My family and I drove to Chicago on Friday before the marathon. After settling in at the hotel, we took in the marathon Expo Friday night to pick up my race packet and then had a great dinner. Chicago doesn't lack for great restaurants and varieties of good food. The weather in Chicago was absolutely beautiful all weekend - particularly for mid October. Sunny with temps in the mid to upper 70's every day. Perfect weather to enjoy a weekend in downtown Chicago. Maybe not great weather for a marathon on Sunday though.
On Saturday morning I ran two easy miles and then spent the remainder of the day enjoying the sites and sounds of Chicago with my family. We stayed in a downtown hotel on the Chicago River which put us within walking distance of everything we wanted to do and see. At the end of the day I estimated we walked about 8 miles. Not a great strategy the day before a marathon, but that's what happens when you travel to another city for a marathon. Travel marathons are like mini vacations. After the fun, you go to work on race morning.
Sunday's marathon started at 7:30am. I woke up around 5:30, got dressed for the race and then walked about 1 mile to Grant Park where the race begins. The streets were already filled with runners doing the same thing. As I walked to the starting area I had an interesting conversation with a woman from my hotel who was there to drug tests the elite athletes. The Chicago Marathon is the second largest marathon in America behind New York with 45,000 entrants.
Grant Park was swimming with people more than an hour before the race began. I made my way to my starting Corral (B) and relaxed for about 30 minutes before beginning my warm up. It was more than comfortable with temps around 65 degrees as the sun slowly began to rise. Jim Cornelison sang the national anthem. He is best known for singing the national anthem prior to Blackhawk and Bears playoff games while screaming fans stand and cheer as part of their pre-game ritual. It added a nice touch before the race and got my adrenalin pumping. Not that it needed any help.
As the horn sounded to start the race, I quickly made my way across the starting line, less than 1 minute behind the elite athletes. Of course that would be the last I would see of them. My goal was to set a personal best and break the 3:10 barrier for the first time. Having said that, I knew it would take a miracle and a great deal of luck for this to happen. I am fully recovered from my injuries but my training leading into the marathon was not very aggressive as a result. Add to that a warm race day and the cards were stacked against me.
Settling into my race pace is very difficult at Chicago because you can't rely on your GPS device to assist you. The tall buildings and two block tunnel in the first mile causes GPS devises to spit out erroneous data. For example, it told me I ran a 5:40 first mile which would be alarming if true. Also challenging is navigating through thick runner traffic as we make our way through downtown like a giant snake. You must be careful and watch out for crazy runners who get caught up in the moment and zig-zag back and forth with no warning. Although GPS distance tracking was not accurate this day, my elapsed time was spot on. I did the math in my head at each mile marker to determine my actual pace.
Like New York City, there are many runners from all over Europe and around the world that come to run Chicago. I saw many of them dressed in patriotic shirts representing their countries. I ran the first 5k by feel, averaging a 7:21 pace. A little slower than I wanted to run but in the general range of where I wanted to be. The course winds through 29 uniquely different neighborhoods. each of them add to the flavor of the race. Running through Old Town on my way north, I passed the 10k mark averaging 7:23/mile. I then reached the northern most part of the course near Wrigley Field and began my way back south toward downtown. I passed the 15k mark in Lincoln Park and determined that my pace had climbed to 7:25 which would represent a 3:14 marathon. Still close to my goal but by now the sun was starting to climb along with the temperature. I could tell I was was sweating heavily and made sure I gulped a cup of water at each water station along the way. I also had a small bag of pretzels with me to try and keep my sodium levels and electrolytes balanced.
As I neared the 20k mark I crossed over the Chicago river and back into downtown Chicago where crowd support was thick and loud. It provided a momentary rush of adrenalin over the next mile before heading out on the west loop. Despite the momentary adrenalin rush, the news wasn't good when I reached 20k. My pace climbed to 7:28/mile - a 3:16 full marathon. At that point I knew I needed to redefine my goals for the day and be happy with the result. I felt i could still run 3:20 or better at this point.
I reached the half marathon mark shortly into the west loop section of the race. This is where it really gets hot as the shade protection from tall downtown structures is gone and the sun is high enough that occasional tree cover provides the only relief. We ran through Greek Town, then Little Italy, then on through Pilsen - Chicago's largest Latino community. The unique aspects of the different communities add flavor to the race, but all are extremely supportive and encouraging.
From there I began my trek south and into Chinatown and the 35k marker near mile 22. I didn't need to check the clock to know my pace ballooned over the last 8 miles. I'm now averaging 7:44/mile, or a 3:23 marathon. With about 4.5 miles to go I was in survival mode. I started to question if I could finish under 3:30. I had already hit the wall several miles earlier and wasn't feeling any energy in my strides.
The final stretch south is one of the most mentally challenging stretches of the race. There are only 3 miles remaining but they have us running further and further away from the finish line in Grant Park. You try not to think about it but my mind was focused on the turn-around point just after mile 23 where I can finally press north on Michigan Avenue back to the finish line. Just 3 miles to go but it's a straight shot up Michigan Ave. and downtown looks a long way off.
The miles slowly crept by as my pace slowed even more. Finally I was approaching the last mile as I struggled to the finish line. I came to Roosevelt Rd with about 600 meters to go. Roosevelt represents the only real hill on the course. Once at the top it's one final left hand turn and about 200 meters to the finish line. My family was to my left cheering me on as I pushed to the finish. My official time was 3:28:54. 19 minutes slower than my goal, but on this day it will have to do. I finished 2,458 overall among 36,000 finishers and 142 in my age group among 1,700 finishers. This was my 11th marathon. This one sits right in the middle as my 6th fastest among the 11.
Race results:
I was not feeling the best for an hour or so after the race and my family wisely flagged down a cab for me to take back to the hotel rather than walk the mile and a half back to the hotel. This was greatly appreciated on my part!
I don't have any races scheduled for the remainder of this year. I plan to take a week off from training and allow my body to fully heal from my late summer injuries, before lacing up the shoes again. Next month will also give me a chance to regroup mentally and lay out a race plan for next year. It was a good year overall as I set personal best times in the 10 mile, half marathon, 20 mile and marathon distances.
