Yesterday I braved wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour to get in a quick lunch time run. Technically this should have been a recovery run but, as always, I ran fairly speedy.
The run itself was pretty uneventful. It took me a bit to settle in during the first mile due to stops for traffic, crazy wind making it seem like we were running in place, and general leg fatigue (as Jason pointed out, I did run 23 miles over the weekend and that's more than I used to run in one week). I settled down during the last two and a half miles, though. A nine minute pace still doesn't feel particularly easy, but it's definitely easier than the 8:30 pace I ran on Monday.
Also, running at lunch is a great way to beat the midday blahs. It doesn't help the 3PM hunger, though. It makes that much worse. And, of course, I didn't bring enough food so I was STARVING by the time I got home.
Thankfully, I was able to eat before I headed to first running club meeting of the 10-11 season. Our speaker? Carey Pinkowski, the race director of the Chicago Marathon. He's been race director for 21 years and he's been speaking to the club before the marathon for each of those 21 years.
Carey shared some behind-the-scenes information on how they get such a huge event up and running. Including the fact that race employees go door to door handing out fliers telling residents and businesses who live along the course what to expect. He joked that one of the reasons so many people come out to cheer on race day is because they figure they can't leave their house so they might as well get into the spirit of the event.
Carey also gave us some interesting stats about the race. I took notes so I could share them with you :-)
Fun Chicago Marathon Facts
He told us about how he woos the elites to come run Chicago and you could literally feel his excitement about the field this year.
Of course, we asked questions and gave suggestions. Who knows? Maybe one day one of our suggestions will get incorporated into this event! And in just over one month I'll be participating in this event as one of those first time marathoners. Which means next year I'm sure to have my own suggestions :-)
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Lunch time run stats
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6 comments:
Erin, you are so lucky to live in an area with such a great community of runners. I really wish I could find more support here, but my hometown doesn't exactly lend itself to community-togetherness. Anyway, great job on the run :)
33 is my lucky number! Hmm :) Maybe I will PR. Ha ha!
Just seeing that pic on the top makes me a teensy bit nervous. Just a bit ;)
What did he say he does to woe the elites? :)
I wonder how many people they have to talk to along the course!
Just over a month left...
Ugh, the idea of having Pinkowski's job makes me sick. It is such a clusterF to organize, I bet.
I'm excited for you (and Kim!) I should have signed up so I could run it with you two! What fun!
And yeah, last year felt COLD at the start. Brrrrrr...but way better than hot.
Running in the wind is never fun for me although it can help to keep you cool sometimes, but a strong wind…don’t like at all. Thanks for sharing those stats. It’s great to think you are part of it this year.
This is a good race report, this will be a good reference to our fellow runners. Good job!!!
Reading about you and Kim running Chicago makes me SO excited! I hope to be able to do it one day. For now, I will - through you two. :-)
Chicago truly seems like such a neat place to run. I love seeing the nature paths where Kim does some of her runs, and then obviously running through the city has to be breathtaking (and interesting....I'm such a people watcher). 10/10/10 will be here before you know it!
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