Merry Christmas!

My Week Off

I had promised an update soon and I'm running out of time before I leave for vacation, so here it is:

Today was my first official day in my new department at work. I'm still a Business Analyst, so that part stayed the same. I was initially going to take this whole week off work for vacation, but I figured since I would be around the cities anyways, I might as well try to get up to speed in my new area as quickly as possible. I moved from tabletop to lighting and wall decor, so the businesses are fairly similar from my perspective. I'm actually pretty excited to get back to work and get in the full swing of things next Monday. My attitude is a little surprising, even to me, but I think it really helped to have even the smallest of changes.

As for my vacation, I'm really excited about that, too. It will be the first time that I've taken more than one day off work since I started last September. I'm flying out to Cleveland tomorrow morning, where my parents will pick me up. We're going to the Twins game tomorrow night, so hopefully the weather cooperates. From there, the details aren't totally clear to me. I'm not the greatest of planners, and since my parents did all the work, I'm just going with the flow. I know for sure that we will be driving to Niagra Falls and Toronto, but I'm not sure how long we are staying at any of the stops. The trip finishes (for me) in Detroit, where we'll be going to another Twins game before I fly back on Sunday morning. It's not the most exotic sounding vacation, but I'm still pretty pumped about it!

As far as running, there always seems to be an update. I've only got two confirmed races lined up for the Fall so far. The first one is Saint John's Invite in September, which I hope serves as a good barometer for where I'll be a few weeks later at the TC10 mile, my second race of the season. I ran both races last year, but I feel with the level of training I've been doing, I'll finish considerably better than a year ago. With work, it's been tough to be mentally prepared to do workouts after already putting in a full day. Workouts are my top priority going forward - I need quality. I'm not going to be skipping any of the workouts on my calendar just because I can't focus solely on them, and I'm going to try like hell to make sure they are productive.

Volume will be another focus, but may eventually have to take the back burner. I'm anticipating my highest monthly mileage ever in August, which ideally will be between 525 and 550. The August before my senior year, I ran 499.9 and just to prove it wasn't all about the numbers, I didn't run that extra tenth of a mile. I've already got my biggest long run this month (yesterday, 23 miles) and I'm feeling really strong. Tired, but strong. Hopefully I'll be able to parlay these increased emphases into some better race results, but I'll have to wait to find out.

July Update

For anyone that used to read this blog and still periodically checks in, I think this post is going to come as a big surprise. It's not that I'm writing about anything profound, it's just that I haven't posted a single word since last September. I wrote about how things were going during my first week of work - now that I've been at Target for ten months, the comments seem a little dated. It's time for an update..

First of all, one of the reasons the writing stopped so abruptly in September was a computer issue. My laptop made it all across Europe with me , but apparently the trip from Spring Valley to Bloomington was too much for it to handle. I managed to fix it enough to the point where it was serviceable for checking email, but that was the extent of it's functionality for about six months. After March, when I finally bought a new computer, I really don't have an excuse. I was just lazy, I guess.

What else is new in my life? Well, my sister Lindsey bought a house in Bloomington, my other sister Alissa and her husband, Drew had their second child, and my friends are all getting married. As for my major life changes, I moved from Bloomington to St. Paul - a grand total of about 13 miles. I'm now living with two friends from college in a brand new (at least in June) three bedroom place just across the river from Fort Snelling. It's an awesome location for running, commuting and improving my social life. Along with trails on both sides of the river, there are tons of great places to run in the southwest corner of St. Paul. I'm able to take the light rail to work, which makes things a lot more flexible both in the morning and at night. I'm also living closer to a number of my friends, which is a huge bonus.

As I hinted at before, I am still dabbling in the running and racing scene. I'll be commenting more on that in future posts. For now, I thought I would post a picture from the awards ceremony at my last race, an 8K in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (I'm in the back row).


Since it apparently works with weekly TV shows and blockbuster movies, I'm going to give a little teaser of what's to come in my future posts, assuming they come a little more frequently..

