Livin' the Dream in Lima

Whew! What a busy  weekend! The fun type of busy, the best type. As I mentioned in my last weekly recap , my Business Man & I headed to Chi-town this weekend to partake in the St. Patty's Day festivities and to run a lil' half-marathon on Sunday morning. We had an absolute blast, and the race was the cherry on top to the weekend. (For me, at least.) The inaugural Chicago Get Lucky 7km & 21km  started at Grant Park right on the lake, and ran down the lakefront path on and out & back course. Who could have a bad run when your view is this?! The race didn't start until 9am, which would have been pretty awesome for March, weather-wise, but the freakish weather we've been having meant that it was pretty hot. The first 7 miles or so were into the wind and not too bad, but once we turned around with the wind at our backs, you could definitely feel the heat.  The race was pretty small (for Chicago) - about 375 half-marathoners and 800 7km runners....

Yesterday afternoon, I raced the BBO 4-miler in a nearby little town. It was a beautiful  day for a race - 50*F and sunny. Can't get much better than that in early March. I ran this race last year , and it was outrageously  windy. Like enough to make you feel like you were running in place. This year, it wasn't as bad. I had a lofty goal of PRing (25:16) in this race, but wasn't sure it would happen. My PR was run on an all downhill course, and although this course was completely flat, flat is still harder than downhill!  Sporting the pink & black attire. And looking like a fool with a silly pose. So glamorous. I warmed up with a couple easy miles, did a few drills, and a couple stride-outs. There was no chip timing, so I made sure to line up right at the front with all the boys. I'd like to think I intimidated them with my pink shoes, but I'm pretty sure it was probably the other way around. Heh.  When the gun went off, it seemed like the ent...

After racing the Jingle Bell Run 5km in December, I knew I wanted to race another 5km ASAP. The unfortunate thing about winter is that there are just not a lot of 5kms in Ohio! I guess people don’t want to be out and about in the cold & snowy weather. (Not that we’ve had all too much of it.) So, I had the bright idea to race a college indoor meet unattached. Hopefully it would be competitive, and I knew the course would be accurate. 25 laps on a 200m track = exactly 5km. I discovered a meet at Ohio Northern University on February 4 (that’s today!), and emailed the coach to see if I could race. Obviously, he let me, because that’s where I spent the afternoon. Lined up at the start. I'm second from the right. A little sad to not be sporting the GC orange & black. I had my eyes on a sub-19:00 5km today. (My college PR was 19:09 back in May of 2010, almost 2 years ago!) I’ve been feeling really strong the past several weeks and was excited to see what I could...