Tag Archives: Lakefront Path

Lakefront 50K Race Report ……

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Saturday, brought us a beautiful day in the CHI and my 2nd ultra in the form of the Lakefront 50K.  This was not a trail ultra but a nice flat event on Chicago’s Lakefront Trail.  Great ultra for first timers or those worried about covering the distance because you are not isolated on some crazy trail out in the woods but constantly surrounded by other people, in a populated area.  Plus there are three loops, so you actually pass by your car 3x.  This could be viewed as a positive or a negative depending on how you look at it!  Smile  But on the up side, you get to pass your friends over and over again, whether they are in front or behind you and that’s a BIG win in my book!

2nd loop

The reason I signed up for this race was because my friends’ Mike (Run Nerd’s Rock) and Michelle (This Momma Runs – green shorts above) were running the event.  I figured, “why not?” so I signed up!  Then I later found out that several of the ladies from my running club (Frankfort New Lenox Running Club) were also signed up.  This added to my excitement, despite my low mileage throughout March.  And the bonus to running with Mike, when he is fast enough to literally run circles around the rest of us, is that we made let him take all the pics and we just focused on the run.  So pretty much every pic in this post was taken by Mike.  Thanks, Mike!!! 

collage

The springtime Lakefront 50K is 3 loops.  It’s on the north side of the city, starts at Foster Avenue Beach in Lincoln Park and weaves south to the North Beach boathouse (then back).   The start line was steps away from the lake; however, the Lakefront Trail ends on the north side of the city, just past Montrose Harbor.  Therefore, it was necessary to weave thru a few parks on crushed limestone trails before hitting the actual paved Lakefront Trail which has made Chicago so popular.   The route was marked VERY well with orange painted arrows.   There was never a question about the course and I was super impressed by the meticulous attention to detail because I have been dropped from a CARA pace group lost in this area in the past.   

Aid stations were about every 2.5 miles.  One at the start/finish.  One at the midpoint of the loop.  One at the turnaround.  At each turnaround location, we had to check in and give them our bib number to ensure that we had ran the entire 3 loops.  The aid stations were stocked with:  water, gatorade, coke, sweet pickles, giant olives, twizzlers, yogurt covered raisins, m&m’s (with and without peanuts), goldfish crackers, potato chips, shoe string snacks, and bananas.  I’m sure I’ve missed something but there was a lot of different options.  Bathrooms at each aid station too.  Plus we had a drop bag at the start/finish on a tarp which we could access each time we passed.  Super simple.  Super organized.  Very well ran event.  Plus we had the added bonus of breathtaking views of the city and Lake Michigan!

lakefront heading south

This was  a fun run.  Not a race for me.  Just a run in the park with my friends.  That’s how I approached it mentally and I tried to stay slow throughout so that I could finish strong.  I won’t say the 3 loops weren’t daunting, especially at the beginning but by the time that third loop rolled around I was ready to be done and it was nice knowing that we “only” had 5 miles out, then back, to put it in the done column.  I even had a little bit left at the end, which is nice when I can finish strong.  I definitely feel as if I’m becoming a stronger runner, mentally as much as physically.  Thanks to Marty & Jill who were waiting at the finish for the F’N Runners and caught this pic of me running to the finishing!

Finish

Some of the FNRC ladies after the event.  From left:  Melanie (See Mommy Race  – ran her first 50K!!), Julie M, Judy F, Jill Y (Jilly Runs – ran her 20 mile training run THEN came down to see her girls finish the ultra!), Me & Amanda W (Get to Goal who supported us throughout the day!). 

FNRC

Myself, Mike & Michelle after the finish:

me mike michelle_done

The swag:

swag

I think I paid  $55 for this race when I registered.  Big bang for the buck.  However, the event comes with a race “course” that is filled with extras.  Everyone shares the trail with the local runners, bikers and walkers.  Kinda cool but if you are in it to race it, then it might be annoying.  And the bikers are fast and certainly irritated by the extra traffic on the trial.  Other than the bikers, everyone was super supportive and it really was a great day! 

