Chicago Style

Jeff reminded me that I have to put up a Chicago post. Since it has been over a month since that trip it is probably past time to get that done. After finishing the Birkie marathon I was ready to take a break from racing, but there were still all kinds of exciting races going on, and I couldn't just sit back and watch.

So instead I donned my cow suit, hopped on a bike, and pedaled around to dance, yell, and ring cowbells at the passing racers. The first event was the Twin Cities Marathon. My friends Erik and Elspeth were running, as well as many others I knew including Claire, Beth Anne, Jake, and Kesha. So Nate, Eva, Jeff, Greta, and I all formed a bike posse to ride around and cheer. Our friends Dave and Emily found us along the way and joined in too. Elspeth had a great race and crushed her PR. Beth Anne got her Boston Qualifier, and Claire finished her first marathon in great form.

This served as a great warmup for the following weekend, when Nate, Nichole, and I made the trek down to Chicago to cheer for Jeff in the Chicago Marathon. I got in a nice run the day before the race, doing some exploring up and down the lakefront before heading to the expo.

 I ran through a cross country race that was going on in a park along the lake. It was fun to think back (way back) to my cross country days and where running has taken me to since then.

I met Jeff and the Poraths at the expo and we had fun wandering around and looking at all the running related paraphernalia on offer. Here are a few pictures I took.

After the Expo we headed back to the hotel then wandered out to find some food. We didn't wander too far, because we wanted to keep Jeff's legs as fresh as possible for the race the next day.

 Race morning weather was great. A bit windy perhaps, but that's kind of a thing in Chicago I hear. Jeff got off to a solid start and was looking relaxed cruising through the first few miles.

Things didn't remain so rosy however. He started to have some stomach issues and wasn't taking on fuel, which started to cause it's own issues later in the race. It ended up to be a pretty rough day for him, but he gutted out a 2:47 anyway, a perfectly decent performance. Here's a picture of him in a good pack around the halfway mark.

And off by himself a couple miles later.

Nate, Nichole, and I had a blast cycling around in our cow costumes and cheering. This is my 3rd time going down to Chicago to ride around and cheer for marathon runners, and every time the racer I've gone to watch has had a rough day. Maybe I'm just bad luck. I've had a blast every time though, it's a lot of fun to get to bike around on urban roads when there is little to no traffic because the race shuts down so many roads.

Jeff's back on the training bandwagon already with his sights set on Grandma's marathon next summer. We will have a good crew up there with Jeff, Marco, and myself all aiming to go under that 2:40 barrier and my sister hoping to bring her PR down quite a bit too. Grandma's is a great marathon, and this is their 40th year, so it should be a great party up there come June.