Essence of Freedom 5K Race Recap

Total Time: 26:00 (8:23/mile pace)
Age Group: 2/25
Women: 3/102
Overall: 37/220

**in which I raced on Day 2 of my period (that along deserves a medal IMHO) 

& where I confirmed that I absolutely suck running in the heat**

My dad is an Army veteran and my little sister serves in the Navy.  So, when I saw this race, I definitely felt like I had to run it to support them and the other servicemen and servicewomen who have sacrificed their lives to help keep us safe.

Leading Up to the Race:

I convinced my little brother to run it with me as well, so I didn't have to run it alone.  We had a great time!  He also took second in his age group with a time of 27:46.  This is super awesome, especially because he hasn't run much at all.

Packet pickup was super easy, with three days and on-site pickup (for a $5 fee).  My bibs weren't ready when I picked them up Saturday since I registered earlier that morning.  The women running the packet pickup at Essence Pilates were very helpful and assigned bibs to my brother and me.

I liked that they had a selection of goodies that you could choose from instead of pre-selected items.  When I raced competitively a few years ago, I always ended up with items that I've never use and wound up throwing away or into a drawer somewhere.

However, I wasn't feeling it leading up to the race.  On Saturday night, I had the chills, a massive headache and some nausea.  I'm not sure if it was because I spent time in the sun and wasn't hydrated enough.  Or, perhaps I ate something that didn't agree with me at brunch.  Either way, I felt like shit.  Thankfully, it went away after I slept it off.

That wasn't the end of my physical woes.  On Sunday night, I got my monthly gift.  I mean, seriously.  Could it have come at a worse time?  Ugh.  I immediately began re-adjusting my goals for this race.  Also, the temps at the start (7:45 AM) were projected to be in the low 60s.  Yuck.  That's too hot for me.  I'm such a baby about the heat.  I love racing in the 30s to 40s with mid 50s as my max.  Oh, and overcast of course!

However, I didn't want to let my little brother down or my $40 entry fee go to waste.  And, I'm glad that I powered through and managed to perform relatively well despite the weather conditions and my monthly gift.

RACE DAY:

The women at packet pickup recommended that we get there by 7:15.  My little brother and I rolled out the of house a bit late and showed up around 7:25.  Luckily, we snagged parking by the church and didn't have to park at the Metra train station.  I had just enough time to use the bathroom before the beginning of the race announcements and National Anthem.  Perhaps I would have shown up earlier, but I liked that we didn't have to wait so long for the race to begin.

As per usual, I didn't know where to line myself up at the starting line.  However, this race was chip-timed!  *does happy dance*  Chip-timed races are the best and so much more accurate.  I still had to dodge my way around slower runners before I could establish my pace.  In a sense, maybe that's good for me since I won't be tempted to blast out the gate too fast.

Results below - official and Fitbit

Top 5 dominated by 13 year olds! :o

Timing fail

I had problems with my Fitbit during this race.  I didn't start it as I crossed the line.  I also didn't have my Fitbit App open on my phone so it didn't calculate the beginning bits of the race.  Grrr.  Oh well.

The course was pretty nice and takes you through a residential area in Deerfield.  Overall, the course was nice, and I liked that they had two water stations.  Parts of the road, especially near the sidewalks, were a bit uneven, and I kind of rolled my foot in some spots.  Nothing enough to go down, but that definitely got me paying attention to where I was stepping.

Shade was lacking in certain spots, which only made it worse since the temps rose as the race went on.  The other downside was that I did not see any mile markers posted.  Perhaps there were volunteers calling out the times, but I had my headphones on and didn't hear anything.

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Mentally, I wasn't feeling this one like I was the 5k that I ran a month ago.  I'm not sure if the high temperatures and having my period demoralized me and sent me into a funk.  Normally, when people pass me, I like to give them some chase... or at least stick around long enough and pass them at the finish.  But nope, not this morning.  People blew past me and I'd just let them.

Source

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 Toward the end, I felt like I could have run with the man who passed me.  I ran with him for a bit, but quickly fell behind.  Thankfully, no one was close enough to me to give me chase at the finish.  I had enough in the tank to sprint it in and run through the finish line.

As I was finishing, I heard the announcer say "Third woman - 309."  I was shocked.  I didn't think my performance was good enough for any type of award - let alone third place woman.  I was pleased nonetheless.  My time was up 33 seconds from last month's 5k.  The temperatures were easily 20 degrees warmer.  So, overall, not bad at all.

I caught my brother's finish.  He didn't see where it ended and started slowing down before the finish. I made sure to tease him about that, since that's what big sisters do.

After the race, we had about an hour to go until the awards ceremony.  My calves, the right one especially, were killing me after the race, so I got a free massage.  The massage worked wonders and I felt a lot better afterward.

We chilled out for a bit in a park area before heading back for the awards ceremony.  We were both surprised when we heard his name called for an age group award.  This was his first time placing in a race!  I was so proud of him!  Hopefully we can run more races in the future.  I'll have to keep my eye out on him in case he comes to pass me.  Plus, he likes running in the heat!

After the race, my brother and I had breakfast at Walker Bros in Lincolnshire.  We had a great time catching up.  Before I left, he told me that he was glad that he participated.  I'm glad he did!  I told him we should find a race that we can run with my parents and make a family thing out of it like we did in the past.  So, we'll see.  I'll keep an eye out for upcoming races.

But, part of me wants to be a big baby, avoid the heat and race in the fall when the temperatures will hopefully be cooler!

Things I'd Change:

• Implement proper usage of Fitbit during the race for accurate results.
• Don't let the heat demoralize me.
• Maybe only wear one earbud so I can hear what's going on around me.

Training Leading Up to the Race:

• Friday: 2:29 miles in 19:58 (outside)
• Wednesday: ? miles.  Interval workout on treadmill at work.  Speed 6.0 to 7.5 mph with a 1.0 incline.
• Monday: 1.5 miles in 13:xx (treadmill at work)

As of now, the goal of a 10K by the end of the year still stands.  I'll have to pick one and work backwards with my training.  In the meantime, I'll have to start gradually upping my mileage and getting used to running outdoors when it's hot outside.  After all, it may still be hot in the fall.

In closing, I leave you with this beauty below:

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So excited for Season 5, which returns tomorrow!

Did you run a race over the holiday weekend?  If so, how was it?  How do you handle running in the heat?  Any tips to keep sane?