This is my half marathon training week 12 recap covering race week, May 12–18, 2026. Three runs, a treadmill speedwork session while under the weather, a shakeout 5K the day before the half, and then the Chicago Spring Half Marathon — a 2:20:16 finish and a 7 minute PR. This is the final recap of the Chicago Spring Half training cycle.
Week of May 12, 2026 · 3 runs · race week, a treadmill session while under the weather, a shakeout 5K, and a 7 minute PR at the finish line
Crossing the finish line. 2:20:16. We did it. 🏅
Week 12. Race week. The last recap of this training cycle. Three runs — a treadmill speedwork session, a shakeout 5K, and the Chicago Spring Half Marathon — and somehow I am sitting here on the other side of all of it with a new personal record. This training block felt like it lasted forever and also like it went by in a blink. And now it is done.
Race week has its own strange energy. The miles are short, the taper is winding down, and your brain starts filling the extra space with every possible thing that could go wrong. I was running on antibiotics, dealing with leftover calf concerns from taper week, and trying not to think too hard about the weather forecast. Spoiler: the weather did not cooperate. But we will get there.
Chicago Half Marathon Training Week 12: The Runs
| Day | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, May 13 | Speed Work | Treadmill — 10 min easy, 4×5 min at HM pace, 10 min easy. Under the weather but got it done 💪 |
| Friday, May 15 | Shakeout — Valparaiso 5K9 | Forgot our bibs, nearly missed the start, ran easy — and could have placed 1st in my age group 😅 |
| Sunday, May 17 | Chicago Spring Half Marathon | 84°F, 95% humidity, hills everywhere — and a 7 minute PR 🏅 |
Tuesday: Last Speedwork of the Cycle
The last structured workout of the entire training block, and of course I was not feeling great heading into it. I was a bit under the weather and on antibiotics, which is not exactly how you want to spend the Tuesday of race week. But the workout was on the schedule, it was not a long or brutal one, and I knew getting it done would matter more than how it felt.
It moved to the treadmill, which at this point in the cycle felt especially uninspiring. Ten minutes easy, four by five minutes at half marathon pace with two minute walk recoveries in between, ten minutes easy to finish. Nothing crazy. Just the last box to check before race day. I got through it fine, felt decent by the end, and called it good. The work was done.
Friday: Valparaiso 5K9 Shakeout
Friday’s run was technically a race — the Valparaiso 5K9 — but the goal was always to use it as a shakeout two days out from the half. Keep the legs moving, stay loose, and do not do anything that was going to cost me on Sunday. That was the plan.
What actually happened was that we left the house and ten minutes later realized we had left our bibs at home. Full turnaround, back to grab them, back on the road, and we made it to the start line with about five minutes to spare. The race had a solid opening hill and plenty of smaller ones throughout, and I ran the whole thing at an easy effort without chasing a time.
Taking it easy at the 5K9. Two days out. 😄
I finished in 33:05 and found out after that my normal 5k time could have placed me first in my age group. Of course. The one time I am not actually racing is the one time it would have counted. I laughed, got ice cream, and went home to rest my legs. You can read the full recap here.
Sunday: The Chicago Spring Half Marathon
Race day started at 3 AM. I was up before the sun, driving into the city in the dark, standing in my corral watching thousands of people fill in around me, and realizing very quickly that this was unlike any race I had done before. Wave starts, massive crowds, the kind of energy that makes your chest feel full before the gun even goes off.
And then the conditions hit. 84 degrees. 95% humidity. The warmest day of the year, and completely unseasonable for May. People were struggling all around me — walking, sitting on the side of the course, being taken away in medical carts. There were stretches where I looked around and thought this is genuinely hard for everybody, not just me. I stopped at every water station, leaned on my gels and SaltStick chews, and just kept moving.
The course was relentlessly hilly. Hills throughout the entire race, and then one final massive climb right before the finish line. By that point my legs had 12 miles on them and I remember rounding the corner, seeing it, and thinking you have got to be kidding me. I climbed it anyway.
Out on course. Still moving. 🌿
I crossed the finish line in 2:20:16. A seven minute PR from the Purdue Half. In 84 degree heat. On a hilly course. Without walking a single step. I stood there after and just let it sink in — all of it, the early mornings, the taper week chaos, the 3 AM alarm, the calf situation, the moment I wanted to stop and did not. It was worth every single bit of it.
Read the full race recap here.
The finish line. 2:20:16. We did it. 🏅
Reflecting on the Full Cycle
Twelve weeks. This training block felt like it stretched on forever — there were weeks that were hard, weeks where my body had opinions, weeks where the motivation was harder to find than the miles. The knee issues, the calf drama, the treadmill sessions I did not want, the taper week weirdness. All of it. And at the end of all of it, a personal record on the hardest race day I have ever experienced.
I am really proud of this one. Not just the time, but the fact that I stayed consistent, I showed up even when I did not feel like it, and I crossed that finish line knowing I left everything out there. That is what twelve weeks of work looks like.
You can follow the full journey on my Training & Progress page.
- Recovery week and some casual 5Ks while the legs come back
- Strength training focus through June before marathon training begins
- Fort Ben Half Marathon in October — a B race on the way to the big one
- Indianapolis Monumental Marathon — November 2026 🎯
