1999 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon

LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon
Chicago, IL
October 24, 1999

I ran the Chicago Marathon yesterday and enjoyed every single minute of it. And even though I knew I wasn't going to PR this year, I wanted to run a smart race and have fun along the way. My goal was to finish "around" 5 hours; it didn't even have to be under, just in the vicinity of that time. Based on my really lazy training for this race, I wanted to be realistic. I think I had maybe 3 LSD's that were 15 miles or longer. Yuck.

Anyway, after hanging out with ChiADeads at the "hospitality suite" (thanks, Chris and Kim), I headed over to the team challenge tent to locate my fellow marathon team members. I found only one of them, and hung out with her until close to the start. She was supposed to meet her training partner for the race (her first marathon), and didn't find her. :-( I ran over to the start, around the 5:00 pace people, and the horn sounded shortly after.

The start was slow, but once I passed the start line mat, I was able to run freely. It only took me 13:05 to get to the start line. 8-0 This was the only indicator of the major increase in participants this year. Otherwise, the course was crowded but not packed, so I was able to keep the pace I wanted to throughout.

I started out slow, in fact, the first three miles were my slowest string of miles, and sped up a little bit from there. My splits are kind of all over the place from about 10:51mpm to 11:39mpm, but I attribute that to water stations, where I took a short walking break to drink the water and/or suck down GU. Those, luckily, were the only walking breaks I took. :-)

I won't go into too much detail about the course, only that the course support and aid station volunteers were great. Some highlights were the Frontrunners', the gay and lesbian running club, aid station with the beautiful shimmering mini-skirted male cheerleaders and a pair of life-sized purple Tinky-Winky Teletubbies :-), Elvis, the balloon arch at the halfway point, the Penguin aid station (thanks for the hug, Tom!), the many bands along the entire course, the smell of tortillas in Pilsen (yum), the Chinese dragon in Chinatown, the REALLY LOUD EAR PIERCING band at Comiskey Park, the DRS/ChiADead sign at mile 24 (but no Penny :-( ), the infamous McCormick Place tunnel, the big, blue inflated gorilla just before the "mile to go" sign, the skyline at multiple points of the course, and the hike up the "hill" before the last .2, and of course, the finish was just AWESOME. The race, with all of this stuff, went by so fast.

My finishing time was 4:54:13 chip time and 5:07:19 clock time. Better than expected. Also, my second half was 1:14 faster than the first--a negative split race--yay! So, although this was about 16 minutes slower than last year, it was a real success for me, considering my training. I won all mental battles, only walked to take in water, and was in a great mood the entire way. I already can't wait until next year. :-)

BTW, congratulations to ChiADeads Dave, Chris, Melita on your first marathon, and Prescott (and Melita) for the Boston qualifiers, Karl for the awesome PR, and all of you others who ran great races. You all ROCK!

1999 Park Forest Scenic 10

Park Forest Scenic 10
Park Forest, IL
September 6, 1999

Here is another brief report of the Park Forest Scenic 10 (sorry it's really late!):

Well, this is probably my favorite race aside from the Chicago Marathon, and not on was the community out cheering the runners on again, but I also had the pleasure of meeting up with fellow ChiADeads and Penguins at this race. And the weather was great, too.

I didn't have any expectations speedwise at this race, I just wanted to have fun. I figured an easy 11:00mpm pace would be good to start with, and then see what happens. Before the race I was able to chat with several ChiADeads and the Head Penguin and family. I started out running with Dead Chrys and she went on ahead after a couple of miles. I still wanted to hold back a little bit until I knew that I wasn't going to bomb later on.

As others have said, the support and entertainment is great at this race. If you want to come to Chicago for a race, this is definitely one to shoot for!

After about 5 miles, I started to speed up, and felt great for the rest of the race. I finished in 1:43:54 watch time (1:44:58 clock time), a bit faster than my goal, which made me happy. Also, my second half was about 3 minutes faster than my first. I felt great, legs fresh, smile on my face (as indicated by my almost embarassingly smiley face in the picture that Chris Huffman took!) This race went by so fast for me, it was such a blast.

Afterwards I was able to meet up with ChiADeads and Penguins for a while to watch the awards and eat my very fattening Fannie May ice cream bar (yum). Overall, I had quite a good day!