• New car!
• August vacation with my parents
• Department change @ Target
• #1 pick in Fantasy Football draft
• Fall races
  

Real World: Week 1

It's 83 degrees outside right now in Bloomington and for the first time since before I left for Ireland, I'm waiting around for it to cool down a little before I run.  Running has been a little different my first two days of work.  I found out that it's not exactly light out (like it was all summer across the pond) before 6:00 AM.  There are some awesome routes that I have discovered so far, with nearly every one having some involvement with a nearby lake.  I have also found it difficult to cut back my mileage much.  I remember writing in an interview how it takes just as much discipline to take it easy towards the end of the season as it does to get out and keep running a ton during the summer and winter months, but so far this fall I haven't had that discipline.  I do have a few more things to say about my running in the recent past and the near future..

1. I posted new highs for summer mileage (1,252) and weekly mileage (130)
2. For those of you who didn't know, I raced at the SJU Invite last week, finishing in 26:04 to narrowly beat out a slew of impressive former teammates.
3. I'm signed up to race both this weekend at Fort Snelling in a 5x5k relay and on October 5th for the TC 10 mile.  I'm excited to do both.

Hopefully I didn't completely lose my audience, despite the month-long gap between posts.  To avoid rambling on about the pros and cons of my train trip across Europe, I thought I would write a one word summary and explanation about each city that I spent at least one night in over my final two weeks.  Here it goes:

• Brussels - bittersweet (I loved the city when I was there my first night, but I ended up missing my flight back to Dublin and had to spend the night in the Brussels airport)
• Paris - predictable (Almost everything I saw I expected to see, which was probably mostly my fault)
• Nice - gorgeous (If the beaches weren't filled with rocks, I might not have left)
• Venice - frustrating (The islands were like a maze and the maps only added to my confusion)
• Salzburg - perfect (I loved how the size of the city, the atmosphere, the sights and almost everything else about it)
• Munich - rich (Filled with color, music, and history)

I also just completed my second day of work in the "real world".  I'm working at Target Headquarters in downtown Minneapolis.  Surprisingly, my bus ride from Bloomington is about the same amount of time as it was last summer when I lived in Minneapolis, and it drops me off less than a block away from my office.  I've been able to meet up with a bunch of people that I knew from my internship last summer, which is really awesome.

Oh, and one more thing. My fantasy football team is 1-1 and I'm not happy about it.

Around the British Isles

Last week was an extremely busy, exciting and memorable one. It was also very tiring. I spent the week traveling around Ireland, Northern Ireland and London with my two sisters, Alissa and Lindsey. From the time they arrived at 44 Gleann Dara (after only a few mishaps), we were on the move almost the entire time. The only "rest" day for me came on Saturday, but that night I ran my second race of the summer (5 mile, 24:36, 3rd), not exactly the relaxation my body needed.

While my latest race produced a time a ways off my personal best, I think I am fast approaching a record of another sort. Last Friday, I visited the Cliffs of Moher for the third time in a little more than a month's time - a frequency only approached by tour guides and bus drivers. Friday also brought my sisters and I around the Dingle Peninsula, a drive that was highly recommended by the owner of a B&B my parents and I visited. It was well worth the long day of driving. I even got some mountain climbing in, as I climbed down from the road to get the shot below.

(Bird on the Dingle Peninsula)

After my race on Saturday night, we got an early start on Sunday morning. We drove up to the northern coast of Northern Ireland. This area and the coastal drive was beautiful. Among the places we visited were Whiterocks Beach (near Portrush), Giant's Causeway, and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. This was one of the few days where we had a goal set in mind about what we wanted to accomplish. Everything went extremely well up until the point where we decided to stop and look for a place to spend the night. The tension in the car grew as the light faded and still we had no place to stay. To make matters worse, the rain started coming down, making visibility all the more difficult. We finally found a B&B sign in a small town along the coast, but after a few minutes of awkwardness with a hunchbacked old man, we were still homeless. After 10 more LONG minutes of driving, where nobody spoke, we saw another sign for a B&B. This time, we were pleasantly surprised. If the owner would have sensed our desperation, he could have made off with a lot more than we paid him. Thank goodness for honest people. The room was spectacular, as was the full Irish breakfast we received in the morning. It was just too bad we couldn't have stayed in the small town of Ballygally any longer.

