Chicago – Done!

To say this morning's Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half-Marathon was a challenge would be an understatement. Although race time was 6:30am, the temperature was already close to 80 degrees and there was no breeze to speak of. I knew I was in trouble when I reached my 10-mile target time (1:35) at the 9-mile marker. I was averaging a 9:15 minute mile at that point so I knew I would be close to 10 minutes off of my overall target time. There wasn't any way I'd be able to beat my PR of 1:55.

All in all, I finished in 2:08:26 (that's an average 9:48 pace) which, coincidentally, is my worst time ever for a half-marathon – Yikes! However, the weather conditions for this race were the most extreme of all the half-marathons I've run so I know that was a huge factor. After mile 9, I literally took walking breaks after each water station which were 1-mile apart.

Disappointed, YES, but having just reviewed the results on-line, I still managed to place in the Top 3^rd in my age group (Male 55-59) so that tells me I didn't fair too badly amongst my peers. It was a very tough race and I knew I was overheated – thus, I made sure to stop at every water station and took in both water and Gatorade.

Highlights of this race were sponges soaked in ice cold water at around mile 11 and washcloths soaked in ice cold water at the finish line – what a relief they provided!

Oh, and my favorite tee-shirt was worn by a young woman and it read "Just give me my medal and no one will get hurt". That really made me chuckle and it came at a great time during the race to uplift me a bit and stop focusing on how terrible I felt. And – it worked for about a mile!

I am now home in Pennsylvania, safe and sound, and have yet another half-marathon experience under my belt. My lesson learned here is that there will be extreme conditions that will influence my performance along the way. Just suck it up and move on!

Safe Running Folks!
John