And I didn't even taper!!!

This morning, as you may remember from my last blog entry, I ran the 2010 Chicago Half-Marathon. As you also know from my last blog entry, I didn't taper for this race because my coaches felt it unnecessary, seeing as it would just be a training run for me rather than a RACE race. However, we all know by now that I can't really "do" races as training runs, so do you really think I ran this morning's race at a leisurely pace?

Um. No. *looks guilty*

Indeed, I ran a PR by over 6 minutes, with an official time of 2:13:20. And I didn't even taper!!! Just imagine how awesomely stellar my performance could've been if I had tapered. But we'll never really know, and my coaches have to live with the knowledge that they may have prevented me from, I dunno, winning an age group award or something.

Okay, okay, you all can stop laughing now. Yes, it's true that in order to place in my age group, I would have had to run about a 1:20 race. I'm not sure any amount of taper can take nearly an hour off of someone's race time. But a girl can dream, right? The fact is, I'm really pleased with my new PR, especially since I really didn't expect to go sub-2:15 today.

So let's get down to the nitty gritty... the full race report!

The Health & Fitness Expo was at Navy Pier, which is a really neat place to visit and have a fun day. But for herds of runners who are just trying to run in and grab their race packets really quick, it was the most stressful and difficult place they could possibly choose. The traffic is madness, there are pedestrians everywhere, it's difficult to figure out where to go, and parking is a huge challenge. But we managed to navigate all those difficulties with as much patience as we could muster, and were able to pick up our race packets. The t-shirt this year was really nice - a bright kelly green long-sleeved tech tee. I love that the Chicago Half always prints runners' first names on their bibs. It's a nice personal touch. My husband experienced a bit of a glitch with his race number and even though he registered months in advance (just like me), his bib did not have his name on it. So we remedied that later by writing it on with black pen.


After getting our packets and walking around the expo to scope out the goods (I got a tank top, a t-shirt, and three new headbands - score!) we were starving, so we decided it was time to carb-load. Now, you and I both know that you don't really need to carb-load for a half-marathon. It certainly doesn't hurt, but most people aren't going to run out of muscle glycogen in 13 miles, so it's just not necessary. But any excuse to eat pasta is a good excuse, as far as I'm concerned. Fortunately there was an Italian place right there at Navy Pier (Capi's), so we were able to fill up on yummy things like spaghetti pomodoro...


...Which was very tasty. *burp*


We headed to our hotel, the Hilton Chicago (which I definitely recommend as a nice place to stay downtown), and got settled into our room. It was time to rest our feet and legs and wind down for the night. I laid out my running clothes, pinned my bib to my shirt, and set my alarm for 4:15. It was going to be an early morning!

My race garb

In the morning, I went through my standard pre-long-run routine of eating oatmeal, a banana, and a cup of tea. I got dressed and made sure I had all the necessary accouterments for my race (Garmin - check, Sharkies - check, headband - check, earbuds - check, iPhone - check). We had to catch a shuttle bus to the starting line, so we headed out onto Michigan Ave for a brisk morning walk. When I say "brisk", I mean "freaking cold". I've run the Chicago Half three times, and this morning was by far the chilliest one. I thought that was a good sign, since usually this race ends up being rather too toasty for my taste.

The shuttle service was well-organized and definitely an easier way to get to the starting line than pretty much any other method. The bus-drivers were a little crazy (one of them pulled out right in front of an ambulance that had its lights and siren on), but we survived.

Waiting in line for the shuttle bus

When we got to the starting line, it was about an hour until race start, so we did the typical pre-race routine of peeing seventeen times. Because it's better to do as much peeing as you can before a race, so that you don't need to stop to pee during the race. Peeing costs valuable race time!

Finally the time came to line up at the start. I placed myself behind the 2:10 pace marker, which I realize was a little ridiculous, but the 2:20 marker (where I probably should have seeded myself) was so much farther back! I would've had to walk like a whole block more. *whine gripe groan* If I'm about to run 13.1 miles, I think I'm allowed to be a little lazy beforehand.

The sea of people ahead of me at the race start. The actual starting line isn't even visible from here!

