Nike’s Bastille Day 5k – 2008
Last night, I got ready for another 5k that I was unprepared for hoping that the rain would hold off long enough for me to make it home nice and dry.
Ha!
I headed down Michigan Avenue to catch the Austin bus headed east and while waiting for the light to change in my favor, a car sped past me and hit a huge LAKE of water on the road COMPLETELY DRENCHING the upper half of my body.
I was on the phone with Ivan at the time it happened, and yes, I actually screamed…maybe it was more like a scream/squeal. I couldn’t BELIEVE it actually happened that way. You see it happen like that in movies or cartoons…but in real life? Really? Yeah, well, it DOES and I got SOAKED!
Luckily I had another running shirt on me, so, while on the Mag Mile, I changed out of the one soaked shirt into another nice dry running shirt.
I made my way to the race and was able to drop off my bag at the designated area AND make it through the pot-o-johns before the race gun went off. AWESOME! While in the line up I tried moving closer up to the front so I wouldn’t be fighting with people for space on the road. The gun went off and I realized I hadn’t set up my Nike+ for the race. Quickly I fumbled around with that while walking forward to the starting line…I had it ready to go JUST as I was about to start running. Phew!
The race itself was challenging for me as I had run fairly hard the night before. Nike+ told me I had run 6 miles at roughly 10 minute miles but that seemed off to me. I had actually run faster than that…I think I ended up running 7.5 miles in 60 minutes…so you can figure out the pace per mile on that one.
Anyway, I knew I had run harder the day before but thought I’d be ok to “kick it up a notch” for the race. I was TIRED though. So tired. And I didn’t really eat much the past couple of days so I wasn’t properly fueled. Oops.
The first mile marker came to pass, and it said something insane like 13:44! I was like “SH*T!!!” Because I didn’t think it had taken me 3:44 to cross the starting line. I knew I had to move faster than I seemed to be if I wanted to reach my goal of sub 9 minute miles.
Mile marker 2 came to pass…Nike+ (uncalibrated) was telling me I was still at 1.89k. Um…yeah. The time on the clock at mile 2 was ALL wrong saying something like 4:44:43. Uh…so that was no help. I had NO IDEA now how fast I was running and I couldn’t gauge ANYTHING. So I kept going…running as quickly as I could while being comfortable and not pulling a Danika Patrick by burning up all my fuel before reaching the end.
The mile 3 marker was a welcome sign and I was excited that the ominous clouds collecting over head hadn’t yet opened up on us. I turned a corner…finish line? Nope. Damn! I keep running…the internal dialog starts up, “Should I start sprinting? Am I at 400 meters yet or not? Should I slow up? Speed up? What should I do?” I decided to keep moving forward swiftly but not sprint just yet.
But my heart was already experiencing the adrenaline high and I could tell my energy was about to give out on me. I tried picking it up a bit, I really didn’t know how fast or slow I was running…runners were slowing and speeding up all around me. Suddenly I turn another corner…finish line? Nope. But I was met with a few fatty rain drops that felt really good on my over heated body.
Another corner…another false hope. DAMN YOU FINISH LINE!!! WHERE ARE YOU??? Now I’m slowing up because I’m tired…another corner. Finish line? YEP! RIGHT THE F THERE! Like 30 meters in front of me.
“SHIT” I said out loud and tried to pass as many runners as possible without slipping on the wet roads.
I stopped my Nike+ which told me I still had nearly 2k to go. The clock on the finish line said 27 minutes and change.
I was sort of bummed but I thought I might have made a sub 9 mile anyway since I knew I hadn’t started right at the gun.
Note to all novice racers out there reading this: When you cross the finishing mats, PLEASE KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!! Do NOT stop there and block the way for others who are sprinting it in. I WILL KILL ONE OF YOU ONE DAY BY PLOWING YOU OVER IF YOU DON’T KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!!
