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By kilax, May 29, 2014 6:54 am

You know how sometimes, when you take cold medicine it makes you have completely wacky dreams that make no sense whatsoever? That’s what usually happens to me, anyway. 

But not today! I took some cold medicine at home, then had a lovely nap* on the train that included a dream with very clear meaning. 

Yep, Dean Karnazes thinks I should run another ultra. With Rachel. 

Ha ha. 

In my dream, I was running with Dean (running. with. Dean!!!). We were chatting it up, and among other things, he asked if I was running an ultra this year. I told him I was thinking about it. Then he asked if I was going to run it with my friend Rachel**. To which I told him OF COURSE, and that we had plans to run 12:00 minute miles (this is news to me). Dean was in full support. He thought we should go for it. ha ha. 

Sigh, then the dream did get wacky as I lost sight of Dean on the trail, and maybe there were zombies involved? Hee hee. But one thing I know – Rachel and I must do the 50K FOR SURE this year (minus the zombies)!

Well, we were already planning on it! And those 12:00 minute miles would be quite the PR for us (by over an hour!).

Rachel and I actually ran our first ultra together, by chance! She came up to me at race start, and asked if I was a blogger. We ended up running the entire thing together and an amazing friendship was born. Awww. 

Also, I did meet Dean at that race! Not formally, though. I had fallen during the race (of course, it’s a trail race, you fall) and had blood running down my leg (of course, it’s me) and I walked by Dean and he commented on my bloody leg, saying “Looking good with those wounds – you earned them!” Aww yeah. See?! Dean thinks wounds are cool!!! Hee hee. 

You know who actually meet Dean formally this month? Gina! I follow her local running store on Facebook (stalker, much?) and saw that Dean was going to be in town and casually shared it on Gina’s Facebook page saying “OMG! Go meet Dean! We’re like, BFFs.” 

And… Gina basically fell in love with Dean. He was super sweet to her and Luca, was stoked they involve Luca in their running, and told Gina she was the real hero (after she called Dean that) for working so hard this year and getting ready to sign up for her first marathon. And he signed a photo for her, and a book***, for me! And she told him my ultra wound story. Ha ha ha. 

Sigh. The love for Dean is contagious. Now I just need to finish reading Born to Run then start with Ultramarathon Man!

*train naps are amazing when I have a cold, since I am sitting upright and it lets everything drain
**Rachel! Dean remembers you!
***Gina gave me HER copy! What a sweetheart!

Comments (29)

By kilax, May 28, 2014 6:45 am

If you were going to give a foreign visitor a gift that was representative of your country, what would that gift be?

I’m finding this question hard to answer. The only things I can come up with are food or sports related. For some countries, you think of a distinct craft, but it’s just not coming to me!

Don’t worry though – I don’t actually have the task of finding said gift in front of me right now. I was just thinking about it as I visited the store to buy cough drops this morning and saw the Ricola brand. 

When I worked in Rome during the summer of 2006, my coworkers were from all over the world. It was such an amazing experience to share stories with these people every day, finding the differences and similarities between our lives, as well as discussing where we wanted to take our architecture careers. Luckily, I became friends with a few of them on Facebook so we sort of keep in touch!

Anyway, one coworker was from Switzerland. On my last day in the office, she told me she had a small gift for me, from her home country, and gave me a bag of Ricola cough drops! It was such a sweet gesture, and it also made me laugh… I had never received cough drops as a gift! But now, every time I have a cold, I think of her!

Comments (53)

By kilax, May 27, 2014 12:42 pm

I have never been that in to race shirts**. I am not upset if the race doesn’t have one. I don’t care if it’s cotton or tech tee. If it has an ugly design, I’ll probably wear it cause it makes me laugh, or donate it. Sometimes I donate a shirt without wearing it at all. I do save the ones from “special” races, but that’s it***. 

But I have to admit… I am kind of bummed when the shirt design turns out to be a cool one, and the sizing is completely off. I am looking at you, Chicago Spring Half Marathon. Ha ha. 

I really liked this vertical skyline photo on the back of the race shirt! But the shirt size I signed up for was way too small – a women’s large. Luckily, they had shirt exchange on site, but a women’s XXL was too large. So I went with a men’s large (no women’s XL available). Ha. And while I wrote that like the Goldilocks story, the men’s large fit was not “just right.” As seen here:

Whatever, right? Now Steven has a technical tee he can use to work out! It’s great that the race offered women’s sizing at all… or is it?

