My buddy Stephen Pifer at the Manzano Mile, Leo sets Texas state record!, Rave Run this weekend!, Shamrock press release, Shalane wins, time for Geb to quit?, elites in Mammoth Lakes, from Trials to track?, and Morgan Uceny.
Thursday, March 22nd - 6 miles. Ran after work solo around town. Not good - knee was really bothering me, and could feel myself altering my stride towards the end. Time to take a couple days off.
Friday, March 23rd - 0! Self imposed day off, plus travel day. Got into Chicago late, then had a late dinner at the Girl and the Goat, which my sister and I have been trying to get into for the last couple years. Stephanie Izzard, Top Chef season 4 winner, created this restaurant. Absolutely amazing! Food was served in smaller portions, but the flavors were literally bursting out. I am drooling just thinking about it.
Saturday, March 24th - 0! Contemplated an easy run on Lakeshore, but opted to lay low instead. Had a few errands around town as well as the Expo at Navy Pier, so probably walked a few miles in itself. Hadn't run Shamrock since 2007, so a little taken back by how big the expo had gotten (used to be in the Hilton on Michigan Ave., and much, much smaller - now it is the size of a typical marathon expo!). Shirts were red this year, which seemed strange for a St. Pat's day themed race, but quickly grew on me. Dinner at a new place called RPM (decent place, awesome lounge, food was good but not great), then met up with Pat and Crystal to drop off team bibs, then ended the night with Ken and his family. Great to see everyone, even though it was quickly.
Sunday, March 25th - 7 miles (1 up, SHAMROCK SHUFFLE 8K - 31:27 PR (485/34,300), 1 down). Woke up bright and early to get ready. Stretched out for a bit to loosen up, then Ryan came over to meet up before we headed to the Fairmont Hotel to meet up with Ken, Pat and Crystal, and Sunny. Excited to run the team competition, and we were entered in the open team co-ed division, which had some pretty good teams entered. The goal was to place, and I thought we had a good chance to do so if all of us ran like we should. Walked over to Millenium Park where the race started, then warmed up. Hadn't felt this nervous in a long time for a race. Got into the corrals, and tried to get focused before the race began. Started with Ryan and Ken, and worked the first mile together as a group. A bit discouraged to pass through the first mile at 6:09, since the effort felt like sub 6 min. Knee was feeling discomfort, but I knew I could make it through the race ok. From a little further on, we all separated and I fell back a bit since I was running more on effort and wanted to not completely blow up out there. Legs just had no juice, and struggled the rest of the race. Found a good pack to run with, so worked with them to make it back towards the end. Between miles 3 and 4, saw a spectator trying to sprint to the other side of the road. Well, he timed his run completely wrong, and ended up sprinting right into me! I was in a pack and didn't really have much time to react, and got knocked into a few other runners, which none of us luckily didn't fall down but came to a complete stop to regroup. We were all livid, and screamed some obscenities in his direction. I mean seriously, use some common sense if you are going to cross a road during a major race! I am getting angry just thinking about it. I am guessing this idiot cost me 15-20 seconds easily on my time. Anyways, battled up the wonderful hill on Roosevelt before turning towards the end. Met up with the others, who all ran very well, then headed to the post race party for a post race cocktail and to wait for Anne, Ben, Megan, and Barrel who were running in the 2nd wave. A fun day by all, and sad to leave Chicago later on that afternoon.
Found out on the train ride home that our team won the open co-ed team division!!!!, and was definitely very excited as the text messages started to fly. Happy to represent Big River Running, and bring home the gold. My race thoughts were a little bitter-sweet: time was ok (even with the interference), but just never felt that good. Legs had no pep at all, and battled the entire way. My 5K split was 19:32 - should have been 18:55-19:05 range, and didn't really have it. Regardless, a PR is a PR (even though my 5 mile PR is a minute faster, sadly), and the team "W" is more important in the grand scheme of things.
Starting to realize that this continuous back to back to back to back (etc.) racing every week is just beating me up. I'm racing Cherry Blossum this weekend, but throwing all time goals out the window and opting to run more conservatively so I don't completely crap out. I'm running a couple races in April, but may cut back on mileage during the week to save myself a little.
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