Roxymama's 5k to Marathon, Time to Collect Another Castle

[mrsg00fy]

Be proud because

This is the frustrating truth for all of us half/marathoners. As someone who has done more than 25 halfs, I can testify that this has happened just as many times as I have raced well. But each race is still an opportunity to be proud...you did it!!!

You finished and should be proud. I learned that even with the most thoughtful and rigorous training that you cannot beat or trifle with mother nature. I went into the Disneyland half marathon weekend with the best training ever. (thank you @DopeyBadger) And the horrid weather killed any idea of a "good" time when I had hoped to PR in the half. No worries. I dusted myself off, got back up and am on to my next adventure.

I have so enjoyed reading along with your journey and am proud that you finished your race. Be proud! I know that we will be reading along here with many victories to come for you.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Congrats on half marathon #2!!

 

[roxymama]

Chicago Half Marathon 9/24/17 RECAP
disclaimer: I had a bear of time trying to get the free race photos in a format I could share here and ended up going with screen grabs on my phone. The site was being so slow I didn't bother to crop them, so at least we can commemorate what battery percentage my phone was at during this recap posting.



I never really meant to run two half marathons this year when I set out to try my hand at running Tinkerbell this Spring. It was kind of going to be a bucket list thing to run one and then see how it went. But then my new years resolutions came around and I started thinking "well maybe I could run Tink with no goal and then try one in Chicago with a bigger goal" And that idea kind of stuck. With the out clause that if I hated Tink I was done with halves. And then I didn't hate Tink. I LOVED TINK! It was the most magical race and I was hugely proud of myself. I had a respectable time and felt like a superhero. So I bit the bullet and registered for the Chicago Half Marathon and before I had the time to say "recovery" from Tink I had already set up my training to get me to this point. My first non-disney half marathon and first I'd be attempting to clobber instead of flutter through.
Well, someone got clobbered. But let's not jump too far ahead.

Race morning came and I was strangely not as nervous as I've been for other races. I was still having the worst time getting half a bagel down, but I could drink and eat fruit snacks (nervous situations mean eating whatever I can stomach.) @roxyhubby and I headed out at 5:00am to get to the Museum of Science and Industry parking lot before it filled up. So we were at the race site pretty early. I'd say it was a good .5 mile or more walk to the starting/finishing area and nervous chatter calmed my nerves.



Although the forecast was calling for a really hot and sunny morning, it was still dark and I was fairly "cool" in my tank when a good breeze would come through. So I was under the delusion that it wouldn't be so bad and I'd be able to push through the heat. Positive thinking is sometimes the best thing in tough situations.

And best thing ever!! Hubby knew the right person from work who gave us VIP tent bracelets which meant we had someplace to sit, easy access to large water bottles, food (although my stomach said nope) and PRIVATE PORTAPOTTIES! I cannot emphasize the importance of minimal bathroom lines on a day we were both hydrating and nervous!! I think I went three times, maybe four. The unwashed masses in the regular long lines looked miserable...been there.

We lined up in our corrals right at the last possible minutes before they closed. A-G were fairly small and they got bigger as you went farther back. I was in K and hubby in L. Since we both had pacers in our corrals that we wanted to keep an eye on we decided to split up. J had the 2:10 pacer and K had 2:20. I Ideally wanted to stay in front of the 2:20 but not get anywhere close to 2:10 for awhile. I was still under the impression that I could do 10:10 for the first three miles and about 10:00 up to mile 8. I wasn't hot yet and my training had went really well and those paces didn't scare me for that distance.

The announcer had a lot of helpful information. There were almost 11,000 runners for the half. More charity runners than ever. They had flagged it yellow and would change the flags at the aid stations to red likely at some point in the race. I gotta save this now before I lose it all again (disboards is so slow!) More to come soon!!!

Ok, I'm back. So the announcer guy clued us all in on every aspect of "heat prevention" support they would be having out on the course and at the finish and I'll talk about those as I go along in my race recap (which I swear I'm getting to shortly!!) There were many cheers from the crowd at the suggestion that we would be getting drenched in water several times. That should have been clue #1 that today maybe wasn't going to be my day...but I was still optimistic.


