Notes
Low 60's windy/light rain before the race. I left the house around 6:30 and jogged around the Peace Plaza area for a total of 20 minutes prior to the race. They had announcements around 6:50 and the HM left at 7:00. I did about 10 minutes of light jogging and 3-4 strides after the HM start and lined up 5 minutes before the 5k start. At race time I felt pretty good but not sure if I warmed up quite enough.
I was able to line up close to the front and only had to pass a few runners before settling in in spots 3-5. I just followed the leaders for the first half mile or so into all the turns. There were 4 or 5 90 degree turns and since I was in front was able to get the tangents pretty closely without slowing down. I felt pretty good as I approached mile 1 but did not see it for sure. I think my 1 mile mark was around 5:55 and not too difficult. There was a bit of elevation climb during the first mile so my effort was probably a bit too hard.
Mile 1-2 felt pretty easy since it was downhill on the opposite side of Soldiers Field. I was able to keep to the tangents and none of the turns were too bad. I did see the Mile 2 marker at 11:46 and think Mile 2 was around 5:50 (with help from the downhill). I started to slow substantially as I approached this marker making me think my pacing could really improve on future races.
Mile 2-3 felt pretty hard and I was starting to get nauseous and was really just trying to hold on. I stayed pretty close to the runner in front of me so I think they slowed down as well hurting my pace. More even pacing would certainly have helped but I will just need to do a few more races to get it down pat. Also, I did not see the mile 3 marker and started my finishing kick a little early. I was completely gassed by the finish despite gaining on the runner ahead of me.
Overall, I'm very happy with the total time, but I definitely left some time on the table with the uneven pacing. Knowing I can knock out 2 mi around 5:55 should help for pacing my future runs. Hopefully future runs will have more runners around my time to truly push my potential.
After the race I had a banana and some water and walked back from Soldier's Field with Jaime. I was a little sore but no major issues and feel fine 2.5 hours after the race.