Notes
My first race in a year. Wind N5-14 is not that bad, but made going N tough on the first half. I had no idea there was a course change, going N rather than S, so I thought for quite a while that we were not on course. I felt like I was running pretty well, but was not too excited about the time results. Since I missed almost all of the mile markers on the second half, I did not really know my pace, but most was with the wind and it seemed like around 6:30/mi or maybe even better except maybe the last couple miles. Some people felt that the course was long - who knows? It IS quite difficult to believe that the second half pace was slower than the first half.
Tightness in glutes, hamstrings, and IT band area gradually increased throughout and was pretty bad for the last four miles. It made so I could not really push. I need to get all my leg ache issues resolved and recovered.
Results: http://www.mtecresults.com/race/show/199#
The course was definitely long, so I changed the distance. Best estimate is 13.35 to 13.4. This would roughly be equivalent to 1:25:45 to 1:26:00 for a half marathon, so it would have been short of my 1:25:00 goal and my PR (1:25:30). But it confirms that I ran a faster pace on the last five miles with the wind at 6:30/mi or better.
I mapped the course based off someone's GPS map: http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/il/chicago/544128858046339875