When you do a race, do you prefer if it has gender specific sizing? Or does that make you feel uncertain cause you have no idea how the heck that women’s fit is cut (if you’re a lady answering, obviously)?

I recently signed up for a triathlon relay. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they noted in registration that the shirt sizes run small. I appreciated the heads up and signed up for one size larger!

Now… if they would just tell us who makes the shirt. Gina and I were both saying we wish we had known that the Soldier Field 10 Miler would have Nike shirts, which tend to run small… then we would have gotten larger sizes. 

Luckily, hers fit, and I exchanged mine to a size that fits decently (a men’s L, no women’s XLs had been traded in yet). But gosh! That could have been disastrous (<— sarcasm)! Ha ha. I am happy it all worked out, because it’s another shirt I think I will use.

Again, if a shirt doesn’t fit – not the end of the world (especially since I don’t use all of them that I receive). I just find it interesting that there is so much more variance on women’s shirt sizing then men’s. I hope more races start to note how their shirts tend to run, and maybe who makes them… or a sizing chart? Riiiiight, like we are all going to bust out the tape measurer while registering!

*unless you’re a dude, of course
*the shirt you get for participating in a race
***and really, I wonder why I am even doing that!

Comments (19)

By kilax, May 26, 2014 7:21 am

Highlight of the Week: All the workouts with our guests and our first softball game!

Monday | Mary 19, 2014: 4 m run (w/Kelly) + teaching strength class
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 46°/47°, Time: 38:39, Pace: 9:40 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good! the run woke me up!
Strength: 2/1 dumbbell switch, Difficulty: medium, Felt: light headed… and dizzy from the lights in my eyes
Tuesday | May 20, 2014: 1.5 m run (w/Steven)
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 86°/82°, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good (and warm)
Wednesday | May 21, 2014: rest
Thursday | May 22, 2014: 5 m run (w/Gina) + Softball Game #1
Loc: Grant Woods FP, Temp: 70°/72°, Time: 50:29, Difficulty: medium, Felt: okay, kind of hot & out of breath
Friday | May 23, 2014: teaching strength class + 10 m ride (w/Steve)
Strength: 2/1 dumbbell switch, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good; happy Steve came to class!
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 47°/52°, Time: 55:48, Pace: 10.8 avg mph, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good/refreshed
Saturday | May 24, 2014: Soldier Field 10 Miler (w/Gina & Steve)
Loc: Chicago, Temp: 54°/57°, Time: 1:36:58, Pace: 9:40 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: mostly good
Sunday | May 25, 2014: rest (White Sox game! Two stadiums in one weekend, ha ha!)

Notes:

• After the race on Saturday, I was talking to Marcia, Emily and Gina about upcoming races and realized I don’t really have much on the calendar for this summer. A few bike rides, The Longest Day, a 5K and a triathlon relay… I like that there is not much else going on! You guys know me – hot weather running is not my thing so I don’t race as much in the summer. 
• I’m so happy we were able to have our first softball game this week! It was a lot of fun, and I feel so lucky we were able to put together a team – it’s something Steven and I have talked about doing for a few years!
• I thought this opinion piece “Fitness Crazed” (pdf here) was interesting. The author says he saw results (changes in his physique) by doing the same five classic strength training moves (squat, dead lift, power clean, bench press and standing press) for a year. He did not see results when he tried to follow new research that comes out (saying you should do high intensity high interval training, for example) or by using new-fangled equipment. So he asks the question – why are all of these studies coming out recommending new methods of working out if those five basic moves are what really made a physical change happen (for him, anyway). I agree with the statement that classic strength training shows results (hey look – Hugh Jackman agrees too (pdf here)). But I also think using new fitness toys and methods can be useful as well. It’s fun to do something different from time to time, or use new equipment/methods as a way to make a basic move more challenging. It can still show results. The author also says personal trainers are akin to baby sitters and they have no advantage in teaching their clients how to do things on their own, because it’s better to design a crazy workout for them and keep them confused so they keep coming back. Ha. Well, some people probably do want someone to hold them accountable for strength training, and maybe look forward to doing something they couldn’t come up with on their own. Before I was a trainer, I only got my strength training in when I had a one-on-one session, went to class, or did a video. There is nothing wrong with that! So… whether you stick to the basics or love something new and crazy, or do it on your own, in a class or with a trainer… just keep doing it! What’s your preferred strength mode (solo or group, classic or new equipment)?

