Mad Dash to Madison Race Recap!

The short version: I finished this race with a shiny new PR!

The slightly longer version:

Registration - a breeze!  Mostly because I drunk registered.  Someone should really take my credit card away from me when I've been drinking.  Seriously?  Anyone else out there get a little drunk and think that signing up for races is a good idea?  I'm also drunk registered for the Kiawah Marathon this year because "it was only $10 more than the half marathon"

Packet pick-up - a breeze!  Mostly because my friend picked my packet up for me.  Seriously though, I heard it wasn't terrible.  And the t-shirt is awesome!  Love the little Stanley Cup on the front.

The start - I had 5 miles on the calendar for the evening, so a friend and I ran from my house in the West Loop to the start line.  Easy!  From others, though, I heard that parking/traffic was a nightmare

The run - The was the second time I had run the Mad Dash to Madison, so I was familiar with the course (read: boring, industrial, and slightly smelly).  Nothing super exciting.  The first quarter mile or so was straight into the sun, and then wound around the West, west loop neighborhood.  Super flat, not too crowded, and one water stop around mile 1.5 or so.  Oh, and someone stopped to tie their shoe directly in front of me.  Pull it to the side, chickie!!  I didn't have a lot of expectations going into the race, just that I was with a super speedy friend, and I wanted to see how much marathon training had paid off this year (my fastest 5K's have always come at the tail end of marathon training).   I couldn't really gauge my 5K time because I didn't reset my watch after the 2 mile warm up, but I knew we were flying!

The finish - 28:25!! A new PR!!  My last PR is from 2009 with a time of 29:21, so much speedier!  Kind of makes me wonder what would happen if I stopped registering for marathons and worked on speed for a little bit.

After the finish, I grabbed a water and a banana and headed into the UC for my bobblehead.  We'll just say that I have a tiny little collection going

Sometimes my co-workers worry about me

Would I do it again?  YES!! I love the Blackhawks and I love 5K's!

Next race: Warrior Challenge in Maui!!