My First Real Race

I did it!!  Got up at the ungodly hour of 5AM yesterday to head downtown before the sun had even risen to run 15k through the streets of Chicago.  It was chilly in the beginning but standing in a corral full of people actually helped keep me warm until the official start.

My overall time was 1:34:09 which means a pace of 10:07
I came in 8375 overall. 745 out of 1657 for my age group, and 4932 out of 11258 women.

I'm pleased with my time and happy that I beat my previous "training" time of the same distance.  I thought the crowds would slow me down, but actually I think they helped me stay on pace.  The course was fun running mostly along Michigan Avenue and Lake Shore Drive.  There were some brief parts where we were running under the bottom of McCormick Place which was a little dark, but when you're surrounded by other runners nothing's going to happen. 

Not too shabby for my first race.  My husband and my kids met me at the finish line holding the signs they had made at the expo and cheering for me.  Then we went and got our big mug of chocolate goodies.  Yes, I run for chocolate, and I'd do it again.

I'm still a little sore today so I'm taking a rest day, and after that I'll take the running day by day.  I hope to continue at least 2 times a week through the winter but since I really prefer running outside over treadmills, I'm not sure how realistic that is through the Chicago winters.

Hot Chocolate Expo

I had been warned that the expo was a nightmare. Two separate friends went to pick up their packets for the charity walk for them and their kids and waited for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. One took time off from work ( so was kidless), the other had her youngest (3 yo) with her in a stroller. They both offered to pick our packets and drop them off at our house. I declined. I had told the kids I was going to take them to the expo and I wanted to see what it was like since this is my first race.

As the day went on FB was full of complaints about how badly the race management had planned this expo. Waits were still long at 330 when I picked the kids up at school. I brought snacks and warm clothes for them and we headed downtown. I was hoping to make it by 5 to avoid more people arriving after work to pick up their packets. We parked at 505. The line was down the length of the parking lot and then wrapped back around about half way. I was about to start giving the kids snacks when a guy waiting in line told me that they were letting people with kids in the back door. We went back there and sure enough scooted right in. We'd barely gotten inside when one of the race workers saw us and escorted us to the packet pickup so we could get our bags.

Now time for fun. Little Reader joined a game of musical chairs and won a hat, all three bounced in the bounce houses, they all made signs for me, and of course we had some hot chocolate.

By the time we left around 6 it was getting dark and the city was all lit up. It dawned on me that they had never seen the skyline at night. It was a very clear night so they really got to see Chicago at its best. They actually complained a bit when I headed West to get on the highway cause they couldn't see the buildings anymore.

So what could have been a miserable afternoon ended up being a lot of fun. The only bummer is I never got to use my ace in the hole. I had brought along some sidewalk chalk figuring if they got really bored standing in line they could color on the asphalt. Oh well, I'll save that for another time.

November Goals

1. Buy all advent calendar stuff.  24 days x 3 kids is a lot of stuff.  I like to have it all bought before Dec 1 so I can plan what to give when.  I may need to make a printable to keep it all straight ; )

2. Plan Christmas gift shopping and budget.  My Santa app is a big help, I just wish it had a bar code scanner.

3. Keep running.  3 miles 2-3 times a week should be doable. No more long runs, I'll start that up again when the weather gets better.

4. Give the house a good deep cleaning.  We have both sets of parents coming in over the holidays and ideally if I pick one task a day of deep cleaning, then the pre guest cleaning won't be so bad.  I've got a bunch of printables from other sites, just need to start using them.

5. Make curtain for laundry area.  The sliding doors have finally annoyed me so much that I removed them, which makes the space easier to access, but it's an eyesore.

6. Sew flannel duvet cover for Little Hugger.

7. Get passports for the kids