Holly's Half Marathon Report: This would be the sixth year in a row for me to run the Rock and Roll Chicago Half Marathon. I am currently “perfect” as it has only been run 6 years. I was excited to run this year as a bunch of friends were coming in to town for it. After a very fun Saturday we all got up early and made our way to the start area for a 6:30 start time. We had quite the group. The 5k crew: Maria, Olivia, Dave, Molly and Anna. The Half: Eddie, Joe, Stan, Pam, Mike, Julie and myself. And our cheer section: Laura and Jan.
Joe, Stan, Mike Julie and myself planned to run together using 2:1 intervals. It took us about a half hour to get to the start line and we were off. The course was much different this year with a lot of out-and-backs through the loop area. No bands for the first 6 miles because of a noise ordinance in the residential areas. This is a new rule apparently as there was always music previously. The buildings were wreaking havoc with our GPS and had me running a 5:00 minute mile at one point. I wish!!
We finally left the loop area and headed
down Michigan Ave. We lost Stan and Mike here due to a potty break. Julie, Joe and I kept on going. I was feeling pretty good, much better than last year. It was much cooler and I was much more hydrated. We got to the dreaded tunnel and I was definitely dreading it. The tunnel is a portion of the course that goes under McCormick Place. It is dark, full of potholes and car fumes, as this is where taxis and buses sit and wait to pick up people. Joe did a great job of leading the way like a linebacker and we flew through that tunnel in under 2 minutes. It was a piece of cake. Unfortunately, we lost Julie in the tunnel. Sorry Julie!! We finished up strong and while not a PR, I’m still pleased with my time and had a blast running with everyone. We made it through the chute and got some goodies, but no popsicles! This was always my favorite part of this race. We ran over and got my free beer and then headed out to shower and get ready for our post race lunch.
Dave's 5K Report: The plan for the morning was to kick-back on the 5K. I wasn't really motivated to go for a time: I was downtown and had the chance to enjoy multiple beverages the day before. When we hit the start Anna escorted Olivia (age 11) on a 1:1 run-walk pace. Molly took off after mile one to help loosen out her knee. That left Maria and I time to have a nice easy walk full of fun conversation. I didn't bother taking pictures since I've been on this Lower Wacker/Lakefront course many times. We had three bands on our course, which was nice. There were more spectators around the finish line then I remember from previous years. Snacks are usually good at R&R events. I enjoyed: chocolate milk, pretzels, Larabar, banana, and lime Fla-Vor-Ice (thank you
Jel Sert for keeping green the traditional lime flavor and not switching to trendy sour apple).
I agreed to join Miss Olivia in wearing a set of patriotic deely boppers. Took me about 5 minutes to figure out where to put them on my head so it wouldn't feel like pine cones jammed against my skull. As previously mentioned Olivia ditched me at the start; leaving me the only person around wearing deely boppers that don't remotely match the rest of his outfit or race theme. Can't really say it was the first time......
Our post-race fun was covered in an
earlier post.
No comments:
Post a Comment