Now, on to this weekend, where I get to meet up with ChiADeads again and run the Chicago Half Marathon. I'm looking forward to it!

Kelly

1999 Cornfest 10k

Cornfext 10k
DeKalb, IL
August 28, 1999

Last Saturday I ran the Cornfest 10k in DeKalb, IL. I had two plans for this race. If, after about 2-3 miles I felt good, I would make a strong effort and try to PR; if I felt that it wasn't going well, I would slow down and take it easy. The next day I would be running an 18 mile LSD, so if the race wasn't going well, I would then not trash myself for the LSD. My goal was sub-59:48, which is my current PR.

On Saturday morning I made the 45 mile trek to DeKalb-a pretty boring drive on country roads through corn fields. I made it to Christie's apartment by 7:20am, and we left for the race shortly after that. The weather was probably in the mid-70's with high humidity. Not good race conditions. Christie and I ran about a ½ mile for a warmup and the 8:30am starting time came fast and we were off. Christie went ahead (we ran together last year, but she's gotten a bit faster and I've gotten a little slower), and I stayed behind, trying to aim for a 9:45-9:50 mpm for the first few miles.

Well, by the third mile, which was 10:08 and actually felt like a 9:45 mile, I decided to take it easy the rest of the race to conserve my legs for the LSD. It was just too dang hot. I swear it felt like the temp was near 80 degrees or more, but I could have been imagining it because of the high humidity and the blazing sun. Lots of people were walking, which is always infectious when conditions are not good. Though, I really like this race for its community support which was evident during the race this year-I think I saw at least 10 sprinklers set up along the way so we runners could cool down, and some residents were out cheering. During the last mile I was blessed with the presence of local speedster Penguin/Dead Tom Soliday, who ran with me for a few minutes-thanks, Tom! Also, I know I saw ChiADead Chrys Knight during the race-we were close to each other throughout the entire race, but I didn't want to bother her because she was wearing headphones and looked like she was "in the zone," as we all were, just trying to survive!

When I saw the high school, near the finish, I sped up a little, leaving some space between myself and the person in front of me so that ChiADead Ken Wilson (who was working the finish line) could spot me ;-), and finished in 1:44:44 (1:44:49 clock), which is a few seconds faster than my PW. As I was finishing, Ken announced "And there's #52, Chicago Area Dead Kelly Roe, who ran the Bird Attack 10k two weeks ago!" Cool! Thanks, Ken!

I found Christie after the race-she also was about 3-4 minutes off her goal time-and we chowed on the post-race goomies. I also saw Tom Soliday again and we chatted for a little bit, and went over to the finish line again to chat with Ken. All in all, despite the really poor performance, I had fun.

After the race, Christie and I spruced up and then headed over to the Cornfest, and ate some free corn and walked around. It was definitely not a good day for racing-even while we were standing around I was sweating like crazy. I spent a little over an hour there and then headed home. Yep, the race was a bomb, but I had fun anyway. :-)

1999 ChiADead Bird Attack 10k

Bird Attack 10k
Evanston, IL
August 15, 1999

Yep, this is late, but I wanted to report on the great 1st Annual Bird Attack 10k/ChiADead Very Local Conference I that I participated in last Sunday with the ChiADeads. First of all, I want to say THANKS! to Prescott and his family for putting on such a great event. The course and post-race swim, food, and fun was great!

I had no real goals for this race except to have fun and finish standing, since I was running an LSD the day before. I did run 15.6 miles on Saturday, and it went really well, considering the fact that I had not run long since the Distance Classic 20k (7/11!). I woke up on Sunday morning with no soreness, drove to Evanston and met up with the ChiADeads, finally was able to meet some I haven't met before.

The race started and most everyone else ran ahead, while Rebecca and I ran together for the first couple of k's (as others have mentioned, the course was marked in kilometers, not miles-something I wish more metric races would do) until Rebecca had to make a trip to the bathroom. I went on ahead, aiming for about a 6:00/k pace, so that I might be able to finish under an hour-I was actually thinking that anything under 65:00 would be fine with me because of the prior day's run, but for some strange reason my legs felt pretty good. I stayed pretty much on pace, even through the horrible swarm of gnats that were hard to get through without choking some down. Ugh! Other than that, the course was beautiful, right along Lake Michigan, with the other runners, walkers, and cyclists, it seemed like a much larger race than our 12 participants.

