Kelly and I laughed--half depressed--in the car during afternoon rush hour yesterday that the travel time from inner suburb to downtown Chicago and the travel time on Sunday morning to a race 30 miles away on the North Shore will probably take about the same amount of time. Gotta love Chicago expressway traffic. Actually, travel time at 5:30am on a Sunday morning will probably be faster to the race. But if I wanted to pick up my packet anywhere nearby, it had to be at the west Lincoln Park location of the running store.
Just like race morning, I volunteered to go by myself to packet pickup, but appreciate the company. It maybe wasn't the most pleasant journey in stop-and-go with the kids, finding parking, then quickly back in the car. By the time we got home it was Cole's bedtime. Kelly was so sweet, however, insisting that someone who puts the hard work in to run 13.1 miles deserves support. She'll have her hands full with the kids while I race. Luckily, we should have babysitter-family available in October for the big race.
Once we got Cole settled down from wanting to play when we walked in the door, the familiar summer smell of the fireplace in the courtyard and the sound of conversation came in the screen door. Kelly joined the newlyweds and other neighbors on the patio then eventually came back in for Leda and me. We used to spend frequent summer nights in the back with a pitcher of sangria and a pizza. Last summer there wasn't much action though--kids and pregnancy tend to cut that back. Though our neighbors weren't out there either. This summer we're making more of an attempt to be social. There's a bbq planned for July 4 already. That's one of the things we really love about our building is that we (used to) know everybody. Times have changed and there are a lot of faces we don't recognize who come in and out of the gate though.
Well, wish me luck. It's supposed to be hot and the race organizers have already issued a warning about the weather. As my first time at this distance it's hard to know what to expect...I can obviously do the miles. The question is more about previous 13.1 always being the halfway point in a longer race for me. Plus this course is "new" to me even though I know the area. I'm pasta-loaded and have my bland pre-race meal ready for Saturday and plenty of oatmeal for Sunday before we leave. Gotta stick to the routine. The wildcards...and real reason I wanted to do this race...is to try the new hydration and nutrition strategy. We'll see how it goes and whether adjustments need to be made for fall.