Merry Christmas

For unto us a child is born. Merry Christmas! If you recognize and celebrate the birth of The Son, I hope you have enjoyed a splendid day with family and friends opening presents and making memories. If you do not celebrate the religious significance, I hope your day has equally been a splendid one with loved ones.

Thank you for reading my blog entries. Your taking the time to read my reflections and recaps means plenty. Your readership is a great present. As we near the end of 2015, I hope you will read my final posts of the year and you will be ready to dive into the ones to start 2016.

Merry Christmas and to you, a good night.

Caroline Combines Passion And Purpose For Others

I first met the beautiful and talented, Caroline Gaynor in July of 2008 in New york city. I have always been a runner, especially a sprinter, at heart, but Lokelani McMichael becoming the youngest person to complete an Ironman triathlon at age eighteen inspired me to do triathlons. Besides spending a weekend in NYC with my long time dear friend, sexy, Sunshine, I walked away from that weekend excited from finishing a triathlon and meeting the fabulous, Caroline Gaynor. A month later, I saw Caroline in Chicago during the Chicago Triathlon. Caroline was and remains so beautiful, sweet, funny, kind, and magnificent. Over the years, I have posted and raved about how magnificent Caroline is, so permit me to step aside and allow someone else to sing her praises.

Please take some time to visit the following link where Kelly Krause, Camille Styles’ Contributing Editor, praises lovely, Caroline as well as providing a Q and A section.

Katie-Do At Funny Women Festival

The sketch comedy group, Cake Batter, puts on a fabulous festival called Funny Women Fest which spotlights and celebrates strong, independent, funny women. Today, December 5 at 7p.m. at the Del Close theater in Hollywood is another chance for audiences to witness funny talented women showcasing their abilities. Best of all, there is a competition taking place and those who attend can vote on their favorites. Among the categories is Video Shorts in which one of the finalists is Katie-Do written, produced, and starring my friend, Kate Bergeron.

If you attend the festival, please vote for Kate's Katie-Do entry. For more information, please visit the beautiful and talented, Kate Bergeron's site at the following link:

GLASA Twilight 5K 2015

I lost some much training time to illness this summer which makes me nervous as Chicago Marathon nears. I have three races prior to Chicago which will be glorified training runs. Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association’s Twilight 5K is first.

Ryan Nord was set to guide me. Ten days prior to the race, he suffered an injury. Realizing he could not guide, Ryan reached out to best friend, Phil Jones. Phil is a sprinter who looked forward to the moment in the race when I would lay the hammer. At Rock The Night 5K in July, this was when I topped out at 5:55 pace.

Saturday, September 12. Phil and I met hours before the race. We did a two mile warmup. Ryan wished us well. We walked to the start. Gun sounded. Almost immediately, we hit 7:30 pace. We raced up a hill then down. I realized I did not remember this course as I thought. I remembered a hill late in the race near the finish, but I did not recall that most of the course was up and down hills. I pulled back for a bit. On flat ground, I picked it up to 7:00 pace. Hills again. I slowed. I could not find a consistent pace. Phil and I reached mile one in 7:55. We reached mile two in 16:02. My paced slowed. I was winded. My mind wandered. If I am struggling and stressing out now, what will happen when I have to run 26.2? Phil encouraged me to finish strong. My quads were on fire. My stomach hurt. A side stitch. I tried to get rid of it. Half a mile left. I have run 800 meters in less than 3:30 during track sessions. I could do that here. I turned over my legs. Phil sprinted. My quads and hamstrings burned. I ran strong yet I felt out of control as though my form was off. I heard the PA announcer, “Here comes Israel Antonio. Our first sight impaired male and first sight impaired athlete overall.”

Phil and I finished in twenty-four minutes and change. I believe it was a personal best for this race and course, but a couple minutes behind my overall 5K personal best. We ran a two mile cool down. Thank you Phil Jones for stepping in last minute, Ryan Nord for cheering us on, Jenna Parker for being my friend and coach, Pinnacle Performance Company for sponsoring me, and Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association for another great experience in the annual Twilight 5K.

I Need Training Run Guides: Fast, Slow Experienced, Novice

When I toe the start line for GLASA Twilight 5K on Saturday, September 12, it will be the first of four races I plan to run in five weeks culminating with my sixth consecutive Chicago Marathon on October 11. Over the years, I have done about ninety-eight percent of my runs on a treadmill. Every so often, a friend volunteers to guide me for an outdoor run, but due to schedules, that does not happen as often as I would like so I gut out runs, even long ones, on the treadmill. Friends have thankfully stepped up this year offering to guide me for easy runs and track workouts. Special thanks to Mike Casey, Ryan Nord, and Wendy Jaehn. Recently, I have been having problems with my treadmill which frequently turns itself off while I am in the mist of a run. Some times, it happens thirty seconds into my session. Other times, it happens ten minutes in. It has become unreliable. Unfortunately, I probably will not be able to get it fixed until my 2015 season is complete.

