NYC_MW
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2021
Chicago Marathon Trip & Race Report
TL;DR: first time in Chicago–lots of yummy food, hanging with a good friend, and exploring the city. Unofficial time: 4:38:45 (smack dab between A and B goals), squarely middle of the pack.
Saturday: early flight on 3.5hrs sleep (not a great start to the wknd). Could definitely tell there were many other runners on the flight. Cute anecdote: mom and ~5yo daughter in the row across from me. As we’re deplaning, someone asks if she’s there to run and she confirms. Daughter pipes up: “but you’re not ready”. Surprised mom: “I’m not?!” Everybody laughs. Apparently it’s because she wasn’t wearing running clothes
.
Chicago skyline from the plane. Never realized Lake Michigan was quite so big.
My friend J graciously hosted me for the weekend starting with picking me up from the airport. First stop: Stan’s Donuts (thanks to recs from DISers). We split the blueberry cheesecake pocket and the peanut butter pocket. Oh so good. Then she dropped me off at the Expo where I wandered for ~1 hour. Bit of a line with security, but bib/shirt pickup smooth and efficient. Picked up some commemorative shirts for the fam but mostly scooted out since J was waiting in the car.
Race course photo backdrop at expo
Wrigley, Tribune, and Equitable bldgs + Sears Tower peeking out the middle
Headed home, but first a stop at Devil Dawgs to pick up a Chicago style hot dog. Meh: it was good, but I prefer sauerkraut and ketchup. Then off to my first El ride en route to Shedd. I love aquariums (or as my sister calls them, liquid zoos) and invariably end up at them when visiting new cities. Should have been a marine biologist in another life. Meandered for ~2.5 hrs; could have stayed longer but didn’t want to tire the legs too much (spoiler: probably did) and headed to our next stop: Gino’s East for what J says is the best Chicago style deep dish pizza, splitting a Gino’s Supreme. It was very good, the crust reminded me of a chicken pot pie, crispy and flaky, and I very much appreciated how much cheese there was. Then home to prep for Sunday and a good night’s sleep.
Jellies are always so mesmerizing
Beluga smiling. Their faces are cute, but bodies are just disproportionately long and too muscular.
Sunday: glorious 7hrs of sleep. Garb: capris, short sleeves, hat, and hydration belt (Nathan’s ended up sending a free replacement when I contacted them for tips on how to fix my old broken one). Shoes: Saucony Ride 14 with ~230 miles. Throwaway: holey sweatshirt, jeans, socks (for gloves). Gear check: windbreaker jacket, warmup pants, flip-flops. Pre-fuel: Honey Stinger waffle, mini-bagel w/ peanut butter. Race fuel: 1 bag Honey Stinger fruit punch chews, 2x10oz water, 1 granola bar. It was windy and cold at 6am as I joined the throng of other runners on the train headed for the start.
Sunrise over Lake Michigan
Buckingham Fountain
Everything was well organized: dropped off gear check, filled my water bottles at the filling station, grabbed an extra water bottle for pre-hydration, took some pretty pictures. And then…maybe I just picked the wrong section (then wrong line), but the portapotty lines were something else. Ended up waiting ~45minutes and it was not pretty when I got in there. Many people behind me gave up since wave 2 was closing. Raced to my corral (passing a couple folks who decided to just use the bushes
) with no warm-up or prep. Thankfully they didn’t close the wave right away (and there was still 40 minutes til my corral would have started anyways). But I panicked, shed all the throwaway layers, hastily applied sunscreen (again, the single use packets FTW), and scarfed down the waffle and mini-bagel too quickly. Did some warm-ups while we inched towards the start line, teeth chattering away, and second-guessing myself (I was not ready for this race).
Start line
Crossed the start around 8:25 and seemed to be at the same pace as most people. Then realized the shorts were starting to drop… They were fine when running the week before, but maybe the wash in between did something? Some kind soul even tapped me on the shoulder to let me know
. Plus the hydration belt was causing the tail of my shirt to rise up (why hadn’t I run with this new belt before race day?) and the granola bar got lost along the way. Thankfully, the shorts started to sit properly around mile 3, but spent the rest of the race tugging the shirt tail every so often. Was a real pick-me-up to see J around mile 4 and settled into the groove: a sip of water every mile, a chew every 2. Found some people to try to keep pace with as we rounded the first out and back around mile 8.5. Spotted J again around mile 12 and her encouragement gave a big boost to get to the halfway point.
