I Am A Crazy Person
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of Humana.
Last year when I was looking into the Chicago Half Marathon Race Series, there were originally 3 races included: the Chicago Spring Half Marathon, Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, and the Chicago Half Marathon in the fall. By the beginning of this year, the race planners had cut out the middle man and only required the first and last race in order to qualify and get a fancy medal.
I was relieved since it made my decision to go to Blogfest easier (they fall on the same weekend) and because I wouldn’t have to run a race in the middle of the summer. Running, heat, and humidity do not mix well for me.
Well, all of that changed last week when I was asked to participate in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon and cover it on behalf of Humana. The race is this weekend, so I originally thought that I wouldn’t be able to run it anyway since I will be coming back from LA. Then I checked the schedule and my flight itinerary and realized that I get home on Saturday and the race is Sunday morning.
As you know, this year I seem to have a habit of running races without actually preparing for them. The Chicago Spring Half Marathon training involved a lot of posts about how I wasn’t actually training at all. This Sunday I will find out just how well I can do with zero dedicated running training. Am I crazy? Yes.
Here are some things for me to get excited about instead of focusing on my terror:
- I have always wanted to run a Rock ‘n’ Roll race.
- Destroying myself for a good cause: Humana and Charity Miles. You can download the free Charity Miles app for Android or iPhone, select one of 25 charities, and for every mile logged during the race, Charity Miles will donate 25 cents to the selected cause.
- The race starts at 6:30 am and summer hasn’t really started here in Chicago yet so maybe I won’t die of heat exhaustion.
- More than a hundred Humana associates will be running or volunteering to help keep up morale.
- I get to run around the city for about 2 hours.
What I’m most excited about though is the Humana Vitality Cheer Squad:
The Humana Vitality Cheer Squad is located near mile 12, which is known as “Humana’s Inspiration Mile,” and will display personalized cheers from friends and family for an extra boost near the finish line.
Friends, family, and whomever can visit either the Humana booth at the expo or their website to provide personalized messages based on your bib number. As you cross the last mile with your tracking chip, your personalized messages will appear on their digital screen. Volunteers will also be lined up to offer in-person motivation. I don’t know about you, but I love having people cheer me on at the end of the race. I think it will make a HUGE difference for me especially as I hobble across the finish.
If you are feeling so inclined, you can head to their website here and send me personalized messages by searching for my first and last name (Erin Bahadur). Maybe you will be the one to save my life 🙂 Personally, I will be trying to think along these lines:
Questions:
- Is anyone else running the R’n’R this weekend?? Let’s hang out!
- Can you help carry me across the finish line?
- Are you going to BLOGFEST?
This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of Humana.
If I was coming home for Sunday, I would totally carry you. You know I would.
You’ll be fine. Well, I say that but I didn’t care for the race. Hopefully they do better than stilt people and jugglers for the first 6 miles this year.
Susie @ SuzLyfe recently posted…YUM! Yummari Gluten Free, Organic Chia Energy Bites (Review)
There were only 3 stilt people that I saw and I would have liked more music at the beginning of the race but oh well.
Well, I seem to think its slightly crazy of you to run it but then you have a great attitude and it sounds like a cool charity so maybe you just go for it! Thanks for the post, Erin.
Anytime. Thanks for reading! I survived so that’s the good thing!
I’m running Rock ‘n’ Roll this weekend! I’m spending most of my time between now and Sunday hoping the forecast is super, super wrong, because it sounds like it’s gonna be BRUTAL. I did three miles yesterday and that was tough enough – I can’t imagine doing an additional 10! But this race is definitely just for fun for me, so hopefully the atmosphere of the event will make up for what the actual atmosphere is doing 😛
Bethany @ Accidental Intentions recently posted…Chicago Marathon Training Week 5
How did you do?? I ended up 30 min slower than my race in May but I think there were lots of contributing factors to that…
I did the RnR in Seattle and it was so much fun! The music was a great pick me up at each mile. I have a tendency to under prepare for any type of race. You got this!
Pragati // Simple Medicine recently posted…3 Ways to Change Your Life in 10 Minutes
I survived, but it wasn’t pretty! I wish they had had more music since most of it was at the end, but I guess that’s where it counts!
Hey Erin! I’ll be at blogfest as well, can’t wait to meet you! If anything, blogfest will be a good warm up for the race! 🙂 Wear compression socks on the plane ride home!
It was so good to meet you!!
You ARE crazy! But, you can do it!
Lindsey recently posted…Mountain Biking Lava Lands Blackrock Trail to Benham Falls for the First Time
I survived, but it was a mess haha.
I’m running it! Let’s hope for good weather! See you sunday!
How did you do??
I’m running it, but based on the forecast, I might be crawling the last 3.1 miles.
How was it for you? There were so many walkers!
I wish I could be at Blogfest. I hope you have an awesome time! The one and only half marathon I ever did was in September in MA and it was pretty hot so I hear ya about trying to avoid a distance run in the heat. Good luck, Erin!
Erin recently posted…Abroad City: An American Living in Glasgow #7
Thanks for the encouragement! I finished it but it was a messy race. That’s prob why people train for these things…
So so cool that you were able to go to BlogFest! It was the same weekened as my yoga teacher training, so I couldn’t go 🙁
Jess @hellotofit recently posted…Vietnamese style beef stir fry
I know 🙁 Next year?