Link to Training Week 239

Comments (36)

By kilax, May 24, 2014 9:39 pm

Seems like with every race report I write, I find something “new” about it. Ha ha, broken record, much?! But here I go… this was my first time running the Soldier Field 10 Miler! It was Gina and Steve’s first time too, and Steve’s first race in Chicago proper! Exciting!

In fact, we all signed up for this race on opening day in October! I was running by Soldier Field on my lunch break one day and thought, “I bet Gina and Steve would really like to run through there! (and travel from Texas to do so)” And I was right – it didn’t take much convincing! The countdown was on… for 6+ months, ha ha. 

Something NOT new to me though, is running a Fleet Feet race. I was so impressed with their organization for the Chicago Women’s Half last year, I’ve just assumed all of their races perform to that caliber, and I haven’t been disappointed. Gina and Steve were able to get their corral issue worked out (we all started together in corral 9 of 18), and packet pickup was super efficient. We received a participation guide, but even if I hadn’t read it, signage was very clear and easy to follow. And the volunteers were fantastic. I was impressed with how easy gear check was, and that we got to go in to use the stadium bathrooms before the race. 

And actually, I had never been inside a professional football stadium before (something else new for me!). I enjoyed checking it out before and after the race. 

And getting to the race was easy (I just rode in the backseat, hee hee) – there was a little congestion by the exit to the stadium, but plenty of people directing traffic once we got in to the garages. Finding a spot was simple (gotta love FREE parking!), and we had plenty of time to see our friends and wish them luck before race start!

Bobbi, Marcia, me and Emily

Efit crew! Anne, Bobbi, me, Chris, Steve, Gina and Luca

Our section of corrals closed at 7:15 am, and I figured we would be waiting in there for quite some time to start, but we crossed the start line at 7:26! Not bad! The first mile was congested as we weaved our way away from the stadium, under McCormick Place and toward Lake Shore Drive, but once we got on the street, we were fine. 

Except… I had sweat dripping down my arms like a mad woman. Sigh. It was only in the mid 50s, but I was wearing a visor, which made me even sweatier, so I took it off in the second mile and carried it the rest of the way. I made sure to drink plenty of water and not go out too fast. Ha. Like that would be a problem. I am not in race shape! Before the race, we had decided to try to come in under 1:40 (10:00 minute mile pace). That is what we put for pace when we registered back in October, but Gina and Steve run much faster now! I offered to let them go ahead, but Gina said they came to run with me. I keep telling them how much fun it is to run races with friends and talk the whole time, but that doesn’t seem to happen much when the three of us are together – I think we tend to push each other! Someday…

Anyway! We saw xaarlin at mile 2. She is a rockstar for spectating two races in a row! And catching my amazing supination in action. I know it looks like it hurts… but it doesn’t!

The course is mostly an out and back, but on different routes – road then trail. So you can see everyone making their way back for a lot of the “out” part. I actually found this kind of discouraging and felt much better and more energetic when we made the turn right before mile 5 (even though they were playing “The Lazy Song“). It helps to see that cool city view when you are heading north – it never gets old. And I greatly appreciated the breeze on the way back. 

The race just flew by. We kept consistent splits in the 9:40/9:30 range. Even though there were a lot of people out there, I didn’t feel like it was ever too crowded – except for some of the silly water/Gatorade stops where the volunteers had created two lines and were taking up a lot of the path – that kind of felt like a cluster at times. But it was fun that there were volunteers out there playing instruments and playing music on speakers. That picked me up when I was feeling tired. 

I started getting excited as we got closer to the stadium. And thinking “I am so happy I don’t have to run 3.1 more!” Ha! I was starting to run out of steam but once we got in to the stadium I felt the energy to sprint to the finish (er, and try not to trip over people stopping to take photos/videos). It was really neat to finish on the 50 yard line (whatever that means) and see ourselves on the jumbotron.  And we made our goal – 1:36:58! Woo hoo!

Service men and women in uniform handed us our medals, which was touching. And then officials scooted our butts off the field! That’s okay though. It was easy to get our gear, awesome feed bag, change our clothes, then hook back up with the boys to hang out a bit in the stadium before seeing our friends in the after race tailgate. 

