The heat was tough and saw a few ladies going down at the race needing emergency help. In the many races that I have ran, the Running community has always stopped to help no matter what their personal goals may have been. Given this, here are some thoughts that came to mind:

*If you receive an email from the race the day before stating conditions are RED, pay attention. You can sometimes overlook the impact of heat on your body even at 6:30am.
*Run with a friend if possible. No matter how conditioned and well trained you are, everyone always needs someone looking after them.
*Running a race in the heat at a long distance is not the same as in cooler weather. Logically you get this, the competitive side sometimes tries to overrule the logic.
*1.5 miles into the race, I had a brief moment where my eyes started to unfocus & thought I was going to fall backwards. Luckily my head cleared and I was ok. Pulled my running pace back.
*Stop at every aid station. Hydrate and walk. Be smart.
*Walk if you need to. No shame ever. Listen to your body. Hard lesson for me. In a race, I don’t walk, but did today a few times.
*Somewhere between Mile 7 & 8, just had to stop & take a quick pic of the Chicago skyline…simply beautiful!
*After Mile 10, had a moment where I went from very hot to chilled with goose bumps. Gave me a scare and slowed down. Kind of freaked me out a bit, never had happened before.
*After Mile 11, thought woo-hoo, just 2 more! Cursed like a sailor (in my head of course!) until Mile 12 as it took FOREVER! To borrow my friend, Jenny’s phrase, felt like I was running in quick sand.
*Never felt so good to see that finish line! Had a thrill watching Jenny crossing the finish line right after me. Wish I had my cell out, what a photo op that would have been!
*Very thankful for those ice cold water towels at the end!
*To the company that provided popsicles, every woman at that race was in love with you!
*Even though I had to walk a few times, my time was less than a minute off from my 1st Half last September. Running program & cross training has made me a better & faster runner. (Thank you FITT-RX & Fleet Feet Sports Elmhurst)

Huge thanks to my family! They are so supportive of all my races and the many, many hours of training. Their encouragement means the world to me.

Super happy that I was able to run this race with my cousin! While we don’t live near each other, I am so thankful that both of us keep rockin’ these races together when we can.

Very appreciative of my friend, Jenny! She is such a joy to run with, great conversations & is willing to get up at 5am to run with me!

Or, read my blog post here:
http://diannaseda.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/thoughts-from-running-in-extreme-heat-at-chicago-womens-half-marathon/

Link to this review