Run #97 The Chicago Half Marathon
Scheduled / Actual: 10 miles / 13.1 miles at the Chicago Half Marathon, not to be confused with the incomparable Chicago Distance Classic (i'll elaborate later)
Temp/Time Of Day: upper 60's at start, but it sure got into the 70s quickly / Race Start 7:30
Official Time: 2:37:10!!!!! (4 minutes and 27 seconds faster than my half marathon in August!!!!!)
Pace: 11:59 minutes per mile / 5.008mph
Thoughts/Comments: I just can't believe it, I hit my target of 12 minute miles on the head....according to two different pace calculators, my overall/average pace per mile was 11:59!!! I am ecstatic about that, I've been on cloud nine...but let's start back at the beginning for the play by play, shall we?
I'm "off to the races" at 6am. I wanted plenty of time to find a place to park, hop on the bus if need be, etc... I ended up parking about 3/4 mile from the Museum of Science and Industry, where the race started, so I decided to leisurely walk over. I parked my car RIGHT across the street from a fire station. So I get to the general race area and I have time to relax a bit, stretch, whatever. Now I'm sitting at a park bench, waiting for my friend who is always late for everything. What's that? OH NO! Mosquitos! EVERYWHERE!!! Now I'm not your typical person...I'm one of the few people (or so I've been told) who is allergic to mosquitos. I swell up pretty bad. My last big bout with them back in 2001, my eyes swelled shut. I have gotten used to avoiding mosquitos, so I don't typically go out at dusk, etc... I got 5 bites. I was trying so hard not to scratch, cuz that makes the swelling bad. Long story short, I just let them burn-burn-burn, they were hurting. They never did swell up really huge, they're about the size of...maybe a little smaller than a baseball, which is not bad. And my skin is all bruised by the bites, too. BUT ANYWAY...next time I get mosquito bites I'll have to a) not scratch and b) run 13 miles.
So we're now at the starting line. And we're off! We're running. Ooooh, the sweat was burning my mosquito bites and I was starting to panic...what if I can't run? what if I have to stop? But I got ahold of myself real quick. So we run around Jackson Park and it was all shady and nice, nothing very spectacular or interesting, just getting into a comfortable pace...slow down, slow down, don't go too fast Lindy! My first mile was 11:03, according to my watch, and I noticed there was an 8 minute gap between the clock and my watch, because I was so far back from the starting line. (That's why watches are important for slower runners.) So I slow it down a bit. I skipped all the early water stations for the first 6 miles or so, relying on my own hydration system. I took my GU at Miles 4, 8 and 11. At mile 4, we headed out of the blessed shade of Hyde Park and onto Lake Shore Drive. It was so bright and although there was an occasional breeze, it felt awfully warm. So we're running and all is going well. I noticed at each mile marker that I was consistently about 2 minutes under pace...good! Keep it up, Keep it up, I kept telling myself. You're doing good! Then around mile 7 near the turnaround at Lake Shore Drive and 35th Street, I started noticing this pain in my right knee every few strides or so. DANGIT, it's this concrete, isn't it!!! Lake Shore Drive is a lot of concrete in certain areas, oh no, not my knee!! I'm 6 miles out! But it wasn't enough to stop running, so I kept going. Maybe it will go away. And it did, i forgot all about it by Mile 9 or so.
It was also around that time I saw this guy up ahead that looked familiar. He looked like this guy Steve L. from Univ of Illinois...a Kappa. Sure enough he started to walk, and it was him. I wanted to say hi, but I also didn't want to make a big deal of it or for him to then start paying attention to me and how I was running. Strange how anonymity in a crowd of 12000 runners can be important. Besides, I hadn't seen or talked to him since probably around 1993 or so. Last time I saw him was around Mile 10, he had picked up his pace. I checked for his finishing time, but his name didn't even register, so either he got married and changed his name or he wasn't really registered. My vote is for #2.
Anyway, back to me and MY run. Starting around Mile 8 (not sure) I did take water or Gatorade at a few of the aid stations, and used it as an opportunity to walk, just thru the stations. So we're coming back around to the museum at around 11 miles. SWEET! I don't know what it is about the 11-mile marker in a half marathon, it just makes me so TIRED to know that I have 2 miles left to go. So I decided to take my GU here and not at 12 miles. I walked and took my GU, swished water to rinse my mouth and spit it out right next to this lady who was cheering us on and holding up a sign--SORRY! (Yes, I told her sorry cuz that was kinda gross.)
