Soldier Field 10 Miler

Finally, the weather has warmed up in Chicago! Just in time for the race that starts in Soldier Field and we finish on the 50-yard line. 2018 marks the 15th anniversary of the race, and I’ve been running it since the 10th anniversary.

I had to use my old shoes, the ones that I used for the Dopey challenge, since my new ones that I got earlier in the week weren’t broken in yet. To read about that, see my previous blog post on searching for new shoes.

They again offered free parking at Soldier Field, which really cut down the traffic in the morning because we were able to get a parking spot quickly and get myself to the corrals without being rushed. The corrals were color coded with Red, Blue and White. I was in corral F which was part of the Red corral and the first wave. I made my way to the front of the corral, so I had a lot of cushion for time.

The national charity for the run is Folds of Honor, which provides educational scholarships to the children and spouses of the fallen and disabled service members who served our country. The local charity for the run is SALUTE, Inc., which they provide short term financial assistance to bridge the temporary income gaps and meet the basic needs of post 9/11 veterans. With Rick’s dad that has been in the Navy and Brother in Law and Nephew in the Army, this was a way of honoring them during this Memorial weekend.

The race kicked off at 7:00, right after they had the opening ceremonies that included the gun salute, taps and the National Anthem. When they released my corral you can feel the temperature rising, and I was happy that I wore a sleeveless shirt. We exited the stadium and made our way out to the south parking area towards McCormick Place. They routed us through the covered section of the East building of McCormick Place and the out to South Lake Shore Drive. It was a little crowded for the first part of the race, but with me being an interval runner it got thinner as we passed the mile markers.

The route included running on Lake Shore Drive and the lake front path. When we turned around just before mile 6 we had a great view of Chicago’s skyline on this clear day. I believe they planned in relation to how the previous weekend was, because the course could have had a couple more water stations for the heat was really dehydrating us. My pace showed how the heat got to me, as my pace increased as I approached the last 5K.

As we approached the stadium we entered through the side and entered the field from the north side and made our way to the 50-yard line to the finish. I finished in 2hrs 21min 25sec. I received my medal and saw Rick in the stands and motioned that I was heading out. I picked up my goodie bag and waited for Rick outside and then went to the after race party. As in the past I was emotional in the beginning, had fun throughout and tired when I finished! Would I run this one again? Yes I would!

My search for a new shoe

Since I started running I used Adidas Supernova Sequence, which helped with my feet ailments. Last year they discontinued the style and basically made the Supernova a standard shoe. The sequence was part of the stability line. I tried the new Supernovas and they just didn’t feel like the same.

I went to the original store where I got fitted with the Adidas, Fleet Feet Old Town. We went there and found out that they closed that store and moved down the street to a smaller space. No biggie, we just went a couple of blocks and found them.

I told the woman that helped me that I am used to the Adidas Supernova Sequence and that I wanted something similar to those features and explained to her all the ailments of my feet. She came back with some options. I tried them all and the one that felt comfortable were the Karhu Synchron Ortix, luckily my Superfeet insoles fit in the shoe so I didn’t have to get another set of those.
My training for 2018 has been very sporadic, the longest run that I did in the shoe was eight miles, and they felt fine. Then came the Chicago Spring Half, the Karhu shoes had about 40 miles in them, so I felt that they were good to go for a long distance run. By mile nine my left foot on the upper left side started to hurt in a way that I have never felt before. Walking and not putting too much pressure on that side helped, but when I tried to run the pain came back in the same area.

We went to Fleet Feet in Lincoln Square, since that one is closer to our home, and asked if I needed a different type of insert or a different type of shoe. Since the pain is in an area where the inserts wouldn’t of made a difference, she believed that I may have the wrong type of shoe. So she measured my food on the electronic measuring device and did in fact see that my width of my feet is not typical and that I should have a shoe that has a wider toe box. The Karhu is designed for a medium width, so it was a wrong type of shoe. So they offered to replace it with another shoe.

I was fitted in a New Balance shoe, which did not feel too comfortable. Next was the Saucony Redeemer, which I did not like because the heel was not secure enough. The next one was the Hoka One Gaviota. I was wary about the Hoka shoes, I tried them on at an expo and didn’t like the feel. Apparently it must have been a different type of Hoka, because these felt really good. I was able to run on the tread mill, even with my sore left foot, and the fit was good. I decided to go with the Hokas, and I have 60 days to try them out and if I have any problems I can exchange them.

