Chicago Spring Half Marathon & 10K

Yesterday Mr. H. and I competed in the Chicago Spring Half Marathon & 10k - he did the half and I ran the 10k.

It was a nice day for a run, sunny and not too hot with a bit of a breeze off of the lake. True to form, I wasn't as prepared for this race as I wanted to be. But I have started running a couple of mornings a week with a friend, so I am hoping that this will keep me more motivated to run more often and more regularly.

Kinda like  the C4, all I wanted to do was to go out and run and have a good time. And that's what I did. It's been since marathon training that I've been this far South on the lake path and it was a nice change of scenery. It was pretty easy for me to get into a groove and I was keeping my pace around 9:40 min miles. Because of this, I did actually manage to best my 10K record by about four minutes, so that was good too.

Because the course was an in and out and because the half marathon left about half an hour before the 10k, I knew I'd have some half marathoners passing me before the end. I fully expected Mr. H. to be one of those. But I had the great pleasure of beating him to the finish line by about four minutes, even if he ran more than twice my distance.

But the greatest part of the day was watching my son run the 50 yard dash with his Nana. That's him running rogue in the stripped shirt (I tried everything I could to enter him properly but couldn't find anyone who would take my money.).

This weekend seemed a blur because after the run we went and picked up my wonderful mother's day present from the bike store. And then after a nap that didn't really happen,we hung out in the back yard with friends and finally attached the bike trailer to my other bike and baby H. and I did a few laps around the block in preparation for Bike the Drive next weekend. Couple that with my brother's college graduation the day before (whoo hoo), and a lot of rocket knitting, it was a busy weekend.

Sometimes I long for the summer lazy days where we have nothing to do. But now that Baby H. isn't so much a baby anymore, it seems there's a never ending stream of stuff that we need to get out and do. I'm just glad that running and biking are included in the "stuff we need to do this weekend."

Note: I'm going to have to get better updating my blog, at least after races, because I've been added to the list of Chicago Running Bloggers! You can go there to check out all the other great Chicago bloggers who write about the myriad of races we have in our great city.

What Running Means to Me

The Run for Boston 5k blog has recently been running a series of "What Running Means to Me" guest posts. It's a great way to learn about all the other runners out there and why they run. They graciously ran my post today. Click here to check it out: http://runforboston5k.com/what-running-means-to-me-melanie-for-mellys-musings/.

While you're there, you can sign up for the Run for Boston 5K on June 15 or you can sign up to run it virtually. They're also looking for volunteers. All proceeds from the run will benefit the Who Says I Can’t Foundation and directly to support the rehabilitation of those who lost limbs as a result of the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon. 

C4 Miles

Having done zero runs since Sunday, run a race the previous weekend and only just signed up for this race the day before, I wasn't out to accomplish anything by running the C4 Miles other than support my knitting friend Amy and her organization.

Mr. H. and I had to coordinate him running an 11-miles and then meeting at the race site so he could watch Baby H. and my niece while my sister and I ran the race. It worked out perfectly and the slightly sunny, not too warm 10 a.m. start meant we didn't have to get out of bed too early and the weather was perfect. I went into this race with the mind set of just going for a nice four-mile jog. And that's exactly what I did. I ran with another knitter friend, Liz, and we chatted along the path about running, the book we're reading for book club and how good the food at the cafe smelled.

Unfortunately the food smells distracted Liz and she got tripped up, hitting the deck. The good news is, she aimed for the grass and only suffered a couple of minor scrapes and we were able to get back up and running again pretty quickly. The nice thing about this run is that it's such a small run; there were only 111 runners and some walkers completing a two mile out and back loop. Because of this, you're able to get into a nice pace easily without having to contend with a bunch of other people. The not nice thing about this run is that the four miles is on the same out and back loop as the walkers (just longer obviously , so you're pretty much dodging walkers along the last mile and. The other issue is that it starts on the path at Cannon and Fullerton, but then veers off the path and onto sidewalk around the Waveland Park softball fields. The side walks anywhere in this city can be treacherous  and this was no exception. I suspect uneven paving, not actually the yummy smells of food, is what tripped Liz up. But like I said, she wasn't badly hurt so we walked for a few seconds and then were back to running.

