My first time ever racing in the Soldier Field 10 Mile was a few weeks ago (yes racing season has begun and I’m already not great at writing about it. We felt like getting a few more runs under our belt before Yosemite’s Bass Lake Sprint Triathlon, I was worried about the hills and figured, why not go a greater distance and continue prepping like a madman on the weekends.

Soldier Field also had some pretty bomb shirts this year, so it was a win/win regardless. It’s also crazily inspiring to start and finish in Soldier Field, as well as receive a medal from a soldier, makes you feel like this was a pretty small feat compared to what they went through fighting for our freedom.

 The Weather: 

• The weather was low 50s when we started, which was perfect for a run. I always try to overcompensate with extra layers but I’m glad I didn’t – I’ve also gotten into the habit of checking the winds and it was mild that day, until you turned around so could’ve been way worse.

The Course: 

• This course was a fine one, I like when courses head south on the Lakefront to avoid the congestion of the north side, I never get to see that side too often unless I’m flying by a bike, so I enjoy the change in scenery.

The Gear: 

• Always repping Ballou Skies with a  t-shirt, needed my newer short compression socks, still obsessed with my Hokas and brought some Nuun with me to energize before & after the race, pretty standard of me.

Race Stats:

• Time: 01:35:05 (first time ever, so no comparisons yet)
• Overall: 2,466 out of 7,031 (yea, I’ll NEVER win a running race… ever)
• Female: 943 out of 3,939
• Female 25-29: 139 out of 507
• Pace per mile: 09:31

Next Race: 

• Yosemite Tri here I come…. ok so that already happened and so did Batavia Tri.. more on those soon!