Preparing For Bucktown 5K

A week from tonight, I will be anxiously anticipating the Chicago Marathon which will take place on Sunday, October 10, 2010. In that race, I will be guided by two men gracious enough to volunteer to be my eyes, Rich Karnia and Peter Mullen. Until recently, I had never met Rich Karnia. The first time we met was at the CARA Ready To Run 20 Miler where he guided me for the first ten miles of that event. As of this entry, I have never met Peter. That will change in the morning when he and I will take part in the Bucktown 5K presented by Ram Racing. Peter has never guided someone in a race so I figured the 5K would be a great way for him to see what it is like while also experiencing race day conditions. I plan to take it slow the first mile as he figures out how to best communicate the information needed for me to run comfortably. As we move through the 5K course, I am sure Peter will find his comfort zone and we will be able to push ourselves a bit. Then hopefully, by the end of the race, we will conclude with a splendid sprint to the finish. It will be nice to run faster in this event than I did a few weeks ago at the GLASA Twilight 5K, but the main purpose is to give Peter a chance to experience guiding under race day conditions to best prepare him for the longest run I have ever done when Rich, Peter, and I work together to tackle 26.2 miles in one of the greatest races in the world.