Chicago Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon Pre Race Thoughts: Heat and Race Strategy

Recovering from the heat under
 the post race water mist machine (RnR '13)

So, the big story for the 2015 Chicago Rock n' Roll Half Marathon is (as usual) the hot temperatures/humidity in the forecast. I could sit here and moan about how I don't like running in the heat and how I especially suffer when it's muggy out, but I won't. The race on Sunday is a tune-up race. My main goal is to PR the Chicago Marathon and as such, I need to learn how to deal with all sorts of conditions - including those that I'm faced with on Sunday. Come October if the Chicago Marathon is a hot one, and I have been avoiding racing in the heat all summer, I won't be "battle tested" and will probably struggle to figure out how to deal with the heat during the marathon itself (not a good thing).

RnR '13 Finish

As far as race strategy goes, McMillan puts my current fitness right at a 6:30/mile pace for 13.1 miles. That will obviously need to be adjusted by 10 or 20 seconds per mile upwards based on the heat index. The most important thing is for me to run a nice, consistent pace throughout the RnR in order to simulate running a consistent pace similarly to what I will need to do for the marathon. I will probably start the race at 6:50 for the first 6 miles then try to drop down to 6:40 for the rest of the way in. However, if I'm not feeling it at the halfway point, I will try and just stick with 6:50 and be happy. Since the Rock 'n Roll course runs down many of the same streets as the marathon and even starts and finishes on Columbus Drive in Grant Park, I won't have much better opportunities to simulate the marathon.  A nice consistent pace will be difficult to maintain as the temperatures rise during the race, but again, maintaining a nice consistent pace here may teach me a thing or two how to do it in October when things get tough.

Hamming it up with Xaarlin and Sara
(RnR '13)

To make the race slightly more comfortable, I may wear a bandana and look into purchasing arm coolers at the race expo to see how much they help to keep me from overheating. I am going to wear a hat which will come in handy when they hand out cold sponges, so I can stick the sponges under my hat and get a cold water drip for a mile or two.  Other than that, I will try to hydrate and run in the shade, wherever possible. One more thing, if it is extremely, dangerously hot, I will definitely drop out. No use causing heat stroke and having to take days off of marathon training to adequately recover. I may be acclimated to 75 degrees at the moment, but am not acclimated to anything north of 80 degrees.

Who else is running on Sunday? What are your strategies to stay cool during the race?