Chicago Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Chicago, Illinois
United States
Chicago Half Marathon
Sunny
 		Total Time = 1h 50m 10s
Overall Rank = 1656/8986
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Stayed at my girlfriends place the night before which is right in the city so the commute wasn't going to be bad. Had a half of a bagel and a couple cups of coffee.
Event warmup:

After we parked, whew.....we hit the bathrooms and waited for a while. It was pretty chilly so we shivered a bit too. Did some stretching and pretty much just took it easy. We didn't race to get to the starting line or anything since the race was chip timed.
Run
  • 1h 50m 10s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 25s  min/mile
Comments:

I could tell at about mile 5 or 6 that I didn't drink enough the night before and also before the race. My mouth went dry and I pretty much knew there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it during the race except, obviously, take in water at the water stops. Also.....I didn't do a lot of training for this one. The last long run I had was probably 2 weeks prior. And then at about mile 10 or so I felt the ol' body start to shiver a little. I knew I was dehydrated but I wasn't going to stop. I muscled my way through the last few miles which were soooooo slow. My time was pretty good for the first 10 miles and then I started dragging. The last mile was tough.
What would you do differently?:

Ummmm drink more water the day before the race as well as that morning. Train better as well. I did a half mary about 3 weeks ago in Lake Zurich and felt pretty good. Didn't do a whole lot of long runs since then so I don't think my body was as ready for this one either. So.......I would train more.
Post race
Warm down:

Layed in the grass for about an hour. Did some stretching. Ate my rationed food. We were allowed 1 banana, 1 apple, 1 small bag of pretzels and 1 yogurt cup. A little chincy on the food I would say. Did some more stretching and then we left.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Training and hydration

Event comments:

What a great race. Except for the food at the end everything was top notch. I'll be back next year. I highly recommend this race to anyone looking for a relatively flat and very scenic half marathon.




Last updated: 2006-09-28 12:00 AM
Running
01:50:10 | 13.1 miles | 08m 25s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/8986
Performance: Average
Course: The course was great. It was pretty much all flat except for a hill going northbound on Lake Shore Drive. The weather was really nice for running. A little on the cool side so you never really felt like you were overheating. The crowds were great and they were everywhere!! Even on the overpasses on Lake Shore Drive. And at the end it really made you feel like a superstar. Definately a fun course! Very scenic too. Running northbound on Lake Shore Drive you get a great view of the Chicago skyline.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5