Prioritizing Running In Chicago

Last week I was in Chicago for a conference and a firm meeting. I’m sure my hotel had a nice gym, but I ended up prioritizing running.

Conference group run with mandatory photo stop at Cloud Gate

Prioritizing Running In Chicago 

With conference events starting Sunday morning, I traveled to Chicago Saturday afternoon. That gave me three mornings to run in Chicago.

Sunday I had the most time for a run, so I did a 6 mile out-and-back along the Lakefront Trail to the end of the path by the planetarium. I started at dark o’clock to beat predicted rain, but didn’t really need my headlamp because the Riverwalk and Lakefront Trail are so well lit.

It was tempting to stop and watch the sunrise!

One of my favorite views

Monday was the conference fun run. Erica was already in Europe, but I learned later that she helped organize the run and knew the guides I ran with! It was the 11th year this conference has had an organized fun run as an event—I was there for the first one in Boston. They even give us nice t-shirts, so I have a collection to remember them by.

We did a 5K loop taking the Riverwalk to the Lakefront Trail and then ran through Millennium Park to see the Cloud Gate sculpture (a/k/a The Bean). I ended up with a fast group hitting a sub-9-ish mm pace, so when I stopped for this pretty sunrise photo I also caught my breath!

I was expecting rain on Tuesday and thought I would have to find the hotel gym, but the rain held off. My legs were tired after running two days in a row, so I decided to do a 4 mile version of Sunday’s out-and-back at an easy pace.

Even on a cloudy morning, I love the views!

Weekly Run Down

The rest of my week was pretty low-key. It was too rainy or humid to run with Scooby, but hopefully the week ahead will be cooler.

Wednesday: 10 min Peloton Walk
Got my Peloton blue dot for the day listing to a walk as I trudged from the Starbucks at Gate B9  to catch my plane at Gate C25.

Thursday: 5 min Core + 30 min UB + LB Strength
It was raining hard when I got up, so I took Scooby out just long enough for him to pee, then did a short strength workout, and then took him out for a longer walk after the rain moved on.

Friday: 10 Core + 30 min Peloton Ride
I’ve had Hannah F’s second Defected Records ride in my queue for a while, and finally was in the mood to take it. My legs felt tired, but the class was fun.

Saturday: 10 min Core  +20 min Strength + 3.25 Tread Miles
It was so humid out it was foggy, so I took Scooby for a walk and then did core and bodyweight strength workouts before hopping on my tread. I love the Black Eyed Peas and Hannah fit a lot of their hits into her playlist.

A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up.

What are you looking forward to in October? Tell us about it at the Ultimate Coffee Date link up on Friday!