I saw the lead bicycle, Prescott's son PJ, the front runners, the RD Prescott himself, and Melita close behind, and then everyone else-all of us waving and shouting encouraging words. The turn-around point was on the street, and I made my way back, Bob and Rebecca close behind. The sun was starting to bug me a little, but I maintained a 5:50-5:55/k pace until the last k, where I actually did speed up but took a wrong turn, backtracked, and aimed for the finish with a 6:24 last k (ugh!), and an overall finish time of 1:00:05. I'm pretty darned satisfied with that, since my PR is actually 59:48, and, if I had not made the wrong turn, I would have certainly PR'ed at this race, the day after a long run! 8-)

Well, after everyone finished, a few of us went swimming in the lake-actually I waded in the cool water up to my thighs-boy, was that refreshing! And then we all met up again at Prescott's house (thanks showing me the way, Ian! Rebecca and I were in the strange red car following you. ;-) ) The food, already mentioned, was FABULOUS, and I really love the race T-shirt, too. Thanks, again, Prescott and Tina for being such great hosts!

I've got another 10k on August 28, (Cornfest 10k in DeKalb, IL), and I'll just have to see if I can PR, since I won't be running an LSD the day before, it's a pretty good possibility!

Happy running,

Kelly

1999 Chase Corporate Challenge

Chase Corporate Challenge 3.5mi
Chicago, IL
August 5, 1999

I ran the Chase Corporate Challenge 3.5mi last Thursday. I had set a modest goal of sub-35:00, thinking that, with the weather nice and "cool" by this summer's standards, I would have no problem with that. I had not run for more than a mile or two in the 1 ½ weeks prior to the race, so I also assumed that my legs would be sluggish. Unfortunately, I had also come to this race with negativity-partly due to how my running has been going, and a lot because this race is critically disorganized, mainly because of the vast amount of inexperienced participants.

Luckily I was able to spot ChiADead Rebecca before the race looming near where I was meeting my coworkers. We chatted for a while and she took a picture of my corporate team (thanks, Rebecca!), then left to go back to her team meeting place. At 6:45 the first wave of runners started, and the walkers in my team decided to jump in to the race after all of first start people had passed, so they would be able to finish at a reasonable time. I lined up for the 7:10 start with two of my team members and chatted with them until the race started.

The start horn went off, and it took me about 21 seconds to get to the start line, which wasn't too bad. But, because there were many walkers who had lined up before me, I was dodging and weaving, getting pissed off that most of these people were walking four and five abreast and it was difficult to find a gap to run through. After the first mile, which was a labored 10:11, it got a little bit better. I swear I must have added .1 mile to the first mile just weaving. 8-0 After the aggravation of having to maneuver subsided, I felt that I was doing pretty well considering the circumstances under which I had put myself; my legs did not feel dead.

The second mile passed in a disappointing 10:01. I thought I was going faster than that. Oh well, need to pick it up a little bit if I want to break 35:00. The third mile was not very fun, because for some reason I started to feel nauseous. I don't usually feel that way during a race, and I'm not quite sure what caused it. I try to ignore the feeling and try to maintain the pace. Mile 3 passes by in 9:48. At this point I am very glad that I only have .5mi to go.

Before the straightaway the course goes uphill, and it's not that long, but I really felt like walking the dang thing. I decided against that because I really wanted to salvage this race. Then, on to Columbus for the final stretch. I can't do what I'd like and go all out because I still felt the nausea, but I try to speed up as much as I can. I finished the last .5mi in 4:24, for a watch time of 34:24 (clock time 34:45). I had accomplished the goal I set for myself, but I was still disappointed. It wasn't a PW, it was just slower than last year by about 3 ½ minutes.

