I found out on Saturday morning that my grandmother passed away.
The funeral is on Monday, so I was still able to do the race. I decided to dedicate this race to her. I told myself that I would try to think of her throughout the race, and use her memory as my inspiration. I was still debating which pacing strategy I would incorporate. At the very last minute, I opted for the "conservative" start. I told myself I would run the first half around 7:20-7:25, and then see where I could take it from there. Aside from some strong gusts of wind, the weather was PERFECT. Low 60s... unseasonably cool for early August in Chicago.
The first few miles went off flawlessly. I fell into a rhythm immediately, and I was hitting my splits exactly as I had planned. Then I hit mile 6 in 7:05. I didn't feel like I had picked up the pace, so I just shrugged it off. However, mile 7 came out to 8:41. WTF?!? That mile marker was waaaaay off.
This frustrated me, but I refused to let it throw off my rhythm. I decided to simply run the rest of the race without really focusing on my splits. I just tried to concentrate on effort, fluidity, and maintaining focus. By mile 8 I started to pick up the pace. At this point I thought to myself, "Wow, I can't believe how good I feel this late in the race!!"
I was incredibly surprised that I felt soooo strong while starting the final 1/3rd of the race. I acknowledged that I chose the proper pacing strategy.I just kept pushing on, and I knew I had a great finish left in me. With about 2.5 miles to go, the discomfort showed itself. Sure it had hurt prior to that point, but now the pain was getting bad. To combat this, I reflected on all the great runs I've had in the past few weeks, and how successful my training has been. That seemed to help keep me pushing forward now that I was really picking up the pace. I also thought about my grandma and how much I loved her. There was no stopping me with all this in mind.
In the last mile I was FLYING. Just blowing by people left and right. The discomfort was extremely intense, but I knew it was almost over and I could tolerate it for a little while longer. With about a quarter mile to go, I saw that I had a shot at breaking 1:36 but it would be very close. I bore down and absolutely ran my heart out, but missed it by a mere 2 seconds.
I wasn't disappointed, however, because I knew I had ran a great race.After crossing the finish line, I talked to a few other people and asked them if they thought the mile markers were off. They said that not only were the mile markers off, but the course was long.... a quarter mile long!!
I talked to 5 different people with Garmins and theirs all read 13.30-13.48, I talked to a pace group leader and he said the course was long, I talked to my friend Greg who WON the race, and he said the course was long. This was the first time the race had used this course, and obviously they got some things wrong. It's annoying, but what can I do? After the race I was greeted by my family and gf. It's so wonderful to have them at these events and their support means the world to me.
Here are some messed up splits....
Mile 1- 7:23
Mile 2- 7:22
Mile 3- 7:17
Mile 4- 7:23
Mile 5- 7:29
Mile 6- 7:05
Mile 7- 8:41
Mile 8- 7:19
Mile 9- 7:15
Mile 10- 7:39
Mile 11- 6:50
Mile 12- 6:59
Mile 13- 6:40
0.1- 0.39
FINISH- 1:36:02 (7:20 pace if it had actually been 13.1)
534/8734 Overall
13 minute PR
Sure, it's frustrating that the course was so long, and I wonder what the outcome would have been on an accurate course. But I can't really be upset, because this was a HUGELY successful race for me, and it's given me a great deal of confidence in my ability to perform at distance events.
I will miss my grandmother greatly, but I'm glad that I was able to dedicate this race to her. She was an inspiration in life, and will continue to be one for me.
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