Chicago Half Marathon Race Report

I contemplated training for Chicago's full marathon but then it sold before I could even start contemplating it. And wouldn't you know, there's a half marathon (not related) two weeks prior. To make it more fun, I got my sister to do it with me. That way I wouldn't feel bad about waking up at 5:30 am when I stayed at her place.

Through August and September, I struggled to adhere to Hal Higdon's intermediate half-marathon training plan. Too much life in the way, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But I made it with a couple of longish runs and noticed that after a few speed workouts and races, my pace was quicker with the same level of effort (heart rate). It seemed like something was working.

I toed the line with goal of finishing sub 1:50 with a stretch goal of sub-1:45. I planned to negative split, running 8:05 miles for the first half, and sub 8:00s for the second half. My finish time all depended on how far under 8 minutes I'd be on the last 6.5 miles.

I lined up within view of the 1:45 pace setter and planned to let him fade into the distance and then bring him back into view through my negative split strateegery. What I didn't plan on was the presumed inexperience of the pace setter. When the first mile clocked in at 8:30, the 1:45 sign disappeared into the distance in a hurry. I can imagine his thoughts were something like, "Uh-oh, we've got to pick it up here." And then he sprints to make up for it. And I went after it stupidly. The second mile was sub-8:00. Back and forth, we played the accordion, not really setting an even pace. By the 3.5 mile mark, I let him go and turned inward to run my race. Right at that point, my bladder turned outward and let me know that we weren't going to finish this race without stopping. (And if you know my bladder, you know that it doesn't joke around.) I made a quick stop, about 25 seconds worth, and continued on my way.

I saw my parents and cousin just after mile 4. You've got to love my Mom's enthusiasm. She puts it all out there, holding nothing back. I continued on, clocking some even 8:05 miles and crossed the halfway point in 52:08 on the chip, for a 7:58 pace. Maybe a touch too fast? We'll see. Along the way, I took water whenever I could, and slammed a Gu just before mile 5. Unfortunately the placement of the aide stations seemed random. And the Gatorade mix (provided at only two stations) was way too strong. My tummy started to talk back, so I held off on the liquids for a little bit. Miles 8 & 9 proved to be the toughest mentally. My body wanted to fall back on my comfortable training pace. I had to make active mental effort to continue to push my legs, knowing that they wouldn't fall off. I also would've taken my other Gu, but the lack of consistent water stations didn't allow me to.

At mile 10, I heard the family before I saw them, providing a much needed boost to the ego. I spent the next two miles trying to keep my pace under 7:50 to keep the negative split alive. It was during this time there were others actually pacing off of me. Me? As a pace setter? Never! The last mile and half I spent with Marty. We didn't talk, but had spent most of the day within sight of each other. He appeared to be a Galloway runner, walking after every mile to douse himself with water from a personal water bottle. He'd catch up, spend some time with me, move ahead for a while, then drop off for his walk and then repeat the process. He took an extra break at mile 12.6, and then raced ahead to cross the line ahead of me. (I beat his chip time, though!)

The finishing mile plays with your head. It's windy, and you think you'll see the finish line around the next gentle curve. It was never there. To further mess with your head, the organizers put a speaker way before the actual line, so what you thought was the finish announcer was really wasn't. Finally, after the last bend, the line was in sight. And, I'm sure there's plenty this guy in every race: the psycho guy yelling at himself, totally in the red, charging to the finish line. He zoomed by, scaring everyone with his torrent to the line. I struggled to muster up a finish sprint myself, and crossed the line with a 1:44:55 on my watch. Nice to see, but deep down I knew it wouldn't stick. I stretched my legs waiting for my sister and cousin to finish. I counted on my legs being sore, but I didn't count on my shoulder cramping up big time. I must've really scrunched up pumping out the last few miles. I dunno what happened, but it really hurt.

Aside from the plethora of water and Gatorade Endurance at the finish line, the food really was lacking. It was well organized, but the one banana, apple and teeny bag of pretzels was severely lacking. No cookies, bagels or any treats normally accustomed to finish line areas. This disappointment combined with the misplacement of aide stations are just enough for me to write to the race directors and share my thoughts.

My final chip time is 1:45:19, 24 seconds off my watch time. My watch, a Forerunner 305 is set to pause when I stop moving. So, when I ducked into the bathroom, it paused while I peed. (Normally I'm a speedster, this time it seemed to drag on and on and on.) So, it turns out the 24 seconds it took me to pee cost me my stretch goal. No matter. This is PR by over ten minutes. I'm really pleased with the improvements I've made in my running and I know there's a lot more potential within.

Final numbers:
Overall: 1:45:19 for an 8:02 pace
Finished 1105 of 8981 and 142 / 639 in my age group: (M30-34).
Splits: 0:52:08 / 0:53:11