Chicago Half-Marathon - Sept. 8, 2002

I ran this as a tune-up for next month's Chicago Marathon. I wanted to break 2 hours, which I thought was do-able as I ran 2:01 last year (which included a bathroom stop).

My morning started really early, as I had to drive to the race from Gurnee (1.5 hours w/traffic). The driving kind of threw off my usual pre-run routine. I normally would've drank more water in the hour and a half preceeding my run, but I couldn't since I had to wait to get to the race to use the bathroom. I got to the race site at 7AM, and immediately headed for the portapotty. HUGE lines. Apparently there were more around the corner with no lines, but by the time I was told that I was near the front of the line. I got done with that with 3 minutes to spare.

Once again, the start area was a huge mess. My parents said that there were approx. pace min/mile signs, but they weren't high enough for people to see. There was a fence that ran along most of the start area, so it was hard to get it to where I thought I needed to be. I'm guessing others had the problem of not being able to see the pace signs, as I had to dodge a TON of walkers, who should've been at the very back.

Anyway, I actually heard the gun go off, and it took about 3 minutes to get to the start. I'm glad they used chips this year so I could get an accurate finish time. My first mile was faster than I intended- with having to dodge so many people I couldn't get a good idea of my speed. After that first mile I settled into a good pace- it still felt a little fast, but it was one I thought I could hang on to for awhile. However, after mile 5, my legs started to somewhat feel the effects of the fast start. I figured shifting to around 9:15-9:30 would still allow me to reach my goal.

Around mile 8 was the first station with Powerade. It was a pretty warm day, and even though I had been taking water at the aid stations beforehand, I was starting to feel a little dehydrated. None of the pre-race materials had said what the flavor would be, and I assumed that it would be a standard flavor (yellow, red or blue like last year). I skipped the water station, and went straight to the Powerade. To my great surprise, it was green. I have no idea what flavor it was, but since I was thirsty I went ahead and drank it.

Not too long after the Powerade, I developed a huge, horrible stomach cramp. It was awful. I tried stopping to stretch it out, but it was no good. From this point on, my race basically fell apart. The combination of the painful cramp and tired legs plus heat slowed me down a lot. I ended up coming in much behind where I wanted, which was a huge disapointment.

So I was unhappy/upset enough, but then the post-race refreshments were terrible! Water and Powerade were only available behind the finish chute, and they had been left sitting out. Once you left the finish chute, you could not go back in. I had assumed that there would be more drinks with the food (there were last year), but this was not the case- I had to go back and ask a volunteer to take pity on me and get me more. The actual food was a disappointment- the one area had bananas, potato chips, cappucino power bars, some sweet bar, and breadsticks and chocolate. The 2nd area had a huge line, and I was told that they had yogurt and no bagels, but danish rolls. What kind of a race doesn't have bagels? And why so much junk food? Since I didn't want to wait in the long line for yogurt, all I got was a banana (I like power bars, but not cappucino).

There were some good things, though. There was a mini-expo in Chicago the day before, where we could get our packets. My mom and I went, and while we were in Chicago, we went to Fleet Feet. She got new shoes and I got a bunch of fun running stuff. While there, we sat next to a guy that was running the half, too. I ended up running with him for a little bit in the race, and we ran into each other after the race. It was his first race, and he broke 2 hours. During the race, I think I saw a guy I went to high school with, which is random since I went to high school in the St. Louis suburbs. There were some Irish dancers that we passed along the course twice- they were really interesting.

Splits:
01 | 08:42
02 | 09:00 | 0:17:43
03 | 09:03 | 0:26:47
04 | 09:01 | 0:35:48
05 | 08:59 | 0:44:47
06 | 09:11 | 0:53:58
07 | 09:27 | 1:03:25
08 | 09:27 | 1:12:53
09 | 09:50 | 1:22:43
10 | 10:17 | 1:33:00
11 | 10:14 | 1:43:15
12 | 10:03 | 1:53:18
13.1 | 10:42 | 2:04:01
Chip time = 2:04:01

I ended up being really sore that day, and the next day, which upset me since I didn't feel like I ran well enough to warrant that. I'm hoping it was just a combination of heat, weird Powerade and mild dehydration that caused this.

Taking this race into account, what would be a reasonable goal for my marathon? I ran 4:24 last year (with a 2:45 16 miler, and 2:01 half under my belt). I ran 16 miles the weekend before last in 2:36, and I still have 20 and 18 mile runs left.

Thanks for reading,
Marisa