I can honestly say that all hard work really pays off. My #1 goal was to finish under 50 minutes. #2 goal was to beat my old PR of 52:21. Little did I know I had it in me all along...
I learned
my lesson from the last race, and had everything prepared the night before. I had my clothes, shoes, bib, and all the other good stuff good to go.
What was more shocking was that the race began at 8am. (Rock N Roll began at 6:30, see the difference?) I got to sleep in, till about 6:30ish. :)
On our way to Grant Park, the anxiety started kicking in. I couldn't get a good nights sleep because of it either. Lining up at the start line, I turned up my music and let everything else fade around me.
There was only about 2,000 runners for this race, so the lake shore trail wasn't heavily congested at any point and there was enough room. I first lined up at the 7:00min start, so I felt like I was going really slow compared to those around me, but looking down at my Garmin I was going at a 7:15 pace. I settled in to a comfortable pace and kept my eyes on my Garmin. I didn't feel thirsty so I only grabbed water from one stop. I started feeling my legs getting tired at around mile 4. My mile splits had surprised the heck out of me.
(Mile 1- 7:50, Mile 2- 7:52, Mile 3- 7:59, Mile 4- 7:55)
I had never kept up a sub-8 pace for more then 3 miles. I was looking down at my watch like "wha??" I couldn't believe I really had it in me. The days leading up to the race, I had been looking up my calculated avg pace if I wanted to finish at 50 mins.. and I remember it being an 8:02. After mile 4, I felt like maybe I could actually finish at a sub 8 avg pace. The last mile flew by. I ran it faster than my 5th. Finishing the 6th mile was tough though (Mile 6- 8:04). I was waiting for the 6 mile mark, but I missed it. Instead I looked at my watch, I had about a minute and a half to spare for the last 0.2mi.. There was a turn before we got to see the finish line, I don't know why they do this almost every single time. The finish line is either after a big hill, a turn, or both (Hot Chocolate). So there was only about a 0.2 mile stretch from the turn and the finish line. But then again, I don't know if I prefer seeing the finish line from a mile away. But anyways, as soon as I turned up that small hill, there it was. I ran and saw the clock at 49minutes. Sprinted (@6:57 pace). Then succeeded. 49:44.
-finished below 49:59
-finished with an avg pace of 8:02
-got 7th Place in the female 20-24 AG
-had fun and felt great the whole time
I would've never dreamed of achieving even the things I thought were once impossible.
After the race we hung out near the finish line, cheered on the other runners and went out for a celebratory brunch. Me and McSpeedy had both PRed, and both our moms were there to cheer us on (a first, my mom had never gone to any of my races) so it was kind of a big deal. He had finished at 40:46 with a 6:32 pace (Yeah, I know, can you say Bolt #2?) You can read his recap below. Def a happy, successful race for both of us.
Pros about the race:
-Perfect number of runners
-Nice course (trail, it was ok)
-Aid stations were there about every 1.5 miles
-Nice medal, nice looking shirt
-Cool poster
-Goodies at the end
-WEATHER WAS PERFECT!
Cons:
-T-shirts were unisex, so my Small, felt like a X-Large
Overall, great race. Def will do this again next year.
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Race Recap: Chicago 10k By McSpeedy :)
One minute to the start of the race!!
I'm so anxious and excited for it to the start! Luckily, I've been training with my new Garmin 410 the week prior to the race and it has this cool feature that really comes in handy, called Virtual Partner. This feature basically paces you by selecting your desired time you want to run each mile at. I selected 6'18'' per mile because i wanted to finish under 40 minutes for my 10k. I double checked everything to make sure that I’m good to go. I'm ready! The race started and runners scattered everywhere!
I was in the front and runners immediately started going fast. I didn't want to make the mistake of going out too fast too early, then end up slowing down for the rest of the race so I constantly kept looking at my Garmin at each mile marker. As we were finishing the first mile, I glanced at my Garmin and it said 6'12''. I thought oh no >_< , I'm going to pay for this later lol.
After the first mile, I felt comfortable and there was a small pack of runners ahead of me that I tried to keep up with. The pack of runners were still together by mile 2 as we passed by Soldier Field. I looked at my Garmin at mile 2 and my pace was still at 6’12’’. This gave me a huge confidence boost. I thought to myself if I maintain this pace for the next 4 miles, I'll definitely meet my goal time. Unfortunately, by the time mile 3 came along I started to fall behind and slow down. I tried not to worry about it, thinking to myself that I'll eventually catch up to them, but deep down I knew I needed to push harder. My time for mile 3 was 6'26''(or 18:50). I definitely slowed down by a lot and I knew it. I knew I had to do something to keep me going. I got really happy when I saw the turn around part of the race. I knew I was about halfway done. I kept running and started to get little discouraged when my Garmin said I was falling off pace. This all changed when I finally hit mile 4. The mile marker sign said I did my 4 miles in 25 ish. I knew I still had enough time to meet my goal. So I started to push myself even harder. By the time mile 5 came along, there were only 2 runners in front of me. They were too far for me to catch up to them, but close enough so I can see them. I kept running my pace for the remaining of the race. Not worrying about anybody passing me. As I was approaching the finish, there was a runner who tried to sneak right pass me. I quickly reacted by going fast and sprinting to the finish with an overall time of 40:47 and average pace of 6'32" per mile. I was very happy with myself since it was first race I average 6 minute miles in all my miles. I got even happier when I placed 2nd in my age group m-20-24!! This couldn’t have been possible without the help and support from my lovely girlfriend who pushes me hard and motivates me. She also managed to pull a new pr for 10k race by finishing with a time of 49:44. We both celebrated our new PRs by eating some tacos and burritos lol >_< The sweet taste of victory!! :) We both agreed that will be doing the race next year!! We loved it !
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26 days till the Chicago Half Marathon :)
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