Tag: running

first 10 miler ever…

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In 2007, a friend asked me if I was interested in running a half marathon.  I thought about it and said sure, why not?  Not knowing this was going to be the first of many. 🙂

But any whoo, during the training, she came across the Park Forest Scenic 10 mile and 5K race that fit right into our training schedule.  I finished my run in 1:59:22.  And here is the medal that I got.

Park Forest Scenic 10 Miler

I don’t think this race exists anymore.  Sad because it was a really nice route.  The run took you through a forest preserve and parts of Park Forest.  I did find that 2007 was the last year they did the 10 miler.  The next couple of years it was a 5 mile race and it looks like no more.

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no shuffle…

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My throat, head, sinus, etc, etc hurts. So no Shamrock Shuffle today. Really, really bummed about it too. I took Mia to dance that morning and the race went right by the building. She wanted to check them out. As I was standing there, I just wanted to jump right in. 😦

I sure hope I am healthier for the Cinco De Miler. I missed that one last year due to illness as well. Keeping my fingers crossed.

NOTE: We did go for a bike ride later that afternoon. 10 miles at the Centennial Bike Trail. We drove to Romeoville, IL. Diego did all 10 miles. Mia did a mile on her balance bike. We also found three caches along the way.

I have to say biking 10 miles is nothing like running 10 miles. lol

rocked New Orleans…

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So I conquered the Rock N Roll New Orleans Half Marathon and have the medal to prove it. AND I also have a PR (short for Personal Record, runner lingo). My time was 2:40:19 which is almost two minutes faster than my last half. That was a nice surprise since I wasn’t trying to do anything but finish the run.

New Orleans was interesting. Good interesting. Our Saturday early morning flight was uneventful. Lots of folks who were going for the race were on the plane. Landed, found transportation to the hotel and off we went. We check into the Inn on Bourbon St. It was lovely hotel located right on Bourbon St. We walked to the convention center to pick up our packets. It was a cloudy, windy and rainy day. I was a bit worried but the weather for Sunday was going to be 60 and sunny.

So after getting our packets, we walked back and I was starving. We ended up going to Palace Cafe on Canal St. I had the Catfish Pecan with white rice and brussel spouts. OMG. I am not a big brussel sprouts eater but these were SO GOOD! I doubt I will ever eat them the same way again. Everthing was delicious.

Then we went back to the room, hung out a bit and then we were off to discover the city. We decided to check out a big church that was close by. It was the St. Louis Cathedral. It was really pretty and well taken care of. Then we found the horse-drawn carriages. We decided to take a tour. Best $15 ever spent. The man gave us a great history lesson about the French Quarter. Glad he had blankets because it was getting really windy. (Weather was in the high 50’s, cloudy and windy.) He told us the ride was going to be about 30 min but it really was more like 45 min.

Then we went to look for the beignets. They were from Cafe Beignet. Yum, yum YUM! We sat outside. Even though it was cloudy, the area we were in was protected by two buildings, so we were okay. Plus they had a small outdoor heater going on. We were listening to a trio playing jazz. It was so nice. Then we went back to the hotel to get some much-needed zzzzz’s.

The run itself was great. The weather kept its promise: sunny with a slight wind. I was wearing a running singlet over a long sleeve base layer. After 2 1/2 miles I had to stop and remove the base. It was nice and warm. The scenery was beautiful. Once we hit the 8 mile mark, it just became a bit blah. Concrete and more concrete. But there was a group of people who were offering donuts and beer to all the runners. That was so cool. Once we passed the city area, we were in the French Quarter. More pretty stuff to look at. I hit my wall right before the 10 mile marker. It was getting warm and I was getting tired. So I walked a bit more. Then I kept alternating with walking and running. When I got to the 11 mile marker, I decided to just run. Kept telling myself “One foot in front of the other. Just like everyone else.” I think that mantra kept me going. When I saw the marathon turning off, I was like “Poor souls. They have 13 more miles to go.” But I kept going. Finishing was so sweet. Found my friend who also was not having a good run but she finished in 2:25. We got our medals, which rock. They have medal beads instead of a ribbon.