I turn to you my blog reader, Twitter follower, and Facebook friend asking for volunteers to guide me for training runs. I need runners of all abilities.

• Speedy rabbits for track sessions or faster runs
• endurance experts for my long/easy runs where goal is simply time on my feet/miles under my belt

I need guides of all levels.

• If you have guided me before and are interested again
• If you have always wanted to try guiding, but were scared to volunteer

I am going to have to put in many miles on an almost daily basis so the more volunteers, the better. You may try it once and not like guiding. You may love it, but your schedule does not permit anything beyond a couple runs. I might get four volunteers able to get together once a week. I might get two runners who can run a couple times a week. Whatever your availability, interest, pace, and experience, please reach out immediately because I can not afford to miss my sessions.

Please feel free to reach out to other runners you know who might have the time or interest. Thank you very much!!

Vote Wendy/Israel For Chicago Athlete Magazine Cover

Last Thursday, lovely, Jen Pfaff tagged me in a Facebook post requesting people vote for Wendy and Israel. Unbeknownst to me, Chicago Athlete Magazine was running a contest on their Facebook page asking people to “like” the one picture from the three under consideration to end up on the Chicago Athlete magazine October issue cover. One of the options was Ali Engin’s photo of Wendy Jaehn guiding me at last year’s Chicago Marathon.

For anyone interested in viewing and voting, please follow the URL below and scroll down to a post from last Thursday. Press “like” on the photo of your choice. Voting ends today.

RAM Racing Cinco De Miler: My First Experience

A cold and windy day greeted me on the day of the RAM Racing Cinco De Miler. Thanks to Keri Serota of Dare2Tri who introduced me to Brandon and Debbie at RAM Racing who took care of my race guide, Ironman Triathlete and marathoner, Ryan Nord.

We were disappointed that we were placed in corral D, but we hoped it would be a fast field. Having run the Shamrock Shuffle 8K five weeks prior and finishing in forty-one minutes, I was confident I would break forty minutes at Cinco De Miler. If all went well, I could push thirty-seven minutes.

Ryan and I waited for our wave to go off. I was excited to put Jenna Parker’s plan into action. Gun sounded. We crossed the start. We planned to take it easy in the opening mile. Not even six hundred meters into the race, we found ourselves behind a cluster of runners who were already walking. We ran through a tunnel filled with puddles. More runners slowed down. Ryan told me not to worry. We would make up the time once out of the tunnel. Once out, we tried to find our stride. Too many slower runners surrounded us. Ryan and I sat back knowing this was only one mile. To our surprise, we ran the opening mile just slightly behind our desired pace. We tried pushing the pace from the 8:20 we were running. We managed to drop it to 7:30, but that did not last long as we hit another group. Ryan decided to guide me to the far right side of the course in order to race pass a large group. We neared seven minute pace during this stretch. We reached mile two marker. I was disappointed we had not been able to sustain a strong pace. Unfortunately, the third mile was our slowest of the day. During the first couple miles, Ryan and I managed to fly by runners from the corrals ahead of us. I figured once we reached the faster runners, the course would open. Not so. Frustrated at how the race unfolded, I told myself to not be bothered by it. Midway through the fourth mile, Ryan said, “We have an opening. Let’s go for it!” We had been hanging around the eight minute pace. With this opening, we dropped it to 7:30. 7:15. 7:10. We raced up a hill. I took out my anger on it. It felt good to push. Ryan said we were about to start the final mile.

I decided to just run fast and let Ryan do his best to zig zag other runners. Ryan said we were under seven minute pace. 6:56. 6:52. Three quarters of a mile remained. I could hear runners struggling. I felt strong. Ryan insisted I push. “Holy crap. 6:40!” Half mile remained. I was having fun. I wanted to get under 6:30. If I had to run people over, so be it. Ryan and I raced to the finish line.

Ryan helped me break forty minutes. We averaged slightly under seven minutes during the final two miles. I was pleased that I was able to race the back end of the race. I was able to give Jenna Parker something about which to be proud. Thank you Ryan Nord for guiding me, Jenna Parker for coaching me, and Pinnacle Performance Company for sponsoring me. Special thanks to RAM Racing for the opportunity to run in this event.