January & Marathon Training Wk 12

First things first.

To describe January in one word would be... hard to put into one word.
But I could use a picture. (...or 3)

pictures from the f^3 Lake Half Marathon

I cannot believe they actually shot that picture where it looks like I'm about to cry. haha.. awkward...
I was just celebrating in disbelief. I promise, there was no tears lol I really really like the other two tho. Anyways January was filled with an amazing PR, highest mileage and just a great overall training month.

Mileage: 170 miles (WOOH! last February of 2012 I peaked at 142, so this is a new record)
PRs: 3
Races: 3 (one 5k, 2 half-marathons)

DietBet January Weight-Loss Challege: I signed up for the weight-loss challenge, paid $10 took my weigh in pictures and cleaned up my diet.

The Good: I managed to lose 5 pounds! And won $21
The Bad: Now that the challenge is over, I'm slacking off.. I knew this was going to happen. And I'm not paying $10 to do it again (even though I earned ~$21 for losing, my $10 were given back to me so technically earned myself 10 bucks). Should I do it again? Meh.. It gets me motivated not to slack but what if this time I can't lose 4% of my starting weight? I will keep debating.

I also have a streak going so far for half-marathon and 5k's... every single race I've done in that distance, I have PRed. I don't want to jinx it now..  I've started to develop some pain on my foot after yesterdays long run, so I'm planning to take it easy this week and maybe even take some time off (and get new shoes). The last thing I need is an injury 13 weeks into marathon training.

That being said, as soon as January was over, my workouts have sucked.
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Marathon Training Week 12

Monday-Rest
Tuesday- 5 fartlek miles + Spin (50min) + Arms (tried out spin at my gym, loved it! Crossed off #22 on my to-do list)
Wednesday - 5.08 miles in the rain
Thursday - 4.02 miles (semi-intervals) --> (suppose to be 5mi, but got lazy)
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 8 mi @ "marathon pace" went slower than I should've, I blame the snow
Sunday - 12.7 (painful) miles

Total: 34.8mi

How I felt: ...like crap. This week was "step back" week and I literally did the least I was suppose to and even cut back on Thursday's 5miler to 4. I had no motivation in the mornings to go out in the cold but I would still drag myself. I think I've hit a wall. Or I'm burning out...I HATE the cold and the snow at the moment.. It doesn't help that it's dark and freezing at 6am and I have to crap out 5 milers.. ahh. (I refuse to jump on the TM for more than 3)

Sunday I felt good in the beginning, but I had to cut down the 13miler because my foot had been really hurting. The last 6 miles were painful. I took a million walking breaks. Me and JV decided to park near McCormick and run 6.5 miles south and run back to the car to make it 13 (smart buuut not so smart today), so we had no way of getting back to the car, but to run (or walk). Every time my left foot would hit the ground, I felt my arch explode. We were hungry, we were COLD, my foot was in pain but my legs were fine...

My best guess why it hurts:
A) Running too much (peaked in weekly/monthly miles in January)
or
B) I need new shoes, my long run shoes are 4-5 months old

Today will be complete rest. Depending how I feel Tuesday morning, I'm def going to take extra good care of my foot. Especially if I have a 20 miler this weekend (womp..womp...) Not excited..

I have to remind myself 5 more weeks.. only 5 more weeks..

I don't know how I went from feeling super good to feeling like crap.. but Hey, marathon training isn't suppose to be easy. And I was bound to feel some kind of pain eventually. I just have to be smart about it. I also have to be realistic, I'm not going to enjoy every single run. I'm going to tough these next 2 high mileage weeks out. The snow isn't going to help one bit, or my arch..
I just have to stay positive.

40 days until the marathon...

During Saturday's 8 miler, glad they plowed around Midway
i don't know where else I would run.

F^3 Half Marathon Race Recap

(This might be long... ) haha

24 hours later, I am still in disbelief at what happened yesterday. Mainly because I did not anticipate the outcome (spoiler: an amazing PR). 

My morning was the opposite.. like always, I'm doing everything last minute. I was running late, the CTA bus I needed to take to the train station was delayed by 20 mins.. I was better off walking to the station. I realized too late I had forgotten my ipod at home :( but I had brought everything else in my bag (even a banana for my pre-race snack). I wasn't worried, I guess I would have to run with my iPhone.

