New Goal

So, I'm one of those people who doesn't do well with maintaining a good workout routine if I don't have a specific goal set (for example, The Warrior Dash earlier this summer). I've been searching high and low for something to set my sights on this fall and I've found it - The Men's Health Urbanathlon in Chicago, IL. I've signed up as an individual competitor (like a dummy) so the race will be over 9.5 miles, including the insane obstacles, such as running the steps in Soldier Field.

In order to train for this mother, I had to step up my program a bit. I finally got back to full duty (stupid weak ankles) and started CrossFit Endurance two weeks ago, as well as tweaking my diet so I cheat with pizza and toast less often. I'm already seeing results.

During some of my endurance runs, I've been wearing my 50 pound weight vest. (It makes running without one seem a hell of a lot easier.) It's been so fucking hot here that my max run with the vest was a 3K in 93 degree heat and a 106 degree heat index. I swear I need SCUBA gear to breathe outside.

The Urbanathlon should be fun and challenging. My max distance in a race so far was the Bix in 2008, which is 7 miles uphill both ways. No bullshit, it really is.

On an unrelated note, I took B (a.k.a. Mini Me) on her first real roller coaster. She had no idea what I had gotten her in to until we tipped up and over that first hill and plummeted toward the earth. She screamed like she thought she was going to die. No kidding. I thought it was the last roller coaster she'd ever get on. At the end, she was giggling and talking non-stop about it. Two hours later, she was asking to go again. Of course I took her. Now she's hooked.

I'm taking Mini Me to her first beach trip, which by default also requires her to complete her first jet ride. We're also going to go to Disney World. They have no idea what they're in for.