Also, you shouldn’t just stop running immediately crossing the finish line, you should be lightly jogging as you slow to a walk pace. I don’t understand why this is such a hard concept to grasp, but it apparently is because I nearly took down 20 people easy by them blocking my passage at the finish. It was almost a disaster!
ANYWAY…so I cross the finish, work my way through the slow-mo’s and head towards the fruit. YEAH BABY! Bike and crew hooked us up! Bananas, water, G2 Gatorade’s, oranges and bagels…all kinds of goodies!!! Of course, 30 seconds after crossing the finish line what happens? The SKY opened up on us. Coach Chris found me while waiting for Beth to cross and we both stood there as we began to really get pelted.
I started laughing, because it quickly turned from feeling kind of nice to be cooled off to super yucky to be getting drenched. The wind picked up and made the rain feel even colder. Eek!
I ran towards the bagels and said “F it! I want one!” and stuck my hand into the bag. I got one dry bite, that’s it. At one point I thought “What a salty bagel”. HA! No, it wasn’t the bagel that was salty, it was my FACE being washed off by the ran that was then dripping onto my soggy bagel.
Eh…kinda gross, I know, but I was starving so I ate it happily. Then I ate a banana, then drank more water, then continued to get soaked.
I stood in line to get my bags, which were also going to be soaked (I was nervous for my phone and camera) and some people around me were getting REALLY uptight. Oh people…they get upset about the silliest of things.
Sadly, the much anticipated after party with beer, live music and other festivities had to be canceled, which was a bummer, so after I got my bag I headed towards the UIC Blue line stop.
While there I met Edwin, a fellow runner, who had snagged a couple of bags of oranges after the race. SMART! I wish I had thought of that! Anyway, we talked about the fun of the various races around town and it was nice to meet someone new who was nice and not sketchy. Turns out he’s not originally from Chicago, but moved here from 3 years in NYC (Brooklyn) and before that had lived in Louisiana…I think that’s what he said anyway.
Edwin was nice because when we switched to the red line, he gave me a dry t-shirt of his to wear. I WAS FREEZING! Sitting on an air conditioned bus while totally wet? Yeah, let’s just say people around me got a little something to look at with how much I was nip’n out!!! Sorry to share if that’s too much info, but it was HILARIOUS, so I couldn’t stop laughing (or shivering). The t-shirt was a very kind gesture and while I know he may never know this, I can’t thank him enough since it REALLY was the only thing that kept me from shivering myself into shock!
Thanks Edwin, where ever you are!
There was another guy we both met on the train, I don’t think I got his name, but he was pleasant to talk with as well. GOTTA LOVE RUNNERS…those of us that aren’t super duper fast are usually really really nice people. And we like talking about our races and running stuff and life. So that made the longer ride home from the blue line much more tolerable.
I got home, I fed the cats, I emptied the litter, I took a shower, I finally got to bed (around 1:20am…eek) and woke up EXHAUSTED!
Today I looked up the race results…YAY! I did better than I thought! My official finishing time was 25:49 which puts me at 8:20 minute miles! YAY! This is good news since I was afraid I had gotten SO MUCH SLOWER since the Wacky 5k.
Anyway…I imagine the Nike Bastille Day 5k is normally a really fun race to do, so I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT for the future…Nike knows how to treat their runners, even if this years tech shirts were a bust being WAY TOO LARGE and only coming in the male cut. It’s still alright because it was a funny experience and I proved that I can still run alright at the shorter distances.
HOPEFULLY, I can work it up so that I can run 13 miles at 9 minute miles for the upcoming 1/2 marathon in NYC later on this month.
Here’s to hoping!!! And thanks for reading!!!
PS- I still think Nike+ is the sh*t, but I definitely see the importance of properly calibrating it!!!
July 11 2008 01:32 pm | accessories and race
July 31st, 2008 at 3:32 PM
Hi, great post, very accurate and funny
Do you know where the final race times/pictures are posted online? Feel free to shoot me an email christinarobohm@yahoo.com
Thanks much!