Chicago women's half marathon recap

1:46:15 (a 1 minute PR!)

24/ 479 for my AG (top 5%)

89/ 2365 for overall (top 3.7%)

Pre race:



The day before I ran/ walked 11 miles with my man.



Then I ate a burrito as big as my head for dinner. Hey!? Rice are carbs right!?! No spicy sauce I know better than that.


I had no expectations going into this race. I determined early on (and with the guidance of my coach) Because of the heat that I would run negative splits/ progressive run for this race as this is not my goal race.


I did not see a single dude running this race. I ran the Nike women's marathon in 2010 and did see men running it. None here. Not a single one


Walked over to grant park from my place at 6:10 for the 7am start. I love the races close to my apt!


Ate a power bar smoothie berry flavor for breakfast (hour prior) and a Gatorade prime plus a salt tab 15 minutes pre race. I was a ball of nerves and don't really know why. This race wasn't a goal- I signed up for it since it was reasonably priced $65 and was close proximity to my home and gave out a shirt,medal and yoga mat too.

Wore my green Nike lunar racers (first time in a half- wear them on other long runs), MC bra, Nike sea foam tank, Aspaeris pivot shorts.


Soon we were off! I started around the 8:00 pace corral (1:45 finish) to ensure a smooth start. I quickly fell behind the 1:45 group and the 1:50 group within the first few miles. I wanted to be conservative in the heat. The course went south on the lakefront and then returned to Balbo and Columbus Dr for the finish. I always had the 1;50 group in sight- I was about 30 seconds behind them before the first half. I decided I needed to be passing them at the 6-7 mile mark.

(my splits for your viewing pleasure)

And so I did. I passed the 1:50 group and never looked back. In fact for the rest of the race no one passed me. I must have passed over a hundred people. It was fun.


I took a Gu jet blackberry at mile 4, and took a cherry lime roctane at mile 8-9 along with some mango salt strips. I also carried water with me the entire time and never stopped at a water station. Except the last one where I grabbed some water and dumped it on my head. It felt amazing By the way.

While the temps were approaching 80, I just kept chugging along the lakefront. Thank god it was overcast during this point. Soon I was back near the Shedd aquarium with a mile to go and eminems Lose yourself came on my iPod and I started kicking harder. The finish seemed to take forever and I started sprinting as fast as my legs would allow. I felt so sick to my stomach but could not allow myself to stop or slow down until after crossing the finish mat. Pain is nothing, compared to what it feels like to give in. 'Nuff said.


I was so happy to break my PR by a minute, but even more excited to have made an extreme negative split with 7 miles at or significantly below my goal marathon pace for this race. In the heat.


Post race thoughts:

#1,don't stay up until 11pm watching the UFC fights the night before the race. 

This race was fun. It seemed extremely well organized. I never experienced crowding on the course. There were ample aid stations, plus the water fountains on the course. I love the medal and thought the yoga mat was a nice touch. I also like the shirt design too. I'd definitely run this race next year. Thank you volunteers! Go fleet feet!

Post race celebrations included some IPA, Vander Mill Cider and a grilled cheese with Swiss, ham
And pineapple.

83 days until the Fox valley marathon.


- xaar