Marathon #46: Chicago Marathon Runparty

Going into the race, I had a really good training cycle and thought that I might have a chance to swing at my 5 year old PR. My plan was to go out and try to latch onto the 3:15 pacer for a bit if it felt comfortable and then make a move around miles 10-15 if I was having a good day. It was a bit of a bold negative split, but my training indicated that somewhere in the low 3:10s could be possible.

The first few weeks after Eiger were a little rocky getting back into training, but I had a solid 8ish weeks after that. I was hitting all my workouts, doing all but one of my long runs on the road (I’ve often used long trail runs as a crutch), and was super consistent about my strength training. Nothing was feeling PR easy, but I also felt that the fitness was there and I was capable if I had “that” day. 

The trip itself was all business. I flew up Saturday morning and luckily, Heather spotted me in the gate so we were able to sit together on the plane. It was fun to talk about training and races and the flight went by fast with someone to talk to. We parted ways once we landed and then I met Allison and Ben at Midway who were coming in on a different flight. They ended up staying with me last minute, but it worked out for the best as I now had people to share the weekend with, yay!

Allison is part of Back On My Feet which is a program that combats homelessness through community and running. They were having a brunch at the Willis Tower for the marathon fundraisers and it was really great to hear inspirational stories while carbing up.

We then dropped our bags at the hotel and headed over to the expo. It was super crowded and we already had a busy morning so we were in and out pretty quickly.

The rest of the afternoon and evening were filled with just lying in bed, chatting, watching tv, and hydrating. We popped out to grab some food from the Whole Foods hot bar, but it was a blissfully uneventful night otherwise. I thought I might be too excited to fall asleep, but I barely could stay awake to check in for my 8:10 p.m. flight!

I got almost 9 hours of sleep that night. Spoiler alert: this would be the only PR of the weekend. 

On race day, I ate my brought-it-from-home muffin and washed it down with hotel room coffee. We got dressed and then headed outside shortly after 6 a.m. to jog a half mile to the start.

Allison was in the first corral so once we reached the gates, we gave each other hugs and good lucks. I decided to just sit down for a while and went to the portapotty a few times before the start. 

At 15 minutes until the start, I shed my warmup jacket and stood up to find myself a spot in the corral. I could see the 3:15 pacer and 3:20 pacers over to the right of me, but far enough away that I would avoid the clump of runners that would be huddled by the signs. 

Once we started, I knew that my watch would be going haywire based on everyone’s prior race reports of Chicago. So I truly just wanted to run by feel and hoped that somewhere near the 3:15 pacer would feel comfortable. They were on the far right still as we went through the first mile so I was content to just do my own thing until the field spread out at least a little bit. 

I didn’t necessarily feel bad when I started, but I did not feel good either. I kept thinking that I would ease into the race after a mile or two once I was truly warmed up. Spoiler alert: that never happened. I felt like I was pushing really hard from the gun which meant that I was running an honest race, but I also was fighting to stay with it with almost every step. That’s not to say that it felt bad, it just never really felt fluid.

Somewhere in maybe the second mile I started to get close to what I thought was the 3:15 pace group and ran in the pack for a few miles. I’m not really sure if I ever was with them or what, but a few miles and hydration stops later, I realized I was running behind 3:20 signs. This seems weird that I wouldn’t have noticed I was running with the wrong sign, but I also felt certain I was running a 3:15 pace so I’m still not really sure what the heck happened! It was not too late in the race if I had been feeling good to push down the pace, but I was not feeling good so I stuck with the 3:20 group for a few more miles.

I decided around mile 6 or 7 to push ahead of the 3:20 group to see if I could chase down a faster time. I still wasn’t feeling good, but I was hopeful that at some point, I might find that bit of fluidity. Once we started to head back south around mile 8, I was in a bit of a better headspace even if my body was not cooperating. I high fived some kids and smiled and pointed at people who called my name out from my shirt. 

I hardly ever have acute issues while racing. Knocks on wood. Yes, it gets hard and I often want to slow down or stop, but rarely is it because of one body part. However, something seized up in my right hamstring while running this stretch. I had to forcefully shorten my stride briefly to alleviate the pain and it never bothered me afterwards, but was a super odd sensation. 

The shade was nice on the return back in this section and the crowd support was really strong. It got to be a bit overwhelming at times though and I was having a hard time tuning it all out even with my music to block some of the sensory overload. I was actually feeling my best when I was just staring at the ground, but then I started to have FOMO of seeing things on the course!

Once back to the river and at the halfway mark, the crowds were REALLY deep. I was very Jekyll & Hyde about feeling hyped up by the crowds and then wanting to just get away from the noise. Clearly this was because I was not having the race I thought I was capable of.

Luckily, I was feeling a little better on the W Adams stretch. It was still supported, but the road was a little wider, the stretch straighter, and it was easier to just put one foot in front of the other. I was counting down all the little things to look forward to. When I could take my next gel, when I could start to look for my coach’s brother, when there would be less than an hour to go, etc.

I think this is where Ben saw me, but I thought he would only be following Allison the whole time and definitely was not expecting to see him!

I thought I would be able to see my coach’s brother at mile 18.5 and so I started scanning the crowds rapidly just after the 18 mile marker sign. There were so many people that once I neared the mile 19 sign, I gave up the ghost thinking I was looking on the wrong side of the street. Well, turns out, I couldn’t remember the message correctly and he was at mile 19.5. Doh! He got a few pictures of me, but I was definitely not scanning by that point. I was bummed that I had missed him and was now heading into what I had been told was no man’s land.

It was definitely a little quieter for a few miles, but not like how I had imagined. And given that the noise was not working in my favor, I probably was a little relieved. There were people walking at this point so I was telling myself that at least I was still running! I couldn’t help but think that I REALLY wanted to walk and said to myself that I would allow it at the next water stop. But then I just forced a shuffle through the stops because I didn’t want to give up any more time.

I thought it was funny/mean that they put the photo op bridge towards the end of the race. I'm definitely faking that I was feeling good here!

Just before mile 23, the 3:20 group passed me and I hung on for about 2 minutes before they slowly faded into the distance. I really had not looked at my watch splits much except for the half split and then mile 20 because the GPS was so wrong. Once the 3:20 group passed, I realized that as long as I didn’t completely die at the end I would be somewhere in the low 3:20s which was still really good. Not the day I wanted, but funny how a year ago, I was excited by that time!

Shortly after the mile 25 sign, there was an official blow up sign that said 400m to go and I was like, um, WRONG. I knew that there was still 1.2 to go and if you think a plank makes time go by exorbitantly slow, I’m here to tell you that the last mile of a not-so-great marathon might actually bend the space-time continuum. Eventually, I saw the 800m mark and was like, okay, just get to the hill, get to the hill. 

I’ve seen “the hill” in video and heard about it, but let’s just say the hill was blissfully underwhelming and a welcome feeling on my legs after all the flat. Plus, once you crested the hill, the finish line was in full view!

There was no time to slide under at this point so I went to the far right and gave it an honest push to the end, but wasn’t worried about a few seconds here or there. 

3:20:53

It’s my 11th fastest marathon, my 25th BQ, and will allow me to run Boston 2024 which will be my 10th consecutive Boston. I have a few more marathons on my calendar that I could have gone for a 2024 BQ, but it felt nice to now have that solidified. Even with 25 BQs, it’s still never a guarantee! Marathons are hard!