Race Recap: Super Bears Shuffle 5k - September 10, 2015

 Apparently I've decided to conduct further research and experimentation on what happens when a guy my size runs a 5k after training approximately zero times for it. Round two of the research happened last night at Soldier Field in Chicago for the Super Bears Shuffle 5k.

                                             

Let me preface this by saying that I am a HUGE Green Bay Packers fan. I only paid money to do this race because I lost a bet to my brother in-law (a Bears fan). In fact, I'm pretty sure the Bears shirt we got was slightly burning my skin over the duration of the evening... Not really. Maybe kind of.

Like any race held near Soldier Field, parking cost much more than one would want to pay, but I guess it comes with the territory. We walked out of the parking garage to this scene:

                                             

As you can see, there was orange and blue everywhere. Ick. We arrived MUCH too early, so we decided to walk around the perimeter of Soldier Field. I wasn't terribly excited about that decision since I wanted to be on my feet as little as possible leading up to the race, but we did it anyway. During our pre-race walk, I actually ran into two, brave souls decked out in full-on Packers gear. I gave them a huge "Go Pack!" and explained that I lost a bet, but truly was a Packers fan. They gave me a high five and said they were sorry I was in my predicament. I'm sure they caught an ample amount of crap throughout the night. I hope they made it out unscathed.

As you can see, they had huge "BEAR DOWN" letters displayed on the grounds, but the rest of the area wasn't too impressive. They had an inflatable game where you could kick field goals, a DJ playing music, a selfie station (isn't that what your iPhone is for?) and a concession truck for 'beverages.' The Bears drumline was a nice touch. I didn't see Nick Cannon though...

As we all lined up for the race, the racers got a quick pep talk from local FOX sportscaster Lou Canellis. The emcee asked him why the Bears were going to beat the Packers this weekend, and he - no lie - dodged the question and talked about how the team would grow over the next, few years under their new head coach. I had a nice chuckle at that one. As the starting horn sounded, a Bears hype video appeared on a screen set up by the start line, and fireworks shot off as the runners headed out onto the course. But I was already immersed in my Dave Matthews Band playlist by that point.

                                                       

Going into this race, I decided that I wasn't going to start off by seeing how far I could run without stopping. That's what I did during my last 5k and it came back to bite me. This time around, I decided to voluntarily alternate between running and walking, so I could make sure there was some left in the tank for a strong finish.

Along the route, there were activities set up for the runners that mimicked NFL practice drills. You could run through a gauntlet of tackling dummies, high-step through a row of tires or do some cone drills. They also had a handful of large banners set up for you to take selfies with some of the Bears players. Unsurprisingly, Jay Cutler was not one of the banners featured.

In the end, my strategy paid off and I was able to "sprint" the last leg of the race to finish three and a half minutes better than my time back in late-July! Since I trained just as much as the last one, I'm thinking that whatever weight I've lost so far during Whole30 may be to thank for getting me to the finish line faster. Or maybe the fact that I just wanted to get away from all the Bears fans A.S.A.P.  Here's my time, I managed to finish 2,001st out of 2,600 or so.



In the end, I got another medal to add to my collection, but I never plan on wearing the Bears shirt again. In related news, congrats to my wife in receiving a new shirt! Let me just wash it first... All in all, it was a fun night with my brother in-law, and I'm glad the only photo he got of me was a blurry one. Go Pack Go!

Did you participate in this race too? What'd you think? Which 5k should I look into doing next?

Every Day I'm (Santa) Hustlin'

I know it's been awhile since I've last written a beautiful blog post for all you cool cats, but have no fear! I am still alive and kicking and running races - just at slower speeds than I should be...

Today I'm poking my head in to tell you about the Santa Hustle 5k that I ran in downtown Chicago on December 1st. It was an unseasonably 50+ degrees, which was warm enough for me to don a simple pair or shorts and a t-shirt. Over the years I've developed some thick, Wisconsin skin that helps me deal with the colder temps. Works wonders on days like that when you're outside from 8:00-11:30am!

Let me paint the scene for you - imagine standing atop a hill and looking out across a sea of 8,000 runners all decked out in red shirts, red hats and long, white beards. Huge, inflatable reindeer, snowmen and Santas also drape the landscape - not to mention the pen of REAL reindeer that showed up for the festivities as well! Welcome to the Santa Hustle - Chicago edition.

I find myself here because a couple months ago, a group of my co-workers decided to rally up some folks to run this all together. When all was said and done, 23 people had registered for this race! Some of which are avid, marathon and half-marathon runners, some of which are smokers who haven't run in who knows how long, and even some casual race runners who just want to have some fun.

Leading up to the race, I found myself flip-flopping on how I wanted to run this race. I could do one of two things. I could do what I do in every other race - push it and try to finish in the best time possible or I could fool around with my coworkers and not care what my time is. Up until the air horn blew, I was planning on having a fun time on the course. But once I started, I couldn't follow through with it. Too competitive, I guess.

Since I had made the decision to push it for this race, I abandoned the idea of visiting the sugar cookie and M&Ms stations along the route - which were fun, creative additions - but not something my body was really in the mood for. It was too busy getting angry at me for not training outdoors on concrete prior to the race - my shins really paid the price for that... I also ditched the beard at the start line and the hat around mile two.

I crossed the finish line a few seconds past 33 minutes - right around what I was aiming for. In part because I'd failed to run the entire week leading up the race. In the week before that, I would show up to the gym, hop on the treadmill and not have a training plan of any sort. So for me to expect anything faster than 11 minute miles would have just been straight up silly.

But I had a great time with my co-workers on this beautiful, Saturday morning! This is a race that was a lot of fun, and would definitely recommend it to everyone. They have a handful of these races all over the country in the month of December, so check it out! If nothing else, find the race near you and laugh at all the fools and their stupid costumes! I'm just glad our race was on December 1st and not the 22nd like in Milwaukee. Brr!

(mini) SPRING BREAK!

As a "working adult" with a handful of jobs I don't find myself with many breaks in my schedule other than on or around major holidays. So when I get the opportunity to take a full day off to do a "vacation-y" type of thing, you better believe I'm going to be excited about it. Especially when I get to spend that day with a very special person.

On Tuesday, Karin and I went to the Museum of Science & Industry to spend the day together - a day away from work, school and wedding planning (for the most part). We enjoyed a nice breakfast to start the day then headed downtown. While Karin had been to the museum years ago, I'd never formally been there as a museum patron. I'd had a Trinity formal there and also filmed a documentary there, but I'd never gotten to just walk around and experience it.

A couple videos from the museum - standing under falling, visible CO2 and in a 80 mph wind tunnel.

Despite the slightly painful three hours of walking (Karin had worked out the day before), we enjoyed seeing a lot of pretty cool things like an indoor tornado, baby chickens hatching, a game you could play with your mind and even blocks that you could use to play music. We also attended an OmniMax showing of "Vortex 2" - a documentary all about chasing tornados. All in all, it was a great day where I could get out from behind my desk, away from my computer and spend some quality time with my future wife.