Miles 1-5 (that's me crossing the 5 mile mat) It wasn't my most photogenic day...

The race as a rolling start. The plan was to let A go and then just continually roll everyone out with no stopping to try to get all 11,000 of us on the course between 7am and 7:10am. They were saying "no" to anyone trying to cross after 7:15. They meant business. I crossed at 7:06 something from corral K (kinda different than disney, eh?)

So it was a crowded race...the whole race. Unless you were the top like 50 dudes (and dudettes.) I think you'll see this in my pictures (unless you skipped ahead and looked at them already!)

Mile 1 was SHADY! and still a slight breeze. It was warm though, don't get me wrong. But I was feeling alright and controlled. We were in the park area near the museum on the southside. I checked my watch probably 10 times because I really didn't want to get caught up in going too fast.
10:00 exactly.

Mile 2 still in the park, still locked in. The crowd around me was right with me. I didn't feel a huge "being passed or passing" thing going on. Had our first water stop and I grabbed water and kinda slowed to a very slow jog and drank it up. EVERYONE WAS STOPPING FOR WATER...EVERY PERSON! You know in races when all the athletic peeps just run past the first water table like "PLEASE, I don't need your water yet"...not this race...EVERYONE STOPPED. It was harder to get out of the stops than into them. Imagine regular highway traffic and then every car at top speed all tries to merge into the right lane at once and slow down. It was the last stop I'd be able to slow jog through. Water stops were gonna be like character stops this race. Time sucks but beneficial to my health.
Mile 2: 10:03

The third mile was more of the same, feeling pretty good. I was either at 9:55 or 10:25 weirdly every time I looked at my watch and I'd sort of try to correct towards the middle of that. The mile markers started dinging early (they'd get earlier every mile from here on out which mentally is annoying, but it's not like I was running the perfect tangents.) It was getting less shady and hotter now and I was ready for more water.
Mile 3: 10:07

Fourth mile was really pretty and scenic! We were running around a harbor filled with yachts and the fact that I remember that means I still wasn't tooo hot. Because trust me, later in the race I forgot the lake even existed and really didn't do a great job of looking around at my surroundings. I gatoraded and double fisted on the water. The water over my head and down my tank started this mile. It's weird how little it takes for me to go from "I'm fine" to "Oh god, how'd it get this hot" The end of mile 4 began the trek down Lake Shore Drive. Which is a very large highway that runs along the lake. It has some trees along the outside and then baby sized trees down the middle and three lanes on either side. It pitches slightly towards the outside, so at times I had to chose between high and flat or low and shady (but not as easy to run on.)
Mile 4: 10:30 (that water stop was not fast to get through)

Fifth mile I'd like to refer to as the "oh no, I have to pee mile" I was expecting a timing mat at 5k because of assuming it'd be there. When it wasn't I thought that there'd probably be one at 5. So I told myself that if I just continued to run strong and cross that mile 5 mat in a "on plan" time that I'd allow myself to pee at the next possible porta potty. Mile 5 felt like it took a year. All my pre-hydrating had come to a head. But I made it over that mat!
Mile 5: 10:22

Official stats through 5 miles!
Chip Time 51:18 (slower than my shamrock shuffle PR this year of 46:08 but I obviously wasn't "gunning it") and 10:16 was very close to my hope of "between 10 and 10:10) at this point in the race.
Overall place at this point was 4258 of 7997 (yes, of the almost 11,000 bibs that's how many crossed mile 5...though final # says 8021 finished. They were allowing "no questions asked" transfers to 5k that morning) and 253 of 616 in my division.



Miles 6-10! I'm heading towards the mile 10 mat in the pic above. Don't I look happy?

