Today I ran one of my favorite races, the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle.  It was my 8th time running it.  As mentioned in yesterday’s post, the goal was to take it easy and have fun.  So yep, that means no PR which is fine with me. 

We had some crazy weather on Saturday.  It seemed like every two minutes it changed from sunny, windy, snowy, repeat.  Definitely crazay.  I am so glad it was like that on Saturday instead of Sunday.

Sunday morning my alarm went off but I hit the snooze button twice.  I did not want to get up. Eventually I did and I made coffee and a peanut butter sandwich.  I felt so full afterwards. Around 7 I drove to the train station to get downtown.

Once there I made my way to The Congress Hotel to use the bathroom and wait in a warm place for the race to start.  Well, at least till 8 or so because I had to check in my gear bag and be at my corral by 8:20am.  I made it with less than 2 minutes to go.

I saw Lisa in the bathroom and then met up with her afterwards.  I met her husband and a few of her friends.  We talked for a  bit and then it was time to go.

It was cold but yet I wore two long sleeve shirts, my Oiselle singlet, shorts, sparkly skirt, and compression socks.  I knew that I would warm up once I began running.  And yep that is exactly what happened.  I don’t think I ever felt really cold like I did last year.

My Garmin lost signal underneath the tunnel on Columbus.  It happens every single year.  Once I regained signal my splits were 1 minute faster.  Of course I did not know this then but was in disbelief when I would see my splits.  I reminded myself that it was supposed to be an easy run and not a PR race.

I stopped to walk, got Gatorade at the water stations, and simply just enjoyed the race.  I saw Lauren and she passed me up.  I am surprised I saw anyone I knew with a race of over 30,000 runners.

Once I turned into Michigan Avenue I knew I was close to the finish line.  Well, maybe not that close.  You see, this race has one of the worst finish lines.  There was an incline which I walked (I call it Mt. Roosevelt) and then once you get to the top, you still need to run about an additional quarter mile to the finish line.  Terrible, terrible.

After the race I waited for my friends to finish so we could get our beer and then have brunch. By then the sun was out and it felt really good to be out there. 

According to my watch, I ran 5.55 miles in 52:40 with a 9:29 average pace.  However, my official finish time is 52:38 with a 10:30ish average pace.  So weird.

I enjoy reading about race recaps and I’m hosting a linkup for the Shamrock Shuffle 8K.  The rules are simple: linkup your race recap from this year.  It’d be great if you linked back to this post, but no pressure. This is just for fun — but remember: only Shamrock Shuffle Race Recaps. 

I hope this works.  This is my first time doing this so just bear with me.  Thanks.

Yesterday I ran my 2nd race of the year: Live Grit Lakefront 10 Miler.  I’ve run this race in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015.  Not sure why I skipped 2013 and 2014.  In previous years this race took place in March so I was a little surprised to find out CARA moved it to March.

This race is on the list of races to run for get guaranteed entry to the Chicago Marathon as part of the CARA Marathon Incentive Program.  I already have an entry for this year but why not get started for next year right?

I love a hassle free packet pickup.  It took me 10 seconds to get my bib at Live Grit.  I stayed just a little bit longer to check out the Oiselle gear.  Everything was marked down (about 50% off). Sadly, I did not buy anything.

I love the shirt.  I rarely keep my shirts but for sure this one I will keep.  Great color right?

I met Emily for dinner.  It was last minute and it was great catching up with her.  I had way too much sushi but it was DELICIOUS.

It was cold on race day.  I wanted to wear shorts but changed my mind when I saw the weather report.  Plus, it does tend to get windy along the lakefront.  I wore two long sleeve shirts and was still cold.  I left my house at 6:30am and was at the race location by 7.  I had to wait 2 hours but it was worth it because I found a parking spot next to the finish line, used the bathroom various time, and met the lovely Dani.

I had no time goal for this race.  My only goal was to have fun.  I did wear my watch but switched it to the current time screen instead of current pace/average pace/distance screen. I only switched the screen maybe once or twice but that’s it.  I ran by feel.  I ran and walked whenever I felt like it.  I actually enjoyed this race.  It felt so good to feel the sun on my back.

Ridiculous hill we had to run between miles 2-3 and then on the way back between miles 9-10. Seriously WHY?!?!?!

The miles went by quickly.  I did have some pain on my right knee and quad and on my left hip.  I did not have this pain during my last race so I will be foam rolling a whole lot more.

After the race, I got a slice of pizza and went to get my beer when I met another lovely runner, Lisa.  We’ve communicated via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram but have never met.  We talked for a little bit but then she had to leave.  I got my beer but I did not finish it because I was too cold and instead grabbed another slice of pizza.  I was so hungry and the pizza was delicious.

Another medal to add to the collection.

Next race is Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8k on April 3rd.

Like or dislike 10 mile races?

On Sunday, I ran my 62nd half marathon, the Chicago Half Marathon.  The last time I ran this race was in 2009.  This race is my last one before the Chicago Marathon.  The only reason I ran it is because of the CARA Marathon Incentive Program.  So now I need to volunteer at the expo, run the Chicago Marathon, apply on December 1 (yes there is an application) and cross my fingers that I get in for next year.  Now that I think about it, it does sound really crazy for a supposedly guaranteed entry.  I mean, it isn’t really guaranteed because there are a limited number of spots available and once they’re filled, you’re out of luck!

Back to the race.  I was told not to race it but instead to use it as a training run.  And that is pretty much what I did.  I was up very early at 4am, got ready, and drove to the race.  Luckily I found parking right away and waited for about half an hour before heading over to use the bathrooms.  It was very dark.

I met up with another Chicago Endurance Sports runner (Amy) to run together.  The weather was just perfect.  No rain and overcast.  Definitely ideal running weather.

I do not remember hearing the National Anthem but we were kind of far so maybe we didn’t hear it. Anyway, a few minutes later we crossed the start line.

We settled into a nice and comfortable pace.  I had my iPod but ended up not using it.  Yep, I ran the whole race without listening to music.  I love the course!  And I love even more that we ran on Lake Shore Drive instead of the running path.  That would have been very tight and a disaster.

I took an Advil at mile 4.  My calves were tight and my feet were bothering me since the beginning.  The Advil kicked in a few miles later.  I wonder if maybe for the marathon I should take 2 of them earlier in the race.

Amy and I got separated after mile 8 but then I caught up to her.  I saw the 2:20 pace group and did my best to stay with them but they were running a little bit faster than I could/wanted to.  With 2 miles to go I told Amy to go ahead and I did my best to finish.

Throughout the race I had my watch to only show average pace.  I was hoping to keep it at 10:55 which is pretty much what it was on throughout the race.  However, that number crept up once I took my walking breaks and then I could not bring it down.  I then changed it to show just the time.  I ended up finishing in 2:24:41 (according to my watch) which is an 11:01 average pace.  I am very pleased with my finish time.

Seriously the best medal ever!

A cute shirt and one that I will definitely keep.

One of my friend sent me the picture below.  I remember seeing them when I crossed the finish line and thought about waving but did not want to look stupid.  But it is still pretty cool!

Overall it was a great race.  The course is awesome.  There was plenty of crowd support and enough water stations.  We lucked out with the weather so it made it an even better experience.