~*~ Dream ~*~ Believe ~*~ Achieve ~*~ (Comments Welcome)

@DopeyBadger

I need to rearrange my plan a bit. I'm scheduled to run 11 miles tomorrow, but Eliana has her first horse show. It's going to be a very early morning and will last well into the evening. The idea of running at 3am then spending time sitting in the truck plus all day in the arena plus the long ride home sounds like torture 🤣 I'd like to move my run to Sunday. How should I plan out the rest of next week?
 
@DopeyBadger

I need to rearrange my plan a bit. I'm scheduled to run 11 miles tomorrow, but Eliana has her first horse show. It's going to be a very early morning and will last well into the evening. The idea of running at 3am then spending time sitting in the truck plus all day in the arena plus the long ride home sounds like torture 🤣 I'd like to move my run to Sunday. How should I plan out the rest of next week?

How about this?

Screen Shot 2019-09-06 at 11.38.15 AM.png

Move Saturday to Sunday. Then move Tueday's HMT FF to Wed and the 4 EA to Tues.
 
I'm still alive and breathing. I'm just so freaking stressed, exhausted, losing my mind and got hit with a stomach bug. I've been running, but spending way too much time on the treadmill, but it is what it is.

Eliana had her first horse show on September 6th. Right now she is hooked on Western Style riding. Momma is happy about this because there's no jumping involved. I'm terrified she will get thrown and break her neck. She performed in what is called Western Dressage. Basically it's a pattern she needs to move her horse through at different speeds, walk in circles, etc. She was entered in three different beginner patterns.

This is the night before the show. We trimmed Diva's face, ears and hooves and gave her a good bath. This horse LOVES bath time. She drinks water from the hose 🤣

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Early morning arrival at the arena

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Saddling horse before her test

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Photo of her during her test

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This is her first test. The horse wanted to go say "Hi" to her trainer at one point during the video! She earned her highest score on this one.

It was a long day, but so so so so much fun! Eliana placed 1st in two events and 2nd in one event. She also earned Grand Reserve Champion (2nd place out of all events combined).

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Diva could smell the snacks in the basket

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House Update!

Lots and lots has been done with quite a few hiccups along the way. The hurricane that never came to be put us behind schedule. All our interior doors were delivered, but the wrong style and the correct style has an ETA of October 11th. All framing is complete, walls got painted this week, floors go in next week and our cabinets are being delivered October 2nd. Painters will come back after the doors are in to install baseboard and paint all trim, baseboard and doors.

Kitchen w/ my office in the background

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Family Room - same exact paint color as the kitchen (Mindful Gray by Sherwin Williams), but in different lighting. It's the same color I have in my current house and I love it!
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Master bath - rob's vanity area, linen closet, freestanding tub area. This area is all painted, but I don't have pics yet.

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Master Bath - my vanity area and shower area that was enlarged

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Eliana's bathroom - tile!!!!

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Congrats to Eliana! That first show is always such a combination of emotions as a parent! She looks super happy and is obviously having a great time! Also congrats to you on the renovations! Everything looks so good; you’ll be moving in before you know it!
 
Hi Bree, the course map is now posted (might have been posted for a few days) for the chicago 10 mile. It's gonna be pretty flat. Looks like a true out and back. I posted more "real" looks at the lake front trail below the map. I've ran all portions of this during various races and I've done the 41st street turnaround during a 10k before. I got hit with flu part one on Tuesday and flu part 2 on Saturday so I'm officially cursed this year with colds. But I'm feeling good today and staying positive. Now let the weather stalking begin!
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The start
https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict.... 2019/6-Lakefront Trails Map - Grant Park.pdf
This will be around the 5k turnaround
https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict....nt Trails Map - Roosevelt Rd. to 31st St..pdf
Before mile 4
https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict....kefront Trails Map - 31st St. to 35th St..pdf
Turnaround somewhere round the 41st st beach likely
https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict....kefront Trails Map - 35th St. to 41st St..pdf
 
Last edited:
Hi Bree, the course map is now posted (might have been posted for a few days) for the chicago 10 mile. It's gonna be pretty flat. Looks like a true out and back. I posted more "real" looks at the lake front trail below the map. I've ran all portions of this during various races and I've done the 41st street turnaround during a 10k before. I got hit with flu part one on Tuesday and flu part 2 on Saturday so I'm officially cursed this year with colds. But I'm feeling good today and staying positive. Now let the weather stalking begin!
View attachment 438228

The start
https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict.... 2019/6-Lakefront Trails Map - Grant Park.pdf
This will be around the 5k turnaround
https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict....nt Trails Map - Roosevelt Rd. to 31st St..pdf
Before mile 4
https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict....kefront Trails Map - 31st St. to 35th St..pdf
Turnaround somewhere round the 41st st beach likely
https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict....kefront Trails Map - 35th St. to 41st St..pdf

Yay! It looks like a nice course! Hoping for cool dry weather.

I can’t believe you got sick again. Fingers crossed you stay healthy for the rest of the year!
 


