Chicago II

Chicago I

Circa 2006-2013

Gwen

Competitive Image

The ITU World Triathlon series was in Chicago's Grant Park over the weekend.

Coming off the bike and heading into the run, American Gwen Jorgensen trailed the leaders by 67 seconds. Jorgensen caught the leaders, Great Britain's Helen Jenkins and Japan's Juri Ide, on the fourth and final lap. Jorgensen surged ahead of Jenkins and Ide with two kilometers to go and ran away with the victory.

Jorgensen won the ITU World Triathlon Chicago in 1:55:33. Her 10K run was the best of the race in 34:14. The win in Chicago makes it Jorgensen's third straight victory and sixth career win in the ITU. She is now the ITU career wins leader in only her fourth year on the circuit.

The ITU series will be in Hamburg, Germany on July 12-13.

Chicago Marathon

Associated Press/Andrew Nelles

A new course record was set Sunday by Dennis Kimetto of Kenya at the Chicago Marathon. Kimetto won the marathon with the time of 2:03:45, which broke last year's course record of 2:04:38. Finishing behind Kimetto were two more Kenyans, in second place was Geoffrey Mutai (2:03:52) and Sammy Kitwara was third (2:05:16). The top American men finishers were Dathan Ritzenhein in fifth with a time of 2:09:45, Matt Tegenkamp was 10th in 2:12:28 and Leon Craig was 13th in 2:13:53.

Associated Press/Andrew Nelles

On the women's side Kenya's Rita Jeptoo won in 2:19:57. Jemima Sumgong of Kenya was second in 2:20:48 and Maria Konovalova of Russia was third (2:22:46). Clara Santucci was the top American woman in ninth place (2:31:41) and right behind her in 10th was fellow American Melissa White in 2:32:39.

Kimetto and Jeptoo earned $100,000 for winning the marathon. Kimetto was given an additional $75,000 for setting a course record and Jeptoo received another $40,000 for running under 2:20:00

Graceland Cemetery I - Chicago, IL

Eternal Silence is the sculpture on the Dexter Graves Monument at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois. The sculpture is also known as the Statue of Death. The bronze sculpture was created by Lorado Taft in 1909.

Bohemian National Cemetery V - Chicago, IL

Bohemian National Cemetery IV - Chicago, IL

Bohemian National Cemetery III - Chicago, IL

Bohemian National Cemetery II - Chicago, IL

Bohemian National Cemetery I - Chicago, IL

4-0

I've been a Detroit Lions fan for as long as I can remember. The Lions have had their share of ups and downs, especially downs of lately. Their last winning season was in 2000, with a record of 9-7. But who could forget the horrible year in 2008 when the Lions went 0-16. Through all of the bad seasons, I was still a fan.

Now in 2011, the Detroit Lions are 4-0. Detroit and Green Bay are the only teams left in the NFL with undefeated seasons. The Lions host the Chicago Bears (2-2) on October 10 for a Monday Night Football game. I can't even remember the last time Detroit played on Monday night. The Lions need to play well in the first half so they don't have to come back in the second half like they did against Minnesota and Dallas.

Photo Credit: Associated Press/Tony Gutierrez

Detroit Lions kicker Jason Hanson celebrates a field goal against the Dallas Cowboys during the second half of an NFL football game October 2 in Arlington, Texas.

The drive home

After returning back to Madison, Wisconsin after the Ragnar Relay Saturday, I packed up my car, said goodbye and thank you to my teammates and started the long drive home. Home was only seven hours away.

I started my drive around 4:15 p.m. I was hoping to be back at home around midnight. I knew I would make up some time on the interstate. The drive went well. Spent most of the time changing the radio stations. I guess I was too lazy to press the button to start the CD I had in the player. I heard Adele and Katy Perry a lot on the drive. It seemed like every time I turned to another radio station "Rolling In The Deep" was playing. Overkill.

I did get a chuckle seeing the Belvidere Tolloway Oasis. On the drive to Madison, I called my husband to let him know I stopped for gas. It just happened to be at the Belvidere Tolloway Oasis. The message I left for my husband was cute. I said that I stopped at Belvidere to get gas and I didn't see "any streaks on the china." Growing up my husband and I both watched Mr. Belvedere. The first line of the theme song is "Streaks on the china, never mattered before,
who cares." Yes. I'm a dork.

