Well...I can now officially slap one of those stupid "26.2" stickers on my bumper... but you'll never catch me dead with one of those (sorry if I just offended you). This past weekend was the final chapter of the past 3 months of training. The 2012 Chicago Marathon is finally over and boy was it an adventure.
Roughly 9 months ago I (for some reason I'm still trying to figure out) signed up to put my body through hell, to push it further than I had before and to see what it was capable of. I've put my body through a half-ironman and tons of other endurance events, but this was different. At least with triathlon, if you have a bad swim, you can make up for it on the bike, or if you get off the bike in a bad position you can just run down your competition. Running a marathon was different. Pacing myself and keeping on top of my goal pace was even more important than ever before, because of the dreaded "wall". The "wall" usually occurs between miles 18-22 for most runners. Its where your body shuts down, you've depleted it of any more calories to burn and it gives up. This is where most runners will turn to walking, or run/walking at best. Although, if you train properly and pace yourself properly then you can avoid the wall completely. I feel like I brushed up against the wall but never actually "hit the wall". I'll get into that later. Now onto the actual report...
Lauren and I drove up on Saturday morning and went straight to the expo. Now most expos are pretty much the same; they all have energy bar vendors giving out free samples, clothing companies competing for the most obnoxious colors in hoodies or Nike, Saucony or other shoe dealers in house to showcase the "best new minimalist shoe with the ideal heal-to-toe ratio and innovative lacework thats guaranteed to shed 3 minutes off of your mile time because its .1 ounces lighter than the same version that came out 2 months earlier" shoe. After tooling around the expo for a bit we headed to my friends new place, which just happened to be a 10 minute walk from the start line...blessing #1.
After settling in, we went for a quick, 5 mile jog along the lake shore and Navy pier. I threw in a couple of 30 second strides to help remind my legs that they still knew how to go fast because the past week of tapering has made them feel inadequate. I was a little nervous because my knee started to flair up and running up a few steps was excruciating to them, although nothing that I haven't felt before. I just got back to the apartment and made sure to ice it.
It was at this point that I decided to wear my new K-Swiss Quickie Blade Lights instead of my New Balance 1400's that I had been training with the past 4 months. I was having some foot "tweaks" as I like to call them and figured I'd try out the K-Swiss' just for the heck of it. I bought them 2 weeks before the race, ran a total of 20 miles on them and absolutely loved them. Any pain went away. I wouldn't recommend switching shoes that close to the race but I made a gamble.
After relaxing for a bit we went to Lou Malnati's to get in some final carb loading. For those of you who don't know what this little slice of heaven is, its a famous Chicago deep-dish pizza place. I've found that pizza works best for me before a big race. Most people prefer pasta because its simple and pizza has a negative reputation, but pizza, especially deep-dish pizza, is packed with carbs and protein, often more than pasta.
TIP: NEVER try anything new on race day or the days leading up to it, especially food. I've used pizza in the past to carb-load before a race so I know how my body reacts to it. Try anything new before a training day so if your body rejects it then it doesn't necessarily hurt anything.
After we had some amazing pizza, we made our way back to the apartment to get some rest, I had a big day in the morning.
Race morning I woke up around 5:30. My wave didn't go off until 8am and I wanted to get into my corral by 7 in order to get a good place. I was in corral F, which was for people who estimated their finishing time be around 4 hours. I didn't submit an official half-marathon time to be placed into a better corral so I new I had to get to the front to avoid any traffic. Once I woke up I had my staple meal, an entire bagel with peanut butter topped with banana slices and a sports drink. I have this before any race, big or small. I also brought along a red bull to sip on throughout the morning. Again, DO NOT drink caffeine on the morning of race day if you haven't done so in training.
The temperature at the start of the race was around 40 degrees so it was going to be a bit nippy. I still decided to only wear my singlet, shorts and arm warmers though. I would rather be a bit cold than a bit warm. The only thing that really made me nervous were my hands. I got my moms genes where I have bad circulation to my hands and feet and I forgot to bring gloves so I knew it might be an issue. Well we walked around Grant Park a bit, looking at all the nervous faces and judging every single one of them based upon their attire. You can usually tell if this is someones first race or how they might do during the race based upon their shoe choices, clothing choices and general demeanor before the race. "Analyzing" all these runners helped keep my mind off of things.