(Whiterocks Beach - Portrush, Northern Ireland)

Next up for the Erichsen children was Belfast. After hearing almost nothing but negative things about the city, we were glad to find that it appeared to be a modern, thriving city. At least in the area we were in, there were office buildings, shopping centers and other features that all seemed very new and clean. We didn't get to see the Titanic, but we did take some pictures by a huge fish by the docks.

(Me in front of some big fish in Belfast)

The weather turned out to be fantastic for almost the entire week Alissa and Lindsey were visiting me. The only time it rained was when we were in the car driving, which wasn't really a bother. After leaving Belfast we headed around the Ards Peninsula, eventually stopping in Greyabbey to visit some of Drew's relations. They were extremely friendly, going so far as to relieve us of the headache of finding a place to stay for the night.

(Alissa and Lindsey posing in front of hydrangeas)

We didn't run into any more stress (following the first night trying to find a B&B) until we left Greyabbey early Tuesday morning heading for Dublin Airport. We were on a tight schedule and couldn't afford to miss our flight to London, since we were only staying about a day and a half as it was. So, while scurrying around trying to find a gas station, return the rental car, and store our luggage at the airport, we were near our breaking point once again. It wasn't actually that bad, but after nearly an entire summer with minimal stress, any stress seems like too much.

(London's Eye)

As I said before, we were only in London for a short time, but we still got around quite well. The first day we were completely on foot. It was tiring, but also nice to be able to see all the little things that lie between the big attractions. On the second day, we all had to carry our bags so we scrapped the whole walking idea and opted for the Tube, an experience in itself.

Whether looking for a bathroom, place to fill a water bottle, directions, or coffee, I think we were in Starbucks about 8 times while in London. I think seeing them everywhere is just a transition for when I return to the U.S. in a few weeks, as I have gotten used to storefronts without those familiar green letters.

I have posted the pictures from my week with Alissa and Lindsey and they are all under the "Pictures" link to the right.

Going Solo to Glasgow

("The Armadillo")


(Statue near Central Station)

(Man playing bagpipes in Kelvingrove Park - he wasn't very talented)



(Me with University of Glasgow Tower in the background)

I don't have much time to write, as Alissa and Lindsey are on their way to Galway and I have some things to take care of before they arrive. I spent the majority of the last three days in Glasgow, Scotland. It was an awesome trip and I was able to take quite a few pictures, which can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjerichsen/GlasgowScotland

There are a few things that have happened over the last week that I feel are worth mentioning. Some of them I am proud of and some of them are quite embarrassing.

• I ate at three different restaurants while in Glasgow, more than I have in Ireland in the past month. I was able to get some "real" pizza again, as well as my first taste of haggis, tatties and neeps (which was awesome by the way). If you're unsure of what that is, you can find more information here.
• One week ago, I owned three bikes. Now, I'm down to my last one. The first was stolen from our backyard one night after work. At first I thought one of my roommates had taken it to work. I was actually much less upset after I tracked him down and found out he didn't take it after all. Unfortunately, the first to be stolen was also the best of the lot. Down to two bikes, I was forced to take one of these to the bus station and use a broken lock, hoping it would be there when I returned from my trip. Not surprisingly, it was gone when I came back. Three days in one of the busiest areas in Galway was too much to ask and now I am down to my final bike.
• I found one of the elusive "other" flavors of Custard Creams while I was visiting up north. While not as good as the original, Malted Milk Creams were a welcome change. Before my trip, I didn't even know they existed. I'm still looking for the coconut and coffee flavored cookies, but hopefully I'll be able to find them when my sisters and I head to London!

I've also learned a little bit more about my competition for the Streets of Galway race this weekend. One of the "headliners" is a Kenyan who comes in with a 5K PR of 13:17 - pretty decent. Another is Vinny Mulvey, the guy who crushed me in the Irish Runner 5 mile in July. He is Ireland's national cross country champion and used to run for Iona College in New York. Finally, the defending champion of the race, Gerry Ryan, will also be running. Obviously, the competition is a little stiffer than my last time out.