Soon, we were off. It took me about 10 minutes to cross the starting line, which was not bad in this race of 13,500 people. I settled into a comfortable pace, content to let people pass me. I told myself that if all went well, it was likely I would be passing a lot of those people in the later miles.

Miles 1-3 are through the park-like areas around the University of Chicago. There are lots of trees and shade and it's a very easy part of the race. I kept my pace in check because I knew I would need my energy later on in the "concrete miles", which I'll explain in a bit.

After Mile 3, the course turns to head north up Lakeshore Drive. The view of the lake is fantastic. The running is not. Oh yes, it's flat. But, and that's a huge but, there is no shade, there is very little entertainment, and the road is grooved concrete and in many places it is severely banked. These are the "concrete miles". For anyone struggling with IT band problems, this course is a nightmare. Fortunately, I don't have issues with my IT band, but my hubby does, and he definitely felt it on the course today.

Shortly after 8 miles, the course goes up an exit ramp, onto an overpass, and turns back down an exit ramp to head south down Lakeshore Drive. So the course is, except for the first three miles, an out-and-back course. In all honesty, it's kind of boring. I was glad to have my iPhone with me so I could listen to music. If I was a better multi-tasker, maybe I could've pulled out my iPhone and done some Facebooking, or gotten caught up on emails while I ran, or played a few games of solitaire. Ah well, maybe some other time.

Remember those people who passed me in the first couple of miles? I started passing them after Mile 3. And in the last three miles of the race, I was flying past other people. My effort had increased, but I wasn't gasping for air or feeling like puking or anything like that. It was, after all, just a training run. I just have a natural tendency to speed up the farther I run. It's a strange tendency, I know. But it works well for me. As I rounded the final turn, I could see the finish line ahead, so I kicked into another gear and passed dozens more people. At this point, I was gasping for air, but I still managed to give a thumbs up to some of the professional photographers. Hey, you gotta look good in your race pics, right? I crossed the finish line not really having any clue what my time was, because I really didn't keep track of my time at all during the race. I just ran what felt right. As it turns out, 2:13:20 was what felt right - a vast improvement over my previous best of 2:19:36. I collected my medal (oooo, shiny!), and post-race food (of which there was lots!), and we caught the next shuttle back to the hotel. Incidentally, my hubby also ran an awesome PR, despite his IT band issues. And don't we look so cute with our His & Hers PRs???

Victorious!

So to sum up... it was a well-organized race and I'm happy with how I ran it. But having experienced the long and difficult "concrete miles" three times now, I think I can safely say I've had enough of this one.

Here's my run data. My heart rate was all wonky for the first mile, not because my heart was actually wonky, but because my monitor gets wonky in cold weather - something to do with static electricity.


No race report would be complete without discussion of post-race refueling. And what kind of fuel does Chicago do best? Deep dish pizza, baby! We went to Lou Malnati's for some deep dish and I must say, it was the perfect post-race lunch. I gobbled down my personal pizza in about 5 minutes (I was that hungry and it was that good). *burp*

"The Lou": spinach, mushrooms and roma tomatoes with mozzarella, romano and cheddar.

Now, I know what you all are thinking: So, 2:13, huh? That's pretty close to 2:10. Yes indeedy. Methinks it's time for a new half-marathon goal. But I think I'll have to taper to make that goal.

Peace. Love. Train.

Crimes Against Running

As a citizen of this Land of the Free, I feel it is my right... no, it is my DUTY... to report a horrible injustice. You see, my husband and I are running the Chicago Half-Marathon this weekend. Our FAST coaches have instructed my husband to taper for this race by reducing his training mileage and intensity this week. Upon asking the FAST coaches if I should be tapering as well, since I'm running the same race, they instructed me to run a bunch of crazy-hard stuff that left me gasping for air and begging for mercy.

Wait.

What?

How is this fair???

Well, I'll tell you how it's fair... It's NOT fair, is what it is! And We The People of FAST should take a stand against running crimes and demand equal treatment of runners. Unless, of course, all the runners are being asked to run crazy-hard stuff. In which case, I am absolutely okay with being treated differently.

