(Tiger) Turkey Trots - 5k and Half Marathon Recaps!

I do a turkey trot every year, but this year I did TWO turkey trots - Edison Park (5k) and Schaumburg (half marathon).  And no, they were not on the same day.  I know most turkey trots are actually on Thanksgiving Day, as the Edison Park 5k was, but the Schaumburg race was held on Saturday morning.

Edison Park 5k

Catherine and I have an annual tradition to run the Edison Park Turkey Trot 5k on Thanksgiving morning.  There have been years it is snowing and years it is pretty moderate temperature.  Luckily it was not snowing, but it sure was cold! I wish I could say the cold didn't deter us from our usual outfits - Bandit Turkey Tigers.

But sadly, we were only Turkey Tigers this year.  Well I guess technically we were bandits given that we didn't pay for the race.  We made the decision the night before the race to forgo the BANDIT singlets (our high school's old XC/Track singlets) so we could wear an extra layer.

The cold weather didn't seem to both Therese though. I met up with Catherine and Matt about half hour before the race and we did a 3 mile warm-up...for the 3.1 mile race. Just trying to get that mileage up! Then we found Therese and it was race time! We actually don't really race this run though; we use it as a nice conversational run. I think Therese had us at an average 8:08 pace. It definitely felt a lot easier this year than last year when I wasn't in nearly as good of shape.

After we finished, we walked backwards along the course to find their dad and then finished the last quarter mile or so with him.

Schaumburg Half Marathon

This is yet another race that made me think I am not mentally strong enough to be a runner.  All athletes need to be mentally strong, but running is a whole different ballgame.  There's so much more constant action and things to focus on in other sports.  When running a race, I pretty much am just thinking about how much it hurts the entire time.  I was much happier when I finished though and tried extra hard in the cold to make it seem so in this picture:

But anyways, besides the mental factor, this race wasn't too bad.  It took place at Busse Woods, which is where I ran this summer occasionally.  I parked in the remote lot and got shuttled to the start.  The course was pretty much the entire loop of 7.3 (previously 7.7, but now there is a new bridge over one of the roads so the loop is shorter and more hillier now since you have to go up and over the bridge) plus a few out and back segments through long parking lots to keep adding mileage.

At the suggestion of Pittsburgh Runner (Kristy) via Twitter a few days before the race, I decided to run the race "naked" aka without a watch. I was wearing clothes, trust me.  I did shed a few layers in the middle though.  Mom came to watch at one point around mile 5.5 and I gave her my headband and gloves. I was glad I had them to start with, but then they became unnecessary.

It's nice when Mom comes to races so she can take my picture so I don't have just a selfie.

I didn't really have expectations for this race and planned to use it as more of a training run to guarantee I got in a long run for the week.  So that worked out.  I decided to start with the 1:40 pace group and figured I'd stick with them as long as possible, which ended up being until I saw Mom and stopped for a few seconds to give her my headband and gloves and offer my words of how miserable I already am. I felt like I was sprinting to keep up with that 1:40 pace group.

So I broke off from them and was really just not having this race anymore.  Mentally done.  I really really really wanted to stop running.  My original goal was 1:45, so I was still on track but I wanted to make sure the 8 minute group wouldn't catch me.  But I also really wanted to stop and walk.  The problem is, when you're running a loop in the forest preserve and your mom left and your car is parked in a remote lot that you need to get to via the shuttle at the finish line...well, you get the point.  There wasn't really any way to stop, so I had to just get to the finish line as fast as possible.

That red blow up thing was the finish line..with my finger in front of the lens also.  It was cold but so so sunny!  So I couldn't even see my phone screen when I took this photo.  Anyways, I made it my goal to not let the 8 minute pace group catch up to me.  But lo and behold, they did.  Around mile 11.5.  Then around 12.5, they passed me.  I was really struggling that last mile.  But I only stopped to walk through the last 2 water stations (around miles 10 and 12...so that's how they caught me).

