The Second Half of the Chicagoland Series {Chicago Half Marathon Race Recap}

Race morning started pretty early (as usual I guess) with a 5am Uber pick up from the hotel. We drove about 30 minutes to the race site (or as close as we could get) and then walked about a block and a half to the closest corral where we could see other runners waiting. My mom, sister and I joined them...

We knew it was going to be a long morning. It was around 5:45 am and the race didn't start until 7am (for Sanya and me) and 7:45am (for my mom who was doing the 5K). But the time seemed to pass by quickly and we eventually exchanged good luck hugs with my mom, then Sanya and I went to find our corral. 

Third Time This Year...

I'm back in Chi Town!!!! This is my third trip to Chicago this year, which makes so much sense since it's my favorite city to visit! In May I was here for the Chicago Spring 1/2 marathon (in June I was here for Ragnar Chicago) and now I'm here for the Chicago Fall 1/2 marathon (as part of the Chicagoland series).

I signed up for the series because... race bling (you get an extra medal when you do both the Spring and Fall 1/2 marathons). My May trip was a "mommy daughter" trip and I was able share my favorite city with my favorite person (Chicago is now one of Kai's favorite places too). This trip is a "girls trip" and I here with my mom, my twin sister, and my baby sister...

(Yup, we are all running/walking in the event on Sunday!!!)

My mom and Jule (baby sister) signed up for the 5K at the race expo and Sanya (twin sis) had decided to do the half with me several months ago (my bib color is different because of the Chicagoland series). 

Begin Gradually...

I really intend to do blog posts more regularly than once a week. I really do. But this year has been crazy and the past several weeks months have been particularly hectic and busy. Some of the "busyness" have been welcomed distractions and so while it has kept me away from blogging it was the kind of distraction that I needed (and still need). The rest of the stuff has just been your typical work stuff.

But thankfully none of that has kept me from running. And more importantly none of that has kept me from completing my long runs. The ability to complete the long run mileage is not something that I take for granted. Like Henry (below) it's taken me a while to get to the point where I can complete a long run and still be able to walk after...

A Summer of Virtual Challenges...

I might have gone a teeny tiny bit overboard with my virtual challenges. I'm currently participating in three of them; but thankfully I only had to pay for one, and most of the activities and requirements overlap.

This past week was the first week of the Amerithon Challenge (which started on July 4th)...

This is a 3,521 mile virtual journey from the West coast to the East coast and I want to finish it by the end of the year (which is a very lofty goal since I am doing it by myself instead of with a group). The race organizers allow you to count any "movement miles" so I'm counting running, walking, swimming and the indoor cardio stuff I do, like the stair climber, upright and recumbent bikes, elliptical etc. I'm counting walking (including my daily steps) because I'm intentional about completing at least 10,000 steps a day. And since I also participate in a step challenge (aka virtual challenge #2) I have extra motivation to get up and move so I can reach the 10K step goal. 

At the end of the Amertithon Week 1 I got my first virtual badge...

..and I'm about 93 miles away from reaching my next landmark.

The First Half of Chicagoland {Michelob Ultra Chicago Race Recap}

One of the things I decided to treat myself to is a race in Chicago every year. This year I'm actually indulging in that treat three times. The first race on the list was the Michelob Ultra Chicago Half Marathon (part 1 of the Chicagoland Half Marathon Series). My hotel was pretty close to the race start so, much to Kai's distress, we walked to the start very early on race morning. When we got to the race location set-up activities were still in progress...

Kai was volunteering at the finish line with a friend from school so once they were settled I was able to get into "race mode" (aka strategically mentally prepare myself to run 13+ miles... without dying). Somehow I managed to do that with a smile ;)

How Did I Get Here?

I'm trying to figure out where everything went wrong. What changed (and when did it change) to cause me to dread running? There was a period when I would be so upset if weather or faulty alarm clocks forced me to miss my morning run. Now if I wake up and it even looks like it might rain I'm like "Oh Thank God!" and go right back to sleep.

On Tuesday morning I forced myself to get up (the weather app failed me) and was ready to go, dressed in the new running gear I got for my birthday, and immediately regretted it once I walked into the humid air outside. But I was already up so I figured I would go for a short run anyway. I started on my usual 1/2 mile warm-up walk... which led to a 1 mile warm-up walk... which led me right back to my front door so I went inside.

In an attempt to not feel like a complete bum I decided to workout on my air climber. But about 100 steps into that I gave up the pipe dream and watched the rest of The Mindy Show while using my air climber to prop up my phone.

Something is wrong.

Wrapping up the Birthday week...

Pictures from the last five days (mostly)...

Today marks the end of my birthday week and the beginning of my "time to get it together and actually start training properly" week. So to kick off the new week I ran 8 miles with Dafney along Ft Lauderdale Beach...

What May May Bring...

My favorite month is finally here!!! May is my favorite month mainly because it's my birthday month... ok ONLY because it's my birthday month ;)

I'm normally super excited about my birthday because it's the most important day of the year. But this year is going to be different cause I won't get to see my twin sister... and I won't be traveling... and I have a feeling it's going to feel like a regular Friday, instead of a SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS Friday.

Anyway apart from my birthday, there are lots of other things happening this month:
1. Training will get more intense because May officially starts my Fall marathon training season (I start early to give myself extra time to get through the dreaded 20+ mile training runs)...

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