Spring training is over.. Home openers are starting.

For the last three months the cavern to which many people have hid themselves amongst the harsh Chicago winter... is melting away and people are peeking their heads out just as the flowers begin to.
It's arguably the best time of year in Chicago. While yes, we are still dealing with a nasty winter hangover and some snowy days (I’m looking out the window at snow right now), the occasional warmer one tends to put people in a jolly mood for the more habitually warm days to come.
We are now beginning to see the neighbors you forgot you had (whether good or bad) on a regular basis, more people are converging on Chicago neighborhoods for outdoor dining, shopping or simply spending time with friends.
You start to see announcements for outdoor events, markets and such.. and.. as mentioned Baseball is about to start.
For me.. It’s Shuffle time.. Chicago's Shamrock Shuffle on Sunday marks the start of the outdoor running season in Chicago. It's my favorite time of the year. I like to think of the Shuffle as a pseudo ground hog day. Every year the weather is different. Last year it was warm, years past it's been really really cold, and this year seems just about right.. (high 30’s, maybe low 40’s – hopefully the rain holds off because cloud cover is great) which if you look at races past, means we're going to have a relatively mild summer. (I know I'm no meteorologist, just hopeful!)
I love race morning when you see the die hards in their singlet’s, running shorts and gloves. The rest of us casual racers bundled up thinking their crazy, but hoping one day we could be so bold.
There's an excitement and energy in the air. (Maybe it's from 30,000 people trying to keep warm!) And it's like Chicagoans are saying *** winter.. we're here to play outside.. no matter what you throw at us next.

Hope to see some of you out there. For everyone else.. as Cubs fans always say, “there's always next year”!

Getting to the starting line is the hard part.
That's what my father told me when I first got into running about 8 or so years ago. And what I didn't know, or believe then, is how right he really is. So a big cheers, kudos, shout-out, and salute to all those runners.. here and abroad.. who are taking on the 30th annual Chicago LaSalle Bank Marathon.
Not only is running a race of this magnitude a huge physical commitment, it affects the runner emotionally and socially. These people have spent the better part of the last year (longer for some, shorter for others) getting up early to run- sometimes for hours at a time, changing their diets, missing fun events, dealing with blisters, swollen muscles, bad runs, good runs.. all to spend this Sunday in 80 plus degree weather pounding the pavement for 26.2 miles. And why? Because it is an amazing experience, an accomplishment you can't describe, you can only feel for yourself once you step across the finish line. I personally haven't run a full marathon in a number of years (did the half in August, and now do international triathlons (with Dad)) because I can't find the time in my schedule for the training anymore. But I have to say I'm jealous.. and I'll be keeping an eye out for everyone this Sunday.
So as you running newbies listen to the gun go off.. just remember what Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, "What matters is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog." And good luck.