Hot Chocolate 15K

This was the inaugural year for Hot Chocolate 15K/5K. I happened upon this race while at the gym one day and saw the advertisement in the free Chicago Sports periodical I was perusing while on the elliptical. A race that gives you a free fleece, bag, running hat, and is sponsored by Hershey's...sign me up! Plus I thought it would be cool to run the only 15K in Chicago and I needed something to get me motivated/back in shape post wedding.

here I am all squinty mcgee at the start/finish before the race

The race took place on the north side of the city near the lake/around the lakefront paths. It was cold and I was glad I put the long sleeve shirt under A Shirt that Races but regretted shortly into my run. The starting coral was a free for all with the 15k starting 10 minutes prior to the 5k race. Even though there were multiple announcements telling the 5K runners to hold off on lining up several ignored the message and lined up anyways. There is a pic of me in the starting coral but seriously it is too scary to post! I had a goal of 9:00 min/miles as I had not put in the training I would have liked and am carrying around some extra weight post wedding. Since it was my first 15k ever it would be a PR no matter what!

Not quite centered...only 3/4 mile into the race

Miles 0-4 - I was questioning my desire to complete the race and even why I had even signed up in the first place. I started to get really warm in the long sleeve shirt with the sun baring down and my legs feeling like sand bags. The path was tricky, it was narrow, parts on a asphalt path, then gravel, then a sand hill. No consistency and a lot of josteling for position. It felt like every single person running the 15k had passed me and I was just standing still. That probably deflated me the most. I had to keep reminding myself this is supposed to be fun - no pressure - who cares; really it was me not wanting to write DNF on the back of the shirt that kept me going :)

Miles 4-5 - Now over halfway done I finally felt like myself. The sandbag legs had left. I was consistently hitting and even beating my goal pace. I started to pass a few runners. The race wasn't such a mistake after all.

Miles 6-8 - Seriously I kicked some butt here. I posted my best paces during these miles even though mile 7 was nearly all on a very uneven gravel/rock path right next to the lake. I felt really strong.

Miles 8-9.3 - Almost done. I hit a mini wall where I was just done once I saw the out and back for the last 1.3 miles. Sometimes it's just best for me that I don't know what's left/can't see too much of the course. I pushed through and then tried to pass as many as I could in the last 3/4 of a mile.

Apparently I'm just so fast the hubby could only get the back of the shirt! That clock in the corner is for the 5k runners - I wish I had that time!

There were no finisher medals passed out (boo!) but I think it's because they gave so much swag away in the goodie bag. Found my husband (aka race supporter) then it was off to find the chocolate that was promised. There was a ridiculous line for the food tent and it was even worse when we left. The hot chocolate I have to say was a disappointment. Tasted a bit smoky?!? Weird I know. And with all the Halloween candy I have left over and ridiculous line for that I didn't grab much but there was a good spread. I focused on the graham crackers, bananas, marshmallows and chocolate fountain. Yummy!

The stats:

Time: 1:21:42 (8:46 min/mi!)

661/1515 runners

82/256 in my division