Amazingly, even with this slight bump in my pace, I managed to finish 2nd in my age group. It helped that there were only four women in my age group running. And had our slight slow down not happened, I may have actually won my age group. But at the end of the day, that wasn't what I went out to do this run for. I went to have a good time, hang out with some friends and family (sister placed 1st in her age group - again!) and support a great organization. And that's what I did.

Stats:
Distance: 4 miles; Time: 39:27; Pace: 9:42; L1-9:21; L2-9:58; L3-10:24; L4-9:15
Finished 55/111; 2/4 in age group

Ravenswood Run

I did the Ravenswood 5k again this year. I finished in 28:32 (that's 11 seconds faster than last year and now my 5k PR). So fast in fact that I must have given the photographer the slip because I didn't appear in any of the pictures from the race. Normally I at least get the behind a guy with a mustache picture as I did in the Turkey Trot. But no. This time I got nothing.

Maybe it's because, other than the marathon, I have never once ordered pictures from a race. I look at them. I make fun of them because I usually look like I'm walking, or I am partially obscured by a mustachioed guy in front of me, but I never actually order prints. The photographer can sense this so doesn't waste his time. Of course, Mr. H. gets a great photo. He looks like he should be on the cover of Runner's World. He never orders pictures either. But clearly the photographers feel like his running is poetry in motion and they are compelled to capture it on film.

I, on the other hand, when I do manage to show up in race photos, look like the chick making a face wearing a weird hat and a huge race shirt that covers her shorts.

Happy spring time

The Easter Bunny just visited our house and brought baby H. an Easter egg straight from England. It was a Smarties Hen House that Mr. H. purchased from the local English imports store of course. 

Baby H. was very excited and happy that the Easter Bunny brought them something, especially since in this household, celebrating Easter just means you get some chocolate and doesn't mean you have to get dressed up and go to church. 

And it certainly doesn't mean that you have to go sit on some work release inmate wearing a terrifying costume. Seriously, how do we not grow up with complexes when our parents do this kind of shit to us? Of course, I actually look like I'm fine with what's happening in this picture. Probably because by this time, I'm 5 in this picture if that '79 indicates the year, I figure that it really can't get any worse.

There is no such thing as too much Star Wars

Last night Mr. H. and I were lying in bed watching a bit of Star Wars (A New Hope natch) before going to sleep. We do this pretty much every night, watch a 15 - 20 minutes of a movie before going to sleep. It's how we unwind, end the day. We rotate through our favorite movies, sometimes putting a new one into the mix. SW is of course a perennial favorite. A fall back when nothing else works.

Anyway, we've both seen Star Wars too many times to count. And you know when you've seen something so many times that you think there can't possibly be any other thing that you could notice? Well something happens then and you start to look at it in a whole new light. This happened to us last night. We're lying there watching Star Wars and we're at the part where the boys are rescuing Princess Leia from the Death Star. And so I'm asking questions about what all goes into the stormtroopers outfit/costume/gear - oh, it's called armor? It looks plastic, but whatever.

I mean, first there's that box on the back with the circle and bars. What's that about? Mr. H. said it was probably their cooling/heating system. Like those things have built in temperature control or something. So I say, but they're molded plastic. No, apparently that's the shape of the components underneath. Oh whatever. Then I notice that round tube that's on the back of the belt. It's like a little round fanny pack. What the hell is that? Snacks (when you have a toddler, snacks are a constant thought) and spare change. We decide it's the Empire's version of a fanny pack.

Later, after Luke and Han have changed back into their regular clothes, I notice (seemingly for the first time) that they are both still wearing the belts from the stormtrooper armor. How I never noticed this I do not know. I always thought that grappling hook was on Luke's belt. What on Tatooine does a stormtrooper need with a grappling hook? And can you imagine the conversation Luke and Han had when deciding to keep the belt (but not the fanny pack). Luke was all: But look, there's a grappling hook. And Han was all: What on Alderaan are you going to use that for? And Chewie was all: You gonna eat those snacks?

