Chicago Spring 1/2 Marathon Report

It was 1:00 am and I was in bed chuckling.  This would be how the entire day went.  Chuckling.

I woke again at 2 and listened to the wind howl and the rain hit the windows.  Really?  Come on.  Why does the weather always have to be crappy when I have a race?  Fell asleep and hoped that when I awoke the weather would be moving out and by 7am we would be in good shape.  Alarm went off at 4 and still the wind whipped and the rain fell.  Temp out was 41.  OMG, now what?  Do I really want to run in this awful weather?  Well I knew there was probably no stopping my father so I got up and got dressed.  My phone went off with a text......."Are you ready for this?"  Ummmm......NO.  Called his cell and we discussed our options.  Well not really.  We were just waiting for one of us to say lets bag it.  There was no way I would of said that unless I was sick.  I knew better.  I would hear for years....."Remember that race we DIDN'T run?  The one with the horrible weather.  You wimped out.  I would of run if you could of handled it."  I was not going to deal with Dad picking on me about it.  So we decided we were both up.  He was already in the car and why not just drive down and decide then.

The ride to the city was quick.  The drive to the race site, not so much.  Took us about 20 minutes to drive in circles to figure out where the heck the starting line was.  No matter what road we took we couldn't find it. Chuckle.   What we could find was groups of runners heading somewhere.  Park the car.  We'll follow them. 

So we follow the crowd.  A few blocks straight a slight turn, through a fountain area.  Upstairs, downstairs. Finally we come to the park, hidden between buildings.  Like a courtyard of sorts.  But no start line.  Stopped to use the porta potties.  It's cold, very cold, raining, windy.  Yes we are going to run.  We put on our lovely fashion statement of black garbage bags and I instantly feel much warmer.  It's mid May and I'm wearing lined tights, sports bra, short sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt, arm warmers, rain jacket, hat, ear band, gloves and a garbage bag.  Chuckling.  Happy racing.

We followed the crowd some more.  There was quite a few runners.  I think about 2200 runners showed up.  Again through the buildings, behind buildings and now under some bridge.  There was little waiting.  Maybe 5 mins and we were off.  Within 2 minutes we were running on the Lake shore Path.  Along the water where all the boats are docked.  The wind brutal.  I realized it was a slight crosswind but more so coming from behind.  This is not good, chuckling.  It's an out and back course.  Coming back would be a head wind........

We run along the path trying to avoid the huge puddles and people.  The path just isn't big enough for the large crowd.  This definitely is not a race to run for time even in the best condition.  Too many people in your way.  I was just running at what ever pace my Dad could maintain.  And I have to say he did great.  We held on to a 10:20 pace on the way out.  Stopped to use the bathroom so that made it 10:29 pace at the turnaround point.  But before we hit that mark we were pelted with freezing rain, almost blown over a few times and hit by a wave.  Yes a wave.  Ok, maybe wave mist.  As we ran along the small trail along the aquarium it sits out in the water up high.  The waves were smashing into the cement wall and flying up about 20 feet.  With the wind it would spray over the trail.  Like I'm not wet enough. 

When I turn around at the 6.5 mile point I am shocked at how bad the head wind is.  I start leaning forward pushing hard.  Trying not to get blown over.  The rain is now hitting you in the face and it's cold!  This will be the longest  6.5 miles I have ever run.  But what I realize is that really I'm doing just fine.  Yes the weather is crap.  But my body is doing what it should and not complaining too much.  I was never breathing hard and just kept shuffling along keeping tabs on my father.  By the 8 miles mark I was ready to get out of the cold.  My father was slowing down, his garmin beeping that annoying beep every 30 secs telling him his heart rate was in zone 4 slow down.  Dad, you have got to fix that thing so it doesn't go off all the time!  I might have hit a HR in zone 3 at some points but my readings were off I think with the wacky weather.  At one point my garmin said 208.  Ha, I would be collapsed puking on the ground with that number.  Most of the run was in zone 2 for me.  Our average pace started to slow.  We went from a 10:29 pace to a 10:45 pace.  With 40 mph headwinds not too bad.  Just finish.  These medals better be good.  Chuckling.

Finally we finish together.  Wet, tired, cold, hungry.  We get our medals and they are huge.  Actually bigger than all my marathon ones.  Heavy and very nice.  There was hot food being served.  Really nice set up with lots of free drinks.  But just too cold to stand there in the rain and eat. Pleased with ourselves we head back to the car.  Upstairs, downstairs, through the courtyard, pass the fountain.  Down the road.  We got a few blocks and turned right.  Start walking and realize, nope this isn't right.  We passed a self park earlier, but I knew it was the wrong one.  So we decided we turned to soon, lets walk another block.  We turn right again and nope that's not the street either.  But wait I see hotel Monaco.  We parked near that hotel.  We walk around the entire block.  No self park.  Great now what.  Where the hell is the car?  We decided to check the parking garage we saw first.  I knew it wasn't it, but there wasn't another one to check.  Once in the garage it's confirmed, wrong one.  We head back out but first wait in the corridor to warm up.  I eat a protein bar as I'm getting woozy.  I tell my Dad we really need to get our heads on straight and figure this out.  He says yeah it would be embarrassing to call home and say we can't find the car.  Ya think?  We head back out into the cold and into a 7-11 we passed at least 3 times.  I remembered telling a guy when we parked the car the name of the parking garage.  He put it in his phone.  I figured Dad put it in his head.  I was wrong.  I couldn't remember for sure what I said.  I think it was Randolph and Wabash.  So we ask the 7-11 cashier where we can find those cross roads.  Still not knowing if we were heading in the right direction.  We walk back out into the street and literally if you look diagonally along a cross street you see the green self park sign.  There it is.  We turned right off the main road and should of turned left.  30 minutes of searching for the car we find it. 