We all enjoyed the race! It’s definitely worth going to the city to run. However, I think next time, I won’t plan back to back weekends with city races! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, it makes for a tiring day!

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By kilax, May 23, 2014 9:51 pm

In college in 2004 (holy cow, ten years ago!), I decided to be a sub on an intramural indoor soccer team for one game. I played soccer (not well, you’ll notice a theme) in high school, and missed it. 

But I had never played indoor.

So when the perfect opportunity arrived for a slide tackle, I went for it. 

On the turf. 

OUCH!

Oops! Instinct just took over.

I tore up my leg… and maybe got a yellow card. Hee hee.

I didn’t know how to clean up my leg, and we were leaving for a class trip to Chicago the next day. So the morning of the trip, I just put a gauze wrap on my leg and wore jeans. And ignored it.

Not a good idea. I tried to take the gauze off and guess what was stuck inside the scrape? Yeah… pieces of gauze. But, luckily I saw Steven during that trip and he took care of me. Ha. 

So you can understand why he was a bit concerned when I insisted on asking the softball league organizer what the rules on sliding in to bases are. And when I said to Steven “You slide face first, right?”

Well geesh! I remembered not to go face first!

Hee hee.

Honestly, it wasn’t much of a slide. I was running from second, the third base coach told me to keep going, and the ball got there right before I did. It was kind of like a slide/landing. Eh, I tried. I thought it would be cool to score a point. My team cheered me on. Steven said he looked away. Ha!

A member of the other team asked if I was okay. I told him I liked getting dinged up. And that I told our team we’d have a contest to see who got the gnarliest bruise/scrape/whatever from the season.

About that other team! Super nice people. There was a great spirit out there. We all encouraged each other. But they killed us. If we hadn’t run out of time, we would have ended due to a slaughter rule. Part of me wonders why they are in the non-competitive league and part of me wonders if our team just needs a lot more time together. Maybe a bit of both. 

Either way, I had a lot of fun. And I was surprised at how nervous I was! I was first to bat and my legs were shaking. They were shaking most of the night! Ha ha! Can’t wait to see how next week goes! No sliding though… (riiiiiight).

Comments (38)

By kilax, May 20, 2014 6:23 am

A horrible thing happened on my drive home from the race on Sunday.

I was driving along, feeling happy about running with Bobbi, looking forward to seeing Steven when I got home and thinking about how nice it would be to have the sun out for softball practice when… BAM!

Out of nowhere (really, out of the east, my left) a bird tried to fly in front of my car. Emphasis on try. He didn’t make it. I heard a loud thud as he hit the right side of the windshield and for whatever reason, I decided to look in my rear view mirror, to which I see the bird arch up in to air then land on the ground behind me. 

I really wish I hadn’t seen that. 

I felt like crying. But I was too dehydrated. So I just drove home with a sad face, trying to figure out how to fix my “bird karma.”

I immediately filled up the bird feeders when I got home. And felt a little better. 

But now they are watching me. They know what I did. 

Birds keep coming really close to the windows, fluttering there for a minute, then flying away. Staring at me. JUDGING ME. Plotting against me. 

The other critters are no help. 

I’m afraid to go outside. 

What do I have to do to be forgiven?!?!

Ha ha, okay, I am trying to make this humorous to make myself feel better. I am a big animal lover (you know, the whole vegan thing) and stuff like this really gets to me. But! Sharing it makes me feel better. Even though it’s kind of an awful story. 

Are you more likely to share a “awful” story because sharing it will make you feel better? Or, to keep it to yourself?

Despite what I wrote about not being close with (most of) my coworkers*, I am actually a huge sharer. Er, oversharer, if you will. I am likely to share good or bad stories** (and I mean bad stories like the one above – not badly told – that would describe most of my stories).

And why share them? Well, it feels good to get things off my chest. And it makes me feel better when people relate. Yeah, kind of a selfish reason to dump on someone. But, a huge benefit of blogging is sharing something** and having people say, “hey, me too!” or “I’ve been there!” I don’t blog because I think I am special/doing unique things, I blog to remind myself I am normal***. Ha! And how do I do that? When people relate in the comments.Um, but not that I really want to read your stories about hitting animals by accident with your vehicle… hmm. Oops. Maybe just tell me how much you love animals too. Yeah. That!

*The not sharing with (again, most of my) coworkers is a learned reaction, based on comments received in the past.
**But I have to be honest – I try to keep most of the bad, crappy feelings off the blog. 
***Okay, okay, or that there are many other “weirdos” like me! Ha!

