(normally this stuff goes into the training log…continue only if you’re actually interested in dorky running stuff)

woke up to 3″ of new-fallen slush outside my window. it took me a good 20 minutes to decide i was really going to get up and run, but somehow i made it, on the basis that it would 1) be an adventure, and 2) i was relieved of the pressure to run a competitive time given the unfavorable conditions. have i mentioned how sick i am of running races in unfavorable conditions? the last three races have been: half marathon in the POURING rain, marathon in the (second) freakish october heat wave (in two years), and now this 8k in the snow.

some thoughts:

1) i can’t believe race officials didn’t plow the streets just before the race! we were running in ankle-deep slush the whole way, grey puddles that filled in and disguised potholes and made the bridges treacherously slippery.

2) for all the unpleasantness of the wet, it wasn’t too terribly cold – right around 32, with no wind, so temp-wise it wasn’t that bad. i discovered that i do, in fact, know how to dress to run in 30 degree weather.

3) post-race dry socks mean nothing if there are not also post-race dry shoes.

4) being in start corral B was AWESOME. i wasn’t packed into the corral shoulder-to-shoulder like in the open corrals. there wasn’t enough room to jog, which would have been helpful since they kept us penned in there for 15 minutes prior to the start of the race, but at least there was room to wiggle, jump up and down, and stretch, which i did to try and loosen my muscles up at least a little. then, when the race started, i realized that everyone around me was running the same pace as me! which means i wasn’t wasting energy on weaving around those groups of people who, bless their hearts, have decided to participate in a “fun run” by linking arms with their 5 best girlfriends and then WALKING (i swear i’m not being a snob here – more power to you, running is an all-inclusive field…just for the love of god DON’T START IN FRONT OF ME IF YOU ARE GOING TO WALK!). so, two thumbs up for the start corral system.

5) i didn’t get enough warm up time. i ran into my friend Kevin at gear check, and we jogged together over from the Congress Hotel to our start corrals, but that was *maybe* 1/4 mile. after that, standing still for 25 minutes before hitting that first mile at an 8′ pace was hard on the legs. i need to figure out how to really get a full mile warm up before races, especially fast/short ones.

6) especially when i first started running i was lonely going to races by myself when i saw other people with their friends and running buddies. but i think i’ve gotten over that loneliness, and realized that it’s sooo much better for me to race alone. when i can just get up, go to the race, be on my own time table, it’s so much less stressful for me.

7) i don’t like running short/fast races. it’s too HARD. i really prefer the half marathon over all distances.

8) this was definitely a mind-over-matter race. for starters, even tho i’d given myself permission just to go out and jog, considering the weather, by the time i hit the starting line i knew i’d be chasing after the PR and time goal i’d set for myself. i always do this. i am not a participation-is-everything runner. i dont’ care much how i stack up against other runners – i will always be middle-of-the-pack – but i *am* competitive against myself and against the clock. very much so.

9) i flagged a bit in mile 4, in my own head, if not in actual pace. mile 4 was when i just didn’t want to go on, when all those fleeting thoughts of quitting start creeping in. so from 3 to 4 i made myself go on, saying that it’d be a PR alone just to do 4 sub-8′ miles in a row, i’ve never done that. and i settled into that same miserable mindset that happens around mile 22 in the marathon, when you are no longer thinking, just putting one foot in front of the other, and then once i got to the 4 mile marker, it was just one more mile in to the finish, so i might as well do that. though, on the uphill on Roosevelt just before the finish line, i was making those deals with myself that if i could just finish this race strong, i could never run again if i didn’t want to. come to think of it, i wonder how many times i’ve made those deals with myself while running up that exact same stretch of Roosevelt road (which is the last quarter mile before the finish line on almost all big chicago races).

10) it was a nice feeling to have finished, gathered my goodies, picked up my gear, changed into dry clothes, walked to starbucks (my racing bib was good for a free beer at the post-race party, but at 10:15 in the morning, who wants to stand around in 3″ of slush and drink a michelob ultra?), and THEN cross the race course on my way to the el station and see that and there were still people racing.

11) stats:
time: 39’34” (goal was 40′)
1811th out of 13,294 overall
330th out of 6550 women
64th out of 1324 division (women 30-34)