So not very far from mile 5 marker was the next aid station and they had big fans throwing misty water, but only about 2 feet. So you had to get real up close to them and I got stuck behind a few people taking their time (really, people...get wet, move on!) Came to a dead stop and something about that made my bladder even weaker. I hightailed it to the porta potties off in the grass behind the tables. And there were three lines (only like 3 people deep) but in a race that feels long. I did realize I'd forgotten to take my 45 min gel. So I grabbed a gel out of my armband (raspberry, no caffeine) and wripped off the top...but not enough as it was still sealed. I kind of tried hard twice more and then just bit into the foil with my teeth like a savage and slurped that thing down seconds before my chance at the potty. DANG WAS IT HOT IN THE PORTAPOTTY OMG!!!! And I didn't realize until trying to disrobe a little that I was 100% drenched in sweat. I'd been sweating more than I realized. This is all too TMI right?
After emerging and feeling so much better and happier to be out of that hell hole...I realized I didn't get water yet and needed that for my gel. And so I went back a teeny bit (not much) and got my water...and dumped more on my head. I'd lost time and momentum here. But my body was't gonna let me not stop. Oye.
Mile 6 12:15 (oops)

Mile 7 something annoying happened. The 2:20 group passed me by somewhere between 6 and 7 (maybe right before 6? It's a blur) and I was like Nooooooo! I was telling myself I had to get back to 10:00 and so I tried to catch up to them (since they started behind me) but I was having the hardest time so I just kind of was keeping them the same distance to me for a while. And they were going 10:25 right on the nose. It was annoying because 10:41 is their correct pace. I have to guess they were running faster to account for water stops. From this point in the race the aid stations were pretty much near every .5 mile. So mile marker, then aid, then mile marker, etc. So about a mile between aid. And when the big pace group stopped it was really hard to go fast about getting my cups. I was downing a gatorade and a water and pouring one and sometimes taking one more to drink. The volunteers were working in overdrive. I felt bad for taking so much, but my body was like GIMME! I'd started the wilt at this point. My legs were going and going but my shoulders were dropping, my head was drooping, and my "drive" was starting to be lacking. The pace group started gaining on me.
Mile 7: 11:22 (better than 6, still not where I wanted to be)

Mile 8: was more of the same. It was getting hotter. My effort was more than before and yet slower. I was still trying and pushing and felt way faster than what the clock was giving me back. The pace group was far away and I was just going to try my hardest to not see 2:30. I had to walk a little farther than the last aid station to get my water down. I was getting a tad bit sloshy. I also started getting sweat near my right eye. That visor SAVED me with all the sweat and water I was pouring on myself. It could have been way worse.
I also saw the giant turkey inflatable from the expo that kiddo loved so much and that made me think about her and boosted my spirits a bit.
Mile 8 11:29

Mile 9: At least we reached the part of the course at 8.5 miles with a turnaround. The whole way had been a giant out and now we were heading back. All the way back through mile 12.75ish still on the same highway before the last turn to the finish. (I should mention there were bands and DJs out but I can't comment on them since I was blaring my disney summer playlist in my ears and trying not to stare at the sun.) There was a slight on ramp to a bridge to get us to the other side of the highway. And I conquered that sucker ALL 35 feet of elevation in this race was a dream! (Ugh, again too bad it was so hot...I love baby elevation)
I stopped to walk after a bit to take my next gel and I only could get half of it down (strawberry with caffeine)
Mile 11:58 (nuts)

10th mile I had started looking for hubby at this point because we could see the other runners on the other side. I found him somewhere in mile 9 or 10 (we can't remember which) and I yelled loudly his name and he saw me and waved. That was a nice boost.
They had huge fire hose water sprayers across the whole street now. I completely doused myself. I really wanted to get to the 15k point because it just felt like a good time to try to talk my body into pushing harder. I got there (nowhere near as good as last years 15k race) and started pushing and it was going well at first but I started getting the head drooping thing that happens to me when too hot and I freaked myself out a little. I spent extra time walking after the water station. I made myself start running again to the mat, but I'd walked a bit more than usual. I was trying to feel normal again.
Mile 10: 11:59

10 Mile official stats:
Chip time 1:51:10 (this 5 miles took me a solid hour, 9 more minutes than the first 5...sigh)
4538th place overall (slipped from 4258)
267 division (slipped not as bad from 253)
new average pace 11:07

Next up the final push.



