Conquering the 'hill'

A couple weeks ago, I ran the North Shore Half Marathon in Highland Park, IL. I ran this race last year and I was not even close to prepared for the race. I had signed up 2 weeks before race day having run no further than 8 miles prior to the race. I didn't expect to do great, but never thought I'd have to walk up a couple large hills and post my worst 1/2 marathon time ever......


So, when I signed up this year, I made it my personal goal to conquer the infamous 'Park Avenue Beach Hill' (or famous as the organizers call it).....



It was a beautiful day for a race, and I planned to start off around an 8:00-8:15 per mile pace and see how I was feeling after the infamous hill (which was around mile 8). The race started and everything felt great - I was running with Ian again (see my last post for the blistering pace he made me run in my last race), and I thought we were going a little fast. When I looked down close to the 1 mile mark and saw that we were going to finish the first mile in under 7:30, I told Ian to go ahead as I couldn't hold that pace through this course for 12.1 more miles. I still did the first two miles in under 7:30 each, but then settled in closer to my 8:00 pace.

Mile 6 started the long rolling hills - I didn't remember these from last year, but I've always liked running hills - I know, that's a bit demented - but I just have. At mile 8, I started looking for the hill - then we hit a hill that was much smaller than I remembered - this couldn't be the hill I remembered - this was nothing. I passed the mile 9 marker and was very confused on where this monstrous hill at mile 8 was that I remembered so well. Then I rounded a corner and there it was. It was just as long and steep as I remembered. When you can look straight ahead and see the feet of the person in front of you, you know you're running a real hill. I pushed my pace as I ran up the hill and passed several people. It was actually sort of funny to watch everyone push their pace, but actually slow down - sort of looked like we were all moving in slow motion. a couple minutes later, I made it to the top - a little winded, but I had conquered the hill! Goal accomplished! Time to call it a day - then I realized that I still had almost 4 miles to run - ugh!

My pace slowed considerably through those hilly miles, but I was still averaging about 8:10 per mile - not bad. I really just wanted to finish under 1:50 to qualify for a start corral at the Chicago Marathon. At mile 11, I looked down and thought - I could do under 1:45 if I really push these last 3 miles - so I started pushing. I did the last 3 miles in under 8:00 each, and the last mile in under 7:30. I finished the race in 1:44:27 a new personal record! I never expected to do that - especially on this hilly course. Just goes to show you how far determination to accomplish a goal can go!

Now the 'real' training for the Chicago Marathon is starting - I have no idea what my goal should be for that - so far this year I've exceeded every goal I've set - but I know the last few miles of a marathon are a different beast - we'll see how my training goes over the summer before I start to think about time/pace goals...for now I just want to make it through training injury free.

Get out there and run.....

Soldier Field 10 Mile

It started of as many other race mornings - wake up at 4:45am, get in the car, meet up with a friend for a drive to Chicago. That's about where the 'average' part of the race ends.....


Last weekend I ran in the Soldier Field 10 mile race. I've done this race before, and it's one of my favorites - not so long that I have to do a ton of training, and the finish line is inside Soldier Field at the 50 yard line - very cool to run out of the tunnel on to the field (sort of like living out a childhood dream to be a pro athlete).


Ian, a running buddy (and c0-worker), was running, and he's typically a faster runner than me in distance races (I could take him in a sprint - just ask me :-) However, he had been sick for the previous 2 weeks and said he was going to just jog the race, so I said I'd stick with him. I thought I'd start at about an 8 minute and 15 second mile and see how I felt at the 1/2 way point. However, apparently Ian's body really doesn't have a 'easy jog' setting...so mile 1 was under 8 minutes. Same with mile 2, 3, 4, 5, etc... At mile 7 we were averaging about 7:50 per mile and I asked Ian - can you really keep this pace up? To which he responded 'I was just going to suggest we speed up a little - do you need us to slow down?' At that moment, pride took over and I sucked in enough oxygen to blurt out 'No, I'm fine - only 3 miles left right'.


As we neared the finish, our competitive nature took over. We did the last mile in 7 minutes and 16 seconds. The last 50 yards was an all out sprint - I was about 3 steps behind him when the sprint started. I was just about to catch him 5 yards from the finish when I was cut-off by a couple guys - ugh - I lost by a second.


However, I have to remind myself that in distance running, you should never race against another runner (unless of course you're an elite athlete and running can pay your bills). You are really challenging yourself to complete a distance. It's you against yourself - pushing your limits and setting new boundaries for your body. It has taken me a long time to realize this, and obviously I still forget it in the last mile of many races, but in the end, it's finishing that matters, not who finished ahead of or behind you.


We finished the 10 mile course in 1 hour and 17 minutes and change. That's an average of 7:46 per mile - almost 30 seconds faster than I was planning to run. Without Ian, I wouldn't have even come close to that because I didn't think I was capable of it - I guess pride and adrenalin can drive you do to things you thought never possible :-)


Get out there and run.....