This weekend took me one step closer to the BOA Marathon in October. My wife and I went to the "Windy City" to run the Chicago Distance Classic with my sister Shelly. We were fortunate that the summer weather for this August weekend was nearly perfect. It was cool and in the low 60’s on race morning. There is just something about this city that you just have to love!
We came up on Friday evening and had a blast with Shelly and Joe. We had a great dinner and a good night out on the town. With very little sleep, we awoke on Saturday morning and headed downtown for the day. We stayed at the “W Hotel” on Adams - I have never experienced any place like this. Completely impressive, it has some of the most hip décor I have ever seen in any place that I have stayed.
We went over to the race expo and then walked over to the Navy Pier. We spent several hours here culminating in the “sail boat ride from hell”! Don’t know if I would suggest sailing on the Tall Sailing Ship of Chicago in a windstorm. I thought my wife was going to knock the Captain out, but we made it through somehow.
Sunday morning was great. The three of us arrived a bit early for the event in Grant Park. Not that I have ran hundreds of these races, but it neat to see how the different runners act on race morning. Some people have trained for months for this one event – you can see the focus they have. Some woke up the day before and decided to do the event the following day. You get a little of every type.
Julie and Shelly made a plan to meet me after the race then disappeared into the sea to 10,000 runners. I started toward the front of the pack and, in usual form, went out too fast. The course was flat, and on the way back went along the jogging trail along Lake Michigan.
This event was special. After I finished, I had a chance to watch a lot of the runners at about the 13-mile mark as they were finishing. If you run and have never done this, it’s really quite cool. All of those people who are running a first half marathon have the finish line in sight. It is neat to watch them as they see all of their hard work about to pay off. I caught a glimpse of Shelly and Julie as they approached the finish line. They didn’t look overly emotional, just like they wanted to finish. They did! It was a great experience. Julie was hooked after the race and wants to run more, Shelly – not so much.
We came up on Friday evening and had a blast with Shelly and Joe. We had a great dinner and a good night out on the town. With very little sleep, we awoke on Saturday morning and headed downtown for the day. We stayed at the “W Hotel” on Adams - I have never experienced any place like this. Completely impressive, it has some of the most hip décor I have ever seen in any place that I have stayed.
We went over to the race expo and then walked over to the Navy Pier. We spent several hours here culminating in the “sail boat ride from hell”! Don’t know if I would suggest sailing on the Tall Sailing Ship of Chicago in a windstorm. I thought my wife was going to knock the Captain out, but we made it through somehow.
Sunday morning was great. The three of us arrived a bit early for the event in Grant Park. Not that I have ran hundreds of these races, but it neat to see how the different runners act on race morning. Some people have trained for months for this one event – you can see the focus they have. Some woke up the day before and decided to do the event the following day. You get a little of every type.
Julie and Shelly made a plan to meet me after the race then disappeared into the sea to 10,000 runners. I started toward the front of the pack and, in usual form, went out too fast. The course was flat, and on the way back went along the jogging trail along Lake Michigan.
This event was special. After I finished, I had a chance to watch a lot of the runners at about the 13-mile mark as they were finishing. If you run and have never done this, it’s really quite cool. All of those people who are running a first half marathon have the finish line in sight. It is neat to watch them as they see all of their hard work about to pay off. I caught a glimpse of Shelly and Julie as they approached the finish line. They didn’t look overly emotional, just like they wanted to finish. They did! It was a great experience. Julie was hooked after the race and wants to run more, Shelly – not so much.
After the event everybody was feeling great. We decided to walk down to Joe’s firehouse (remember that he is a diver/firefighter for the Chicago Fire Department). We spent some time there and then headed back home for St. Louis a little later in the day. Now begins the big mileage weeks of the training program. Forty-one miles this week and even more the following weeks. Fun time is definitely over!
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