On Saturday, January 26th I ran the 2019 F3 5K.  It was my first race of 2019!  Previously I had run the F3 Half Marathon in 2016, 2017 and 2018.  I was looking forward to trying out the F3 5k this time.  While the weather did not cooperate, this race was a reminder of the value of teamwork.

I signed up for the F3 5k on a sunny, above normal winter day.  “With the weather we are having in Chicago this winter, it’s bound to be good weather for F3!”  I jinxed us.  Blame me for the polar vortex, Chicago, I got too cocky.  Saturday morning temperatures were in the single digits, with wind chills below zero.  Not the best weather to try and race a 5k.  The silver lining?  At least I wasn’t running the half!

Like last year, I coached the EDGE F3 half marathon training group.  Prior to race day, I spoke with athletes about what they would wear for the half marathon while I contemplated what to wear for the 5k.  When temperatures are in the single digits and the windchill is below zero, you need to cover every inch of skin.  When the group met before the race, we stared jars of vaseline, loaned out hats and gloves, and helped zip each other into proper winter gear.

One thing I love about the race is the ability to stay indoors in Soldier Field until the race start.  Due to the weather, race officials conducted the national anthem and announcements inside and then sent waves out based on paces.  The faster runners went out first while the rest waited indoors.  Luckily, the F3 5k started at 10:30 am, half an hour after the half marathon.  5k runners got a chance to wait inside a bit longer in the hopes of the temperatures being slightly warmer. Fat chance.

In previous years, I had run the F3 half marathon with November Project friends.  This year, two of my Nike Windrunner teammates, Lydia and AJ, joined me, along with Liz, a friend and athlete I coach.  If I was going to be crazy, I might as well do it with friends!  As the half marathon began, Lydia, AJ, Liz and I began our warmup.  We ran for 15 minutes outside and then went back inside to do drills, stretches and strides before lining up at the start.

I’m the one looking at the ground wondering why the heck I was actually about to run. 

The F3 5k course follows the same path as the half marathon.  It’s an out-and-back course.  5k racers run around Soldier Field until just south of McCormick Place before turning around to go back.  The four of us stayed as a pack, taking turns blocking the wind for each other and hanging onto the pace.  We all had the same goal of running sub 20 minutes in the 5k and knew that with the weather we would have to work together.

My lungs burned with the cold air.   I just wanted it to be over.  After the first mile, I felt my pace dropping.  It wasn’t the fitness that I lacked to hold pace, I think it was my lungs straining against the cold air.  Luckily, the EDGE cheer station is set up right at the 5k turn around.  Coach Robyn was there and ran with me for a few yards.  “Don’t be afraid to make it hurt!” she yelled.  It already WAS hurting, is what I would have replied had I been able to talk.

5k races are terrible in that you redline the entire time.  My brain was going WHAT THE HELL! and my vision was simultaneously blurred and hyper-focused.  Compared with ultras, in which I can zone out for a while and day dream, 5ks are an internal dumpster fire.  Alarm bells ringing in my body, fire in my muscles, and a panicked voice dropping F bombs in my head.  They’re awful.

Our run squad broke up, with AJ taking off ahead of us, and then Lydia.  Liz and I stuck with each other for most of the next mile before she began to inch forward.  I could see them all in the distance and willed my body to go faster, but couldn’t pick it up.  Finally it was over.

My final time was 20:50.  Better than the 5k I ran on New Year’s Day (21:05), but slower than the 5k I ran at the beginning of December (20:25).  However, I could tell that fitness and speed has improved.  My lungs were the limiter this time, due to the cold temperatures.

While we all missed running below 20 minutes, we really worked as a team today.  Together, we took second through 5th place!  I’m proud I could race with these ladies and experience the crazy weather.  It’ll be something we laugh about in the future!

The 2019 F3 5k is definitely a race I’ll remember.  It was the coldest race I’ve ever run, and the first one I ran with my Windrunner teammates.  Next year, I hope to return to the half marathon.  I would rather race a half than a 5k any day!

Happy running,

Becca