Here is my new poem.  It will help you understand:

My influence is Shel Silverstein by the way…

When I decided that I liked triathlons, I got a bike and helmet.
And wanted to keep the skin on my hands so I bought some gloves, god damn it..

I wanted to keep tires in my shirt so I got a jersey with pockets
And the sun was beating in my eyes so I got sunglasses for my sockets.

I didn’t want my butt to hurt so I got cycling shorts.
I didn’t want to ask for his pump so I bought one of course,

I wanted to be part of a team so I went and got their outfit,
And now its cold and I need more stuff, I just can’t live without it!

Here is a list of what I got:

Gloves – Full finger gloves with a secret pocket that has a cover for my fingers

Socks – They look like gloves for you feet and they go under your cycling shoes

Pants – Thick thick pants so that my legs don’t get red again.

Hat – A scull cap to put underneath my helmet. It also covers ears.

Undershirt – A tight shirt that is breathable to wear under everything.

Here is a list of what I need:
A jacket – The one at the store was too small.  I need a serious one.
Booties – These go over your cycling shoes to keep even warmer

Chicago Marathon

I woke up on the day of the Chicago Marathon and walked one block south of my house to the 21km mark of the marathon.  It was at that moment that I realized how much I miss the competitions.  I miss the training and the nervousness, the freezing mornings, the line to the bathrooms, the heaps of people… Soon after this realization, I met my friend Gil and we walked over to the finish line and then to a friends house that overlooked the stream of runners.  It was an amazing events and I got great photos from the balcony.

My New York City Marathon is officially postponed to next year but my spot is saved.   Meanwhile I’m back to very light running and eventually I will increase the distance and time.

Another Opera – Lulu

Now for my famous synopsis –
Lulu was adopted by an old guy when she was twelve and he turned her into a dancer so she could get guys.  She married a guy and got caught cheating and the husband died.  She married the guy she was cheating on him with and got caught cheating again and the next husband killed himself.  Then, she married the guy who adopted her and ended up shooting him after he caught her cheating with a bunch of guys.  She got sent to prison and a girl helped her escape.  Then she had shares that turned out to be worth nothing and she became a prostitute and got murdered.

Southbeach Diet
I’m finally on a diet (yay).  South beach diet is really easy to follow and there is a lot to eat.  The concept is not to eat any sugar.  No sugar from breads or fruit either.  I’ve been on it for five days and I have a week and two days until the end of phase one.  After phase one, other foods are introduced and when I get to my desired weight, I go to phase three.  The problem is that I don’t have a scale but I ordered one online and hopefully the results will be in. My goal for now is to get back to 123 lbs or around 55 kilo.

Half Ironman
The training has begun for the half ironman. I’m aiming for the Ford half ironman in Florida (May).  You can check out my workout routine whenever you want by going here:
http://www.workoutlog.com/log/public/anatkramer/log.cfm
I write comments on each workout so you can glance at that too.  The one great thing about it, is the swimming.  I’ve always just swam 30 minutes of freestyle and now I have kicks and drills and different strokes (for different folks) which makes the workout more interesting.  Also, my stroke is improving so feel free to try any workout or ask me about it.  Sharone Aharon and wellfit (his company) get full credit for everything! Visit their website.

I hope that everyone saw the Country Music Awards!

Amazosity (a-may-zaw-city) – An amazing monstrosity. Don’t you know anything?

You have to do the following if you want to understand: 1) Go to the Chicago Spire website 2) Mumble something like “Oh my… Jesus… What the… wow….” 3) forget about your life before that point 4) Pupils will dilate due to intense wishing and imagining 5) Faint 6) Continue reading ‘In Anatshell’.

Within the first few minutes of discovering the Spire.  Some questions immediately came to mind.  Does it have a spiral elevator? I don’t know.  Will there be a wicked restaurant at the top? Probably. If there is, will they have most expensive Edamame appetizer ever? Yes.  Will they give you a complementary segway just for renting a place? How much will it cost? Can I make that much by then? Can I marry someone who already makes that much? Yes… Now I’m relaxed.  Hopefully, it won’t come to this but at least I can be relaxed knowing that my dream is attainable… *sigh*

Back to reality (kind of).  Yesterday I was at the Opera from 7:30PM until 11:15PM.  I had no idea that it was going to be so long and my stomach was clapping on its own by the end; however, after the first intermission I was feeling quite entertained so it was ok.  My clever scheme got me student tickets to the Opera for $20 (See www.anatscleverschemetogetoperaticketsfortwentydollars.com).  It’s literally 5 minutes from my house and if I had Palins’ accent I would say that ‘I can see the Opera from my house’.  I saw Manon which is about a French chick who fell in love, ran away with a guy, betrayed him, married someone else, regretted it, found the first guy and got him back, went gambling to get money, won, was accused of cheating, got sent to prison, died in the first guys arms.  I’m fairly certain that you won’t find a description quite like mine in the literature but that is the bottom line.  There were actually several comic moments, a lot of them as a matter of fact.  Thank god there were subtitles, otherwise I wouldn’t understand a word except for ‘Manon’ which was said approx. 5,329 times throughout the production.

Now for some Chicago restaurant reviews

Petterino’s – Right next to the theatre, I went here with my friend Didi after we went clothes shopping and she was starving.  I chose not to have an entrée but instead had tomato soup, a blue cheese side salad and a sweet potato.  I have to say that I was stuffed by the time we were out of there and it was very tasty.  Unfortunately, they aren’t in Rewards Network so I’m guessing it’s the last time I’ll eat there.

Usagi Ya – This is a Rewards Network restaurant with good sushi.  I went here on a Ride-A-Long which is a fancy name for driving along with a sales rep to meet restaurant owners.  The owner was very nice and I love sushi so…

Indian Garden – This experience has been ground breaking for me. I have decided after taking a long hard look at my life, that I just don’t like Indian food.  Ethnic foods are always fun to have on occasion and everything else doesn’t leave me smelling bad. Therefore if given the choice of feeling 20lbs heavier and smelling for 24 hours after a meal or not, I choose not.  The food may have been good but it was my last Indian meal ever. Unless I go to India… (Restaurant is not in the Rewards Network program)

Star Of Siam – This is a yummy Thai restaurant.  I don’t remember what I ordered but I did get the spring rolls with my friend as an appetizer and it was really tasty.  It’s in the program so I may go back at some point.

Now for the spotlight – Berry Chill!
I haven’t been to the actual place but when I was at an Oktoberfest festival last week, they had a stand and I got some.  It’s frozen yogurt basically where you can choose your toppings.  Check out their website and yes, they are in the program. Yummm! (and healthy by the way)

Not to sounds like an advertisement but if you live in the US, you should sign up for Rewards Network.  It’s free, we have great restaurants and you get rewards.

I’ll end this post with a very strange thing that my bank does on their website when you log in.  Maybe someone can help me understand what my bank is trying to say here.

What’s with the monkey??