There are quite a few things that I feel the need to blog about. And they are....
Death by Running Group Stampede
It's a miracle I survive a Saturday long run. Why? The running clubs/groups of Chicago travel in packs from 6 to 30 people and take over the lake shore running path. I'm not kidding. I always run on the far right side of the path because I know I'm a slow runner. I try to be courteous to the advanced runners and stay out of their way - as much as I can. One running group (which shall remain nameless) literally ran me off the path into the grass last Saturday. Apparently I was getting in the way of their pacing group. If doesn't stop there. The running groups are everywhere. They come from every direction every 10 minutes. They are literally, everywhere! The more elite running groups CRUISE past me. There's nothing like a group of runners with their Garmin GPS watches and vintage Chicago Marathon shirts cruising by me thinking, "Oh, isn't she cute? She thinks she's going to run the marathon." Well, they may not actually think that, but that's what runs through my head when they fly by me. Meh. The goal is to finish - end of story.
Carl Allegretti - Fundraiser Extraordinaire
Carl is also raising money for Children's Memorial Hospital through the marathon charity program. He is the all-time top fundraiser for Children's. The marathon is just under three months away and he has already raised $60,172.00. Seriously. He spoke at the kick-off party last week about why he is running for Children's and offered some motivation to all the other runners. Did I mention that Carl has already run 62ish marathons in his day? He hasn't ran in quite a few years and said this will be the last one. Regardless, I can't believe he has raised over $60,000. I worry about being able to raise the $600 minimum. I'll stop here because I will be writing an entire blogpost about my fundraising efforts (or lack thereof) very soon.
Rock & Roll Half-Marathon
It's hard to believe, but I'm running the Rock & Roll Chicago Half-Marathon in 12 days. I signed up for this last year and now it's here! What's unique about this particular race is that at every mile marker, there is a different band playing live music. I'm debating about wearing my iPod during the race, but I think I'll ditch it and soak up the live music instead. I really want to embrace the nature of the race. I ran my first half-marathon last year and unfortunately, I didn't have a cheering crowd. One of my students at the time did come out to cheer for me and I really can't explain how much that meant to me. Just the few seconds I was able to see him cheering for me gave me the energy to keep on running.
If you aren't doing anything on Sunday, August 1st, it would really mean a lot to me to have you come out and cheer me on (handmade signs are welcomed)! The race starts at 6:30 am, but my starting corral probably won't start until 6:45 am. I'm guessing that I'll finish at around 2 hours and 45 minutes. My goal is to beat my time from last year (2 hours, 48 minutes and 03 seconds).
There is a post party in Grant Park featuring the band Five for Fighting and it's free. If you're interested in coming out to the race, let me know! I would love to see some familiar faces along the route!
You can also sign up for a text messaging system that will send you a text when I cross certain points of the course. This will give you a good indication as to where I am at along the route, so you're not just waiting for me to run past.
To sign up, click this link and select Rock & Roll Chicago - 2010. You will also have to type in my name.
Here are some pictures I "borrowed" from a few Facebook friends...examples of GREAT cheering groups!
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