Rockin' Chicago with the Nike+ Human Race 10K

Adapted from a Nike blog

Chicago's race knocked it out of the park with a 10K to end all 10Ks in the Windy City. Our Emcee, Gene Honda said it best, 'Second City my butt.' Chicago's Human Race was the largest such event in the United States.

Runners arrived, amped up and ready to roll, at 2 PM., more than 4 hours before the race start, so we got the party started early with a rocking sound check by Fall Out Boy attended by more than a 1,000 people in the stands. It was a beautiful late summer day in Chicago, with a nice afternoon heat and a complimentary lakefront breeze. So runners got to enjoy the Human Race sponsor village with Starbucks, Saturn, Ice Mountain and Tents of Hope giving consumers a chance to interact with the Human Race partners.

14,000 runners strong lined the East Colonnades of Soldier Field and everyone in attendance was treated to an amazing pre-race program. The iconic Wayne Messmer showed Chicago along with the rest of the world why he was THE right person to sing the National Anthem in Chicago. The hometown crowd gave an extended ovation to Messmer and the sea of red soaked in the moment. Then Runners were OFF!

Venturing through the course, runners came across the 2016 Olympic Committee cheer station and our live music stations throughout. Major course highlights were the cheer stations au naturale which manifested themselves in the form of Chicagoans BBQ-ing along the lakefront beaches. All these Labor Day revelers caught the Human Race fever and joined in the event, cheering on runners to even greater heights. 

At the finish, there was a mad dash for first place and the top male finished at 31:30 edging out his nearest opponent by a hair, while the top female crushed the field at a 35:17 pace. Both top runners showed that the state of Chicago running can go up against the world on any day. 

To kick off the party post-race style, we turned to the Main stage inside Soldier Field. Opening at the main stage was DJ Dan Suh, the Mr. Miyagi of DJs and to be perfectly authentic to Chi-Town DJ began with his remix of the Super Bowl Shuffle! Every runner at the Chicago race was treated like they were the 'Funky QB!' 

At the crescendo of the evening, Fall Out Boy took the Main Stage and they shredded through a 12-song set, rocking their hometown crowd and sending a message to the rest of the world that Chicago is the center and the rest revolve around. 

The crowd rocked out until nearly 10PM, a full VIP tent of 400+ eager and dedicated runners cheering on the night from inside the stadium.

Way to rock it, Chicago! 31:30 (male) and 35:17 (female), are the times to beat!!! 

My final time: 60 minutes, 7 seconds.   

Race Judicata 5k

Race Judicata, sponsored by Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CLVS), is a race that Illinois Legal Aid Online (the organization I work for) looks forward to all year round.  This year we gathered 17 people to run on our team, and our women's team placed 3rd overall. Yahoo!

The race whooped my butt and definitely reminded me that I'm not a short distance runner (as if 3 miles is that short, right?).  I finished at 26:16, which is faster than my time from last year so I'm satisfied.  Rodrigo almost died but he finished around 25 minutes.  Trust me, we enjoyed a couple of brewskis afterwards.  

My boss Lisa and co-woker Teri are rockstars.  I'm more than 10 years younger than each of them and they ran better than I.  Both also ran a marathon so I'm soliciting advice from them, but of course.  :)

Mike and Susan

Rodrigo and Nate

More family and friend support :)

Kudos to Aunt Jackie and Uncle Tom for their contribution, as well as Margie and John for their donation and tips on future fundraisers. Ya'll are great! Thanks!

Thunderstorms aren't gonna stop me

FINALLY. After two weeks of being unable to wear shoes and 7 days of moving out of my apartment, I am able to get back on track and hit the pavement. I feel really, really behind in my training-- colleagues who are running marathons this year have halves under their belts already!-- but I know with dedication and perseverance, I can pull through. It is going to be hella tough; I did a three miler with Rodrigo the week after my stitches came out and I seriously wanted to croak. I think most of the difficulty I felt running came from my frustration of the situation as opposed to any inability. 'I was up to 8 miles before!' was all I could think, 'and now it's like starting all over.' Hopefully, with two week's time, I'll be back in a smooth groove that will allow me to just coast. And love running again.

So I went for a short late-night run yesterday to get myself back into gear. Granted my schedule said 5 miles, but at this rate, any mileage is good for me. There was a severe thunderstorm earlier, with tornado warnings and all. When the storm momentarily calmed, I went out. I took my time, enjoyed the warm evening air and run around the Rog, and with one mile of three left to go, it began to drizzle. Then rain. And then pour. Buckets of water left me drenched but more invigorated and pumped to continue. I made it home just when the loudest of the thunder boomed. It feels so good to be back, and even my squishy, sopping-wet shoes can't put a damper on that.