Illinois Half Marathon: Just let it happen!

The short:
In my second un-tapered half in two weeks, I made it through 13.1 windy miles in 1:22:00, and felt like I got everything out of myself that I could have that day!  I started conservatively, ran without looking at my watch (aside from at the course clocks, which were at the 10K and 10 mile marks), and kept picking ponytails in front of me to try to chase down.  The race went by very quickly, I felt strong throughout, and I was able to close with a 19:04 final 5K and 6:02 final mile.  This was a competitive one - I won my age group (35-39), but was 11th female overall, which makes me feel old.  The race organizers did a fantastic job with the event - everything about the race ran smoothly and they treated me amazingly well as an elite entrant.  For that reason, I will return to this race, even though I did not like the curvy roads and paths that some of the course was on (don't even get me started on the circle drive thing in the final mile!).  My parents took the trip to the race with me, which was fantastic!

My official result is here.
My dad's video of my finish is here.

All smiles at the expo with my mom

The long:
Against better judgement/typical practices, I scheduled two half marathon races within two weeks during my marathon build-up and told my coach I didn't really need to taper for either of them.  For the Illinois Half Marathon, I secretly hoped to beat my time from Rock the Parkway on a flatter course, but I didn't know how my body would respond to racing two halves so close together, particularly when on the other weekends in April I ran 20+ milers.  My race plan was to just get out there and let it happen.

I traveled to the race with my parents, and greatly enjoyed the trip with them.  They may have enjoyed the perks that I received as an elite entrant even more than I did (they definitely liked the pre-race dinner lasagna!)!  There were several really fast women entered in the race, and although I'm not sure I will ever get over that impostor syndrome feeling when I line up with the elite field, I didn't feel intimidated before this race.  It's amazing how much not worrying about my split times and pace averages reduces my pre-race nerves!  I think I used to worry that I'd have to force my goal pace come hell or high water, and now I recognize that I can't force anything, but instead I'll push with all I have that day and it will be enough.  This also reduces my stress about factors I can't control, such as the weather and other runners.

I wasn't prepared for this photo, but it shows my
socks & the elite hospitality suite!

On Saturday morning I took advantage of the elite hospitality suite just off the starting line, then headed out for my usual 2-3 mile warm-up.  When my watch beeped 1 mile, I looked to see that I'd run a 7:17, which is faster than my warm-ups typically start (plus I'd felt like I was running about 8:15 pace).  Then when I ran my uptempo 3 minutes during my warm-up (with the goal of settling into half effort), I was at 5:56 pace, so I started thinking that perhaps I was going to have a good day!  On my warm-up I noted the strong wind that was going to be difficult to battle through when running north and west, but I was very thankful the temperature was cold (38* at the start), since this time of year can go either way!  That wind didn't help anyone, but a warm and humid day would have hurt my performance far more.

Can you find me?

I got on the starting line at the last minute, and dodged into the middle of the corral to tell my friend Julie, who was running the full marathon, good luck.  We talked for a couple of minutes while the wheelchair racers started, and then we were off.  There was quite a crowd for the first half mile or so, but it gradually thinned out.  I noticed many women out in front of me, and after the first couple of miles my race plan became to focus on the closest ponytail and move up, which was awfully reminiscent of Rock 'n' Roll Arizona last year and is probably my favorite way to race.  My pace felt brisk but comfortable, and I spoke with several other runners around me (a man who was running the marathon and was concerned he was starting out too fast, a woman who a mutual friend had identified to me as close to my pace and who I worked with for a bit, other racers who I briefly encouraged as I passed).  I got a lot of compliments on my compression socks!

Just keeping up my tradition of double chin
pose in race photos - I think it's part of my
running form!

The 10K mark came up relatively quickly, and was accompanied by a chip mat and course clock.  As we neared the clock, I saw it ticking to 40:50ish.  When I saw it, I thought, "Is this why I feel good??  Am I really running over 6:30 pace?!"  It became necessary to check my watch at that point, and it showed 38:5X, so I realized that course clock was started with the wheelchair racers who went off 2 minutes before the main field.  My 10K course split was 38:58, which is 6:16 pace.  I remember when my 10K goal was to break 39:00, so I always get a boost from seeing my 10K split times in halves in the 38s.

