North Shore Classic recap

Wow. I fist looked at the temp for this race and saw 57 degrees. That looked like perfect conditions for a race. Little did I know what would coming my way on May 31, 2015.

I woke up that morning to a steady drizzle in Chicago and got worried. It calmed me down that the forecast for Highland Park did not call for rain. The temps however, looked turrible(in your best Charles Barkely voice). It also did not help I had no real way of getting out there. We will skip that part because I am upset about that. 

Despite being upset about taking a can to Highland Park, I was happy to arrive. I failed to mention I was nervous about North Shore being my first official half in a while. It is a good thing the cold and wind made me forget about that noise(sarcasm). There was nothing I could do about either, so I got ready to warm-up and did what I could to stay warm. 

The benefits of it being a small-ish race is that gear check was very convenient. It also meant I could wait as long as possible to get into my corral. 

       I look happy, but I'm dying inside

I had a race plan, but I threw that out the window and decided to race by feel and just go. As the picture above shows, I was not really dressed for a casual Sunday run. 

                 So close to the elites!

The first few miles of the race were actually pretty nice. I knew it would be hilly, but these were not bad. With half marathons, I break the race down in three parts. I tell myself to get to mile 6, then 10 and then the finish. With the help of my friend Cass over at asweatlife.com and bibrave.com pro, I knew the mile seven would not be too pleasant. 

It starts nice enough with a downhill where your legs keep moving even if they do not want to be moving. Then an ugly hill rears its head as soon as you hit the bottom of the hill. It really is a cruel place to have a hill.

 On a day like that, I would not be surprised if it ended a lot of racers races. I was determined not to walk it, so I powered through and made it to the top. It felt so good to reach the top of hill. Unfortunately, from mile 7.6 or so-to-10, the wind just kicked my butt. It felt like I was running in place for a long time. As I mentioned earlier, I break the race down in three parts and just told myself to get to mile 10.  

The rest was of the race was on pure grit. My body felt like moving, but my legs did not. Despite feeling like that, I kept an even pace and felt really proud of myself for continuing to keep moving. At one point, another runner and I had a conversation about the wind finally being behind us. He sped by me and I wanted to go with him, but I am not sure it would've been a smart move for me. Seeing the finish line of this race made me so happy. I wanted to be done and put some layers on! 

                  The medal is huge

After getting stretched out and grabbing some hot chocolate, I checked my results and was really happy with my time. Of course I saw it and went, "well, if I did this, I might have broken 1:30." I stopped myself and just enjoyed a tough race I ran. Below is the elevation map according to my garmin. 

I would probably run this race again. It is a really nice challenging course. Next time, I will also have to be a little more prepared with logistics. It was a little hard getting out there on my own. 

Ravenswood 5K timeline

I thought it would be fun to provide a timeline of how I got ready for this past Sunday's, Ravenswood 5K. These are not tips or guidelines, but just a little insight. I do not feel like I prepare for races in a way most runners do. My timeline will start with my Saturday night run. I lounged around for a large portion of the day on Saturday before I decided to actually run. 

Saturday 

6 p.m.-When I should have gone running/gotten a haircut. 

6:40-The time I actually leave my house to get a haircut/run in. I do not always get haircuts the day before races, but it needed to be done.

7:22-I finally started my run after getting my haircut and watching the end of the Bulls game.

Sometime after 8-My 6-mile run went great. I ran to a bar to watch the Hawks hopefully win in regulation. I had a beer and thankfully the Hawks won in regulation.

11:30ish- I head home to get ready for the race. 

Sunday

Midnight-I eat something because I am starving and do not like going to bed on empty stomach. Once I got one eating, I stretched and rolled out. It is not uncommon for me to stretch and roll out after coming home from a night out. 

12:45 a.m.-I figure I should find out what I am going to wear for this race. April weather in Chicago makes it really difficult to decide, so I picked out something, took a picture and got ready for bed.

Shirt-Nike Dri fit knit

Shorts-Saucony 

Shoes-new balance fresh foam Zante 

1 a.m.- Time to figure out where the race is. Once I got that figured out, I decided to run there(2.8 miles) as a warm-up. 

Sometime b/w 1 and 3 a.m.-I fall asleep. One of my bigger fears before a race is waking up too late and missing my race.

6 a.m.- I woke up and stayed in bed for quite some time. Setting the alarm at a time before I actually want to get up is a common practice for me. It gives me time to realize that I am up that early and eventually get out of bed to run.

6:20-Bathroom trip and then a shower. Showering before races is another thing that I do a lot. It wakes me up and gets me going a little. 

7:11-I finally leave the house and get going on my warm-up run. 

7:40-I find the Fleet Feet Racing team tent, realize I'm overdressed and change into a t-shirt and shorts. I get a briefly warm-up in and then head to the corrals.

8:01-Race time!

8:20ish- I get done with the race, say hello to a few people and go back to the tent. I wanted to use this race as a tempo run for my half-marathon training and felt good about my time. 

8:33-Start my cool down. After I finished that, I went to eat at a neighborhood place. 

I enjoyed writing this. I got the idea from Cass and Kristen over at aSweatLife.com. There are some good pieces on that site. (http://asweatlife.com) 

I hope you enjoyed reading this.