Okay, so really the bottom line is that I want to be lazy when I feel like being lazy. And "tapering for a race" is as good an excuse as any to be lazy. But our coaches know better. They know this weekend's half-marathon is nothing more than a moderately-paced recovery-distance training run for me, whereas my husband has ambitious goals for this race. Therefore, he gets to taper, and I, sadly, do not. Damn those coaches for being so smart!!!

So what have they been making me do this week? Well, first they made me run up the Hill of Death three times... In the middle of slightly-longer-than-one-mile repeats. And if that doesn't sound wonderful enough, did I mention my legs were still pretty tired from the 21 miles I had just run two days earlier? So it felt like I was like running with cement blocks tied to my feet. I guess that was the coaches' not-so-subtle way of telling me that I was not going to be tapering this week.

Drat.


I don't even know how to properly describe that workout, other than "tough". The repeats were an unusual distance (longer than a mile, but less than a mile and a quarter) with an unusual recovery distance (more than half a mile, less than three quarters of a mile), because that's just how the route went. The goal was to be able to run the last repeat as fast as the first one. And by golly, I did. In fact, I got faster each repeat. So take THAT, coaches! That'll teach you to infringe upon my right to taper!

Then last night, while my tapering hubby did whatever ridiculously easy thing the coaches told him to do (man the water jugs, I think), I was forced to do 5 x 1000m repeats through the cemetery. Hmph. I was so flustered by the iniquity of it all, that I accidentally hit the Stop button on my Garmin before the first 1000m repeat, thus not registering any data for that repeat. There is simply no worse feeling for a geeky runner than realizing that data has been missed.


I'll be honest. I was tempted to run an extra repeat just to collect the data. But then I would've still been upset about having run 6 repeats, yet only having 5 repeats worth of data. Trust me when I tell you that this is pretty much par for the course for how an engineer's mind works. For those of you who are not engineers (that's most of you), count your blessings. Those of you who are engineers... well, you understand what it's like. And you have my deepest sympathy. So while the data says I ran 4.4 miles, I actually ran 5.1-ish.

Oh, and I almost forgot... After all the repeats, fellow FASTie Julie (who happens to be Coach Maggie's sister) made me... yes, made me... run up a very steep grassy hill. You know, because "it'll be fun!"

Here's some unsolicited advice: if another runner ever says to you "Hey let's do *insert crazy activity here* - It'll be fun!", run quickly in the opposite direction and don't look back. You'll avoid the crazy activity, and as an added bonus, you'll get in a little extra speedwork.

I wish I had followed this advice. Julie peer-pressured me into running up that hill and it was terrifying. There were tree roots, acorns, clumps of grass, holes in the ground, rocks, and sticks everywhere. It was a veritable minefield of potential ankle-breakers. Fortunately, nobody got a broken ankle... but still, I should not have run up the hill. It's risky business so close to the marathon (which, by the way, is exactly one month from today - eek!). But more importantly, despite what the coaches think, I am tapering for the half-marathon this weekend and tapering runners don't run up steep hills. You hear that, coaches? Tapering!

*sticks tongue out at coaches and runs away at an easy pace*

Peace. Love. Train.

20.71 miles inside a runner's brain

Miles 1-2

I hope this run goes better than last weekend's long run. At least the weather's a lot better. It feels almost... dare I say it... cold. Not that I'm complaining. Glad I wore my arm-warmers. Wow this road has a lot of potholes. There go all the fast runners. Now it's just me and the road. My shorts keep falling down. This is going to get annoying. Hey, I hear someone coming up behind me. I'm not being stalked, am I? I've got a fanny pack and I'm not afraid to use it! Oh, it's just Cathy!