** Happy Running ** Amanda – TooTallFritz **

Women Rock Chicago Half Marathon

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image

Today was the inaugural Women Rock Chicago race series presented by Team Ortho.  The series offered a half marathon, 10K and 5K so basically you and ALL your girlfriends could go and enjoy one of the distances.  The event had a fun theme and provided  AHHHHMAZING swag so that drew in a lot of ladies for the inaugural event!  Since I ran specifically for the swag, I’ll just put that up now and get it out of the way.  Women Rock Tech full zip jacket, sliver finishers pendant with a small ruby & large “W” (valued at $110), and a champagne glass.

Womens Rock Chicago_SWAG   Womens Rock Chicago_necklace

The race was a women’s themed event so my girlfriends and I used that as an excuse to dust off our sparkle skirts!!  Michelle, Nicki, Dawn, April & I showing off our “sparkle”.  🙂

Womens Rock Chicago_group

The half marathoner started at 8am with the 10K and 5K participants following at 8:30 am.  The course was the typical Chicago Lakefront Trail run so I fully anticipated it to be 1) crowded, 2)  slow and 3) have lots of newbie runners that are “all in” for theme more so than the running.  I was not disappointed.  I was not running for time, in fact needed to keep myself in check and run a controlled, focused race that didn’t push my endurance or stir up too much lactic acid so that I can run our F’N 20 miler tomorrow with my run club.  I managed to do that and to be honest the crowds helped.  I did find myself in the outside lane all most of the time passing a lot of other runners but when I looked at my watch, I was in a comfortable range, felt good and was definitely controlled so just kept moving forward and passing.  In fact, I kinda chuckled once the half marathoners ran up on the back of the 10K participants.  I knew they had joined us and that did in fact add to the congestion but they were staying to the right so I just kept moving past them.  I passed a couple ladies and one said to the other, “Wow, they are running fast!”.  Her friend said, “Yes, THEY are running the half”.  Made me chuckle cuz the runners I know have a much faster 10K than half marathon pace.  However, the new people on the trail were refreshing and I enjoyed interacting with them and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED seeing all the sparkle skirts, tutus & my F’N run club friends who came out to run!!

The aid stations were plentiful, every 2-3 miles.  They offered water and a blue electrolyte drink.  As much as I like blue ANYTHING, I passed due to my sensitive tummy.  Lots of potties too.  Volunteers were plentiful but some of the aid stations were short.  I had to backtrack one time to get water.

Typical Lakefront Trail view.  Beautiful.  Some shade and a breeze once we headed back north.    A course that was a bit of a maze for the half marathoners:   One sidewalk loop around Grant Park to get onto the Lakefront Trail heading north, turnaround at the Riverwalk (just south of Navy Pier), run south to 31st Street Harbor, then back north to the Riverwalk, then return to Grant Park to run the sidewalk loop again to the finish.  No my favorite course by far.  A bit of confusion at the end once we hit Grant Park, especially toward the end when the crowds thinned out for the half.  However, overall it was a decent race. 

Bottom line, I’m a ROAD RUNNER for a reason.  I prefer a fast street route where we bust thru the CHI like the pros.  Most of the themed races are designed for the masses, not for running fast.  I wouldn’t run this race if my objective was to run fast (between the race participants, the bikers, the normal runners, dog walkers and rollerbladers it was VERY busy).  This is a race designed for FUN so just enjoy it!

Best part, hanging with my friends at the finish!

Womens Rock Chicago_me & nicki_champagne  Womens Rock Chicago_champagne

** Women Rock ** Amanda – TooTallFritz **

Like a Ton of Bricks…..

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Yesterday was a great day for running in the CHI with temps in the low 50s around lunchtime.  I wanted to head out to see if I could get a few photos of the flowers and trees which are starting to bloom.  This is an exciting time for me, possibly because I am a springtime baby, I definitely love this time of year the most!

My first stop was at Millennium Park because Hubby called my cell as I was passing by.

