LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle - 8K - Run8k


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Chicago, Illinois
United States
65F / 18C
Sunny
Total Time = 53m 34s
Overall Rank = 15647/30000
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 1363/?
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 5:25, got ready, had a couple of cups of coffee, enjoyed some quiet time by myself. My husband and my baby came with me to the race, so we left at 7:15 to drive to Chicago.

We got there a tad too late for no line to the parking garage, so parking took a few minutes.
Event warmup:

My only warm-up consisted of jogging to the bathroom (and that was dictated more by not wanting to explode than by desire to warm up for the race).

Had a banana at 6:45 and a Luna bar about 30 min before the race.
Run
  • 53m 34s
  • 4.97 miles
  • 10m 47s  min/mile
Comments:

Run was great. I was hoping to finish in 50 min, which would have put me at a 10-min mile, but I wasn't really ready for that. I was pushing myself and was getting quite tired by mile 4. I did run with my usual walk breaks (5-1 most of the race), so that helped. Other than that, enjoyed the run immensely!
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, really... just need to work on my speed, but we all know that just takes time :)

Oh, also.. I would figure out where I'd meet the people that came to watch me after the race ehhe today there was no such plan, and I got to see a lot of different faces and a lot of different strollers while looking for mine LOL
Post race
Warm down:

Wandering around for 15 min trying to find my husband and baby LOL :) Didn't think to decide where we'd meet, so trying to find them in a crowd of probably 50,000 people was a bit insane.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not enough speedwork.

Event comments:

I'm going to give the race a Best rating, because I do enjoy it a lot...However, I do have one thing to gripe about. Okay, on the website, it was said that there would be an Aid station at mile 2. Well, when I saw the tables approaching, I took my gel, so I needed to wash it down with something. When i got to the first table, there were like THREE volunteers surrounded by a crowd of runners..as the volunteers were filling up the cups! Huh???? I know that accommodating 30,000 runners is not easy and they probably couldn't have cups ready (maybe? maybe not?), but to have 3-4 people at that table? Now, they said that there would be more stations down the way.... however, I didn't know how many, so I just stuck around, lost over a min and a half to get gatorade.... and sure enough, there were 4-5 other stations over the course of ...maybe another half a mile.. So, why was that not stated on the website? Had ppl known that, there probably wouldn't have been crazy crowd congestion at the first two tables. I though that having 3 people per table (instead of 15) was poor organization-after all, you do have 30,000 runners................ other than that, the race was organized great!!! Enough restrooms, pace groups marked professionally, start on time, perfect!




Last updated: 2007-03-25 12:00 AM
Running
00:53:34 | 04.97 miles | 10m 47s  min/mile
Age Group: 1363/?
Overall: 15647/30000
Performance: Good
The HR was up there..The Max was 178 at one point, but most of the race it hovered around 173ish, so I knew I was pushing myself. The weather was gorgeous and insanely warm! I think it was easily 65 degrees and very sunny-great day to run!
Course: The course is nice as ever-downtown Chicago :) Organizing 30,000 runners is no small feat, but they did do a pretty good job.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5