Summer in Chicago is such a magical few months. If you have lived here you get it. You fight through the winter and the nasty spring ups and downs to get to these amazing days so you can be outside all day, hanging with friends and family, going to great street festivals, dining al fresco, running and cycling along the lakefront. This has summer has been incredibly memorable!
June brought us a college reunion, father's day, a beautiful sailing excursion on Lake Michigan, lots of youth baseball and softball, Vanessa's birthday celebration, and the end of the school year.
July of this year will rank as one of the most amazing months of my life. It started with a job offer! I accepted a trading position at Optiver, a large Dutch trading firm reputed as one of the best around. The next day Vanessa and I boarded a plane for Spain to celebrate our tenth anniversary! It was the most incredible adventure I have ever undertaken. We enjoyed so much amazing food and wine and Spanish culture. I miss my siestas! The rest of July was filled with fun gatherings and just hanging out.
We kicked off August with a few concerts and then took a family roadtrip to Cincinnati before a fun family vacation in Michigan, which also coincided with the start of my new job. Suffice to say that between all of the fun we were having this summer combined with starting a new job, my Goal50 plan has taken a little bit of a hit over the last couple months.
In June, I managed to surpass the monthly target of 161 by hitting the bike pretty hard, cycling over 130 miles, which took me to 167 for the month. July was a struggle as we were on vacation for more than half of the month. I managed to log 128 miles in July. August was a little better, but not much. Starting the new job had me putting in long days at work and more last minute vacation also helped me fall short of my goal, but I put out 142 miles. After July and August I fell behind of the pace by almost 40 miles total, but I have started getting back in a routine with work and life balance and am getting my groove back. I will be back on track by the end of the year.
Link to the Goal50 tracker: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HG9sRDPehMk5ljY1X6sx9vhuEx9-UpEH7-gij0LKSyI/edit?usp=sharing