Shedding the top layer and turning on the seat heaters it felt like a moist heating pad on my back.  We drove most of the way home with the car set at 90 degrees.  Nothing could make us over heated. 

Was the race worth it?  Yes it was.  The medal is great.  The experience I had with my Dad unforgettable.  Would I do it again?  Absolutely.  Even with the weather I enjoyed myself.  I learned something.  Throwing away wanted PR's took off all the pressure.  Supporting my Dad as he earned 2nd place in his age group is far more rewarding than being miserable trying to get my own age group medal.  Which after looking at the times I never had a chance. 

There is no race in June.  Just lots of heavy training in the summer heat and humidity, here and in Hilton Head.  Hope it prepares me for the Ironman in July.  Sorry Dad you're on your own for that one.   

Degree of Talent

I have a talent.

Can't say it's a good one.

If you participate in any races with me, I am truly sorry.

Not because I may beat you, but because the weather is always crappy when I race.

I have run 4 marathons.  Only the first one had perfect weather conditions.

I should of called it quits at 1.  The second one? The coldest on record in Myrtle Beach.

The third?  The hottest on record in Chicago. 

The fourth?  Second hottest in Chicago.

What will the 5th one bring?

I have run 5k's in the heat, wind and rain. 

I have raced tri's that rained the whole way through. 

I have raced a 1/2 marathon while being beat down by the outskirts of a hurricane.  Torrential rains with cold temps.  Lovely.

Why do I bring this up now?  Well I'm racing on Sunday.  I take that back not racing but running a 1/2 marathon with my Dad along the beautiful Lake shore path in downtown Chicago.  Two days ago it hit 90 here.  Yesterday not so bad in the 80's.  Today the 70's.  Perfect running weather.  Sat it will get cooler and Sun?  Drum roll please a high of 46.  Chance of rain 60%  Winds 21mph.  At race time it will be about 40.  Maybe that's perfect for some.  But if it's raining and windy it's going to be freezing.  I thought about calling him today and saying let's head into the city and run it today.  Problem with that.... no finish line to cross, which equals no medal. 

So I wait until Sunday as the weather gets worse and worse.  Monday it starts to improve again and continues improving.  Why am I not surprised?

    

The Ups and Downs

My changes in attitude are in full effect. 

This past weekend my thoughts changed yet again.

Training is not that important.  Of course it's important if you want to do well in any given race.  It's important to follow a training program for the most part.  But in real life situations training sometimes has to take a back seat.  Mine is doing just that this week.

I decided to throw swimming out the window this week.  There just isn't the time, strength or want to fit that in the schedule.  I will also be missing a long run.  But I will have worked out 2.5 hours a day for 3 of the 7 days.  So enough to maintain my fitness.

My week started out rough and I never made it to the gym Monday.  Instead I chose to spend my 2.5 hours sitting outside on a blanket with my parents dog, Oreo.  She had what we think was a stroke over the weekend.  It caused her to loose the function of her back legs and even holding her head up was a chore as it was drooping to the right.  I sat and chatted with the family.  Petted her head.  Watched her struggle and sleep.  Fed her Jimmy John's, duck treats, really, whatever she wanted.   Those 2.5 hours were worth more sitting there saying goodbye to her than to be swimming and spinning at the gym.  After I left it was only a few hours later she was put down.  She was 14 1/2 and a great dog.  Well loved and well taken care of.  We will all miss her. 

Along with Oreo getting sick my grandfather is failing.  The man is 96 and I'm not sure how he's made it this far.  Just like Oreo he is deaf and blind.  He is starting to get delusional and rageful.  Hitting people and seeing people that just aren't there.  Right now we are told it could be a blockage in his neck causing a lack of oxygen to the brain.  Or chances are with his vision disease delusions go along with it.  I say it's because he's 96 and his mind just can't keep up with his heart.  He has a heart of a 70 year old.  It's that 70 year old heart that keeps him alive.  As much as I don't want him to leave this earth I can't imagine him being happy or in any condition to enjoy life.  It's very sad. 

I'm hoping that this weekend will inject some happiness into the family.  I know there will be tears but they will be tears of joy.  Proud parents, proud sister.  My sisters are graduating this weekend from college.  I can't tell you how excited I am to have them come home.  To get to see them whenever and not be counting down the days until they leave again.  Now I know they don't feel the same.  They would stay in college forever if they could.  Leaving their friends and life they have known for 4 years will be very hard on them.  But everyone has to do it at some point and I know they will come to terms with it and be happy that school is over!  Reality is about to smack them in the face.  But I know they will do as well in life as they have in school.  I look forward to sharing that life with them. 

So training............nope not that important this week in the scheme of things.  It's all about family this week.