Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon, 2016

I rocked. Well yeah, of course I did. I rolled. Ok, not literally. I got soaked. No, totally.

I ran the Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon in 2015 and I liked it. It was exciting to run through the streets of Chicago. But I also remembered how hot it was that day. SO HOT! Running it in 2016 wasn't exactly on my calendar. Sure I knew the date, I knew the race. Hell, I knew the course. But there was just something of "Eh, been there; done that" which lingered inside of me.

So you know, I ran it. I'm a sucker. I am. I enjoy racing. I find it healthy and challenging.

I started way back in Corral 31. I'm not fast, but I run. I lined up with the pacers for 2:40. That was my projected finish time and if I finished in that time it would have been my fastest half marathon to date. And yes, I'm well aware some people can finish a full marathon in less time than I can finish a half marathon.

We started, finally. It was a 45 minute wait from the race start until Corral 31 hit the start line. We were off! I was running. Right there with the pacers. And a quarter mile in they counted down from 5 and started to walk. Crap. I couldn't stay with them. There went any consistency I might have of staying on a pace that wasn't set by however I was feeling at that given moment.

I was off. On my own. I was passing people. I was getting passed. It wasn't a hot as last year. If I'm being honest I didn't even need my sunglasses. I had them but ended up running most of the race with them on my head. I kept checking my watch, runners, sometimes we do that. And strange, but I was on pace for a super PR but also a large deduction off of my previous races.

And then it happened. I was between mile 8 and 9, it's an out and back down a street. Which if I'm being honest it's one of my favorite parts of the Chicago Rock 'N' Roll Half because there are so many high fives going on. Everyone you pass just high fives on your way out and their way back. Then vice versa. But it happened. I felt sprinkling of rain.

Mile 10 hit. It was raining. I had 3.1 miles to go. Just a simple 5k. Again with the lies I tell myself. I told myself I could run in light rain and sprinkling. Truth be told I had never run in rain before, and on race day was probably not the best time to try that out. Alas, I had 3.1 miles to go.

Mile 11 hit. It was no longer sprinkling. It was pelt you in the face with heavy rain as I tried to run up a hill. And yet I was still ahead of my projected time. I entered the tunnel under McCormick Place and bolted. Why? It wasn't raining in there I could make up time because I knew all I had to do was get through the tunnel, exit, run around a curvy sidewalk, turn to an aid and cheer station, turn and run up and off ramp ... which the year prior I recalled it feeling like the longest ramp ever and it's not exactly flat.

All I had to do was get through the tunnel. I kept running. And then I was stopped. Hundreds of people in front of me. There was lightening and we were being held. I paused my watch. I wasn't running anymore. We had to wait for the weather to clear. I know it was for my safety and I'm thankful that first of all I was at a point in that race where I could take shelter from a storm going overhead. Secondly I was thankful to be apart of a race that took participant safety into consideration. But let's be honest I knew that despite weather and being held in a safe spot that the run time/clock wasn't stopping. My PR was fading quickly with each lightening strike.

We were released. I started out again. Now first of all I had to run through giant puddles, there was no avoiding them. That was a bummer, my shoes began to weigh more. And if I'm being honest my sports bra became a great holder of water. And having stopped for 10+ minutes my legs started to seize greatly. They hurt in every possible way you can imagine. They wouldn't move. They weren't going as fast as I knew they could. And it was still raining.

I finished the race in the pouring rain. My posted online time for the race was 2:40:38. Now if I'm honest with myself that's :38 seconds longer than I projected myself to finish. I'll call it a win. Heck, it was over an 8 minute improvement from the same race last year. But while I was held in the tunnel I paused my watch and restarted it when I was allowed to run again. My watch said 2:29:33 for my run time.

Either way I finished in the rain with a PR for a half marathon. The thing about running the Rock 'N' Roll Half is that afterwards there is a concert. I'll be honest. I got my finisher medal. I hobbled to gear check, which thankfully was really well organized and despite the storm that went through everything in my bag was dry! I went and got my free beer and drank two sips of it before I didn't care,  and met an Instagram running friend. Then I slowly walked to my car, changed out of my soaking wet clothes in my car and got the hell out of there.

Last year it was ridiculously hot. This year ridiculously wet. The Rock 'N' Roll Chicago Half of 2016 will go down with a few first for me:

- Running in the rain.
- Getting a new PR (of some sort).
- Not even wanting the after race beer.
- Changing soaking wet clothes in my car.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing and sorta warming up. I was cold after the race. I also sat down to rest for a bit and took a several hour nap knocked out to the world. Would I run the race again? Eh, I could. I like the course, I do. It's fun with the bands. It's not the easiest course with the few inclines it has, but Chicago is pretty flat for the most part. And as I said before, I'm a sucker for a race.

For record, I sent my finisher photo to a friend and he said I looked wet and disgusting after the race. Truth be told, he was spot on with how I felt and looked.