And seriously, how stupid are those stormtroopers. It seemed (and I realize we didn't know this when we all first saw Star Wars - but we do now, so we can't ignore it) that those Kaminoans (btw - this is a word I can not pronounce when reading, but my almost 3 year old can) were teaching the clones how to shoot and fight and think and what not. They may not have been the brightest bulbs, but seriously "The door's locked. Move on to the next one?" You can't just blast open a door to make sure that the droids you are looking for are behind it? And later, when yet once again, the droids you are looking for come up with a lame ass excuse to get away ("All this excitement has overrun the circuits of my counterpart here. If you don't mind, I'd like to take him down to maintenance.), sure just let them go. No we're not looking for a tall gold droid and a little blue R2 unit right? Nope, these aren't the droids we're looking for.

Clearly after the Clone Wars, just any ole body could sign up to be a stormtrooper as long as you met the height requirement.

As we were laying in bed laughing, I remembered a French teacher I had in high school (if I asked my sister she'd remember her name, but I'm too lazy). She asked one day what everyone's favorite movie was. I said, of course, Star Wars. She laughed. She made me feel ashamed that I would say something as uncultured as Star Wars was my favorite movie. For years after that, I said Citizen Kane was my favorite movie. I did, and do, actually like that movie. And I knew that was an appropriate response to the what's your favorite movie question. Well, at least with a certain type of crowd. But as much as I like Citizen Kane, Mr. H. and I never pick it to be our going to bed movie (though we do own it). We need something that feels comfortable, like a warm blanket and the arms of your mate, to unwind our day and send us off to sleep. Even if we've seen it so many times instead of actually watching it we're deconstructing it and laughing.
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Note  - I realize if I Google I could probably find out what those little round things on stormtrooper's belts are supposed to be and that their armor is some space aged carbon fiber or what not. But whatever, that's no where near as fun as just making shit up. I still don't understand why they can't hit anything with their blasters.

The race that wasn’t

See Rod's feet? They're that way for a reason.

What happens when you sign up for a race in the middle of winter? It means that you have to train outside when it is cold. What happens when you sign up for a long race in the middle of winter in Chicago? It means you’ll have to run many miles outside in the freezing cold. It also means that you run the risk of catching a cold and not being able to run the race and now you’ve done a bunch of cold weather runs where your nose practically fell off for naught.

I am in no way implying that I caught a cold because I went and ran outside in the cold. I realize it doesn’t work that way. I place catching of said cold squarely on Mr. H. And Mr. H. caught his cold that he so generously shared with the rest of the family (he’s a giver that one) from the play place we went to on Southport to entertain baby H. because staying in the house one more minute with a 2.5 year old just wasn’t an option.

So the cold-weather running wasn’t the culprit. However, I do think it helped heighten the chances that we could catch colds because running 12 miles taxes your immune system just a wee bit. Doing it in 20 degree weather along the lake front path in Chicago probably taxes it just a notch (or several notches) more. So despite the fact that Mr. H. and I are pretty damned healthy, and we take lots of vitamins and drink electrolytes after our runs and wear appropriate clothing and all that, our immune systems kinda took the day off and said the heck with it, and we got colds...the week before our race.

What’s even worse, these colds settled in our chest. And the conventional wisdom is that you can run with a head cold but not a chest cold. So even though Mr. H. was bound and determined to be miraculously healthy come Saturday morning at 10 a.m., he was not. And I wasn’t about to push myself either, even though, dammit, I trained for this half marathon and not running a half marathon after you trained for it really sucks.

So this post was going to be an update on my most recent race. But instead it’s a cautionary tale to all you would be cold-weather runners out there not to f’ing bother. You’re just going to get sick and then where will you be? You’ll have shelled out money to run a race in January that you can’t run without risking the loss of a lung or passing out somewhere around mile 8. Not to mention all the money you’ll save on cold weather running clothes (tights, jackets, hats, gloves, thermal underwear for Christ’s sake!). So just stay inside slowly going crazy with your husband and your 2-year old until March or April or May – this is Chicago after all.