Sorry about no sound on the videos, but they were done on my camera.



The dolphin show! (just wait, they'll show up)

Triathlon training weeks 11/12: run 3.35 mi/ bike 76 mi/ swim 10700 yd, totals 68.53/230.4/34450 (19mi). Hopefully I can start running again in another week or two.

Random Thoughts

1. Back in Kentucky, people from northern climates would always mock us for our extraordinary news coverage of 2 inches of snow. School would be cancelled, people drove like morons, and bread and milk runs became necessity. We got 2 inches of snow here in Philly last night. The exact same reaction occurred, telling me that northerners are, in general, full of shit. Damn yankees.

2. When at the gym, I have certain songs that actually get me dancing on the treadmill or bike. I look like an idiot, but that's okay. These are songs that the 16 year old version of myself would kick my ass for listening to. In no particular order:

-Hollaback Girl: Gwen Stefani. Stupidest. Song. Ever.

-Thriller: Michael Jackson. I am the only person in the gym old enough to remember when it came out

-Crazy in Love: Beyonce. Again, kicking my own ass.

-The Way I Are: Timbaland. Dumb fun.

-Summertime: Fresh Prince/ DJ Jazzy Jeff. Although I've been running around Philly in the winter, it makes me feel warmer.

-Amblikmees: Push Up. This is an Estonian pop group singing in Estonian. I only know that "amblikmees" translates to "spiderman".

3. Going to Chicago this weekend to visit Darren's brother and family. Why we chose to go to Chicago in February is a total mystery.

Gimpy McGee

I've decided not to be a bad patient (this after running 3.35 miles yesterday in a personal best 30 minutes on a treadmill) and actually treat my foot. ASO brace for the next few weeks; no running for a while. Yeah swimming and bike!

I'm Down with PTT

The problem with being an orthopaedic surgeon is knowing (or thinking you know) exactly what is wrong every time something hurts. I had the same problem in med school when I thought I had every disease we discussed (oh no, a bruise! I must have sclerosing cholangitis!). But, since I am on a foot and ankle rotation and diagnose posterior tibial tendon deficiency about 179 times a day, I am convinced that is what I have. At least tendonitis. My right foot hurts, but I refuse to stop running. I think one of my attendings may throw me in a cast if I don't stop. We'll see how this turns out.
Triathlon training week 10 (with stupid foot pain): run 11.5 mi, bike 34.4, swim 3800 yd; totals 65.18/154.8/23750

Funny

Why I love the Onion.

Groundhog Day

10 years ago today I got arrested. In retrospect, the whole thing was pretty funny, but it sucked ass at the time. To make a long story short (too late!), I was 1(one) day late paying a speeding ticket. This is in Jefferson County, KY, where the average time to serve bench warrants is 5 years. So, I got hauled off to jail for the day until my dad could pay the fine of a whopping $100. Nice job, county. You wasted more than that on my transport, mug shot, fingerprinting, and processing. All I did in jail was watch crappy talk shows and avoid the other people there. By the way, I've realized that Jerry Springer stays on the air for the entertainment of prisoners and hospitalized patients. Seriously, you cannot walk down the halls at 10am without every TV turned to it. Then the Price is Right at 11.
Back to my story, I was a sophomore in college at the time, and Feb. 2nd happened to fall on a Monday. I had 3 (three) tests that day. That was great fun to explain to the professors. My swim coach got the biggest kick out of it, as I was the last person on the team he figured would miss practice for being in jail.
My friend JP now works as a prosecutor in the county attorney's office. He tried to dig up my mugshot, but alas, all records have been expunged.

Triathlon training weeks 8 and 9. Did great last week, but working >70 hours this week and being sick today killed this one. 8.1/26/5850 totals:53.68/120/19950

Great Moments in Sports that I have witnessed

Us at the Liberty Bowl 2004

Us (with t) at the UofL-UConn game 2005

Us at UofL-Villanova 2006

Us at Gaylord Arena in Tennessee for UofL-Georgia Tech 2nd round NCAAs in 2005

Before Darren (I quit the whole "DH" thing; it's dumb and y'all know him or me anyway) and I started dating, I was a punk-rock, alterna-freak who only wanted to go to shows or hang out with loser skateboarders and do other crap that I really wasn't good at. I swam and liked UofL sports, but I didn't really go to games or obsess about stats. On our first trip out of Louisville together (all the way to Cincinnati!), we went to my first MLB game (reds v brewers, talk about shitty teams). Since then, we have become sports junkies together. Over the years, we have seen some very memorable games and events.

1. Busch Stadium, 1998: Sammy Sosa and Mark Maguire each hit a home run (44th and 46th, respectively) during the great home run race that saved baseball post-strike. It was still the best baseball game I've ever been to (yet somehow my sister fell asleep in the 7th). The game went to extra innings, with StL winning in the 13th on a play by Willie McGee, who was 86 at the time. I have pics, but they were taken on film and I still don't have a scanner.

2. Arthur Ashe Stadium, 2006: Darren's lab partner got some tickets to the US Open on a Monday night, so we drove up to Flushing to watch Andre Agassi v Andre Pavel in the first round. It was the first match of Agassi's last tourney and it lasted until well after 1am (Agassi won). Billie Jean King and Serena Williams were also there for some dedication thingy before the match.

3. Freedom Hall, 2001: UofL vs Tennessee. In Rick Pitino's first season, the Cards were down 6 points with 31 seconds left. Reece Gaines hit two threes along with Bryant Northern's one and we ended up winning by 1 (UT hit a layup also). I have never heard the Hall so loud before. Here is a crappy video of it.
4a. Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, September 2, 2000: Kentucky, led by fatty Jared Lorenzen, had a chance to win the game when Dave Ragone was intercepted with about 8 seconds left to play. The score was tied at 34 and the defender had to only jog into the endzone. He forgot that Zek Parker was a UofL wide receiver and the defending C-USA champ in the 100 meters. Zek caught him at the 2 and then the field goal try was blocked. In OT, UofL intercepted Lorenzen on the first play and Tony Stallings ran it in 25 yards the next play. This game was also great because the game was delayed about an hour due to rain and lightning. Darren and I poured onto the field with the rest of the crowd in the 3rd quarter to get out of the stadium. We ran to the car, went back to his place, changed into dry clothes, and went back to the stadium, not having missed a minute of game time.
4b. Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, September 27th, 2002: Louisville beats #4 Florida State in a monsoon. Louisville came back late to tie, then intercepted Chris Rix on the first play of overtime. Henry Miller then ran it 25 yards for the win (exactly as in the UK game in 2000). And yeah, I helped tear down the goalposts.
5. Citizens Bank Park, July 15th, 2007: The Phillies lose their 10000th game to the StL Cardinals 10-2. Darren, Laura, and I were there to root on the Cardinals (well, in Laura's case, to eat hotdogs and ice cream), but we got the added bonus of being present to watch the first professional sports team reach that landmark.

6. Great American Ballpark, April 4, 2003: Sammy Sosa hits his 500th home run. I know Sammy's been tainted by the steroid scandal, but I really loved to watch that guy play (besides, if everyone's cheating, is there really an advantage?).
Honorable Mention: Any of the basketball or football games that Darren and I have gotten to go to since we moved out of Louisville. Philly may suck, but at least most of the Big East schools are nearby. Too bad we seem to be cursed to always watch UofL lose, such as last Saturday at Seton Hall.
That's all I can think of for now.

Triathlon Training week 7: run 11.88mi, bike 8.75mi, swim 3500 yd. totals 57.46/83.8/14100 Great week for running; got to get in the pool more