Introducing the newest Koriath blogger...

Hi everyone! I am very excited to be a part of Keeping Up With The Koriaths! I don't have a name yet, but my parents like to call me AK (for "Another Koriath") until they get to meet me around August 4. (AK is also a great nickname because that's what everyone called my cousin Tomas before he was born in September, except it meant "Another Kyle" for him.)

So far, I think I've been a pretty good baby. I've made my mom more tired than normal. As if she wasn't already practically narcoleptic, she actually took three naps last Saturday, one of which was during the Colts playoff game while friends were over to watch the game!! I don't like when my mom wakes up with an empty stomach so sometimes I have to remind her to eat right away, but other than that, I'm just as happy as could be!

My parents finally got to see me today and hear my heartbeat, which was so exciting. I was trying to take a nap when the lady started poking on me to move around. I wasn't too happy about that -- I might have a little of my mom's grumpiness when being rudely awoken!

My dad is very excited to meet me too! Of course he's crunching lots of numbers in our family budget about how I will impact our cash flow and savings. My dad has quite a running schedule mapped out for the year so I may interrupt that a little bit, but I can't wait until I'm big enough for him to push me in a jogging stroller.

My parents say they are going to wait until I arrive to find out if I'll be a Pi Phi or Sigma Chi legacy, so I'm prepared to be dressed in lots of green and yellow for a little while. My grandmas are so excited to meet me, though, that I'm sure they'll have a stash of pink and blue ready to go!

I can't wait to meet all of my family and friends in August! Please keep my healthy development in your thoughts and prayers!

It's not much, but here is my first picture. My dad got my mom a new Nikon SLR camera for Christmas, so I'm sure there will be many more photos of me in the future!

Dashing Through the Snow

I love running in the snow. There's something so peaceful and serene about running while the snow is falling, hearing the soft rhythm of your footsteps and seeing the tread of your shoes in the newly fallen snow. So this morning when I woke up, it was like an early Christmas present with a fresh thin layer of the fluffy white stuff on the ground. I put on my running gear-- when you've got the right clothing, the cold isn't an issue-- and struck out for the trails at Ritchey Woods.

As I navigated the trails of the nature preserve, I had a little time to think back about the Tecumseh Trail Marathon last weekend. It was such an amazing event, with runners from all over the US (and even one from the UK) gathered near Bloomington, Indiana to traverse 26.2 miles through the woods. Similar to today, I was excited last weekend when I woke up to fresh snow on the ground the morning of the race. However, due to the inclement weather, the course was changed to an out-and-back route from the finish line since the buses that were supposed to take us to the start line refused to navigate the slick, hilly back roads that morning.


Despite the significant, last-minute change to the event, the 575 runners took the news in stride. Everyone gathered at the finish line joking and laughing like we were waiting to start a long training run with a bunch of old friends. About a mile into the race, we reached the start of the single-track trail and, like a funnel, things backed up quickly. Still, it didn't dampen the mood and everyone settled into a single-file line on the two foot wide trail. Soon, we reached a hill and everyone started walking up it. We were still less than two miles into the race and people were walking! I should have already known that this wasn't like the other marathons I've done. With about 3,500 feet of ascent, this course is incredibly challenging. My first warning should have been the bib-- written upside down at the top so the wearer can read it, was a quote from a previous participant.

The course was beautiful. Of course, if you looked up too long to enjoy it, you were bound to trip over a root, rock, or tree stump protruding from the snow-covered trail. If you successfully navigated all of those obstacles, you still had to stay upright on the slick and sometimes muddy trail. And, like the Columbia City Marathon I did last month, runners were advised to wear bright colors as to not be mistaken for deer by the archers and muzzle loaders who were hunting in the area. Fortunately, I'd invested in some new trail running shoes earlier in the week which provided great traction for the entire race. I lucked out with the shoes, as I broke one of the cardinal rules of marathon running: don't run a race in brand new shoes. Finally, there was also the challenge of two-way traffic on a one-way trail near the turnaround point on the course. Trailing runners politely yielded to the runners who'd already made the turn by stepping to the side of the trail.

Unlike a road marathon where you grab a cup of water or sports drink at the rest stops and keep going, the rest stops were more like social gathering spots. There were Oreo cookies, cups of hot chocolate, pretzels and all kinds of other goodies that sound delicious when your body is craving calories. And mostly they were welcome rests from the punishing and never-ending ascents and descents on the course.

After 5 hours and 7 minutes (nearly 90 minutes longer than my marathon PR!) I crossed the finish line feeling a great sense of accomplishment, feeling very connected to the other runners who ran the race, and feeling a desire to do another trail marathon.

