How to make the most of a race where you in no way shape or form came near your goal…and really struggled for the final miles?? Celebrate the little things right? You make no excuses and CELEBRATE THE HELL OUT OF A 1 SECOND PR!!! (yes I totally went back to the old race site to verify my previous time.) Please try not to be jealous of how much ass I kicked.
“The journey is the reward.” ~Chinese Proverb
SHORT STORY
Unfortunately I was nauseous all day Friday, but I tried to drink plenty of fluids. Saturday morning I did enjoy my standard bread with nut butter…but my stomach just twisted from the start and I couldn’t get down any fluids or gels. Each time I tried I literally thought I might need to stop and hurl…so I just didn’t worry too much about it until mile 9 where I stopped sweating…huh yup things were getting harder. In fact as I’m writing this it is 6 hours post race…I haven’t gone pee yet. GAH.
Mile 1: 8:18
Mile 2: 8:01
Mile 3: 8:00
Mile 4: 8:03
Mile 5: 8:09
Mile 6: 8:13
Mile 7: 8:24
Mile 8: 8:15
Mile 9: 8:31
Mile 10: 8:34
Mile 11: 8:53
Mile 12: 9:11
Mile 13: 8:48
.1: 1:10
Finish time: 1:50:29
15th in my Division of Females 30-35
COURSE
This was a gorgeous course! I loved that the majority of this course ran along the Chicago waterline and approximately 40% was shaded.
Photos from the day thanks to my personal photog Jessica. I was of course right up with these guys, ya know until…ok never.
They handed out plenty of water, had wet towels and misting stations! Everyone here was very concerned about the heat, though for me that really wasn’t as big of a factor based on my training. Seriously, I give major props to them for all the emails they sent out ahead of time and the preparation they had along the course…there were a lot of people going down in the heat and they were on top of it all.
See no excuses.
Fully geared up in pink to make sure I was easy to spot!
EXCUSES
I’d like to blame my itty bitty ovaries issue, but I won’t.
I’d like to blame the weather, but I can’t.
I’d like to blame the guy who kept cutting me off, but I won’t.
I’d like to blame my lack of water, but I won’t.
I’d like to blame really anyone…but I just didn’t have what it took.
Thanks everyone for your awesome support! I knew that 5 weeks was a VERY short timeframe to aim for an aggressive PR, but sometimes you have to challenge yourself. It’s frustrating when shooting for the moon doesn’t at least get you a star, so I’ll have to take a little time to ruminate on how I want to change my training for another attempt…probably post summer. It was not an easy day, but I really would recommend this course to anyone looking for a Chicago race.
Don’t forget to sign up for the $500 Under Armour Giveaway if you haven’t yet! I want an RTTF reader to win!!
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Gratitude Journal
June 9
I am grateful for amazing friends that get up at the crack of dawn to hang out for hours to cheer for just a few seconds.
30 Day Yoga Challenge