Bump Up in Starting Coral

I recently signed up for the Chicago Shamrock Shuffle, an 8K being held in March, running through downtown Chicago. I am excited, as it runs past the building I work at in the south Loop and has a cut off of 30,000 people. I have never run with so many people in a race before.

I ran a handful of races last year and had times good enough to qualify for an upgrade to a seeded start, as opposed to the open corral. I was pretty stoked when I received the e-mail after I registered, as this means my hard work from last year is proving to me I really am a runner. I know this is probably no big deal for most, but this is encouraging to me and has given me a boost to continue training hard. I often find myself needing motivation, especially in the dark, long and cold winter months, every little bit helps.

I am on the corporate running team at work and the Shamrock Shuffle will be the season’s first event to count in the Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA) corporate circuit this year. These races consist mostly of 5K and occasional 10K runs. Our team took first place in this circuit for the past two years. However I did not place in any races last year to provide points for the team, other than help to make the minimum number of runners required from each corporation. However I do find it encouraging running with a group and have appreciated the camaraderie it offers. I live 50 miles from where I work, so getting together on a regular basis with others from the team is not easily accomplished. I also take the train into the city so I am tethered to the train schedule.

Nonetheless, I am excited about the bump in my starting group and plan to push my training along to my goal time of 2:10 for the Madison half.