Two Races In One Day

I'm having a great summer so far. The weather has given us plenty of cool running days and I'm really getting excited about the next few weeks. I haven't run a 5K in years and I headed up to Palatine Sunday, August 17th for the Jogginforthenoggin' 5K. It will be fun to run in honor of my dad and see if my legs still know how to run fast. A fun race for a great cause for sure. If you're in the Chicago area, please join us.

Then I'm going to attempt to run two races at the same time in two different cities! Holy bib numbers Batman! How can that be done? Easy...I registered for the virtual Nike+ Human Race 10K on August 31st. Nike is hosting the world's largest 10K in 25 cities around the globe...ON THE SAME DAY! Since I am going to be speaking at and running the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach that weekend, I am going to strap on my Nike+ system, put on my RnR bib and run two races at once! I'll finish my half on the beach (the best way to end the summer...), log in to my Nike+ account and log mile Human Race 10K miles too! Two races, one day, three great causes.


Life is good.

Jenny

Great Alaskan Marathon Cruise

Well, we're back from the last frontier and getting ready for our next adventure, the Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon. But before I move on with CDC, I must do a recap.

Every once in awhile I find myself surrounded by an amazing "group" of people. Meaning everyone in the group is simply amazing.

Sometimes it is a small group and other times, like on our cruise, it is a larger group. In either case, the group is fueled by the collection of amazing energy that comes from each person. I like to call it "karma." The best way to describe this journey, the Great Alaskan Maritime Marathon was a fun adventure with some of the greatest folks I'd ever want to meet. We had runners from Thailand, Australia, Canada and all over the nation. All of whom immediately bonded at the cocktail party on our very first evening together.

I think it was because everyone was willing to put their preconceived expectations aside and went with the flow. We set up the staged marathon so that in each port you run a race...and by the end of the trip you complete 26.2 miles (the fun way:). That, in and of itself is a challenge, but we added to the adventure by asking them to gently step outside their comfort zones for the week. To try something new and challenge themselves in a less traditional way.  From learning to navigate, to running on a tough trail, everyone took on the challenge, embraced the path less traveled and grew from it in the end. BTW, I am a firm believer that you practice what you preach so I made myself wear pretty high heals (okay, high for me) and formal dresses most of the week (completely out of my comfort zone). It was tough, but I loved every minute. Except maybe when my feet began to talk to me.

Anyway, I am grateful that I get to do what I love for a living and others are willing to adventure on with me. It was a privilege to spend the week with such a great group of runners and walkers and we all now have a lot of wonderful memories to boot!

The Great Alaskan Marathon Cruise will set sail again in June, 2010. John and I hope you can make it!

Happy Trails,

Jenny