Chicago's Perfect 10 - 10 Mile - Run10 Mile


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Chicago, Illinois
United States
Endurance Events
55F / 13C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 36m 31s
Overall Rank = 725/1297
Age Group = F 30-34
Age Group Rank = 74/147
Pre-race routine:

Up at 5am. Took two trains to a bus to Navy Pier and was there with more than enough time. Especially the race started late! Ate a banana on the way as well as some Gatorade.
Event warmup:

Stopped at the first bathroom in Navy Pier and loved that there was no wait. Walked to the end of the pier, sat in the gear check/expo area and ate a Luna bar. After an announcement was made that the race would start 30 minutes late due to "parking issues" I decided to gear check and head back to the far bathrooms to hit the head again. It was a long walk but worth it to not wait in a line and not feel like I had to get in and out.

I found Liz while all the runners were wandering around inside waiting for the race to start. We assumed the 30 minute delay meant the race would start at 8:30am. Around 8:27 we headed out and saw the race started. Interesting. We jumped in and took off.
Run
  • 1h 36m 31s
  • 10 miles
  • 09m 39s  min/mile
Comments:

1 - 9:06
2 - 9:18
3 - 9:48
4 - 9:14
5 - 9:35
6 - 10:11
7 - 9:43
8 - 10:26
9 - 10:02
10 - 9:09

My splits were all over the place! Yikes. I guess I started out too aggressively. I haven't raced this distance since April 2009 so I didn't know how to pace this. I figured that it'd be nice to at least average a 9:46 pace, since I ran that a month ago at the Portland Half Marathon.

For the first 4 miles or so I hung onto the heels of two girls who were running together. That was probably a mistake. I wasn't feeling so hot at the mile 5 turnaround - hip soreness and a weird feeling in my stomach. I figured I'd have to wait to take my gel until closer to mile 5.5 when I'd hit the water stop. I was worried I might not be able to stomach the gel, but when the time came I took it and felt better not long after.

A bit after the turnaround I spotted lizohal and it was nice to see a familiar face.

The course map say there was a water stop at mile 7 and I think I hit my watch late. So that accounts for a bit of the wacky looking pacing, but the rest of it was all thanks to me! That's assuming the mile markers were places correctly.

I never really felt good during this race, and you can see it in the splits. As I came to the end I really wanted to eek in at or under 1:35 and that's evident in my 9:09 pace for the final mile! I can't complain too much, since this is a 17:44 PR! The funny thing is that the last time I did a 10 mile race I PR'd by about 18 minutes as well! I'm glad I have a recent time that I can hopefully work on next year.
What would you do differently?:

Run more even splits and not go out so fast.
Post race
Warm down:

I grabbed my medal, a banana, cup of water and mini bottle of Powerade. Oddly, I never noticed sports drink on the course. I walked up and down the finish area a bit and waited for lizohal to cheer her into the finish.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Probably started out too fast and I haven't done speedwork in ages. I'm also wondering if some of my hip soreness came from the fact that I ran and walked lots of hills last weekend in San Francisco.

Event comments:

Pros:
-Lots of bathrooms if you were willing to go to the beginning of the pier. Didn't bother me at all.
-Could wait inside right up until the start.
-Gear check was easy
-Some vendors were there giving out Kind bars and a fake Muscle Milk type drink

Cons:
-Path can be narrow
-Race started late, and a bit earlier than the 30 minutes late that they quoted
-Didn't seem to see sports drink, maybe only at one table?
-The finish area was wide open to tourists at Navy Pier, sort of wacky when you're trying to run in strong

I might do this race again, depends when my schedule is like next year




Last updated: 2012-10-22 12:00 AM
Running
01:36:31 | 10 miles | 09m 39s  min/mile
Age Group: 74/147
Overall: 725/1297
Performance: Good
Course: An out and back along the lakefront path; turnaround was just after 31st street.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4