Fleet Feet has always been good with me and that is why I have become a loyal customer.

Chicago Spring Half Marathon

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Spring Half Marathon which represents the northern side of Chicago. Although we do not run in the north area, this is a 2-part series which includes the Chicago Half Marathon scheduled in September, which represents the southern side of Chicago.

This is my fifth year running this half marathon. I liked this race because it usually has cooler temperatures and they also give you a flower to plant along with your finisher medal. This year the weather was not cooperative, which made the run a little miserable towards the end.
Jo also signed up for this and we ran together for the majority of the run. The temperature was in the 40’s when we arrived and got into our corral. The skies were overcast and you can feel the wind while we were waiting for our corral to get started.

Once we started we headed south on Columbus drive and just before Roosevelt Road we veered left to the under pass that lead us towards the museum campus and connecting us to the lakeshore path going south.

We passed Shedd Aquarium, Soldier Field and McCormick Place and then began our run through the lakeside paths along Lake Michigan. We continued south until we passed 47th street, just after the six-mile marker we came to the turnaround and headed back north. The wind started to pick up and it and the cold air didn’t help a bit. It started to drizzle a bit, which wasn’t too bad and then it stopped.

Around mile 8 my feet started to hurt and I needed to take more walking breaks. By mile 9 I told my feet started getting sharp pains on the left side of my left food. I told Jo after mile 10 that if he wanted to go, to just go ahead because it was going to take me some time to finish.

For the last 5K I was taking more walking breaks, so that I wouldn’t injure my feet, because I have another race the following weekend. Just past mile 12 I saw Rick, paused a bit and then continued to the finish. When we reached Randolph street we took a left and went through the covered roadway until we reached Columbus Drive. When we turned onto Columbus you can see the 13-mile marker and the finish line. When I turned and made my way to the finish the rain was coming down. When I passed the 13-mile marker I started on a light jog and made it to the finish.

I finished in 3hrs 19min 24sec. I was so glad to finish. I hobbled to get my medal and to find Rick and Jo. We just hung around for a little bit and then headed back home so that I can get out of the wet clothes and into a hot shower.

Avengers: Infinity War

We went to see Avengers: Infinity War last night and 2hrs 40min later we were thoroughly entertained, boggled and impressed. Not to bombard this blog with spoilers, I will just describe what these feelings mean.

Entertained
The movie was filled with comedy, action and drama. As you have seen in the trailers that The Hulk comes back to earth, so no big spoiler there. He left Earth at the end of Age of Ultron, and we don’t see him until Thor: Ragnarok. He missed everything that happened in Civil War and the break-up of the Avengers team, so there was some comedic relief there.

Marvel action scenes are always entertaining. Infinity War introduced us to new characters that the Avengers have to fight and many tense fighting scenes. Marvel always tries to sneak in comic lines during the action scenes and again they added it here. The action started right in the beginning and it remained constant.

Finally, we get to see what all the end-credit scenes were all about! In the dramatic sense, there were enough scenes that brought more dimension to the characters and for some their relationships. Some were drawn out and some were quick and you may have missed. For example, in Guardians of the Galaxy pt. 2 you start to see the caring sister side of Gamora and Nebula. There are a few scenes in Infinity War that Nebula really cares for Gamora.

Boggled
I already had some “Whaat?” moments even before the title screen came up. The movie starts soon after the end of Thor: Ragnarok, and when you see it you will understand.

Another issue was the absence of a couple of characters. In Age of Ultron we knew that Thor and The Hulk were both off world, Thor dealing with Ragnarok and we saw The Hulk fly away. But the two characters that were missing in Infinity War are both on Earth. They did make an excuse why they were there, but seeing that that the world is coming to an end, I thought that they would appear. Maybe they will make an appearance in the next installation, but we will have to wait and see.

When you see the end…I will just leave it there.

Impressed
I was impressed that the movie didn’t seem that long. Actually I wanted more! As mentioned above the action was continuous and that helped the flow of the film.

