2010 Chicago half marathon race report!

I ran the Chicago half yesterday and had an awesome 2:16 race, a course PR !

Background: I had run this race two years ago when 10 weeks preggo with the little toddler man and managed a 2:30 in the pouring rain. I ran it last year and PR'd in 2:18. (I've since PR'ed at 2:12 in a different half in June of this year). Above, from left, Frances (who I just met yesterday), Lori, Vern and me. Lori and Vern are part of my regular running crew that meets every Wednesday for our "5 at 5" -- five miles at 5 a.m. They are awesome!

I had a rough start to race morning, as M was up off and on teething and crying from 12:45 to 3 a.m. Poor little guy. After that I just dozed till 4:15 and got up to wait for my friend Eric to pick me up at 5. (It was his first half marathon and he did great!) The start of the race was really nice, clear skies and 50s-temps. I was worried about it getting warm, though the race was moved to a 7 a.m. start from the usual 7:30 a.m. because of the Chicago Bears home opener later that day.

I started running with my running buddies, but by the second mile I was pulling ahead. I just felt GREAT.  I don't think I've ever had a better half. I never got overheated, either, which was huge. My right IT band grumbled a bit but a couple of stretch breaks kept it calm. There was one annoying thing in the race. Around mile 2-3 there was this guy who kept coughing, kind of like he was forcing it, really loud about every 20 seconds. Everyone around me was like what the heck?? I was happy that he passed me, though surprised because he totally did not look like a guy in shape to run a half (I know, I know, but you shoulda seen the gut on this guy). Unfortunately I caught up with him around mile 5 or 6 but was able to pass him and not have to listen to that anymore.

Anyway, I ran the remaining 11 solo and only started to really drag near the 12-mile marker.  I crossed the finish line exactly at 9:31 a.m. and had told the hub to look for me at 9:30. He knows I'm usually at least a few minutes behind what I think I'll finish a race at, so he and M missed me, but I found them pretty quickly after the race, despite more than 13,000 finishers. Man this race has gotten big! But it was a great day.