Soon the fountains will be turned on and you won’t be able to pass this area without hearing the squeals of laughing children playing in the water, awaiting the spitting fountain of water out of the “faces” and then the waterfall from the top of these towers.  It’s a lot of fun for young and old alike and always makes me smile when the fountains are on and alive with activity.There are always various pieces of abstract art displayed in the park.  The art pieces change periodically and add a different flavor to the environment with each new exhibit. 

Once I hit the lakefront, I ran south toward McCormick.  It’s less crowded that way, has more foliage, has a little gravel path at the side for softer surface running and also passes all the museums. 

Monroe Harbor:

Path beside Burnham Harbor:

This last photo is pretty much where the fun ended.  I turned around shortly after this because I didn’t want to run too far.  My legs are still a bit tight and fatigued from the Shamrock Shuffle so I have been trying to get in a few miles this week but not get crazy yet.  When I made the flip, I was back in this same area, running on the left side of this photo, in the crushed limestone area (off of the black top) and I tripped.  I was looking at the ground like always so was definitely focused on the task at hand.  No iPod.  No distraction.  No excuse.  I stubbed my toe on “something” and went down like a ton of bricks.   Since I was in mid stride and was running a decent pace, I was immediately airborne.  There was no catching myself, I was going down.  I put my hands out, one of which was carrying my phone, realized I was traveling to fast for this to turn into anything but a face plant so opted for a tumble roll to save face….as if that were even possible at this point.  The good news, I rolled, got up, brushed off and was unharmed other than a few grass stains on my hands and Aby’s new Fort2Base half zip which I had stolen plus a few clover leaves stuck in the case of my phone, which I did not drop.

Of course, I immediately wondered what made me trip but by the time I brushed off, removed the impacted dirt and clover leaves from my phone took off the grass stained half zip and tied it around my waist, there were people coming down the path.  At this point, I opted to just RUN so that I possibly didn’t have to talk to them about WHY I fell.  Who knows but when Ms. TooTall goes down, there aren’t any ballerina type graceful moves, its full force LIKE A TON OF BRICKS.  Thank goodness for the tumble roll.  Thank goodness I ran south instead of north so I wasn’t swimming in Lake Michigan instead of brushing off a few dirt and grass stained spots!  Thank goodness I wasn’t in a group run where I would have most likely taken out Aurelia and Susan too!  

I would also like to add that through all of these acrobatics, the damn PunkeeLove Headband did NOT move!  No joke.  I knew they were awesome and have been wearing the ones that I bought at the expo on every run but this really made me a believer.  There is your next giveaway:  PunkeeLove Headbands!  The package is in the mail, I’ll post it as soon as it arrives.  Stay tuned because you NEED a few of these headbands!  Here is a pic of my green one below.  I also have a double strand red/gold one which I wore yesterday.  I was told the double strand bands should be up on the website this week.

I also squeezed in a quick swim last night which was much less dramatic.  I just tried to focus on getting my rhythm back and using the full length of my arms to not “short” my stroke (thanks, Jackie!!).  My main swim goal for the year is bilateral breathing but I did not work on that yesterday, just focused on my stroke.  I swam 40 laps which is 1000 yards or 0.567 miles.  I normally swim 80 laps but swimming is like everything else and I need to get acclimated and build my endurance.  It will take a couple of weeks and I should be back to 80 laps per swim.  The 40 laps took me approximately 23 minutes.   The 80 should be right around 45 minutes once I’m reacclimated. 

If you want real details on swimming and proper technique, go over and check out Kelly the Culinarian’s post on her first swim lesson.  My approach to swimming is a lot like Dori from Finding Nemo:  Just Keep Swimming.

“Run & TRI”way fashion for the day:  Fort2Base half zip; Athleta Relay Capri (best capri’s EVER!), PunkeeLove Headband, SkirtSports.com  TRI Tank, Speedo Vanquisher goggles (from SwimOutlet.com), Swim Cap – Freebie from USAT.  I actually never buy swim caps because I get a free one in every race so I just keep them and use those in the pool.  I don’t have a brand preference, just use the freebies.

What did you do yesterday?  Any trouble staying on your feet lately?  Do you fall down gracefully or like a ton of bricks like me?

Happy Running & TRIing!                                                                                             Amanda – TooTallFritz