2014 Soldier Field 10 Mile Recap

Yesterday was my second time running the Soldier Field 10 Mile.  When I ran it last year, it fit into my training plans perfectly, being just a month out from the Women's Half.  It was the first time that I had ever run 10 miles, which seemed like a pretty long ways to run.  This year, however, 10 miles seemed like it would be a piece of cake just 3 weeks after running a half marathon.  At least, that's what I thought when I signed up for the race back in April.  I had just run my 10 mile training run for Wisconsin about 8 minutes faster than the 2013 SF10, so I was looking to get a pretty big PR.  I had envisioned that I'd do a couple 7 or 8 mile long runs in between Wisconsin and Soldier Field just to keep my endurance up.  Yeah, that didn't happen.  In fact, between my calf acting up and me just wanting a little break, I only logged about 20 miles in between the two races. My longest run was a 5 mile slog on some metropark trails in Ohio last weekend. Oops.

So, clearly, I wasn't really trained very well going into this.  On top of that, it seemed like runners were dropping out of this race like flies.  So many people seem to be nursing an injury right now.  I still had a few friends doing the race, but I wondered if I'd even be able to find anyone I knew at this race with 10,000+ participants.  Bob had (very responsibly, of course) decided to sit this one out after Wisconsin pretty much broke him.  It was the right choice since he just started running again this week, building up to 2 miles at around 1-1:30 slower than usual.  Still - and this is going to sound kind of lame - I was bummed that Bob wouldn't be there, since he and I usually do the same races.  I wouldn't be able to find him on the out & back, and he couldn't come back and find me after he finished, like he always does.

If this wasn't all enough bad vibes, my back had been bugging me all week after I did who knows what to it in bootcamp.  And last but not least, my stomach was a little angry with me all day on Friday (blame it on my lunch of chips & spicy guac perhaps, who knows), so I just wasn't feeling it.  Like, I kind of hoped the alarm wouldn't go off and I'd just sleep through the race.  But Bob always sets several alarms, so that was unlikely.  And our loudest alarm, Jude, set himself to go off (read: sit by the back door whining to go out) at 4:45, 15 minutes before my 5:00 wake-up call. To my surprise, my back and stomach both felt totally fine when I woke up, so that was a good sign.  This race was happening.

Good morning, Soldier Field

Not wanting to spend an hour+ taking the CTA when it's only a 20 minute drive, and taking advantage of free race parking at Soldier Field, I hopped in the car and headed south on Lakeshore just after 6. Just like last year there was a minor back-up right before the 18th street exit, but I still made it to the race site by 6:30.  The race has tons of people directing traffic and getting cars parked, so it's a pretty smooth process.  I took off my jacket (brrrr, it was only 50 at the time!), covered myself with sunscreen and made my way toward the stadium.

One of these things is not like the other

So remember how I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find anyone I knew at this huge race?  Yeah, just as I was walking up the steps to the stadium I heard someone yell my name.  Of course, right there was Kim, Bobbi and the rest of their crew.  Note that I randomly bumped into Kim and Bobbi right before the Wisconsin half too.  Apparently it's hard to avoid them at races. :)  We all chatted for a few minutes, then I tagged along with Bobbi and Chris to go use the stadium bathrooms (real bathrooms at a race! Like, with flushable toilets and soap & water!).  I came out to find Bobbi and Chris chatting with Emily and Marcia, proving that this giant race is actually small, or that bloggers naturally gravitate to each other, or something like that.  I guess once you know enough runners, you're never alone at a race.

We snapped a quick picture and headed out to the start area.  Being in the green corrals meant that my corral didn't close until 7:30, and it was only about 7:00 at this point.  So I walked around a little more to make sure my legs were nice and warm and made my way to my corral at about 7:15.  I was supposed to start in 16, but bumped myself back to 17 so that I could start with the 2:05 pace team.  I tend to start every race way too fast, but figured that would be a terrible strategy at a long distance I wasn't quite trained for, so I was hoping the pace team would help me keep myself in check.  Being under-trained and concerned that my calf would flare up again, I adjusted my goal from getting a really big PR to just finishing the race in one piece and with a smile on my face.

