Rock n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon 2013

Rock n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon 2013

I ran another race! It’s so strange for me to be running so many races lately. I’ve only been running since 2011 and I’ve always trained for marathons and haven’t run many shorter distance races. Since my injury and wedding coming up I decided to do a bunch of races this summer and it’s been awesome.

I went to the Rock n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon Expo on Saturday morning to pick up my bib and race packet. I have a new found-love for Sweatybands so I bought a cute green one to wear during the race. It was great to see Britt at the Protein Bar booth and I had a lovely talk with Sarah from eat2run.com. Sarah has a coaching and nutrition business so I took the opportunity to pick her brain and ask a few questions. She gave me some great business advice. 🙂
Rock n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon

My alarm went off at 4AM and for a few seconds I had no idea what I was doing and why my alarm was set so early. I quickly realized it was RACE DAY so I jumped out of bed and rushed out the door to make sure I had plenty of time to park before the race. Of course, I was there super early and had some time to kill. Anyone else get nervous about being late so they end up 1-2 hours early for everything?

Pre Rock n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon

Fleet Fleet Chicago was nice enough to give me a Brooks VIP Porta Potty pass. To get our race off to the best possible start, they had climate-controlled restroom trailers set up at the starting line. There was running water, flushing toliets and some treats for the runners.

#RnRChi Pre Race

I then met up with a couple of #RunChi friends and met some new Chicago Running Bloggers by gear check. Soon enough Charlyn and I headed over the start line. We have a similar half marathon pace so we decided to run the race together. My race strategy was to run for fun, Garmin-less and enjoy the race with Charlyn. Pete ran most of the race with us too and it was so much fun. I absolutely love running with other people who have the same positive outlook as I do. We chatted about running and life, enjoyed the beautiful Chicago views and laughed throughout the entire race.

The course support was incredible. The bands through out the course were awesome, there were plenty of water stops and tons of spectators and volunteers along the streets.

Post Rock n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon

My finish time was 1:47:20, top 6.8% overall. Not bad for not much training and running for fun!

Rock n' Roll Half Marathon Medal

My Mom and Step-dad came to cheer for me during the race. I didn’t think Tony was going to come but he surprised me at the finish line. He rode his Tri bike from Wilmette and met us at the finish line. I couldn’t stop smiling when I saw him and my Mom after the race. Their support means the world to me!

After the wedding I’ll start training, doing speed work and running with a Garmin again, but for right now I’m enjoying running for fun. It was a great race!

Have you ever run a Rock n’Roll Series Race? 

How was your weekend?

About Sara

Comments

  1. Glad you had a fun time! nice to meet you for a moment! Enjoy the post race calories!
    Declan recently posted..Rock and Roll Chicago Half Marathon Recap!

  2. Glad you had a good race!! This summer has been all about running for fun, and I’ve been having a blast. I think I might pick a goal fall race and start training with a purpose though. Also this is my 3rd RnR Chicago Half and I love this race! Maybe someday I’ll do an RnR race in another city.
    Maggie recently posted..Race Report: Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon 2013

    • Glad to hear you enjoyed it too! I’ll definitely be signing up next year, but would also love to do another RnR race in another state. Savannah, GA or Portland would be awesome.

  3. Great job! It was tough out there today.

    I love RnR races! I am one of the 5 year runners for RnR Chi, and I have also done DC (twice), Arizona, Nashville, St Louis (twice), Vegas (twice), New Orleans, and Virginia Beach.
    Mo recently posted..training jul 15-21

  4. Love the pictures. Great running with you too! What a great race.
    Pete B recently posted..Race Recap: Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon 2013

  5. Wow, you had a really great race! I agree, the course support was awesome. I was so glad to get as much water and Gatorade as I needed. I tend to run really early for races, too, especially if it’s a goal race for me where I’m hoping to PR. I had a dream once that I overslept for one and now I’m paranoid about oversleeping and/or running late. I’m glad you had a great time at the race and it was so nice to meet you! 🙂
    Beth @ Running with the Sunrise recently posted..2013 Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon Recap

    • Overing sleeping for a race is my worst nightmare. I can’t image all the training and money you put in just go out the window. Hope to see you again soon!

  6. It was soooo nice to run and chat with you for this race! Gosh, the time flew by so fast Sunday I hardly realized we were negative splitting and running in hot temps 🙂 we must run together again soon!

  7. Great job! I also took the race easy and didn’t care about the time and did better than I usually do! Here’s my race recap: http://www.healthyfitgoddess.com/2013/07/rnrchi.html
    Lenka @ Healthy Fit Goddess recently posted..Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon Chicago

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