gosh, the weeks are flying by, and it's time for an update again.

the first, exciting news is that i've started collecting donations for Team in Training. thank you, you awesome people who have already made contributions! all money goes to support research and treatments at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. my fundraising goal is $1400 - so far i'm collected $350, so i'm off to a good start but have a long way to go still.

this past sunday i ran in the Shamrock Shuffle, which is the largest 8k race in the country (in the world?). 30,000 runners swarmed into downtown chicago on sunday morning to run the race. my marathon coach had recommended that we do this race to get some experience with big races - like the chicago marathon, it starts and ends in grant park in downtown chicago, and it's HUGE. i'm glad i did the race for the experience with the crowds alone - i was pretty intimidated by the whole rigmarole - getting downtown on crowded sunday public transit, fighting the crowds for the gear check, the portapotty lines, getting into a starting corral, etc. now i feel much more confident about what i need to do and where i need to be when on marathon day for a stress-free start to the race. and i have months still to look forward to that!

i also felt pretty good about my race time. i ran the 8k in 43:29, averaging an 8:45 pace. not that long ago i was thinking of myself as a 10-minute miler, it's cool to realize that in my second season back to running i'm continuing to improve. and lately almost all of my "easy jogs" have been coming in around 9 or 9:30 in pace - i guess i'm actually getting stronger/faster.

the past 3 weeks i've been doing much better about hitting all or nearly all of my workouts. the weather has been easing up a bit, which helps - less time on the treadmill, more time out exploring (what pass for) nature (in chicago).

tag!