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.....