Soldier Field Ten Miler

The race I have been psyching myself out over was yesterday.  And I am here to write about it:) 

I have been prepping for the race, but I knew I wouldn't be that fast, and I am ok with that.  I have never run a race to win it, I am not an elite athlete.  I just want to run to run, run to be in shape, and yesterday, it was running for Memorial Day.  We ran as a team from work, approx 85 active duty Sailors on one team.  Not bad for a little Saturday run.  We also had about another 85-100 volunteer, by giving out water, etc etc.  Kind of awesome to see everyone work as a team!

The weather was perfect, but the course was rather crowded the entire route.  That is something I am not used to.  Constantly dodging people who were walking.  I think the race has almost gotten "too" big, because there was a lot of chaos in the beginning, and the usual, people signing up for corrals they have no business being in (i.e...dodging the walkers in the first mile).  I have learned a lot from the past two races I ran this past month, so now I know I'll be better prepared for my half marathon in September.  As long as I didn't destroy my body too badly yesterday!!  Still sore, so not sure how I will recover just yet.

I learned a few things from training.  I learned that cross training is important.  I learned that I love Bikram Yoga, and I can't wait to go to my next class, no matter how sweaty and nasty I get.  I also learned that my hamstrings hate me.  I can stretch and do anything, and no matter what, they hate me.  I will be for sure doing more sports massages to help relieve the tension I have there.  I did a lot of physical therapy 3 years ago for this, but there was zero progress.  I hope that with more effort being put into my hammies, I'll feel better, recover easier, and run faster!!

via Daily Mile.com