May Race Report

Another double whammy for races this month.  I signed up for a new race, the Cinco de Miler at the last minute.  A Saturday race is always appealing and I like the distance.  I figured worst case it would be a good training run for the 10 miler that I had coming up.  Besides they were promising churros and tamales at the end of the race so I decided what the heck.  I was a bit skeptical about the logistics, as the start line and finish line were two completely different sites.  The finish was at Soldier Field and they were offering busing from the garages there to the start down south.  The logistics of all that were too much for me that early in the morning, I opted for the blue line and walk to the start.  The crowd was bigger then I had expected and they did a waved start that was perfect for keeping the congestion down on narrow lakefront path.

I had a good run and was happy I could maintain my 5K race pace for the 5 miles.  The finish line at Soldier Field was great and they made good on the promise tamales, even with chips and salsa on the side.  I took some time to hang out and enjoy the band and after race snacks.  It was a chilly day but still enjoyable, definitely going to look out for this race in the future.

Another Saturday race, this time kicking off Memorial Day weekend.  I have to admit though, getting up at 5:00 am to get down to this race really hurt this year.  Mostly because I was no super prepared.  I have been running all these races but I have not actually been properly training.  This was the first race where the lack of training could bite me in the ass.  Regardless I set a goal time and hoped to make it.  I based it on the 5 miler and last years time.  The weather was definitely in my favor, overcast and cool.  I have to say the run felt hard.  The first few miles were ok, but by mile 6 I though my goal time was out of reach for sure.  The next few miles got even slower.  I pushed myself to pickup the pace and pushed it pretty hard for the last 2 miles knowing it was not that much farther to go.  The second half of the course was actually the same course the Cinco de Miler took, which somehow made me forgot about the additional distance into the stadium and onto the field.  Oh that was a bummer to realize!

I had a strong finish on the jumbotron and was happy to see on my watch that I had met my goal and even beat last year’s finish by 4 minutes.  Made it all worth it.  Well maybe not the ginormous twin blisters on the bunions of my feet.  Ouch, damn you new shoes!

Next weekend is the Girls on the Run 5K with my daughter.  I am still having a hard time finding races in July and August that work with my schedule.  I may need to just create my own plan to help me train for the half marathon in September.