Running Alongside the Half Marathon
Today, I set aside time in the morning for a long run. I’ve been out of practice for a little while, taking a few weeks off. And while I’ve resumed a kind of routine these last few weeks, I haven’t quite hit the bigger distances that I was doing, before I took a break.
I’ve been able to do 5K semi-comfortably. And on a few occassions in the last week, pushed things to where I did 6K/7K. So the question was what kind of distance was I looking to try for, today?
I packed a few snacks (with a lot of guidance from Liz), and stepped out. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to go for, but ultimately decided to just throw it all out there and try for 10K.
I was definitely daunted, but wanted to see how well I’d fare.
For most of my run, I hung around the University of Chicago. I stopped for water a few times, kept an ok pace, and stopped here and there for a few moments of rest.
For the second half, I ended up running by the Obama Library on my way to Promontory Point. As I entered Jackson Park, I started to see this slow and steady stream of people.
They were all runners, and were all walking. Most of them had these huge medals, hanging around their necks. It slowly dawned on me that I was entering the end of a race, and going the opposite direction of everyone else.
This made for some interesting motivation. I was pretty tired at this point, but I didn’t want to stop running in front of all these people. They were all runners, and were probably too tired to even register me… but I got self-conscious. And it kept me running.
I think I was near the start/end of the Chicago Half Marathon (and event where they close down Lake Shore Drive for all the runners).

As I circled around MSI, I saw a ton of folks on LSD making their way towards the finish. I heard music in the distance, and it felt good to be running alongside everyone… even if I was pointed the wrong way.
Around this time, my music stopped abruptly. I wasn’t sure what was happening and figured it was due to a ton of people nearby all listening to music while running. And maybe things got overloaded.
// Edit: a day later, I found this news article. So I guess I was one of those 40,000.
Despite not having run a long distance in some time, I did pretty well today. I stopped a lot, but did pretty well all things considered. I ran for 1:33, with an average pace of 15:07 per mile. Which is not great, but at least I got the miles in.
For me, being able to hit 10K was a huge deal. In some ways, it was a reminder to my body that I was capable of this, before the break. And that I’m capable of it now.
I was definitely drained after the run, and needed a serious nap. But I’m glad I set a high bar, and I’m doubly glad I met it. Now that I’m reminded I can complete 10K, the next thing to do is to work on doing it a little faster.
Related:
Unexpected 5K
Motivation/Demotivation
Color Run Chicago, 2012: Photo/Video Recap
Warrior Dash 2012, Illinois: Dollinger Family Farm
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