Race Recap: Rock 'N' Roll Chicago Half Marathon Weekend

Disclaimer: As a Rock'N'Blog Ambassador, I received a free entry to the Rock'N'Roll Chicago Half Marathon. My experience and my opinions are my own.

To think I considered not running this one at all. My knees had been bothering me and my endurance was AWOL. With so many blogger friends heading to my hometown to participate in the Rock'N'Roll Chicago weekend, I had to make a decision. Do I drop down to the 10k? Drop out? Who me? I contacted my rheumatologist who recommended steroid injections in my knees. Following the procedure, Mother Nature gifted us with some cool, low humidity days which led to some nicely paced, pain-free runs.

It's funny how things work out, isn't it? With some success on the road and a boost in my confidence, I stuck to my original plan to run the half marathon. I knew it would be tough. I made a race plan to use my 4:1 run/walk intervals. I set a goal finish time of 2:11 but realistically figured I'd finish around 2:15.

I was ready.

Holly was scheduled to arrive Friday evening, Her flight was delayed by a couple of hours and after circling around the terminals, I finally spotted her on the curb at O'Hare about 8:00. We went to a Mexican restaurant, Mago, in my town. The downtown area is pretty lively on a Friday night, with live music and people enjoying the summer night. Holly and I caught up over drinks and tacos. When we got to my house, she was greeted by Cocoa, the Cocker Spaniel Guard Dog. It didn't take long for Holly to win Cocoa over and they became BFFs very quickly.

Saturday morning, we headed into the city to meet up with a group of bloggers who came to run the races. In case anyone reading this is feeling the FOMO, I want you to know that this weekend was not a planned meet-up. As it turns out, a bunch of us running bloggers realized we were all planning on running RnRChicago this year. Since so many of us were running this weekend, I created a FB chat so we could plan to get together.  It was fun to see it all work out! Brunch was at Beatrix, a fun Chicago restaurant. The food was good and the company was better. It's a funny thing about running bloggers--we already felt like we knew each other! I kept getting teary-eyed every time another blogger walked in.

Back row L->R: Kim H, Linda, Me, Deborah, Sara, Michelle, Kim G
Front row L->R Marcia, Holly, Susie

After brunch, Holly, Lindsay, Linda, Kim H, and I headed over to the expo. We walked around, sampled ice cream, and checked out all the vendors. We posed for some pictures.

from L->R: Lindsey, Linda, me, Holly, Kim H

A highlight (at least for me) was seeing Kathrine Switzer. If you remember my RnR experience from last year, I had a special meeting with KSwizz. I was shocked that this year she remembered me! It was so wonderful to see her again.

Sunday morning, Holly and I met Marcia at the El station for our ride into the city. It was gloomy but not raining and we hoped we'd stay dry for the race. Marcia had to pick up her bib for the 10k, so once we were in the race village, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. We didn't have a lot of time to check our gear and use the portapotties before we went into our corrals. We ran into Linda before making our way to the corrals. The corrals were closed, but I opened the gate and we snuck into Corral 7 (we were supposed to be in Corral 6). We couldn't make our way forward. The corrals were packed. More people were streaming in through the same opening I had found. This was my big complaint about the race last year. Since I knew I'd be running slow, it didn't bother me this year. Perspective...

It was a misty, gloomy, foggy morning!
The Special Olympics were being held in Chicago this weekend as well.

The Star Spangled Banner was sung and the skies opened up. The rain came down in buckets. The good thing about being packed into the corral like sardines was that we probably didn't get as wet as we could have! We slowly made our way forward and about 11 minutes after the start of the race, we crossed the start line. As usual for most Chicago races, we headed straight up Columbus Drive. It was crowded but you could move and I settled into my pace easily. About a half mile into the race, the 10k runners split off from us and the crowd thinned nicely. I didn't stop to walk during the first mile, taking my first walk break right at 9 minutes.

I was familiar with the course, having run the race last year, but I forgot about how many turns the race takes in the first half! I think I did a pretty good job of running the tangents, but my Garmin measured 13.6 miles. I don't really know how accurate that is since the buildings in Chicago really mess with the GPS. During one of my walk intervals, my watch had me at a 7:58 pace! Ha! I tried to ignore that, but it did kind of mess with my head. Once I was on the straightaways, it was much easier to stay on top of my pacing. Looking at my splits from RnR, I did a great job with my pacing.

Throughout the race, the rain came and went. There were even peeks of the sun. It was the craziest day! The air was thick and I stopped to drink water at just about every water station. I also sipped on my Tailwind throughout the race. I never had to stop to use a portapotty, which kind of surprised and shocked me. It just goes to show you it's not the heat, it really is the humidity. I was well hydrated throughout the race and the rain kept me cool.

Don't yell at me for posting these. I'll be purchasing them once all my photos are uploaded.
A coupon would be nice! 

There was plenty of entertainment along the course, with bands almost every mile. I loved that in spite of the weather, the musicians were out there as enthusiastic as if they were under the bright sunshine! I also stopped to take a picture with the 5 Elvi that were on the course. My dad asked me which one was the real Elvis and you know what, I wasn't sure. Kind of like Santa Claus, right?

I waited for Holly to finish and we made our way to Butler Field for a post-race beer and some treats. No sooner did we stop to take our finisher picture did the skies open up again and it started to pour. We never made it to the beer tent. Butler Field was a mudfest. Along with many other runners, Holly and I took refuge in the merchandise tent, waiting for the rain to stop. When it finally did, we made the decision to leave to meet some of the other bloggers for brunch. On our way to the restaurant, it started to pour again. By the time we got to the restaurant, we were freezing. Looking like two drowned rats, we said hi to everyone and headed to the bathroom to dry off and change our clothes. The rain washed away all the sweat from the race, which I considered a win. There was no need to use the tips I posted on getting clean after a run without a shower.

At brunch, we recapped our mornings. I think all of us agreed that we need to plan another weekend together. We also agreed that we all feel so lucky to be a part of such an amazing community. There were no surprises--everyone was exactly as they portray themselves on their blogs. I loved that--the genuineness is what makes me love our little blogging community all the more. I can't wait until our next adventure.

L->R: Kim H, Linda, Michelle, Holly, me, Deborah, Erica, Melissa (Erica's high school friend)

For me, this weekend was special in so many ways. Once again, I slayed RA. I didn't let it beat me. I conquered 13.1 and executed the race exactly as I planned. Was I happy with my finish time? I don't know if I'll ever be happy with slowing down, but I'm happy that I can still go the distance. This race was a mental victory for me too. When my confidence is flagging, my running performance suffers. So last week, I took charge, got my knee pain under control, and ran a good race. I also had more fun at a race than I've had in long time. I saw so many friends and that made it extra special. My friend Pete was near the finish line, just like last year and he videoed me coming in. You can see it on his recap. Be sure to congratulate him on his first place AG finish!!!

Crossing the finish line feeling good? A huge win!

What an amazing adventure!

Have you ever participated in a blogger meetup? I don't know about you, but the race felt anti-climatic compared to meeting everyone! Consider jumping into a race if you find out that a lot of bloggers are planning on running it. Like the ZOOMA Great Lakes Half Marathon and 5k. Marcia, Erika, and I will be there--we'd love to have more of our blogger friends join us! Interested? Use the code WENDY2018 to save 10%!  

I'm linking up with Tuesdays on the Run: Marcia, Erika, and Patti and Running Coaches' Corner with Debbie, Rachel, Lora, and Marc.

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