Throwback Thursday: My 1st race EVER

St Patricks Day Race put on by the Brandon Running Association

March 17, 1991

1st place Age Group (8 & under)

8:58 for 1 mile

This was my very first race ever!

I remember it was raining and that it was an out and back course in a corporate park.


I still do this pose. Like while holding up a shirt at a store "how do I look?" while putting my right leg out. Crazy. I had no idea I did it then.(I don't do it on purpose) L pokes fun at me for doing this all the time...


Waiting to start...


And we're off!! My Daad (green shirt) and I flying by!


Must. Break. 9:00!


Mission accomplished!


Getting my trophy from the creepy leprechaun. (I have no idea what kind of running shoes I was wearing)


Daad and I post race, with my first Age Group win ever.


Sweet trophy!


Being silly at races since the very beginning.

This will be the first of hopefully many "throwback" reports.

Although no other throwback post will be nearly as adorable as this one :)

What was your first race?

- xaar

Cold, Wind and Waves... OH MY!

I took today off work and decided to make the most of my extended weekend and head out for a run. Made it 7+ miles, but would have gone more if the path wasn't closed around Oak St/North Ave Beach due to large dangerous waves.

We did get "hit" with the snowstorm Draco last night. I really didn't see snow accumulation any where in the Downtown Chicago area. I was really expecting more based on the "OMG this storm is going to be so super bad, be scared of the wind and 2-4 inches of snow and high winds" per the local meteorologists. What a disappointment**.
Churro Bear and his left over dental chew from last night. Breakfast of champions!
I was intimidated by the conditions- Feels like 16, wind gusting at 40mph- but I wasn't going to let something like that ruin my 1st opportunity to run outside this week.
I wore my brand spanking new Nike Pegasus + 29 Shield's out for their inaugural run to see if the weather proofing "Shield"  lived up to its name. Spoiler Alert: The weather proofing worked.
This was my invitation to keep going north past Oak St Beach.
With a lot of caution, of course.
The "OH SHIT" wave which sent a 3 inch high wall of water rushing towards me while I ran as fast as I could, but not nearly fast enough. The ice cold water went right over my new pumped up kicks. And my feet stayed dry! Thank you Nike for making an amazing shoe.
I knew my limits and just took photos from a distance and did not try to get to North Ave beach, because that would have meant you seeing me being pulled out of Lake Michigan on the 5pm News.
The waves were ferocious.
The path was salted heavily in anticipation for the snowstorm that wasnt.
Navy pier Ferris wheel looking good.
Some new "friends" before they got pissed at me and started hissing.
There weren't many people out on the path today- just a few cyclists and hard core runners like myself braving the wind and cold.
It was a beautiful day... Did I even need to say that based on my photos?!?
Some "self timer" fun with one of the pieces of artwork on the path. 3rd times the charm.
Have a wonderful weekend!

**I want to run in the snow, build an honest to god snowman, and sled down sledding hill. Is that too much to ask?

- xaar

For this i'll make an exception

Recap of the weekend:
25 miles running, (Hit my goal of breaking 20 miles for a week!)
14 miles cycling




Saturday morning was cold and rainy but that didnt stop me from running 10 miles- my longest since the Chicago marathon (on October 7). About half were with a dear friend, and it was just refreshing to run in the rain and chat with her as the miles flew by.


Then there was the Chicago Running Blogger holiday party #CRBHolidaze where we ran 3 miles together and had brunch. It was awesome seeing old and new faces. :)

From L to R, starting in the back:

Back Row: Anne, Katie, Emily, Cary, Lauren, Maggie, Bobbi, Charlyn

Second Row: Amanda, Katie, Kelly, Amy, Marcia, Kim

Front Row: Riyanti, Emily, Lindsay, Sara, Erica, Erin

By herself: Kelsey

Not pictured: Christina

Sunday had a nice 3.5 mile walk/run with the churro dog. It was cold but not rainy. My ankle was not too happy about the 13 miles the day before, so we took it easy.
One of the best views of Downtown Chicago is from the Adler Planetarium.



One of the worst times to go run in Chicago, is when you're hungry and the Bears are playing an early game at home. One of my running routes takes me near Soldier field- so you can imagine the tailgating sights and smells. I could see the plumes of smoke from the grills rising above the cars in the parking lots, and oh my gosh did the food smell so good!

By the time we got home, the game was about to start so I got my camera just in case there was a flyover- and indeed there was! So cool being able to see the flyovers from my balcony.





In other news

This week no longer continues "pre marathon" training, but instead will start week 1 of 10k training. I've never run a 10k (seriously, on purpose) and after looking online for races in Brasil during my trip, I stumbled upon the most perfect race ever (minus the fact it's a 10k). I will make an exception for my "no 10k" policy for this race- it celebrates the 459th birthday of Sao Paulo. I think that's pretty damn amazing! 

Between the 10k and 6.3k, it will have almost 10,000 participants, shirts by Fila, and finisher medals! And the course is within the famous Ibirapuera park in Sao Paulo that I was planning on running in every day of my trip. I plan to loosely follow Hal Higdons 10k training plan- and take it day by day based on how the ankle and ITB feel. Who knows, I might not even "race" this one in favor of running with L and his Pai.. (also for the fact i'll be training in 30 degrees/snow in winter and then running this race in 80+ degrees/humidity in summer)

And in case you missed it last week, today (Monday) at 8pm est/7pm central time on the travel channel is Anthony Bourdain's "The Layover"(from last week) which focuses on Sao Paulo. I watched it last week and after seeing L's reactions to where Bourdain went, it was a well done episode. I was about to explode with excitement after watching it.

Basically we will be going to 87% of the places he visits because those are places L usually goes to. One of the restaurants Bourdain went to was across the street from L's high school.

Needless to say I will be parked in front of the TV to watch this episode for a 2nd time and get even more excited about going to Brasil next month.

Mortadella, Pastel, Coxinha, Feijoada OH MY! <<--- b="b">and because of those, I will continue eating "extra healthy" for the next few weeks...


- xaar