That's me on the far right behind the guy in the orange shirt, still passing people even though I was feeling pretty slow.
Miles 11 through 13 I won't lie...I don't really remember the details well enough to disect them. I was a little tunnel visioned on getting to the next aid station and getting this thing over with. I wasn't have a ton of fun. When I was running, I was trying and actually hitting 10:30 paces and sometimes faster. But I was hitting little walls where I'd walk a little and then start back up. They were offering cups of ice pretty frequently at this point and I didn't quite know what to do with them so I shoved some down my sportsbra back, rubbed some on my face, chewed on some. There were volunteers with actual hoses that you could run through, and I DID! Before the race they had mentioned there would be extra medical staff on course watching out for signs of dehydration and fatigue and they were ever present now. Literally standing in the middle of the course pointed out people who looked like they needed help. I smiled at all of them as to signal I was ok. I saw a lot of people who weren't ok and a lot of med staff running to people or buzzing by on golf carts. Seeing that isn't a new thing, but seeing that much of it all in one race was. As much as I was down that I wasn't running to my potential, I'm glad I didn't hurt myself.
So fast forward to the final mile. I could see where the turn was for the finish but it looked forever away and I could see on my watch what time I was at and needed to do the final .5 mile in 4 or 5 minutes which was I think out of hand at that point. But I kept forward momentum. I actually ended my final .1 speeding up so there was that and I got awfully close to sub 2:30. At least I never did let the 2:30 group catch up to me.
Mile 11: 12:31
Mile 12: 12:01
Mile 13: 12:50
.26: 2:44


Finish line and still a crowded race (see how many people all crossing at the same time.) Doesn't everyone look exhausted? I was behind that Half Fanatics shirt guy for a long portion of the end of the race. I wonder if he's still a fan of that doozy?


They had video of me crossing the finish and I put my arms up for like a second and then threw them down like "eh, I don't have the energy for that" I think this pic above was in taken in that moment. I look like I'm crying...I'm not. That was my stunned face.
Someone handed me a wet towel out of an ice tub and a big bottle of water. It was thankfully cold. They had giant gatorades if you wanted them too. I got my HUGE medal and a banana and then passed an ice cream truck and was handed a huge ice pop (like enormous, bigger than your standard bomb pop) and that thing was the best thing. It really cooled me down.
Another runner on the way out the chute said directly to me "that was fun" and I said "why am I running another race in a few weeks" and she said "I'm doing Chicago" and we both grimaced. Misery loves company.
The final part of the finish chute had 4 people down surrounded by medical, all seemed conscious. But scary. I made my way past the giant open sunny field to the VIP tent to wait for hubby. And everyone had dragged chairs into the shadiest spot. I sat down and collected myself. Someone noticed a man passed out in his chair...eyes fully open but arms twitching and laying back and medical rushed over. It was VERY SCARY. He was "with it" by the time we left but...I just have no words.

I was relieved to see hubby who was in pretty good shape and when he said he thought he did like 3 hours and I then I said what does your garmin say and it was 2:46 I know he was focused more on finishing. I'm SO PROUD of him for getting that time on his first half under these conditions. He basically told me he was done with running except for tri's, but it only took him until today to tell me he may sign up for the local Cougar run 5k this weekend...sooooo. But I think he is kinda done with halfs by themselves for now.



We had a really good time together before and after the race even though the race was HARD. And that makes it worth it. The fact we suffered together, we both experienced that and will remember it. It's gonna be a hard one to forget. And now my focus turns towards praying for better weather for 10/15 where I try my hardest to 10k sub an hour. I'm gonna have to just focus on no breaks...straight tempo or faster...crushing it. Here's hoping it works out. I feel like I had a better day in me, just never have been the best with heat even when not doing strenous activity. I'll wonder for awhile what coulda been. Luckily there's no sudden death elimination with running...you just pick yourself up and register for the next one.

final stats:
2:30:08, 11:28 pace
4697/8021 overall 58%
2243/4539 female 49% (huzzah, top half still barely)
288/616 division 46%

 

[ZellyB]

YAY you started it!!!

