Zach Runs Chicago

After the Friends of the Poor 5K turnaround/running beside the MMRF 5K walkers As I mentioned in my Newcity review of the Friends of the Poor 5K Run/Walk , there are a ton of races in Chicago (and a truly incredible amount of them if you count all the races in the entire Chicagoland area). Yesterday morning I ran only one of them, but because of the way this race and another (the MMRF Race for Research 5K Walk/Run ) had mapped out their courses I basically ran both. That breakdown is in my Newcity review , but I thought I'd give a bit more information here. I overheard some of the race organizers talking about the situation and thought it was pretty interesting. They said that everyone basically goes into the Chicago permit office around the same time at the start of the year and applies for their Special Event Permit . When they get their permit they're not informed about whether or not anyone else applied for (and received) a permit for a similar event nearby.

The bike transition for the North Shore Triathlon So, as I said in my Newcity review of the North Shore Triathlon , the triathlon is its own special animal - one part swimming, one part biking and one part running. And being good at any of those does not mean you'll even be competent at the triathlon as a whole. I definitely found that out yesterday morning when I competed in my first triathlon. Well, maybe "competed" is a strong word. Let's just say I participated in it. Obviously, being so involved in the running world I have heard a good deal about triathlons. A number of my friends do them and tell me how fun they are. But there's just never been a pull in that direction for me. I like to run and I don't really want to have to swim and bike before I can do it. Still, the triathlon concept is something that has been on the periphery for a while now and when a friend suggested I sign up a few weeks ago, I figured "Why not?" It's a fir...

Last year my friend John ran (and recommended to me) the 5K Run Against Traffick . So Saturday morning I snagged a ride with him to Diversey Harbor and we ran this third annual race along with around 700 other participants (a record for them) - with about half registering through Groupon. Basecamp was just northeast of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, where many other races have set up shop and things were well-organized, with a personality from Moody Radio providing the pre-race (and finish line) announcements. It was an open course without any water stations ("There are lots of water fountains along the Lakefront Trail," Laura Ng reminded runners before the race) but with plenty of volunteers along the course directing traffic. This extra support along the course was extremely welcome, due to the amount of runners (both participating and just out for a morning run), especially at the turnaround and near the finish line (this is one of those courses where you think yo...

After over two months of physical therapy (with the very friendly members of NovaCare !) I was finally cleared to run last week by my physical therapist. Not that I wasn't running leading up to that (as my race reviews will attest) but the therapist was only begrudgingly giving me clearance to run (mainly because they knew I would probably do it anyway) whereas now I've been given the all clear. Am I an ideal patient? No. But did I follow all of my prescribed exercises and whatnot? Yes. This morning I ran a solid three miles without any pain which was really exciting, though I have now been incorporating about ten minutes of pre-run warm-ups and fifteen minutes of post-run stretches to every run. It adds a lot more time to my running (oh, for the days when I could just go out and foolishly run with no pre- or post-race stretching) but it's worth it to prevent more IT band issues. So, to celebrate my newly cleared status (and to make up for the past month when I haven...

I loved the Terrapin 5K & Music Festival last year and I thought it was even better this year. Although it felt like there were more people than last year it turns out there were almost 1000 less runners at the Terrapin 5K than there were in 2012. But with just under 2500 runners it still felt like a big event. I went to physical therapy in the morning and then ran the race in the evening and felt okay. Looking at the results I was surprised that I finished with a 23:43 (I thought I was around 24:30) and my knee feels okay today... so maybe the physical therapy is actually working. Anyway, my full review is up at Newcity.com so I'll just hit some high points here.

On Saturday, September 7th at 9am, I'll be running the Traffick Free 3rd Annual 5K Run Against Traffick  in Diversey Harbor. Last year I missed this race but a friend who ran it enjoyed it so much he signed up for it again this year and encouraged me to as well. So, I did. In signing up and reading about the organization ( Traffick Free ) I got interested in their mission and got in touch with them to get a bit more information regarding both their organization and the 5K. I was able to get an interview with Executive Director Laura Ng, who has been working with Traffick Free since the beginning of 2010 (and has been Executive Director since September of that year). Traffick Free was formed at the end of 2008 by "a handful of people" and though it is now a non-profit organization, it remains an all-volunteer organization to this day, with no paid positions. Their goal is "to provide the greater metropolitan area of Chicago with tools and sustainable programs...

Runners walking towards the starting line on Solidarity Drive Even though I'm not a Big Ten graduate (like a good Texan I went to the University of Texas), I've been looking forward to the BTN Big 10K since last year . Partly because it's a well-organized fun race. But mostly because it has a slip 'n slide halfway through the course and last year I foolishly decided not to run off the course and slide on it (because I had my phone in my pocket but also because I was obsessed with getting a good time). Anyway, skipping that slip 'n slide last year was one of my biggest racing regrets so I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. So even though it was only 59 degrees when I hit the course on Saturday morning, I was still determined to hit that slip 'n slide during the race. Fifty-nine degrees is close to perfect for a 10K along the Lakefront Trail, but it's a little chilly for a slip 'n slide, especially when you have to run half the course so...