Rock 'N' Roll Race Recap

Race days can always be a little hectic because I am always afraid I will forget something or not wake up on time. Anyone that knows me also knows that I do not tend to get a lot of sleep because I like to go out before races.  I tried my best to get some sleep but it did not work. I'll start this race recap the night before.

July 20

After one failed attempt to go he expo on Friday(I thought it lasted until 7;ugh), I told myself I would go early Saturday;that did not happened. I casually strolled around my place, ate some food, wrote a blog and showered. Once again I thought I had more time than I actually had. I checked the expo hours at 3:40 and freaked out out because it closed at 5!  I rushed out of my house and caught a bus to the train and hopes I would make it on time. I ended up getting there around 5:15 and got to pick up my packet. Now that I got that figures out, I would have to kill sometime before going to th Sheffield garden walk.

                                                   JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound

I went to a Barnes & Noble to finish a book called "Out Of My League'" by Dirk Hayhurst.  A friend of mine called shortly after and said she locked herself out of her place and I went to her out(I got cookies and food out of the deal). I left there and headed over the garden walk to see JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound. They are a fantastic live band and a must see if they are in Chicago. It started to rain a little during their show and they only picked up the energy. It is one of the best times I've had at a show. I headed home after that at what I thought had been a decent hour.


Once I got home I had a minor freak out. I set out my running clothes and got ready to out my tag on my shoe and realized after taking he sticker off, it had a different name on it! I wrote on the half marathon's page and they quickly got back to me. It turns out they use recycled tags and I had nothing to worry about. I set my alarms and got to bed sometime after midnight.

Race day!

                                                              People everywhere!
Getting up around 3:45 a.m. is never easy but race days always add a little excitement. I got everything I needed to get together and headed out around 4:45. It also helps to see other crazies out and about that early heading to the same race. Once I got there I checked my bag and got ready for the race.

One of the worst things about race days is trying to get to a bathroom before a race. The lines are always terribly long. I kind of had to go, but definitely not enough to wait in an awful line so I headed to my corral. The only complaint I have about this race is letting people into corrals they should not be in.  My corral felt a little crowded but I could not do anything about it at that point so I had to get focused.

                                                                    Getting ready to go!


I started in corral five so I did not have to wait too long to get going.  I came flying out of the gates and kept this pace going for a while. I stuck with the 1:45 pace group for the first four miles or so and then I got a little ahead of them. Things were going great until about mile five or six.

It might have been later than that but my headphones stopped working(of course I figured out the issue after the race)! I ran a little bit, tried to fix it and eventually have up on the issue; I had to become a zen runner on the fly. Things were going great at this point so I did not worry. By mile nine, I started to give my legs mental pep talks.

The last three miles of the race were tough. My legs were dead and I still had to go to the bathroom. I did not exactly know my time but I knew  I had been ahead of my goal time.  The only thing I could do at this point is keep my legs moving. I felt really happy to see mile 12 until I got to 12.5 and the little hill just killed me. Emily mentioned in her blog that Midwesterners (especially on the northern end) do not like any kind hill;big or small. I forced myself over the hell and saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I finished as strong as I could and set a new personal best! My final stats are below. I would like to thank my Brooks  for helping me get through the last two races comfortably. Once I finished the race, I got my medal, a photo and quickly found a bathroom.

Finishers medal

Overall I am happy with how things went. I had a friend put it into perspective that it is not easy to do what I did and I felt a lot better at my time. It is also a tribute to hard work. I shaved 20 minutes off my last half marathon. Set goals and work hard to achieve them.

Walk Off The Earth at the post concert show

July 22

I normally do not get my medal engraved but I decided to this time. Thank you to Brooks and Fleet Feet for putting this event on. They had beer, champagne and cookie cake. I had a couple of beers, some cookie cake and headed out.  I had a nice time chatting with other runners and Fleet Feet workers.

Exocet at least one other blog post this week. Run happy!