13/13 Reflections on Chi Town half and running 13.02 before racing a half.

What a weekend it has been. Saturday in prep for The Flying Pig Marathon May 4^th I had to do a cut back run BUT I also had a half planned for Sunday. The smart person would have said no run Saturday or short easy run since the race is the following day. Seeing as how I PR’d at the Shamrock after running long I thought hey I can do that again. So Saturday I did my 13.02 training run and to be honest felt good during all be it got a little hot weather really started to warm up. I felt good after the run and figured if I go home stretch and rest I should be ripping roaring ready to go for the half on Sunday.  

The Chi Town Half Marathon, in a nut shell is a really good race. It’s just small enough that you don’t get over whelmed by the people and you don’t have to fight your way around people. The course was nice BUT thanks to all the twist and turn you have to take it seemed way longer that it should have been. If you run an out and back or a loop they seem much faster. Night before the race I seriously debated what I should wear I knew for sure I was wearing my CES jersey (Side note I really need more CES racing gear). The big question was should I wear shorts or tights and shorts over them. In the end I decided to wear shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt under my jersey. Thankfully the long sleeve was really thin. Do to get to the race later then I would have liked everything was rushed. After a quick bathroom break I jumped into the start corral. I was hoping to find the pacer for the pace I was hoping to run but no such luck. Interesting thing is they started the 10K and Half at the same time a lot of races start one and then start the other right after. It didn’t matter though I was in the zone and ready to go. The run went off and I started my race. The original game plan was to start slow and pick up the pace at the end. Since I did not have a pacer I realized I’d have to pace myself. You’d think as a pacer for CES I’d be better at this sad truth is I have to work on it. As the race was going on I made it a point to relax and pass when I could and if I needed to slow down I did. As I was going along I caught up to the 9:10 pacers and followed them for a bit but then realized I could go faster so I passed them. Needless to say I never saw them again. As the race went on I kept my going trying not to go too fast or too slow. As the race started to go on my legs did start to feel tired but I was not going to give up. After a number of twist and turns I finally saw the last turn and knew I was close to the finish line. I started to speed up and when I looked at the clock it said 1:57:56. Since I started a few min after the fun went off I knew that wasn’t my time. In the end my time was 1:54:46, not a PR but still sub 2 hr half.

Now time for my final thought; running 13 miles before you plan to race a half marathon is not a good idea. I justified it because I PR’d the week before at the Shamrock Shuffle but what if I’d have run shorter the day before the Shamrock, could I have done better? Maybe I really can’t say and I can not dwell on it any more. The only thing I can do is take this as a learning experience. I’m disappointed with my setting a PR but at the same time I grateful for the learning opportunity this has presented me with. It has to be quality over quantity. Sure it is awesome to say I ran 100 miles this week but then ask how many of those were good miles? Were you feeling good during that run? These are all the things you have to take into consideration. I’d rather run 6 miles and a good pace and feel good after rather then run 10 or more but feels like crap through most of it.  

Weekend recap and The Shamrock Shuffle

It has been one mighty busy weekend for me. Saturday I had a 18 mile run scheduled and Sunday The Shamrock Shuffle 8k. I’ve had sometime to reflect on my log run and my race. So I think I am best starting with Saturday and talking about the long run. So the plan was originally to run 18 miles and to be honest I was feel good for most of the run. Then on the way back I passed Navy Pier, and that is where the Shamrock Shuffle Expo was being held. I saw the line of cars trying to get in and thought “You know what I’ll run in and grab my packet real quick.” I paused my watch at basically Mile 14; I was maybe .20 from 14. I was all the way across navy pier and then walked the entire expo. As I was heading out I ran into my brother Leo so I decided to walk the expo one more time. By the time we got done and to the front of Navy pier my watch had stopped and was no longer paused. Thankfully it saved my run data though. So I started up again figuring I’d just run out the last 4 miles caring my bag from the expo. I had been mentally debating all day should I cut my run short for the sake of the race. In the end I did cut it short because I just felt like it was the right thing to do and with the walk I covered good 16 or so miles.

Sunday morning was a very nice and semi perfect day for a race. Was a little colder then I’d of liked but still a beautiful day. I got into my carol with my cousin Pete and said my runner’s prayer as I always do. Interesting fact was this was my second race to go without my headphones (I’ll touch on that subject in a later post). I want to say this; I will certainly run the shamrock shuffle again despite the large crowed (40,000 people). As the horn went off we all took off running, now being part of such a large race does offer many challenges since you’re more likely to get stuck behind slower runners. I’ve been working out starting a little slower and then speeding more at the half way point since I knew that things would clear up the deeper into the race I got. So I started to do what I normally do and zig zag in and out of other runners buy still trying to remain calm and keep my breathing steady. I will admit there were points during the race I did get a little overly zealous and speed up too soon but I did work on dialing it back. As the end was near I started to speed up more because I wanted to finish strong. Now the one issue I had at the end is that right before the finish there is a hill! I powered up the hill and refused to walk.

In the end I think cutting my miles down but 3 was truly a benefit for me during the race. Also I am very happy to report that for the 8k I did set a PR! The last time I ran this distance my time was 45 min, so I knocked off almost an entire min off my pace. I do have some reflections from this weekend and it has helped me lay out my future goals. 1. Lose this weight. I can’t help but think if I can do this pace being over weight could you image what I could do being in shape? 2. I am more determined then ever to pick up my pace and make my comfortable training pace an 8:30 min mile. Time to keep training since I do have another race on Sunday.