Most of the route was pretty wide so never really congested. There were some upslopes (and some people commented “wasn’t the course supposed to be flat?”
) but overall not too bad. Was very impressed with Chicagoans ability to weave through the route when crossing the street, didn’t really see anybody run into (pun intended) any runners. Surprised though, at the lack of clocks at mile markers (and a lot of the clocks at each 5K mark were not working). As a result, was never quite sure what pace/time I was at, though could sorta tell by looking at my watch and subtracting suspected start time. Also unexpected was how slippery the road got at each fluid station; really had to focus to make sure not to slip (with horror stories of how people twisted an ankle the wrong way when slipping/tripping over discarded cups in the back of my mind the whole time). The crowd support was awesome though, never a section without at least one person cheering. And that wall of cheering/dancing/music in Pilsen was something else.
Though that’s also when things started going off the rails. Everything hurt: quads, calves, hips, shoulders (this is a perpetual problem that I need to figure out, why do my neck/shoulders always get so sore?). Was getting too tired to pull out the chews so fueling dropped, and had only hit this mileage once during training. Started taking gatorade every couple fluid stations and walking quite a bit. Knew I wasn’t going to hit A goal and that hurt mentally. Stopped once for biofreeze gel, then again at the spray zone between miles 21 and 22. Could hear the breathing turn into wheezing (though that could also have been emotions, especially when turning into Chinatown and thinking about the fam). Going into the last out-and-back around mile 23 was the real kicker, when I saw just how much more there was to go. But somehow (most likely the training but also the reprieve from walk breaks and just darn adrenaline), pulled it together around mile 24 and started up again. Kept it up through to ~300m from the end and then picked up the pace, running hard to the finish. Got. it. Done.
Hobbled through the finish chute, picking up medal, water, an apple that was super delicious, and a free beer for J before stopping for an official finisher picture and heading to gear check. Changing into flip-flops was glorious, then continued towards the 27th mile party to meet up with J who had been patiently waiting for a while. We sat in the sun while I recovered a bit and got to watch someone propose to his girlfriend (both of whom had run). Headed home (why are there so many stairs in and out of the stations?!); train ride was a little dicey when I suddenly got real nauseous two stops from home and almost ran out the door to not puke on the train. Thankfully a perceptive and super nice dad pulled his daughter from the nearest seat and told me to sit down. Stuck my head between my knees and felt much better. Someone else handed J a wet wipe for me and others offered some food (everybody is so kind!) and we made it home without incident.
Showered, foam-rolled, much sitting, another mini-bagel + PB, and some ibuprofen later, we set out for the architecture boat tour. J wisely suggested an Uber, but 3 stories of stairs down to the riverwalk was a bit of a challenge. The tour was just the thing, getting to sit for 90 minutes was perfect and the Chicago skyline really is beautiful (I will readily admit, prettier than NYC). Wind had also died down from yesterday and temps were mild. Headed to River North for some ramen that hit the spot then home as I was starting to fade (even fell asleep on the train).
Chicago skyline from the locks
DIS appropriate graffiti along the Chicago River
Monday: Late morning flight so good recovery sleep. Again, lots of folks on the train and in the airport had clearly run the day before. TSA agent even remarked how many people he had seen come through walking slowly and sort of bow-legged
. Picked up some Garrett’s to share and back to reality. Mostly recovered, a little sore, but not more than after a usual long run day.
Takeaway: was underprepared for this race. Especially the day before and morning of, but also didn’t hit all the training runs beforehand. Took 10:15 longer compared to last (first) marathon on a flatter course. This training plan had fewer longer runs, but more speedwork, but I’m also 3 years older (in a diff division) and less fit now. Was it the plan, or just entropy? Am committed to the four race challenge in January (though when I heard someone cheering yesterday “this is it! No more training!” I wanted to cry thinking, “oh no, there’s still 13 weeks left”). Have already entered the London 2023 lottery (and may enter Berlin 2023 depending on the London results because my insane brain thinks I want to be a six-star finisher), but really need to figure out if it’s wise to keep doing more marathons or better to stick with halfs
.
TL;DR: first time in Chicago–lots of yummy food, hanging with a good friend, and exploring the city. Unofficial time: 4:38:45 (smack dab between A and B goals), squarely middle of the pack.