At this point I decided to walk up to a light post ahead...any time I walked, I picked a spot up ahead where I'd start running, and not one that was too far away. So I hit it running again...and one other spot I walked for about 30 seconds as I drank some more Gatorade at an aid station. At that point, I was nearing the 12-mile mark. 1.1miles to go!!! Let's do it. There were sooooo many people walking at this point. I said, NOT ME, KEEP GOING. I was very, very close to making my pace, I knew it was going to be close. So I kept going, and kept going. I could hear the finish line ahead. I was ducking and dodging in between a bunch of walkers. KEEP GOING, KEEP GOING! I CAN HEAR ALL THE NOISE AT THE FINISH LINE....KEEP GOING! Then I saw it up up ahead. I looked down at my watch, and it said 2:36:03...OH NO!!! I wasn't sure exactly what 12 min pace was, but I knew I'd be over 12:00 at the rate I was going. But miracle of all miracles, I still had energy left!!!!! I sped up FAST (for me.) I was thinking, you can't keep this up thru the finish line! But I kept going!! GO! GO! GO! I noticed other finishers walking back on the course and I was thinking, I KNOW that's not the medal, is it? GO! GO! GO! GO! and I crossed the finish line, on my watch, at 2:37:07!!!!!! YAY!!!!! YAY!!!!!! As I was crossing I noticed one of the race volunteers was this guy Dale I knew from Univ. of Illinois. I couldn't really talk b/c at a finish line, you have to keep moving. So we said hi and that was it. With his fine self. Last I heard, he'd married the girl he was seeing and they had kids, and now he runs marathons. But anyways.....so that was my run. I called my fast and furious friend, and she was already back up at her car on 53rd Street and had already been to Starbucks. Oh well, we can't all be fast, but I was fast for ME.
So back to the half marathon itself, and comparing The Chicago Half Marathon (CHM) to the Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon (CDC):
The course. CHM course was decent enough, but I still don't see why it is (WAS) award winning back in 2005 according to Runners World. Winner: CDC. Nothing beats a Grant Park Finish. Plus if you have to compare running in the middle of downtown streets under el tracks versus running on the southern stretch of Lake Shore Drive, I'll take downtown streets anyday. True, you have a nice view of the lake and city with the CHM, but quite frankly, it's the same view from the lakefront path, so big whoop.
The weather. For running, September is always a safer bet than August, hands down. Winner: CHM.
The Race staff: Ok, here's a toughy. I really, REALLY liked that all the race staff and volunteers at the CHM were really easy to identify with their blue t-shirts. I couldn't tell you what the heck race staff or volunteers we wearing at the CDC. At the CDC, also, they RAN OUT OF GATORADE by the 8th mile or so...not acceptable, especially for slower runners, when John the Penguin (slow runner) is the race director. But on the flipside, the volunteers at the CHM were giving too MUCH Gatorade. Twice I was handed cups of Gatorade filled to the BRIM with Gatorade. Winner: Tie, only b/c running out of Gatorade may not have been the CDC race staff fault.
The crowd/cheering section. Hmmm. The crowds at the start and finish are about the same for both races. In the first 5 miles or so of the CDC there are a lot of people along downtown streets. But once you hit Lake Shore Drive (and not the actual street being shut DOWN completely), the crowd wanes significantly. No person in their right mind is going to cheer runners on with cars whizzing by behind them. And they don't tend to venture out to the lakefront path when the course cuts over there either. The crowd at the CHM has the benefit of Lake Shore Drive being completely shut down, so they were standing on the midway dividers cheering runners on at both sides. Also, the CHM had bands along the course, from alternative/indy rock to Hawaiian. Winner: CHM, hands down.
The goodie bag. To be honest, goodie bags are getting worse and worse, in my opinion. I like the long sleeve shirt we got from CHM, but it is cotton, which means it's only good for hanging out it. It would have been nice if it were a technical shirt. CDC stepped up its game this year with a technical shirt. This is a close one, because I do like a long sleeve t-shirt, but I'm gonna have to give it to CDC for the repetitive usefulness of a technical shirt. And a new technical shirt when all the others are STINKY from a summer full of running is a nice gesture. Winner: CDC
Finish Line/Medals Every finish line is a sight for sore eyes. The Grant Park finish, where the full marathon finishes, is a nice touch, but I won't even count that here. But the medals, oh my goodness the medals. There is no comparison. The medal we got at the CDC last year and this year (which I assume means it's always the case), they're so nice. They're solid, heavy. One side has a picture of Buckingham Fountain, the other has a penguin with John Bingham's favorite line "The miracle isn't that I finished, it's that I had the courage to start." And even the ribbon that holds the medal is really nice, and it has pictures of Buckingham Fountain and runners and it also says Chicago Distance Classic on it. Now the CHM medal, where do I begin? It's this super-bright fake looking gold. I mean, I know they're not real, but does it have to be so obvious?! My daughter's kiddie race medal looks better. The name of the sponsors is the largest part on there. It's light and the ribbon is this simple two-color thing that is pretty much an advertisement for "devine sports", who puts on the event. I'll have to take pictures of these and post it so you can see what I'm talking about. Winner: CDC by a landslide, despite the fact that each finisher is supposed to get an ice-drenched towel too, but they ran out. How does that happen? How do you run out unless other runners are taking more than one, or they're letting runners who don't have bib numbers (aren't registered) take a towel.
Overall winner: the Chicago Distance Classic. That being said, it's nice to live in a city that has multiple races and running experiences! I'd run the Chicago Half Marathon event again.