United Run for the Zoo 10K

I ran in my first 10K race yesterday. I was pleased to run the whole thing. I need to work on my willpower for training. I think that if I had been running by myself, I would've probably walked at a point or two. There was a spot around 4.5 miles that I had to really push through, but was happy I did it. The only walking I did was through the water stations, which, well, I have a hard time drinking while running, so I'm okay with that. I wasn't anywhere near the top of my age group (results here), but maintained my pace throughout: 10.5 minutes per mile. It was a lot of fun, and Heath and I spent a lot of time walking around the zoo since we had never been there. I highly recommend it to Chicago visitors. It's free and there is a lot to see. It's really quite nice and most of the animals were out. The only trick is getting down there - parking can be $$$. We had no sense of time, however, and ended up eating lunch at about 10:15. Whoops!! I'll have pics to post fairly soon (including one of me DURING the race right before the finish line - nicely done, Heath) and will add the link when they're up. Also, BEST RACE T-SHIRTS EVER! Nike Dri-Fit (retail for $40 - race entry was $25 booyah!), stretchy, slight camo pattern to the fabric, cool design, will definitely wear it often!

Link to Pictures

New Gear

I placed an order online today for the last few tri-gear things I wanted to get (some of which I actually do NEED).

1. A CO2 pump and some cartridges for if I get a flat out there. Lighter, smaller, and faster than a regular pump. One of those things I hope I don't ever need to use! I went with the genuine innovations microflate. I figure simpler = better and found a favorable review here.
2. A transition bag. This item is riding on the fence of necessity. I could surely get by without one, but certain features of this bag will make things much easier for me, such as, two internal mesh shoe pockets (to hold both my running and cycling shoes for those of you unfamiliar with the multishoe aspect of multisport), an expandable mesh bottom compartment for wetsuit or towel, removable waterproof bag, it zips open to open ALL the way , plus lots of pockets for waterbottles, mp3 player, foodstuffs, cellphone, etc. I went with the TYR bag pictured here. It was a lot less expensive than some of the "triathlon" brand ones and had everything I think I could need. 3. Speed laces. This should be interesting. I'm going to try it out a bit before any races, but I ordered some Yankz! (that is their exclamation point, not mine) laces that allow you to put on and take off your shoes without any tying or untying. In the world of triathlon transition, the tying of shoes is a serious time sucker. I'm pretty slow at the actual sports, so I hope to have the quickest transitions I can to help my times. ;)

Bike Storage

I'm going to need to seriously address the bike storage issue when I move. Currently, I'm able to keep the bike hanging on my wall in the dining room (classy, I know) or on a stand in the office. In my new place, however, it is unlikely that the bike will be able to just be "out." There is evidently a street level bike room in the building, but I didn't remember to ask to see it when looking at the new apartment. There is also ample storage downstairs in the laundry room and possibly enough room in our storage unit, but we'll have to see. Ideally the bike would be part of an elaborate shrine-like display somewhere in the center of the apartment - hah! Seriously, hanging it from a hook somewhere out of the way would be nice so that it is safe in my abode with me, but the aesthetics of the apartment and keeping peace is much more important to me. I'm going to limit myself to my good road bike for the time being (plus the mountain bike that Heath is using for Muddy Buddy), so it's not like I'll need to go so far as to get the Delta Cezanne storage unit below (though maybe someday - gotta admit that is a pretty slick setup!).