Comments (31)

By kilax, May 19, 2014 6:23 am

Highlight of the Week: Participating in a really well run (by the race organizers, not me – ha!) half marathon. And two softball practices! And! A run with Steven!

Monday | May 12, 2014: teaching strength class
Strength: Circuit, Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: good
Tuesday | May 13, 2014: softball practice
Wednesday | May 14, 2014: 3 m run
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 53°/53°, Time: 29:30, Pace: 9:49 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Thursday | May 15, 2014: rest
Friday | May 16, 2014: teaching strength class + 6 m run (w/Bobbi)
Strength: Cicruit, Difficulty: medium, Felt: tired
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 42°/45°, Time: 1:01:20, Pace: 10:14, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: happy to chat with my bestie
Saturday | May 17, 2014: 13.3 m ride (w/Efit)
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 45°/51°, Time: 1:05:04, Pace: 12.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | May 18, 2014:  Chicago Spring Half Marathon (w/Bobbi) + 1.5 m run (w/Steven) + softball practice
Loc: Chicago Lakeftont Trail, Temp: 52°/59°, Time: 2:23:39, Pace: 10:56 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: mostly good!

Notes:

• I was incredibly disappointed when our first softball game was canceled on Thursday (due to “excessive rain”). It was odd to feel so crushed. Typically, when something is canceled or someone cancels on me, I really don’t mind – I am happy for more time at home. But  I had been looking forward to our first game so damn much. Hopefully this week!
• Do any of you other runners have to keep your toenails fairly short to keep your toes happy from all your running? I do, otherwise I get a blister on the ends of my long toes, and the toenails cut in to the toes (TMI!). Only, I am trying to grow them long so I can have a nice pedicure for my snister’s wedding. It’s been… interesting. I am also trying not to have too ridiculous of tan lines, but the sock and watch tan are kind of unavoidable… unless I run inside (or naked, as Christina suggested). 
• Ha! Speaking of toes (and completely unrelated to training), I need to start practicing walking in the heels I will wear for the ceremony!
• This is the two hundred and thirty-ninth week I have tracked my “training.” That’s 1,673 days… which is over four and a half years. Nutso! It’s really funny to me, when I think about my early training recaps and what a n00b I was. I wish someone reading would have pointed out all the silly mistakes I was making, but, I didn’t read a lot of running bloggers then. And, most people would probably only think about the mistakes to themselves, and not comment on it. 
• Gah! I have really been missing running with Kelly since our half is over! Spoiler alert! I ran with her this morning. Hee hee. 

Link to Training Week 238

Comments (38)

By kilax, May 18, 2014 5:06 pm

Woo hoo! I ran a new-to-me race today – the Chicago Spring Half Marathon!

This is my fifth half this year, but, the first in Illinois! And! My first race of the year with Bobbi*!

Despite many of my friends having run this race in the past, for some reason**, it was completely off my radar. I didn’t even know it existed until a free code*** for it was posted on Facebook. Of course, that got me to look in to it! Ha! And once I saw my calendar was free, and Bobbi was in, too, I signed up!

I have to say, I am surprised I didn’t know about this race. After running it, I would think it would have a reputation – for being so well organized! All of the race festivities were held in the Park at Lakeshore East. There was great signage for everything! Will call was easy to find when we got there. I was able to easily exchange my shirt for a different size. Porta pottie lines were decent. The race start (out of the park) was easy to find. There was a freaking breakfast BUFFET after the race and a free flower station! Many other vendors too. I was super impressed! And not to mention (or to mention?) I really liked the shirt design and medal!

Oh, and side tangent, I am also super impressed, er, well, pleased that I accidentally stumbled across an awesome parking website – SpotHero. I was googling parking by the site and SpotHero was the first thing to show up. You enter the day and time you will be somewhere and a map pops up with parking locations and costs! We got a spot for $12 (was supposed to be $36)! I found the website completely by accident but am really happy I did. And P.S. these are my own opinions bah blah, SpotHero didn’t sponsor me. 

On to the race! We were just using the race as a training run and a chance to catch up with each other, so we didn’t really have any time goals. In my mind, I was thinking a 10:00-10:30 overall pace.

