Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend and are refreshed and ready for the week! I’m certainly ready for a new week, especially since Friday starts my very last spring break! I’ve also got a few fun things going on this week – mani/pedi night with my sorority alumnae group and possibly a boxing class with Kelsey!
I do, however, want to recap some of the great stuff I got to do this past weekend. On Friday I met up with Kelsey in Millenium Park at the McCormick Skating Rink! I’d been wanting to get down there for… 3 years, and finally made it on the last weekend they were open this year.
I love the rink because it’s right in downtown (aka beautiful views) and it’s free! (Skate rental is $10 but I had my own).
I had the best time ever, and Kelsey… well she tried. Haha she got better as time went on (aka held on to my hand for slight periods rather than the edge)
but after a while she was done.
After she let me skate around a while longer (and made some… interesting friends) we headed to The Bean for some classic tourist photos.
Yep, we think we’re pretty cool.
On Saturday morning I met up with Lindsay, Emily and Kelsey to run the Punk the Monk 5K! (really 3.25 miles, or 3.65 for Lindsay who went the wrong way). The race was out in Palatine, IL and, unlike the city streets, the snow had not melted…
Although the race was really fun (well, afterwards I decided it had been fun), it was HARD. Really hard. Lindsay and I agreed it was definitely a mental challenge.
The whole course was covered in several inches of snow. At first we were tromping through shin-deep snow, but by the end so many people had run over the path that it was packed down. This actually made it harder because the snow was at weird angles and there was a lot of slipping and ankle rolling. And then the finish was uphill… My lungs were basically on fire the entire time, but I’m proud of myself for pushing through.
Plus, they gave us these adorable mason jar jugs, and TWIZZLERS! Haha everyone else enjoyed the beer, I had a couple Twizzlers #glutenfreeproblems.
Here are my race results:
Oh wait. Wait a second… Did anyone catch that?
I BEAT LINDSAY!!!!! This is the only time in our lives where I will finish before her, so I’m going to relish in it. Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that she ran about .4 miles further than everyone after taking a wrong detour through someone’s backyard…
Oh, and I found these great photos from the Muddy Monk Facebook Page:
Have a great Monday!
Have you ever done a trail race?
When was the last time you’ve been ice skating?
looks like a fun weekend! I’ve never done a trail race, but I’d like to!! I think the last time I went ice skating was sophomore year of college with a bunch of friends. I was the Kelsey of the group and my friend mike had to hold my hand to get me around the rink haha
Hahahaha there’s always a “Kelsey” of the group. You should try a trail run (preferably not in the snow…), they’re a lot of fun!
the races you run in always look like so much fun! i need to sign up for more 5ks, i love them. this one i might not have loved so much, lol, but still it looks like you made the best of it and way to go kicking lindsay’s ass! i would relish in that too if i were you 🙂
Haha oh I will. And trail runs are great – especially since time isn’t really important and you’re just out there to enjoy it!
**tiptoes away in AWE of yer hardcorenessment**
hahaha trust me, I wanted to turn around and run away but it was too late for that!
I love trail runs (not in the snow) I used to only do trail runs but this year I am doing mostly road races. I love trails because it is peaceful, no cars just nature.
I agree – they are much more peaceful. And time isn’t as important since I know I won’t PR so I just enjoy the run!
My arches and ankles are still sore from that race! Crazy! It was really fun though (looking back on it of course).. my long run yesterday felt easy in comparison!
I really really want to go ice skating at Millennium Park before I leave Chicago. It always looks like so much fun. I had no idea you had your own skates though, have you used them in Chicago before?
Omg my ankles hurt SO MUCH. And no… haha I bought the skates when I took a figure skating class senior year of college thinking I’d use them all the time here. This was the first time…
Great job on the race! I don’t think I would like running through snow, but it sounds like it would be rewarding at the finish line! I really want to go to Chicago again this summer. I went when I was younger, but never when I was old enough to walk around and appreciate everything, and it’s only 3 hours away!
You should definitely come to Chicago, that would be an easy day trip if you wanted to make it cheaper! Obviously you’d have to meet me…
Love the pics! Looks like you had a blast 🙂
Last time I hit the trails was when I did the Spartan Beast race!
Ooo that sounds like an awesome race! Scary, but awesome!
That looks and sounds like it would have been really hard! I hope you ankles and knee feel okay after that funny snow running.
Oh my ankles are killing me! Just sore, not sprained or anything.
Check the ingredients on twizzlers! Just discovered last week (after eating way more than anyone should anyway) that the second ingredient is whole wheat flour.
A couple won’t hurt me, but thanks, Andrea!
haha I keep thinking about this and can’t get over it – whyyyy would they put whole wheat in them!? Upsetting.