Saturday: early flight on 3.5hrs sleep (not a great start to the wknd). Could definitely tell there were many other runners on the flight. Cute anecdote: mom and ~5yo daughter in the row across from me. As we’re deplaning, someone asks if she’s there to run and she confirms. Daughter pipes up: “but you’re not ready”. Surprised mom: “I’m not?!” Everybody laughs. Apparently it’s because she wasn’t wearing running clothes
.Chicago skyline from the plane. Never realized Lake Michigan was quite so big.
My friend J graciously hosted me for the weekend starting with picking me up from the airport. First stop: Stan’s Donuts (thanks to recs from DISers). We split the blueberry cheesecake pocket and the peanut butter pocket. Oh so good. Then she dropped me off at the Expo where I wandered for ~1 hour. Bit of a line with security, but bib/shirt pickup smooth and efficient. Picked up some commemorative shirts for the fam but mostly scooted out since J was waiting in the car.
Race course photo backdrop at expo
Wrigley, Tribune, and Equitable bldgs + Sears Tower peeking out the middle
Headed home, but first a stop at Devil Dawgs to pick up a Chicago style hot dog. Meh: it was good, but I prefer sauerkraut and ketchup. Then off to my first El ride en route to Shedd. I love aquariums (or as my sister calls them, liquid zoos) and invariably end up at them when visiting new cities. Should have been a marine biologist in another life. Meandered for ~2.5 hrs; could have stayed longer but didn’t want to tire the legs too much (spoiler: probably did) and headed to our next stop: Gino’s East for what J says is the best Chicago style deep dish pizza, splitting a Gino’s Supreme. It was very good, the crust reminded me of a chicken pot pie, crispy and flaky, and I very much appreciated how much cheese there was. Then home to prep for Sunday and a good night’s sleep.
Jellies are always so mesmerizing
Beluga smiling. Their faces are cute, but bodies are just disproportionately long and too muscular.
Sunday: glorious 7hrs of sleep. Garb: capris, short sleeves, hat, and hydration belt (Nathan’s ended up sending a free replacement when I contacted them for tips on how to fix my old broken one). Shoes: Saucony Ride 14 with ~230 miles. Throwaway: holey sweatshirt, jeans, socks (for gloves). Gear check: windbreaker jacket, warmup pants, flip-flops. Pre-fuel: Honey Stinger waffle, mini-bagel w/ peanut butter. Race fuel: 1 bag Honey Stinger fruit punch chews, 2x10oz water, 1 granola bar. It was windy and cold at 6am as I joined the throng of other runners on the train headed for the start.
Sunrise over Lake Michigan
Buckingham Fountain
Everything was well organized: dropped off gear check, filled my water bottles at the filling station, grabbed an extra water bottle for pre-hydration, took some pretty pictures. And then…maybe I just picked the wrong section (then wrong line), but the portapotty lines were something else. Ended up waiting ~45minutes and it was not pretty when I got in there. Many people behind me gave up since wave 2 was closing. Raced to my corral (passing a couple folks who decided to just use the bushes
) with no warm-up or prep. Thankfully they didn’t close the wave right away (and there was still 40 minutes til my corral would have started anyways). But I panicked, shed all the throwaway layers, hastily applied sunscreen (again, the single use packets FTW), and scarfed down the waffle and mini-bagel too quickly. Did some warm-ups while we inched towards the start line, teeth chattering away, and second-guessing myself (I was not ready for this race).Start line
Crossed the start around 8:25 and seemed to be at the same pace as most people. Then realized the shorts were starting to drop… They were fine when running the week before, but maybe the wash in between did something? Some kind soul even tapped me on the shoulder to let me know
. Plus the hydration belt was causing the tail of my shirt to rise up (why hadn’t I run with this new belt before race day?) and the granola bar got lost along the way. Thankfully, the shorts started to sit properly around mile 3, but spent the rest of the race tugging the shirt tail every so often. Was a real pick-me-up to see J around mile 4 and settled into the groove: a sip of water every mile, a chew every 2. Found some people to try to keep pace with as we rounded the first out and back around mile 8.5. Spotted J again around mile 12 and her encouragement gave a big boost to get to the halfway point.Most of the route was pretty wide so never really congested. There were some upslopes (and some people commented “wasn’t the course supposed to be flat?”
) but overall not too bad. Was very impressed with Chicagoans ability to weave through the route when crossing the street, didn’t really see anybody run into (pun intended) any runners. Surprised though, at the lack of clocks at mile markers (and a lot of the clocks at each 5K mark were not working). As a result, was never quite sure what pace/time I was at, though could sorta tell by looking at my watch and subtracting suspected start time. Also unexpected was how slippery the road got at each fluid station; really had to focus to make sure not to slip (with horror stories of how people twisted an ankle the wrong way when slipping/tripping over discarded cups in the back of my mind the whole time). The crowd support was awesome though, never a section without at least one person cheering. And that wall of cheering/dancing/music in Pilsen was something else.Though that’s also when things started going off the rails. Everything hurt: quads, calves, hips, shoulders (this is a perpetual problem that I need to figure out, why do my neck/shoulders always get so sore?). Was getting too tired to pull out the chews so fueling dropped, and had only hit this mileage once during training. Started taking gatorade every couple fluid stations and walking quite a bit. Knew I wasn’t going to hit A goal and that hurt mentally. Stopped once for biofreeze gel, then again at the spray zone between miles 21 and 22. Could hear the breathing turn into wheezing (though that could also have been emotions, especially when turning into Chinatown and thinking about the fam). Going into the last out-and-back around mile 23 was the real kicker, when I saw just how much more there was to go. But somehow (most likely the training but also the reprieve from walk breaks and just darn adrenaline), pulled it together around mile 24 and started up again. Kept it up through to ~300m from the end and then picked up the pace, running hard to the finish. Got. it. Done.
| 5k | 10k | 15k | 20k | half | 25k | 30k | 35k | 40k | finish |
| 10:36 | 10:07 | 10:03 | 10:13 | 10:34 | 10:22 | 10:32 | 11:11 | 12:15 | 10:05 |
Hobbled through the finish chute, picking up medal, water, an apple that was super delicious, and a free beer for J before stopping for an official finisher picture and heading to gear check. Changing into flip-flops was glorious, then continued towards the 27th mile party to meet up with J who had been patiently waiting for a while. We sat in the sun while I recovered a bit and got to watch someone propose to his girlfriend (both of whom had run). Headed home (why are there so many stairs in and out of the stations?!); train ride was a little dicey when I suddenly got real nauseous two stops from home and almost ran out the door to not puke on the train. Thankfully a perceptive and super nice dad pulled his daughter from the nearest seat and told me to sit down. Stuck my head between my knees and felt much better. Someone else handed J a wet wipe for me and others offered some food (everybody is so kind!) and we made it home without incident.
Showered, foam-rolled, much sitting, another mini-bagel + PB, and some ibuprofen later, we set out for the architecture boat tour. J wisely suggested an Uber, but 3 stories of stairs down to the riverwalk was a bit of a challenge. The tour was just the thing, getting to sit for 90 minutes was perfect and the Chicago skyline really is beautiful (I will readily admit, prettier than NYC). Wind had also died down from yesterday and temps were mild. Headed to River North for some ramen that hit the spot then home as I was starting to fade (even fell asleep on the train).
Chicago skyline from the locks
DIS appropriate graffiti along the Chicago River
Monday: Late morning flight so good recovery sleep. Again, lots of folks on the train and in the airport had clearly run the day before. TSA agent even remarked how many people he had seen come through walking slowly and sort of bow-legged
. Picked up some Garrett’s to share and back to reality. Mostly recovered, a little sore, but not more than after a usual long run day.Takeaway: was underprepared for this race. Especially the day before and morning of, but also didn’t hit all the training runs beforehand. Took 10:15 longer compared to last (first) marathon on a flatter course. This training plan had fewer longer runs, but more speedwork, but I’m also 3 years older (in a diff division) and less fit now. Was it the plan, or just entropy? Am committed to the four race challenge in January (though when I heard someone cheering yesterday “this is it! No more training!” I wanted to cry thinking, “oh no, there’s still 13 weeks left”). Have already entered the London 2023 lottery (and may enter Berlin 2023 depending on the London results because my insane brain thinks I want to be a six-star finisher), but really need to figure out if it’s wise to keep doing more marathons or better to stick with halfs
.
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. But practice makes perfect so will keep at it! Many easy runs during this last training go-round were focused on mid-foot instead of heel striking and though it made life more difficult at first, end form is much better, so I know it's worth it.
, but the lottery for 2023 is open now til November. It was a fun race.