After so much fun running through the snow last weekend and a beautiful run through Ritchey Woods this morning, I was surprised that I didn't see anyone else on the trails. Is there anyone else out there who feels the way I do about running in the snow?


What I recommend when it's 25 degrees and snowing:
Nike Thermal Hat - keeps your head toasty
North Face Power Stretch Gloves - keep your hands toasty
Nike Thermal Pants - comfortable, relaxed fit and ample pockets
North Face Windstopper Hybrid Full Jacket - windproof and warm but breathable and lightweight; lots of handy pockets
Mizuno Wave Cabrakan 2 shoes - provide great traction on the slickest trails, strong but flexible sole for insulation from rocks and roots and light enough for long runs

Chickens, Guns and Tires

This weekend I’ve done two things that I’d never done before in my life. First, I accomplished a goal that I set for myself in January: to run one thousand miles in 2010. Second, I wrote a blog entry. Surprisingly, I feel a lot more comfortable running a thousand miles in a year than writing a blog entry. Why? Because I don’t think I’m a very good writer. I agonize over word choices and it takes me an hour to write 3 sentences. But, I figured I’d give it a shot. I'll try to post some interesting stories about running and our lives in general but this time I'll keep it simple and post a recap of the marathon yesterday for my first entry. So here goes nothing…

The Columbia City Veterans Marathon was my 5th marathon and each of them has been a very unique experience. I’ve run through the beautiful scenery of Anchorage, Alaska, along the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky, with 45,000 other runners in Chicago, Illinois and through Fort Benjamin Harrison in my hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. Columbia City was no exception. Here are the top 3 unique things I’ll remember about the Columbia City Marathon:

1. The chicken farm at mile 5
2. Running on opening weekend of deer season in rural Indiana
3. A flat tire

Shortly after seeing Natalie for the first time at mile 4 (where I'd just crossed the thousand mile mark for the year), I came across the most foul (or fowl) smelling thing I've ever encountered while running. In the middle of a corn field, there was a long, narrow building that must have housed thousands of chickens. I seriously considered holding my breath for about a half-mile. That was my first encounter with a chicken farm and I hope it's also the last. Shortly after I recovered from the smell, I saw Natalie again around mile 9. The plan was to see her next around the 17th mile and then again around mile 20. However, much to my surprise, I saw her as the course passed through town around the 13th mile. Curiously, she was on the phone and told me "There's a slight problem." She said that she'd hit a curb, resulting in a flat tire (see picture to right). Then she pointed to the car, which was sitting in a field about a block away. During the second half of the marathon, I spent a lot of time worrying about the car and how the heck she ran into a curb, but periodic shotgun blasts from the surrounding fields interrupted those thoughts and kept me moving. Thankfully Natalie wasn't injured, the car was fixed by the end of the race and I finished in one piece. My time wasn't memorable but Columbia City ranks as one of the most memorable marathons yet!

In 3 weeks, I'm running the Tecumseh Trail Marathon near Bloomington and, just like the first five, I know it will be totally different than any race I've done before. I'm already excited to find out what great memories it has in store for us!

P.S. It took me about 5 hours to write this.

The most important family member

It has been requested (if I gave you two guesses by whom, I'm sure you'd be right!) that I post a picture of Lulu with our Christmas tree. I contemplated this before posting the ornament post but honestly, I had only wrapped the gifts at that point and they didn't have bows yet. I am certainly my mother's daughter, and I wouldn't dare show our full tree with ribbon-less gifts, so after finishing the bows last night I snapped these photos.

Note that I was waking Lulu from what apparently was a very comfortable slumber in our big chair, though I'm not sure how it's comfortable to lay at almost a 90 degree angle.









Then I put her jingle bell collar on, which made her even more grouchy....












After a few minutes and promises of a treat, she perked up!

A glimpse into the past

In the spirit of Christmas and our new pre-lit Christmas tree, I want to highlight some of our favorite ornaments in our growing collection of Christmas decor.

Blake's parents gave him this hand-painted ornament of his first house. The details are amazing! Note the lack of landscaping... the picture that the artist used was clearly taken after they had every bit of overgrown vegetation removed, and before I came along! I love this idea and am hoping that Santa brings a similar ornament of our new house!














We received the next two wedding-esque ornaments at bridal showers, and I just think they are so cute. The little bride and groom bells were part of the bow on a gift - so creative!















Keeping with the wedding theme of 2009, we received a set of Inge-Glas German ornaments. This was my favorite of the few off-registry gifts we received! I love that every year when we put these dozen-or-so ornaments on the tree, we'll be reminded of our friends who gave them to us and I hope these are ornaments that we are able to pass down to future generations of Koriaths. Plus, they're super-glittery, which I love! Santa looks a little creepy but they're all really pretty, believe me.

