First race in the new place
Yesterday I ran my first race in Chicago, the Proud to Run 10K in Uptown. (That is the neighborhood name, I think?) This race was mostly a fun run (there was also a 5K and most of the participants did that) with a lot of costumes and big groups, along Lake Michigan up and down the shores on public trails. The trails were open to bikers and other runners (including a bunch of groups training for the Chicago Marathon just like in “Spirit of the Marathon”!) but there were a ton of volunteers out to direct traffic. After the 5K/10K split I was pretty much alone out there except for their enthusiasm. I pulled up to a water stop around Mile 4.25 and had no fewer than 10 volunteers helping me, including a boy of about 9 with a water cup who said “Free splash if you want it!” That kid is being raised right.
Before the race a group led an aerobic warmup to the unironic strains of Demi Lovato’s “Heart Attack.” Does anyone out there warm up with jumping jacks, toe touches and so on before running? I’m asking because this happened at the Nike Women’s Half too, and I similarly abstained because I didn’t want to yank something before the race even started.
I didn’t know when I registered, but it turned out to be a good week to be celebrating pride!
As for the actual running, it went okay but should have gone better, mostly due to user error. I got a crummy night’s sleep and I really didn’t eat enough beforehand (and didn’t think to bring a Gu); I know better. The course was much flatter than the Mini 10K but I ran that about a minute and a half faster.
NYC Marathon training starts tomorrow. I will be on vacation at altitude, so it’s going to be a slow, huffy week. But a lot of Olympics train at altitude, so as long as I stick to my plan I’ll be Shalane Flanagan by the time I get back, right? I have missed training with a purpose, and I have missed writing substantive updates in this blog. I actually opened up MS Word to write this so I wouldn’t get halfway through, say “Who cares?” and delete it. Because you don’t have to ask “Who cares?” all the time.
P.S. Veggielife: the white stuff in the fruit sushi (or frushi, thanks shortmom) is coconut sticky rice (the orange stuff on the other pieces is passionfruit rice). I would have liked more fruit and less rice, because sticky rice goes a long way for me, but the "frushi" gimmick requires some. P.P.S. I just googled "[Vacation town] running" and the first route that popped up was for 42.6 miles. Totally normal, ordinary workout -- maybe if you're runwithrach!
