I'm back!

So the race is over. Phew!! Here are a few of the highlights:

It was really, really hot. Like Atlanta hot. In the summer. The high in Chicago that day hit 93, and I am pretty sure that it was around 85 by the time I finished.

When I read forest preserve, I thought there would be lots of trees and maybe even dirt trails for much of this course. I was so wrong. Open concrete. Again, soooooooo hot!

All in all it was a good race though. Considering the heat, I feel very proud about my overall time (2:42). That puts me right at my training pace, although I noticed during the race my pace was a lot faster until the final couple of miles when the heat finally wore me down. I learned a lot during all my training and during this race, and I hope to keep that momentum going. I'll be running a 10k on Memorial Day and am considering other races in the future - especially a half on Thanksgiving.

The only downside to everything is I caught a cold. Even ran with the cold (although it wasn't anything but a sore throat at the time of the race). I'm just going to say babies are lethally cute and airplanes are a great place to get sick.

What's next? Good question. Other than the 10k I don't really have much planned but I do want to keep the long runs going. We'll see what other races I pick up this summer. Honestly that is the best way to stay motivated in my opinion.

Happy running!