Monster Dash 1/2 Marathon Results

All I could say was WOW as I walked from the North Garage at Soldiers Field across the museum campus to the start of the race at Grant Park. I was worried that the weather would be frigid considering we had 50-60 mph wind gusts the last few days and knew that kind of wind off the lake would not be pleasant. So when I woke up at 5:15 and checked my iphone for the current temps I was very happy to see it was around 48-49 degrees and the wind was only 5-9 mph coming out of the NNE. THAT was doable. And the forecast called for mostly sunny skies. Even better.

It was about 7:15 when I came up to Shedd Aquarium and caught a glimpse of the sun rising above the lake and shining off the beautiful Chicago skyline. I mean it was picture perfect. There is no other city that captures that beauty. It put me in a great mood to start this race.

As I waited at my pace area I saw a friend of mine that was doing her first half. She has lost close to 80 lbs and looks awesome. She warned me that she'll be walking most of it and for me not to stick with her. Which secretly I was happy because I really wanted to challenge myself and see if I could beat my time at Indy.

So we slowly make out way to the start line and I start jogging when all of a sudden the toe of my right shoe snags one of the mats (I think these mats have sensors in them to monitor your time) and I began the humiliating tumble to the ground. It felt like minutes passed and all I could think of as it was happening was NO!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO ME!! Nothing like eating humble pie in front of thousands of people. I tried my best not to create a domino effect and luckily I didn't get trampled on by the runners behind me. I guess it was good that I was close to the back of the pack so there were mostly walkers and slow runners. One of the guys working the race helped me up. A guy behind me joked that I was suppose to fall at the end of the race, not the beginning. That allowed me to laugh at myself and not to beat myself up over it for the next 13 miles. Which I did for about 1 mile and then figured most people didn't see it happen and have probably forgotten about it already. But in the back of my mind, I feared the scene being sent viral on youtube or facebook since EVERYTHING nowadays is up for publicity. So far, I haven't seen anything, thank goodness.

I really enjoyed the run. The scenery was beautiful. Most of the run was along the lakefront which at first I was confused because the course map showed the race south along the lakefront but we were running north (as felt by that nice north wind). At the time I didn't realize that the race coordinators had to change the route at the last minute because President Obama was in town campaigning for a IL senate candidate on Saturday night. Not sure what that had to do with Sunday unless he was still in town. But I was fine with that. We ran through Lincoln Park and other nice neighborhoods. The only complaint I had was that a lot of the course was through unlevel and cracked sidewalks which is a hazard for runners. I was careful not to sprang my ankle. Running along the lake was fabulous. If I lived downtown I'd so do that everyday. There are no words to describe how beautiful the lakefront is. The other downside was that this was not a closed course so naturally on a beautiful fall day, there are A LOT of people walking/running/biking along the lakefront so sometimes you had to dodge pedestrians.

The last half of the race was nice because the wind was at your back. Trust me, that helped beyond belief when coming up to mile 10/11. The last mile of a half marathon is the longest mile EVER!! I can't imagine the last mile in a full marathon. FORGET THAT!! It takes every last bit of stamina in me to cross that finish line and it's only my determination that gets me there. I did not stop running the entire race except to use the bathroom around mile 6 or 7. Naturally there were only two portapotties so I lost about 5 mins getting that taken care of.

I've noticed a couple things in these two races. One, there are people of every size who participate in half marathons. Now I am definitely not a world class athlete and acknowledge that I have about 10 more pounds of body fat to lose but when I see people who appear heavier or more out of shape than I am crossing the finish line ahead of me, I really wonder if I'm not as good as I think I am. I mean, I think running a half marathon is challenging. My pace is a little under 12 min/mile or 5 miles per hour. It's not fast but certainly not slow. The average time for women to complete 13.1 miles is between 2 hrs 15 mins and 2 hrs 21 mins. I do it in around 2 hrs 33 mins. That's about a 10 1/2 min mile pace or a full minute faster. It doesn't sound like much but try doing it for 13 miles.

I think my issue is my strategy. I try to run at a consistent pace throughout the race. This leads me to the second thing I noticed. There was a couple who were running for a few minutes, then walking. They beat me through the finish line. It was funny because I'd pass them as they were walking, then they'd pass me when they started running and just when I thought I was well ahead of them, they pass me and cross the finish line first. That got me thinking that maybe I need to change my strategy. Either train to run faster or maybe incorporate the run/walk. But in my mind I feel it's more of a challenge to run the whole thing :)

Another lesson learned is not to drink pop the night before a race. I had pizza (it's a good source of carbs right?) and a can of pop. I think the issue was that I didn't drink any water afterward and because I pee constantly when I drink water, I barely drank any water before the race. Needless to say, around mile 3 or 4 my left calf about locked up in a cramp. I was so worried because I was determined to finish this race since it cost me close to $100. So I ran through the pain and could barely walk when I crossed the finish line. No pain, no gain!! I did drink a TON of water and ate 3 bananas after the race. Luckily there's no permanent damage.

I did not know my official time when I finished the race. I don't keep track of it during the race since really my goal is just to enjoy the race and to finish it. I figured it had to be around the 2:30 mark since I had a general idea of what time it was when I finished. So on Monday I checked the official time and found that I actually finished in 2:36:03. About 3 mins worse than Indy. I was a little bummed but still felt good about it. I figured it was due to the 5 min potty break. Then I read a post on facebook that the course was actually 13.35 miles! So I did the math and calculated that if the course was the standard 13.1 miles I would have finished exactly at 2:33!! Not that this matters to anybody but me :)

I would definitely do this race again. A lot of people dressed up in halloween costumes which was surprising. Not that I'd dress up but you can't beat running along the lake in Chicago. I would just hope the weather is as perfect. I have been extremely lucky that my first two half marathons have been in relatively warm sunny weather. I don't plan on running anymore half marathons until next Spring. I need a break :)