pollygolightly

Sunday, October 22nd, I traveled to Chicago to run the Frank Lloyd Wright 10k. I was supposed to be at Marine Corps Marathon cheering on friends, but several of them deferred, and with all of the drama in my life I chose to stay local. We got there early and picked up our packets - they had already run out of the specialized bags (old t-shirts made into totes), but we got our long-sleeved shirt and our bib. We had about 2 hours before the race started, so lots of napping was involved. The race is on quiet streets in a beautiful residential area. I spent some time warming up and checking out the rest of the back of the pack. Finally it was time to go, so they said go and I was over the start timer just a minute after - much different than 2 weeks ago when it was over an hour after the official start of the race.  The race course is well marked, and there were aid stations nearly every mile it seemed. The weather was beautiful, sunny and a breeze (which was welcome due to the humidity).

I did it! 26.2 long miles.... The weekend was all about enjoying the experience and spending time with friends. oh yeah, and getting through 26.2 miles of Chicago streets. I've been rather anxious about the race, I worry about time limits and being swept onto the sidewalk...of not having a finish line to cross. Elina offered to run with me since my previous plan didn't work out. She assured me she wasn't worried about a finish time, but that she would push me to try and make my goal. I saw so many friends, and knew so many people running it is hard to remember everyone! Friday Bonnie picked me up and we drove into Chicago, we got checked into the hotel and then off to the Expo!  This is probably the largest Expo I've ever been to, so much to see! Packet pickup was very smooth and well organized. Bonnie and I wandered around checking out all of the booths for a bit. Oofos and Nike were my favorite booths! We even got to see Deena Kastor! Then we were of