I finished in 1:45:55.  So it was right around what I wanted/expected.  But it sure was harder than that time should feel like for me.  My two halves during the Chicago Marathon were each faster than that.  But I fell a little off the running wagon, didn't have a best friend running with me, and it was darn cold.  So I'm OK with it and glad I didn't give in and start walking.

Something awesome about this race is the sweatshirt that I got for registering!  At first it seemed pretty light, but it is really comfy so that's all that matters.

Do you run with pace groups during a race?

Any turkey trot traditions?

Race Recap: CHICAGO MARATHON 2013

Well, the Chicago Marathon is over!  I have so much to say about it and don't know where to start, so this will probably end up a little scattered, but I'll do my best.  And I'll also probably have a post every day this week on various events of race weekend (the expo, the pasta party, the recovery, etc.) but I'll try to keep this one to the actual race recap.

Summary/spoiler alert: I finished in 3:23:15!  A PR by close to 6 minutes and Boston Qualifier!

My parents dropped off Angela, Olivia, and I as close as they could to the starting area and we made our way through the security checkpoints.  The weather turned out to be absolutely perfect for marathon running, but the morning was rather chilly.  We were wearing clothes that we could discard at the start line and never see again - to be donated to a homeless shelter in Chicago.  Angela and I discarded our clothes right before entering the corral and a man with a vest that said "Clothing Donations" was on his walkie talkie saying "we are going to need way more bins."  There were mountains of sweatpants and sweatshirts all around.

We also waited in a really long porta-potty line...but glad we did so before the race.  Once we got settled in a spot in the corral, it was time to go within about 5-10 minutes.

The first 8 miles of the race flew by.  It was definitely the easiest/most fun hour-ish of running I've ever done.  Our goal was to start at 8 minute pace for 4 miles and then pick it up to 7:30-7:40.  I don't remember splits exactly, but I think the first mile was 7:49 so we said we could ease up a bit.  The problem was that we were stuck behind the 3:30 pace group which was huge and taking up a lot of space all running together.  So over the next 3 miles, we were still doing about 7:45-7:50 working our way up and around that 3:30 group, but still not trying to go too fast.

We saw so many people throughout the course - the first being Catherine and Matt around mile 3.  I almost missed them but luckily they saw us and called out...and I heard them over my awesome playlist of music which will be a whole separate post because obviously you need to know exactly what I listened to for 26.2 miles.

 

I think I could also write a decent amount on all my spectators and signs, so I will save that for later, but the important thing right now is that I saw my family around mile 4.5 for the first time and I was STARVING (I'll explain why when I write about the pasta party...do you like all my cliffhangers?) so I yelled to my mom to buy me a bagel.

Sure enough, when I saw them again around mile 11, my dad had the bagel for me so I grabbed half and ate it while running.  I took water at every water stop, and Gatorade at I think only 2 during the first half and every station the 2nd half.  Apparently when you lose a lot of sodium, your body essentially starts producing salt, so I had a white ring around my face when I finished.  I also took GU Energy Gel 3 times throughout the race - around miles 9, 16, and 22.

Angela and I didn't talk much throughout the race, but when we did, the conversation went like this:

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:32"

"We should slow down a little and save it for later"

"Yeah, we should"

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:26"

"We should slow down"

"Yeah, we should"

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:34"

"This is comfortable, but we should maybe slow down a little more"

"Yeah, we should"

But we did not slow down.  I personally am glad we did not...hopefully Angela feels OK about it.  I know it is best to run negative or even splits (or even slightly positive splits at the marathon distance since negative/even splits are extremely difficult at that distance), but I also knew that by the time we were at mile 9, I needed to just go with it while I felt good.  And I did feel really good.  Angela decided to ease up a little and dropped back from me around mile 15-16.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto)

Around mile 19, Mac magically appeared.  I was very surprised because he had passed Angela and I around mile 10, but apparently he made a bathroom pit stop somewhere along the way.  He and I ran together for about the next 2 miles until he started to fade back a little.

