Yesterday, I ran the Chicago Marathon. If you've watched the news at all, then you know that it was 90 degrees and humid. It felt much more like a July day than an October day. It was 70 degrees when I got up in the morning, so I knew there wouldn't be much relief. I met up with some of the guys in my training group and made our way to the start. We had a plan that we were gonna try to stay close to our 8:30 pace and maybe modify it a bit if it was too warm -- but definitely not faster than that for the first few miles. I knew that goal of 3:45 might be unattainable when I was standing there at the start and sweating before we even started running. I modified my goal to 4 hours or under. I started the race with 3 guys. After mile one, Bill left us to try to run a bit faster. At mile 4, Mike decided that the pace was a little too fast and told us to go ahead. It was just Ted and I and Ted got cramps at mile 6 and slowed down to stretch (I found out later he was hospitalized overnight). So, it was just little old me for the next 20 miles. I walked a bit through each of the water stations to make sure I got enough fluid in me and not on me. The first half was fine...I was hot but not spent at that point. By mile 18, I was really seeking out shade or friendly neighborhood folks who had come out with hoses. By mile 20, it was really hard to start running again after taking those walking water breaks. At the 22 mile water station, I must have walked about the equivalent of a city block. Now, that took a monumental effort to start running after that. It felt so good to just walk. But, I had my goal and I wasn't gonna throw it away after going that far. I didn't even stop at the last water station. I was only a mile away at that point and I had ingested so much water and gatorade that my body probably stopped processing it. I also knew that it might be a walk to the finish if I stopped one more time.
The final quarter mile was tough but easy. Tough, because my body was totally spent but easy because I was so close to the finish and the crowd support was awesome. I finished in 3:56.
I did get to see quite a few people that I knew along the course. First, I saw Nancy, Jeff, Liz and Maddie at mile 6. Then, I saw Ona (my neighbor) in boystown. Then, Darin, Jenny and Megan were at mile 17 (see photo - I am in there...I'm behind the girl in the center who looks kind of like she's not wearing a shirt. You can just see my head and part of my blue shirt). My uncle Scott was out near the 25 mile mark. And, then Darin, Megan & Jenny were in the finish line bleachers (and I actually did see them among the crowd).
I know that my experience at the race was quite different than that of the folks that were behind me. I was fortunate enough to have plenty of water and gatorade. And, I made sure to run my first half at a pretty easy pace so as not to blow up in the second half.
It's a bit of a bummer because I had a great season of training and I'm probably in my best running shape ever. Looks like I'll have to choose my next race to see what I've really got in me.
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