Michigan Avenue goings-on

In the course of one day, here are some of the people I saw up and down Michigan Avenue.


Earnest nerd playing the guitar and singing to his girlfriend.


Young girls waiting for the Puerto Rican parade to begin.


More parade revelers.


Wedding party in front of the Wrigley Building.


A chess and checkers race game. Set up right in front of the Art Institute at night. Weird!

5K: St. Patrick's Run at Diversey Harbor

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year was to run 5Ks as often as I could. I started training in December, and my first one was during my birthday weekend downtown.

R was only there for a few minutes before he took off to go fish, so there is only one photo of me, and the rest I took while I was running. :) The theme was St. Patrick's Day, so again there were lots of people dressed up in costumes. I stuck with just a dark green top (peeking out under my running jacket).



It was really freakin' cold out. So glad I had invested in all the cold-weather gear; I wore every single thing! We also got a t-shirt for signing up, and I added that to the layers as well.

The race was at Diversey Harbor. It's too soon for any of the boats to be in yet, but it's still a pretty area. We lucked out; the rain and fog that had permeated the area broke up in time for the race, so it ended up being a really nice day!



People getting ready:




Then we were off! It was pretty muddy with lots of puddles on the path, so it was slow-going in spots as we all navigated through narrow running areas in a large group. I think next time I will try to get a spot further up in the crowd; I know I ended up running with the slower people around me, but we were very far back and it was almost all walkers behind us. That actually doesn't do well for my motivation because it makes me feel even slower than I am, if that makes any sense.

The two mile mark (the time is from when the race started, not my actual time):


I averaged just under 13 minutes per mile. Not bad, not great. It gives me lots of room to improve as I keep racing! I won't lie; I did stop and walk 3 times during the race, for short stints. I'll be looking to improve on that too.

The three mile mark. I got a good hard run in after that, with my final burst of energy:


My final time was 39:26, my pace was 12:44, and I came in 815 out of about 1800 participants. 37 out of 48 of my division (Women ages 40-44), and 457 out of 545 for my gender overall. Not that any of those stats really matter, except as a personal baseline so I can see my improvement as my 5K year progresses.

They were serving bananas and green bagels to runners afterward. Ha!



Instead, Hubby and I went out for pancakes. I love pancakes after a run; that's a tradition I think I will keep.

Now I just have to remember to post the next one here too. Should be in April!

Porta-Bote

We're headed out for a week's vacation with my sister's family, where there will be much fishing, boating, hiking, and general silliness with my awesome nephews. Before I go, I wanted to show off my husband's fold-up boat that he got this year. It will be making the trip with us, of course; that's why we got it! I watched him put it together last month, and I have to admit, it's pretty darned cool.

The whole set is here on Flickr, but I'm posting some highlights on the blog.

Looking pretty insubstantial...


Unfolding...


More unfolding...


The stick becomes the key to the set-up.


Putting in the first seat


Putting in the second seat (less gracefully than the first, LOL)


Screwing in the stern board


Voila! We have a boat!


You can also attach wheels so you can roll it to the water, which I maintain are HUGELY DORKY and make it look like Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang.


There is, of course, a waterproof floating holder for the iPhone. OF COURSE THERE IS.


And we are on the water! With very bad rowing! (The trolling motor was added on the next trip. And Hubby claims to have improved his rowing technique now.)


(Sure does look weird without the bow piece. Hubby will be adding it this week, although it's still kind of ugly with it.)


Comes apart pretty fast too...


That's all of it, including the fishing backpack


Pretty cool, righ? It's called a Porta-Bote, and you can order them online. Tell 'em we sent you!

Chicago by Segway

We rented Segways this weekend and explored Millenium Park and Museum Campus. It was great fun, and I highly recommend it for anyone visiting the city who wants to see the lakefront without walking it. Here are some of the highlights:

Group Yoga at the Pavilion


Monroe Harbor


Skyline with the newly renamed "Willis Tower"


In front of Buckingham Fountain


Riding up to Soldier Field


South Loop condos


Field Museum


Dinosaur enjoying the sunny day


Self-Portrait of me and my Hubby


I even have more to post tomorrow. *gasp*

Weather Report: Snowing and Christmassy

Like the rest of the country, we've got a lot of snow and cold this Christmas. But no one let that slow them down this weekend!

Daley Plaza Tree




Christmaskindl Market in Daley Plaza




Even the street musicians were out. You could hear this one playing "Jingle Bell Rock" for blocks before you saw him.



+++++

If you're headed anywhere for the holidays, have a safe trip and a very Merry Christmas!



(I will be posting throughout the holidays. Got lots of timely pics to post!)

People and Art

My husband and I spent the weekend downtown, enjoying our beloved city in full Christmas swing. We packed a lot of stuff into two days, trudging through the snow from museum to hotel lobby to outdoor market to museum. It felt like a winter version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, so in that spirit, here are some people looking at the Impressionists.




Boys are always fascinated by girls.




I'm calling this one "Man with Clown".

Mia and Mark

From the retail days. That inset box in the wall really got people to loosen up and goof off for the camera.

Tiff and Mark

I came across these photos from a couple of years ago, and after all this time they still made me smile. These two were a couple of old co-workers horsing around for the camera; we all worked together in a clothing store that was going out of business, and our boss asked me to get some nice portrait shots of everyone before we closed. It took people a while to relax in front of the camera, but once they did, I was able to capture some great moments.

I love Pudge

Pudge Rodriguez, my favorite catcher of all time, got traded from the Tigers to the Yankees yesterday. Not that it really affects my admiration of him one way or the other; it just provides me with an excuse to post pictures of him I took at a Cubs/Tigers game in June 2006. We had front-row seats, just behind first base. Can you tell?

Pudge suits up.



Pudge in position.



Pudge watches the pop-up.



Pudge on his knees.



Play in motion.