Another fabulous week in the books.

Only 50 miles this week. All cycling. Nothing to write home about. I took some extra rest days because I felt like it. I'm not training for anything, so no sense in feeling "guilty" for only working out 3 hours and 42 minutes last week (not counting strength training if anyone is counting).

My new swimsuit fits, but when I went to use the resistance pool it didn't turn on. FML. So now I'm looking into a few options for swimming laps. I have to keep reminding myself this ankle issue is temporary and if I continue working out in a way that doesn't piss my ankle off, plus stay diligent with strength training, I'll be better off than before this "injury."


The first time I was called "Sharlon" this year. Lol.


I'm surprised how "chill" I am about this whole ankle thing. I mean, it will totally get better at some point. Races will still be waiting for me with open arms. Boston will have a place for me when I finally do qualify. Just no use stressing over something that needs some time. I'll probably try an easy run or 2 this week to see how it's doing.


To continue off of last week's week of firsts, I took note of even more firsts that happened. I got my first pair of "Chucks."


I got a fitbit. So snazzy in an obnoxious green color like my Chucks.


I spectated the Soldier Field 10 for the second time. I'm on the "run every other year plan" for this race.


I cycled south on the lakefront and got to see nearly everyone I was "cheering" for. (I'm terribly awkward at cheering encouraging things to strangers, so I cheer for my friends and take loads of photos) It really couldn't have been a better day for a race.


After the race I went to the "West Loop Craft Beer Festival" for the first time. It was in a block party format with over 60 breweries- many of which I had never heard of (read: very small local ones) and all had delicious beer.


The weather was perfect.


All the beerz, all the smiles.

Check out dem pretzel necklaces below.


All the beerz and all the friendz.


We finished out the holiday whirlwind weekend with friends and grilled foods and a 41% abv beer "Sink the Bismark!" By Brewdogs. Needless to say we didn't come close to killing that bottle...


My "goals" workout wise for this week mainly include getting back to 7-8 hours of workouts and doing more strength training. And finally swimming a few laps. And hopefully running a few miles if the ankle cooperates...

-Xaar

Soldier Field 10 miler

1:17.33 (avg 7:45/ Mile) for 10 miles
and a 6 minute PR over the 2011 Soldier Field 10., my last race of 10 miles.

57 of 1614 AG (3.5%)
256 of 7167  Women (3.5%)
1204 of 12505 Overall (9.6%)
181 Avg HR, 192 Max HR

Three words to describe this race:  relaxed, controlled, joy.

With temps in the low 40's and the fact I had some of the coolest, boldest, loudest capri pants ever, I made the decision to channel my inner Rainbow Brite.

My goal for this race was simple. HAVE FUN. Another goal was to average less than 8 minutes a mile*.  I havent been doing any structured training while building up my mileage, (i'm just running all the miles) so pinpointing an exact time goal was a crap shoot.

*I also wanted to beat the time my Daad  predicted for me of 1:17:52 Needless to say I was doing complex math in my head at each mile to make sure I would!
L and I walked over to Soldier Field from our place and arrived around 6:30. I dropped my bag off, said our good byes, and we headed to our corrals.

Before the race started, there was a moment of silence for the Boston Marathon tragedy, there was also a ceremony to give an american flag flown over Soldier field to the family of a military member who lost his life in the war in Afghanistan  This soldier had run the Chicago marathon last year and was supposed to come back home in July. His family members ran the race today in his honor. I was in tears.
When the gun went off I realized very quickly I should have made a portopotty stop pre race. FUC%@*$!!! I tried to run through the feeling of having to go, but it was consuming my mind. The first aid station around mile 1.4 had portolets and no line. Less than 45 seconds later I was back in the race. Thats what I get for drinking too much coffee pre race & having a nervous bladder. Damn. 

Other than that snafu and adding 45 seconds to my time, the race went by as uneventful and wonderful as I possibly could have wanted. One foot in front of the other, control my breathing, drink water from my small bottle, and admire the view of the skyline from the south which I dont run down to most of the time due to it not having as many water fountains as the northern section of the trail.

The course was changed from previous years so that the 5 miles south on Lake Shore Drive had no vehicular traffic whizzing by. That was an awesome change!

Right after finishing on the 50 yard line of Soldier Field!

Oh mile 2... the first freaking time i've had to stop during a race in over 2.5 years.


The rest of the race felt controlled and relaxed. I could have kept this pace for many more miles and that excites me going into marathon training.


It was nice seeing Erica cheering at mile 9! Seeing a familiar face gave me a nice boost to kick it in to the finish :)

Inside of Soldier Field

I love that this race is a tribute to service men and women. It is because of them that we have the freedom to participate in events like this. And there is no other fitting place in Chicago to have this race than Soldier field  and on Memorial Day Weekend.

Service men and women handing out the medals

I love this race:

Starts in downtown Chicago outside of Soldier Field

Scenic course along the lake with beautiful views of the skyline on the return trip.

Extremely well organized. Start corrals each held a couple of minutes to ensure no congestion

Plenty of aid stations and a Cliff gel zone

Tribute to service men and women

A unique race distance of 10 miles

Finishing on the 50 yard line of Soldier Field

The AWESOME medal

Soul Asylum as post race entertainment

Sweet post race refresh bag with pop chips, Cliff bar..

Getting to spend time with friends  and the Chicago Running community!

The 10th Anniversary medal

Half of the brunch crew: Myself, and fellow Fleet Feet Cheer friends Vicky & Marla
Pre Race: -Cheese, Bread, Mortadella, Wine for dinner the night before - Cinnamon crumpet and too much damn coffee at 4am the morning of the race -No warmup. Dont feel this impacted me at all since we speed walked to the start less than 2 miles from our place. Race: -Temps: Low 40's, overcast, very little wind. Pretty much *perfect* running conditions. -Brought my small green bottle for water. I hate stopping at aid stations. -Took a vanilla gu at mile 4 -Nike tank -Nike crazy Capris -Swiftwick socks -Brooks Pure Cadence 2 shoes. I was super proud of L for doing this race for the first time. Especially after returning from Brasil and 17 hours of airports and flights the day before.

Final Thoughts:

Fleet Feet put on another stellar event and I cant wait for the 11th edition!

A day where you can have fun and enjoy every step is always a great day in my book.

I am so excited to begin marathon training in a few weeks :)

Next up: Chicago Women's Half on 6/23





- xaar

La clima esta loca!

Chicago has some of the craziest weather I've seen.

Florida weather is fairly predictable.

Nor Cal weather was pretty much the same all the time.



(just add or subtract fog, and some winter rain)

Here in Chicago it is crazy.

Monday I ran 6 miles outside. It was sunny and 80 something out. I lost 1.5 lbs on the run from sweating so much. It was beautiful outside.


Tuesday the temps started in the 60's and by the time I went home it was in the low 40's and very very windy.



(looks nice, but was coooold!)

Wednesday we are experiencing rainy, windy, lightning, tornado watch conditions. It is currently 49 degrees.


(a view of this morning)

While walking to work I saw lightning- heard thunder. It was also so dark that it seemed like it should have been 10pm, not 7:40am. The street lights were on, it was raining....

I need to run tonight and will definitely be taking my run indoors because I don't want to get zapped by the lightning.

I've decided not to look at the weather forecast for Saturday yet (soldier field 10 mile). I don't want to stress myself out about what to expect just yet because I know the forecast can change dramatically between now and Saturday morning.


Do you have crazy unpredictable weather where you live?


-Xaar