Fleet Feet Sports Soldier Field 10 Mile - Run10 Mile

Started off in the A corral, which was pretty large even though it was seeded. It is really important to start as far up as possible on a big race like this...so painful to try to pass people in a huge crowd. I felt dehydrated before the start so I made the decision to take a water at every water station. Normally I would only have hit 2 or 3, but I was a bit concerned so I just made it my plan and stuck with it. It worked fine. This was the first race I have ever entered where I wasn't sure I would be able to finish. My sore calf was really concerning me. I wore compression sleeves on both legs and while my calf felt tired at around mile 6 or 7, it never deteriorated into anything more serious. I was pretty happy with my pace...a bit uneven but no huge drop offs, even when I started to feel it.

I didn't have my long run quite as long as I should have for this race (I'm up around 7.5mi). I really felt it musculoskeletally (is this a word?). Aerobically I felt fantastic and my upper body never got tired so I was able to hold my form together pretty well.

I skated by because it's only 10 miles, but as I look at longer races, I need to be disciplined in putting the miles in. I am still trying to figure out how to train for both running and triathlon...

I also almost paid dearly for my stupid pre-race decision to eat just a bit more than normal. Maybe I am scared straight now. I need to be very disciplined about this from now on.

Bud Light on the south lawn in the sunshine with my gorgeous husband. Heaven.


I think my musculoskeletal fitness is behind my cardio at this point. I think if I work on my long run and put more mileage in running I won't have the aches and pains that start to hit, or at least they won't hit as early. This is a pretty important goal for the Chicago Marathon in October. I really want to be on top of the long run early on in training.


This was a fun race. Running a race on the lake front path is nothing really special, but finishing in the stadium is definitely the hook and very very cool. However my most epic FAIL of the entire race was forgetting to look up and see myself on the jumbotron. I'll have to do it again next year and try to remember to look! Another GREAT thing this race had going for it was FREE PARKING! I mean, WOW! It was pretty organized too, and I don't think anyone got shut out of the parking. The volunteers were great, and the event organizers worked very hard to make it a nice experience. The only complaint I have was when they went to weather condition "black." At this point, they claimed the race was cancelled and asked everyone to stop. We were already done so it didn't affect me directly but I felt terrible for the people who were still out on the course. I would have been angry about that...especially since it was 75 and breezy. Not sure how the criteria got us to "black" but it was eye opening that the city can just capriciously cancel events like that. I'm going to be careful about what I sign up for in the future. This is the only reason I gave this race a 4 instead of a 5. I really enjoyed myself and the day.