Blake's mom is an excellent collector, specifically of White House commemorative ornaments and rocking horses. She gave us the entire collection of White House ornaments since 1980 and a handful of his rocking horses. We didn't put them all on the tree this year, though.





















Last, but certainly not least, I want to showcase some of Blake's fine artistic abilities from his younger years. Our tree is prominently featuring his talents with glitter back in 1983 as well as his paper mache abilities with a bear that just rests between branches. Maybe next year I'll dig up some of my handcrafted ornaments!





































Admittedly, we opted not to do Christmas cards this year (despite being given lots of grief considering that we got married AND bought a new house), but we've loved receiving lots of cards from friends! Hopefully, this blog post has given you a little glimpse into the Christmas spirit in our home, though, and we wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Difference #491 between Naptown and the City That Never Sleeps

As you probably know, I recently completed a 12-week sabbatical from Eli Lilly and Company to work for the United Way of Central Indiana. It was an incredible experience and I'm so thankful that I was chosen to participate! (Rather than repeating what I've already written, if you want to read more about it, you can read a blog I wrote last week on the LiveUnitedGiveUnited blog.) I came back to Lilly and much has changed here in only 12 weeks, including my own work environment. Let's just say I wasn't very happy at my previous desk for a variety of reasons so I voluntarily signed up to "go mobile", meaning I don't actually have a desk of my own anymore and instead have a locker. Yes, a locker. Thankfully, these don't have a combination that will cause me to have nightmares about forgetting how to get into my locker to get my books and instead just have a normal key, but it's a three-part locker to store my belongings while I'm out and about all day. There are a few "mobile work areas" for the other people like me, and we just roam around until we find a suitable desk. Many people are totally freaked out by this concept but I think I'll actually really like it.

Given my new locker location within this small city that is the Lilly Corporate Center, I've been working on the optimal parking arrangements, which brings me to the title of this post. The place I think will work best for me is a large parking garage, and to enter the building, you actually cross under Delaware Street and take a 2-story escalator up to the main lobby... you know, kind of like the ones you see in New York or other big cities coming up from the subway. However, the Lilly escalators have two very entertaining signs that make them very different from the big city ones: one says "Do not rush other passengers" and the other something like "No walking or running". As a person who likes to get where I'm going quickly, I just find these signs entertaining, and they are clearly a sign of (1) Midwestern values of "just take your time" and (2) working for a company that, understandably, doesn't like accidents in the workplace. (Urban legend says there is a "citizens arrest"-like policy if you see someone walking up or down stairs without holding the handrail, but I've never experienced that in real life.) I'm thinking I may need to dig up my old Woodbrook Crossing Guard uniform and be the Escalator Police for next Halloween, but my friends in Health & Safety might not be so amused.

Why is the carpet all wet Todd?

Here goes nothing, on my first blog post that is publicly accessible (I do have an internal Lilly blog, but it's very lame). I want to cover three topics which are randomly on my mind:

1. I've been thinking about blogging and/or journaling for awhile now and was inspired to take the plunge today by Emmalee's blogging endeavor, Hangin' With Mr. Hinton. She is also the creative (and clearly alliterative) mind behind the title: Keeping Up With The Koriaths -- thanks Emmalee!! Anyway, I've recently become obsessed with my Google Reader and finding new blogs that I like to read, so maybe someone will actually read our blog. If not, that's OK because it serves another purpose too: I've had this feeling lately that I want to start creating things that future Koriath generations will be able to read for themselves to really understand who we are. Maybe it's related to my grandma's passing this summer (RIP Shorty! She would've been 100 on Friday) or my recent career experiences at the United Way, but I feel more of a desire to create a legacy than I ever have before.

2. We are really enjoying our new neighborhood and all the people we've met, but I often think that our neighbors probably think of us as Margo and Todd from Christmas Vacation. After all, we're the only people in the neighborhood without kids as far as we can tell, and we sometimes go running together (with Lulu, of course) on the nice one-mile loop through our subdivision. Tonight was especially Margo and Todd, as we were basically dressed alike for our run!

3. I declared today "Social Media Transition/Clean-up Day" for myself. You will no longer find me on Friendster or MySpace, but you will still find me on Facebook, obviously this new blog, and my most recent new obsession, Twitter (@nkoriath)! Blake also joined Twitter today (@bkoriath) once I told him about following UNC basketball players and a few Pacers. I'm quickly really enjoying Twitter as I just don't feel like Facebook has been very reliable lately with providing timely status updates and notifications.

With this, I'm going to call it a night! I'll try to come up with more exciting topics for future blog posts...or just make Blake do the writing :)