I was actually pleasantly surprised with how even my pacing was for all of the race.  Yes, I died off the last 10k, but not nearly as much as I could have (or did during my previous marathons).  I ran it pretty exactly according to my plan.  Since I knew I wanted to beat my time from the Columbus Marathon in 2010 and I knew my splits from that race at the 10k, half, and 20 mile marks, that's what I was comparing myself to.  I was 1:40 ahead of pace at the 10k, which worried me a little because I was afraid maybe we did go out a little too fast.  But actually, I remember thinking I was only 40 seconds ahead...not a minute and 40 seconds.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto) 

And it's a good thing I did think that because at the half, I was 58 seconds ahead of my first half of Columbus.  And knowing myself, if I would've thought that I went from being 1:40 ahead of pace to only 0:58 ahead of pace, that might've mentally screwed me up a bit...but what you don't know can't hurt you.

After we hit the halfway mark, my plan was just to make it to 20 as fast as I could, knowing that no matter what, the last 10k was going to be miserable.  I wanted to/thought I could be at mile 20 between 2:31 and 2:34.  My brain was shut down at this time, but I think I remember being there right around 2:32:00 - 2:32:30, which was 2 to 2 and a half minutes ahead of my Columbus pace.  I didn't mentally put that split into my head though because I thought they recorded a 20 mile split with the chip so I figured I'd look later, but I guess not.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto)

Where I started to really struggle was around mile 18.  I knew I had about an hour or so to go and knew I could do it, but that's where I did start to experience some mental doubt in how fast I could realistically do those last 8 miles...I went from feeling pretty awesome to not so great pretty darn quickly.  I made the decision to walk through the next water stop I saw and that I'd walk through each one after that, which is also exactly what I did in Columbus.

So I would run all the way to the very last Gatorade person at each water station, take that cup, and start walking while I drank it and then take one of the very first cups of water, drink what I could, and make myself start running.  I imagine each stop was about 30 seconds, but really I had no concept of time.  I once again surprised myself with the fact that I really did make myself start running ASAP after drinking my liquids.

The last mile was pretty much the worst thing ever, especially "Mt. Roosevelt," the small hill within in the final 400 meters of the course. By this point I really knew I was going to finish in a great time though, so that made me push throug that final mile. And I saw Aunt Bernadette  saying "you're doing it!" Because she knew I would PR.

And then I finished!!

 (professional photo by MarathonFoto)

So I have a lot more details I could share and want to share, but those will come later this week because I've done enough rambling for now.  Basically, the race went as perfect as it could have and my pacing was better (more even...not quite as much dying at the end) than I could've ever expected from myself.

A Look Back at My First 2 Marathons

With the Chicago Marathon coming up IN 4 DAYS, I decided I should write a little about the 2 other marathons I have finished.

Columbus Marathon 2010:

Alex and I decided during the spring of our senior year at UD that we would train for the Columbus Marathon in October.  We were set to be roommates during our 5th year and thought this would be a good way to keep in shape since we wouldn't be running for UD that year.

(I know, I've already had this picture on the blog, but I think it's one of our best.)

I was coming back from an injury that had me confined to cross training during the spring, but slowly began to build up mileage throughout June and July.  By the time I was back at UD in mid-August, I was having no pain while running and was so happy to be back on campus and able to run with Alex and the younger UDXC girls.

Alex and I talked about running and the Columbus Marathon A LOT.  It was the first marathon for both of us, so it was a great learning experience.  I think one of my favorite discussions was about what form of energy supplements to take while running - the gu, the gummies, etc.

Here were my race splits:

I ran the race exactly as I planned - start at 8 minute pace for the first 5 miles, pick it up for as long as I can, and then I drastically slowed down over the last 10K.  I remember miles 6-18 were all between 7:15 and 7:35 and I remember thinking that the half marathon in the middle of my marathon would've been right on a PR.