Getting Fat, Custard Creams and Nostalgia

After seeing my first prize-money check above, you probably assumed the picture and the title of this post were related. After all, with the exchange rate the way it is right now, €200 has some decent buying power in the U.S. (about $320). However, my race in Ireland has not provided me with uncontrollable bulkiness in my wallet region. The fat that I am referring to is one that was routinely promoted by my coach (albeit primarily during the few weeks immediately following the end of the season). I often half-heartedly listened to this suggestion, opting to interpret it to the less literal "take it easy for a while". Recently, I have taken his words verbatim.

What has led to this temporary increase in mass? The culprit has been a small sandwich cookie, generically dubbed Custard Creams. They are similar to Oreos, but square instead of round, vanilla instead of chocolate.

They are available in every grocery store for the same ridiculous price of €0.39 for a 400 gram pack. For those of you who aren't familiar with the conversion, that is almost a pound of addicting cookies. They also have trouble sticking around at 44 Gleann Dara, as the last few packs Kelly and I have bought have failed to make it 24 hours. On Monday, I found a 10 cent piece on the ground towards the end of my long run. Despite being very tired and having my senses significantly weakened, I was still able to do some quick Custard Cream calculations. That 10 cents provides the following:

• 1/4 package (or 100 g) of cookies
• 500 calories

The Bourbon Creams are also widely available in Galway. One of my goals for the rest of the summer is to find the elusive Coconut Creams and Coffee Creams. For more information, please see the always accurate Wikipedia link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custard_cream

On a more serious note, my schedule is becoming increasingly more concrete for the remainder of the summer. Race week is nearly upon us, which means that I will be working (starting tonight) nine out of the next ten days at the Greyhound Track. That leaves only a few more days off while Kelly and I are both living in Galway. After race week, he will be leaving for a two week trek across Europe.

On August 4th, I will be flying to Scotland for the beginning of the week. In the never-ending search for cheap flights, I was able to find a "free" flight from Shannon Airport to Glasgow, in the end costing me a mere €20. I will spend a few nights in Scotland before returning to Galway to prepare for the arrival of Alissa and Lindsey, who arrive in Dublin on August 7th and Galway (hopefully) later that night. Strange as it may seem, they are actually going to be able to see me race August 9th in the Streets of Galway 8K.

I have also penciled in another race to my schedule, shortly after noticing the Saint John's CC schedule was posted on the website. I will finally have the opportunity to win a T-shirt that has intrigued me for the past four years. The famed Fall Finale is slated to be run on November 7th, with this prized shirt, owned by only a select few, available to certain top finishers.

Last week, anticipating a book shortage in the near future, I took three random books from our house and set off for the used book store. After a little bit of negotiating, I made a three for one swap, the one being Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon Days. It was odd finding this book in an Irish book store in the first place and even more odd when I delved in and found references to Minneapolis, Avon, St. Joseph and Collegeville, places I lived for the majority of the last four years of my life. Obvious nostalgia was brought about by some of the stories and references of the book. Besides the obvious things (family, friends, home-cooking, etc.), I have been missing quite a few things that I took for granted living in the U.S..

• Real pizza - frozen pizzas just aren't the same here and delivery is unbelievably expensive, making that option merely it a pipe dream
• Sportscenter - the sports channel here has a lot of variety (hurling, Gaelic football, horse racing, rugby) but I miss seeing the "American" sports on a regular basis
  
• Driving - I haven't driven a vehicle since the middle of May, probably the longest stretch since I got my license
  
• Root beer - I normally don't have it often, but I had a craving recently and haven't been able to find it anywhere, so naturally, my craving increased
• Mosquitos - I don't actually miss them, but I saw a Discovery Channel show that was talking about an area in Africa where they were terrible and it reminded me that I don't think I've seen or been bitten by a mosquito in nearly a year
  

As of yesterday afternoon, I have officially run out of books to read. So, I either have to wait for my sisters to bring in some reserves or I have to buy/trade for a few more. If you have any suggestions, please email me (cjerichsen@gmail.com)!