Chicago Rock N Roll

In July I received an email opportunity to be on a discussion panel for the Rock N Roll series during the Chicago expo.  I was very excited about the possibility..anyone that knows me knows I LOVE to give feedback on the things I participate in and I really feel the RNR series is amazing, so the opportunity to participate was an honor.  I headed to Chicago really pumped for the entire weekend...I was looking forward to seeing my race friends that I hadn't seen since Seattle, I was getting my Super Six medal (6 RNR events in a calendar year), and I was going to participate in the discussion group!  I was pumped!  I met up with George and we strolled around the expo and just had a great time.  We met some wonderful new running friends from Team Future and learned about their great organziation (check them out at: http://www.teamfuture.com/) and George introduced me to some new RNR friends who were already beyond Legend status (7 RNR events in 1 year) and closing in on Idol (10 RNR events in 1 year).  The expo was a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the new ideas at the RNR discussion group as well as giving ideas of my own.  Definitely great people at RNR!

Having never been to Chicago (other than to fly through) I found the city to be great.  It was really gorgeous!

The skyline overlooking the lake gave this beach girl her H2O fix while still having the city flare.  I think I was most amazed by how clean the city was...this east coast chic is used to NYC or DC...Chicago was nothing like either but fabulous just the same...and the food was incredible! 
I struggled a little initially in the race, but it was mainly due to the crowd...this was definitely a race like no other!  Every race I've run so far had folks walking on the sidelines early on...not Chicago...the field was packed and these folks were RUNNING. 

I run my races as well, but one thing I learned early on is to run your own race.  It's very easy to get sucked into the mob mentality and find yourself running someone else's pace either blowing your time goals by going too slow or burning yourself out too quickly by running a pace you aren't trained for.  I got sucked into the later in this race and it was no one's fault but my own.  By the 5K marker I realized what was going on, grabbed a GU to make sure I hadn't burned through all of my glycogen stores too quickly, and settled into my pace...the rest of the race I was ok. 

We wound through the city, took in the sites,

and had an enjoyable run...slightly overcast, a few drizzles (not even enough to call it a shower), and then the sun burning the clouds off into a gorgeous clear sky for our finish...all in all it was an amazing race!  Yet again the RNR series pulled off a fabulous course to give us a great tour of another wonderful destination!  And the crowd was absolutely full of energy and helped keep the runners pumped along the way.

I finished the race in 2:11:09...pretty good for not training for over a month!

But...I almost forgot...the lesson learned!!!  So...remember that iPod arm band I wrapped up and tucked in my camera bag in Providence (soaking/sopping wet from the downpour rain)?  Well, the evening before the race as I'm laying out my race gear I realized I'd forgotten my iPod.  Mind you I have run several races without it and actually preferred to run the RNR events without it for quite some time, but lately I've gotten back into the habit of wearing it, so I was a bit bummed I didn't have it.  Then I realized something odd...not only did I not have my iPod, my armband and earphones were not in my gym bag either.  Now, this is VERY odd because unless I'm using the iPod or charging it, it would be in the gym bag.  The charger was there so I obviously hadn't left it somewhere charging...my mind immediately started spinning on when I'd used it last and I remembered Providence was the weekend before this race...I scanned memory banks to figure out what I did with it and sooner checked the camera bag...where I found one VERY foul smelling armband with iPod and earphones...having been closed up for the week and wet it was still damp and smelled fairly horrid.  BUT I'm a die hard and wanted my music...I didn't have time to wash it before the morning so I wore it and dealt with it!  BUT...after the race when George came to the hotel to shower before heading to the airport I couldn't help but rat myself out...he smelled it and definitely agreed it was foul and we had a good laugh.  (the first of several on this topic!)

I left Chicago happy with my performance, new friends, and with my Super Six in hand!