Terrible picture, but it's the only one I have.  I had no race spectators so I had to ask a random lady to take my picture after I finished.  I was super pumped to have finished my first marathon in a time that was significantly under the BQ time - 3:28:55.

Chicago Marathon 2011:

I registered for the Chicago Marathon in February during my 5th year at UD.  I had been a spectator at the Chicago Marathon every year since I was a junior in high school when my cross country team volunteered at a Gatorade station along the course and really wanted to run it.

My training was decent in the earlier part of the summer...and then I started a public accounting job.  The longest run I got in during that summer was 17 miles on a Saturday morning in mid-August.  And then I went to work for a solid 14 hours that day.  I got very sick one day about a week later at the end of August due to being over-worked and after that, I think I didn't run at all for a solid 2-3 weeks.  Then I tried to get in a few more runs, but by that time, it was too late to get in any real training.  Needless to say, I was not prepared for the race and had gained about 10 pounds in just a few months due to the stresses of my job and minimal exercise.

I remember thinking the first few miles were OK, but by the time I started heading back south from Wrigley, so about 6 miles in, I could tell it was going to be a rough day.  From these splits though it looks like my first half was fairly decent...then I crashed and burned.  My mom told me I looked a lot better when they saw me around mile 18 than I did around mile 10.  I think by that point I knew I wasn't going to finish in any great time, so I just did what I could to finish and experience the race.

(sign made by Rachelle)

I had lots of spectators at this one - Mom & Dad, Catherine (Matt was running too!), Rachelle, Bailey, Jim & his sister, and a few aunts, uncles, and cousins (Aunt Bernadette & Uncle Rob were running too).  The best part though was that right when I finished, I crossed the line and almost fell over in Christina.  She told me she would be working the finish line (she was a PT student at the time) to help runners and luckily I found her right away!  And then the worst part of the day...walking a gazillion miles from Grant Park to wherever the car was parked.

And now I will have even more spectators at this year's Chicago Marathon!!

Frericks 5k & Parents Weekend

This weekend was Parents Weekend at Univeristy of Dayton, which I think is actually now called "Family Weekend." Conveniently, most of my best friends from UD have a younger sibling there still or live in Dayton/Cincinnati.

My mom and I weren't able to leave until after work on Friday, so we went straight to the hotel to bed. But Saturday morning we were ready to go for a day of fun. First on the schedule was the Frericks 5k around campus.

I knew it wasn't going to be a super competitive race because it tends to be a lot of the parents and younger siblings that walk the race, but also a decent number of runners too. I did a short warm-up around the Ghetto and lined up at the front, where I noticed there were no other girls except for a tiny 13 year old. She looked fierce and ready to race.

The horn sounded and off we went. I had a strong start but almost immediately felt like I was straight-up sprinting and obviously couldn't hold that for 3 miles. Erin and her sister Elise were standing near Marycrest, only about 3-4 minutes into the race and as I passed them I said "this already blows." As I kept going, I felt a little better and came through the 1 mile mark in 6:47. I was nervous for the 2nd mile because I knew it included Stuart Hill, the longest hill on campus.

"If a hill has its own name, then it is a probably a pretty tough hill."

Getting up the hill wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be, but it was still rough. I was just looking forward to the downhill, and I passed 2 people on my way down (both guys, just the one 13 year old girl was ahead of me and she wasn't even in sight any more). I don't remember exactly what my split was for mile 2 but I do remember thinking I was still on basically the same pace, around 6:50.

The third mile was also difficult and by this point I knew I wasn't going to catch the girl ahead of me and I could tell when we kind of zig-zagged through KU Field that there were no other girls anywhere near behind me. I saw Erin and Elise again and was feeling better than when I saw then at the beginning, but I was also ready for the race to be over. I had no idea where the race ended bit just tried to keep pace. Then I finally saw the 3 mile mark and the finish and kicked in with what I had left. I finished in 21:20, averaging 6:52 pace so I was happy I stayed very consistent the whole time.  And I won a UD sweatshirt :)

After the 5k we went straight to the football stadium for tailgating. Dayton's football team isn't anything special - except for the few years this kicker graced the field.

