Fit-Pic: Nike Works Us Out

Excuse the blurry picture but I was trying to move to the groove.

We're still kind of in awe of what happened a few hours ago at Soldier Field. There's something about that grass, that field, that's special. Maybe because football legends play there and we actually got to pounce all over it?

We lunged, we jumped, we high-kneed. Sure, those moves will keep you warm on a chilly Chicago night (I shed my fleece a few minutes in), but they'll also give you a sampling of a Nike Training Club workout.

And with no mirrors and a few hundred of us packed onto part of the field, no one cared if you moved right when everyone else shifted left or if you kept bopping when the exercises changed. Or if you looked completely ridiculous attempting to one-legged squat (that move was tough!). Except for maybe your friends who got a good laugh (thanks Fleet Feet!)--but where else can you giggle through a workout and not have the instructor or classmates get annoyed by your banter?

If 30 minutes is that awesome (you know I love a good workout), then I need to get with 2012 technology so I can sweat with NTC more often.

Storming the Stadium: Nike Training Club Takes Chicago

We made it count at this Soldier Field workout. Time for No. 2!

Most people go to Soldier Field to yell "Bear Down" and shout a few obscenities at the opposing team. I go to Soldier Field to work out.

Not once. Not twice. Every time I go to the stadium, it's for exercise. The Soldier Field 10 Mile finished on the 50-yard line, the Nike Human Race ended with Fall Out Boy performing inside the arena (and us runners on the field), the Run to Remember and Run Home Chicago and Big 10K were staged outside, and a Make It Count workout sent us onto the field to drill, kick and catch for Fuel points. As for the football, I watch those games on TV, usually while working out.

That workout streak isn't about to end anytime soon: Nike is hosting a free football-inspired workout and fashion show at Soldier Field on Wednesday, November 14. And of course, like any good fitness addict (especially when the word free is attached), I'm going. It's tough to pass up a free workout, but it's even tougher to pass up an event that also includes a fitness fashion show--and one that I don't have to model in like I do tonight at Fleet Feet. Nike had me at first Twitter spotting (thanks I-don't-want-to-do-anything-on-a-cold-day weekend).

For starters, the workout is modeled after the Nike Training Club app and will be led Nike Master Trainers Marie Purvis and Alex Molden. Marie already kicked my butt once this year--I nearly collapsed during a squat-jump-leap combo featured in Shawn Johnson's Nike+ App workout--and she made others beg for recovery the next day at the Title IX celebration in Lincoln Park (I watched). But I'm ready for another beating--it's been nearly five months--and it has to be better doing a NTC workout in colder weather as opposed to the heat we had back in June.

Now Nike would have had me at the workout, but then there's the fashion show that follows--and the star power. Brittany Payton, daughter of NFL legend Walter Payton, will be hosting the workout. Chicago Bears wide receiver Earl Bennett will be making a special appearance. And Kristin Cavallari, who's engaged to quarterback Jay Cutler and known for starring on MTV's Laguna Beach and The Hills, will be emceeing the fashion show, which will showcase Nike's winter styles.

Exciting right? If you want to join the fun--there are roughly 400 spots available--sign up by visiting gonike.me/6013p3iS. Then plan to check in at Soldier Field beginning at 6:15 p.m. The 30-minute workout will start at 7 p.m. with the fashion show to follow.

After Wednesday, I've probably seen or met more Chicago Bears players than most--Shea McClellin, Robbie Gould, Israel Idonije and Bennett (and Charles Tillman had I been better about going to the Universal Sole runs)--and I haven't even gone to a single game. Working out does have its benefits...not just the fit physique kind.