Making Strides...Kind Of

This weekend I raced the Shamrock Shuffle 8k, in Chicago.  My first race of the season was a big let down, but since then, I have progressively been running better times.  For the first time in a long time, I raced without a watch, which might have actually been a good thing.  The goal was to focus more on racing than on worrying about what my splits were or if I was falling off of pace or whatever.   My finishing time was 25:22, which is probably quite a bit slower than what I am capable of, and about 20 seconds off of my PR, but is still better than my 10k last week, so I will take it.  Improvement is a step in the right direction, I suppose.

At the start of the race, I managed to get myself into the second row, tucked behind Simon Bairu and Lukas Verzbicas, and after a short surge, I was clear of a lot of the mess that happens in a race with over 30,000 people in it.  I got through the first mile in 4:48 feeling surprisingly smooth...I always feel smooth through the first mile, and then I die off.  This time though, I threw in a surge to try to keep the pace going.  I wasn't successful in maintaining pace, but I only slowed down to a 5:00 for the second mile, and at least for once I was "racing" and trying to get at it.  My third mile was a slower, about 5:15, and the next two miles of the race was basically a schizophrenic combination of "I think I can" confident surges and "oh no I'm dying" slow downs.  I didn't see the 4th mile split, but my pace was definitely all over the place at that point.  At least I saw a faint glimmer of the mental toughness that I need to start having in races.  I am really good at running well when I feel good, but at the first sign of discomfort, I back off, which is the exact opposite of what I need to be doing.  Racing is a hugely mental sport, so I have to work on getting my head into it.

The Playmakers A team took 4th place for $1,000, with the B team taking 9th.  I was 28th overall, out of 32,405 people.