Well, the school year has come to a close. I am very excited for what the summer is going to bring. I started my first day off by running the Soldier Field 10 Miler this morning. I really enjoy this race because it is another great chance to honor the soldiers, past and present that have given us our freedom. The only bad part about the race this year was packet pick-up. In the past we have been able to pick our packets up race day, but this year, we had to go to a store in Old Town. That was minor and I was glad that my friend Travanna drove up with me, she just drove around the block while I went in and got the packets. Thank you again. I got to Soldier Field at 6 and parked my car. After doing some pre-race rituals, I went to the starting line for the pre-race ceremonies. They are very inspiring. Before the ceremonies started I saw a friend that ran in college with my brother, so I made sure to say hi. As in the past, the announcer brought up three soldiers and discussed their contributions to the service and some of the difficulties they have encountered since being in the service, yet, they still have a positive and upbeat attitude. They had a trumpeter play Taps, which always brings a few tears to my eyes, even when I just watching TV, then a lady from Chicago Endurance Sports, sang the national anthem, and off was the first wave of elite runners. I was in corral 1, so while waiting for my wave to go, the buggler from Arlington Race track played the call to the start that she plays for the horses, okay, now I am ready to go.
Our wave started about 2 minutes into the actual race, I tried to go out easy because I didn't want to be sucking air at the end. I felt ready good and hit mile one on pace, but it felt way to easy. It hit me as to why when we were going up one of the on ramps to get on Lake Shore Drive, the wind was totally at my back. Some guy was passing me and he was like this is great, I said yes, but be careful when we turn around. He didn't heed my warning and flew by me( by the way I caught him on the second half). I completely ran past mile 2. I kept thinking to myself, my gosh this mile seems to be taking forever, then I saw mile 3. Oh okay, makes sense now. I got to the turnaround and felt great, but still realized that we were all heading into a very strong headwind. I past mile 5 and was listening to a girl talk to another lady about how she was running under 7:30 like it was nobody's business and now she hit the wall. I still felt strong, so I said, well lets just see what I have. Other than 2 miles, I was under 8:00 for my pace. My goal was to average 7:45's. At mile 9 I saw my friend Matt, and thought oh good, I can see Jenny too. I got to about an half mile left in the race and the announcer that I knew says I can see you Lisa. I was like where the hell did he come from. Until I was walking back to my car, I didn't realize where he was standing why I would have stuck out so much. I even told him that I had no clue how he saw me, but then it did make sense. I came into the finish and not surprising to anyone who knows me, I saw a bunch of people I knew, some from high school, which was awesome because I really only see them on Facebook, some from the Lisle Windrunners, who I first started running with when I got out of college, and then I wait long enough and found Jenny. It was great to catch up with her and Matt. Afterwards I went to one of the area you could see people finish, I got to see many of the friends finish the race. I was happy with my race. I averaged 7:50/mile and I feel that without the headwind, I would have been under my 7:45 average.
I have a pretty packed schedule for the summer, but anyone who knows me, knows that is typical for me. I am not good at the whole sitting around thing, although I did pull off a 2+ hour nap this afternoon. I am going to pull a twofer next weekend and do two triathlons. Then the next week I head out to Arizona to do my Level One Baptiste Yoga certification. I am hoping I can start to teach yoga soon. Many know that I gave up coaching girls' track and field at the end of year. It was a tough decision, but it was time. Along with races I am planning on learning how to make t-shirt quilts. I am one of those that just can't part with them, too many memories and you never know, maybe that is something I can do on the side to make a little extra cash. At the end of June I am going to compete in an Olympic Distance triathlon in Wisconsin. Then my friend Dawn and I are going to run the Dances with Dirt Half Marathon. It is a trail half marathon, something I haven't done and a hard course from what I heard, not a PR course. The next day we plan to go watch Ironman Racine 70.3 and cheer on many of our Tri Smart friends. I will also ride the 4th of July ride in Joliet. In August I am doing two Olympic distance triathlons, one at the Dells and then age group nationals in Vermont. I plan to finish out my season on Labor Day by running the Oakbrook Half Marathon. If you have not done this race, it is one that is a lot of fun. It has some rolling hills and is run partly on the streets and partly on limestone trails.
I am looking forward to a fun summer with family and friends. Hopefully, as much fun as I am having, it will be a slow summer. I know I just feel that way right now because it is only my first day off. In the future I really would like to open a studio. It would be like 3 places. One part would be the yoga studio, another part would be a triathlon coaching/spin classes side for the winter, and the third side would be a triathlon tore ( thank you Rich, from the bike shop for putting that idea in my head). If I have it my way, the studio would be sandwiched between a Chipolte (because I never eat there, hahahaha) and like Jamba Juice or Starbucks.
Happy Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!