After walking around for a bit I decided I needed to use the bathroom one last time but I didn't want to use the port-o-pottie, I decided on the Congress Hotel across the street. While walking in, we passed a gift shop and Lauren thought they might have gloves. While I wouldn't think they would, I decided to give it a try and by an act of God they DID! I slipped those bad boys on and felt a lot more confident in everything because I knew my cold hands might've become an issue.
The next part of the morning went like this: Bathroom, dynamic stretches and strides while sipping my Red Bull, bathroom, enter corral. Nothing too exciting.
While waiting in my corral in the very front tons of things were going through my head: How was my pacing going to go? Am I wearing enough clothes? Do I have to pee again? But all of that quickly went away when I looked to my left and saw a guy peeing into a Gatorade bottle right next to me! That was a little odd. While in the corral I also took in 3 blocks of Clif Shot Bloks. I was a bit worried about stomach issues because I was feeling a bit full. You should NEVER feel full at the beginning of a race, this will only lead to GI problems. I thought I took in too many fluids before the race so I was a bit worried, it turned out fine though as I didn't have any cramps at all throughout the entire race. Well 8:00 rolled around and the gun went off...
Mile 1-5: I knew I was going faster than my goal pace; I was doing 6:50-7:15 splits for the first few miles. I knew this would happen though, especially since I was in the very front of my corral and knew there were 20,000+ people chasing me. I felt great though, the crowd support was awesome but I knew I had a long way to go. I skipped the first aid station around mile 2 because I knew I had to go to the bathroom again and wanted to make up some time. I took a pee around mile 4, but it only shaved about 90 seconds off my time, I could live with that.
TIP: Go pee the moment you think you have to or else it will be the only thing you think about. I also saw Lauren around mile 2.5 so that was a bit of a boost.
Mile 6-12: Still feeling good, my feet didn't have any pain in them at all and my knees were feeling great. I continued to take in fluids at every aid station but tried to stick to Gatorade. I had been using BASE Performance Electrolyte Salt for the past week so I wanted to keep my electrolyte intake consistent. I think I only took in 2-3 cups of water for the entire race. This is where I took in my first of 3 Honey Stinger Gels.
Mile 13-15: I was starting to feel a little worn and I couldn't figure out why. I passed the halfway point at 1:39:36 which was about where I wanted to be but I was feeling like I had ran 15-17 miles at that point. I wasn't hurting but wasn't feeling like I was anticipating. I kept the same pace though and stuck to my plan. I passed Lauren again and got another little burst of energy.
 |
Mile 13
|
Mile 16-19: These miles were the worst for me. I had dipped down to an 8:20 pace and my feet started to hurt. I suspect it was simply because my shoes hadn't been broken in like they should've been because they never hurt this bad in training. My left Achilles tendon was also a little inflamed as well, which I've never felt in the past either. I even stopped for 10 seconds to stretch it out, that did squat to help it. I kept going though and took in another gel at mile 18. My goal was to get to mile 20 because for some reason I felt like it was all downhill from there. The crown support continued to rage, especially through Chinatown where they were blasting "Gangham Style". Somehow Lauren spotted me at miles 16 and 20 as well. I sacrificed a few seconds by running over and kissing her, I knew I could use a little distraction from the pain. Around mile 18 I started doing some calculations in my head. I figured if I maintained an 8 min pace then I would have about 6 minutes to spare in case of cramping, bathroom or I wanted to walk an aid station. Knowing I had that buffer didn't slow me down but gave me more confidence in my ability to make my goal time of 3:30.
Mile 20-23: Ok now its hurting, I tried my hardest to keep good form and not walk through any aid stations because I knew that the moment I stopped my legs would lock up and I'd be done for. At mile 20 I also mentally told myself that I only had 2 5K's to complete, so basically a Sunday stroll. Even though I was hurting I actually picked up my pace in the last 6 miles. I knew I could make my goal time and I was literally saying out loud "3:30, keep going, you'll do this". People probably thought I was crazy but isn't running a marathon crazy in itself?!
Mile 24-25: This part was the final straightaway until the final turn. I felt like I was flying at this point, but by "flying" I mean doing 8:00 splits.