The movie took place in various places around the universe and it didn’t feel disjointed or took away from the others. Although, there were some areas where I thought they could expand more, but that is just me wanting more!
I liked how they joined together the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spiderman, Dr. Strange and Black Panther. When you bring that many beloved characters, I am sure that it was difficult to make sure that each one had enough screen time. I thought that it was well balanced and that they worked well together.

Overall the movie lived up to the hype. There was even a slight reference between the Marvel and D.C. rivalry. If you haven’t seen it yet, I would recommend it.

Race to Wrigley 5K

Run to Wrigley started off cold and a little drizzle when we arrived at the start by Wrigley Field. This was a last minute run that I joined, and ran it with the Tortals…Jo, Cristina, Chris and Dinah. We took the train from the north down to Addison and arrived at Wrigley Field around 7:30 with a start of 8:00.

Last year they released everyone at once, but this year they used the assigned corral system. It was much better this year with the crowd, with the corrals the course didn’t seem crowded as it was last year. While we waited we felt the drops of rain and the sun started to hide behind the grey clouds. Of course I gave my jacket to Rick, which I started to regret.

Once we started we ran on Addison going west. We took a right on Ravenswood and then another right on Irving Park. It started to get warm again, which it became the ideal temperature for running. We took a right onto Sheffield and made our way back to the ball field. There were a couple of water/Gatorade stops, which had volunteers that were very energetic.

We entered Wrigley Field by the bleachers entrance and ran along the corridor and exited under the Marquee. We took a left at Addison and made our way toward Sheffield and took a right. We saw Rick on the corner of Sheffield and Addison and we waved while we approached and made the turn. We ran a bit on Sheffield and then took a hairpin turn onto Clark where we saw the Finish Line.

We crossed the finish line and made our way to get our medal. I finished in 46 minutes and 6 seconds. It turned out to be a nice morning and the sun did come out. It was a fun morning and I am glad that I decided at the last minute to run this one.

Shape of Water

I have to say, I went into this film with no expectations. When I finished it I was amazed that I liked it more than I thought. You may have read some of the reviews about how unbelievable this story is and so forth. I usually don’t agree with most of the reviews, so I got the movie from Netflix and decided to give it a change, it did win the Academy Award for best picture, so it should be good…right?

First off I usually like movies that have Octavia Spencer, ever since her role in “The Help”, so when I saw her appear I was hoping that I her performance would be just as good. And yes she did deliver. Another actor that I usually like is Michael Shannon, he always plays those odd characters and again he did so here. Richard Jenkins did a great job and I did like him in the series “Six Feet Under”. Sally Hawkins, the main character, I have never heard before and she gave a great performance as the mute leading lady.

The cinematography is what really brought you into the movie. Guillermo del Toro is one of those directors that really focuses on the cinematography and uses that to get you engulfed in the film. There were many scenes that was like “wow that is beautiful” and the details of the creature was amazing.

The premise of the movie is about a mute woman, that was raised in an orphanage since she was found by water. She has scars on both sides of her neck, which was thought was the cause of her muteness. She befriends her lonely neighbor and make sure that he is taken care of. She works the night shift at a research facility as a cleaning lady where she first meets the creature.

The movie touches on social norms of the 1960’s, such as racial discrimination and sexual norms. Makes you reflect on how much it was impacted back then, and yet it is still apparent today. It touches on the social norms of a person that feels like an outsider through the main characters, the mute heroine and the creature.

Overall, I thought that it was a very well done movie. It kept made you feel like you were in the 1960’s. The acting was very good and I thought the story was well thought through.

***SPOILERS***

This is what I thought of the main character. I believe that Elisa Esposito was a mermaid herself. She is unable to speak, kind of like when Ariel left the ocean she did not have the ability to speak. Unlike Ariel, Elisa lost her memory of being in the ocean, so she grew up not knowing about her past. But in the beginning, I believe we were experiencing Elisa’s dream of being underwater. When she approaches the creature’s holding tank he approaches her without hesitation, because he can sense something different about her and that is when their relationship progresses. In the end, those three scars in both sides of her neck open up as gills. This is when I truly believe that she was once a mermaid, and now she has found her true love and her origin.