Kim Versus the Half Marathon: Chicago Rock 'n' Roll

It's been a long time since I've been able to give a race report.  How sad is that?!  April 10th was my last race - The Tomball Bunny Run (5K).  Looks like my next race will be my next Half Marathon, the Houston Half on October 24th.  I really look forward to seeing how much I can impove in these next 11 weeks! 

So, I'm trying to figure out where to begin.  I guess it's only right to just discuss the whole weekend.  I flew to Chicago with my 2 double cousins, Danielle and Nicole.  They were flying home and I was flying in for the race.  We had hoped some kind person would switch seats with me so I could sit next to them.  Such a person did exist, but sadly for me it meant a wet seat.  We weren't sure what made the seat wet, but thankfully Continental peeps were on it and I got a new seat cushion stat!  Once we landed, We met up with Bobbi Jo (a friend of mine who instigated this whole Half Marathon shenanigan) though she, too, lives in Houston, had made alternate flight arrangements.  My aunt and uncle then picked us all up from the airport and took us back to their house.  We socialized for a bit and then went to bed.  I took some Nyquil because I already felt a bit gunky and wanted to kill the gunky dead.  Around midnight, I got a work call.  I don't do well on medication and midnight work calls (especially when they are not emergencies), so I'm pretty sure I yelled at my employee and hung up on him.  I did end up getting 8 hours of sleep which was good because I had only slept 5 hours the night before.  =/  My aunt, cousins, Bobbi Jo, and I then went down town to meet up with my grandmother and the old folks for breakfast.  Apparently my grandma has a weekly breakfast gathering at a local deli and we were all invited to go.  The kids, which consisted of Danielle, Nicole, cousin Courtney, Bobbi Jo, and I got banished to our own table.  We were HUNGRY and ordered ridiculous quanitites of food.  I had an egg white pizza omelet (pictured above).  It didn't come with any meat in it and I needed my protein, yo, so I ordered a side of turkey sausage.  Then I realized it didn't come with any carbs and I was totally in need of CARBO LOADING, so I ordered a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.  Yes, I was a little piggy.  Since the minute we got there, Bobbi Jo was eyeing these giant cupcakes that were spinning around in a glass display case.  My grandmother insisted on buying desert for my cousins and BJ before we left for the road (I declined because I didn't want to jack up my stomach).  I threw in a couple of wheat bagels for BJ and I for the next morning, however. 

After breakfast, we headed over to my grandma's condo to get our bags situated and then my aunt gave BJ, Danielle, Nicole, and I a ride to McCormick Place which is where the Expo was being held.  It was a bit intimidating because the place was HUGE.  We went up some escalators, found our corral numbers, got our bibs, then went and got our shirts - I was surprised to see they were really nice shirts versus t-shirts, and then we got a bag to put it all in.  After that, we went to the merchandise area where you could purchase race paraphernalia.  Meliska had suggested to me buying a pin so that I would have a pin for each race, so I did.  Then we moved onto the actual Expo.  I was hoping to find Bondi Bands (and I did - yay).  I bought 3 of them.  One that had lime green in it to match my race day top - not that it even mattered because I wear a visor, so it really didn't even show, but I KNEW.  Then I bought two other ones with cutes sayings.  I had hoped to buy a pace bracelet, but I didn't see them there.  We did get all kinds of samples -  my favorite was the Titan bar - a low sugar protein bar that tasted delicious!  After the Expo, we grabbed a cab back to the condo to relax until dinner time.

My grandmother took us to dinner at Petterino's.  They provided us with a bread basket - normally I would not partake, but I was CARBO LOADING, so I had a couple of pretzel rolls and some flat bread backed with parmesan cheese.  I ordered a Fritzel small salad to start with - boston lettuce, hearts of palm, avocado, tomato, lorenzo dressing (yum)!  For my meal, I ordered - Pappardelle Bolognese - hearty meat sauce, parmesan.  It's been over a year since I've had non whole wheat pasta.  It was quite delicious.  My grandma offered us dessert, but we all declined and headed back to the apartment.  BJ and I had planned on going to bed at 9pm.  We actually laid down at 9:15.  I tossed and turned for an hour or so...around 10:30 older sister Cathy text me "good luck"...around 10:45, my mom text me with "good luck" and that she was "gonna get me" (inside joke).  They assumed I would have my ringer off.  I was up anyway, but more concerned about BJ.  Then I turned my ringer off.  I still tossed and turned for quite a while and eventually fell asleep.  My alarm went off at 4am.  I'm guessing I had about 4 hours of sleep.  Oh joy.

