Girls on the Run

This is the 3rd 5k my daughter has done and I signed up to be her running buddy.  It was a pretty warm morning despite an early start.  Since I had set the pace for our first race, I told her this time I would go at her pace.  The first mile of the course was a pretty tight down and back and after that the course opened up.  I could tell my daughter was getting a bit annoyed at how crowded it was and she passed a lot of people (looking back to make sure I was still with her).  

She started off at a pretty fast pace despite the crowd - about 8:45, but by early in the second mile she needed a walk break.  She told me that she was hungry - we had breakfast about 3 hours before the race started.  Not much to do about it except get to the finish.  She ran most of the course with a couple of walk breaks and finished in 35:11 (unofficial as this was not a chip timed race).  

We got her medals and goodies and then headed back to our meeting spot to wait for the rest of the group.  One girl and her Mom were already there, the rest came later.  It was a pretty hot day and supposedly some people actually got sick from the heat - luckily no one in our group.  

Once everyone had finished and cooled down, we got pictures of the girls and their coaches and headed back for the bus ride home.

Overall she was happy with her time, but learned the importance of fueling properly before a race.  

Lia Sophia Update

Since I've been obsessively following Lia ladies on Facebook, I found out that their annual conference set for next week was cancelled this week.  Apparently no specific reason was given. A bit worrisome.  

Yesterday I had a long phone chat with a former advisor about her experience.  She had also heard about the cancelation and had no more info, but offered to fill me in if she learned anything from friends who are active advisors. She understood my trepidation about joining a company that cancels an event that big at the last minute.  It is a family owned company so it's possible something happened within the family?  In the meantime they are busy promoting a new product line to be unveiled in August.  

Anyway, she told me that like me she had done it for the jewelry discount and some extra money.  She went to a couple of conferences which she said were fun and helpful.  She did most of her business as online parties and occasional fundraisers (giving 10% of her sales to the charity).   She asked if I had an upline in mind and I told her about the opportunity call I had done with a woman in Ohio.  The fact that she does her team meetings as phone/video conferences works out well.  

She was actually the perfect person for me to talk to because she really was pretty laid back about her business and said she never felt any pressure to recruit or do more home parties.  Her upline seemed to understand this was the way she wanted to run her business and that was fine.  She only stopped as she also had a full time job and while the Lia Sophia job was good for part time she never wanted to make it a full time thing.  She never earned any of the trips but had plenty of friends who did and raved about them. She encouraged me to go for it once the new line comes out.  She even told me that she would host a party if I decided to do it and said she still had some forms and supplies that she'd be happy to pass on to me.  

She's going to be at a dinner that the women's group we both belong to is holding later this month, so I'll get to talk to her more about it then.  Part of the reason I'm going is to the event is to get to network.  

Soldier Field 10 Miler

This is a race I've been wanting to do since I found out about it a couple of years ago.  I'm not a football fan, but I'm enough of a sports fan to appreciate getting access to the inner sanctums of the professional sports world.  I mean crossing the finish line at the 50 yard line is pretty cool.  Doing it in Soldier Field (obviously so named to honor those who have served their country on Memorial Day is even better

The last couple of years I hadn't trained enough to do 10 miles this early in the season, but this year I was determined to do it, so while my family slept in on Saturday, I drove down to Soldier Field.  I've driven there a few times and for some reason this time asked Siri for directions, rather than just going the way I probably could have done on my own no problem.  Mistake #1.  She led me the wrong way - opposite side of the train tracks, so I ended up parking at McCormick Place and running over to the start.  Found my corral a few minutes before the race, so had no time for a pit stop before the start.  Mistake #2.

Since I had had to take a few days off due to my sore knee after falling when the dog bit me, my plan was to run the race with 9/2 intervals adjustingfor water stations, and hopefully shave a little time off my previous 10 miler in the fall.  

It was pretty congested for mile 1 and we ran under McCormick which I never like, but there aren't a lot of other options around there.  After that the course opened up a bit, and even though I felt great took my first walk break, and was passed by a lot of people.  Stopped in the port a potties at the first water station and after that everything went smoothly.  The course does get a little tight along the lake front which made doing intervals a little tough.  You really need to watch your back before slowing down, but you can't beat the view as you return to the city.

When we got to Soldier Field I noticed a family of 4 running in front of me (Mom, Dad and two kids probably about 9-10 years old).  I was not about to be beaten by a 9 year old so I got ahead of them a little before heading in to the stadium.  I tried to video the final 1/2 mile or so, but failed.  We entered into the players parking lot and then came out one of the tunnels to the field, with the finish line on the 50.

Servicemen and women were on hand (most in uniform) to hand out the medals and water.  They don't let you linger too long on the field as there isn't enough room for everyone but you get a few minutes to soak it in before they shoo you out.  As you leave the stadium they handed out goodie bags - water, banana, clif bar, fruit snacks and pretzels.  The bag is actually pretty cute and a good size for bringing kid snacks to after school stuff.

I headed over to the post race tailgate, got my 312, stretched out and headed home.  All in all a good day.  Final time 1:40:44.  Only 20 seconds faster than my previous 10miler but I blame the pit stop for that.  Obviously the intervals worked.  I was able to run stronger/longer and never bonked, still had energy to burn at the finish.  I'll continue with that for my next long runs.