Private portapotties?? Heaven. I hate that you had difficult conditions for this race. I know how disappointing it is when it's something you cannot control.

 

[roxymama]

YAY you started it!!!

Private portapotties?? Heaven. I hate that you had difficult conditions for this race. I know how disappointing it is when it's something you cannot control.

And I've added the first 5 miles! It's the recap that keeps getting longer!
I hate that the conditions were like that too, but it's just the race gods way of making me keep signing up for new races to try again right? grumble mumble

There were 8-9 porta potties for seriously like 40-50 people. The only time there was a line was about 7 people deep right before corrals were getting ready to close. Saved the day when both hubby and I realized we needed one more "go" of things.

 

[roxymama]

Just a tiny pause in the day to let @opusone know that they removed the out and back at mile 5 on the hot chocolate Chicago course. Just thought I'd share

 

[opusone]

Just a tiny pause in the day to let @opusone know that they removed the out and back at mile 5 on the hot chocolate Chicago course. Just thought I'd share

Funny! I did notice that when the course map email came out today. It will be dearly missed.

 

[Sailormoon2]

maybe I could run Tink with no goal and then try one in Chicago with a bigger goal"

And now you have drunk of the "real runner" Kool-Aid my friend, 2 will become 3 and then 10...it.never.stops!

PRIVATE PORTAPOTTIES

It wasn't my most photogenic day...

You look adorable!

Don't I look happy?

You look like you are working hard

 

[roxymama]

Recap update through mile 10....This recap will take longer to write than my race took to run. But I'm pushing through

 

[michigandergirl]

Holy cow, that medal is Huge! Is it always that big for this race? I might have to make another trip to Chi-town for that.

 

[roxymama]

Holy cow, that medal is Huge! Is it always that big for this race? I might have to make another trip to Chi-town for that.

Yes, it's always like a salad plate size. My father in law told us about them a few years ago. Last year was a giant spinner thing. And year before it was just as huge.
Not gonna lie, it made the decision to run it easier




This year it made a skyline with the spring half and challenge medal. They have them shown here...
http://www.chicagohalfmarathon.com/2017/05/08/2017-chicagoland-series-medals/

 

[ZellyB]

I'm hot just reading your report!

 

[roxymama]

I'm hot just reading your report!

Me too! Should I go grab a cold beer?

Annnnnd I'm done with the recap. Anyone who actually reads the whole thing deserves a giant medal!

 

[FFigawi]

Me too! Should I go grab a cold beer?

I can't believe that's even a question

 

[roxymama]

I can't believe that's even a question

I forgot to mention that this race had Lagunitas free beer instead of the standard miller lite or michaelob ultra. And the VIP tent had its own beer table with full glass bottles. So this race gets a good beer grade.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Like @ZellyB , I think I started to sweat just reading. You had a great race- you ran hard and, more importantly, you ran smart! I think seeing so many people so seriously overheated would have been really scary and I am glad that wasn't you or @roxyhubby . I hope your race in a few weeks is MUCH cooler- I am sure it will be!

 

[roxymama]

Like @ZellyB , I think I started to sweat just reading. You had a great race- you ran hard and, more importantly, you ran smart! I think seeing so many people so seriously overheated would have been really scary and I am glad that wasn't you or @roxyhubby . I hope your race in a few weeks is MUCH cooler- I am sure it will be!

ME TOO!!!!!

I don't think I would have handled this race as well as I did without all the training. I wish I could have just raced it back on the night of my 11 mile training run because I felt so strong. The training really is what kept me moving though. My recovery in the tent after wasn't nearly as bad as it would be if I had slacked on putting in all those summer miles. @DopeyBadger thank you for the custom plan again and pushing me with the paces. I know I didn't race to them but I think you set me up to run hard even when running was hard. I hope all the karma from all the help you give TeamBadger comes flying back at you and slaps a big ol' BQ on you this weekend.

