Soldier Field Run

First off, let me apologize for not getting this posted earlier. I was waiting for some of the pictures to post on Brightroom. I also wasn't sure of how I felt about the race, so I decided that I should give it a few days since I wasn't happy about my time. I enjoyed myself but I didn't want everyone to think I was upset about it.

I started off preparing for the race on Friday.   I made sure I drank plenty of water and didn't let myself have any bad food, no candy and no pop, which I know I need to cut out completely if I want to survive more race days with a time that I'll be happy with. I had a long work week which limited my pre-race run. I was only able to get my 10 mile and 5K runs in the 2 weeks leading up to the run. So Friday night after getting done with work at 10:15, I managed to get home around 11. Vanessa had made some pasta for me, so I could get some carbs in before bed. I hung out with her for a little bit and finally got into bed around 1, but I still couldn't fall asleep til 1:30.

I jumped out of bed on Saturday at 5:00am to my alarm. Luckily I had everything in a bag ready to go. So, all I had I to do was take a shower and try to wake Vanessa up. The shower was nice and easy, trying to wake Vanessa up wasn't so easy. She wasn't moving so I realized I was going to have to make the trip on my own. I grab an English muffin with some peanut butter and some water. I made coffee, but I decided not to have any, which might have cost me some time. Next time I'm not passing on the coffee, I've heard too many good things.  Then I grabbed my bag and finally let Vanessa know that I was leaving, since she was half awake.

The drive down was smooth right up until Lake Shore Drive. Once I got into my parking spot I had about 20 minutes to get to the corrals. I had to find a restroom and had to drop my stuff off at the gear check, since I didn't have anyone to hang on to it. The gear check and port-a-potty run went without any trouble, but trying to find my corral did. Since there are 2 color corrals and about 17 total, I managed to find the green corrals, but my race bib is blue. Once I went through the green sections I was able to spot the blue corral with about 5 minutes to race start. Finally in the right area, I turned on the iPod and let my mind focus on the music. I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to get a decent warm up in aside from me jogging around trying to find the bathroom and corral.

The last few minutes seem to take forever before our corral start. Once it did the skinny pathway seemed to slow everyone down. I wasn't able to break away until the route turned into the McCormick Center underground tunnel. From there it was smooth sailing. The first 4 miles seem to fly by and felt great. I was running negative splits for those first 4 miles.

At mile 5 I started noticing it was getting harder to lift my legs. I was just trying to get to the turn around point at 4.8 mile spot and getting ready to push the last 5+ miles, but as soon as I turned north up the lake shore path, a very strong headwind hit me in the face. How had I not noticed it at my back, I kept asking myself. The next couple miles were a struggle, it felt like the winds kept getting stronger.

Once I realized I didn't have a chance to beat my time from last year, my focus shifted. My mind went from race mode to enjoyable run mode. I made sure I took everything in, the view that I was enjoying running along Lake Michigan, smiling and high-fiving the spectators. Last year I felt I didn't get a good chance to take in the stadium. This year as soon as I finished I made sure I slowly walked over to grab a water, then I took a seat and stretched out a little and stared at crowd and the seats. Since growing up in Minny, the only big stadium I had was the metrodome. Soldier Field is a timeless stadium, even after the remodel. After finally being yelled at for sitting for too long I managed to get myself up and moved my stretching to the tunnels under the stadium until I was told to move on again. Then I moved on to get my finishing medal, food bag and blanket. Once I got outside I saw the Muscle Milk stand and made sure I got my free bottle of Cookies'n'Creme. My tired legs started walking to the car to head home. I made sure I used my foam roller and The Stick before I headed out, I didn't want to cramp up as soon as I started driving, which I didn't.

Now it's time to figure out what my next run is going to be. Maybe a 5K or 10K, but I'm still planning on attempting to run the Chicago Marathon, I know I will need to run a half marathon sometime soon. Still trying to figure all that out. What I do know is that I need to start eating a lot better, which I have been lately, and making sure I add in more strength training into my workout regime.

Here are my mile splits:

M1 - 7:43               M6 - 7:44
M2 - 7:26               M7 - 8:01
M3 - 7:13               M8 - 8:19
M4 - 7:08               M9 - 8:39
M5 - 7:31               M10 - 8:09

Total time: 1 hour 17 minutes 57 seconds


I have managed to get out on a run since my race. On Wednesday I decided to take a nice and easy run around the farms again. Check out my route here. It ended up being 6.3 miles and it took me 49:19, which is 7:49 pace. It was a really solid run, I managed to get some good intervals in.