Shamrock Shuffle race plans

Chicago's popular Shamrock Shuffle takes place this weekend!

Getting into the spirit of things at last year's Shuffle

The weather forecast has been shifting around over the past few days. Right now they are saying possible rain. Fingers crossed any precipitation holds off until the afternoon! If conditions are reasonable, I hope to make this a PR attempt.

My current 8K PR is 44:12, which is about an 8:53 pace. I set this PR at the 2012 PAWS Run For Their Lives - so it's been awhile. Granted, at the time I was at the tail end of my Chicago Marathon training cycle. I was also about 15 pounds heavier. Basically, a lot of things have changed since then.

I feel I've made a lot of training improvements in the last several years. Admittedly, I haven't done any 8K-focused speedwork since I'm more focused on incline work these days. Even so, I feel reasonably confident that I am capable of achieving a new PR.

My hope, as discussed with Pete (aka the master of race strategy), is to run a negative split - or at least an even split.

Even though I've had very good success on the rare occasions I managed to execute a negative split, I still get terrified during the first mile or two. I think I fear starting out too slowly and then not being able to pick it up later on. (This has happened in training, particularly during long runs.)

That aside, here's my "perfect-world" plan:

Mile 1: Start out easy, maybe around a 9:00-9:10 pace. Don't let the crowd pressure get to me.
Miles 2-4: Try to maintain around an 8:45-9:00 pace, gradually working down closer to 8:45 or better with each subsequent mile.
After the 4-mile marker: Try to pick it up as best as possible. In the final 0.5 mile, gun it and hold on for dear life!!!

Now, the biggest challenge, of course, is actually executing this plan.

Pace strategy aside, I am also thinking about running by feel instead of relying on the Garmin. I know my Garmin's readings will likely be thrown off by all the tall buildings downtown. Plus, having to run through that tunnel at Columbus and Wacker at the course start always messes things up. So it would probably behoove me to take my Garmin with a grain of salt, regardless.

I am nervous about this weekend. At the same time, I am trying not to put too much pressure on myself. After all, we do these races for fun, right?

Here are words that I am trying to live by:

Take a deep breath and shuffle on!!! =)