Click click click

I've had the power of the click with me lately.  I want to sign up for more and more races.  I find that while I like training alone, I love the feel of race day, and I run much better during races as well.

While there are about 10 million I want to do, so far, I've let myself sign up for two more. Don't wanna get too crazy... I'm not made of money, and registrations can be pricy!!

Added to this summer/fall's repertoire:

June 3 will be a 10k at the Lincoln Park Zoo, and in September 16 will be my last long run before my first ever marathon! Can't wait.  I'll still probably sign up for more.... but I'll at least wait until my next paycheck.

Chocolate makes everything better

Yesterday I had a bad day and was feeling lonely and out of sorts.  Solution? White chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies!  I felt better instantaneously, and got to eat dessert for dinner.  It gets no better than that, my friends.

Review: Fifth Third River Bank Run 25k

This past weekend I completed my longest race to date - the Fifth Third River Bank Run.  A 25k.  Or, 15.625 miles.  I was expecting to finish in 3:29:59 (as the cut off time was 3 and a half hours), but I delighted myself with a 2:47:47 time.  That is a 10 min, 50 sec mile.  And that, is awesome for me!!  I normally pace about a 12 minute mile even when running a measly 4 miles around town here.

It was really an awesome weekend all around.  I took the train out to Grand Rapids from Chicago Friday night right after work, and it was really pretty.  As I was passing through St. Joseph, Michigan it was dusk and oh-so-gorgeous.

 My mom and dad had driven to GR from the Detroit area that day as well and were waiting for my at the train station.  Surprised me with the fact that my dad ended up registering for the race too, so he's be running with me!

On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early, I slapped on my running watch, grabbed my iPod, and I was good to go.  We headed down to the start of the race and got ready to run.  Per normal I tried to scoot up as much as possible in the corral before we started.  I managed to get up to the 10 minute pacer.

The race started and we were on our way.  My dad and I separated early.  My strategy was "just keep running," then walk through the water stations.  It worked for me all the way to the 11 mile water station where I seemed to lose some stamina.  I was hurting bad.  So at that point I ended up walking/running (as much as possible), until I say the finish line ahead where I went full force and sprinted through the end.  2:47:47. 

My boyfriend Joe had driven from Chicago that morning to watch me cross the finish line, but he was just a few minutes late.  We we caught up after the race and hung out with my parents the whole day.

We went out to dinner that night to Twenty Five Kitchen + Bar downtown, where I got a chicken sandwich smothered in caramelized onions and feta cheese.  Can you think of anything better?

All in all, a great weekend with great people.  Bonus that I got to see my mom for Mother's Day!

Review: Chi Town 10k

All in all, a good race.  Slightly disorganized, but not so much so as to discourage me from doing it again next year.  I ran it in 1:07:11, equaling a 10 min, 50 sec per mile pace.  For me... that is not half bad.  ESPECIALLY considering the fact that this was my first run over 3 miles in nearly 4 months!  I mean, I felt good at the beginning, I felt good at the middle, and damn it - I felt good at the end.

The course started on the south end of Lincoln Park, wrapped you up and around Diversey Harbor, and back down to where we started.  A couple of dirt path areas, which I don't mind terribly, but nice and wide so no issue with crowding.

After the race I ate my banana, wandered around and people watched for a bit, then stuck around to see if I could watch my friend Jeff finish the half marathon.  Not knowing what time he'd be finishing, and getting cold from standing outside in my little stretch shorts, I cabbed it home for a nice warm shower and some real food.

Note: post will be edited with pictures once they finally release them!

When to say no

This weekend I was all signed up to run in the Chi Town Half Marathon, but honestly, as I mentioned before, I'm not ready or trained for a half quite yet.  So after much deliberation, and some inspiration about not wanting to hurt myself from Molly over at Hungry Hungry Runner, I decided to also switch down to the 10k.  I'm actually really happy with my decision.  I can focus on running a great 10k rather than focusing on "just finishing" a half marathon.

In other news: tonight my co-worker and I have reservations at Sprout, and I CAN'T WAIT to try it.  I've been dying to get up there since it opened.  I'll let y'all know just how delicious it was later.  I mean, they have house bacon infused vodka.  Bacon vodka.  Don't mind if I do!

Daily Motivation

Agreed.

Work hard for it (whatever "it" may be!)

xo - Rachel

Adventures in Kentucky

This past weekend I ventured down to Lexington, KY to visit with a few friends I hadn't seen in quite a while.  My trip started off dreary as I was riding a nasty storm the whole way down.  What should have been a 6.5 hour drive turned into an 8 hour drive.

However - Saturday was much better!  I woke up to a sunny day and met Sarah and Amanda for lunch at a cute little place called Saul Good.  It had been a year since I'd last seen Sarah in Tampa, and it had been 5 years (wow that is crazy to think about) since I'd last seen Amanda in Sydney, Australia.

After lunch Sarah and I wandered over to the Lexington Horse Park where we explored like 5-year-olds at the zoo for the first time ever.

Gorgeous white picket fences were everywhere

Cigar was trying to join in on the action

Loved these chairs!

After a day of traveling with my favorite new bubble umbrella thinking it was going to drizzle on us at any second (of course it didn't since I had an umbrella.  Had I not, I would have been drenched I'm sure), we headed to the downtown Lexington area where we had a great dinner at deSha's, which one of my co-workers - a University of Kentucky grad - suggested.

I say "yes" to wine!

Street view of deSha's

Amanda joined back up with after dinner for some drinks at an Irish bar just around the corner, McCarthy's.

5 year reunion!

And... we made some new friends with a bachelor party that stopped by

All in all - thumbs up to Kentucky, which I was not expecting.  It was a beautiful state, I had a fabulous time with my friends, and would definitely go back.