Kickoff to Spring Running

On Sunday, March 21st, I ran the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K (4.97 miles). This race is considered the kickoff to running season in Chicago. I was one of the 25,567 runners braving the frigid weather that Sunday morning... all to say I was a part of "The Shuffle".

It was tough deciding what to wear for the race. By the time you arrive and check all your gear, you've already been waiting outside in the cold for 60 minutes. Then, you have to find your starting corral and wait for your group to be released. Do you brave the cold for an hour so you're not running in massive amounts of layers or do you stay mildly 'warm' while you wait and run as you sweat through multiple layers? I chose the latter... 3 shirts, a zip-up running jacket, gloves and a hat. I can't even believe some people ran in shorts. You can find my race results by clicking here.

The Shamrock Shuffle starts in Grant Park and zigzags around the loop. You run over the Chicago River 4 times and pass the Willis 'Sears' Tower. This race was a taste of what I imagine the Chicago Marathon is going to be. There were thousands of people running and family/ friends cheering you on with signs and cow bells. I loved being able to run down the middle of Chicago streets. It's an incredible feeling and it totally gives you a runner's high.

The Redeye (a Chicago Tribune owned paper) wrote an interesting article about running in Chicago. You can find it here!

The weather is starting to warm up in Chicago (slowly but surely) and I realize that I am in need of some new running gear. On my list....

• Ipod armband
• Balega brand socks (FYI, running in cotton gives your feet blisters)
• Running bras (Sorry, gentleman. It's a necessity!)

I suppose it's time for me to make a trip to Fleet Feet Sports and make some purchases!

Welcome!!

Hello and thank you for visiting my marathon website.

My name is Tanya Vandermoon and I am running my first marathon race on October 10, 2010 (10-10-10). I fell into running last year after I graduated with my master's degree. I found that I have a lot of extra time on my hands and I wanted to challenge myself in a new and exciting way. On a whim, I signed up for the Chicago Half Marathon and convinced my then-fiance to run it with me. At the time I couldn't run more than a mile without getting winded, but I trained hard and finished my first half marathon race!

Keeping up with the runner's high, I signed up to run the Rock & Roll Half Marathon this year and I am really looking forward to it. Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about running the ultimate race... the Chicago Marathon. I did my research on training programs and after what seemed to be a double-dare, my husband and I both signed up to run it! We wanted to run for a charity that is close to home for both of us and chose Children's Memorial Hospital. We live in Lincoln Park and the hospital is only a few short blocks from our condo. The hospital puts children first and we couldn't be more excited to raise money for such a worthy cause.

I will be blogging about my marathon training, including the high points and the low points. Please feel free to follow my blog as I journey along on this new adventure! Thank you so much for your support!

If you would like to make a donation to the charity on my behalf, please follow this link. No donation is too small because every penny makes a difference.

-Tanya