MONDAY UPDATE (on WED)

Mon: Recover
Tue: Recover
Wed: Recover
Thur: Recover
Fri: Recover
Sat: probably try on some easy miles on these legs. I am going to go to my Running Store and get my new shoes (I know I was supposed to do that earlier this month but I got part lazy about it and part "I have to pay for disney" about it...but now disney is paid for ACK!) I have a short list from people on here and runner's world magazine and the new brooks levitate adds I keep seeing. So I will bring it with me to hopefully not annoy the poor shoe salesman too bad. I want light, but with some cushion, but not so much that the shoe isn't flexible
Sun: father-in-law is running the Cougar 5k and hubby might try to sub-30 weather dependant (it's his big threshold he wants to conquer). I may just cheer from the sidelines or run easy next to Chris dad at between my EA and EB pace. I want to save my legs and my PR from last year will still be good for a while for POTs. I'll probably still be 7th in my age even with a 36 min time, haha.

RACES COMING SOON:

September 30 - see above, cheerlead or Easy pace fun run. No medals, just local neighborhood family run.
October 15 - Milwaukee Marathon 10k - ONLY ONE GOAL 59:59 or lower or bust! No excuses, work hard, race hard. Drink some Miller beer.
October 29 - Hot Chocolate Chicago 15k - I registered on Monday officially because I had a coupon code for extra swag. I knew I wanted to do it but had been holding back to make sure this half went well. It's 2 days before we leave for disney. I doubt I want to make my legs hurt. I'm gonna fun run that one at long run pace tops, and get my swag and chocolate and Legacy Medal!!! Chris is sitting this one out.
November 3 - Fall Feast 5k at Animal Kingdom - Run nice and swift until I see a character and then get a pic, rinse, repeat, get all the pics, even if it takes an hour. Hubby is doing 10k the next day. I'm so happy I'm not running W&D half right now.

And that ends my race season. I think I will need the break. I'm excited though about the above and not dreading any of it. I'll be a nervous wreck before the 10k. I've added up every possible pace scenario ten times over and it's daunting, but do-able.

 

[ZellyB]

You did a GREAT job on a brutal day. I know it wasn't everything you wanted, but, girl, you did it and didn't collapse with heat stroke at the end. WIN!!!

Love the upcoming races and you know "winter is coming" so hopefully the weather gods will favor you on the next ones.

That last gif made me LOL.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Some takeaway lessons from this past weekend's race:

1) You can't beat Mother Nature. No matter who you are, if there's heat and sun, you're likely to be slower. Add on top a sudden rise in heat and humidity over the last couple of days and it makes it near impossible to be heat acclimated.

2) You ran the best you could that day. On another day, maybe you would have been faster. On a different day, maybe you would have been slower. But on that particular day, you did the best you could. As lovers of an outdoor sport, we don't get to control the weather. Which means a 2:30 HM could mean completely different things on different days.

3) Training and the fitness gains from training don't suddenly disappear because we have a tough race. So that's to say, try to never feel like time was wasted in training when the results of the race aren't what you hoped for. You still improved tremendously over the last couple of months. And on a better environment day, maybe you could have done differently. But that fitness is still there, and with good weather come Oct 15th, I have no doubt you'll prove that to yourself.

4) Just as no one training run defines a training cycle, no one race defines a runner. Walk away from this run with lessons learned. It's hard, I know. I've been there more times then I care to admit. But it's tough runs, that remind us to cherish the ones that go well. It makes the victories taste that much sweeter.

I'm excited for October 15th. Oh and don't worry about pacing strategy for that one. I've got that covered for you.

 

[GollyGadget]

Great job on your race last weekend! The big local race here was the same day and I was so glad I wasn't registered... The important thing to realize is how awesome you did despite the conditions. I had a similar xp this past spring. My body also doesn't handle heat very well either, in fact I break out in hives from overheating quite regularly. I didn't come close to my goal but I survived and now I'm thriving.

I keep getting emails about that Hot Chocolate race but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. The biggest reason is because I really like celebrating Halloween that weekend but I'm a bit too old to be out all night drinking and run the next day. We still haven't decided our Halloween plans though so who knows, maybe I'll find myself in Chicago that morning. I just hope they've figured out the corrals. The only other time I ran it in Chicago (I've also done STL), I had to jump a fence because the race was about to start and the proper queue was taking way too long.