Then we went back to the hotel, showered, dressed and literally ran to Pat O’Brien’s. We had the biggest hurricane ever. It was so good. I also had Grits and Shrimp which was quite tasty.

Then it was time to go home. The family picked us up from the airport. Missed them so much. I think the kids missed me too since they were just clinging on my arms all the way home.

An easy race is next: Shamrock Shuffle, March 25.

running 2012…

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Okay so I haven’t really had a chance to update on all my runs this year. I don’t think I am overdoing it since I have 1) ran some of these races before, 2) I have ran 13.1 miles before and 3) I am nuts!

Here is my schedule as of today:
March 4: Rock N Roll New Orleans Half Marathon
March 25: Shamrock Shuffle 8K
May 6: Cinco de Miler
May 24: Chicago Chase Corporate Challenge 3.5M
May 27: Soldier Field 10 Miler
July 22: Rock N Roll Chicago Half Marathon
October 7: Chicago Marathon!!!

I am game for all of them except for the last one. Not sure why but I did register for it. I always said I would not do another marathon unless it was the Disney one again.

Once the registration started, I just kept going back to the site. Then the running club at work sent out an email saying they would pay $40 from our fee. So I kept thinking about it. It was like an itch that would not go away. Finally on Friday, I did it. I felt elated. I felt like I wanted to throw up. lol

So then I texted my running buddy what I just did. She thought I was nuts too. But the next day, she fessed up that she had thought about it too. So she was going to think about some more and decide if she was going to do this too. Sure enough, later that night, she registered. Then on Monday word came out that the race had sold out in SIX DAYS! Not sure if I call it a sign but I might as well do this. And then I can say “Why yes, I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2012.”

And here we are: 8 days before my trip to NOLA and the beginning of my 2012 running adventure.

Let the running commence. Wish me luck!

new orleans…

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Here I come. I just committed myself to run the New Orleans Rock ‘n’ Roll 1/2 Marathon on March 4, 2011.

Just wanted to thank the New Orleans Saints for making this the cheapest half marathon fee I have ever paid. Due to there fantastic wooping of the Colts (62 – 7), my registration was discounted by $55. Sweet!

So now I will wait for my friend to register so we can start looking for a room and flights. So excited!!

Oh yeah, we need to start training too. Booo! 😉

hibernation is over…

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I ran yesterday. It was dark, cold, rainy (misty really but still) and windy. But I did it. Well, I was kinda guilted into running by my friend but I still did it.

Two laps around the athletic fields. I almost told my friend to cut the second lap in half but I sucked it up.

Today, my legs feel like mush. Not too bad though. I need to wake up those running muscles.

1.7 miles in 19:33 min -> It is something. Must.do.it.again!

see angie run…

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HA! See what I did there? I think this is the first time I use the name of the blog as the name of a post. Cheesy? Of course.

Well anyway, I finally signed up for some races for 2011. I have a cold right now so no running. Hopefully in a week, I will finally start running a mile or two here and there.

I know you are on the edge of your seat to see what races I’m planning to do:

May 7 – Cinco De Miler – registered
May 28 – Soldier Field 10 Mile – registered
August 14 – Chicago Rock N Roll Half Marathon – need to register on Feb. 28
October 15 – Pumpkins In the Park 5K – not open
October 29 – Carrera De Los Muertos 5K – not open
November 5 – Hot Chocolate 5K – registered

I feel like I need to add a few 5K here and there. But really, I need to start running. Hopefully once I feel better and the weather stays above freezing, I will start. Really. I promise.

Tower Of Terror 13K Full Report…

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Sorry I haven’t updated. I (We) have been really busy since I got home on Sunday it’s not even funny. But here is my report:

My flight was on time and arrived at Orlando about 10 min early. Walked to the Magical Express area and waited about 15 min for my bus.  If we ever fly to Orlando, we definitely going to use this service, it is fantastic.  I was then wisked to the All-Star Sports resort but my room wasn’t ready. I was a little miffed because the lady just gave me an envelope with stuff but didn’t tell me my room number or anything. But I was too much in hurry to worry about it because I needed to get my race packet. I left my suitcase with the bell boys, they told me where to catch the bus to go to Wide World of Sports (there was a direct bus there).

