Hey everyone! By the time you all read this I am probably running my 10 mile race, or done with it! Yay! The race starts at 8am central time and I hope to be done in under an hour and a half! The race I’m running today is the First Merit Bank Lakefront 10 Miler, put on by CARA, which is the Chicago Area Runners Association.
The course is on the lakefront, where I generally do my long runs, however the race course is a little odd… Haha I get that they are trying not to go too far south so they don’t have to block off many roads, but it looks hilarious, check out the map. Yes, it took up 3 pages.
The best part? On that first page there is a hill in the middle of the field. Personally, I think it was once a dump because it is really random. Either way, they have us running up and over it and are calling this the “hilliest course in Chicago.” They are pretty right about that one. Good thing I’ll be able to use my acceleration skills, Janae!
As I mentioned before, I’m not intending to PR this race. I really haven’t been training for it, I’ve just been making sure to get in some long runs on the weekend so the distance isn’t shocking. My 10 mile PR is from my one and only 10 mile race last November, and I trained my booty off for that one! My time was 1:26:31, with an average pace of 8:40 min/mile. My hope is just to finish in under an hour and half this time!
I’m also pretty sure the weather tomorrow will be about the same as that November race… plus rain and wind. Yaaayyyyy.
Pray for me. And that the rain and wind hold off until AFTER 9:30.
I actually didn’t do too awesome with the carbo loading… I started things off well with this delicious apple cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast:
But then for lunch I got a Greek Salad with chicken (haha and no, I didn’t manage to finish it off…):
And for dinner I made a zucchini pizza… along with some carrot fries.
So there were carbs involved! Haha just not TONS. I also had plenty of greek yougurt, fruit and PB for snacks. But I decided to just eat what I normally eat and not throw off my digestive system.
Also, I had a question for you all. I accidentally bought whole bean coffee, rather than grounded, at Trader Joe’s this week. Not a problem since my amazing magic bullet ground them up in about 10 seconds flat. I was amazed. However, I didn’t grind them all at once, and I’ve taken to eating the coffee beans plain… Not like a ton, just a few every once and a while. I like the taste and the crunch. Is this super weird!?!?
Feel free to tell me I’m weird.
Anyway, I’ve gotten all my gear ready for tomorrow morning. Clothes, shoes, bib number already pinned to my outer layer, armband and headphones, gloves, ear warmer, GU gel, prayers….
My biggest concern is the rain. I have a water-resistant jacket to wear, but I know I’ll end up wanting to take it off, and I can’t pin my bib to it since it zips in the front. I really don’t care if I get wet while I’m running, but it’s waiting for the race to start that I’m more concerned about… I’m considering the trash-bag route… but I only have kitchen trashbags, which aren’t too big.
Why is this so complicated!?!?
Ahhh I’m just going to pray that it’s not raining or at least it’s only sprinkling when I head out. Unfortunately to get to the race I have to take the bus about 15 minutes north and then walk a mile from the bus stop to the start line. Please, please, please oh weather gods, do not let it be raining. AHHHHH. But at least I have sushi and a movie to look forward to with Chelsey! Okay, well, I’m off to bed! I’ll be sure to let everyone know how it went on twitter, and then a re-cap either Sunday or Monday!
For future reference, any rain-gear suggestions for 40 degree races?
What are YOU doing today?!