Getting my Irish on

In Chicago, St. Patrick's Day is an enormously festive celebration.  The city goes ALL OUT for it.

The Chicago River dyed green, a long-time annual tradition.
This photo has NOT been digitally altered in any way. 
Do NOT adjust your computer monitor.

Happy humans reveling in one of many St. Patrick's Day Parades.

Even non-humans partake in the celebration.
I wonder how the dog REALLY feels about this? 
(I hope that coloring is non-toxic, non-permanent, and water-soluble.)

We've had an abnormally mild winter and very early spring/summer this year, but in typical years St. Patrick's Day also signals the unofficial end of Chicago winter to me.  That, and the start of Daylight Savings Time (as painful as it was for me this past Monday morning.  Z-O-M-B-I-E.)

I will officially be getting my Irish on by running the inaugural Chicago Get Lucky Half Marathon this weekend.  This race is also the kickoff of my 2012 racing season.

The weather on race morning (Sunday) is supposed to be gorgeous, if a bit on the warm side for a race (upper 60s/low 70s).  I have one green technical shirt that I had originally been planning to wear for the occasion.  Unfortunately, the shirt is long-sleeved so now it'll be too warm to wear.  Change of plan.  I do like to be unique in my own way, and everyone wears green for St. Patrick's Day.  Therefore, I am instead going to honor the other, FORGOTTEN color of the Irish flag.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I will be wearing a white shirt.

Kidding, kidding.  I have an orange technical shirt with a nice zippered side pocket that I'll be wearing.  It looks kind of like this:

Maybe the orange will help me stand out a bit from the crowd?  (Actually, that can be both a good thing and a bad thing...)

I might really go all out and curl my hair like this:

OK, maybe not.

One of the biggest selling points for me on the Chicago Get Lucky Half Marathon was that it has a 9:00 AM start time.  That is MUCH more palatable than the more typical 7:00 AM or earlier start times.  I am sure the race organizers planned the start time knowing that pretty much the entire city of Chicago (except me) will be out late the night before drinking green beer.  Hey, it still works for me.

Sorry, folks, I'm not a beer drinker and this doesn't look very appetizing to me.

Speaking of beverages, I am planning to focus on pre-race hydration starting today.  As many of you know, I am a HUGE drinker of (diluted) orange juice - it's my remedy for everything.  Watch out Tropicana and Dole distributors, I will be hydrating something crazy for the next 48 hours.  (An added benefit to wearing an orange shirt on race day is that any orange juice stains sustained the morning-of won't be noticeable.)

No specific tie-in to my subject matter other than the
St. Patrick's Day theme and because it just makes me smile.

My plan for this race on Sunday is to just have a good time and to enjoy the festiveness and beautiful weather.  I am going to try not to focus too much on time goals, though I obviously want to do well.  Instead, I'm hoping to use this race as a barometer from which to assess my overall progress.  E.g. my comfort and mentality in handling this distance, not just my finishing time.  Here's also hoping and praying that my knees and hips hold up!

Good luck to all that are running St. Patrick's Day races this weekend!