After the race I picked up my finisher's t-shirt and chatted with the few coworkers who had stuck around, looked at my watch and decided I needed to hurry to get back to my office to pick up my stuff and make the 8:30 train back home. I ended up running back to work, adding another 1+ mile to my log for the day, picked up my stuff and got to the train with over 5 minutes to spare. On the train, sweaty, red-faced (I think I would've won the red-face contest!), and freezing because the AC was cranked up, I wondered why I do this race. I don't think I'll ever come up with a good reason. Maybe because I like to torture myself every once in a while. 8-)

Happy running,

Kelly

1999 Chicago Distance Classic 20k

Chicago Distance Classic 20k
Chicago, IL
July 11, 1999

As some have already reported with the Chicago Distance Classic today, the weather was unseasonably pleasant for Chicago--mid-70s and low humidity. I've run this race the past couple years and it is notorious for a hot, humid, performance-wrecking race. Also, the course changed this year, with the start at University of Illinois at Chicago instead of Grant Park, and a nice stretch along the Chicago River and Lake Michigan on the path. I was a bit weary that it might get a bit crowded on the path, but it was very manageable (which might have something to do with the fact that I'm in the back where it gets sparse). My plan for this race, more of a training run for me, was to do a conservative first half, speed up a little bit in the second, and finish strong.

Before the race, just south of the Registration booth I found some ChiADeads--Chris and wife Kim, Melita (who I'm sure has a great story to tell...), Prescott, Theresa, and Penny, and sat for a while in the grass. In the meantime I also said hi to a few of the many Penguins there--nice to see all of those pink hats. :-) I headed for the start about 10-15min before the race, and was able to wish luck to some fellow Penguins. The race started and off we went, as I kept just below 11min/mi, I felt comfortable and happy to be there.

The race starts going west, and then after a short while we go north, then back east into the Loop, turning onto Wacker Dr. and down to middle and lower Wacker, and then along the Chicago River on a path, part of the new (and improved!) course. This was about mile 3, and I started to see the elites coming back. After the stretch along the river, we ran along the lakefront on the west path along Lake Shore Drive with a great view of the lakefront and the museum campus, and you could see the people on their way back on the path that's right next to the lakefront. We passed the Shedd Aquarium and ran towards McCormick place, and turn around to continue on the lower path. Now you were able to take a good look at Chicago's amazing skyline--this race was definitely more scenic than in past years!

I guess the only problem was that mile 7 was short and 8 was long, which I had heard after the race, confirmed by my mile 7 10:02 and mile 8 11:31! The last miles were very manageable; before the race I was worried that with the two "long" (8mi and 10mi) runs that I've done in the past 1.5 months, I would start to fade. Luckily that was not to be; my last 3 miles were 10:35, 10:35, and 10:34. I was pretty happy with that!

Then the final stretch, the last .4, I waited a little bit longer to start really speeding up, but when I saw the finish I was sprinting like a mad woman (who seemed to have too much energy at the end!), passing people, waved to the huge flock of penguins, who then recognized me and started cheering wildly, which gave me the final push to the end. Actually, I sprinted so hard that I wretched (just once, though :-)) after I got into the chute, but luckily got myself under control to prevent any highly unwanted tossing of cookies. :-) The last .4 took me 4:01, and I finished clock time 2:14:57, watch time 2:13:55. Right on target! Also, my second half was 1:29 faster (actually using the clock time I was 2:31 faster) than the first half. I had executed the race exactly how I had planned. I am pretty happy about that!

After getting out of the finish chute, I grabbed a couple cups of water, then a cup of gatorage, passed on the greenest (Irish, as Dave says) bananas I've ever seen. I took a bagel stick and a little bag of nibbler pretzels and went straight to where I met the ChiADeads before the race. After about a 1/2 hour, which I used well for stretching and winding down, I was spotted by Chris and Kim. They led me back to where they were sitting with Penny and Theresa. I also was able to have a small chat with fellow Dead-Penguin Jeff Johnson. Unfortunately we never did meet up with Dave (who we didn't see before the race either) or Melita after the race. Penny and Theresa had to head home, so just Chris, his wife Kim, and I went to a small Gyro restaurant in Greek Town where I had a pretty darned tasty turkey pita sandwich.

I drove home, feeling really satisfied about the race. This was just what I needed to get out the funk I've been in; I'm now looking forward to building up again for Chicagothon in October! Yay!

