2009 Chilly Half Race Report - by Sue Sitki

Mar 5, 2009

Chilly Half Marathon race report from yours truly...

So... there I was... decked out in a running bra, compression shorts, long-johns, long-sleeve compression top, mid-weight wind-proof fleece, thermal winter pants, lightweight shell vest, CULT jacket, 2 hats and a pair of gloves ... freezing my "A$$" off with nearly 3000 other stupid people...

I mistakenly lined up by the 2:30 pace bunny

The first 2k I was running a 7:30/km pace and that was pretty good ;) Gee, I thought to myself, I wonder how long this will last? It lasted maybe 4k? Things started to slide slowly downwards after that... ha ha

I lost the group I started with and was passed by every overweight and seemingly out of shape (ha ha ha how deceiving that can be ) runner that had registered.

I paced an elderly man for a while but lost him when I stopped for a potty break, I never saw him again. He obviously beat my finish time.

It was SOOOOO cold ( I know... the CHILLY half... but geez - it was ridiculously cold!)

I thumped along listening to dance tunes and, as I wiped my runny nose for the 50th time, saw someone had dropped a new package of kleenex! Lucky day! I stuffed that in my belt and kept going. Try as I might I cannot stand to use a sleeve!

I wore a balaclava AND a Mizuno woolly hat but by 10k was getting a crashing headache from the wind... slowed down to take an Advil and let it start to work at which point my hip flexor decided it was cold and turned into a block of ice thereby limiting my stride to a shuffle/thump.

Hmmm... I thought to myself "I should have gone to physio yesterday instead of trying to get a nap. Maybe this horrible pain is a sign I should WALK for a while?" There were also a few swear words in there. I decided why fight it. It was going to be one of those days. Loser.

So I did... walk that is, albeit with a limp, valiantly waiting for the next porta-potty which was nowhere to be seen... when I finally found it, it was situated on a downslope so that the whole thing was TILTED... oh boy I thought as I squatted there, hanging on to the handle for dear life, trying not to touch anything since apparently a fellow runner ate prunes that morning. EWWWW, gross!!! ... managed to get up and then "BANG!", dropped my E-Load into the URINAL... grrrrrrrrrrr... Never one to be discouraged and not wanting to resort to GATORADE (ewwww again!!!!), I washed it off at the water station and continued onward.. YES I DRANK IT!!!

I tried intermittently to run but my right foot was so painful (by now, the hip flexor thing had worked itself out :) ) my foot hurt like hell. So I gave up my dream of a blistering fast 2:45 finish and resorted to WALKING the last 10k or so of the race.

Things started to look up when I looked down at around 16k and saw someone had thrown off a NB fuzzy hat. WOW!!! I put that on and was finally WARM!!!! Yay!!! What? That's only 3 hats! I did not care what anyone thought, I was cold and I gave the hat a good home.

By then, the runners had all long passed me and so had most of the walkers. Friends that finished a whole 5 minutes ahead of me couldn't be bothered to wait 5 strides for me to catch up to them and walk together. After all, it was a RACE (shaking head) What is with that?

So I trotted on alone. Eric offered to pick me up mid-way - I was tempted. Freezing cold and blisters on my feet and NO dogs in sight to stop and pet, yes I was tempted.

Screw getting picked up, I told Eric to just go out for lunch!! All that freezing cold to just give up? NO way!!! I wanted the damned medal!! I might have sucked that day but I still beat the cut off! Ha!


So... the upsides of the race: GREAT shirt! PRETTY medal!! LOVELY scenery - truly an enjoyable running route... if only it weren't so bloody COLD!!!!!! BRRRRRRRR!!!

There are some perks to being nearly last:

For one, if you forget nutrition its ok because all the faster people drop theirs and its like a buffet out there! I got to sample triple berry GU and strawberry banana which was a nice change from what I brought!

You don't need drinks either. I passed 4 large fuel belt bottles Full of electrolyte drinks on the road. Those are pricey! I was tempted to stop but by Then I was walking a 9 mins pace and didn't want to wreck it ! Ha!

I got a new hat! It has a key pouch too! If it was yours too bad. Finders keepers!


I could've had 43 pairs of gloves, 10 scarves, a spring jacket, and a nice Gator that matched my outfit but I drew the line at the hat and 1 extra pair of gloves which I reasoned I could offer to a fellow frigid runner none of whom I saw. They were probably already at smitty's ;)


...OH - and for the FIRST time in ANY race situation, I DID NOT chant my usual mantra of 'This is stupid. This is stupid.' !!

Here's hoping for better weather and finish times at The Flying Pig - Cincinnatti - May 3rd!;)

Stay tuned for my new race blog entitled The Rear View. ;)

Hope it made you smile!


Sue