Chicago Half Marathon

This morning I ran the Chicago Half Marathon. I was pretty nervous about it because my training had not been that great. I had a great training plan, but a lot happened this summer that sort of got in the way. For starters, the house remodel and basement disaster left me without a treadmill for a few weeks (I run long runs outside, but usually do my shorter, mid-week runs on the treadmill in our basement either in the morning or when the kids are napping). Also, our whole family got so sick earlier this summer and it eventually got to me too, leaving me unable to run at all for about 3 weeks. So I abandoned my training plan and just spent the past month trying to get in some long runs. I knew I could finish, and I felt fairly confident I could break 2 hours (my goal from last year), but I did not think I could break my time from last year (1:56:53). Well, I guess I was in better shape than I thought because I broke my time by almost 2 minutes to run 1:55:04. Even though I didn't do my intense training program, I had an entire year of consistent running since last year's race and consistently ran at least 6 miles every weekend since then (including all throughout the winter).

This was my first race solo, and I can tell you that I really missed my running partner, Theresa. We always laugh because I always feel so good in the middle and she comes on so strong at the end when I am faltering, so we work well to carry each other through our respective rough patches. And this race was no different! I felt great when I started and went out a bit too fast. I ran 5 miles in 41 minutes, 7 miles in 57 minutes and then I started to feel it sometime after that. I knew I was going fast (I was well ahead of the 1:50 pacer for quite a while), but I kept hearing Theresa in my head saying, "Well, if you feel good, just go with it!" as she told me in many previous races, so I did. And then my legs started to protest my efforts. This is where more training would have helped as I think my legs would have been able to hang on a little better. Oh well, I watched the clock and knew I could still make a PR if I just kept running, even slowly. So I hung on the best I could and did my last 5k in just under 30 minutes, but I finished with a PR! I had to keep going because I knew I had some fantastic cheerleaders waiting for me somewhere between mile 12 and 13...

That's right...the best husband in the world got up this morning and brought the kids downtown to watch me run! And I cannot even begin to tell you how much motivation they gave me, knowing they were going to be near the end of the race cheering me on! And in between, I guess they found some sand to play in too!

Here I am at mile 12.5...very ready to be done! You can see from this picture that everyone wore red, white and blue in honor of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Also, a 9/11 NY fire truck led the first 4 miles of the race. 9/11 was very much on our minds and in our hearts, even though we were running!

Yay - done!!

Thank you Paul for supporting me and bringing the kids down. And thank you Theresa for being with me throughout the race, even if it was just in my head!