1999 Madison Marathon

Madison Marathon
Madison, WI
May 30, 1999

I completed my 3rd marathon yesterday. It certainly wasn't pretty, as others have noted, it was HOT! But, before I get to the race, I wanted to say a couple things about the pre-race activities:

At the last minute, plans changes and my sister and her two kids were coming with me instead of my boyfriend. Brandon, my 5yo nephew was so excited because he would be able to run a race, too--the kids run on Saturday. We left early enough on Saturday late morning to get to the host hotel before the kids' races. He did really well in the 1k race--he received his medal at the end and gave it to his 10 month old brother, Austin. How cute! Austin had a fun time slobbering on it. :-)

We went to check in our hotel, and then went back to the host hotel to meet Deads. We saw Debbie and Tom right away, and then came Alejandro, Pam, and Alejandro's friend Sergio. We waited for others, but by 5:15pm we left to go eat at Olive Garden, leaving a note to Theresa and Penny at the expo in case they went there (it turns out they did but didn't see the note). Dinner was fun, and afterwards we met at my hotel and were able to meet up with Theresa and Penny. I had a great time! You all are fun people to be with!

I got to bed at around 10:30-11:00pm and woke up surprisingly refreshed at 5:00am. Took a shower, got dressed, and went into the lobby to get a couple bagels to eat for breakfast. I was dropped off at the start by my sister at about 6:30 and sat around before the start. A little bit before 7:00 I spotted fellow Dead/Penguin Charles Cohn and talked with him up until the race started. Very nice man--sorry that he missed our pre-race festivities.

The race. Well, you've heard by now that it was HOT, even at the start I was starting the sweat a little bit. It was in the lower 70's at the start, and it got hotter and hotter, in the upper 80's maybe? The sun was blazing in the cloudless sky. Beautiful day, just not for running. My goal was to finish, preferably sub-5:15.

I'll repeat what the others said about the mile markers/aid stations. I was really glad that they had water stations every mile--I was able to fill my water bottle which was not only used to drink but to douse myself to reduce how hot I felt. I messed up my mile splits because it's hard to hit the button when you're trying to grab cups of water, too. The other times when I actually hit the button at the split, the markers were waaaay off. I had some really strange splits. I had absolutely no clue of my pace. All I know is that I passed the half way point at about 2:27 and change.

The preferable strategy of negative splits was unrealistic as I wanted, my goal was to ignore the heat and keep my legs moving. I took a lot more walking breaks after the half--unshaded breaks, where if there was no shade, I'd walk, and then when the course was shady I would run again. And the last hills, which weren't a big deal, I just wanted to give myself some more excuses to walk. ;-)

I saw my sister at around mile 8, and then when I was running in the arboretum. Also, I should mention that my yellow tank top, adorned with the words "Dead Runner" generated a lot of comments--mostly "You don't look dead!" type comments. I'm glad I did that!

I think I did pretty dealing with the heat even though it did slow me down a bit. I blame a little bit of my decreased performance from lack of LSD's over 15 miles--I only ran a 16 miler and an 18.6 miler--all the rest were half-marathon or shorter. I felt the fatigue in my quads and the soreness in my feet at about mile 14. I carried a water bottle with me which I filled at almost every water station. I took advantage of sprinklers and ice offered.

At about mile 24 I started feeling pretty good (I think the sun was hiding behind some clouds) because I knew I was pretty darned close. I ran from this point on. Before mile 25 I was blessed with the presence of Theresa and Penny, whom I was actually not expecting see, since I'd be coming in so much later than everyone else. They ran with me until mile 25, getting me water and encouragement and taking some pictures. You guys really got me psyched!

Shortly after that I hooked up with Tom Mish on his bike and talked with him for a while--thanks, Tom! I started running a bit faster and passed a few people. Then the home stretch--saw my sister and nephews, and Alejandro and Pam. Heard my name over the loud speaker and crossed the finish line in 5:20:1x. Not bad, considering the hot conditions and my slight lack of preparation.

I felt pretty good at the end. I knew that I had hydrated well. So, I'll call it a draw between me and the heat. I reunited with Alejandro and Pam, who were so helpful and congratulatory. My sister and nephews came along shortly after that. Pam got me more water and a sponge, Alejandro took pictures. I was so happy to be done! My sister and I parted with Alejandro and Pam because I needed to get back to the hotel and take a much needed shower--luckily the hotel allowed me a 2:00pm check out time so I could do this!

The heat and messed up mile markers/aid station configuration aside, I enjoyed this marathon. The course was really pretty. I'd consider doing it again--hopefully it won't be so hot next time.

