Well unfortunately, this year's Oak Park 5K turned out to be a bust.
The weather for the whole week in between Shamrock and Oak Park was complete shit. Mid-30's, windy, raining, snowing, shitting, whatever... and it was nonstop. Seriously, not a moment of that whole week did we have any break from the gods crapping on us. The rain let up for the 5K race, but it was still very gusty.
I can't be upset about the race though. I had my teammates to work with, and I placed well. Regardless of the weather, my placement for this race was set when the gun went off and there was no catching the faster field in front.
I toed the line with Michael Martineau and Jeff Hojnacki. We all wanted to run as low 16:'s as possible. In a perfect scenario, I would've been going for the PR. That required running about 5:15's, which all of us thought we could do if we stuck together.
After the race start and a little early jockeying among the others, the three of us settled into our own very tight pack. We were the chase, as a lead pack with about 7 runners slowly pulled away from us. We went through mile one tied at the hips. We had a little wind at our backs for that first mile, and comfortably rolled a 5:16. We passed one runner after the mile, otherwise our placement was set.
Unfortunately, after about 1-1/2 mi, that was the end of the fun as the course turned into the wind for the entire rest of the race. Gusts were steadily coming from the South and Southwest. We tried to work together as much as we could. We swapped the leads every quarter or so. Our pace slacked though... mile two was a little above 5:20. Michael then fell off slightly, while Jeff and I continued to stay tight.
The final mile on the course was nearly all into the wind. A couple runners that broke from the lead pack were still over 20 seconds ahead. There was nothing we could do, other than make sure we didn't slow up and get passed by someone else. Heading into the home stretch, we easily dealt with a 25mph wind. It was brutal on top of an already taxing effort. With about a third of a mile to go, Jeff and I started swapping the leads every 100m or so. It was the only way we could keep our pace. Final mile was about 5:25 and we crossed the line together at 16:38.
In the end, the time wasn't anything special. But it was actually a really cool finish though - as Jeff and I were stride for stride right over the line! Unfortunately, Michael fell behind, but in all, the three of us managed those conditions really well together. Team work in racing at its best. I really enjoyed running with those guys. It's been a long time since I've raced with my teammates.
The most notable event from the day was Sasha's race. She had her first sub-22min 5K! An awesome PR for her, and regardless of the wind!! She's come a long way really fast, and continues to have fun with running. I'm so glad that she is willing (and excited) to join me for many of these races! :)
Now that Oak Park is out of the way, my early spring racing is done. Sasha and I are going on a fun vacation for the next two weeks. I won't get much running or training done, and I'll certainly lose fitness. It'll be a nice recovery period though. By the time I get back, I'll have a month to gear up for my next target: Soldier Field 10 Miler. After that, it's all about 10/9/16.
A few photos from the Oak Park 5K:
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