I was meeting up with Marisa from the UIC Run Club and hitch a ride from the loop to the start line. Once we arrived I looked for Christina (this was going to be her first half!) And we were warming up in the warming tents. I was so glad they had these. I was shaking the entire time, I don't know if it was because I was nervous or really really cold. Christina was able to calm me down a little by telling me I had nothing to worry about. (Which I really didn't, but idk what i was thinking). I had worn 2 pairs of tights, a tank, my Nike zip-up, Saucony jacket, gloves, and a hat. I knew I would warm up once we started running. I also took my first Shot Blok while waiting.

My goal for the race was to run a sub 1:45... I was skeptical. My calves were sore from my 10-miler & fitness drop-in class on Thursday. I had rolled and wore my compression sleeves to sleep in the night before so I was hoping it would help. 

"The cold is good for speed". 

Part of me believed it, I love running in the cold because I can't feel my legs most of the time. All I had to do was trust my legs, believe that I could do it and go through with it.

Me and Marisa lined up right behind the 1:45 corral. Got ready, and prayed for a good race.
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Finish Time
1:43.13

Mile 1-3
The first mile and a half was congested (not a surprise) I weaved around alot. Then we got off the paved path and onto mud/snow unpaved (?) road. Are you fucking kidding me.  
Mile 1 (7:58)
 
I didn't want to sprain anything/fall on my ass/use too much energy so I played it safe. they had warned us about this and I know they tried to keep it at a minimum, since it had snowed the days leading up to the race so I wasn't too pissed. I noticed the 2 mile marker on the side. What the? So I manually lapped this mile.
 Mile 2 (8:08)

The next mile was a little off, I couldn't trust the mile markers and relied on my watch.
 Mile 3 (7:46)

Mile 4-8
I don't remember much from these miles. I just kept looking at my lap pace, and tried my best to keep it consistent. For the most part, I did. I felt great. I wasn't hot and I wasn't cold. Took Shot Blok #2 Mile 4 (7:51)
Mile 5 (7:48)

I had my phone, so I took a picture during the race just for the hell of it.  
Mile 6 (7:56) 

I started to see runners coming back! Pit-stop: Gatorade and another Shot Blok 

Mile 7 (7:56)

I see it! I see it! I switched my garmin over to see my overall pace so far, I was surprised. 7:53 and I had finished my 8 miles in 1:02.
Mile 8 (7:47)

Mile 9-13
I knew I was going to get tired soon. I kept thinking, just one more sub 8 mile.
Mile 9 (7:56)

Mile 10 is usually around the time I start getting a little tired. Come on... one more sub-8 mile. I thought about the marathon, and those last 6.2 miles that are going to kill me. I needed to be prepared for that day.  
Mile 10 (7:59)

10 down, 3.1 to go.. I was starting to feel my calves cramp up a little
Mile 11 (8:03)

I was careful at this point, 2.1 miles.. I had to conserve atleast one more before going all out. My calves were tight and as I ran, I tried adjusting my stride so that I was able to stretch out my calves a bit. At the 11.5 mark, there was an aid station, the last one. I walked, touched my toes and stretched out my hamstrings in less than 10 seconds and gulped down some gatorade. After mile 12 is where I need to give it my all.  
Mile 12 (8:08)

Passing mile 12, I had 1.1 miles. It's GO time! I started picking up my pace. At about mile 12.7ish I switched over my garmin to overall pace and looked at my overall time. HOLY SHIT! It was in the 1:41s. I had about .4 to go. I could do this. What kind of time was I on pace for? I had no idea. So I pushed it.   
Mile 13 (7:53)

I saw the finish line.. my stomach was feeling iffy at this point. I was going faster than my stomach wanted me to. I kept my eye on my watch. 1:42:30. At this point I wanted to try to run a 1:42:59 and I was counting down in my head. I was soooo close. I ran my heart out. I crossed at 1:43:13. I was just in disbelief. I was feeling great!

