For some added fun yesterday during the HOT CHOCOLATE RUN,
I set up a little Instagram Challenge for my Dad & Taylor!!!
Ten different categories that we each had to capture somewhere along the way!

Starting here with category #1 : ARCHITECTURE

Just remembering back six years ago when I ran the Chicago Marathon to celebrate my birthday! So much fun!!! I never knew a marathon could be so much fun… with such great support, encouragement & entertainment from the spectators! Thanks to my pal Tracy who ran the marathon that year as well for sharing this photo today!!!

Fun tracking two friends running the Chicago Marathon this morning
while working in the studio. Watching on TV and tracking on the app at the same time.
Nice to see them running so close to each other…
even though they don’t know each other!! Ha!!! Go Jacob!!! Go Terry!!!

So here’s a very dark view of the standard “turn-around-spot” from my morning ride. Today it was pitch black on a very foggy-misty morning. Not so safe with such reduced visibility.

So here are a few observations… maybe it would be good if people could stay in their own well-marked lanes, bikers in the bike lanes & jogger-walkers in the jogging lane?! Or perhaps we could have some sort of headlight-tailights-LED flasher situation?… you can see it’s PITCH BLACK outside this early in the morning!!! And by all means, lets consider NOT wearing totally black clothing from head to toe without any sort of reflective or illuminated surface.

It’s dark out there and WE CAN’T SEE YOU!!!

Kicking off the holiday with a very quiet & serene ride along the lakefront. From the looks of it, a lot of people were taking the morning off as they were so many fewer people out on the lakefront trail this morning than usual. Guess they’re all sleeping in?… but missing all of this sunrise beauty!!!

A beautiful afternoon escape into the “wild”… playing at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Saw the new entrance… as well as the baby rhino, baby wolves & the cutest baby gorilla ever!
Also loving the “retro” carousel featuring endangered species all around!

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Yesterday was a beautiful day for the Chicago Triathlon. Well, beautiful except for the crazy waves in Lake Michigan. So crazy that they called off the entire swim portion, and changed it to a Duathlon – run, bike, run. Always a fun day “racing” downtown with one of the best bike courses EVER!!! Up & down Lake Shore Drive, through Lower Wacker Drive and down along the Bus Lane… all 100% closed to traffic! Always a fun day playing downtown with my Tri-pal Tracy!

And this is what happens sometimes when you ask a total strange if she can take a few pictures for you. Still not quite sure what happened… some errant filter somewhere maybe? At least she tried…

At the Finish Line… thousands of medals are waiting for the Finishers! The Chicago Triathlon is the city’s only downtown Triathlon… and one of the world’s largest with over ten thousand athletes competing over the weekend!

Also after the Finish Line, there are an assortment of vendors, team tents, recovery stations and medics. My favorite of course is the Rapid Reboot tent. We’ve tried them many times at both Chicago Triathlon & a few IRONMAN Expos… and so much better when you get to use these AMAZING compression pants after the race when your legs could really use the boost! #rapidreboot

A rare Selfie... with a bit of a post-race afterglow much attributed to the compression pants massaging my legs at this very moment. Thanks to Clark and the fun folks at Rapid Reboot!!!

After the race, we decided to “walk it off” with a nice stroll through Millennium Park since the day was so gorgeous!

After having the SWIM portion of our race cancelled…
the day just didn’t feel complete without getting a little WET!!!
So we decided to play in the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park.

Scroll through the next few photos quickly, and you’ll see my friend Tracy doing her best Snow Angel Stroke in the fountain… to “complete” the third leg of our Triathlon!

And notice my still sealed, never-been-opened Swim Cap and extremely dry goggles!

We still lined up to start our race at the Swim Start arch… even though the lettering had been removed already. I guess to avoid confusion?! As we would basically be RUNNING the swim course instead of swimming it!

All in all, another great day downtown for the Chicago Triathlon… even if it was changed to a Duathlon! Always fun to get another medal to add to the collection… even if it is the THICKEST & heaviest medal yet!!! Rumor has it that if you were to complete all of the Lifetime Triathlons in the series, your medals would stack up to look like a replica of a sports water bottle!

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Cool & breezy this morning… but so much fun with the waves crashing in all over the place! Okay, so sure… not quite so safe, but if you’re smart it’s okay… and quite entertaining to watch those who aren’t!!!

And not to end on a dreary & cloudy note…
here’s a more impressive sunrise from Friday morning down on Navy Pier.
Beautiful clouds, colors & silhouettes down on The Pier.

Blue skies. Clear skies… and a couple geese! Could it get any more BEAUTIFUL?!!!

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