BJ and I got up and got dressed.  My grandmother insisted on making me eggs, so I let her.  Then BJ and I ate our bagels.  I had brought Justin's almond butter to spread on mine.  We headed out the door a little after 5:20, I think, and grabbed a cab to get as close to the start line as possible.  We found our corrals, grabbed some bananas, ate them, then headed to the port-a-potties, then got into our respective corrals and awaited the start of the race.

I felt calm, kinda, but anxious.  I said a few prayers.  The air was warmer and more humid than the forecasters had predicted, but less than Houston so I can't really complain.  They had the first 24 corrals go about 2 minutes apart from one another and then they let the last 5 corrals go all together at once.  I just remember thinking there were people everywhere.  It was sort of intimidating.  I did some weaving in and out, but tried to watch my speed.  It was very hard to do this at first because we were sent through some tunnels and that kills your Garmin.  Then we got sent over a bridge that had these crazy steele plated circles as the running terrain - it was just kind of awkward to run on them.  BJ ran the Chicago full marathon last October and said they had actually carpeted the area.  I think that would have been better.  Later in the race ,around mile 3, I actually had to sort of side step a dead rat that was crushed into one of those steele plated circles when we had to run over yet another bridge like that.  The race promised bands every mile or so and totally delivered.  Most of the time, I couldn't even hear my iPod.  Most of the bands were rock 'n' roll, which was, of course, very fitting, but there were a couple of jazz bands and I also heard an Irish band.  Somehow, I must have taken the road less traveled (the far lanes, the zig-zagging lanes) and I ended up off the mile marks by about 0.4 of a mile around mile 5.  This was kind of obnoxious - already knowing I had run further than necessary.

Meliska had told me to write Kim with a sharpie on my arms.  I had my cousin Danielle do this for me and some people would shout out my name as I came running by.   This was pretty awesome!  There were also spectators that would give you high 5s and that just kinda made your moment, too!  The day before, I had made plans with my aunt and cousins to meet me at a specific intersection near mile 4 - we were purposely avoiding water stations to avoid crowds.  It worked out perfectly.  They brought my Powerade Zero!  Yay!  and my aunt even had it in a cup for me - so sweet!  It was an awesome feeling to have a cheering section!!!  We had next thought for them to go to Mile 7 or 8 depending on what worked for them. 

Around Mile 2, I had to go to the bathroom, but I told myself NO.  I saw some bathrooms around mile 3, but there was a really long line, so I kept on keeping on.  Just short of mile 6, I couldn't keep going any longer, so I stopped.  It took me 6 1/2 minutes to get through the line and use the bathroom.  Talk about frustration.  When I got back into the mix again, I hit a hill.  Chicago claimed to be flat.  BJ assured me it was flat after we finished.  I understand it is a flat city just like Houston, but flat is my subdivision.  Overpasses and what have you are hills to me.  It seemed there were several of these and I didn't like them.  So, anyway...after the bathroom frustration/fiasco, I got hit with the hill and then my left calf decided to go all charlie horse on me in a bad way.  I did my interval thing until I hit mile 7 (which by now was really 7.62 according to my calculations) and then I had to walk - or at least try to walk off the charlie horse pain.  I walked fast, though...sometimes I walked faster than I was running before - ha!  I was swinging my arms like it was nobody's business.  I saw my aunt and cousins after mile 8, but before mile 9, so I started running towards them despite the cramping.  They had my Powerade Zero and I was hoping the sodium would help.  I drank 3 small cups full and started running.  I ran for about 3 minutes and the cramping continued, so I power-walked my way throughout most of the rest of the race with increased frustration.  I NEVER EVER have encountered charlie horse issues while running.  I NEVER EVER have problems with my left leg.  Any running related issues are always with my right side and right leg.  WEIRD!  After mile 12, I caught up with Bobbi Jo, who it turns out had gotten very sick and needed medic assistance around mile 11.  She was walking to the finish line because she was bound and determined to finish NO MATTER WHAT - what a fighter, she is! 

