Chicago!

Was forwarded an email from Chicagomarathon.com that had some cool videos. Here lies my fate in October:



Getting pretty excited thinking about Chicago even though it is still over 4 months away. This will be the third time I will have ran the course, so I think it will be a huge advantage just knowing what to expect. Last week, I received my finisher's certificate from the 2008 Chicago Marathon, and brought back some fond memories from last year's PR. I ran into a couple friends last night at the ballgame that I found out are also participating in the marathon this fall, so the amount of people I know is starting to get ridiculous! I think I run better when I am with a group of friends - just a great motivation for me :)

Last night, went to the ballgame yet again. I took Wednesday running off, because of a sore right knee, and ended up doing a tempo run yesterday after work on my friend's treadmill. This is the same treadmill I had commented about last week that pretty much gave up on me, so I was curious to see if I could make it submit to my speed. First mile, started at 9.0 mph, and increased to 9.2 on the second mile. Halfway through, the treadmill tapped out and much to my chagrin, slowed back down to 8.9. Seeing this was not acceptable and not fast enough for tempo training, I decided to jack up the incline so ran the last 2.5 miles on a 3 degree incline. Not very easy at all, and definitely struggled on mile 3 but finished strong. Total mileage (with warmup/cooldown): 5 miles - splits: 6:35, 6:32, 6:41, 6:41

Attempted a 5 a.m. long run this morning, but completely failed in that endeavor. Was pretty exhausted from back to back late nights, and my completely messed up diet/sleep schedule thus far. Headed to Chicago this weekend to visit my sister for a long Memorial Day weekend. I am going to call New Balance in Lincoln Park to see if they still have a Saturday morning running group (was invited to join a couple years ago, but never ran with them), and will do a pace run with Anne (on rollerblades) on Sunday. Happy Memorial Day, everyone!!!