Change of Scenery

As much as I love New York City, like most New Yorkers, I need to escape every so often. That's what I'm doing this weekend. I planned a very long weekend visit to Chicago to meet up with some friends doing the Chicago Marathon.

I was feeling a bit nostalgic about not doing the race this year and that hit me even moreso when I arrived. I love marathon weekend. There is energy everywhere and it makes you excited to be part of it. Plus the weather was beautiful so I couldn't help feeling a little cheated (again) about last year's scorching hot weather. But I was happy for those running the race.

I'm staying with a friend I met at Ironman Wisconsin and he happens to live just a few blocks from the hotel I've stayed at for the last two marathons I ran here. We went for a short run today along Lake Michigan. It was my first run since the Army 10 and thankfully nothing was hurting. He's faster than me so I ended up running a much quicker pace than usual, which is great for shorter distances. I tend to get a little lazy on my own. I wish I had a running partner in New York.

The run along the lake is really beautiful. It was crowded because it was a Friday afternoon, but it was still one of the best runs I've done lately. A change of scenery always makes running feel so much better.

I'm assuming Saturday will be slow in preparation for the race on Sunday. Even though I kind of wish I were running, I'm looking forward to supporting for once. It will be a nice change.

Running
Distance - 5.44 miles
Time - 44:25