My next plan is to recover, start some formal marathon speed training, and look towards having a good summer so that I can kick some butt on October 24th at Chicago. Last year's time was 4:38:48, I'd like to go sub-4:30 this time.

1999 Great Western 30k

Great Western 30k
St. Charles, IL
May 2, 1999

I ran the Great Western 30k in St. Charles, IL, last Sunday. My goal for this race was to enjoy it, start out conservatively, and not kill myself, as this is the longest distance I've run since October--I was treating it as training for the upcoming Madison Marathon on May 30.

The race started at 8:00am, with about 215 runners there. The weather was mild, sunny, and cloudless, but at least there was a nice breeze. The course is on the Great Western Trail, which is mostly made up of crushed limestone, with portions of the trail made up of asphalt, and is out and back (the GW trail actually lasts 17 miles going west to Sycamore from St. Charles). It is slightly hilly--the hills are actually the bridges that go over busy roads, but there enough of them to make your legs more tired and cranky. I started out slowly, slightly disappointed that the rest of the runners were pulling away, with me as the tail end. 8-( I was going at about an 11:15-25 pace, a nice comfortable training pace for me, and I was convinced that I'd be passing people during the second half.

Nonetheless, it sure is discouraging to know that the lag bike person is right behind you. 8-) I was good, though, and held back, and this technique would pay off. After the 4th mile, I passed one woman, who was actually running/walking--she would shuffle for about 30 seconds, then start walking, repeating as such probably for the duration of the race. The sun was hot, but it was at our backs for the first half, and I was worried that it would be bad on the way back. But I ran on, comfortably, noticing the beauty of this trail, which provides quite a bit of shade. The trail is sort of elevated, with sunken meadows/wooded areas on each side. It's neat that you get to see the trees at their prettiest perspective--looking at their spring foliage instead of their tree trunks. The trail also goes along the backyards (but still separated by trees) of a sprinkling of beautiful homes. There are also the horse trails that not only are along the side of the limestone/asphalt trail, but also through the meadows. I actually passed some horse riders on the way back.

I pass a couple more people before I get to the turnaround point, feeling great, having fun encouraging those who were already starting their journey to the finish, and having a good run in general. I get to the turnaround, and pass a couple more runners. Luckily, even though I'm facing the sun, there is a headwind--just breezy enough to be pleasant. The miles go by, I noticed that the mile 11 marker is way off--there was no way I ran a 14:42 mile! And of course, I ran the next mile in 7:29, which was obviously off. :-) I pass more people--some are walking now, probably affected by the warmth.

At about mile 14 is when my legs started to feel a little heavy--I knew my distance training hasn't been ideal--but I did not let myself waver. I knew that if I took a walking break, that it would've lasted longer than anticipated, and running again would be much more difficult. There were encouraging/funny signs in the last miles of the course: one said "Getting tired yet????", another one said "Almost there :-("--which probably should have read "Almost there :-) :-)"! I was determined to finish without fading. I passed more runners, suffered through the couple uphills (not really that bad, but after 18 miles...) and was able to see the finish line when I was about 20 seconds away from it. I sped up as much as I could and crossed the finish line amid the cheers of runners who had stayed around to see the back-of-the-packers. My time was 3:28:29, and my pace was actually faster at this race than last weekend's Lake County Half Marathon. Unfortunately I couldn't make it a "negative" experience, with my second half 1min40sec slower than the first half. Good enough, though. :-)

I received my medal, got my results card, and went over to get my finisher's shirt. The long-sleeved shirt is a dusty blue with Great Western 30k glitter-lettering on it with a fox below it (the fox is for the club that organizes the race, Fox River Trail Runners). Neat looking shirt!

I highly recommend this race, it's beautiful and well-organized (albeit the messed up mile markers). I'm sure I'll be doing this one again.

Happy running,

Kelly

1999 Lake County Half Marathon

Lake County Half Marathon
Lake County, IL
Sunday, April 25, 1999


Totally Negative.....


SPLITS, that is. ;-)

Well, I ran the Lake County Half yesterday as a training run. It was a PW by 7 minutes. Yikes! But it actually wasn't as bad as I just made it sound. The reason that I treated it as a training run was because I wasn't in shape anyway, so I didn't want to tear up my body. Besides, I have another race I'm running next week (Great Western 30k in St. Charles), so I wanted to make sure that I will feel okay for that race.

