Race Recap - Chicago Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon (AKA the longest post ever and I totally forgive you if you don't make it until the end)

This has been staring at me for so long - I don't know even where to start! All around, this proved to be an AMAZING experience for me, from start to finish. Just perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better inaugural half. Truly.

Let's start back at Friday morning. I had been arguing with myself whether or not to run Friday, or to just take an extra rest day in prep for the half. I set the alarm anyhow, figuring I'd see how it went. My leg had been bugging me, but not hurting, so as soon as the alarm went off, the excuses in my head started, but I knew they were all bullshit. I dragged myself out of my bed (BED GRAVITY! IT IS STRONG!) and got dressed and headed out. WOW! I was so glad I did! It was one of those rare perfect mornings - 65 degrees, no humidity, and I felt like I could fly. I smiled the entire run - seriously! I logged a PR for the mile and for the 5k, and I didn't feel like I was working hard at all. And with that, all my nerves about Sunday's race flew out the window.

Friday night we had friends over for dinner (steaks on the grill - yum!) and my 2 older kids came home from their camping trip. So I really had no time to think about the race or the Expo. I went to bed too late, but had a lovely relaxing evening.

Saturday morning, I wanted to get up and get moving. My plan was to hit the Expo by 10 and hang out for a bit before hopefully meeting a couple bloggers. I got there with no issues and made my way from the HOT parking garage into the expo. I picked up my packet, and started to explore. I wasn't sure what to expect - it was big and rather overwhelming for a first-timer! I wandered aimlessly, found a super-cute Bondi-band, and headed over to the stage, where I sat and waited for Kara Goucher to start.

Kara was warm and engaging - I loved her instantly. And I didn't know previously that she outright WON R-n-R Chicago last year. As in beat the boys! Amazing! I was keeping a lookout for T and Katye, but I didn't see them (afterwards I learned that they were stalking a front row spot for autographs and pictures - I should have known!) so I browsed a bit more before hitting the Running Skirts booth. It was there that I found T, Katye, Courtney and Courtney's TNT friend Becca. I got T's attention by MISPRONOUNCING HER NAME (yes, I am a loser) and introduced myself.

They were all so warm and fun! We spent a while meandering around the expo and they were gracious enough to invite me out to lunch with them. We met at Flat Top Grill, which I highly recommend - yum! It was so fun to spend the day with people who get why I do this - who love this thing that I love as much or more than I do. We had a great time chatting, and left full and tired after making plans to hopefully meet up in the morning. Check out their blogs for some fun pictures (I had forgotten my camera - boo).

So, I made my way home, through traffic that was not bad at all (SCORE!) and should have been prepping for the next morning. But I couldn't want to. So I prepped the kids at least, put everyone to bed early, and crashed by about 9:30. And SLEPT! I was surprised - this race had been keeping me up for days, but the night before, I managed good sleep (double SCORE!). The alarm went off at 3:30 and I popped out of bed, while my husband groaned and rolled over, pulling the covers over his head.

We managed to get everyone up and out the door by 4:45 (only 15 minutes later than planned - not too bad!) and didn't hit traffic til we got down there. Earlier in the week, my husband learned that his coworker lives 2 blocks from the finish line. His wife was also running it, and he offered up parking (triple SCORE!) in his building. It took us a bit to get everything situated, and was after 6 by the time we got down there, but I was in corral 24, in a wave start, so we were ok, I just didn't have time to meet up with T, Katye, and Courtney again.

Me and the Crew, pre-race. Julia looks thrilled - the drama is always thick.

I immediately hit the potty (no lines - yay!) and made my way to my corral. I spent the 40 minutes (!!!) til my wave left watching people, listening to the emcee, and trying not to stress out. I found John and the kids again as I got up to the front. Seeing them there was really great! Even though my youngest started crying and trying to get to me...poor baby!

Can you see me????

Before I knew it, we were running! I felt great, seriously great, and I was having so much fun! The first miles flew by, and I was running right on pace and walking all the water stops. Running through the city, and all the bands, and all the crowd support was really amazing. Cheer squads, crazy people (seriously - who wants to high 5 all those sweaty hands!?!) all the energy was AMAZING. And at mile 5 I spotted my family!

Still smiling, 5 miles in....

I thought the course was really well supported, with water stops right when I felt like I needed one. I will say that running through the tunnel at McCormick place SUCKED ASS - it was hot, it was dark, there were holes in the pavement all over. But other than that, I was loving it. I took a GU in the tunnel (since I was walking anyways) between miles 6 and 7 or so, and then we ran along Lake Shore Drive for a bit. This part is where it started to get rougher for me, but I was still doing pretty well. By the time we hit the bike path, I was struggling. I knew I'd have to find a potty soon, but there were all these lines, and I didn't want to wait. And we had to watch the speedier runners coming back, dreaming about hopping across the grass to their side!

Shortly after mile 10, on my way back north along the bike path, the potty need was too much. There was a line of course, but I hit it anyway. A nice man came up to us and pointed out 4 more potties hiding, so I ran to one of those (back where I came from - I was running the wrong way!!) and barely made it in time! Felt so good! But now my momentum was dead. I was tired. I was walking more. And I briefly considered walking the rest. Ugh.

In the end, what made me run more was that walking it would TAKE TOO DAMN LONG and I wanted it to be done. Now. I kept saying to myself, if I run, I can see my family in 15 minutes. If I run, it's only 12 more minutes. What can I say? It kept me running most of the time.

And then I could see the end (and damn all those who kept saying "it's just around the corner!" That "corner" took forever to arrive!) and I had no kick left. But I ran it in, and my husband and I spotted each other for a few pics.

WAHOO!! ALMOST DONE!!!

I finished! I got my medal, icy towel (AWESOME) and my popsicle (AWESOMER) and snagged a water. My legs weren't moving well, but I shuffled along, determined to keep moving to avoid cramping up. I was DONE.

I think this is long enough - I have thoughts on the race, what I could have done differently, and the fact that John got rid of this kids before I was done that I'll share with you tomorrow. I was SORE AS HELL last night, but actually feel decent today (yay!) so a recovery run is on deck tomorrow - nervous for that. I'll lev you with a few more pictures...

John and the kids at the fountain...


I never got my photo taken with my medal! I'll have to correct that for sure next time....