I am now a professional ice skater. Believe it.
You sorta look like you’re wearing in eye patch in the first bean pic….it cracks me up.
Oh I believe it.
What a fun weekend!! Downtown shenanigans are always a great time. Congrats on the trail race–it looks pretty intense in all that snow!
It was great, I hadn’t walked around the bean in well over a year!
Wow, that race looks hard on the snow! Congrats!! And now I reeeeally want to go ice skating. What a fun weekend!
Now I want to go ice skating all the time!
Wow, awesome job on that race! I’m sure running through the snow is quite the challenge!
oh my goodness yes, half the steps I took resulted in slipping backwards!
the race sounds hard but super fun. I bet the snow was a challenge, i can’t even imagine
HAha oh it was a serious challenge. Not something I’ll be repeating in the near future…
haha love the photos. The trail race looks like fun. Hate running in snow – but fun runs are always enjoyable.
HAha not sure this fell into the category of “fun run” with that snow, more of one of those things that you hate while it’s happening and then after you only remember it as fun.
I love ice skating! I haven’t been in forever! Bummer… I need to remember that for next winter season.
I’m already looking for an indoor rink!
I can’t believe all the snow still! Haven’t been ice skating in so long. They had rinks set up in Santa Monica around the holidays but it was the fake plastic rink, no actual ice.
Well we had quite a snow storm last Tuesday night, and it just hasn’t gotten warm enough to melt it other than on streets and sidewalks
Haha that last picture of you is adorable!
Thanks!
Everyone’s faces in the race photos are hilarious! It doesn’t seem like anyone is too happy about the snow 😉 Way to keep a positive attitude about your trail run!
Haha I think they were all concentrating and getting that run over with!
Ice skating is one of my favorite winter activities! Unfortunately, I do not get around to it very often :(. I should definitely try to make that happen before I run out of time this year!
Do it!! I love going but never take the time!
Congrats! Running in snow is brutal, so I commend you for going for it. Oh, and I freakin’ love that iPhone case!! I worked with honey bees last summer, so I would love to have something like that!
It’s actually a sticker I just added to the case – I got it from The Golden Bee restaurant in Colorado Springs, I put them on everything!
I LOOOOVEEE the pics & the pic captions!!! 🙂 You’re too cute.
ANd that’s amazing that you ran a 5K IN the snow?! Wow. Impressed.
Thanks!! Haha I still can’t believe I did that, it was one of those don’t think about it and just do it kind of things
Hahahaha those pics at the end are amazing. Nicely done, girl 🙂 I used to be a figure skater, so I was psyched to see that part of your weekend…probably been a year since I was last on the ice. I need to go again soon 😛
You should definitely go again! I’m jealous, despite taking that class I’m still AWFUL!
Aw, I miss the bean!
Great job on the race 🙂
The bean is pretty cool, I always forget until I’m down there!
That race looks insane! (There’s a reason you never see any snowmen dressed as runners…).
We had 1 inch of snow in the UK today and people were complaining – they might think themselves lucky if they saw this!
Haha 1 inch would have made this much easier!
Since it rained here almost all day yesterday I think all of the snow is mostly gone. Now we have soggy soggy grass and lots of little “lakes”. I am glad the snow is gone because running on packed down/uneven snow is HARD!
Congrats on beating Lindsay!
I had 2.5 beers before I left the after party. Whoops!
Haha thanks! And not sure which would be worse – lakes or snow!
That race looked intense!! I love a good trail race (or just run), but when it’s covered in snow, it’s just not a good time. Way to power through. Hope your IT band is getting better.
Thanks, Lindsay!
I was there too! Such a fun race! I think my Garmin took a break, because I only measured 2.93. It might have lost signal in the woods or something.
The path was soooo slippery at the end… my shins and the tops of my feet are still sore today!
Oh how cool! Congrats for running it! I totally agree, it got sooooo slippery at the end!
it has been years since we have been ice skating!! we are not very good at it, but always have a good time with it 🙂
That’s how I am – not very good but I have fun!
No one has to know that Lindsay ran an extra .4 miles. Just sayin’ 🙂
Haha we’ll just ignore that little fact
Skating looks like a BLAST! I am sure I would have fallen on my butt multiple times, but what a great weekend activity.
It was great to meet you at Punk the Monk! Congrats on your finish!
[…] I cannot tell you the last time I ran five miles. I’m taking it slow getting back into distances, but I’ve got a 10K coming up in a week and a half, so I figured I should get in a couple longer runs so I don’t die. It’s another Muddy Monk Trail Run, so it’s just for fun, but I still want to do well! Luckily there will be no snow this time… […]