Tailgating for the football game was a lot of fun!  All the parents made delicious food.  Mom made these brownies and a turkey appetizer.  Erin's parents brought Chic-Fil-A chicken which was also amazing.

I wasn't really drinking much because of marathon training, but I did join in on a few beer games!  I miss college.  And all these people.  It was so so warm out and I was beat, so mom and I went back to the hotel for a nap.  But then it was back to campus for dinner at Milano's with Patrick and Erin.

After dinner, I went to Grace's brother's house to meet up with all of my friends again to watch the OSU game.  We had a great time just hanging out, watching the game, and chatting.  It's so rare now (except for weddings) that we are all able to get together so it was really special  :)

We're all best friends.

Race Recap: Chicago Half Marathon

I finished the Chicago Half Marathon yesterday!  I was not particularly pleased with the time, but also not as upset as I have been over bad races in my past.  I finished it without quitting or crying, so that's a success in my book.

First of all, I was supposed to be picked up for the 7am race at 6am.  Mac has a history of oversleeping when we are supposed to run (ok it happened once) and thought it would be hilarious to text me at 5:58am saying he just woke up.  I freaked out for about 2 minutes until he called and said he was outside.  Well played.

After parking, we warmed-up by running about a mile to the start.  We were a bit late because of the parking situation (typical Chicago), so there was no time for the bathroom and we hopped in the corral and started almost immediately.

 

This was my first race in the 25-29 year old age group.  These ladies are much faster.  I've read that women distance runners peak in their late 20s, which seems consistent with the age group results.  I would've been in the top 20 of the 20-24 year old age group.  But none of that really matters, just an observation.

There actually wasn't anything super eventful about the race.  I obviously made a sweet playlist for the occasion - all my recent/usual favorites.  The course was flat, a few tiny "hills" like when we had to run up an exit ramp off Lake Shore Drive and over a bridge.  There weren't spectators throughout the entire course, but there were enough that it didn't seem desolate.  The volunteers at all the water stations were high school students who were very enthusiastic and helpful!

The splits that the tracking device got for me were:

5 miles - 36:18 = 7:16/mile

10 miles - 1:16:31 = 7:39/mile total average and 8:02/mile for miles 5-10

Finish - 1:42:04 = 7:47/mile total average and 8:13/mile for last 5k

I also know after the first 5k I was at 22:08, which I thought was perfect because that is the exact time I was at during the first 5k of the North Shore Half Marathon in June.  My plan was to try to do the same pacing I did there, but then not die as much at the end.  I thought I'd be able to do this because my training has been  better in between that race and this one than it was the few weeks/months before that race.

It was about 5 miles into the race that I really started to feel like I couldn't keep up my pace and became a little mentally overwhelmed.  Mac was with me for about 4 miles and then he got ahead (or I slowed down, or a combo of both) and that didn't really bother me because I knew he would be faster, but I also think I should have tried a little harder to keep up.

Throughout the last half of the race, I walked about 30 seconds each mile when I was going through the water stations.  I did have one walk break that was probably about a minute long, but managed to get going again with the encouragement of some of the other runners on the course.  I really should be able to get through a half marathon without walk breaks and obviously I know I can considering I've done it plenty of times before.  But at least I know that while I was running, my pace was still decent... but a few short breaks will really get ya.

After the race, I had a lot of time to stretch out and relax while we waited for Mac's friend Bryce to finish the race.  Then the 3 of us went to get our free slice of Lou Malnati's pizza which is basically heaven on a plate.  I'm pretty sure the walk back to the car was at least as long as the race was.  But after we got in the car, put Teenage Dream on, and were heading for pancakes, life got a lot better.

And once we got to Elly's, I ran into my friend Nani who ran a PR in the race!  Pancakes are always the answer after a race.

