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Look at those eyes. Those are 5:05 am on a Saturday eyes. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I had to get all my stuff together and ready to go, since I needed to be out the door by at least 6am to be sure I made it down to Navy Pier for our 7am start time!
And remember the throw-away sweatshirt I was wearing down there? Do you see why that’s my throwaway sweatshirt now? Haha I feel like I look like a linebacker in that thing! The irony is that it was where I left it after the race… so of course I brought it home. Can’t get rid of that thing.
The race I ran was Chicago’s Perfect 10. It was a 10K and 10 mile run on the lakefront, starting and ending at Navy Pier. This run was Chicago’s first-ever 10 mile race, and honestly, haha, I could tell. 
I made it to the Pier with just enough time to walk all the way down to the end where the start was located, and some extra time to stretch out. Here’s everyone crowded inside by the start line; no one was going out there in the 38 degree weather before we needed to!
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The race was a there and back style course: down Navy Pier and then 5 miles south on the lake shore, and 5 miles back. I did like that we got to run past some great Chicago sites, like Grant Park, Solider Field, the Aquarium and the Field Museum. However, I didn’t like the there and back concept, especially with the 10K using the same course, just turning around earlier. The path got a little too small for two-way traffic on some parts.
Another thing I found surprising? ZERO spectators! I guess I’ve only really done Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure runs, so I’m so used to tons of people cheering me on! It was a bit odd and I almost felt like I was just doing a normal weekend long run!
After the finish line:
I was, however, pretty excited about my time! I had been pretty worried about the race, after my very painful 9 mile run Saturday and my still sore 5 mile on Wednesday. But, the icing, resting and stretching paid off and I made it through the race with minimal pain. I even beat my goal of under 1 hour and 30 minutes! My time according to my Garmin was 1:26:20, which is an 8:39 min/mile pace!
The best part? They gave us medals at the end!!!
I wasn’t expecting that! I thought it was just a half marathon and above kind of thing! At the finish line, my brother, sister-in-law, and, you guessed it, MOLLY, were waiting for me! It was really nice of them to come out and support me! It was my first time running a race without someone I knew running it too, so I appreciated having someone I knew at the finish!
And Molly was having a great time: it was her first trip downtown and she was looking every which way! It was a lot of excitement for her and Lauren told me she passed out for a couple hours after they got back!
I finally got home, stretched, ice bathed and showered. And then I wore my medal. All afternoon. Don’t worry, I took it off before I went to Whole Foods…
Just checked the final race results before posting:
380 13/55 1576 Kathryn Wheeler 24 F 1:26:31 8:40
I placed 380th overall… but I placed 12th out of the 54 girls in my age group! Either way, I’m feeling great about the results, and ready to just keep up the running through the winter!
Also, I have to keep running, because I made a great new running playlist! Here’s what I listened to on shuffle during the race:
What’s something you’ve done that you’re proud of?
What’s your favorite workout/running song(s)?