Shortly after we passed the 10K mark, we entered my least favorite part of the course, which included curvy residential roads followed by terribly curvy park paths.  I could not wait to get out of that park!  I kept chasing the women in front of me, but I was stuck in no-man's/no woman's land within the field at that point, and I couldn't hit a rhythm on the winding paths.  I knew from the course map that it had more turns than I'd prefer, but it was a big loop and didn't look nearly as bad as the winding areas were.  Partway through the park we turned directly into the wind and I felt like I was really losing it; the women I'd been gaining on seemed to be pulling out on me.  My mile 10 split confirms that these were pretty accurate thoughts!

I breathed a sigh of relief when we exited the park just before mile 10, even though we were still running into the wind.  I was slowly gaining on a man and kept telling myself to just get to him to tuck in behind him until we turned out of the wind.  Just as I was almost to him, another man came flying by me, just before the 10 mile clock.  I told myself to latch onto him, and then when we both passed the other man he latched onto us as well, so we had a pack and my adventures in no-man's land were thankfully over.  We passed the mile 10 clock at 1:02:56, which is 6:17 average, and I checked my watch to confirm that clock was correct.  I was vacillating between thinking, "If I run the last 5K in 19:00, I'll be in the 1:21s" and "What if I can't manage a 20:00 final 10K and I'm over 1:23?!"

I stayed with the stronger man (the other man dropped off) and running with him really helped me gain on the women in front of me.  He was in the full marathon and therefore not working nearly as hard as I was at that point of the race.  We passed one woman just before the mile 12 mark, and the man, who I'd spoken to enough to tell him that I was hanging onto him as long as I could, encouraged me to go get the other who was in sight ahead of me.  I pushed with all I had for the final mile, pulling ahead of the man before the full marathoners split off, and gained a lot of ground on the woman.  As we came into the stadium finish, I knew I didn't have enough distance to catch her, but I never let off, particularly when I saw the finishing clock.  I gave it my all to get through the line in a time starting with 1:21, but my official time ended up being 1:22:00.  Since they didn't give us tenths of a second on our official times, I'm just going to assume it was rounded and was truly between 1:21:59.6-1:21:59.9, haha!  My average pace for the course was 6:15, although my Garmin read a shade faster on pace and longer on distance; there was no hitting all of those tangents. 

Watch-stopping photos are also my tradition

Post-race glow

Garmin splits - I was pleased with my pacing
aside from mile 10 (Strava said the GAP was
6:21, which is not quite as bad but not what I
wanted consistency-wise)

This is my third best half finishing time, although my Garmin pace was 1 second/mile faster than what I ran in my second best time at Rock 'n' Roll Arizona.  The Arizona course was faster (and straighter) than this one and the weather better there, plus I tapered for that race and for my PR half, but even without those details I'm pleased to run one of my top times.  I'd say this is my second best half when you consider all of those factors, and I am proud that it came during a 70 mile week.  Last season I was so caught up in thinking that I had to break 1:20 in the half before I could try for 2:45 in the full, and while that would still certainly be ideal, I felt no pressure to do it in this half or at Rock the Parkway without tapering or peaking.

Expo posing

I truly found joy in the journey during this race, and just letting the best performance I had that day come out of me.  I ended up with 20 miles for the day, and I think anytime you make a half race into a 20 mile day it's a success!  I can't thank my parents enough for all of the races they've accompanied me to over the years, and for their unconditional support.  They would be just as proud of me if I ran a 2:21 vs. the 1:22, which is so much more meaningful than any race time.  I never appreciated them as much as I began to when I became a parent myself.

7 weeks after this race, it will be time to run a full marathon!

My parents have selflessly traveled the U.S.
with me as I've pursued running goals

They are truly amazing and the best supports I
could ever ask for!