The drive was going smoothly until I hit Chicago. So many cars, not enough space equals backups. I was in Chicago traffic for a half hour or so. That put me a little behind schedule. Once I was out of it, I hammered down. Just going 7-8 mph over the posted speed limit.

The day started to turn into night. I stopped for gas somewhere in Indiana. I filled up my car, made a pit stop and I was back on the road. When the sky finally went dark, that is when I started yawning. I was singing, screaming, biting the inside of my mouth and tongue to stay awake. I wanted to get home. It finally came to the point where I knew I couldn't keep my eyes open. If I continued to drive, I knew it wouldn't end well. I pulled into the last rest area in Indiana. I called my husband to tell him that I stopped and needed to take a nap. I didn't want to take a long nap, but I needed to sleep. He said he would call me in an hour. I got in the backseat, with my cell phone in hand, and went to sleep quickly. That hour flew by. I was back on the road at 11:30 pm. I was really thankful I stopped in Indiana. I was debating on whether to stop in Ohio. Ohio didn't have any rest stops available before I got off on the exit I needed. I don't think I would have felt comfortable sleeping on the side of the road with vehicles going 70-80 mph. I made the smart choice.

Once I was back on the road, I encountered toll booths. I thought people would be working in them. They weren't. We had to put money into a vending machine and the gate would lift up for us to drive through. Of course I got in the line that went slow. A person two cars ahead of me was having a hard time with the vending machine. I spent 15 minutes in line. I wasn't happy.

The rest of the drive home was smooth. Not too much traffic or police officers to worry about. When I passed into the Michigan border, I knew I would be home soon. I arrived home shortly before 1 am. Instead of going to bed, I stayed up and unpacked. After unpacking, I went and lied down on the couch waiting for my husband to come home from work. He came home around 2:30 am. We stayed up talking until 3:30 am. I had a great time running the Ragnar Relay, but it was nice just to be back home.

Ragnar Relay Series

I packed up running clothes, food and water for the Ragnar Relay Series and drove to Madison, Wisconsin on Thursday. The trip to Wisconsin went smoothly. I only had to stop once during the seven hour drive to get gas. I filled up my car in Rockford, Illinois. At the start of the drive, I was a little nervous because that was the longest drive I have ever done by myself.

I met up with my team, Mom & Dad, Thursday night. We met at one of our captain's apartment for a spaghetti dinner. We ate and talked about what the plan was for the relay. After dinner was over, Everyone parted and went home to get ready for the relay. I slept over and ended up going to bed around 9:30 p.m. CST, which was 10:30 p.m. in EST to me.

Woke up at 3 and 4 a.m., I went back to sleep until 5 a.m. I figured that was long enough, so I finally got up. Before getting dressed, I looked out the window. It was pouring rain. Not a good way to start out a 200 mile long relay. I got dressed and was thankful that I brought two pairs of running shoes with me.

The team members riding in van one assembled and then it was time to head to the start line. When we arrived at the park, it was a sea of white panel vans. The parking lot was filled with them. Over 300 teams were participating in the Madison to Chicago relay. Our first stop as a group was to the check in tent, then over to the safety meeting. After that was completed it was time to start the relay. At the start of the relay, the rain finally stopped, but it was a very chilly morning. Kimmy started off the relay and did a very good job. In no time, she was slapping the relay bracelet onto Justin's wrist.

I had butterflies while waiting for Justin. I knew once I ran my first leg, I would be OK. My first leg was 4.9 miles. This leg had many long inclines and hills. I kept a positive attitude and just kept running. I just told myself to keep my legs moving because my teammates were waiting for me. I finished my leg in 45 minutes and around 10 or 10:30 a.m. Once I was done, I freshened up as best as I could, changed my shirt and then our van headed to the next exchange.

My second leg started around 5 p.m. The leg was entirely on a trail. I was run straight for the whole run. The only turn I made was to run into the exchange zone to hand off the bracelet. I was very pleased with this leg. It was flat and I was able to go fast. It was my fastest of the entire relay. My pace was 8:40 for 5.9 miles. I passed a guy and two ladies during this leg. That made me feel really good. I finished the run in 51:11.