Finish Time 1:43:13
Overall Pace 7:53

11th out of 56 Female 20-24

60th Female Overall

(2 min 35 sec PR,
2 weeks after PRing during Polar Dash)

Crossed off goal #23 from my 2013 Goals List 

I scooped up my medal, downed a clif bar with some gatorade... I still had 5 miles to cover (womp, womp) haha. Marathon plan called for an 18 miler... but I wanted to stick around to see Marisa finish. 
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After
Clif Bars, bagels, gatorade, coconut water.. more than enough for everyone. The Clif bars were delicious and I took 2 since I needed to recovery food for the extra 5 miles and Sundays run. I learned the hard way to always eat after a workout. My muscles needed food.
I ran the 5 miles at an easy pace and Marisa was nice enough to wait for me while I went. By the time I came back to the finish line, there was still enough food! A good perk about running training runs during a half. haha I had gatorade on the course and goodies after the 5 miles. I got more than what I paid for. A good ass race, followed by training run and goodies for both.

Marisa & Me before the race

Once in the car and on our way home, I noticed my tummy hurting/burning. I had chafed. BIG time. All around my abdomen, and my sides. The 2 pairs of tights I wore were tied on too tight, and had cut into my skin, badly. I will not post pictures because it looks like someone beat me up haha. Ofcouse I cursed out loud when I jumped into the shower. But that race was worth it.

Back to reality: 48 days till the Marathon. I'm starting to feel really confident in my training and how hard I've been working. Next week is cut-back week and 13 miles for the long run. After that, the long run will be the 20 miler.. I don't know yet if I'll run a half marathon and then add 7 miles. I haven't looked around to see if there's anything in the area... if I do, hopefully I'll shave those 13 seconds off. :D but no plans or goals yet. 

At the moment, next race will be on March 17. LA Marathon. 

What I thought of the race itself:
-loved the t-shirt
-Interesting medal, something different
-enough goodies and food
-fast gear check
-warming tents (almost a must during the winter)
-great volunteers and even had gels on course
-free photo downloads (still haven't seen them)

I didn't get to check out the after goodies too much or any of the sponsors but I'm very satisfied  with what I saw. Def will be on my to-do list next year.

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updated 2/4/13
Look what I found! Woohoo! 

Recap: Dash Into the New Year 5k

This was a crazy 5k, not the race itself but getting to the race was literally a challenge

Race Morning
Long story short
-we thought the race started at 9am... and it actually started at 8.
-We almost ran out of gas (didn't have enough time for pit stop) or else we would've missed the start.
-It started snowing/flurries, so people were driving like there was a blizzard.
-We arrived with 5 minutes to spare to Mattison IL, with just enough gas, picked up our packets, pinned our bibs and lined up at the start line (if you can call it a start line lol).

During
Mile 1 - 7:22, I tried staying calm and not go out too fast.
Mile 2 - 7:26  Wooh! Not tired yet, and I feel good, just trying to keep my pace, I could see one girl in front of me
Mile 3 - 7:29 At this point, I was feeling a little exhausted after the hill going back, but I was still feeling good regardless. Maybe I don't hate 5ks afterall
The last 0.1- at 6:27, I saw where the finish line was and I ran as hard as I could, I was a few feet away when I saw the clock and it is still in the 22s! Ahh!!! I was a few steps away when I knew this was def a PR but I would miss a sub 23 by a few seconds.

Finish Time 23:06 (39 second PR wooh!)
2nd Female Overall
1st Place 20-24 AG

Wow. That was an amazing race, even if there was no awesome goodies, or marked/closed course, or chip-timing. I feel like I can finally enjoy a 5k. I would stress out so much before, but now I think I can handle it. I was a little nervous of how I was ever going to get my 5k time down but without expecting it, I did it. I really feel proud of this race. I gave it my all. I think I can run a sub 23 sooner than I thought.

After
We hung around for about an hour trying to wait for the placing medals. All they had afterwards were oranges, bagels (?) or more like pieces of bagels with cream cheese and water. They also had on-site massages in the gym, where everything was held.

