Allstate 13.1 Chicago Marathon Recap

The 7:00 AM start coupled with my commute downtown plus a shuttle bus to the South Side made for an early morning.  Any alarm set with a number 3 as the hour is bit ridiculous for a “local” race.  Logistics aside, couldn’t have asked for a better race day.  54 and sunny at the start, probably 64 by the time I finished.  It was getting warm and the sun was relentless, but humidity was low, so almost ideal racing conditions.  Throughout the course there were bands and other entertainment.  Ample bathrooms, which I sadly had to use at mile 8 (#1 luckily), and water and Gatorade stations were evenly spread throughout the course.  I really liked the fact that our names were on our bibs.  Random people cheering out your name is a good motivator.

I had my first negative split in a race which made for a rewarding finish as I passed other tiring runners.  Starting out slow to let the blood start pumping seems to be the way to go.  I reached the halfway point in 1 hour and 30 seconds and finished in 1:57:48.  This was a 9 minute improvement from my Palos Half in May.  I figure if I run a half each month and improve 9 minutes each time I’ll punch my ticket to Rio 2016.