Great to meet you!

Thanks to all of you who came out to last night's marathon training run! It was a pleasure to meet you. Your dedication to your training and to the American Heart Association are an inspiration to me. I am proud to be a part of your team!

Here are some pictures from yesterday's run:

Meet the Team on Thursday!

Hey, marathon team! I’m getting excited for our 4 mile run on Thursday. We are meeting at the NBC Plaza on Michigan Avenue (just south of the Tribune Tower) starting at 5:30 p.m. At around 6 p.m., we’ll head down to the lakefront path for our run.

I can’t wait to meet you guys! I want to take part in your journey and support you in your goals, just as you’re supporting the AHA through the marathon. And you’ll get to meet the other members of your team, people like you who are making positive changes in their own lives and in the lives of others.

I’m really looking forward to hearing your stories about why you’re running the marathon for the AHA. Every time I hear of a personal connection to the AHA, I get even more motivated to keep training for the race and raising money for this great organization.

So come on out and join us on Thursday! And bring any questions you might have about running – I may not have the answer right away, but we can do some research for you and get you the answer you need. Thanks, everyone! Looking forward to seeing you.

How many miles are in a 5K?

My uncle is running the marathon for our American Heart Association team, and he completed his first half marathon in Chicago this weekend! He loved the experience, and it’s made him even more excited to take on the marathon this fall.

His experience reminded me how important it is to get a few races under your belt before you get to the starting line of this year’s marathon. Start testing the waters by participating in a 5K or 10K race. That way you’ll learn what a corral is, you’ll know where to put your racing number, you’ll familiarize yourself with a running course – you’ll have the answers to all of those racing questions before marathon day. And you’ll experience what race-day jitters are like. Running a race is a completely different experience than training, and you can alleviate some of that stress by learning the racing culture ahead of time.

I can tell you firsthand how much that helped me. My first race was for the March of Dimes in April 2008. I can be a little absentminded, and I wasn’t as thorough as I should have been when I was preparing for it. I was sure it was a 5K race, and it wasn’t until mile 4 that I realized there was a problem. If a 5K race is only about three miles long, why is there a fourth mile on this course? I’m running, and I’m panting, and then I’m thinking, “are some 5Ks longer than others?” Turns out it was a 10K race.

So…lesson learned. You don’t go straight to graduation – you have to take the classes to get there. So sign up for smaller races and get a few notches on your belt before you take on the big race this fall. And hey, if nothing else, you can use all of those race medals you get to decorate your Christmas tree. :)