Race Overall:
-Well... it was a very small race. I think smallest I've done. Only a little over 100 runners.
-T-shirts were nice looking, but I always have issues with sizing (and forget to ask for youth size if they offer it).
-first clock timed race, a little different but gets the job done
-It was about a 30 minute drive from home, not bad.
-The course was decent, not too many turns or hills. It was poorly marked, but there were police officers directing you at a turn.

Would I do this again next year? Maybe (Just to re-live this moment haha) or if I decide to buy an Active Membership and get the race registration for cheaper..
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Recap - JV

I came into this race with the expectation of running a sub 19:30 5k. As soon as we got to the start line, realization kicked in.   My legs were sore/stiff and I was freezing.  When the race began, runners scattered everywhere.  The fast runners dashed off to the front and everybody soon was following.  For the first mile I stayed in the middle of the pack.   At the first turn, there was a bridge, which forced most of the runners to slow down.  I was able to pull off the first mile at 6:14.  After the bridge, we ran through a residential area and did a small loop.  By mile 2 (6:19), I was 4^th overall and I was chasing down the runner in front of me.   I was slowly catching up to him, but it got more difficult as my legs were getting tighter and tighter. Things got more difficult when I encountered the bridge once again.  It was during this time when I looked at my Garmin and noticed that I had slowed down significantly.  Mile 3 was done at 6:33 and I just had enough energy to sprint to the finish with a time of 19:48 and ended up with first place in my age group m20-24.

t-shirt

Cons

-No Start Line?

-No timing mats at the start line- only at the finish line

 -No aid stations

-Miles weren’t timed

Pros

-Goody bag

-T-shirt was nice

-We can stay inside the Gym after the race

That wraps up 2012! And completes our 12 races this year

:) Happy New Year


Any new years resolutions? Goals?
I'm still working on my "To Do list".. hah

Indy Santa Hustle Half Marathon

I peer-pressured JV to sign up for this race with me for 3 reasons:
1) we had not ran a half since Sept and I missed it
2) I wanted to do an out-of-state race before the year ended (our first!)
3) I wanted to complete 12 races in 2012 (this made it race #11, half marathon #4)

So we signed up. Registration was $55, not bad for a half marathon. We were not able to pick up our packets (they only offered packet pick-up the day before the race, boo). I viciously stalked twitter, facebook, and dailymile to see if anyone was also running it. We got lucky, and a nice runner from Indy did us the favor of picking it up for us. Hurray for awesome runners like her!

The drive wasn't that bad, when we arrived, we picked up our packets, and checked into our hotel. I made a huge mistake during our little road trip and ate Cheetos and Cheese-nips. For some wierd reason, the combination hurts my stomach real bad. So we took a trip to CVS and I couldn't sleep well the rest of the night.

Race Morning
My stomach wasn't up for any breakfast, so we skipped out on the free breakfast offered by the hotel. We were able to see what Indy looked like in the daylight, and the first thing I noticed on our way to the start area were rolling hills, itty bitty ones, but they were hills (I hardly ever train on anything besides flat streets, oops). Uhm. I was hoping and praying the course was hill-free.

Long Story Short...

If I could go back and redo this race, I would. It was so much fun and challenging. After getting started without my garmin, I knew my overall pace and time was going to be off by a little but I could manage without it. I manually lapped mile 1, and from there on, it was pretty right on with the course markers.

Mile 1-7
Nothing really happened during the first 7 miles, it was just through downtown areas and through streets of Indy. Some streets weren't closed off for the runners, once we steered away from the downtown area and into the woods, the intersections were being controlled by a police officer. 

what the hell is that?!
...that explains my horrible 8th & 9th split

Before I encountered the hill, I was thinking, maybe I could actually run this half at about a sub 8:10 pace.. my splits had been right on.
And then THAT happened. -->
The "monster hill." The brutal, time-sabotaging hill. I noticed it from afar, but didn't think we would actually have to run OVER it.

Mile 7.8 - 10
There was cyclist around this area, and some of them were even avoiding it. I kept thinking over and over, "don't push too hard. You don't want to collapse, cramp up, or let this stupid hill get the best of you".  So.. I slowed down.. ALOT. A guy in front of me stopped, and walked up the hill. Smart. but I just jogged ahead. I could def feel the incline and at that point I felt I had never actually experienced a tough course like this one. The downhill was a breeze, and let me legs fly past the 8th mile mark. then before I knew it, there came ANOTHER FREAKING HILL! Right after my little celebration, I felt like my PR had instantaneously disappeared.. There was no way in hell I was going to do a sub 1:49. Nope. No way. Screw it, let me just finish this race.

