Chicago Run

I really liked Chicago.  It was brighter and cleaner to me than other cities I’ve visited.  I’m sure there are areas for bums, but we only saw a few crazies while we were there.  It was nothing like San Francisco’s beggar problem.  

I liked that in the midst of concrete and steal, there was the water.  While you couldn’t pay me a years salary to jump into it, there was something soothing about having a river nearby.  I never had that big city, “I’m lost and out of my bubble” feeling.  The river and lake made navigation easy!!  

Much to Brent’s dismay, I got up and went running the first morning we were there.  And I’m glad I did - it was the fastest run of the year, even if unintentional.  I held my small camera and headed off at slow trot down the Riverfront trail.  I was aiming for a mile and half.  I jogged and stopped every once in a while to snap a quick picture and then ran some more.  I made it all the way down the trail to the marina and continued south down the Lakefront trail.  

I got a great morning view of the marina and the skyline.  Running was a piece of cake.  I was a little overdressed and a bit toasty but the running part was easy!  At what I thought was my turn around point I checked my GPS tracker to make sure I was close to a ¾ mile and I was at 1.25 miles!  I turned around and headed back to the hotel.  2.55 miles in 27 minutes.  A ten and half minute mile, including  stopping to snap a dozen pictures or so.  I think it’s safe to say I could shave two minutes off the overall time due to pictures and checking my GPS.  That would make my time 25 minutes and a 9.8 minute mile!! NEVER in my life have I ran that fast!

I chalked it up to having a good week of running before traveling and a few days of rest.  I think running at sea level certainly made a difference too!  It had me thinking about tackling the Chicago Marathon or Half Marathon some day.  I may just have to add that to my running life list!!