The race itself was organized, too. There was a good corral system so it never felt too crowded, which is good – the course was an out and back on the Lakefront Trail, which isn’t super wide and is open to the public. There was ample water/Gatorade stops and even had a few Clif Shot Gel stations that I used! It was so nice to have fuel on course and not deal with getting it out of my handheld, and also, to get my water bottle filled up a few times. 

We were in the sixth corral, which started about twenty minutes after the first one, and right away, I told Bobbi I was feeling pretty blah. I made a really dumb mistake. An hour or so before the race, I took my B vitamin. And it was making me feel like crapola. I was super annoyed at myself for doing this, because I have made this mistake in the past and had it ruin a race!

But despite feeling that way, I was still all smiles the first time we saw xaarlin and CB on course! It always puts a smile on my face to see someone I know during a race! And she was such a sweetie to come out and spectate and take so many photos!

After taking a Clif shot gel in the first 4-5 miles, I actually started to feel better! I think I just needed something in my stomach on top of that vitamin (and another chocolate clif shot gel that was giving me a weird aftertaste). And the stinking sun came out in FULL force, but I’ve been taking some electrolyte tabs that seem to be helping me handle the sun… so I was feeling decent (and it helps that the humidity wasn’t super high)!

Classic “running north” shot on the trail

The sun was getting to Bobbi though, and mix that with a wonky stomach and she wasn’t digging the last few miles. She took a bathroom break in the 11th mile and we slowed it down for the last 5K. No big deal! I was just there to chat and have fun. Oh! And test out my new shoes some more – so far, so good!

We saw Charlyn a few more times near the finish! What a spectating rock star!

And we finished in 2:23:44, about an 11:00 average pace. I was really happy to finish a sunny run feeling pretty good! And to get all that time to talk to Bobbi!

After the race we hung around for a bit with xaarlin and CB. It was nice to chat and enjoy the sun… once we were done running in it! Hee hee!

And I don’t have any more half marathons on the calendar for the year! Now, that feels weird! Even weirder… next race is a city one, again – the Soldier Field 10 Miler! I bet I will be just as impressed with the organization!

*There better be more!!!
**Ha! Probably because I look for local races. A few friends said to me “I am surprised you are running a city race!” Hee hee. 
***I felt odd using a random free code, so to make myself feel better, I also donated to the race charity. I know… not quite the same.

Comments (38)

By kilax, May 15, 2014 6:28 am

• Yesterday, I found out completely by accident, that a coworker who sits right next to me is running the same half marathon I am on Sunday. It makes me sad that we sit right next to each other and never talk about what’s going on in our lives. But eh, it’s a two-way street, and I tend to not share much about myself in the office. Are you close with your coworkers?
• OMG I realized I have less than a month to write a matron of honor speech for Christina’s wedding. Ahh!
• I’ve been wearing the Asics Gel Cumulus shoes since mid October 2010 and have had great success with them. I love the gel cushioning system! In fact, when it was time to get trail shoes for my 50K, I didn’t even try a pair on… I just read about an Asics shoe that fit just like the Cumulus and bought them (and they work fantastically). Anyway! I am a huge supinator, and I heard the Asics Gel Nimbus has a bit more support in the lateral front of the shoe for that, so I got a pair to try. We shall see what happens! If nothing else, I will have a super spiffy new pair of street shoes. 

• I was reading this story (pdf here) about 24 year-old Garth Watson, who is running from California to New York in 150 days to raise money for Stand Up 2 Cancer, thinking “I want to do something like that someday – run a bunch of miles and fundraise!” (and “Man, it sucks that the people who said they would support him on the run bailed on him.”). Then I was like… derp. I am doing that with team Running to Remember for The Longest Day, fundraising for the Alzheimer’s Association. From sunrise to sunset, someone from the team is running on a track, and last year, they ran a combined 300 miles! I am excited to see how many miles we get in this year! Please visit my personal page if you’d like to donate – no amount is too small!
• Are any other Soldier Field 10 Miler registrants wondering what is up with the corral system? It seems like some people are placed completely randomly in the corrals, even though Fleet Feet said they corrals are based on estimated pace. For example… I am in the middle corral, 9, and Gina and her husband, who are coming from Texas to run the race with me, are in the last corral, 18. Even though we registered at the exact same time (she registered for me) and all put the same pace. Seems odd, but… I get super annoyed when people obsess over corrals so I am trying not to. Emphasis on trying. Ha. It’ll all work out on race day. 

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 62