2019 CARA Lakefront 10 Miler Race Recap

It's been three years since I last ran the CARA Lakefront 10 Miler. Even though it's only two miles from my house, recently hadn't been quite ready for the March pre-Shamrock race dates. Luckily, they shifted the date to a post-Shamrock mid-April date. I figured I was in 10 mile shape and even managed to squeeze in my first 10 miler in a long time the weekend before.

 

Goal: The tables said that I should be in 1:05:30 shape, but realistically I didn't want to go all out at the race. So, I decided I'd like a 1:07 (~6:42/mile) pace.

Getting To the Race: At about 7:55 am I drove east down Foster until I reached the parking lot at about 8:05 am. 

Pre-Race:  I drove another half mile south to snag a parking spot closer to the start/finish area. I sat in my car for 5 minutes drinking coffee until I decided it would be a good time to head over to the start areas.

The race booths were all setup on the Lincoln/Montrose Running Track infield. It was astroturf, and was therefore a pretty clean, dry, place to host the pre and post-race festivities. I bumped into Wendy and we had a nice pre-race chat. She asked me what my goal was and I said a 1:07. After taking off my sweatpants and jacket, I decided to hike back to my car to drop off my gear. Once I got there, I realized that post-race I probably wouldn't want to walk that far to get my stuff, so I sat in my car, drank some more coffee then headed over to gear check.

After checking my bag, I had about 5 minutes to spare. So, I queued up by the porta potties and at 8:58 darted in and out of one and jogged over to the start corral. The countdown started horn sounded and we were off!

The Race

Miles 1 and 2:  Since it was pretty windy and I had only done one 10 mile run in the past six months, I just wanted to take the first couple of miles slowly. For a long stretch we ran headlong into a westerly wind. I tried to tuck behind a couple of runners to help break the wind. Near the 2 mile mark we separated from the 5kers. 6:51/mile.

Miles 3 and 4: Last time I ran this race, we ascended Cricket Hill twice. Thankfully it would only be once this go around (near the finish). I started passing runners who went out too fast. More tucking. I think it was at this point that the race had bused in a bunch of kids as a cheering section. I side-fived about 10 kids. It was pretty cool. 6:37/mile.

Miles 5 and 6:  We circled Diversey Harbor and headed north into the wind. I spotted the guy I knew was in my AG, so as I did in the Shuffle, once I passed him, I used him as motivation: I would not let him pass me if he challenged. 6:32/mile.

Miles 7 and 8: I started to feel the burn of not having raced this far in awhile. 6:38/mile.

Miles 9 and 10: At the base of Cricket Hill, I heard a guy behind me saying "get going old man!" I thought he was talking to me. Once he passed me, I realized he had his headphones on and had been talking out loud to himself! He was likely in my AG and decked out in Boston gear. However, I didn't have any juice left to pass him. I could only will myself uphill. Once at the bottom of the hill, we got onto the running track for the final quarter mile loop! I saw Wendy and she snapped my pic just before the start of the final lap. 6:48/mile.

Head down up Cricket Hill (src)

Last few meters on the track (src)

I crossed the finish line and got my medal about ten feet later!

Analysis:

Time: 1:07:08

Pace: 6:43

Overall: 61/1,191

Age Group: 3/65

I pretty much nailed my goal and was only off by 8 seconds. My splits were pretty much even: First five miles was in 33:35 and the last five was done in 33:33! I think I am getting this pacing thing down!

Post Race:

I picked up my gear and headed back to see Wendy. She looked up my time on her phone and it said that I had gotten 4th in my AG, with the first place guy running a 58:00 or some such craziness. I would find out later that they moved him out of our AG and I got 3rd. I love the accomplishment of placing in CARA races since they are so competitive.

Wendy and Me (src)

We went over to the beer garden to see if we could find Erica and we both turned down the free Michelob Ultra. The last time I ran this they had Magic Hat. I guess the big beers have big sponsor dollars?

Conclusion:

Beautiful day for a race, Nice cool race conditions!

Next Up: Ravenswood Run 5k!