Blog Review: I Heart Pikermis: Confessions of a Serial Racer

I Heart Pikermis: Confessions of a Serial Racer is a blog about and written by a race fanatic named Maureen. She's a suburban Chicago runner, who seemingly will let no race go by without her participation in it. She sometimes runs in more than two races a week, and writes a mile by mile breakdown of each race. I can only dream of racing this much, so it is fun to read her first hand account of the several dozen races she competes in every year.  

IHP Logo (source: iheartpikermis.com)

Many of the races she runs in are local (e.g. Terrapin, Chicago RnR), as well as semi-regular weekend race trips to far flung destinations (e.g. New Orleans or Houston). Her favorite race distance is the pikermi (a.k.a. half marathon), but she runs everything from mud runs, and 5ks through full marathons. The main thing is to have fun, occasionally establish a new pr, and collect the cool finisher medals and race shirts.  Her blog entries take a funny spin on the struggles and sheer exuberance often found in running road races.  You can imagine how cool it was to experience mile 3 of the Big10k:

(src: iheartpikermis.com) 

"Mile 3:  Just before the turnaround, I'm starting to get warm.  The summer sun is STRONG, even though the temperatures feel pretty mild at this point.  But I was in luck, because the highlight of my day was just ahead... THE WATER SLIDE! Yes, I said WATER SLIDE.  An inflatable slide of awesomeness that got me soaked.  It was SO MUCH FUN.  I sprinted, then took a badass belly flop.  Holy crap, that was the best thing I have EVER done in a race.  EVER. "

She also accurately expresses the comical thoughts that many a runner has had when wanting to give up during a race:

Mile 10: Now I'm starting to lose it. I won't quit, because all my stuff is at the gear check, and how the heck am I supposed to get there? Via the lakefront path, probably, which I'm already on" 

Seemingly, no running topic is off the table for her to write about. One of her most famously (or infamously) hilarious entries is about the time she was seaching for a bathroom on a training run entitled "Bowels of Fury". Wordless Wednesday is a feature that is a photo (usually from one of her races) with an amusing photo caption, like this one from the Glo Run: 

Filed under - OMG HORRIBLE!  This is the only race photo that exists from the Glo Run.  I look like I'm 100 years old.  And dying.  BUT HOW CUTE IS MY OUTFIT! 

She also reads lots of running books. Her blog's book club is "rushourunner". Her book reviews are in-depth and usually include quotes from her favorite passages. 

Summary: Visit I Heart Pikermis after your next race and you will be able to relate to her entertaining take on the events. Or, simply just visit to get a funny, first-hand account of her racing adventures.  This is one of my favorite running blogs, and one you should definitely check out.