Right from the start
This morning I ran the CARA Wintrust Lakefront 5K. This is my first 5K of the year and my goal was to run hard, kick at the end and set a baseline for this year’s running. In this I was successful.
It was a blustery day and we alternated between having a headwind and a tailwind. My inability to parse the course map correctly led to a nasty surprise at mile 2.7 or so, when marshals pointed us straight up one of only a few hills here in Chicago. All I can say is, race organizers, why do you hate yourselves? You’re better than this! And the 10-milers had to do it twice. That was crazy. But my splits were fully appropriate at 10:34, 10:24 and 10:04 with a kick at the end.
I was still a little disappointed in my time because I sometimes magically think I will just show up and run really fast without doing any speedwork or, honestly, running that much. But I feel that great things are ahead.
This was a very well-organized race and I would absolutely do it again. Loved the half-zip long-sleeve shirt that we got, the later start time (9am is early enough this time of year) and the free popcorn at the end. I met up with a bunch of members of my running team, the Volée, beforehand (most of them were doing the related 10-miler) and then we did brunch in the neighborhood afterward, which was so fun.