Mile 26-26.2: When you came off the last long straightaway, you got onto Roosevelt Road which was a .1 mile monster of a hill, and my monster I mean it was a slight incline, smaller than a wheelchair ramp but when you've just ran 26 flat miles any hill is a monster. I turned the corner and saw the finish line. I usually pick up the pace to make it appear like I was going that fast throughout the entire race, but I had nothing left in the tank. I was completely deprived of any more muscle fibers or energy left. I finally crossed the finish line after running for 3 hours and 26 minutes. SUCCESS!!
Splits
| Split | Time Of Day | Time | Diff | min/mile | miles/h |
|---|
| 05K | 08:22:20AM | 00:22:18 | 22:18 | 07:11 | 8.37 |
| 10K | 08:46:47AM | 00:46:45 | 24:27 | 07:53 | 7.62 |
| 15K | 09:10:04AM | 01:10:02 | 23:17 | 07:30 | 8.01 |
| 20K | 09:34:09AM | 01:34:07 | 24:05 | 07:46 | 7.74 |
| HALF | 09:39:38AM | 01:39:36 | 05:29 | 08:04 | 7.45 |
| 25K | 09:59:25AM | 01:59:23 | 19:47 | 08:10 | 7.36 |
| 30K | 10:25:16AM | 02:25:14 | 25:51 | 08:20 | 7.21 |
| 35K | 10:50:41AM | 02:50:39 | 25:25 | 08:11 | 7.34 |
| 40K | 11:16:25AM | 03:16:23 | 25:44 | 08:17 | 7.25 |
| Finish | 11:26:59AM | 03:26:57 | 10:34 | 07:45 | 7.75 |
Afterwards: The MOMENT I stopped running and walked my legs tightened up and I started walking like I just sat on a football, naked. I had carried my remaining 2 Clif Shot Bloks in my hand the entire time. I didn't want to eat them because I don't like chewing during races and I didn't wanna throw them away for who knows what reason. I guess I wouldn't felt off balance or something. Well I dropped those and couldn't even bend down to get them, I had to pathetically ask a volunteer to grab them for me. I hobbled for what seemed like a mile to get out of the finishing chute and found Lauren. We sat on the grass for a bit while she listened to me complain about my chaffed arms and butt cheeks and my toes that I couldn't feel. It was a surreal moment.
This race was a pivotal race in my athletic endeavors. I had no idea who to expect out of the race nor my body. I knew I had put in the right amount of training, and had a very clear pacing and nutrition plan, but I was anticipating SOMETHING going wrong at some point. But nothing did. Besides a few tweaks in my Achilles and knee and the obvious muscle soreness during the race, I felt great the entire time. It hurt like hell but I was anticipating it all. I stuck to my plans almost to a T and wasn't tempted to stray away from them.
In my half-ironman debut in Racine, my goal was 5:30 and my finishing time was 5:30. I figured half of that success was just luck. But once I met my goal (actually beating it) for Chicago I knew I was onto something. I was finally beginning to figure out my body's strengths, weaknesses and abilities. I am 100% confident that I left everything out on the course on Sunday, I had nothing left to give. I knew I could physically finish in 3:30 but figured there would be some sort of curve ball that would derail me and I would either hit the wall, cramp, injure myself or something like that.
To me, this was the perfect race. I made a plan, stuck to the plan, had a few lucky breaks along the way and had the perfect finish. I made my 3:30 goal time almost 6 months ago and trained to meet it. Sure I could've done some more speed work or intervals and possibly lowered my finishing time, but I just wanted to get the marathon monkey off my back. Now that it's off my back and I know what I'm capable of, I can now aim higher. After seeing my performance in my first marathon, I think Boston is in the cards. I have no idea when I'll do another marathon, but I will.
It's always funny to think back and during the race, you tell yourself "this is miserable, I hate this and I'll never do this again" but once you cross the finish line and the initial pains go away, you start planning your next race. All endurance athletes go through that cycle; its like a drug, they need that feeling again, the feeling of overcoming odds and pain and sacrificing temporary pleasure for long term bragging rights. All those long days of running when all I wanna do is watch tv or stay up late or whatever were worth it. You learn a lot about yourself before, during and after any endurance sports event. Thats why we do it. We do it to challenge our minds and bodies, to push ourselves to the point of collapsing because at that point, you find yourself. You find out what you're capable of and what you're able to accomplish. Thats the beauty of endurance sports, its like a religion, teacher, mentor, sibling, parent and magic-8 ball wrapped into a 3 hour and 26 minute hell-on-Earth event.
