Running Plans This Year (inspired by Lou posting hers)

her's? hers? not sure but whatev.

Shamrock Shuffle (my favorite race, course is all downtown and mirrors the Chicago Marathon start and finish...plus its 35,000 runners helps it feel all marathon-like, too)

Indy Mini (half marathon)

Rock-n-Roll Chicago (half marathon, formerly the Chicago Distance Classic, which was formerly my favorite race in Chicago until they changed the course last year. they still haven't posted the course, but i'm prepared to accept it if it remains WHACK...WOW, just looked at the site and the medal for this baby ROCKS.)

Chicago Half Marathon (much improved medal in 2008...the weather couldn't be any worse than last year, could it? Um...did I really just write that?! Probably the kiss of death. But anyway, this race has a special place in my heart b/c when I ran it in 2007, I actually managed to run it ON PACE for the race. It was awesome.)

CARA Ready to Run 20-Miler (well, it's not technically a race, but it's organized, there are aid stations, I have to pay for it, and hell, it's over 10 miles, so I'm counting it.)

Chicago Marathon (I don't think I need to add anything here, do I?)

Still up for grabs because I'm always a sucker for cute t-shirts or awesome schwag:
Fleet Feet Women's 5K/10K and the Bucktown 5K. Oh wow.

I decided to limit my runs because last year I ran a ton of races...not all of them are even listed in that column on the right, because a few didn't provide official chip times. And to think, there were a few races I didn't get to run from when I had my knee injury and therapy for 6 weeks. So I'm taking it easy this year and focusing on the big goal...running those last 3 miles up Michigan Avenue, turning onto Roosevelt and facing that "hill" with a smile, on my way to finally finishing the Chicago Marathon. HOORAY!

As for after the marathon? Well c'mon now, anything goes!