First Race of '07.

Sorry for being scarce...but frankly not much has been going down around here lately.

For those that don't know, after a hiatus of a year or so, I've been running pretty seriously since last December. I've already logged over 100 miles this year, most of it in pretty crappy conditions and pretty frigid temperatures. I'm already signed up to run at least five races this year (Shamrock Shuffle 8K, Race to Wrigley 5K, Soldier Field 10, and the Chicago Marathon). Yesterday, I ran the first race of the year with my friends Tracy and Chris. It was the Wacky Snacky 5K. It was not all that wacky, but it was fairly snacky considering there was a snack food buffet after the race. It still was not quite snacky enough for Chris' tastes. He likes snacks.

As you can see from the picture, it was pretty chilly at the start (25 degrees or so). I did not know quite what to expect for my performance since I hadn't run a 5K since last year. We lined up in the cold and tried to stay warm by hopping around. When the gun went off, Chris took off at a furious pace. I just tried to keep up with him. When we hit the first mile I saw a time of about 7:30, and that wasn't adjusted for the 20-25 seconds it took me to get to the start line! Keep in mind my training runs have all been at about a 8:30/9 minute mile pace. I slowed down a little and overall I felt pretty good the whole time. I eventually finished with a time of 23:40 which works out to a pace of 7:38. That's better than I could ever of hoped for. Chris and Tracy did really well too. I was able to double back after I finished and watch the finishers enter the chute. I saw Chris coming in and started yelling, "C'mon Chris. You're almost to the snacks!!!!" I don't think it helped, but he finished his first race in good time and managed to avoid getting puked on by the girl behind him. Mad fly props to Chris!



I want to say now that during the next race I run (Shamrock Shuffle) I'm going to take it easy and just enjoy it, but I say that every time. Then I line up at the start, and I can't help but run balls out. My only savior is that the Shuffle is so crowded it should help to throttle me down some....and the scenery running through downtown Chicago is awesome.

All in all, it was a great start to the running season.