I woke up at 4:00am (ugh!) and left my apartment at 4:45 to get to Lake Bluff, the half marathon finish for this point-to-point race. A train takes you to the start of the race, in Zion. Parking was limited at Lake Bluff, so I wanted to make sure that I got there early enough to get a parking spot. The 42 miles took me about 45 minutes, so I was the first one in the middle school lot, about a 1/2 mile away from the train station. For some reason, all the train station lots that I saw were barricaded. So I sat in my car from 5:30am until about 6:30, when I decided to walk over to the train station where it would pick us runners up at 6:50am.

Got picked up by the train, then got to the start at about 7:20 or so, and waited inside until 7:50 to walk over to the start area. I didn't get to meet with any of the Deads who were there, but I had a hunch it would be kind of difficult due to the number of runners there. The race started at 8:15, and it took me about a minute to get to the start, but after that I was moving along comfortably.

The weather was much better this year--sunny, in the 50's, just an all-around beautiful day for running. I started out really easy, and then planned to speed up a little bit for the second half.

Usually I pretty much "zone out" during races, not remembering much of the scenery or what other runners are doing, But for some reason it was different at this race. I noticed that there are a lot of runners who were doing the walk-run method, because I would pass them at during their walking breaks, and they would catch up to me afterwards. I think I passed a lot of them in the second half of the race, though, when I started to increase my pace.

The miles flew by, all the way down Sheridan Road for miles and miles, and then the course goes through the Great Lakes Naval Base. We go down the big hill to run along the lakefront for a while. After mile 9 there were a couple of steep hills to run up, and I actually ran up those hills; last year I had to walk up them. I was feeling totally fresh and pumped up and the last miles were about 30 to 45 seconds faster than what I was running the first half of the race.

After the Naval Base tour, we ran the last 1.5 miles or so on a paved bike path. This is where I really faded last year, and a lot of other people fade, but I ran faster. I was passing people, and I felt really good to know that I ran smart and conservatively at the beginning so I could enjoy those last miles.

For the last .1 or so the halfers veered off into the parking lot of the train station (on gravel for a little bit, which wasn't that nice!) and I "sprinted" to the finish. Finish time? 2:27:14 my time, a minute slower clock time. Super slow (last year I ran 2:20!), but I had a really fun race. AND, my second half was a little over 3 MINUTES faster than the first. Pretty negative, huh?

Although this was a fun race for me, it has made me realize how much slower I have gotten. I ran the Chicago marathon last year at 30 seconds/mile faster pace than this 1/2 marathon. I have some work to do if I want to PR at Chicago this fall, lots of work.

Next week, I will be running the Great Western 30k, and am treating it as another training run in prep for the Madison Marathon on May 30. I'm looking forward to another negative experience... ;-)

Happy running, all!

Kelly

1999 LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle 8k

LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle 8k
Chicago, IL
March 28, 1999

This is a little delayed, I've been pretty busy these days. I ran the Shamrock Shuffle 8k in Chicago last Sunday. Others have reported on it--sorry I missed all of you! Well, my goal for this race was to have fun and take it easy. I felt a little guilty doing this run because I was scheduled to do a long run of about 15 miles--which I didn't make up--but oh well, hopefully I'll survive this Sunday's long run. 8-)

I drove downtown and after driving around for 5-10 min I found a (free) parking spot. I headed over to a meeting place that I established for my coworkers who were also participating (corporate team). At around 9:10 we took a group picture and a few minutes later headed over to the start. A few of my team members and I fit ourselves into the crowd a little bit behind the middle of the pack. I crossed the start line a minute after the gun went off and was on my way.

Of course, as others have noted, the start of the race is a bit slow, but I think I lined up at the right place as I had no problem with having to pass huge amount of people, and not too many people passed me. I planned to run the first 3 miles very easy, and then try to speed up a little for the last ~2. As we ran towards and among the buildings in the Loop, everyone howled and the sounds reverberated, which is a pretty neat highlight of this race--it happens every year, like a ritual.

The first three miles flew by (not that I was going fast ;-)) - 11:14, 10:41, 10:48. After the mile three marker I decided to pick up speed a little bit, saving the last mile for the harder effort. Straight down Jackson, listening to what I thought was a military squad of some sort because they were doing military chants, which was fun to hear. Mile 4 was 10:23, still slow, but faster.

