Race the Taste 5k (Pre-Race)

The race experience was great, really great, but let me tell you just how close it was to being a total disaster. The story is worth reading, so I’ll try to keep it short. Ready?

Quick bits of info that you should know:

• This was my first running event
• The Race the Taste started at 8 am
• Raceday preregistration ends at 7:30 am
• The start line was located next to Adams and Lake Shore in downtown Chicago
• My alarm clock was set for 6 am
• I live in River Grove which is about 35 minutes away from Chicago by the CTA train

Here’s the story:

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6:58 am: Blissfully recollecting my dreams I glanced at my alarm clock and saw that it was 2 minutes before 7 am. Solid. My exact thoughts at that moment were: “Why the hell is it so bright this early…” I laid in bed a few minutes, preparing myself for a great day. In my mind I cycled through all the things I needed to prepare and the times I needed to leave at, when something just didn’t feel right. It then finally clicked in my mind, “Crap, my alarm clock didn’t go off!!

The next 5 minutes were a blur. I somehow managed to put in my contacts, dress up for the race, wake my mom, eat a banana, find a small backpack, and get into a car to be on my way to the CTA train.

7:10 am: It wasn’t until I was pacing back and forth at the CTA Green Line platform at the Harlem stop that I noticed, I had two different socks on, forgot my underwear, didn’t have anything to listen to, and that I forgot to put fresh batteries into my camera.

I did a couple of laps, power walking anxiously around the platform, before the train arrived. It was at that point that I started doubting I’d get the chance to run. Scenarios started running through my head with me arriving at the “Race the Taste” booth just to get an asshole attendant telling me I’m one minute late.

The CTA Green Line made good time getting to the city once I got on. Being so early in the morning and there being so few people on the train, it flew through all the stops. It got to the Roosevelt stop in around 25-30 minutes.

7:50 am: The CTA doors open at the Roosevelt stop. At this point I’m convinced that I have forfeited my chance at running at the event. In order to make the most out of my trip downtown, I decided to go on a casual run in the city. So I ran towards Lake Shore Drive. The next part, again, a blur.

Either it was by divine intervention or by my subconscious stubborn stupor, but my casual run turns into a bank-robbery-chase sprint for my life. I’m suddenly hauling ass to make it to the event.

7:55 am: I’m at the event and I find my way to the end of the registration line.

7:56 am: I’m catching my breath and waiting in line.

7:57 am: I’m still catching my breath and waiting in line.

7:58 am: Finally, I get my registration singlet.

7:59 am: I jog towards the starting gate and pin on my racing number.

7:59.40 am: I get my racing number pinned and look up towards the baracaded, starting-line area. For as far as I could see, there were people. Thousands of them! They were all waiting to run. I would take me about 3 kilometers to get to the end of the line!

8:00.00 am: The announcer blares the starting horn and the stampede of runners are unleashed. Before I have time to think, I obtain super-human powers and hurdle the barricade.

8:00:03 am: I bump into a person or two after landing on the other side of the barricade and I’m less than 10 meters away from the starting line!

8:00:40 am: I cross the starting line for the Race the Taste.

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So here is my broken down conclusion of my pre-race conditions:

• I didn’t eat anything
• I sprinted before the race
• I didn’t stretch before the race
• I didn’t have underwear
• I was wearing a 100% cotton shirt
• I was running with a backpack
• This was my first ever running event

Based off of my training, that you might have or have not read about, what time would you guess I got? Did I complete the race? Part two will be up soon.

Semi-Taper

Ok, that’s a joke too. BUT, I am running a 5k race on Sunday. Here’s my game plan:

Today – Play a game of pickup ultimate frisbee

Thursday -  Run 5k at a race pace

Friday – Run a slow 3 miles

Saturday – Relax

Sunday – Run the “Race to the Tase” & eat loads of food afterwards at the Tase of Chicago!

Taper Week!

No just kidding. I just didn’t run at all, the second half of last week. I did run 3 miles yesterday and today however.

This coming Sunday I will be participating in the Race to the Taste in Chicago. It will be my first 5k. I am excited to see what it will feel like to run in a race.

In other news, I started using my Nike+ Ipod running device. I might start posting my runs if I can figure out how to extract the data not using the semi-bloated Nike website.

Cool Morning

3 Miles

9:30 Pace

Lately I’ve been running on a field instead of a track and I’ve gotta say, tremendous difference. It feels much easier on my feet and the field happens to be right near my house.

Morning runs are the way to go. Today it was 54F with a light breeze. Running in the morning is a great way to wake up. I’m curious to see how fast that statement will change once I’m doing 6-10 miles in the morning.

Tomorrow’s forecast: 10-20 knot wind from the North/North-West.

