Win a FREE entry to the Chicago Half Marathon, Field Trips, CARA member runs

So this is a bit of a mash up of a blog post covering three things:

One

Chicago Running Bloggers: Win a FREE entry to the Chicago Half Marathon!: The 17th annual Chicago Half Marathon is coming this Sunday, September 8. And YOU have the chance to run it for free! ... so says the Chicago Running Bloggers page. So one of the ways I (and you) can qualify to win the entry is to post on your blog. So there you go. That's what I'm doing. Even if I don't win this entry, I'll probably still run the race as this is the half marathon Mr. H. and I identified as our fall race, but if I win a free entry, even better.

Two 

I'm missing my son's first field trip. He was pretty excited leaving the house in his tie-dyed shirt that all the kids made at school and wear on their field trips. I feel bad about missing it, but I know there will be many many chances in the future for further field trips. I think if I make one a year then I'll be good and not feel like a complete failure as a mother. Of course, I didn't get a picture of him modeling his t-shirt, which he thought was really cool and he had an ever so slight temp when he went to school this morning but other wise was in totally fine spirits so I probably am actually the worst mother in the world anyway. Or at least in the running.

Three

And back to actual running, how's that for a segue, last night Mr. H. participated in his first CARA run as an employees. It was the June Member Appreciation Fun run. Baby H. and I tagged along and had dinner and then played at the near by park while Mr. H. and the members ran. It was fun and I'm looking forward to joining them next month if we can figure out a way to (a) have someone watch Baby H. during the run or (b) get our jogger to wherever the run is. I probably should officially become a CARA member - you know, support my husband and all.

Run for Boston 5k - and other stuff

I have to get better about blogging the day of my races, but honestly, these last few days have been so busy, I've barely had time to sit down and do anything, much less write. 

So, on Saturday, my sister and I went out to Libertyville to run the Run for Boston 5k. The race was was a partnership between the Chicago Running Bloggers community and Muddy Monk Trail Running. I thought this might actually be a Muddy Monk type trail race, but my sister assured me it would not. I wasn't too thrilled about getting up and driving an hour north of the city, but it was early and there was little traffic, so it didn't take us that long.

Even though that photo looks a little drab and cloudy, it actually was pretty nice weather for running. It was drizzly  but not full out raining. And it was warm. The thing about running in the rain is you never feel over heated - which is nice.

Somehow I ran a 8:44 first mile. I knew I was running fast because I could see my sister pretty much the entire way. She usually smiles, says "have a nice run" and then I don't see her till the finish line. I slowed down for the second and third mile, figuring if I kept my pace somewhere around 9:30s for both of those miles, I'd still beat my fastest 5k time by quite a bit. And I did - or would have - but unfortunately, the course ran slightly short of 3.1 miles. I crossed the finish line at 27:18 having run 2.9 miles. So even though I didn't have my fastest 5k ever, I still did almost 3 miles running an average pace of 9:08 - which I am very happy about. The course even had a few hills, so that makes me even happier.

After the race there was plenty of food including hot pizza and snacks and 312 beer. We even got a water bottle as part of the post race goodies, which is great since I really need a new water bottle considering all the cycling I've been doing lately. As you know I was the happy recipient of a new road bike for Mother's Day. The primary reason I wanted one was because I foolishly signed up to do the RAIN (that's Ride Across INdiana ride) with my dad and my sister's boyfriend. That's 160 miles on a bike in one day. I am going to be optimistic and say somehow I will dig deep inside and figure out a way to peddle the full distance, but I also wouldn't be surprised if I hopped in the sag wagon a few of those miles. Really, anything over 100 miles is going to be a pretty big accomplishment considering the level of training my butt has. I did go out for a 40 mile ride yesterday and I've already put over 80 miles on my bike, so it's not like I'm sitting around doing nothing. 

All in all, this past few days has been a good few days of running and cycling. Throw in an early morning run with Sara today, and I'm ready for a rest. But I think I promised someone else I'd do an early morning bike ride tomorrow, so that rest may have to wait until another day.