We finally started moving toward the start line at around 7:45.  They announced that the leader was just finishing the race (this happened last year too), and just a few seconds later we were off.  I hung with the pace team for the first quarter mile until they took their first walk break.  I had planned to take walk breaks at all of the aid stations, so not being ready to walk just yet, I kept going, knowing they'd catch back up with me.  They did, and when I walked through the aid stations I was able to catch back up with them too. I kept going back and forth with the pace team like this for the first half of the race, which was super helpful just to make sure I was staying on track.

Who's got two thumbs and a sweet dirndl?

Maybe about 2 miles in ( I don't remember, and it all kind of looks the same after a while), I spotted Xaarlin, who was biking around the race, spectating.  Seeing her was such an awesome boost!  I knew she'd be out, but having spectated big races before, I know it's sometimes hard to find everyone, so I was super happy that she was able to find me.

I kept going pretty steady, thinking that this really wasn't so bad, and that the miles were flying by pretty quickly.  Not long after reaching the 4 mile marker the sun really started getting to me.  There weren't really any clouds (which you can see in the picture above), and I could taste the salt that I was losing (eiww, I know).  If it was already getting this bad, how would I make it another 6 miles?  Would this be a repeat of Wisconsin, or worse, the Women's Half?  I figured out the main reason that I bonked at Wisconsin is because I didn't stick to my fueling plan.  Running in similar conditions again yesterday, I knew that I'd do better if I ate at the mile 5.2, 7 and 8.7 aid stations, even if I didn't exactly feel like eating.

This view....

Thankfully once the course turned around, just before the 5 mile mark (as the pace team was singing "Living on a Prayer," you know, because we were halfway there), there was a nice cool breeze coming in from the lake.  Ahhhh, finally, weather conditions I can run in!  I stopped to walk and eat some of my Clif bar just before the mile 5.2 aid station, walked while I drank my water, stopped to snap a selfie of this gorgeous view and subsequently lost the pace team.  I had them in my sights for another mile or so, but there were a couple light hills which I decided to walk (for my calf, swear), so I could never quite catch them.  This was okay though, since my main reason for running with them was to keep myself from starting out too fast.  And that's exactly what they helped me do.

This may be the first time I've ever been oblivious to a race photographer

My splits definitely slowed down in the second half - I was on pace for a 2:05 finish through mile 6 or so, but I just slowed down.  Probably for no real reason other than my not having run this far in a few weeks.  My plan at this point was to take it easy until the aid station at mile 8.7, walk until the 9 mile marker and then take off.  And for the most part, that's what I did.  My stomach felt a little off for a minute as I was getting close to Soldier Field, but it calmed down and I kept moving.  In fact, I ran the last mile 2 minutes faster than I had run the previous few miles!  A lot of people were walking at this point, so I felt like I was flying by them, which was pretty cool.  I forgot what an eternity the chute leading up to the entrance to the stadium feels like, but thankfully it was lined with spectators and people who had already finished the race, so I had a lot of fans.  I kept going as fast as I could once inside the stadium, knowing how close the finish was.  In the end, I crossed the finish line in 2:10:28, so 1 minute and 20 seconds faster than last year's time.

After I finished I grabbed my goody bag and headed over to the post-race party for my free beer.  I mean, it'd be rude to not enjoy a 312, right?

All in all, this was a pretty great race.  Sure, I probably could have finished a little faster if I had tried, but a PR is still a PR, and all things considered, I'm more than happy with it.  There was a time where I couldn't just run 10 miles without really training, so being able to do that feels like definite progress.  And the thing is, despite running a little more slowly toward the end, I felt pretty great for the entire race.  My calf held up, I smiled, I high-fived tons of kids and volunteers, chatted with people who commented on my dirndl or asked about the Wurst Running Club Ever, admired the view of the skyline and had a great time.  A bigger PR would have been pretty sweet, but saying that I enjoyed just about every second of a race, much less a longer distance one, isn't often something I say, so I'll take that.