Throughout the race I made quick 5 second stops at mile 4 and 6 for water and Gatorade after taking a Shot Blok. After mile 8, I stopped for a little longer, stretched and took 2 Shot Bloks with water before returning to the next 5 miles.

Mile 10, I took it slow, let my legs get in the groove and recover. One reason I love half marys, even if you run a slow mile, or 2, or 3, you can def bounce back. So I took my time to complete mile 10, and I felt alot better when I crossed the mile mark. 10 Done, 3.1 to go.

The last 3.1 
I was so glad I had slowed and recovered because i felt a little refreshed, I was still tired and legs were heavy, but I was able to speed up from here on after. Negative splits!!! I felt so good the last mile, it felt AMAZING! I had never felt this good for the last part of a half. I felt a little heaviness in my legs after hitting mile 12, but nothing compared to before during previous races. The last 2 miles were usually my slowest and the hardest, not today :)

Finishers Medal (left)
Placing Medal (right)

The last mile was all next to the river, and down a beautiful path. I ran harder, not looking at my watch by now, just running by feel. I passed up a few girls who looked like they were done. Out of no whee, an older women, who looked in her 50s PASSED ME! hahaha. So i let her be my lead. I saw the finish line, she kicked and then I. When I saw the time on the clock, it was in the 1:48s! OMG! I COULD ACTUALLY PR! here! In INDIANA! ON THIS BRUTAL COURSE! As I ran across the finish line, McSpeedy was waiting for me, with my medal in hand. I felt so happy to be done. I was so excited to find out if I really PRed.

Finish Time: 1:48.39 (shiny new PR)
3rd Place in 20-24 AG
28th overall female

We walked around and back to the finish line in time to hear we had placed! and took our placing medals.

Overall
This was such a fun race. Although the course caught me off guard and challenged me, it was well organized. I had my doubts after hearing about the Chicago Santa Hustle, but this one turned out very well. The course was pretty and different than what I'm used to. There was cookies and other goodies ON the course, but I skipped out on them.
-Dri-fit T's :)
-Nice looking medals :)
-Goodies at the end :)

The only complaint I have is the packet pick up.. so I would probably rate this a 4.5 out of 5. Besides that, I will def do this next year (if I'm up for the challenge).

Luz
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Santa Hustly Indy Half Marathon 12/16/2012

Pre-Race

This was our first race that we ever did out of state.  It was about a 3-hour drive from Chicago, but it was well worth it.  Luckily the race started at 9 AM meaning we can recover from our long drive and get some rest. As soon as we arrived to Indianapolis, we noticed that it was somewhat hilly compared to Chicago.  We were hoping the half-marathon route wouldn’t be as hilly, but we were dead wrong.  On race day, we were able to find parking right by the starting line for about $3/hr, which was pretty cheap.  As we were walking to the starting line, we noticed that there were a lot of people wearing Santa hats and holiday colors.  The starting line was full with runners.  We had to squeeze our way through the crowds of people to get to the front.

Race:

When the race began, I had to start running around people.  I saw a guy running with a stroller and a few people who placed themselves in the wrong corral.   My goal for this race was to run at 6:45 even pace for all my 13 miles, which would be a 1:28:30. This was a very comfortable pace for me and I was aiming at beating my 1:30 PR.   After a mile from the starting line, we started running on the streets.  I saw many runners sprint at the start, but I did my best to run my own race.  As the race went on I noticed that there would be times that it would get hilly, but I wouldn’t let that distract me as much.  Miles 1-8 were perfect at even pace.  I passed up most of the runners that started off fast in the beginning. Half way through the race, I felt great and thought it would be a cakewalk back to the finish line.  I was wrong.  By the time I got to mile 8, there was huge hill which forced me to fall off pace.  I was disappointed, but I didn’t let that bring me down.   These hills kept playing mind games and it got more difficult.  It felt like there was hill after hill.  Luckily towards the finish things started to level off and I finished with 3^rd in my age group and time of 1:31.  I knew if it wasn’t for these hills I could of definitely pulled the 1:28 off.  There’s always next time though :) 

Pros

-Well organized

-Santa hats/beards included with bib

-Bananas and Cookies after the race

-Cool finishers medal

-Age group awards

-Candy aid station? Haha :)

-First hilly race, even though it made me slow down :(

-First out of state race !

