So, to put to thoughts all that happened leading up to Chicago and during the marathon.
- Left at 6:30am for the flight. No real issues. Saw another Strider at the airport and we synched up on plans for the marathon and what we did or didn't know. I had planned (so I thought) for most things, including rain (not in the forecast, but just in case) and some level of wind/cold (thought start would be in the 37 to 40 degree range). Packed racing gear into a separate bag that would be with me. We ended up not checking in anything.
- After arriving in Chicago, to the CTA to downtown (saved some money). Had to drag the bags .7 miles to the hotel in light rain. We stayed at the Loews. They had a room ready (we arrived at 10am), so that was handy. I asked for a late checkout (2pm), which they gave me. That was appreciated, and removed some of the pressure off of getting back quickly from the marathon.
- Lunch was a Chicago hotdog and Portillos. I really wanted the hotdog, but wouldn't recommend this restaurant. It was too much of a tourist trap and it was packed.
- We then went to the Expo via the free shuttle off of Michigan Ave. In hindsight, given we had purchased a CTA 3-day pass, the train would have been quicker. The bus had to deal with traffic, and the return was a mess.
- Packet pickup was well planned and really not an issue. McCormick Place is huge. We stopped by several of the booths. I spoke with the Stryd team to get a read on my Stryd pod calibration. I had run 2 last minute calibration runs. I normally run with a 1.03 adjustment (about 3% add to pod calculation for distance). My calibration runs gave me a 1.004 and .95 number. I was very concerned about what was right or wrong with these numbers. The CS suggested I just set at 1.00 (I was going to use GPS distance, but with the buildings, I decided not to). I went with this going into the race.
- We then just walked around and took pictures. I picked up a Nike Chicago Marathon shirt (had to get something). I was hoping for a deal on a shoe, but all the new shoes were full price. Since we got back late, I missed a shakeout run. I also picked a $5 long sleeve to dispose at the race since I forgot to bring an old sweat shirt.
- Dinner was at an Italian restaurant (Il Porcellino) with an old friend. I planned to carb load on Friday vs. Saturday. No real issues with dinner (I avoided alcohol). Food was average. Picked up misc. at Whole foods (including cold medicine, since I had a light cough and runny nose). Evening ended around 11-12pm. I decided not to take the cold medicine since I didn't want to alter my body much before the race. If it got bad on Saturday, I would take the syrup.
- Woke up early on Saturday (6:30 CST). Decided to go for a run to test out shoes and clothing for wind/weather. At breakfast at Starbucks (bagel and coffee, like race day). It was COLD. I was wearing long sleeves with gloves and shorts. I also tested a new Garmin datafield (Race Pacer) that would allow for adjustment of mileage as the race went on (i.e., every time I hit a mile maker, I could hit the lap button, and it would re-calculate the race pace and distance to hit the target time). The problem is that the average pace was showing up wrong. My guess was that it was in KM vs. miles. Reached out to the developer, but he didn't have a good answer. Anyways, after the run, I switched back to my normal data screens. I was able to run to the start line, and actually up and down the "A" corral. This run made me re-think if I was going to wear a shirt or singlet. I decided, at this point, to wear a shirt with real gloves and arm warmers (of course, changed my mind later).
- Met a nice couple (Chad was the runner) and had a good discussion. He was in Corral C and was a bit worried about the cold (as he was from Dallas). His wife suggested he walk with me, and I told him I would be down at 5:30am.
- Wife finally work up later (around 9:30am) and we prepared for the day. We decided to have lunch in Chinatown. Before we left, went back to Whole Foods to get a bagel and picked up some chap stick (since it was so windy). Took the CTA to Chinatown afterwards. We went to MingHin. The best Dim Sum in a different city I have had. Food tasted fresh. Service was fast and we ordered what we wanted to eat (vs. waiting for carts). We then walked around Chinatown for an hour or two. Not much there for us. We did go into a K-Pop store. It was kinda funny since we really aren't into it, but there were cups, pictures, notebooks, clocks, and other stuff for people who are into it. By this time, we need to head back for Hamilton.
- We got back 1 hour before the 2pm Hamilton show. This was a last minute add by my wife since we didn't have much to do on Saturday. The show was impressive. I had no background so I was surprised that I was keeping up. The Stage was small, but used effectively. The non-primary cast did a great job. I wasn't too impressed with Hamilton (come to find the normal actor was out due to his little girl passing that weekend). King George and Thomas Jefferson were the best. We were in the center, 12 row, so I can't complain about the seating at all.
