Shamrock Shuffle!

Sorry it took a while to get this posted, it's about a week late.  I had to find the pictures in order to make this a fun post.

So last Sunday the Shamrock Shuffle 8K was held in Chicago to kick off the racing season in the city.  Over 43,000 runner participated, making this the world's largest 8K race, which is pretty cool. I took the bus downtown in order to check by bag and stretch and get to my corral (corral B, thanks to my marathon time!).  I met a couple nice men and we talk about running and the marathon before the race. It helped kill the time before the gun went off. Here are some pictures of me before the start:

So it was actually really weird mentally because the race starts the same way the marathon does, with the same corrals and everything. I could feel my brain freaking out and I had to remind myself it was only a 5 mile race, not 26! It followed the marathon course for a little while, then cut over and then followed the marathon's same finish course. I saw some really weirdly dressed leprechauns and men painted in all green (still nothing compared to Bay to Breakers though).

It was a great day for the race. I ran at 8:30AM, perfectly sunny, but still cool and with a nice breeze. I maintained a solid 6:45-7:00 min/mile pace for most of the race and finished in 35:19! I was actually the first 20 year old female to finish :) Sadly, since I've moved up an age group I now "race" against the 20-24 year olds... but I still can still make my own 20 year old category just for me. Overall, I had a really great time! Looking forward to some more races coming up soon. 

Spring in Chicago!

Spring has arrived here in Chicago! Last week was beautiful and warm, ranging from 65-85. Everyone is so happy to have the warmth back and are enjoying plenty of time outside. I've taken a few pictures of the gorgeous flowers blooming around the city. Can't wait for some more lovely weather!

St. Patrick's Day!!

St. Patrick's Day is a HUGE deal in Chicago. My friend and I went downtown to check out the river, which they dye completely green! It was definitely a sight to see! The whole city was  out celebrating and enjoying the wonderful warm weather.

Art in the Neighborhood!

The Chicago Urban Arts Society has installed this awesome piece of urban art right around the corner from Loyola and my residence hall.  My roommate and I took a study break to go add a couple things to the wall.  I'm thinking as long as there is room I may try to add one a day... Enjoy the pics!

Spring Break 2012

For my Spring Break this year, I decided to stay at Loyola rather than fly back to California.  It ended up working well since I have an Organic Chem exam and Statistics Exam on Monday morning.  I have done my fair share of studying, but I also did lots of exploring and went to some places that have been on my Chicago bucket list for a while.  I also had the chance to help out in the bio-chem lab, as well as searching for apartments in the neighborhood for next year.  So it was both a fun and productive spring break.  I was also lucky enough to have a few 70 degree days here, and the forecast for the next 10 days is predicting more warm weather.  We're all hoping that winter is gone for good around here.

The first weekend of break my friends from high school, Marlo and Mike were in town. Marlo came out from Boston for part of her break, and Mike drove up from his school in Indiana.  We explored downtown, got plenty of free cupcakes, walked around Northwestern, and explored Wicker Park.  The best part of that neighborhood is "ICream", an ice cream shop where you literally create your own ice cream and they freeze it in the KitchenAid mixer with Liquid nitrogen. Pretty awesome. Mine was a purple cake batter with cookie dough inside. I think Mike had a blue "blackberry cheesecake" invention.  Good times catching up with old friends for sure!

On Wednesday, when it was 70 degrees, my friend Julie and I met up and walked to the Lincoln park zoo. We had a blast walking around, seeing all the animals, and hanging out with all the little kids who aren't in school on a Wednesday :) We saw snakes, camels, monkeys, pigs, cows, baby chicks, tarantula, bears, leopards, and our favorite: giraffes! Here are some pictures:

Chicago Adventures

Here are some pictures from my adventures around the city this semester. Enjoy!

These first few pictures are from when my friends Jumana, Lizzie, Emily and I went up to Evanston for the afternoon. We explored the lakefront, got some delicious soup (it was freezing!) and saw The Artist (highly recommend!)

These next pictures are from our Valentine's dinner.  We all went out to dinner together, had a great time and laughed a lot!

Julie, Lizzie, Sarah, Rwaida, and Kevin

 More to come soon!