Okay, so I made the last turn for the race and just started running.  I saw my cousin Courtney, but not my aunt or Danielle and Nicole.  I thought this was odd, but I just kept running for the finish line.  Right before I crossed, I saw my aunt and D & N.  Then as I crossed, I heard the announcer announce something like "There's Kim, she's lost 105 lbs and just finished her first half marathon."  I was like...huh?  What?  I was confused and I was like...well actually it's 106 lbs (haha) and then I wasn't sure if she was really talking about me cuz how would the announcer know that?!  Anyway, a volunteer handed me a water bottle and another one handed me an iced towel and then the annoucer chickadee was announcing for me to come back over to her for an "interview" of sorts, so I made my way back to her (without having even had a sip of my water) and she asked me how I started my journey that lead me to doing my very first half marathon.  It was awesome, I have to say.  I downed some water, then on my way to go talk to my aunt and cousins a woman stopped me to congratulate me and tell me that she has lost 150 lbs. so far, so we bonded and then a couple other people congratulated me.  Then I went over to the gate where my aunt and cousins were standing (this is when I found out they were the ones who shared my story with the announcer - apparently she was looking for stories about the racers from the spectators and my cousin flagged her down), they took my pic (right here) and text it to my parents and siblings and then I saw BJ coming along.  BJ and I went and got our medals, grabbed a popsicle and Lara bar respectively, and made our way to the designated meet up place.  Five for Fighting was playing (YAY!), and we sprawled out on the grass.  Charlie Horse attack #137 came along and I was in soooo much pain.  My aunt was telling me to flex my foot, only it wasn't registering and finally I realized what she wanted me to do and did it and it worked.  Then she wanted us to get out of the sun figuring we needed some shade (smart thinking), so we somehow got up and made our way to a shaded area.  We chilled for a bit and then when I went to get up again, I got a horrible cramp in my left thigh.  Have you ever had a thigh cramp?  OMG - it was horrible!  I just kinda walked that one out and we made our way to a cab.  While walking, I could feel two of my toe nails (one on each feet) depart.  Nice.  So then we cabbed it back to the condo.  I took the best shower of my life, changed into my Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Shirt and proudly put my medal on and then we left BJ with my grandma because she was taking a train out to see her dad and then my aunt and cousins and I went back towards my aunt's house, stopped for lunch - a last hoorah before I go back onto my strict South Beachy thing - and then chilled before my flight home.

Last thoughts - Chicago Rock 'n' Roll rocked my world!  First of all - the water and Cytomax stations were amazing - quite often lined up on both sides of the road.  There were a few misting stations, too.  One time, I even got a wet sponge - let me tell you how wonderful that felt!  The bands were great, the volunteers were fantastic cheerleaders, and it was just very well organized!  Oh and the medals are HEAVY!  BUT, I'm not complaining - I love mine!  I'm wearing it all week! =D

My initial reaction to my performance was disappointment.  I had a strong first 5+ miles until the whole bathroom incident and then the charlie horses.  I hated walking as much as I did, but then I think...I finished a half marathon and I did so UNDER the time limit.  For the record...my Garmin calculated it at 13.83 miles.  I really need to learn how to go the road more traveled in these things so that I'm not going any further than necessary.  I am super excited for my next one in October because I will have been training with my running group and it will be so interesting to see how that pays off.  I have also had a really hard time with training these past few months, so it's down to some serious business here!  I am going to kick some half marathon butt in October, y'all!  Oh and in case you were wondering how the Bondi band worked out - it was freakin' amazing - totally kept the sweat out of my eyes - YAY!

So, here are the stats:

Time:  3:24:39
Finished 17933 out of 18555 (still beat 622 people and 62 of those were women in my age group)

Finishing Song:  Flo Rida's "Low"

Burned 1963 calories.

Now I'm stiff and sore...getting a massage today (yay)! 

Anyway...how was your weekend?