At the start of the third leg, it was misting and starting to get dark. This would be my first time really running in the dark, I started running around 8 p.m. I had on my reflective vest with LED lights and my headlamp. This leg was run on sidewalks and the road. I ran on the shoulder and it was scary. Cars were driving by me doing 55-60 mph. Most of them didn't even move over in the next lane to give me room. They just zoomed by me by less then two feet. Besides running next to fast traffic, this leg had more hills and inclines. I finished the 5.4 mile run in 50:38.

After my third leg for the day, our van was able to stop at one of the exchange points to take a shower. We were all happy to get clean. After showering, we stopped at McDonald's around midnight to get something to eat. For the entire day, I ate bananas and protein bars. It was nice to eat something different and warm. When we finished eating, some of us went to another exchange at a church to get a couple hours of sleep. I ended up sleeping on the floor with one of my coat's as a pillow for a nap of two hours. It wasn't enough, but it did help.

The start of my last leg was around 4 am. It was cold, foggy and misting. My leg was run on a trail. I was asked by my team if I wanted a bike pacer. I said yes. I just wanted someone there in case something happened on the trail. The trail was so dark. It was hard to see anything, even with my headlamp. After leaving the trail, my leg took me right next to Lake Michigan. You could hear the water moving in the wind. It sounded really nice. I finished the 6.1 mile in 57:44.

My part of the relay was complete. I had fun with my team members Kimmy, Justin, Adam, Susan and our van driver Nick. Running the Ragnar Relay Series was an experience I'll never forget.

Ragnar Relay Series

This is the best week ever! I was excited to open up my email this week to see that I had an invite to join a Ragnar Relay Team for the Chicago Relay. Of course I accepted. How many opportunities does one person get to run in something this cool?

The relay is June 10-11 and it starts in Madison, Wisconsin and ends in Chicago. One of my teammates is Krista. I met her a couple of years ago at some friends' wedding in Ohio. This time I will be able to talk to her more then 30 seconds.

I'm really looking forward to the challenge of running this overnight relay. It is something different and 2011 for me is all about doing something new. I'll be running with a new group of people, visiting a state that I have never been before, Wisconsin, and running a relay of 197 miles. It should be very fun!

Morning fog - Chicago, IL

Splash - Chicago, IL

Water Taxi - Chicago, IL

Chicago

My husband and I visited Chicago last week for the third time. We had a nice vacation. We didn't do too much and I really liked that. Usually while on vacation, we try to see everything we can. This time, we went to visit a couple of places. It was my task to pick the places we visited this trip.

Our first stop was the Art Institute of Chicago. The AIC has many beautiful collection of works to see. My favorite piece in the AIC was the Henri Cartier-Bresson photo exhibition. The exhibition spanned most of his life. Wonderful exhibition.

Our second visit was to the Museum of Contemporary Art. I wanted to see some other kinds of art while in town. Definitely different then most museums. I have a hard time understanding contemporary works. The visit still didn't help. I don't think I will ever understand it.

Our trip ended with a boat cruise. We boarded a boat at Navy Pier and took an evening architecture and fireworks cruise. The boat tour took us down all three branches of the Chicago River. All of the building lit up at night were pretty. Our tour guide had so much information on most of the buildings near the river. He was a book of information. After the architectural tour, the boat stopped on the Chicago River to watch the fireworks.

Everyday of our trip started with me waking up at 4 a.m. to work on the hotel treadmill. Most people would have slept in on their vacation. Not me. I needed to workout. Besides running, we went over to Michigan Avenue everyday. My husband and I spent most of our time at Nike Town and Adidas inside the Water Tower Place near the Hancock Tower. We bought new workout clothes from both stores. I did buy an non-workout item, a dress from Banana Republic.

We did eat at some great restaurants on our vacation: Pizzeria Uno, Weber Grill Restaurant, Rosebud on Rush, House of Blues and P.F. Chang's China Bistro. My favorite lunch of the week was P.F Chang's. I had spring rolls and crispy green beans. So delicious. I must have them again. My favorite dinner in Chicago was at the Weber Grill Restraint. My husband and I both had filet mignon for dinner with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and fire roasted corn. The beginning of the meal started with pretzel bread rolls. Those were the best rolls ever. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. We finished our meal with a double chocolate bundt cake. So good and chocolately.

Ferris Wheel - Chicago, IL

Flags - Chicago, IL