Solider Field 10mi Saturday, 5/25

I think this is the third time I've done the Soldier Field race. The first time I was new to Chicago and was probably their first year holding the race. I did it with my friend Jennifer and we just assume we could stop after a 5K but stopping there left you in the middle of nowhere, so we ended up walking the rest. 

This year my coach wanted to use it as a time trial so I could stop running on heart rate zone and start running on pace. 

The first 3-4 miles I did pretty well and believe my paces around 9:23. at around mile three I stopped to go to the bathroom-- I had gone before the race but the wait in the corrals was quite long. There was no way I could hold it for 10 miles. My pace felt pretty good until about miles 5-6 at which point I thought I needed to slow down a little and do some run/walk.  I had also forgotten my coach's direction to walk through every water station, which may have contributed to my slight decline. 

Allowing myself to run walk felt better, although I did notice that it slowed a bit. I was disappointed that I allowed and found myself walking a little bit more between miles 8.5-9.5 but just kept pressing on. Mycogen estimated I would finish in 1:45 and all I wanted to do was prove her wrong!  I knew I would be satisfied if I finished around 10 minute mile (although I wanted to finish faster) And it would be a good pace for her to set my running a zones at. 

In the end, I did finish in exactly 1:40. I'm not gonna lie, it bothered me that everyone I knew doing it went faster than me.  I'm not sure how many minutes or seconds the bathroom break cost me or if I would've done better not thinking about having to go to the toilet for the first 3 miles. I guess at this point,it  is what it is, and I hope that I'm faster by September.