2009 Chicago Half Marathon Finishers!

So the day started this morning when the alarm went off at 4:45 am. Whoah! We had breakfast at home and drove into the city before the sun was even up and the roads were covered in fog. After parking near Brett's office we hopped in a cab and got as close to Jackson Park as we could! With exactly 14, 847 people who ultimately finished the race, the registered races for the 5K and all the families, fans, and volunteers, it was a madhouse, but an organized madhouse. Brett and I were both a little overwhelmed as this was our first big race. We found the gear check table and then (of course) I had to go to the bathroom. After waiting in line for what might be the cleanest port a potties ever, we made our way to the start and found our pace group. The music was blasting and it was quite an experience. We finally crossed the starting line about 9 minute after the race officially started. By the time we hit mile 1, we were drenched. It was a little hotter and a lot more humid than either of us anticipated. The first four miles were through a more residential and commercial part of the South Side so there was plenty of shade. When we rounded the bend and ran by the harbor to get up to Lake Shore Drive, the sun was out and it started to get a bit warm. We made it to the turn still feeling OK (we briefly walked at mile 7 because I had a terrible cramp) but as soon as we headed back, there was very little breeze and the sun was just beating down. We had to walk several times which we hadn't anticipated and because of the heat we stopped at nearly every water table, something else we hadn't anticipated since, during training, we only stopped at one water fountain on our trail. I also was feeling blisters on several toes, again, something new! Even though we struggled the second half the important part is that we crossed the finish line - together, hand in hand. Literally! I can't wait until they post the race pics to see how both miserable and ecstatic we must look! The finish area was amazing...every five feet there was another table passing out more food and drinks. We got bottled water, Gatorade, water in cups, chocolate chip cookies, bananas, granola bars, cheese crackers, PB crackers, and almonds! I could barely carry it all. After finding some shade to relax we finally got up the strength to get our stuff and start back home. What an amazing experience this had been! The training and the race itself really taught me a lot about myself. About what I can and cannot do and what being part of Team Clancy means!!!
Oh yeah! We set a goal time of 2:11 and unfortunately finished at 2:23.51 and 2:23.52...we may have crossed the finish line holding hands, but I won...wink, wink!

It's Official - Race Day Tomorrow!

12 weeks ago when Brett and I started training for the Chicago Half Marathon, in the back of my mind I never thought I could do it. Well, it's official, I met him downtown after work yesterday and we went to the Health and Fitness Expo at Navy Pier and picked up our race packs! I have the t-shirt!!!Wish us luck...we'll be leaving about 5 am tomorrow morning to run our hearts out!

In Love With My Best Friend

I often write about how our weekends are filled with fun adventures, good food, and great friends. This past weekend Brett and I spent it as we rarely get to do - just us. He was so sweet in wanting the weekend to be exactly what I wanted because I started back to work today. He wanted to take me out to dinner on Friday night, but I had beat him to the plans and cooked us a sensational meal. I tried something new and cooked scallops. So easy and turned out oh so yummy! Paired with green beans, one of my fav side dishes - Rice w/ white raisins - and a chilled bottle of Riesling we spent the evening chatting away on the patio.
We set the alarm Saturday morning and bright early we were out the door. Our first stop was of course, Starbucks for the usual and then we headed to the French Market. We shared a delicious cinnamon chip scone and bought some corn for the week. After returning home, we geared up for our cross training which turned into a bike riding adventure through DuPage County's Prairie Path and Forest Preserve Trails with stops at Herrick Lake and the Danada Equestrian Center. We ultimately rode about 13 miles and my behind was screaming when I lowered myself from the bike!

Brett took this picture of me in the racing corrals for the horses!By the time we got back to Wheaton we were starving and it just so happened that the local bank was having a community cookout so we stopped off there for some free hot dogs, live music and what every suburban cookout needs - a petting zoo! The pot belly pig was my favorite while Brett fell in love with a goat, pregnant with twins!
We went to rest for bit but were still looking for something else to do. At about 3:00 we decided to go to the Cosely Zoo, a very small local zoo that is free to the public! We spent an hour there...a great place for small children (if anyone questioned the creepy couple without kids, our plan was to say we were researching for when we do have them) but there are not too many animals on exhibit so we weren't there long.

