F^3 Half recap

The F^3 Half went OK.  Not great, not horrible – just OK.  Steve dropped me off at the race at 9:20 and I was able to keep warm by standing by the propane heater in the Ragnar tent (thanks Mattie!).  I wore pretty much what I thought I would: Craft Storm Tights, Icebreaker ¼ Zip, Icebreaker Gust Jacket, Brooks HVAC Gloves, Nike Pro Compression Bra, Smartwool socks, Brooks Pure Flow shoes and a fleece beanie that was a giveaway from some race. I was chilly before the race started but true to form I warmed up within the first mile.

I won’t bore you with a mile-by-mile race description since it was all on the lakefront path and if you’ve ever run on the path you know it just is what it is.  I guess if you aren’t from Chicago it would probably be much more exciting and that we residents take running towards a beautiful skyline along a lakefront for granted. Anyway, the first few miles were pretty rough – the path wasn’t cleared too well north of the start area so it was a little sloppy from the previous night’s snowfall and it was also pretty crowded.  In the post-race survey I suggested a wave start for next year – nothing crazy just maybe three starts: elites, people who can run 10 minute miles or better, and then the rest of the folks.  I finished in 2:03 and change which is better than I thought I would considering I had just run a half the weekend before.  It gives me hope that with some consistent training (and ahem… perhaps a little bit of dieting to shed a few pounds) maybe I can dip below the magic 2 hour mark again at the Green Bay half in May.  I’m also scheduled to run the El Paso half in February, but I think that may have some hills involved and it’s really too soon to get in many training runs to hope for better than 2 hours.

Other than the crowded start everything else seemed to be run really well.  The mile markers were accurate, there were plenty of water stations, there seemed to be enough bathrooms (for once I didn’t need to use a port-a-potty either before or after the race – I guess a 10am start time is perfect for me), there were plenty of snacks after the race, there was a cool cowbell medal, and the volunteers were perky and pleasant – what more could you ask for?

Thankfully no races this week.  I’ll be hitting the Fleet Feet fun run tonight, running a short loop with a friend tomorrow morning, Fleet Feet Chicks Night on Wednesday, a long loop on Friday morning and then a long run on Saturday – probably 8-miles or so.  Add in a few CorePower sculpt classes and the week is already filling up.