Welcome to 2022!

Okay, I know we are now 10 days into the New Year, but Happy New Year anyway. January happens to be a very stressful and busy month for me that sets the tone for the rest of the year. So, what do I have on the horizon?

I have the following:

• F^3 Half Marathon: January 29th in Chicago
• Yeah, it may be -20 or it may be 40 degrees. I'm just going to go for it and see how everything goes.
• United Airlines NYC Half Marathon: March 20th in NY
• I'm so excited to return to this Half Marathon and running/representing T2EA (Team 2 End AIDS or #ganginred)
• Wanna donate? https://action.aidschicago.org/fundraiser/3625150
• Chicago Half Marathon: September 25th in Chicago
• Although it is technically a work day for me, I'm always trying to help anyone and everyone who needs my help to get to the finish line.
• Bank of America Chicago Marathon: October 9th in Chicago
• Another work day for me but I need to decided if I will cross the finish line or bail out after going back and forth on the course to help my athletes and anyone else who needs help.
• New York City Marathon: November 6th  in New York
• This has been the one race that I have always wanted to do and I will be doing it running/representing T2EA (Team 2 End AIDS or #ganginred). The goal is to smile and have fun.

Now I have some other races that are in the works:

• Chattanooga 70.3: The return of #theBeez and #theFro adventures.
• Rev3 Williamsburg Sprint and 70.3: I wasn't able to do the sprint last year due to airline issues but I will do the double.

Unknowns and possibilities:

• USAT MultiSport Festival in Irving, TX: Aquathlon only
• ITU Worlds for Aquathlon: Ibiza (date unknown)

We will see how the landscape plays out. But until then, check out some of the awesome photos from my TrainingPeaks Ambassador photoshoot by @snowymountainphotography.

Return to racing: Chicago Half Marathon 2021

This past Sunday, I participated in the Hoka Chicago Half Marathon. Per usual, I usual finish around the 3 hour mark as I double back on the course to help runners from the charity that I coach for - Team to End AIDS or any other runner who needs encouragement. It has been 2 years since this race has been put on due to the pandemic. When we participated in this race 2 years ago, it was pouring rain (if it's raining, we're training/racing). This time around, the weather was actually pleasant, delightful. So let's get into the intricacies and things to know about this race if you are interested in doing it in the future.

Packet Pickup:

The packet pick-up venue has changed over the years from the very first year that I did this race. The venue was in the West Loop which was very accessible to the Green and Pink CTA lines or via Divvy Bike. If you didn't want to pick up your packet on Friday or Saturday, you had the option of paying $40 extra to pick it up on race day. I would suggest going to the expo. You never know what may happen on race day. I was in and out of the expo in less than 10 minutes (world record) but it was a small expo and I didn't need to purchase anything. One of the things to note is that parking is at a premium in Jackson Park on Chicago's South Side and with the Uber and Lyft high prices, it's preferred to take advantage of the free shuttle buses (school buses) from either Belmont Station or Millenium Station. The only bad part is that you have to leave so early in the morning but you get to the race without having to deal with parking or the price of an Uber or Lyft.

Race Morning:

I got up early (3am) to get ready and to hop on the "L" to get to the Belmont Station to catch the shuttle. Luckily, the shuttles were there and ready for boarding. I saw some of my athletes and ended up sitting in the back. Now, if you are part of #teamtall, the seats are not meant for you. During the ride, we had an interesting mix of music from Lite FM including, Air Supply, The Bangles and Whitney Houston.

Once we hit our final destination, it was a nice 10-15 minute walk in the dark to the team tent where we could eat breakfast, have coffee and just get ready to race. 

Right before we took off for the corrals, we had our team photo. *note: Shameless plug for my T2 fundraiser https://action.aidschicago.org/team/357897

The course:

The course changed slightly from 2019 due to the construction of the Obama Library. We headed North on LSD from 63rd to 31st Street and this is where it got a little congested/a little tricky. 

We ended up migrating onto the Lakefront Path heading towards the South end of McCormick Place, heading under McCormick (very dark especially if you were wearing sunglasses) for a short stint and turning around to head back South on the bus causeway before we reconnected onto the Lakefront Path back to 31st street, going over and coming back onto LSD on the Southbound lanes. 

At Mile 12, I decided to do my double back on the course motivating and helping my fellow runners who needed that extra motivating. I ended up running literally into one of my athletes, Kali and I ran in with her. All in all, it was a great race with great weather and great friends. This is the perfect race to do if you are doing the Chicago Marathon since it falls perfectly with the training plan. Also, this is one of the few races where you get a medal as big as your head.

A HOT Ass 13.1: The Chicago Half Marathon

I normally post on my Instagram (@fitness724) the number of things that corresponds to the number of miles that we run. Well, I had to finally dust off my blog for this one. Yesterday was the 21st edition of the Chicago Half Marathon ran by the awesome folks at Lifetime Athletic Events. The main mission was to stay in the back and pace my normal posse of  T2 athletes-keep them on pace, make sure they hydrate, eat, watch their breathing and count shirtless men. More about the last one later. Here is how everything went.

This Half-Marathon was brought to you by:
1. A total of 317 Shirtless men! #109 was hot, chocolate yumminess. Trust me on this. Why count shirtless guys? It keeps you from thinking of how hot and humid it was.
2. Heat and Humidity!
3. The T2 quest for Diet Coke!
4. The rainbow at the misting station before the turnaround.
5. Sunscreen, hydration, nutrition and salt.

We were looking good! Photo credit: John Gress
6. Listen to your footsteps. It should sound like a bunny fart. Huh? Ever heard a bunny fart? EXACTLY!!!!
7. The ladies who wanted to hang out with us because we were so cool.
8. Is that a chicken? Is that a Chic-Fil-A Chicken? Ohhhhh, it's a turkey reminding us of the Turkey Trot. I think we should all sign up. We get to turn around now!
9. Creating the rough draft of the new romance novel, "Manathon". One woman's quest for love while running the Chicago Half Marathon. Coming soon to iTunes, Kindle and the next T2EA fundraiser.
10. Running backwards. No, literally running backwards for the last 1.5 miles to keep Janine focused on the finish line. I may have pushed Janine towards the finish line.

 photo credit: Bernard Lyle
11. My fellow Purplehead, Kevin Oldenstedt.

photo credit: Kevin Oldenstedt

12. Having a popsicle at the finish line. ABSOLUTELY NEEDED!!!!

13. This BIG ASS MEDAL! Best bling in Chicago!!!!

.1: Having the pleasure to see all of my returning and brand new athletes to the Half Marathon distance complete the Chicago Half Marathon in less than ideal conditions with smiles (and beers, not me! I had to go into work). In addition, I did give the shuttle bus drive directions back to the Belmont Red Line Station. 

T-minus 12 days for  the Chicago Marathon.