I was smart enough to leave my jacket behind because it was hot. Unfortunately, I was still wearing my pants. I should have changed to my short but I was in a hurry. Oh well. I arrived to WWoS, got my stuff and went back to wait for the bus. The bus was running every 30 min so I didn’t wait long.

I was starving by the time I got back to the hotel. So before I went to the front desk to get my room number, I got some lunch/dinner from the cafeteria. It was turkey and cheese on a focaccia bread with a side of pasta salad. It wasn’t too bad. Very tasty.

I finally got my room number. The guy told me where to go but I still got lost looking for my room. This is when I realized how big the All-Star Sports was. It has a ton of buildings. I don’t think I will ever stay there again. It was nice but not for me. So I got to my room (third floor) but no bag. Called the bell boys and one of brought it for me. Got my things in order.

After eating my lunch, I was ready for a nap. I couldn’t. Figures the one time I could take a nap with no kids and I couldn’t. So called DH and he convinced me to go do something. So I did. Went to Downtown Disney. Glad I did because I did some shopping for the kids and DH. I had a feeling I wouldn’t have time to go on Sunday (and I didn’t). So got back to my room, changed and grabbed the direct bus to Disney Hollywood.

I called my coworker that was there and he was on his way. So I just walked around. Got in a line that I thought it was gear check but it wasn’t. It was the pre-race picture. Then found gear check. My friend finally showed so I hung out with him and his family.

Then it was time. My friend is a hardcore runner (he won his age group last year) so after his warm up, we walked to the start line. He made me start in the front which was funny because I am three times as slow as all of the runners there. It was intimidated standing up there with all those runners. I just had to laugh. Since this was a 5K and 13K race, we had to wait for the 5K to start before we can start lining up. Once that race started, we had to wait 15 min for our turn. They counted down (again), fireworks went off (again) and then finally we took off.

The weather was perfect. Probably in the low 60’s and partly cloudy. We ran around WWofS and then back to park. Once we go into the park, we ran on the service roads (not so magical back there) and we ran down the main streets of the park. Ran thru the car stunt show and we were on the jumbo screen. I am not exactly sure were the finish line ended but I think it was right behind the RocknRoller coaster.

I was shooting for 1:40:00 and my official time was 1:35:51. I was just happy to finish. My metal is super cool (it has a moving elevator).

Tower of Terror 13K medal

So we got a little food bag, a 1.5 liter Disani and some Powerade. Guzzled the Powerade, scarfed down the muffin then got my gear. Called my friend to see were he was and walked over to the Mickey’s hat. He told me he came in second in his age group. He was only 20 sec behind the other guy. Poor him. lol

There was only an hour left to be in the park (they closed it at 2 am), so we went to see Muppet’s 3d, then walked to Toy Story Mania but the wait was 50 min. My friend and his family left at that point. I walked over to ride the Tower of Terror (awesome!) and I had enough time to ride the RnRoller coaster. Then my night was over.

I caught the bus back to my room. Showered and packed. Slept for 4 hours. Got up and finished packing and left. I went to the hotel store, where I bought a couple more things. I finally checked out and then went wait for my bus back to the airport. My flight was on time and even got to Midway 20 min early.

Too bad this was the last year for this year. It was a great experience. I have memories and an awesome medal.

Wow, this a long report and I was only there for about 24 hours. I am so glad I went. I did miss my family but I was there such a short time it wasn’t too bad. But I’ll be back in January 2010 for the marathon. 😛

Disney Update…

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[Gosh, it has been a while. I really need to get up and start blogging. Bad me! 🙂 ]

Update: I had to switch our hotel reservation around since I thought other folks were coming with us but they decided they couldn’t but it still worked out for the best. (Did that make sense? Probably not.)

We are staying at the Port Orleans French Quarter. I was told that on race day, Disney opens a “path” from this hotel to Epcot so all the runners staying there can simply walk there. Very cool. I know a few people from work that are going and I will be tagging along. Well, at least to the starting line because they are hard core runners.

Another cool update: I added an extra day to our vacation and it turned out that the price went down $3.25. An even better reason to stay another day!

Well, that is it. I am still trying make time to run. I need to run 7 miles today. Someone is going out of town this week so running is out the window until Saturday. Wheeee!