Hard work and persistence paid off. I broke the two hour barrier at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon. I missed qualifying for corral D for the 2010 Chicago Marathon by eight seconds. It doesn’t matter. I slipped below two hours, a new personal best.
Doubt crept into my mind early in the morning. I didn’t train well a weak prior due to a cold I was getting over. After picking up my race packet, I drove to Naperville, IL to attend a wedding reception. I did a little dance, had a little fun, and indulged in some alcohol. I left the reception at 10:30 and returned home by 11:30. I didn’t crawl into bed until midnight. “Great,” I thought to myself. “Four hours of sleep.”
I woke up early enough the morning routine I follow each long day, Cheerios with skim milk, coffee, and water. I protected the nips with moleskin. I woke Matthew up. I learned a great deal at the Soldier Field 10 and the Toughest 10k in Texas about morning preparation. Matthew and I left early to give us enough time to stretch and warm-up in Grant Park as well as anticipate any travel problems. I hydrated on our way to the race and ate Jelly Belly Sport Beans for immediate energy. Good thing we left early. The garage was backed up with cars trying to get in.
The doubt ended as soon as we began stretching. We were in the corral. The only thing between me and my time to myself and the course. It was familiar. Matthew, on the other hand, felt unsure about this race. A couple of times he mentioned not running the race. I believed it was post-injury recovery jitters. Later, I found out he was pretty in tuned with his body.
Matthew pulled me through mile 6 at an 8:06 pace. It was much faster than the pace I aimed for (due to a hot and humid day.) He either believed in our training or he wanted to see if I can keep up with his pace. I saw him adjusting his knee brace. He told me he needed to stop. His calf blew up after we crossed the 10k mark.
I ran solo on the remainder of the course. My pace increased above 8:30. Without a partner, the negative chatter grew in my head. The energy drinks upset my stomach every time I consumed it. I had to slow down to recover from each drink. I switched to water and began dipping into my energy gels.
By mile 11, a disconnect occurred between my mind and body. The jockey no longer had command of the horse. The slowed from the burden of the chatter and negative thoughts pulling it down. The jockey could only encourage it from afar. No matter what the jockey did or said, my body went on its own pace, a pace slower than the previous miles. Was it to protect itself from breaking down or did it need the encouragement? During the final mile and change, I ran it in just over ten minutes.
I waited for Matthew under the Lincoln statue in Grant Park. I stretched, drank my energy drink, and ate the Larabars they gave out. Much later, I saw him limping towards me with his calf and a bag of ice encased in plastic. I thought he ran a slower pace. I discovered that he calf cramped up. He DNF’d. I saw the photo a few days later. His attempt to run through it looked painful. I’m bummed that he didn’t cross the finish line for he’s the one that taught me what I know about running, guided me through the process, and helped me get faster. On the other hand, I’m glad he didn’t continue. He could have injured himself to the point that he won’t be able to participate the half marathon trail run next year.
Something inside me tells me I can get 1:45:59. I don’t know what I could have done different. Maybe I could have carried emergency water. Perhaps I should have partied at the wedding longer. I scheduled another half marathon to chase that time and a 5k to continue my speed training. I also hope to find more magic as I run. I don’t want to miss my marathon goal by a few seconds.
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There were a lot of improvements made at this year’s Rock and Roll Chicago Half Marathon. I am happy to see that they change the course so runners don’t have to run on the portion of the Lakefront Trail that narrows between the Chicago Museum Campus and Monroe St. It didn’t provide enough room to pass a slower runner or to help injured runners. Another change I loved was the large number or corrals. The corrals help spread us apart on the course so we have more room to run. I was extremely happy that I had room to get around runners trotting four wide and runners to run around me. My only concern was the lack of first aid volunteer. Last year, I saw so many first aid volunteers with their red back packs ready to help. We only saw a few first aid tents and my brother was disappointed by their ability to help him. (He limped to the closest station to get help or at least ice. Because he was able to ambulate, they could not help him. Really?!) Every race is a learning experience for both the runners and the race organizer. If my schedule allows it will be on my calendar for next year.
Run sexy my friends and until next time, run free.