The last mile is where I started to speed up and sprinted to the finish line with a final ~mile in 9:57, actually a few seconds faster since I forgot to hit the stop button on my watch. My watch time read 53:03 and an official time of 54:14. Not fast at all for me, but I wasn't trying anyway. It's ironic (or pitiful!) that I ran Chicago 'thon 98 at a faster pace. :-) Maybe next year I'll actually make an effort to train for this one, since lately I've been doing too few tempo runs and my short and long run paces are almost the same.

Congrats to all other Shammy Shuffle runners!

Happy running,

Kelly

1999 March Madness Half Marathon

March Madness Half Marathon
Cary, IL
March 7, 1999

I ran the March Madness 1/2 Marathon in Cary, IL today. I found that I know why it is called what it is called. Infamous for usually having bad weather during the race, I was blessed this year (being a rookie with this race, I had to have the least handicap as possible!) with the temp right around freezing, lots of sun, and only a light breeze. My primary goal was to survive, as this is dubbed the most challenging course in the CARA (Chicago Area Runners Assn) Circuit--hills throughout. It would make me happy just to finish in under 2:30, which is a bit slower than my pace during Chicago *Marathon* last year, but I've been stricken with indolence this past winter, so I had to be realistic.

Anyway, I watched the 10k'ers start (15 min before us), and started to look around for any Dead who were planning on being there. I was unsuccessful in my search, so I lined up, towards the back, waiting for the gun to go off for the start. Bang! The gun sounded at 9:50am and we were off. About a 1/4 mile into the race I noticed the bulk of the runners pull away from me, and, trying not to be discouraged that I might be either last or close, I made sure my pace was modest, because I still had 13 miles to go.

The miles went by, hilly (by midwestern standards), but surprisingly doable. I ended up running most of the race near this man who was wearing a Joe Camel windbreaker--kind of made me laugh that he was wearing something like that. I would pass him on the uphills, and he would take advantage of the downhills and pass me, and sometimes I just wish that he would pull away or fall back because I just wanted to focus on myself, but that didn't happen until much later.

Lots of country--woods and prairie conservations--were nice to look at during the race, with the trees wearing snow that had fallen yesterday and the day before--really pretty. We also ran through pleasant subdivisions containing nice, big houses (not mansions), but that was fun. The miles, though I was running them slowly, went by fast, and I was still doing well with the hills until about mile 10.

Mile 10 was the point where I really started to hate the hills, because they kept on coming! I resorted to walking the uphills, and then try to take as much advantage with the downhills (who care about my quads?). By then, I had finally been able to pull away from Joe Camel guy; I guess he started having problems with the hills as I was.

I passed Mile 12, and trying the ignore how stiff and sluggish my quads felt, kept up the pace, this time running the uphills, making sure that I used what little was left I had saved for this time of the race. I turned onto the final road, the home stretch, hit mile 13, and hammered it in to the finish chute, happy that I had made both goals--surviving and getting in before 2:30. My final time, on my watch, was 2:25:51, and official clock time is probably 30-40 seconds more.

I went to get my food and some warmth in the gym (it was held at a local high school), where I picked up my banana and pretzel. I walked out of the gym and into right outside the cafeteria, and stood there for a little bit when I saw Dead Penny McCreight. I went up to her and introduced myself, referring to when I met her at a race last Labor Day, and she didn't recognize me at first. After a few minutes, though, it clicked and Penny burst, "Oh, Kelly! Nice to see you!" Penny, Tom Semesky who also was there, camera around his neck, and I chatted a little bit, and we tried to find Dead Dan Brown, as Penny had been able to meet him. We walked into the cafeteria and as Dan walked past, Penny flagged him down so that we could meet. Nice to have met you, Dan!

After that I headed back to my car, parked about 1/2 mile away. I was starting to really freeze so I ended up running there. I changed my shirt and turned up the heat to "melt mode" and headed on my way home.

This was a good race, next year I'll try not to be so lazy in my winter training and conquer all of the hills that will still be there next year.

Well, I probably should stop now, as this post has already gone too long, and I've got a Chemistry paper to write, and a final exam to study for! Eek!

Happy running,

Kelly