LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle - 8K - Run8k

Given the junk food at Glo's last night and not having done quite as much speedwork in the past month, I wasn't sure if I could pull off anything faster than maybe mid-7:30s, which I would have been okay with. Generally my body knows what to do in a race though so I just decided to go with that plan of action. When I would glance at my watch at the mile splits I did worry the first couple miles that I may have paced too aggressively, but I hung on. Just barely though. I couldn't have gone any further without things seriously getting ugly.

My general theory in a running race is that you stay aggressive in the first half, but you don't take any risks you know you may not be able to recover from if they don't work. This is more important in longer races, but I've found it to serve me well in shorter races as well. So the first half I stuck to my pace and ignored the other runners around me. Shortly into mile 3 I started assessing the actual race situation a bit more. I continued to focus on my pace and stride, but I also started picking out the people around me who seemed to be my pace or a bit faster and focused on either trying to pass them or not losing them. My lungs and legs just hurt, but I figure in a race that short that's probably how you should feel and I really wanted the PR so I kept pushing. I did slow down just a bit that last .97 miles, but I held on decently strong.

Mile splits:
1=7:22
2=7:13
3=7:22
4=7:21
4.97=7:18

Not much, except maybe not eat so much junk food the night before and maybe get a bit more sleep race weekend.

Walked through the looooonnnggg finishing area and collected snacks for both Whizzzzz and I. The gear check was perhaps not the best setup for this race as all Corral A was in the same gear check. Since we were all pretty much the same pace and all pretty much finished together, we all got in the gear check line at the same time. People from other corrals finished, got their gear check stuff, found all their friends, went home and had lunch, did some grocery shopping, and read a book, and we were all still standing in line freezing our butts off. StartingToTri got through in such fashion and then found me shivering with my arms full of snacks while I waited in line so she graciously took them from me while I finished my wait. Then off to lunch with the other BTers.


Not much. It was a pretty good race.


The race was fun because I got to see a lot of BTers. If you aren't in a seeded corral however, it's a race to do for fun, but not one to do for a PR. The crowds are huge. It's a great course through the downtown area though and one of those big Chicago races that it seems like you just have to do every once in awhile.