- While I was at the show, sat next to a NZL individual that was in corral A (I knew he was running since he was wearing a new pair of Chicago Newton shoes). He had run Chicago 5 times already and was very calm about the whole thing.
- Dinner was pizza at Richards Pizza and Dough Co. It wasn't anything special. I was expecting a bit more. Had some mussels to go with the 4 slices of pizza. One last stop at Whole foods. Also went to search for a hat. Ended up buy from GAP since Under-amour was all out. Left the tags on incase I didn't need it.
- After dinner, it was basically prepping for the race. I asked the Concierge to get some jelly (for my bagel). I had ask for peanut butter the 1st day. Packed my bag check along with laying out my running gear. Decided to run with singlets and disposable gloves and arm warmers. Packed backup of everything, along with water and food before and after race. Went to bed around 10pm.
- Sleep wasn't good. Woke up every hour till about 2am. Wake up was 4am.
- Woke up on time. Ate immediately (bagel, coffee). Everything worked as planned. Put in contacts at 5am (multiple drops to lubricate). Put on hat, sunglasses, PJ bottoms (old and disposable if necessary), disposable jacket, disposable long sleeve, disposable jacket, gloves, arm warmers, singlet (changed my mind in the evening) and shorts. Fuel was placed into 2 150ml dispensers, along with an extra packet that was caffeine. 3 gels and 8oz of water completed food. I also had BCAA and salt capsules. I wore normal running shoes vs. the Vapor Flys to not put too much time into the shoes (they are stiff).
- We left the hotel at 5:35am. We saw Chad (from the day before) in the lobby. He ended up walking separately. Fortunately, there wasn't much wind. I was glad I didn't go with the good gloves/arm warmers. It was a fairly long walk to the gate. I lost a glove as I was fooling with something. The person behind me noticed, and wife and him went back in line. Come to find a lady had found them and put it on her hand. She offed it up when asked.
- I was through the gates by 6:05am. I switched to the Vaporflys and walked to the baggage check. Since I was in Red, Corral D, I had to walk to the opposite side of the gate entry. Before checking in, I took off my puffy jacket (had put it on just after we left) and PJs. Since the weather was good, I switched to disposable gloves and arm warmers. If I had to do it again, I would bring a disposable pair of pants. Some people had towels or were wearing something that would cover legs. It was a bit cold, but not horrible. I then went to the rest room. Lines were reasonable. Also ate a stoop waffle (since I was waiting over an hour prior to start).
- At this point, I went to the start corrals. It was still 40+ minutes before 7:20am (Corral closes). I entered the gate to the C and D corrals. Inside were another set of Porta-Pods. Went one more time. I entered the D corral around 6:50. At some point the 3:30 pacers showed up and gave general instructions. I warmed up and watched people till 7:20am. I dump the jackets. Big mistake. Starting gun is 7:30am. But since I am in corral D, I will have to wait till the other corrals start. I could have waited till 7:35am to take off jackets. I shivered for 15+ minutes. My corral didn't start moving till close to 7:38am.
- My pre-race pacing strategy was a slower start (down to 8:30 min/mile) and settling to 8 min/mile by mile 4. I would then start to work down the time hoping to catch back up to 8 min/mile average by 13.1. Things didn't quite work out that way. As we started, I stuck close to over 8 minutes per mile based on my watch. I knew there was going to be some accuracy issues, so I was on the lookout for markers and kept an eye out for the 3:30 pace group. They moved ahead of me quickly, which was ok. When I finally saw a mile marker (I think it was mile 3), I knew the watch was over counting distance. It meant my pace had to be faster than 8 min/mile. I just wan't sure how much (by mile 5, I felt like I was approx .1 miles over). Given my average pace was 7:45 min/mile on my watch, I guessed I had to get to about 7:40 min/mile (I guessed wrong). I started looking for my 3:30 pace group so that I could rely on them to pace me to 8 min/mile. Michael G. (the other runner I met at the airport) passed me after mile 3 (he started in corral E). He was looking good and I was hoping that he could maintain his pace (he was targeting 7:45 min/mile).