Miles 2 - 6

It's really nice to have someone to run with. Too bad she's only running with me until Mile 6. What's with all the sirens? Hey look, there's Frank! Wow, his shirt is really bright. My husband would like that shirt - he likes bright shirts. Has it really been 3 miles already? I think I need to pee. I should suggest that we stop at this McDonald's up here. Whew, I'm glad she agreed. The floor in here is really slippery. Wouldn't that be ironic - getting injured by slipping and falling in a McDonald's while on a 20 mile run. Ahhh, I feel much better now. Onward! Oh that's what all the sirens were about - car accident. Those computer parts are still lying on the side of the road. Wonder how long they've been there. Oh look, it's Steve. Nice of him to man the water stop here. I think I need to take off my arm-warmers soon. There goes Cathy. On my own now.

Miles 6 - 11

Here come the other Stashies. Let's see... it's about 3/4 mile to the turnaround... so I'm about a mile and a half behind them. Oh look, geese! Oh look, cows! Yep, definitely time to lose the arm-warmers. I'm hungry. Look at Steve reading his newspaper. This is a great song. I really don't like that the guard rails of this bridge are so low. It's a long way down to the pavement below. Think I'll run a little faster across this thing. Huh, are those branches from an artificial Christmas tree? People throw the strangest crap out of their cars. Christmas is just around the corner... is it too soon to start shopping? Hey who just honked at me? Oh it's Coach Brad! Okay, the next water stop is supposed to be on Bacon Dr. I wonder if that street is named for the food or a person... Kevin Bacon? Does that make people who live on that street only one degree separated from Kevin Bacon? Wow, that squirrel is really going to town burying his nut. Dig, squirrel, dig!

Miles 11 - 15

Here comes the hilly part. Look, a CD. Do people even buy CD's anymore? I think my toe blister is getting bigger. This big long downhill part is great. But it means I'm going to have to run up it when I come back. I hope I don't get lost in Weaver Ridge. The sidewalk is ending. Don't trip, don't trip, don't trip... hey, I didn't trip! Look at all these people out playing golf. I really don't like golf. Oooo, these houses are so pretty! I wonder what it costs to live on a golf course. More than I can afford, I'm sure. Do you suppose these people get lots of broken windows from errant golf balls? Who pays for that - the bad golfer? The golf club? The homeowner? Oh hey, I've caught up with Louisa, Yvonne and Sue! Wow, I'm faster than I thought. Oh. Nevermind. They ran an extra 3/4 mile. Okay, so I'm not as fast as I thought.

Miles 15 - 20.71

Ugh. Gotta climb that hill I had so much fun running down earlier. So.steep. My feet are tired. Good grief, what is the deal with this wind? When I turn the corner I'll be out of the wind. Oh what a beautiful car! '57 Chevy. Pristine. Love that color. Only 5 miles to go. I can go 5 more miles. Don't trip on this sidewalk. Pick up your feet. Hey who just honked at me? Oh it's Cathy! I wonder where she's headed to. My shoulders feel tense. Relax. Relax. Relax. What is that guy doing by that car? Looks suspicious. Just look ahead and keep running. Hey this Subway must've been a gas station a long time ago. It's been a Subway as long as I've lived around here. I wish my shorts would stop falling down. My feet hurt. Last water stop. Hey it's Cathy again! I really needed that encouragement. I love my running friends. Ohhhh this water is soooo gooooood. Less than 3 miles. It's so close I can taste it. Too bad there's a lot of hill yet to climb. Why is there a big huge trash bin in the middle of the sidewalk? I've never been to the state fair. I'm sure I'm not missing out on much. Except funnel cakes. mmmmm... Hey is that Chocolate Mike up there? Why is he walking? I hope he's okay. It's good that he's still moving forward. Run, walk, crawl... whatever it takes. Whoah, I think I'm going to hit 20 miles in under 3:40. And I did! And it's less than a mile back to the club now. I should probably just use the rest of this as a cooldown. But I want to finish strong. I've got another 3/4 mile in me. Cooldown-schmooldown! Let's do it. OOOOO great song! I cannot wait to get out of these shoes and into some flip flops. There are the railroad tracks. Almost there. Power through. Hey there are all the Stashies cheering for me! Think I'll skip to the finish. ouch ouch ouch ouch. Okay, maybe not all the way to the finish. But it was fun for a little bit! Yay, I did it!

Now that was an awesome run. :)



Peace. Love. Train.