Waking up at 5:00 AM on Sunday normally, you’d think, “Am I crazy?!” Yet, I did this on Saturday thinking THAT was the 5k, dressed, waiting for the shuttle outside, THAT was great! 🙂 I actually made it back out to the same spot today, still nervous, and ta da!, a shuttle was waiting! There were four people From the Chicago Hilton as well, so it was easy to start a conversation in the morning with them.
This particular 5k, was as you read last post, was the Think Fit 5k exclusively for ALA members. The whole way there I wondered, “I wonder how many librarians run? Or will run? Turns out we have between walkers and runners, a total of 158 ready to roll.
It was odd doing stretches without the XC team, yet I ran through the same drills as we used to. The location was the McCormick Bird Sanctuary, and a GREAT view of Michigan Lake. The wind was up and I was grateful for the wind. The course was an easy down and back, slight inclines, but nothing compared to the hills and routes that were marked in PA we used to run.
The event was timed and organized by To the Finish, LLC, and they did a great job of informing everyone, timing with chips overall, and just the management of the race itself.
I have to say overall, with the state of my shoes, and the lack of preparation for the 5k, I was pleased with a 29:15 finish, with under 30:00 being my outset goal. I was 15th of 22 males, and felt I could have done better in that department. I still did not have a mastery of my breathing, which made me stop and walk for about 20 seconds three times but it did give me much to be aware of and set to do better for next time. I was very glad I pushed myself to get registered and follow through with this opportunity!
We received some cool door prizes (pedometer, sunglasses, banana, awesome oatmeal and trail mix treat which honestly was DELICIOUS!) and we didn’t wait for awards so we could take the shuttle back to the Hilton to get showered and back to the Conference.
I have to say, I was proud and wanting to flaunt the fact I had gotten myself out of bed early and ran a 5k and was back again ready to head to the conference when I stepped off the shuttle and saw the conference attendees just getting up waiting to head to the conference. I just always wanted to be that person that took the extra initiative to be healthy and have an all around lifestyle that promoted health, and I vaguely remember, an Intermediate High moment. I was in Home Economics, cooking, and we were discussing what we would be like as we were older. I stated I would be athletic, more in shape, and conscious of my lifestyle, and the girls at the table laughed. I was a total geek back in those grades, Intermediate at least and not really on grades, yeah, just a geek. So it was not far fetched to find this funny, but I am glad that the part of my life with being aware of the healthy aspects did turn true!
Sessions stopped today being Sunday at around noon, but the next session I did attend was …well, believe it or not I forget the title but I do remember the notes below:
Sunday sessions First one Emerging Technologies LITA
http://www.ala.org/lita/ & http://connect.ala.org/lita (Library & Information Technology Association)
http://ala13.ala.org/node/11093
and I realized in some aspects, this was VERY technical, way over my head as far as what the speaker was doing, but LOVED the fact that the library as becoming an outlet for discovery and causing people to say, “I didn’t know the library did that!”
I met three awesome people at my table and we discussed what emerging technologies we were seeing our library challenges, etc. One was the idea that some staff were jumping into technology while others were not, and the challenge to have that aspect to associate with the patrons. One was the use of Dropbox among the librarians and how some feel uncomfortable with it so far. We brought up the use of Camptasia, Jing, and the use of Libguides. Also the old list of 23 things, a Gallaway list, of what would be most useful n technology, although outdated, we did see how this would be a good starting point for people that might feel uneasy at first with technology bursting at them all of a sudden. While some of the topics brought up were way way into programming, this did let us discuss and exchange ideas, as well as what technology impacts us as a public school, community college, or high school librarian, even as an up and becoming librarian which was represented by everyone at our table!
The time after sessions ended, since early today, I took pictures and sampled the areas that Chicago had to offer for touristing. I LOVE, LOVE the Chicago Public Library and you will see in the last post of what I left behind in leaving Chicago what I discovered!
PAVEing a Blog 