Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

It got real hot real fast. By the first mile I was pouring in sweat. Opted to walk all aid stations as part of the strategy to keep cool. I felt great, my body was fluid and the pace was a tad slow for me. I figured with a lack of training there was no sense in trying to PR, just get the miles in and resolve to train better for the rest of the summer leading up to Chicago. Staying cool was a real battle today, although they did a really nice job keeping the course stocked with ice, water, etc. I ran solid until about mile 6, and then was walking some. I took it with a grain of salt- I have been terrible about getting long runs in, and my longest run to date has been 9 miles. I was not risking injury or overheating today, just not worth it.

Train. You get what you train for. Considering my lack of training this wasn't really that bad. You get what you train for. Period. (redundancy intentional)

Finishers chute had chocolate milk!!! I've become a devotee of the LF chocolate milk recovery. Grabbed a Jamba Juice smoothie, some water, and pretzels. Didn't have time to socialize, I needed to get home and nap before work. When I took my shoes off, each shoe was completely waterlogged! The sweat, the water I was pouring on myself, and the sprinklers soaked me sufficiently. Waterlogged shoes definitely slowed me down though.


My utter lack of training.


OK, I am not a big fan of huge corporate races, but I have to say this is one of the best 13.1's I have ever done. The organization was phenomenal, the volunteers kicked butt, and the music acts were great. After doing this race today I'm definitely planning on registering for the RnR Vegas 1/2. This is a good race- if you want to race in downtown Chicago this is one to do.