Saturday night turned into date night and we dined at the lovely Buffalo Wild Wings. Oh how I love the yumminess of that place! After dinner we were off to the movies to see none other than...The Time Traveler's Wife (see why I love Brett?!?!) which happened to not be nearly as good as the book, big surprise, but that is beside the point. We enjoyed the movie and ended the night with some ice cream from Oberweis - chocolate peanut butter for me and a chocolate malt for he!

Sunday we had our longest run yet. I am happy to report that we ran 8 miles in 81 minutes and 24 seconds. We walked only about 2 minutes of that!!! We were on a high from our run and cooled down with Jamba Juice and that is were our weekend ended. We spent the rest of the day lying on the couch, snoozing, watching TV and playing cards.

I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to someone I can call my best friend. I sincerely had the best weekend spending time with Brett doing fun little things. That is what I call true happiness.

All before 9 am....

So this morning, Natalie arrived at my house at about 6:30 am. She's crazy, but that is a different story. Today was the day of our 5K, the Cosely Zoo Run for the Animals. So we left the house at about 6:50 with the intent of parking a bit far from the race, walking to the start, stretching and then leisurely running our race. Well, things just don't seem to always go as planned.

When we get to the end of my street with see a Boston terrier running around, crossing streets, no leash or owner! We also noticed his that he was carrying his back leg, poor guy. So, we pull the car over and twice try to coax him in the car...it worked the second time. Cute little guy jumped right in and was so sweet! I got his collar off and of course there was no ID tag but he did have his rabies tag on. I called Animal Control, no answer, so then I dialed 911. I explained to the dispatcher that it wasn't an emergency but also that we didn't know what to do with this dog. As we are talking we continued to drive to Animal control. The police officer said that someone would meet us there so we park the car and this sweet dog so running all over the car - so funny!

So....we are waiting..... and waiting....and waiting...and it's after 7:00....and finally someone from the animal control walks up. We ask if he works there, "Yes", so we explain the situation and he takes the tag. When he returns, he tells us that he called the owner and they are on their way. OK, great! Now take this dog...I have a race to run. Nope....he tells us just to wait here for the owner! AHHHHH!!!! It's 7:25....did I mention the race is at 7:30?

While we are waiting for this lady to come, the police call us back and tell us it is going to be a while before an officer can get there because they are really busy. Umm....yes...I know they are busy. There is a run blocking off the entire town of Wheaton that I AM SUPPOSED TO BE RUNNING IN!!! The lady finally pulls up and she is almost in shock. So cute! She even brought her other dog to come and get..."Gus". She told us that he has recently figured out how to get out of their back gate and she tells us she feels terrible about the race because she sees our numbers.

We leave animal control, fly into Wheaton, only to discover the place is a and house and there is not much parking. We park way far away form the race start, Natalie runs into caribou Coffee because she is ready to pee herself....by the way you need a key for their restroom, back out to borrow a key, OK done. So now, to get to the race. Seriously, I felt like we were in a movie. We run, not walk, to the starting line to discover that the race is started, there is not a runner in site and they are packing up the pad that you have to run across to get timed. So the guy tells us to go, we run across it the starting line already out of breathe and find that we are the absolute last people in the pack even behind the walkers! So funny! The good news is, he told us how far behind we were and after crossing the finish line I realized that I met the two goals I had set for myself.

1. To not walk any part of the race...check!

2. To finish in under 30 minutes...check!!!!!

Below is a picture of the very technologically advanced timer thingy on my shoe that allowed me to get such an awesome time...AKA, it's the thing that times you when you run across the starting and finishing pad. HAHA! I thought it was really cool!

After the race, we walked around and got some good laughs about our eventful morning. We met two very nice ladies in Starbucks who were willing to listen to our story and took our picture!

Insert photo here when Natalie sends it to me :-)

Nat - I love ya! What a great morning!!!

UPDATE: I just checked the website...I got an official time!!!! I didn't think it was going to register since they were packing up the start...I did so much better than last year; my official time was 29:47.6 and I came in 24/99 in my age division. OK, not much under 30, but under nonetheless. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!