- Note that during the first few miles, I realized I might have tied my shoes too tight. My right foot started aching by mile 2. My left foot felt tight. I just kept running. The left foot sensation went away over time. My right foot ached for most of the race. In hind-sight, I might have made a mistake in using a thicker trail sock. I have run in them before, but maybe not in the racing shoe. That might have caused the right-foot issue. Additionally, the long wait wasn't good for my restroom situation. By mile 4, I had an urge to use the restroom. Given I knew I hadn't taken too much water, I kept running without a stop for the entire race. I probably would have been better just to cycle through the line one more time prior to entering the corral.
- Weather turned out to be great! It was chilly, but I ditched the arm warmers by mile 8 and gloves soon after (though I kept them with me incase). It was a bit cold coming back into the city and a bit during the later miles, but nothing horrible.
- This need to catch up to pace group drove me all the way to the 13.1 marker. At this point, I knew that something was off on my pacing. At the half way point, I was under 1:40:00 elapsed time. I was definitely ahead of a 3:30:00 time. My pacing was too fast (I was close to 7:41 avg min/mile) for my target. I was approx. 5 minutes ahead of 3:30:00 if I kept this pace!!!! That said, the difficult miles were still coming. In my head, even if I had a bad race like Rehobeth, where I lost a minute every mile for the last 10K, I would still BQ with a 4 minute buffer.
- Crowd support was awesome. I felt like there was almost always people on the sides cheering you on. Additionally, the water/Gatorade support was great too. The only hiccup was towards the end, where there weren't as many people handing out fluids, but I didn't have any issues.
- Miles 13.1 - 21 were a blur. I focused on maintaining pace. Ate chews around mile 15 to keep stomach settled. My wife said I ran through the arch in Chinatown, but I didn't even notice.
- Note that my wife ran around to 4 spots to try to catch me. She missed my in the first 3 miles, but it was a crowded mess. I saw her 2 other times. She also saw me at the 400M to go marker. She has more insight on her movements, but she used the CTA to get to the spots. The the ride to Chinatown was a mess.
- After mile 21, I knew I was past the "bonking" point. I had taken water at every stop except the 1st. I took only 1 BCAA capsule and 1 salt capsule (I had planned to take at least 1 of each every hour). At some point after the 1st salt capsule, I lost my container for salt. In hindsight, I should have kept taking BCAA, but it was a pain to find the container in my belt. At the mile 23-24 stop, I took Gatorade so I wouldn't have to take out my gels again (too much energy). I knew I was still under, but was not hoping to be 10 minutes under so that I would (1) meet the requirements for the 50-54 age group to prove a point, and (2) put me into the 2nd group to register for Boston in the 1st week. I still had hope up to the last mile, even as my pace slowed just a bit. But in the last half a mile, it just wasn't going to work. I was too far away as time kept slipping away. With the final turn into the park (< 400M to go), I was just under 3:25:00. I ran the last few hundred feet trying to keep under 3:26:00.
- Final time (I found out 15 minutes+ later talking with my wife) was 3:25:53. My running watch said I ran 26.6 miles. I wasn't too sore immediately. Someone wiped my face as he noted that I had a huge amount of salt on it. I ran around looking for picture takers to be sure I got at least one good picture afterwards (since I pre-purchased the wall plaque). Food was average. Had to stretch as I was starting to tight-up. Found my wife quickly once I got to the meeting area. We walked back to the hotel (1+ miles) and I got to shower and pack.
- We had 3+ hours to burn before going to the airport. My knees started to ache at this point. I could go straight up and down stairs without effort. Had a nice Japanese barbecue lunch and headed to Michigan Ave to shop/walk around. People were still walking around with the mylar warming blankets (just finishing the race) and some people were wearing their medals over normal clothing (which I couldn't figure out why). It ended up that Nike was offering free engraving (which would explain some of the medals). That said, some people were still wearing them at the airport. Getting to the airport was difficult from a traffic perspective. Other than that, the trip back was uneventful.
In Summary, highly recommend Chicago Marathon. Course is flat, logistics is great, crowd support is great, and weather was great (this year). I think getting there 2 days before is optimal. It reduced stress on Saturday, especially getting the bib from the expo. Leaving late the same day worked out well. My pacing strategy and overall plan worked out. The silliness with my watch and accurate pacing didn't hurt my effort. I will never know if I had found the pacing group if I would have stayed with them longer and kicked harder in the end? I find it unlikely if I ran an 8 min/mile pace up to 13.1, that I would have made up 4 minutes in the last 13.1. As is, I lost < 2 minutes in the last 13.1 miles. I have to thank the Striders Club training and my coach for keeping my paces up and stressing the proper form. Next goal is 7:45 min/mile and Boston!!
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