The Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2011

October 9th 2011- The Chicago Marathon!!! I will be there with several of my running friends my dad and my brother and 45000 runners in total. I have heard only good things about this race and hear it is full of spectators and tons of support.

I am super excited to do this race as it will be my dad's 50th birthday a few days after the run and it was his wish that he run a marathon with his kids, so we are making this happening and doing it BIG! Although he usually runs the Detroit Free Press Marathon (a really great race) but we thought it would be fun to go away to run and have some fun along the way.

And so the journey will start again! A summer full of long runs, tempo runs, hills and speed work. I hope this summer is kinder than the winter we have had. I know this summer I will be stronger, more confident and hopefully even a little faster. BRING IT ON!!!!!! Chicago here we come!

Gasparilla 15k Run in Sunny Tampa

It has become almost natural now for me to add a run on to any vacation. This year my friend and I decided to run a 15k Gasparilla Race along Tampa's waterfront.

The weather was perfect and such a relief after the hellish Canadian winter we have had this year. It was a really nice run, completely flat, great scenery, plenty of water stops and an awesome expo. We both really enjoyed ourselves.

This race was a really great ego booster for me. As I have focused on getting stronger and faster since the Marathon in September 2010, it was nice to see results. My time was 1:36:47, which is definitely a PB and it rocked my already ambitious goal of 1:40. My pace was 6:27 which is really good for me. I hope to see more results like these in the weeks to come. Our pace has been slower because of the massive amount of snow we have gotten this winter so it is awesome to see numbers like this. The Garmin was also really helpful. I love knowing my pace and how far I am in the run, it makes pacing a sinch!!!

Spin Class & Body Pump

I just have to say that I LOVE spin class. I am a member at Goodlife Fitness and in January I decided that I was going to start doing Cycling class to cross train. I didn't expect it to deliver so many results. I am in-love with the intensity and the fact that the sweat just pours off you has to be a good sign. I leave feeling awesome! The results I see are the fact that hills, (which have always been a struggle for me are getting more bearable and I see physical results as well- BONUS!!. I like to do the Spin classes in the morning (6am) so I can still run in the evening.

Also added just before 2011 is Body Pump which is a class with weights. Since I have a back injury that I need to be careful about and I am not supposed to lift anything over 10lbs. Body Pump is perfect. It is low weight and a full body workout.

All in all I am trying to do two Spin Classes a week and 2 Body pump classes combined with my normal running routine. So far so good!