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Chasing Unicorns LLC

Setting Goals and Entering the Realm of Possible

Upcoming Races & Events

Races

September 14, 2020: Boston Marathon (Boston, MA)

Events

September 13, 2020: Team Sugar Runs Boston Marathon Meetup (Boston, MA)

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2 years ago today, I ran my first sub-1:40 half marathon (photo 2). 1 year ago today, I wrapped up my highest mileage month ever in pursuit of my first Boston Marathon (photo 3). Today, Illinois extended its Stay at Home executive order until April 30th. It’s a very different March 31st than the last 2 years, but one thing remains the same, I still got to run. In the last week I’ve heard from many friends and athletes that they’re struggling with motivation without races on the schedule and with not knowing if races remaining will still. I’ll admit I like having a target to chase after and right now it feels more like a moving target. I find peace when I’m on the run so fortunately, my motivation has not changed all that much to lace up, but my motivation to do the little things like stretching and strength training definitely has. The thing about motivation is you have to find it within yourself. I think people confuse inspiration with motivation and sometimes use the terms interchangeably. Inspiration is looking at someone else and saying “wow I want to go do that too”, motivation is what gets you out the door to actually go do that thing. But IT’S OK to not have strong motivation all of the time. We all react to stress differently - some of us find comfort on the roads while others find comfort in not lacing up. You have to do what’s best for you in times of crisis. You might be worried that time off now may result in delaying some goals in the future, and the hard truth is, it might, but it’s ok if the goal has changed a bit since the world has changed a lot. You have to take care of yourself first. Just remember that we’re all doing the best we can and that looks different for each one of us. This too shall pass ❤️ . . . #runchat #runnersofinstagram #runnergirl #stayathome #motivation #run #runlove #loveyourself #thistooshallpass #chicagorunner #marchmadness #hanginthere #onestepatatime

“Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain.” I chose to find joy in the chaos this week. Last week I allowed myself to grieve, to process how I was feeling, accept that it was ok that I was feeling that way over life changing, and then determined a path forward. It’s helped me to take things one day at a time since it’s been hard to plan much beyond that, but I’ve been focusing on having a glass half-full attitude this week. Things are far from perfect, but there is still a lot to find joy in, like spending more time with my husband who hasn’t been traveling for work like he normally would be and being more alert on weekends because I’m not doing super long runs, or in getting to see my dog all day long and taking her for extra walks, in being able to nap during the day because I don’t have a commute anymore. It’s all translated to feeling pretty strong on my runs as well which has also been pretty fun to take the pressure off! It’s important to meet yourself where you’re at - last week I was flexible and gentle with myself because of stress and finding my new normal. This week I learned how to dance in the rain (today I took that literally). There is beauty in the chaos if we choose to find it ❤️ . . . #dancingintherain #runnersofinstagram #runnergirl #chicagorunner #runningintherain #rain #sunshineonacloudyday #runlove #teamsugarruns #beautyinchaos #newnormal #glasshalffull #run #bebrave #joy #joyinthejourney #choosejoy

I think Lola’s “cheese” face sums up how much fun we all had on today’s run in 50-degree sunny weather (finally some spring temps here!!). My sister and I are trying to explore lots of new routes and trails together while I’m in this less structured phase of training and while she’s home from grad school. We talked about digging out the old spikes and running some old XC courses back from our high school days! Its been awhile since I’ve run on grass and what a better time to mix it up than now?! . . . #crosscountryisback #runnersofinstagram #runnergirl #sister #sistersquad #runlove #crosscountry #spring #chicagorunner #run #runchat #chicago #offseason #springtraining #dogsofinstagram #dogsontherun #dogswhorun #rescuedog

The good today: working in comfy clothes, a Zoom video chat with my co-workers, getting to walk my dog over lunch, all of the snow melting in 45-degree sunny weather, getting to run with my sister, and not having to spend time commuting to and from work and reclaiming that extra time to relax ❤️ weird, weird times we’re living in but I still can’t get over how many more people are getting out to move their bodies and how friendly everyone is waving and saying hello to complete strangers (from a socially acceptable distance of course). We’ve got this! . . . #sistersister #run #runnersofinstagram #runlove #sunnyday #chicagorunner #runchat #nature #optoutside #socialdistancing #theroadsarealwaysopen #wideopenspaces #barrington

It’s been hard to wrap my head around the fact that 3 weeks ago, I spent the weekend on packed Atlanta streets cheering at the Olympic Trials and then was tightly packed into a corral before racing what would seemingly be one of the only spring races of 2020, unbeknownst to all of us at the time. On a similar note, the company I work for in aviation supply chain was in the middle of a boom - we couldn’t fill job reqs fast enough, share prices were some of the highest they’ve ever been, and morale was strong. My coaching business was doing well and everything seemed to be falling into place and making sense. And just when I finally felt like I had balance and rhythm in my life, everything changed. I have been mentally struggling coming off of some very high highs to some very low lows and not having any “warning” or transition period, like I’m sure many of you are grappling with as well. That’s where I’m at for now, and I gave myself this weekend to feel it all and spend time processing my thoughts. Running has helped, my husband has helped more, and my faith has helped most. I’m normally a pretty optimistic person so we’ll get back to our regularly scheduled programming soon, just remember that your feelings, on both ends of the spectrum, are valid - if you want to share them, share them, if you’d rather share cute cat photos, that’s just as needed ❤️ . . . #runchat #runnersofinstagram #covid_19 #coronavirus #realtalk #runlove #run #runnergirl #talkaboutit #onedayatatime #highsandlows

Things feel a little bit like we’re running into the abyss right now, not being able to see past the current day and knowing what’s in store for the future. It’s scary, it’s unfamiliar, and at times can even be overwhelming. But I think what’s comforting for me to know is that we’re all in this together. In the last 2 weeks, I’ve seen more kindness poured out from the community - like our neighborhood who has started posting in our Facebook group whenever someone goes out to run an errand to see if anyone needs anything, my parents’ church who has volunteers delivering goods to the elderly stuck inside their homes, fitness instructors who are unable to teach their regular classes and are offering free online videos to keep people active, friends who are teachers posting that they’re happy to help explain content that parents might not be able to teach to their children while they’re home from school....there are too many of these to count. Maybe one thing we’ll learn from all of this is that we need to slow down and appreciate the community and relationships in our lives, to be kinder to our neighbors, and that at the end of the day, it’s people, not things, that truly matter. . . . #runchat #runnersofinstagram #runnergirl #community #people #relationships #socialdistancing #runlove #run #bettertogether #kindness #slowdown

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