Race Report: 2008 Chicago Marathon

A little history: Back in May, I was seriously considering trying to run a Boston qualifier at this year's marathon. After the 1/2-mary in June, I lost about six weeks to an MCL injury and that caused me to revisit my plans. It was a good thing too, I realized over the summer months that I just don't train well in the heat. Add to that the need to keep the swim-bike-run thing flowing and my marathon-specific training dropped significantly. I went into the 2008 Chicago pretty confident I could run a 3:30 and figured I might even be able to pick up a minute over the last 10k if I stayed solid on 8-min miles for the first 20.

The race was hot. Nate convinced me that carrying my own drink for the first six miles would make life easier---and it really did. I found a great little 20oz Evian bottle (narrow with a squirt lid) and filled it with Accelerade. It held through mile 9, meaning no water stops and better quality drinking (e.g., I am certain I got all 20 oz, where I can never be certain how much I get from a cup). Don't love carrying a bottle, but getting to skip the aid stations was perfect and I
felt fantastic.

The crowds were fantastic--Chicago really comes out for the event and all along the course people were screaming encouragement and there was music and entertainment. I feel sorry for anyone who chose to wear an ipod since they would have missed out on the incredible fan support.

Held a pretty solid 7:51 to 7:56 through mile14 feeling great. At mile 14, I started to feel the effects of the heat and dropped to 8:15 then 8:30 then 8:45 and down it went. By mile 18 my quads felt like lead. I was fading but determined not to walk and so I pushed through Pilsen and then Chinatown (again, unbelievable crowds), but the post-Chinatown hill hit hard and I broke down to walk for a few steps along Wentworth. My quads were so sore already that walking was actually less comfortable than running, so after 30 steps or so I picked it back up and kept running. From there I kept the legs plugging away, walking only through aid stations until abotu mile 24. I was telling myself that I could walk a bit after the 40k mark, but just couldn't make it and ended up taking about 400m down Michigan, just trying to replenish the legs a bit.

Amy and the kids were on the corner of Michigan and 35th---and I couldn't believe how much that helped. Melissa was on the North side, but I never saw her because the crowds were so thick. Having friendly cheers at that Mile 24 mark was so critical especially after being clobbered by the heat. Zofie was busy doing something else, so she only saw my back, but Linus was looking right at me.

Found a little be extra at Mile 25 and determined to run it in, albeit slowly. The 'hill' on Roosevelt is just as much of a killer as everyone says.

Ended up at 3:51:51, 4843 overall --- so easily top 20% but much slower than hoped for. I was pretty sure that Chicago Marathon was a one-shot deal for me, but despite the pain (during the race AND as I write this!), I loved the experience and will almost certainly do it again next year. As the pain got worse, I kept telling myself that this is how the marathon at the end of the Ironman must feel and that kept me moving. Now that I am no longer a marathon virgin, I can get moving on toward a Boston goal and then the Ironman. Definitely planning on a 70.3 next year---and I may opt out of Chicago next year to run Indy and/or I may look for a cold-weather marathon in the winter when I can really get some speed.