-Fun road trip :)

Cons

-Times weren’t displayed along the route (luckily I had my Garmin)

-Few aid stations

-They didn’t have a variety of snacks at the finish line

-As the half-marathon runners were getting close to the finish line, we had to weave around the 5k walkers through a very narrow path.

Amazing weather!

60 degrees in December and My Goals

Holy smokes.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm not complaining about this weather. This past weekend was amazing! Sunday, I woke up feeling iffy. Lately, my joints feel tired? Sore? I dunno. My lowest mileage month was October (48 miles, what the heck?!) and in November, my mileage doubled. Oops. Maybe that's why my joints are feeling it. But everything else feels great!

November Recap: With November ending, looking back it was a fantastic running month!
- I got 109 miles done. Woohoo!
- two 10ks (new PR), one 5k (new PR)
- I decided to give myself a break this month from calorie counting, and stayed away from my scale, and to my surprise, I didn't stray away from my "comfortable" weight. Yay! With all the running and eating, it makes sense I didn't gain or lose anything.

Sunday's Surprising Run
Anyways back to Sunday! We didn't have a goal set in mind as we walked out the door (in shorts and a tank!), but after our warm up we decided 10 miles would be nice and he challenged me to try to keep it at 7:50. He was trying to kill me apparently...

Mile 1-5, average pace was 7:51! and I was feeling good. After mile 6, I was starting to feel my legs getting tired. And after mile 7, I def slowed down. The last 2 miles, I was trying to focus on keeping my pace and not slowing down even further, which tends to happen to me. After we were done, I couldn't believe my eyes. We had finished those 10 miles in an hour and 19 minutes at a 7:57 pace. I was exhausted, but I felt GOOD! Dunno if it had to do with the weather..

I am on runners high at the moment.. since yesterday. This gives me hope for the Santa Hustle Half in two weeks. I can come real close to my goal time. I was hoping to run a 1:45 in the spring.. But I think I can do it sooner than that.

So I'm adjusting my goals a bit..

-We have the Rudolph Ramble 8k this weekend... never ran an 8k.. so I'm going to try to run it a close to my 5k pace but faster than my 10k. (I suck at short distance, at the moment I hate 5ks). Goal pace: 7:47

-Plan A: Going to attempt to run the Santa Hustle half at a 1:45:58 (8:05pace)
Plan B: 1:47 (8:10 pace)
Plan C: ...if worst comes to worst... at least PR (sub 1:49, 8:20 pace)  

Why is this going to be hard?  I won't have the bf with me.. pacing me. I run faster with him than alone.

That, and Finals are next week. Am I going to try to squeeze in running? Maybe. Hopefully.


Marathon Training

I HAVE NOT STARTED!
Ahh.. I'm planning to look up some plans this afternoon.. or tomorrow afternoon.. and come up with something to atleast get me started. The bf kind of popped my bubble. I thought I had more time to relax after finals and turns out, we were already suppose to begin. With finals, other goals in my head, turkey trotting, and Christmas around the corner, I completely forgot how time flies. Next thing I know... March will be here and I will be ready.


Luz

Race Recap: Long Grove Turkey Trot 5k

Why am I not out shopping for Black Friday deals?!?! well..
1. I don't want to get trampled on (I'm short, I get hit in the face.. on the bus, going up the stairs.. Going into a store with a million other people sounds dangerous)
2. I don't really need anything... besides normal people clothes. I don't remember the last time I bought a pair of jeans or a blouse.
3. I don't want to go out in the cold to shop, I would rather go out for a run :)

I will wait patiently for Cyber Monday (BTW anyone know of any good deals yet?)
Now that Thanksgiving is over, it officially feels like Christmas season!