I also used this race to see how my Chicago Marathon outfit would work out.  I have to say that I'm pretty happy with it.  I was unsure of the spandex shorts because I have only ever worn them for short runs before.  I bought the compression socks Saturday afternoon with a Fleet Feet gift card I got for my birthday and now I'm basically obsessed with them.  But I'm even more obsessed with my new blue sparkly headband.  Overall, I think the outfit was successful and comfortable.

My mom thinks I should wear a headband like Rafael Nadal and sent me this picture as an example:

Maybe if you added some glitter to it, I would.  I hope I look that intense in my official race photos.  I would however like to personally hunt down the jerk photographer who took a picture of me during one of my walking breaks.  That was not cool, dude.

Photo credit for the pictures of the race medals goes to my friend Megan.  After the race, I saw she had posted a few photos on Facebook from the finish line and she said she was there as a volunteer!  I wish I would've known ahead of time to keep an eye out.

Stampede Run 5K & Race Time Calculator

Today I finished the Stampede Run 5K in 21:30.  I wanted to be closer to 21 minutes, but kind of expected more like 21:30 and my time averaged 6:55 pace, so I'm OK with that for right now.  I thought I'd be able to run faster since I ran a 3.5 mile race over a month ago at 6:57 pace.  My splits were 6:42, 6:58, and 7:49 for the last 1.1  - there was a 3 mile mark I realized after the race but I seemed to miss it while I was actually running.  So that last mile was right around 7 minutes also.  I obviously checked the race results online and would've easily taken first in my age group, but I had a registration fail.  I did not register ahead of time and apparently they only accept cash at race day registration and I only had $20 with me, not the required $35.  So I ran the race bandit-style.  Unfortunately, this meant no race shirt and no prize for winning my age group which is an awesome pint glass.  I do already have 3 of them from past years, but would've liked another.  After the race, I got to watch Julianne finish the 5K and then ran backwards along the course to find Jessica and run the last mile of the 10K with her.

Something we talked about during yesterday's long run was training paces and how different race distances can help predict your marathon time. However, I still don't think it's always necessarily a good indicator. Even Dave, who I ran with yesterday, said he ran a half marathon in 1:24 and could not seem to break a 3:10 marathon. He said he believes a lot had to do with the fact that when he was in that good of shape, it was snowing the day of the marathon and some people are just better at shorter distances and some better at longer.

I looked online and found what appears to be a very popular race time predictor here.  I was playing around with the calculator and put in today's 5K time, last month's half marathon time, and my goal marathon time.  I doubt anyone would ever run exactly the times such a calculator would predict, but it does seem to provide a good general idea/range of times.  Here's what I got:

So especially based on this, I should've ran a little faster than I did today.  Even the 10K time it predicted based on today's 5K would be slower than the first 10K I ran in last month's half marathon.  But I think it all just has to do with the conditions of the day.  Today was almost 80 degress already in the morning and that half marathon was rainy and cool.  My training this week was also a little skewed due to other circumstances and my mental state was not 100% this morning due to the registration issue.  I definitely still have some work to do though to feel more confident in the pace I want to run the marathon.  I wasn't planning to do any other races between now and the Chicago Marathon, but might do the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in 2 weeks.  But that's probably going to depend on how the next 2 weeks go and probably what the weather is looking like that day.  Even if I don't register, I'd probably still go downtown for it and jump in to get in a solid run around other people.

Do you ever run races without registering? - I do quite a bit...usually if I'm just using it as a training run or to run with someone else.

4 on the 4th

Happy 4th of July! Today was the Elmhurst 4 on the 4th race. Mom came to watch and Catherine and Matt came to run as well, as did my new running friend Mac. This race was a FAST field. Elmhurst is definitely a running town.

Catherine and I finished in just at 29 minutes averaging 7:14 pace. We stayed pretty steady at that pace each mile. Both of us were really skeptical with racing all out today because she just did a hard track workout on Tuesday and leg weights with her trainer and I hadn't ran since Monday and was not feeling mentally ready for a race. We ran the whole way together and made it a great tempo run. Both of us agreed that we would not have been able to give that hard of an effort if we were on our own so I'm glad we had each other there!