I’ll probably do a quick 5 miles tomorrow morning and then head on over to Miller beach to kitesurf.

Warm Weekend

1. I don’t like running in the heat
2. On the weekends, it’s hard to wake up before 10am
3. Any time past 10am is awfully warm to run in
4. I’m usually out and about by the time the temperature cools down in the evening

And the reason I say this… is because I only pulled off 4 miles this weekend.

In other news: I golfed 18 holes at the Indian Boundary, ate a couple pounds of sushi at the House of Noodles and Sushi, drank delicious Belgium beer at Hopleaf, went to a comedy club to see Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind and I started packing for my trip to Connecticut.

Dorkness!

Twice this week, I was asked this question:

“Phil, I just got new computer, which programs should I install?”

Well, both times I kind of mumbled a few things off the top of my head, but here is a more extensive list of a few free programs that I recommend. They are in no particular order.

WinSCP: secure ‘explorer-like’ ftp/ssh connections

Winamp: music player that has many useful plug-ins

Peerguardian: protect your computer from known IP addresses

µTorrent: download torrents using a very simple & friendly client

AVG Free Edition: simple anti-virus

Spybot S&D: simple spy ware detection/removal

Firefox

• StartAid: saves all bookmarks to a server so they are accessible from more than one location
• Downloadthemall!: chops up downloads into chunks and downloads them concurrently

Thunderbird

• Lightning: calendar app
• Minimize to Tray: minimizes Thunderbird to tray
• Minimize to Tray Enhancer: starts Thunderbird with Windows

RocketDock: an unobtrusive aesthetic launch bar

Paint.NET: a much more sophisticated Windows Paint

Notepad++: quick and convenient development tool

Putty: quick and dirty terminal

Foxit Reader: small and quick pdf reader without all the Acrobat Reader plug-in junk

CutePDF: convenient PDF creater

Rainlendar: desktop calendar and task organizer

FinchSync: free PDA/Thunderbird calendar and contact sync

Digsby: instant message protocol that supports Facebook messages

Skype: inexpensive way to call others

Trying To Keep To Schedule

So it hasn’t been easy. Dedicating an hour to running is harder than I thought. Especially in all this warm weather. I either have to unwillingly wake up really early in the morning to enjoy a comfortable run or I have to run in the afternoon in the hot and humid Chicago weather.

Either way, it’s gotta be done. Yesterday I pulled off 3 miles at a 9:30 pace. After my run my ‘everything’ hurt: my shins felt like they were about to explode, my knees felt like loose rubber bands and my toes ached ever time I pushed off of them during each stride.

Today I’m going to rest and hopefully tomorrow my long run will feel good.

Weekend Write Up

Sleeping in was great. In between interviewing with Electric Boat, being delayed at an airport 7 hours, drinking expensive airport priced beers and tequila shots with strangers, playing rummy on the airport with strangers, being caught in a deathly avalanche-like thunderstorm, kiting in 18knt winds, jet skiing at mach 3 speeds, getting burnt by the sun… I was still able to sleep in.

But in other news, I did maybe a total of 5 miles between Saturday and Sunday. Not great, but I’ll justify the small amount.

Great weekend. Let’s see how that interview goes!

Waking Up To 5 Miles

I’ve learned to believe that my body follows a simple rule: stay in bed if it is dark or cold outside.

The conditions this morning at 5 am: dark and cold.

Because it rained last night, the clouds haven’t had a chance to part and thus, very ’sneakily’, kept the sun from lighting up the day at the usual time. I sat in my bed for a solid 10 minutes dazed and confused at this phenomenon, glancing repeatedly between my alarm clock and the darkened color of the sky outside. It wasn’t until after I crawled out of bed, got ready, stepped outside to run and got hit by a light drizzle/mist that I realized the reason for this morning twilight feeling.

That said, the 5 miles were actually remarkably calm and enjoyable. Entranced to the music by YES, I kept a steady 9 minute pace for each mile. The mist hitting my face felt refreshing and I don’t think I complained about it until I had to do my stretches on the ground afterwards.

Tomorrow -> 3 miles! Yay!

First 3 Miles!

And more importantly, I did the 3 miles in 22 minutes! I’m absolutely stunned I ran it at a pace of 7:18 per mile because it is way bellow what I expected from a noob runner. I’m curious to see how my pace will be affected by greater millages. Drop I presume, but I guess we’ll see by how much.

I made another important discovery today: I listened to a song that fit perfectly with my stride. When “Burn Burn” by Lostprophets turned on at the end of my second mile, I found myself herded by the musical beat. I felt as if I were cheating in some way, I could not believe how less frustrating it was to run. But then of course the song ended and I felt like less motivated because the next song wasn’t that great.

So starting today, I’m making a list of songs that ‘do’ it for me.