Thanksgiving consisted of running my second 5k, eating turkey, watching movies, eating turkey, and watching more movies, and eating cookies.

5k Recap
The 5k was in a cute little town of Long Grove. I was really looking forward to this 5k since I'm a big fan of All Community Events races and their goodies and (placing) medals. Getting there wasn't hard considering they had country roads (i think). Those roads that have a little sign with the street name and looks like your about to go into the woods.. We also used a GPS app, just in case.
Parking was free, always a good thing, and we could see the start line from where we parked. Packet pick-up was a breeze, except the volunteers looked confused at one point. I was a little dissapointed that they ran out of Smalls, and instead got a Medium, but I'll survive. The sweater was still warm and cute for wearing after the race. Gear-check was also a breeze, and it's always a good thing they bring extra bags, just in case your warm up clothes don't end up fitting in your drawstring bag :) There was a lonnng line for the port-a-potties though, which is never a surprise.

After dropping our bags off, we went and lined up about 10 minutes before the race started. We tried staying behind what looked like a high school track team. lol We knew they were going to sprint off, which was a red flag if I wanted to start off calmly.
The course started off in their small paved streets but led us past some woods, and small section of trail. The course was looped, flat and mostly paved. As we passed the first Mile, I did a really good job pacing myself, a little under my goal pace and even clocked my second mile 2 seconds slower. I was feeling good until we passed mile 2. I was starting to feel tired, and knew that my legs were going to be letting me down today. I stuck with a few guys till about mile 2.8 and sped up. At mile 3, I saw the finish line and also one of the guys coming up behind me. I was a little too late to kick my legs a little faster but still finished under my 5k PR. I was a little dissapointed with my finish and the last half mile, but there's always next time.
I ended up placing 2nd in my age group and shedding a few seconds of my 5k time. After getting our goodies we walked around the little town. My favorite part was the hot cider :) It was addicting and I kept going back for more. There was also beer for those over 21, free massages, live band (although I did not see one single turkey. Like a blown up turkey :(

I'm definitely signing up for this race next year, I really liked the course and the food. and the hot cider.


Luz

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After our long drive from Chicago, we just wanted to start racing!! The weather was perfect for running. We were both really excited for the 5k and because it was Thanksgiving.  (who doesn't love eating a lot of turkey  and other goodies )

Pre-Race:
As soon as we got to the race we saw that most of the tents were crowded with runners surrounding them.  We found the packet pick up tent and picked up our bib numbers.  We also got a brown sweater, but it wasn't the size we requested because they ran out.  After picking up our bib numbers we went to gear check which was a truck.  Gear check was smooth without any problems.  I just didn't think that they'll be using a truck for gear check haha. After gear check we went to the starting line.  The starting line wasn't really that organized and it was really narrow.

Race:

And were off!!! All the fast runners sprinted off and I tried to maintain my own pace this time.  I did my best to focus on my form and pace.  I ran the first mile at 6:15 and thought to myself okay not bad next one better be around the same time or couple seconds off.  As mile 2 was creeping up, i  soon started catching up to some of the runners who sprinted off in the start .  I was able to do mile 2 at 6:19  and was feeling okay , but things got a bit hard around the 15 minute mark.
I thought to myself this is were the race really starts.  I fought hard to maintain my pace and form. I just wanted the race to end already!  When i looked at my watch for mile 3, My pace dropped, but i got a boost when i saw the finish line insight.  I sprinted to the end with a total time of 19:51 and came in 3rd place 19-24 age group.   Most of the race was ran on the local streets, many which weren't even closed.  The local police just stopped traffic when runners were coming through.  Overall the course was very fast and flat.

Post Race:

Post race after party was good.  They had many goodies and many tents offering free stuff.
Even free massages.

Pros:
-Fast/Flat course
-Goodies!! (hot cider, chewy bars, candy , etc.)
-Beer?  Not 21 so i wouldn't know
- Free sweater
- 1500+ runners

Cons
- Didn't  have our sizes for the sweater

Overall , we both liked the race and would definitely consider to do it again next year.  It was fun and they had many goodies at the end and we both PRed for our 5k distance , which is always a plus.


