Ravenswood 5k

My 5k PR was 19:02. I ran this in 2008 shortly before all my overtraining issues began. 19:02 is a number that has haunted me for a long time. It represented a fitness level that I thought I'd never reach again.

I was excited about this race and felt very confident that I'd PR. I was certain of it. The only question was by how much. I thought I had a chance of breaking 18.

I had followed the weather closely for the last few days and noticed that it would be windy. I hoped the forecast would change, but it didn't.

I've recently started training with the Track and Trough group here in Chicago. I met many of them for the first time at the race today. Great guys. We did a short warm up and lined up towards the front.

The course ran through a part of town called Ravenswood. It's a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood and it was a nice change of pace from the typical city race.

The first mile came out at 5:46. I was fatigued already and my breathing was labored. But overall the pace felt appropriate. It felt like a pace I could hold onto for the remainder of the race. And it would have put me just under 18:00.

I didn't notice much wind because the wind was coming from the East and the first 2 miles were South and West. The fatigue was in full swing, but I hung on as best I could in the 2nd mile. The 2nd mile is usually where I really struggle in a 5k. My splits for past 5ks usually go "fast, slow, fast". But despite the pain, I didn't feel the need to slow down. I attribute this to the mileage I've put in over the last few months.

Mile 2 came out to 5:51. Even though I slowed down a few seconds, I was pleased with this. I thought I had enough gas in the tank to pull a big negative split and get that sub 18. I'm always able to dig deep at the end. A strong last mile is my thing.

Shortly after mile 2 I turned East and I was blasted in the face by wind. Just nailed by it! I could tell that I had slowed dramatically. It was a steady stream of strong wind. I did my best to fight it, but I could tell the wind was taking its toll. It didn't help that I was breaking away from a pack of 5 guys and there was nobody ahead of me.

I spend most of mile 3 in no-man's land, fighting the wind by myself.

With a half mile remaining I pressed the pace as best as I could, but I couldn't really speed up that much. With such strong winds,  just being able to maintain my pace was an accomplishment. I did break away from that pack and I passed a few stragglers here and there. I didn't get passed in the last mile.

With a quarter mile to go I kicked as hard as I could, but it was hardly a kick at all. I was just trying to maintain and keep pressing forward. I knew I wasn't gonna break 18:00, but I still wanted to leave it all out there. I crossed the finish line completely exhausted and knew that I left it all out there.

Mile 1- 5:46
Mile 2- 5:51
Mile 3- 5:51
0.1- 0:40

FINISH- 18:10 (5:52 pace)



I PRed by almost a minute. A PR that has stood for 6 years. The wind got me pretty badly in the last mile, but Josh Cox says "No complaining when you PR". I like that rule.

For a local race this was a very competitive race. I finished in 37th place, and the top 15 guys were under 17 minutes.

Overall I'm very happy with today's result. I know I can do better, and I still think there's a lot of room for improvement. I haven't started speed training yet. The purpose of today's race was to get a measure of my 5k fitness off base training alone. I'm curious to see what I can run in the fall after a few months on the track.

Shamrock Shuffle 8k

My PR in the 8k was 33:55. I had hoped to run this race around 30min, but I did not expect to break it. My training has been going well over the last 4-5 months. I've gotten my mileage up to 50 miles/week, and my fitness has improved dramatically.

I showed up to the race with Sarah and Jason around 7:15am. We got there early to check our gear and do a warmup. I love this race because it has a big turnout and I get to catch up with people that I haven't seen in a long time.

Jason and I did a 1.5 mile warmup, some drills, some strides and got in corral A. I got as close to the front as possible, which ended up being very close for such a big race (30,000 finishers).

The horn sounded and I took off. The early pace was fast, but I felt comfortable. However, this comfort wouldn't last long. After only 4:00 minutes I started to feel the fatigue set in. I began to worry that the pace was too fast. This first mile came out to 6:07 and I thought "That mile hurt pretty badly, how am I gonna hang on for 4 more miles at this pace??"

The pace felt blistering, and I knew I should have slowed down. But I only eased off slightly. I tried to relax. It was so early in the race, but I could feel the tension building inside me. My stress level was high. In my head I repeated to myself "relax in the pack".  This actually seemed to help, and it eased the tension a bit. Mile 2 came out to 6:02 and this surprised me. I thought I had slowed down.

Mile 3 was more of the same... a constant inner-battle to convince myself that I was gonna be ok. Short races are so intense that the body red-lines and goes into "damage control mode". Alarm signals are firing to the brain telling your brain that it's in an emergency situation and serious damage will occur if you don't slow down.

This is where the mental aspect comes into play. Despite the fact that my body is SCREAMING at me to slow down, can I convince myself that I will be ok if I don't slow down?

With 3 miles down and 2 remaining, I knew that I could finish strong and that I was in the midst of a great race. The pain level was high, but I felt strong and confident. I slowly started to push the pace. There were many "sub-elites" and competitive teams at this race. For the first time in my life I was up there with them, even passing a few of them. It felt good.

Mile 4 came out to 6:00, I told myself "It's on!". I began the real push. And it was a good one. I don't know where it came from because I was hurting pretty badly for most of the race. But despite the searing pain, I kept digging harder. I know I've talked about it before, but that feeling of crushing the last mile is something very special.

Remembering my earlier splits of 6:07 and 6:10, I had given up on the idea of sub-30. I needed to go under 5:40 for the last mile, and I didn't think I could do that.

But as I turned the corner the finish line came into view with a quarter mile to go.  I was shocked to see that I still had a chance to break 30:00. I kicked with everything I had, and I was able to get in under 30.

After crossing the finish line I bent over the side railing to cough, pant, spit and catch my breath. I may have looked like hell, but I was thrilled.


Mile 1- 6:07
Mile 2- 6:02
Mile 3- 6:10
Mile 4- 6:00
0.97- 5:35

FINISH- 29:56 (6:02 pace)

Last year I ran this race in 35:00. I'm happy and excited with where my fitness is at right now. The overtraining issues are a distant memory.

The Shamrock Shuffle signifies the start of racing season in Chicago. And I suspect that 2014 will be a big year.