Illinois Half Marathon 2012

Since I was physically a mess after the Chicago Marathon last year, I was kind of forced to take some time off. I packed on a few (okay, maybe more than a few) pounds and even after I got back to running had some motivational issues here and there. Because of all that, plus some lackluster training efforts and just kind of not feeling 100% for the entire week before this race, I went in without very high expectations. Then, throw in the potential weather issues on top of all that and the potential for an ugly race was pretty high.

I only live about 2 1/2 hours from the race, so I drove in and picked Kenny up around 2:00 at the airport in Champaign. We checked into our hotels (or at least Kenny did) and then hit the expo for our packets. Dinner was a bit of a debacle, but they ended up comping it so I wasn't all that bothered by it. Kenny did have a major gripe because the vegetarian selection on the menu was non-existent and they didn't make much effort to please a non-meat eater either.

On to race morning. It was cool and breezy, but fortunately the rain had stopped by the time we headed over to the start. I ended up being dressed perfectly with a garbage bag, throwaway long sleeve, arm warmers, singlet and shorts. I was down to arm warmer, singlet and shorts when the race started and that worked out well for me.

I took off and quickly slid into a groove at around 7:10 pace in the first half mile. It didn't feel like much of an effort at that point, so I figured I'd just hang on at or around that pace as long as I could. Going in, I thought sub 1:35 was about the best possible time in play for me. Figuring in the wind and not feeling all that great, I wasn't going to be surprised with 1:37. Needless to say, I was very pleased with the effort level while hitting mile 1 at 7:12. Shortly after mile 1, a guy came up beside me and asked what I was shooting for. I told him 1:35 and we had a short conversation that 2 women running right in front of us overheard. They were both shooting for sub 3:10 and quickly decided that they would run with us for pacing. I ended up being with or near them until about mile 11 or so. Strangely enough, one of them was a minor celebrity and you can find her story here.

I was feeling pretty good as I ticked off the miles, 7:12, 7:07, 7:17, 7:17 (couple of longer stretches into the wind here), 7:09 and I went through the 10K at just about 45:00 on the nose. Mile 7 was a little slow (7:24) because as I was peeling off my arm warmers, I hit a Gu and water station and in the process of trying to deal with the arm warmers, grab a Gu, take it and drink some water, my HR went through the roof and it took me about a half mile to get it back under control. I recovered nicely and cranked out a 7:04 in mile 8 followed by back to back 7:17s in mile 9 and 10, which had a bunch of turns and a significant amount of time spent running into the wind.

Once I got to 10, with just 5K to go, I tried to bear down a little and I was working pretty hard to maintain pace at this point. I held on for a 7:12 in mile 11, 7:10 for mile 12, and cranked it up for my fastest mile of the day in 13, where I emptied the tank for a 6:53 or so. I got slightly fooled by the way the last half mile was laid out and had a little more running to do than I thought, so there wasn't much of anything left for a kick in the last tenth of a mile. Official time was 1:34:32, good for 192/6744 and 14th in my age group.

This is a really nice course for a half, perhaps a few more turns than I'd like, but solid overall. Good crowd support, aid stations were well staffed and stocked, and it's relatively flat with enough roll to stimulate some different muscles while you're running. I was really happy with my performance. If not for the wind, I may have been able to sneak in under 1:34, but I don't think I could have executed much better than I did yesterday. Now, to get completely healthy, keep my motivation up and see what I can do in some shorter races before I start getting ready for Philly this fall.

Nice race!!!! Congrats! I do really like the half course there. I Pr'd on it last year, and really enjoyed the run on it again this year. I too got a bit confused at the end last year with the turns. This year I knew what to expect. My friend Susan accidentally turned with the marathoners though and ran an extra .2 or so because she had to turn around an run back!

Interesting link that you gave there. I might buy her book!

Whoa - where did that come from? That was an awesome race after what you have been through - awesome job! I bet that felt great - congrats

Oh, and after looking at the article you posted, I can see another reason why you might of chosen to run behind her!!!

Well run. Congrats!

Nicely done! Keep it up.

Jim, nice job. I agree the turns at the end were a little confusing, if someone was really racing I think it would be an issue. I guess I need to read about the celebrity on your link.

Great job Jim. Way to get back at it after dealing what you've gone through.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Oh, and after looking at the article you posted, I can see another reason why you might of chosen to run behind her!!!

That had absolutely nothing to do with it!

mul21 wrote:

John Kilpatrick wrote:Oh, and after looking at the article you posted, I can see another reason why you might of chosen to run behind her!!!

That had absolutely nothing to do with it!

Ha!

Congrats Jim on a well run race. Bet it makes you feel better after some struggles of late as it shows you are definitely on your way back. Now pick a fall marathon!

Congrats on a steady, fast race! You really must have felt in the groove with those consistent miles.

Jim,

You executed pretty heavenly perfect! You should be feeling really good going into a new cycle soon for Philly! Thanks again for picking me up etc!

Looks like you're back on the road to your potential, good go'in!

mul21 wrote:

John Kilpatrick wrote:Oh, and after looking at the article you posted, I can see another reason why you might of chosen to run behind her!!!

That had absolutely nothing to do with it!

Bull. Shit.



Very nice race Jim. I'm felt guilty every since you were broken after Chicago, so I am relieved and happy you are back to on the fast track. Well paced, well executed, and emptied the tanks in the mile. Can't ask for much more.

So, how did Amy finish?

Dave-O wrote:

Very nice race Jim. I'm felt guilty every since you were broken after Chicago, so I am relieved and happy you are back to on the fast track. Well paced, well executed, and emptied the tanks in the mile. Can't ask for much more.

So, how did Amy finish?

No reason for that. I ignored the signs my body was giving me. You just put numbers on a piece of paper (not minimizing what you do, but you know what I mean) and I have to be smart enough to know when to say when.

Also, 3:11 and change.

Really nice race and I have to agree with Dave-O....not buying it!

Nice race, Jim. Maybe you need to run with a "muse" nearby every time!

mul21 wrote:

Also, 3:11 and change.

I'll give Amy a follow on Twitter and see what I think.

Great effort, Jim! Glad to see that you had success here. Hopefully this will spur you on in your training. Congrats!

Nice pacing, Jim. Time to face Dave-O's torture style training.

Dave-O wrote:

mul21 wrote:

Also, 3:11 and change.

I'll give Amy a follow on Twitter and see what I think.

Here's a shot of her next to me if anybody needs visual evidence.



And here's the 10K split right around 45:00 as I remembered:

Wow, I think I could run a 1:35:xx behind that too!

Congrats, buddy. Excellent race.

No comment on the Amy business But great job on your race! Well-done!