Last Sunday was the day of the big race. My biggest fear was waking up late for the race so I set two alarm clocks to make sure that I would be up on time. I got up about 4 a.m. and had something to eat. My pre-race food was a mini wheat bagel with almond butter, salt and flax seeds, a banana and a glass of water. I just read the other night that the days before the race it was a good idea to add some salt to your food. Luckily I have been eating tomatoes with a sprinkling of salt for dinner the past week. Sometimes I do the right things by sheer luck.
After eating my snack, I took a quick shower and put on my race gear. Since I had laid out all my running stuff the night before, I didn’t have to do much thinking in the morning. I had bought a new running hat at the Expo that I was so tempted to wear but then I remembered that you should not be trying anything new on race day so I wore my old hat. The part that took me the longest was putting on the race bib. I had to put on my race belt first and then adjust my bib over the belt. Once I was dressed, my dad drove me downtown to the race around 4:45 a.m.
It was an interesting site seeing all these people heading toward the race area in Grant Park. Our plan was that our running group would meet at the CARA gear check tent around 5:45 a.m. Soon our group was all gathered by the tent as most of us expressed our anxiety about running the race. Before we headed to our Coral (#25), we took our last bathroom break. The start of the race was 6:30 a.m.
Once at the Coral, the race became very real. I was so glad that I was running the race with our group which consisted of Karen, Megan, Ellind, Megan and me. There was a wave start to the race which meant that the first coral would leave and then about a minute later the next coral would leave and so on. By the time it was our turn, it was about 7:00 a.m. Once we started running there was no turning back.
Since this Half Marathon was part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll series of races, there were bands scheduled every mile or so. As we began our race we were greeted by a band singing Jessie’s Girl. Megan’s dad was at the race and we saw him just after we started racing perched on the side of the road taking our picture. The first part of race took us through the streets of downtown Chicago. Maneuvering around the other racers was not something that we practiced so that was a challenge. Since it was warm in the morning we made sure to grab some water at each of the aid stations. After about mile 3 our group wanted to stop for a bathroom break. We stopped at one port-a-john and were told that there were more down a few blocks. When we got there, there was another line so we ended up using the bathroom at Starbuck’s across the street. It was nice to go on a real toilet. Thanks Starbucks!
As we were running toward the Art Institute, we saw Megan’s dad again on the stairs of a CTA station taking our picture. It was like a game – Where is Megan’s dad now? As a feature of the race you could sign up to track a runner so you would always know where they are. As we were heading down Michigan Avenue, I was overheating so I had to slow down and my group got ahead of me. During this time, I saw my friend Christine on the side of road cheering me on. It was great to have some moral support along the way especially since I was not running with the group anymore.
As part of the race route, we went through the bowels of McCormick place. I ran this same way on Thursday night and hate this part of the race. I don’t like running through something that looks like an alley and is dark. I was glad to see daylight again.
At about mile 10, my right leg was cramping which forced me to walk/run the rest of the race. This is not how I wanted to finish the race but I had no choice. Also, I was starting to chafe on the inner thigh of my left thigh. These things never happened to me running before so I guess your body starts to break down after mile 10. Since my walking forced me to slow down, it was really difficult to run when so many people were walking on the path. It also didn’t help that the path in the last miles was very narrow.
Along the last miles, one of the stops gave you a wet sponge to wipe yourself. I really enjoyed that since I was soaked with sweat. Soon I was at the Shedd Aquarium which meant that the race was almost over. As I saw finish line, it took the last of my energy to run the last .1 miles to the end but I crossed the line running with my arms raised in my victory pose. As soon as the runners crossed the finish line, we were handed a cold bottle of water. Before going out of the finish area, each runner got their picture taking. By the time I got to the picture area, I had finished my bottle because I was so thirsty. I had hoped to finish with my group but that was not in the cards today. Also, in the runner’s area we got our medal for finishing.
After the race, I met up with my friend and headed to the gear tent to pick up my stuff. I ran into one of the Megans at the tent. It was good to see at least someone from the group. Once I had my stuff we went over to a hotel on Michigan Avenue and used their bathroom to change into dry clothes. We then headed home and met later at a beer garden to celebrate. My body was spent after the race and so all I could do was just sit around and do nothing.
That about wraps up race day. I found out that my time for the race was about 2:53. I will also have to debrief about the race tomorrow.
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