rock n roll chicago half marathon

aug 2nd
start & finish in grant park

mom and dad were on hand for this half. it was their first time to watch such an event and needed loads of instructions on what exactly they were supposed to do. i told them to 'make signs and cheer at various miles'. my dad being my dad, had to spend time mapping out exactly the miles and routes they would take to get to each marker. then he informed me so that i could find them. they were at miles 3, 4, 12, & 13 and holding signs that read "katie rocks!" and "katie rolls!" - again thought of courtesy my dad. my mom laughed for a long time. she thought that was very funny.

we were supposed to be at the CES (chicago endurance sports) tent by 530am. there i met alice and devs. there were pace groups, but i do 4:2 and they were doing 5:1 at my pace. and i wanted to start in a faster corral so that i could be with the girls. plus i hate starting in the back. it's just annoying.

at 630, we were off! so i ran. and walked. and did my intervals. but i was tired. not to make excuses, but my parents and i did paint my bedroom the day before (and prepped the entire room and bathroom) and then we hung out with my aunt and uncle all afternoon and had dinner with them so it wasn't exactly a 'resting the legs' day. my time ended up being the slowest of all the halves i've done this year which is annoying b/c it felt so much better than the one dev and i did in june... but alas, i was a few mins slower... still not sure why. although towards the end my right heel started to really hurt. kept at it and then by the end of the race, it hurt tremendously. i could barely walk. it truly sucked. the rest of the day i hobbled around. we even took a taxi to dinner - the burger counter - on diversey - a mere 1/2 mile away! all in all, it was a pretty good event and i'll definitely be back for more next year!

small pictures courtesy of the official photographer:





big ones courtesy of mom: