Chicago Marathon

This race would be my 4th marathon (if you count the Ironman) and 3rd official marathon. I decided to this race after my 2nd marathon in Austin this past February. I figured that a month after my Ironman I wouldn't have to train for the race and would be able to just run it and have fun. I also have a close friend from high school who just so happened to live like 6 blocks from the starting line. So after my Ironman I struggled with recovery. I really wanted to workout, but every time I would try to do a workout I just felt flat or when I would go for a bike ride it would take me like 45 - 60 minutes to start feeling good. I took this as a sign I wasn't recovered and backed off. I finished my Ironman on 9/13/09 and the Chicago Marathon was on 10/11/09. During that period of time my workouts consisted of these:



4 - runs for a totaling of 21 miles
1 - 750M open water swim
2 - bike rides totaling 40 miles


Well I have to say that I was kind of excited to go and do the marathon. I left for Chicago on Friday on what was supposed to be a 4:30pm flight. Needless to say we didn't leave until about 5:15. I got to chicago at a terrible time for traffic. 7:45pm on a Friday. I sat in the cab for almost an hour. Cabbies are horrible drivers too. They just slam the gas press the break. I much prefer the train. If I would have known it would take me an hour in a cab I would have taken the train since it only takes about 45 minutes guaranteed. Plus I took the train back to the airport and actually enjoyed it more than the cab. Plus its only 3 dollars plus a 7 dollar cab ride to the station, as opposed to 40 bucks in a cab the whole way.


Friday night was good. I spent time with my close friend Matt. We shared many memories and caught up on life. Needless to say we drank about 2 bottles of wine, plus all the beers we had at the pub. I think we went to bed around 3-4am. I was drunk.


Saturday I awoke at about 10:30am. So not much sleep. I can't really sleep in anymore like I used to. I started the hydration process. I left for the expo while my friend Matt who I was staying with stayed and watched college football. While at the expo I got a free stride analysis and video taping session from Brooks. I had never seen my own foot strike pattern on tape. I have a pretty neutral gait. They also were selling huge tubs of gatorade endurance formula for only 20 bucks. They tubs are big, they weigh 3lbs. That is a lot of gatorade. So after that I left the expo and went back. I hated having to take cabs everywhere, when I was only going like 2 or 3 miles. If that. If I lived in that city or new york I would so ride a bike everywhere. That is a no brainier. The expo was really close and cost me like 20 bucks round trip including tip. WTF... I could have walked the 3 or so miles but I figured I'd be better off staying off my feet.


So fast forward. I ate dinner pizza and a salad and was asleep by 9:30am. I woke up at 5:30am. Race start was 7:30. Normal routine, shower, eat oatmeal, drink Gatorade, get dressed. Here come the complaints. Well Chicago decided to have unseasonably cold weather this weekend. WTF.... The past 2 years have been hot for Chicagoans, in the 70 - 80's... I'll take that over the 30's anyday. Now in the 90-100's that is a different story and probably will opt for the cold. Well I awake race morning and it is 26 with a wind chill. I didn't have pants or tights. Rookie mistake. I bet on it being in the high 30's to start and high 40's to finish. It was the opposite. I was freezing the entire time. I left the apt and walked to the start. It was only like a 4 - 6 block walk. Super close. I timed it perfect. I think I waited in my start corral for like 10 minutes. The race gun was off. My race plan was simple, stick close to the 3:40 pace group, chat to as many people as possible since I didn't bring my headphones and kick it up a notch at mile 20 if I felt good. Well needless to say I didn't find too many chatters. I talked with one guy for like 5 miles. Really nice guy. At like mile 7 I started to get really dizzy, but not the kind of dizzy from dehydration but more the dizzy you would get from standing up too fast or if you have ever felt dizziness from vertigo? I started to suspect that it was because I felt really cramped and was really close to so many people. I saw tons of people fall and get trampled by the runners behind them. Even when you start in a specific corral it didn't make much difference. Especially when the streets get narrow. Some turns we I was almost forced to a walk. I quickly pushed my way to the sidewalk and immediately felt better when I wasn't surrounded by people. I drank a bit too much water before the race and had to pee about 3 times during the race.

Basically the miles clicked by. I got to about mile 17 or 18 and was feeling a bit bored. At this point is when it finally thinned out and there were not that many people around me any more. The cold weather really had a huge impact on me. I felt pretty miserable for the last 8 miles or so. I kept shaking and shivering. I was cold no doubt about it. At this point my clothes were wet too, this didn't help especially when the wind blew. I stuck to my normal nutrition plan and had 4 gels the entire race. Plus Gatorade and or water at just about every aid station. At mile 19 I started to get a second wind. The sun was out and I thought that I would pick up the pace and see what happens. Well I did well. The miles kept clicking off. My left hip was tight as always. The cold however didn't help with keeping it stretched out. I stopped a few times from miles 17 - 25 to stretch it. Since I didn't have any real goal on time I didn't really care. It wasn't till mile 20 that I started doing the math on if I could PR the race. Well this is why I picked up the pace. I had a lot more ups and downs in this race than normal. I think that is because I didn't train for it and didn't have it as a goal race.

Well here are my mile splits:

Total Time -- 3:40:56

Average pace per mile -- 8:25/mile total average HR 156

Mile -- AVG HR -- Pace

1 -- 150 -- 8:12
2 -- 151 -- 8:26
3 -- 151 -- 8:13
4 -- 149 -- 9:00 --- bathroom break
5 -- 155 -- 7:51
6 -- 152 -- 8:05
7 -- 149 -- 8:22
8 -- 150 -- 8:36
9 -- 152 -- 8:17
10 -- 150 -- 8:13
11 -- 152 -- 8:15
12 -- 155 -- 8:30
13 -- 157 -- 8:29
14 -- 156 -- 8:19
15 -- 156 -- 8:18
16 -- 157 -- 8:47
17 -- 155 -- 9:00 -- this is when I was feeling really cold, bored, and stretched my hip
18 -- 155 -- 8:54
19 -- 154 -- 8:46 -- then I realized I could possibly PR if I would just suck it up and fight the cold
20 -- 161 -- 8:24
21 -- 163 -- 8:12
22 -- 164 -- 8:09
23 -- 160 -- 8:30 -- walked thru an aid station
24 -- 161 -- 8:21
25 -- 157 -- 9:00 -- this is funny, I was not motivated and just wanted to quit, not from being tired or cramping but because I didn't care.
26 -- 168 -- 7:44 -- this is what I call a kick. I should have done that at mile 25, I had too much energy
.2 -- 174 -- 1:38

So all in all this was great finish to my racing season of 2009

I did 2 half Ironmans, 1 sprint tri, 1 Ironman, 2 marathons.

What is next for me????

Well next is my Ironman St. George Utah training camp shown here. This is 11/12 -- 11/15
http://www.endurancecorner.com/services/st_george_ironman_camp

maybe the Austin marathon on 2/14/09 ?????? I don't have a real reason to do it.

Then after that is Ironman 70.3 New Orleans on 4/18/10

Then Ironman St. George, Utah on 5/1/10

Then Buffalo springs Ironman 70.3 on 6/27/10

Then Ironman Lake Placid on 7/25/10

Probably Longhorn Ironman 70.3 sometime in October of 2010 or just take the rest of the year off and run some winter marathons. Maybe I'll do the Texas Quadruple that year of San Antonio Marathon in November, then Dallas White Rock Marathon in December of 2010, then Houston Marathon in January, then Austin marathon in February.

I plan on signing up for Ironman Louisville this year. My team has a few folks heading there so I will go and be a helper and also ride and swim the course. There is also possiblity for Ironman Cour D'Alene in Idaho too. We'll see how the 2 Ironmans in one year go this summer.

Until, then the blog will be pretty slim unless I just feel like writing. However in case you don't know I won't be going home to Cincinnati this year for Christmas. I will be going to Australia to visit a friend from high school, Reynold. Its a once in a lifetime opportunity. He has been living there for like 2 years and he lives on the beach.... So I am sure my 19hrs on the plane ride back will allow for some writing. Until then...

Cheers.