Next year we need to dress more festive like we do for Thanksgiving. Matt had a good race too! He was the one who was able to confirm for us that there was indeed a fast field up at the front since he was much closer to that action. Catherine and I even recognized our track coach from freshman year of high school who we have not seen since. Another positive was that the race was well organized and there were good snacks/drinks afterwards which is always a determining factor in how good a race is, just like how quickly free bread or water appears on your table determines how good a restaurant is. I don't like waiting for my bread and water.

So now since I titled this 4 on the 4th for the race, I here are 4 random thoughts I've had today:

1) Freeze pops are an amazing summer treat, especially after running. Catherine and I did a summer running camp in high school and they always had a cooler of freeze pops when we finished. And then I got one at the parade today and remembered how great they are...except for the fact that they drip blue onto my nice white shorts.

2) Catherine gave me a great idea for marathon outfit ideas for Angela and I to wear in the Chicago Marathon. I cannot reveal that yet though until this plan is fully realized.

3) I want a pool in my backyard when I have a house.

4) I wish my cousin Katie would come home from St. Louis because being at their pool isn't the same without her.

And here's my Bailey being festive:

What is your favorite post-race free snack?

Iron Girl Triathlon

On Friday I decided to do the Iron Girl Triathlon in Lake Zurich.  It was a pretty last minute decision after I saw a girl from UD post on Facebook about it and I had nothing going on for the weekend, so why not?  I did my run on Friday to the Athleta store in Lakeview to register.  Apparently I met a pretty famous blogger and didn't even know it.  Catherine was telling me that the girl who writes a blog she regularly reads (www.mealsandmiles.com) was working this race.  I said I met a girl named Meghann who seemed to be in charge of the show and Cath said, "that's her!"  I had started talking with Meghann as she helped me register.  I was wearing my PwC running shirt and she said her husband works for PwC.  I will definitely have to start reading her blog now.  Here's a breakdown of the triathlon:

Swim - 1/3 Mile - 17:09.  I am a terrible swimmer.  I don't think I really put my head under water much, but I ended up with a lot of water in my mouth.  I don't really have a technique - I'd say it's mostly a doggy paddle, with some backstroke and side stroke and what I feel like doing that will somehow propel me forward.

Bike - 14 Miles - 56:01.  The bike route was hilly, which got to be pretty difficult during the last few miles.  I average 4 minutes per mile which is kind of what I expected, but I should be able to still go much faster than that.  Since the 29 and under age group was the last wave to start the race and my swim was so terrible, I was essentially one of the very last people out of the water.  So on my bike, I just tried to pass people.  I passed 37 people and nobody passed me.

Run - 3 Miles - 21:44.  Luckily the run route was relatively flat.  When I first started running after getting off the bike, my legs felt like jello.  I thought I was going so slow, but when I got to the first mile, I was at 7:26.  My 2nd mile was 7:00 and my 3rd was 7:18.  I started counting people as I passed them on the run too...67 people and nobody passed me.  I counted  in my head; it's only bad if you count out loud, right?  And most of the races I've done lately are huge, technically aren't "races," and I always start too fast so then I don't exactly end up passing people.

Overall I finished in 124th place out of 303 women.  My swim rank was 267, bike rank was 221, and run rank was 11.  I think I will try to learn to swim and bike better before doing another one, but that will probably have to wait until after the Chicago Marathon.

There were a lot of good freebies at this race.  The race shirt was so-so.  But afterwards, all the athletes got a catered breakfast.  They were a bit skimpy on it though because they were really limiting what each person could have.  They wouldn't even give me an extra piece of cantaloupe.  But then there were jars Biscoff spread and you could take as many as you want!  It's very similar to the Trader Joe's Cookie Butter.  We took 7 or 8 jars I think to give to some of the family members later at the Father's Day celebration.  There was also a Walgreens tent so I got some Chapstick, a stress ball, a pedometer, and a first aid kit.