JV

Race Recap: Chicago Perfect 10

My morning: started out at 5am... with a cramp on my left calf that had woken me up. It seriously felt like 5 whole minutes had gone by and I was still clutching to my leg in bed :( Worst. pain. ever. My race mornings never fail to surprise me.

Anywho.

My goal for the race was to keep my time under 50 minutes and if my legs felt like going fast today, maybe even PR. (Chicago 10k finished at 49:44)

The 10k was paid for by UIC, and funded 15 of our runners in the running club. Pretty neat, so even if I didn't like the race, I wasn't going to really mind. Free race = happy Luz, regardless.

The race was pushed back by half hour.. which was good and bad. But more of a good thing, I think. We had just parked a few blocks away from Navy Pier when we heard from fellow bloggers that the race had been moved back. We were barely going to make it on time, so it gave us a few minutes to check-in our gear.

The course:
-was a bit, odd. First thing I noticed was before hitting the lake front trail, we had to run on the road, next to incoming cars. The only thing separating us from them, was a few cones spread out. Uh?
-The hills. Oh my jebus.. Was not mentally prepared for those. Or physically actually. I guess I've been running on super flat courses for the past few weeks.
-no Gatorade for the 10mile runners?

Post race:
-Bananas, bagels and Powerade. I'm not a big fan of Powerade, but after I was done, I took a bottle (not knowing what it was) and it tasted okay.
-Not enough goodies in my opinion.
-We went back to indoor warm place and pick up our gear, which was convenient.
-Gear check-in went smooth, and pick-up as well, with no lines.
-Got to meet up with two Chicago Running bloggers (Christina & Maggie) while hanging out near the gear check :)

Javier, me and Christina

Maggie, me and Javi

Overall:
-had fun, but would hesitate to register with my own money next year.
-Shirt, a tad bit small.
-Nice bling
-Ended up finishing at 48:43 (7:51 pace), which means a new PR :) and even got 3rd in my AG

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Chicago Perfect 10 Recap -  by JV

 Pre-Race:

After doing the Chicago 10k back in August and liking the distance,  Luz and I definitely wanted to do another 10k race. We were very excited for the 10k and were hoping in hitting a new PR.  We got to Navy Pier around 7:15 only to find out that the race had been pushed back to start around 8 am.  We didn't mind because it allowed us time to park the car and go to gear check.  Once we got to Navy Pier, the whole event seemed a bit disorganized .  There were people everywhere and very little room for all the runners.  We decided to kill some time inside because it was a bit chilly outside until we heard that the race was about to begin.  We ran to the start line and placed ourselves in our corrals.  As soon as we got to our corrals, the race started.


Race:

As soon as I crossed the starting line, my Garmin wasn't working properly. I had to mess around with it until i finally got it working again.  After that i tried my best to get into race mode.  I found it a bit difficult getting into "race mode" because the start was crowded and the route was a bit narrow.  I accidentally stepped on a runner in the process.  I tried to put all that aside and focus on my running form and pace.  As we left Navy Pier and hit the lakefront trail , everything seemed okay until it started to get more and more crowded.  10 Miler runners and 10k runners were running with one another.  Adding to that were the bikers along the route.  There was also confusion with the clocks along the route.  The times that were being displayed along the mile markers were different for the 10 milers and the 10k , but there was no clear indication on which one was the correct time for the 10k people and the 10 miler people. At the turn around, i just wanted the race to be over already.  I was happy that i was halfway done, but i knew that i wasn't going to PR or anything.   I tried my best to focus , but i just couldn't get into my zone.  I pushed through those last miles until i finished!!

Post-Race:
The race overall for me was okay.  I liked that there was:
-finishers medal
-enough people so it can be competitive
-parking close to navy pier
-cool looking shirt, but i heard that it runs small along the arms
-weather?
-Timed

Cons
-Route was packed with people at the start and along the race
-Clocks caused confusion among runners
-not enough goodies at the end
-Aid stations were dead only few volunteers giving out water without any cheering

Other than that I'm looking forward  to our next race which will happen on Thanksgiving Day (the Long Grove Turkey Trot).

We're both hoping to PR for the 5k distance!!

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McSpeedy & I :) ♡

UIC Running Club