Chicago Half Marathon (9-10-07)

Wow, what a great weekend! It started with a wonderful FE dinner at my place on Friday night. It was so great to see everyone, and we had a wonderful time! 

On Sunday, my friend Kim and I got to the race course around 6:45am. I could tell it was warm, but didn't yet realize just how hot and humid it would be.  I said goodbye to Kim, and lined up between the 8:00 and 9:00 pace group.

My game plan was to run an 8:30 pace for most of the race, and then hammer out the last few miles if I had it in me. But I knew pacing was gonna be an issue. The 8:00 pace group would be too fast, and 9:00 would be too slow. I would be unable to rely on a pacer and just had to trust my instincts.

Either the first 3 mile markers way off, or I'm just a horrendous pacer (probably a little of both). By mile 4 I fell into a groove and found the pace I was looking for. At mile 6 I took a gel, but snarfed on the water because I drank it too fast. I think I was shooting chocolate GU out of my nose. 

By mile 7 I was starting to feel VERY fatigued.  It was hot, super humid, no shade, and I probably started out too fast.  I became worried because it was waaaay too early to start struggling like that. I asked myself, what would Possum say? The answer was that he'd say, "move your ass, sucka!!" So I just kept charging. 

By mile 10 I knew I had to step it up a bit. I realized that I had a chance of breaking 1:50. With a little less than 1.5 miles left in the race, my watch read 1:40. So I told myself it was do-or-die time. I was aware of the fact that it was too early to start kicking, but if I didn't start now, I wouldn't break 1:50. So I said "f*ck it, I'm gonna go all out right here right now, there's a good chance I'll gas out with a half mile before the finish line, but I'm going for it." 

I've never laid it all on the line like this before. I had already been fatigued for about 5 miles, but something deep inside me was able to just drop the friggin hammer!  I don't know what it was or where it came from, but despite the excruciating pain, I was able to push forward with a relentless intensity. Except for the marathon, I've never put forth this much heart in a race.   Here are the splits....

Mile 1- 7:45
Mile 2- 8:50
Mile 3- 7:31
Mile 4- 8:30
Mile 5- 8:24
Mile 6- 8:24
Mile 7- 8:25
Mile 8- 8:24
Mile 9- 8:45
Mile 10- 8:46
Mile 11- 8:22
Mile 12- 8:09
Mile 13.1- 9:03 (7:51 pace)
FINISH- 1:49:21

This was by far one of the best moments in my short running career. A 7 minute PR and I shaved almost 10 minutes off my half marathon time in less than a month. 

As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for the unending support.