Wow. The race is this weekend and other than my airfare and hotel booked I have nothing planned out. I just looked at the weather for the first time earlier today and had a heart attack when I saw it was it was 82 and humid in Chicago. It looks like a cold front should be pushing its way in and the daytime high on Saturday so far is 59 with a chance of rain in the afternoon. No clue what I’m wearing yet and I’ll probably wait until Thursday to figure it out after checking the weather. I have no restaurants picked out. I think I’ll just wing it. As for touring.....really struggling with this one. All the museums close at 5pm. I’m thinking about going to the Field Museum after the race then going to the John Hancock Tower Observation deck. My neighbor (from Chicago area) told me to go see The Bean and Navy Pier. Maybe I’ll do that Friday???? I’m usually so much better at planning these things!
 
The Hancock Tower is a must - beautiful views of the city and lake. You can't go wrong with any of the museums. Shopping on the Mag mile if you've got some money to burn.

Have fun and have a great race!
 
The Hancock Tower is a must - beautiful views of the city and lake. You can't go wrong with any of the museums. Shopping on the Mag mile if you've got some money to burn.

Have fun and have a great race!
Oddly, I think the view from the bathroom in the signature room was amazing- and less crowded than the observation deck!
 
I agree with @TheHamm. When I was in Chicago in July my friend told me to have a drink at the signature room. The drinks were similarly priced to the observation deck and is only one floor below. It was easier to get up there and I did not feel rushed. The view from the bathroom is amazing. I was also by myself and did not feel weird at all. They sat me at the bar along the window and I was able to enjoy the view. Definitely worth it.
 
The good news is that the weather is decidedly cooler here in Chicagoland today (59 at the moment) and will have similar if not cooler on raceday. I wouldn't stress yet about rain until literally the morning of because our weather is fickle when it comes to precipitation.
Now I just need to get this final mucousey chest cold thing out of my system in the next few days. The last runs have been slogs. Sometimes that's a good sign for me, slogs before good days. Fingers crossed.
 
Places I like that have "Chicago" food and good atmosphere. I'll message you my cell in case you have any questions during the weekend.

https://www.labriolacafe.com/Good deep dish with nice crust and toppings

https://www.loumalnatis.com/chicago-south-loopgood pizza in general whether you go thick crust or not. Buttery crust.

https://www.ginoseast.com/This is the one most tourists go to because they now have locations all over the US. Deep dish with a ton of sauce and cheese. Don't worry about it being touristy...it's still pretty tasty and there's multiple locations.

https://www.chicagoathletichotel.com/I believe this is where @DopeyBadger stayed during his marathon last year. My family likes to have a burger and drink at the "game room" inside, but they've got other good restaraunts in here with a very cool atmosphere.
It's by millenium park.

https://thegagechicago.com/This is another place I like in that millenium park area. Lots of hearty food and good drinks.

http://beacontavern.com/This is my current favorite place to eat in Chicago. It's really pretty atmosphere along the river but not stuffy at all. It's kind of a hidden secret but really close to popular spots for shopping by the mag mile. Near the Wrigley building. Walking along the riverwalk is great easy free thing to do if the weather is nice. This is where I had dinner before the marathon last year.


https://stansdonuts.com/Donuts. There's two spots near-ish where we run. Donuts.

I have a million more suggestions but I was trying to keep them in the area around where you will be roundabout. I'm sure I'll think of more as soon as I hit send :)
 
I believe this is where @DopeyBadger stayed during his marathon last year. My family likes to have a burger and drink at the "game room" inside, but they've got other good restaraunts in here with a very cool atmosphere.
It's by millenium park.

Yes, I did. Very hipster atmosphere if you like that kind of thing.

Food-wise, we did Stan's Doughnuts, RainForest Cafe (skip it), Wildberry Pancakes (was great), Sienna Tavern (highly recommend), RPM Italian (very good), and Shake Shack at the hotel and was ok).
 
Thank you for the food ideas. Mmmm....I’ve been craving donuts so it’s quite the coincidence you posted a donut place!!!!! I never eat donuts so no idea why I’m craving them.

Sitting in the airport now waiting to board. This morning’s run was blah because my watch was being stupid. I had to restart it twice to get it to work.

@DopeyBadger Strategy is to keep it slower in the first two miles to get my legs warmed up and then pick up the pace.
 
@DopeyBadger Strategy is to keep it slower in the first two miles to get my legs warmed up and then pick up the pace.

Still aiming for a possible Corral C POT? Something around a 1:35 (9:33 min/mile)? Or aiming for the 1:32 (9:14 min/mile) as the plan predicts?
 
I’m going after that 1:32. I want it.

Well then go get it! :car:

For a 10 mile race, I'd say be no more than maybe 1-1.5% off pace from the start. So something like 9:20-9:22 as your slow start for getting the legs warmed up. Mile 2-3 is a 60 foot gain and loss, so something like +11 seconds on GAP. So that would make the 9:14 min/mile something more like a 9:25 min/mile.

1 - 9:20
2 - 9:20
3 - 9:25 (hill)
4 - 9:14
5 - 9:14
6 - 9:14
7 - 9:14
8 - 9:19 (hill again)
9 - 9:08
10 - 9:08
 

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