On Sunday July 21st, I ran the 2019 Chicago Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon.  This was my second time running this race (last time was 2009), and it was my 13th (?) half marathon.  I might be missing one or two halfs.  Linking up with Fairytales and Fitness for this race recap.

Training

There were two reasons I decided to run the Chicago Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon as a benchmark race.  First, I am in the middle of training for the Chicago Marathon and the timing of the race worked well in my training build up.  A supported long run and a race atmosphere are always fun.

Second, I would have given ANYTHING to be able to run it last year.  My brother and I had signed up for the race, but I injured my hamstring/adductor just days before the race.  Instead of running with him, I was sidelined to spectate.  It was a bittersweet day, both celebrating Jon’s first race ever, and lamenting my inability to run.  So this year, I wanted some redemption.

Expo and Swag

Saturday, I met my friends Angela and her boyfriend Chris at the Expo.  It was at McCormick Place, yet much smaller than I remembered.  We were in and out in about 15 minutes, and we even stopped at some booths.  Free samples are always a good reason to pause.  I guess I am just used to large Wold Major Marathon expos now.  After we went to lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant in the South Loop for some pre-race noms and catching up.

The shirt for the this year’s Rock n’ Roll was… interesting.  I’m not sure how I feel about a giant hotdog playing a saxophone.  What are your thoughts?

Race Day

As the race approached, my race plan changed.  Training has been going well, but I’ve been feeling junky lately.  Instead of trying to race it for a certain time, I would approach it as a workout and alternate two miles “on” one mile “off.”  That would give me a good training deposit so I could roll out of the race into a continued build.

Race day morning, we were treated to a break in the intense heat, but the humidity was insane.  100% humidity at 5:o0 when I awoke.  As I was standing on the train platform waiting to head downtown, I saw lightning in the distance.

The race started at 6:30 am in Grant Park.  During my 2 mile warmup, I saw a few EDGE and November Project Friends.  Did my typical warmup to prime my body for a workout and then headed into the corrals by 6:20.

The course looped around downtown for a 10k (and my GPS was bananas!) before heading south on Michigan Ave. to 31st St.  We did an out and back on MLK Drive before heading to Lake Shore Drive and back towards the finish.

Alex, an EDGE member, found me at the start and we ran the first half mile together before he took off with the 1:30 group (and later got a monster PR!).  After the first mile, I was NOT feeling it.  My body just felt sluggish.  Hot.  Uncomfortable.  The first two miles “on” were ok, the mile off felt great, the next two “on” miles were a slog, and once I switched back “off,” I stayed off the rest of the race.  I tried taking a gel around mile 6 and it just came right back up.  The water and Nuun I was drinking just stayed sloshing in my stomach and my body didn’t absorb it.

I had a mini boost from the NP cheer station shortly after mile 6, but then fell back onto my seat on the struggle bus.  Around mile 7, Jon, another EDGE member passed me asking if I was ok.  I guess I really looked bad.  After passing the EDGE cheer station around mile 8.5 I puked at the next aid station.  Yep.  My first time puking in a race.  From there to the finish it was a slog.  I finished with 1:42:55, one of the slowest half times I’ve ever had, and totally not where I thought I would – even with the intent of making this a workout.

Post-Race Thoughts

The Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon was not a pretty race for me.  Hugo the Humidity Monster did me in.  When the heat and humidity are as high, sweat doesn’t evaporate easily.  The body works harder to stay cool.  Blood is shuttled away from the center of the body to the surface of the skin to try and help with cooling, which means that digestion is harder.  Hence the upset stomach and sloshiness.

I am not sure if I am happy that I raced or if I should have skipped it.  Last year Becca would have given anything to run, and I had to honor that.  The race taught me that my body does not do well in this humidity, and I have to figure out how to help it adapt.  But that lesson came at the cost of my confidence in training.  The race kind of took the wind out of my sails.  Trying to shake this blah feeling off and bounce into training has been harder than I would like, but I’m going to keep on truckin’ along.

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Happy running,

Becca