So while I’ve had a sore ankle for about a week now, I’m also just a “little bit” stubborn… so… today was the CHICAGO TRIATHLON, and I was not going to miss it!

But when we got downtown, we found put that the Swim portion had been canceled due to the high crashing waves. They quickly turned it into a run-bike-run DUATHLON instead (just like we did in 2019). My ankle was not happy, but I was happier to NOT be swimming! So we ran the distance of the Swim, then did the Bike course, followed by the Run distance. The weather was otherwise perfect, and the Triathlon… err, Duathlon… was great fun once again! As it always is playing with my Tri-Buddies Chris & Nancy!!!

And on a good note… my ankle doesn’t feel any worse for the wear! If anything, if feels better. We’ll see how it feels tomorrow morning?!

After my normal morning sunrise bike ride, it was time for a quick dip in the lake with the FRIDAY MORNING SWIM CLUB. It started during the Covid shut-down as a “safe” way for a few friends to get outside to see each other while staying safe. It has since grown to be a huge “swim party” thanks to word-of-mouth & social media. This is now the third “season”… sadly, I didn’t find out about it until season two! So much fun with about 2,000 people all jumping in the lake at Montrose Harbor for no real reason except for some FUN!!! A bit of splashing around… then home… and then back to Lillstreet for the end of another week of Summer Camp!!!

It may be just another typical MUGSHOT MONDAY… but it doesn’t look too typical for Allyn! Sure, she may be holding her favorite mug… but it looks like she might have something else to show-off today… a new bit of BLING on her finger!!!

Last night was EMPTY BOWLS at Lillstreet Art Center. Huge thanks to everyone who participated… whether by donating your handmade bowls, or by coming to Lillstreet to buy them! All proceeds from the evening went to Common Pantry to help combat hunger & food insecurity in Chicago. Thanks again!

Just a quick reminder… tomorrow night at Lillstreet Art Center is EMPTY BOWLS… our first one since the pandemic!!! A wonderful event to help a great “food pantry” cause. Basically, the potters at Lillstreet have been donating a bunch of handmade bowls… literally hundreds!!!… and they will all be available tomorrow night for a small donation to “Common Pantry.” A small donation and you get a great bowl… and to sweeten the deal?… the bowls will be filled with artisanal ice cream from JENI’S SPLENDID ICE CREAMS!!!

So here’s a quick peek at just a few of the bowls I’ve donated to the party… stamped, spiraled, glazed… even including everyone’s favorite “bubble glazed” bowl!!! Swing by for some bowls & ice cream!!!

The weather was perfect today for a great bike ride along the lakefront. With a fun opportunity to see the SAIL GP boats pretty close-up as they were being craned back into the water for Day Two of the SAIL GRAND PRIX races at Navy Pier! Amazing racing boats… picture sailboats racing at Nascar speeds on Lake Michigan at the very end of Navy Pier inside the breakwater!

Tonight after my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, a couple of us went over to the new Jeni’s Ice Creams now open in Andersonville!

Tonight was their Grand Opening… with free ice cream from 7:00pm-11:00pm! Perfect timing for those of us who had class until 10:00pm! And we were all pleased that they were giving away a fill TRIO of ice creams in a waffle bowl to everyone! I went for my three favorite flavors… Goat Cheese & Red Cherries, Brambleberry Crisp and Blackout Chocolate Cake!!!

As we were towards the end of the event, we never expected people to still be waiting outside in line… nor that they would have served FREE ice cream to 790 customers during their four-hour event! Congrats Jeni’s & welcome to the neighborhood!!!

One way to make your special day even more special is FREE ICE CREAM!!! Sure, it might be a lot… but no one ever said you couldn’t go to more than one location, right?! I called this “dinner” on my way to the studio to teach class tonight… I feel sorry for my students when all this sugar kicks in… this might be a bumpy ride!!!

Jeni’s #1… on Wells in Old Town!

Jeni’s #2… on Southport

Jeni’s #3… on Clark at Wrigley

Fun with friends along the lakefront… swimming, biking & running! We all ran our own race while dealing with the heat, humidity & freak rainstorm! It was the first time that Tracy & I got to run together as we signed up for the “Clydesdale & Athena” division for we “larger” normal-sized people!

Fun to have Chris, Nancy & Don racing with us. Seeing Nancy in our favorite “Rapid Reboots” after the race… and Chris winning second place in her age group!

Despite the challenging weather today, we all had a great time playing down along the lakefront for the 2021 CHICAGO TRIATHLON.

Today was sunny, hot & steamy… with a side of gusty winds & stormy clouds with a quick deluge of a raining downpour!!! Not quite ideal… but another fun day at the 2021 CHICAGO TRIATHLON!!! Sure my finish time might not have been my best, but we had a great time swimming, biking & running with friends!!! It felt so good to get back to a little slice of “normal” during these crazy times! Luckily, we were all outside with plenty of fresh… err, make that thick & humid air!!!