Apparently the thing to do in the blog world is to ask questions at the end of the post so that people comment.  So here are today's questions:

What would be your best leg of the triathlon?

What is your favorite free item you have gotten from a race?

-Mine is the deck of cards I got from my first half marathon - the Chicago Distance Classic in 2006.  I still don't use them to play with because I don't want them to get ruined.

North Shore Half Marathon

This morning I ran the North Shore Half Marathon in Highland Park in a time of 1:37:39!  I had pretty much NO idea how it was going to go.  I hadn't done a half marathon since last May and June and neither of those went quite how I would've liked them to.  The Green Bay Half in May of 2012 was a lot of fun running with Rachel, wearing our matching Bears and Packers race outfits, but my time was not nearly as fast as I would've liked; I don't even remember what it was, but I know it was right under 2 hours.  Then in June of 2012, the Chicago Women's Half Marathon was a complete mental disaster for me.  My time would've been over 2 hours and I refused to even cross the finish line.  After that, I pretty much swore of racing ever again.  However, I obviously decided to get it back together and train for the Chicago Marathon this fall.

Aunt Bernadette convinced me to sign up for the North Shore Half Marathon and I thought it would be a good idea as an easy way to get a long run in, to see kind of where I'm at as I start training, and I was pretty sure I could at least go faster than a 1:49, which would be what I'd need to move up to Corral C for the CM.  I ended up being able to get into Corral B with my time!  Angela is also eligible for Corral B, so that works out perfectly and now I don't need to stress over doing (or pay for) another race to try to get into that one!  My best half marathon ever was the Columbus Half Marathon in the fall of 2008, when I was a junior in college and ran a 1:37:10.   I was so close to that time today, but I can't really be upset about not getting there because this is definitely the best I've ever ran since college.  So here's some details of the race morning:

Uncle Ron, always a strong supporter at all of our races, drove Aunt Bernadette and I (and Kelly, also a super race fan) to the start area.  There was a minor crisis for a few minutes when Aunt B realized she forgot her Garmin.  Joe woke up and came to the rescue!  The skies still looked clear and I checked my phone for the weather in Highland Park, IL and confirmed that it said 0% chance of precipitation for the entire morning.  The temperature was perfect in the 50s.  Unfortunately, about 5 minutes getting out of the car...rain.  It was light rain it first, but it made it so cold just standing in my tank and shorts!  We lined up for the start and the rain got heavier and lasted for the first mile or 2.  There was still drizzle/mist the entire race, but not as bad as the very beginning.

I started out the first mile in 7:11.  I thought "Uh oh, I definitely started too fast."  I was planning to go for a 7:45 pace and hold that pretty steadily as long as I could to hopefully end up under 1:45 total time.  But right at that first mile mark, I was with 3 older guys and decided to stick with them.  They were doing about a 7:00-7:05 pace very consistently so I figured I tried to stay with them, which last until just after the 10k mark.  During the 7th mile was a HUGE hill.  I almost stopped and walked when I got to the top, but managed to keep going... miles 8 and 9 were probably the toughest.  Once I got to mile 10, I knew I could break 1:40 without a problem.  And once I hit 11 and 12, I knew if I could really pick it up for the last 1-2 miles, I could possibly PR.  Aunt B finished in just over 1:51, so she also did very well for her age group!

I made an awesome playlist for the race.  Obviously I kicked off with Teenage Dream.  I didn't change the music the entire time, but once I knew I had about 4 minutes left, I put Teenage Dream on again.  Also, I had left my armband at my apartment in the city, so I put the iPod in my sports bra the whole time, which worked surprisingly well.

Here are my race splits:

5k - 22:08 - 7:08 pace

10k - 44:26 - 7:10 pace (7:11 pace for the 5k between)

15k - 1:08:12 - 7:20 pace (7:39 pace for the 5k between)

Finish - 1:37:39 - 7:27 pace (7:48 pace for the ~6k between)