Sneaky Runners

Some may have heard, but if you haven't, I've been coerced by my friend Ryan to run a half marathon. I know you might say, "That fat tub o' lard, he can't run 13 miles". Well to all of you who say that, ha, I ran 11-12 miles on last Saturday, I wasnt counting, but I think it was that much, really. How do I know, well Ryan thought that we should run about 9-10 miles going south along the lakeshore, we somehow got caught up in the Soldier Field 10 miler, and we were running against the flow. So some Kenyans at the front of the line were breezing past us with no problems, the problems came when were were running into runners trying to make good time. One guy yelled obsenities at Ryan which caused Ryan to want to run into runners and screw up their time. It was getting serious so I went into the grass.
We ran almost to Hyde Park, actually Promentory Point, stretched out, then followed all the stragglers all the way back into Soldier Field. When I entered the field, through the area where the players entered the field, we were greeted with a hero's welcome, as if they knew I had run the most I had ever ran in my life, beating my all time record of running ten miles straight without training, when I finished High Road. It didnt matter if we didnt have our runners number. We had a photo finish, we were on the jumbotron, and we were offered some kind of medal. (I declined). After we soaked everyting in, we proceeded to mooch as much free stuff as we could during the after party. SWAG! STUFF WE ALL GET, as Ryan would say.
The feeling of accomlishment was great, on to the half marathon, not a bad day for a fat tub o' lard like me.

Camping

Every now and then, a True Chicagoan needs a little time away from the city for a little R & R. This year we went camping to the Warren Dunes with some couples from our church. Now I don't like to do much work on vacation, so I was worried about having to pitch a tent and all the other inconveniences that come with the camping experience, but my friend Brian helped us and the tent was up in no time. Katie and I were also worried about Liam burning up in the fire, or getting eaten by a snake, falling into quicksand, and worst of all, crying all night in a tent during quiet hours. However the sweet country air put Liam into a deep sleep both nights. He slept better than he does at home. Maybe we should become vagabonds and Liam will sleep just fine.
We hiked and climed some dunes the first night, the sunset was breathtaking especially because it was clear enough to get a shot of the skyline from the Michigan side of the lake.

The next day it Katie, Liam, and I climbed the 20 story dune, well Liam didnt climb, I had him in my backpack while he screamed for Katie and pulled my hair, while I lugged 40 pds on my back and felt heart palpatations. Once we got over the dune we made our way to the beach were I gave Katie some free time and took Liam and his best friend on the trip, Elisa, to the water. It was so cold, but Liam wasn't afraid, we would run in and when it got too cold we would run out. We buried Elisa, skipped rocks, threw driftwood into the water, and said hi to boats, we had a great time.
When the little ones went down, we played couples olympics, compared engagement stories (ours won), and played the newlywed game. Katie and I thought that it would be difficult to get to know some of the couples, but I think the games put everyone in a place where they could relate to each other. We headed for home at about eleven the next morning, and I couldnt ask for a more perfect bookend to our vacation, a leisurely ride home, great conversation with my wife, and a shot of the Chicago skyline coming north on the Dan Ryan. Nothing like a good vacation away to get you pumped up about coming home to our beautiful city.