Even though the 2010 Race Season could be dubbed the “Season on Injury” I wanted to end it with a big race. For that reason alone, I decide to participate (not race mind you) in the Chicago Marathon. My friend Julie Freeman and I signed up for in January when we were both injury free (it was also supposed to be Julie’s 40th birthday present), because it was taking place on October 10th (10-10-10) and the course was known to be flat and fast. Well the race didn’t turn out exactly as planned and after close to five hours (yes that even shocks me), on a close to ninety-degree day, I finished my second (and maybe last marathon). After the race, Julie and I both felt like we had gone to hell and were trying to make our way back (beer helped).
The weekend started off great. Arriving on Friday AM, I checked into the hotel, bought all race-day supplies, and made plans to meet up with Chicago Friends (Melissa Stockwell, Jean Draper and Michael Kirshner) after the race before picking Julie up at the airport and then heading to dinner at our friend and colleague, Jenna Becks’ house. Julie warned me she was not in race condition, a major ankle injury had her in an air-cast the week before; but I was even shocked to see her being on the platform of the T/Subway in a wheelchair with The Bible in hand (per plane reading material). Anyway, after a great home-cooked meal by Jenna we get back to the hotel and rest up.
Saturday was an interesting start. As soon as we entered the race registration hall, my left flip-flop literally broke in half. Walking around the expo literally looking for a new pair of flip-flops probably wasn’t the best idea, but who knew it would take me until the last booth we visited to find a pair. Perhaps I should have read into this omen for the race itself. The rest of the day, we hung in the hotel room to rest our legs/feet (I was constantly checking the web for updates on Kona as I had a handful of friends racing) before heading out to our colleague’s/friend’s house Christine Bailey who offered to host a small pre-race carb-loading dinner. The pre-race meal was a lot of fun – especially hanging out and sharing gossip with other work friends Kirsten Klimenko and Tisha Teeluck. Back in the hotel by 8:30am and in bed by 9:00pm.
The alarm goes off at 5:30am (sleeping in for a race believe it or not); I check my Garmin hoping it cooperates (unlike at Timberman), get ready and head to the corrals (we opted for the Open Wave because we forgot to submit times to allow us access to the seeded system). As we were checking the weather since Friday, we knew it was supposed to be hot – mid 70s during the race. This is less than ideal (put mildly) running weather, but the race organizers kept the level at Green (the best). We stretch/warm-up and get into the corrals to start the race. I tell Julie my lower back is really tight and ask her to stretch me out a bit. Hopefully it is phantom pain or the tightness will ease up as I start to run.
Because of my neuroma, I opted to follow the run/walk Galloway (me mentored by Reveka Wallace) method -- 1 minute of running and 1 minute of walking; I planned on following this for the first 20 miles and then if my foot allowed me, I was going to run the last 10k. The first mile or so was crowded (to put it mildly) that I had a hard enough time keeping to my system as Julie ran ahead (she wasn’t sure how much of the race she’d actually be able to complete due to her injury so wanted to try and get as far as she could). Continuing the cat/mouse game of passing people when I run and having people pass me as I walk, I decided to switch from a 1:1 to a 2:1 (two min run/one walk) as I felt good and my heart rate was in check.
For those who have seen me race, I sweat…a lot. But as the temperature started to rise (it was in the high 70s by Mile 4), I was soaked (my CAF tri top looked like I was competing in a tri and not a marathon). My nutrition plan called for drinking something at every aid station, taking some gel every hour and salt tablets every hour and a half (as Coach Neil says, hydrate early and often). Past Mile 10 (my half-way mark), I was passing the 4:45, 4:30 and was caught up with the 4:15 pace groups. At Mile 15 or so, I heard an announcement that the course conditioned changed..not from Green to Yellow, but from Green to Red (what the hell happened to Yellow?). The race organizers warned everyone to slow down, to hydrate and be careful. Always someone who listens to my body, I slowed my run pace a but, but still felt ok – no major back pain, I was hydrated and wasn’t cramping and was on goal pace.
The crowds were lined up all over the racecourse and really helped to motivate us - I often heard “go challenged athletes” as I either walked or ran past them. Thankfully no one was yelling “you’re almost there” at Mile 16 – like we don’t know exactly where we are on the course! I saw Kristen and her friend (and former relay teammate during the Chicago Tri in 2008) Karla Gross at Mile 16 and told them I was doing ok…10 miles to go. Coming up to the 18-mile aid station, I knew to look for Melissa who I knew was volunteering. I saw her, walked over gave her a five-five and a hung and kept on going (I heard her yelling only 8 to go, you got this). Indeed I did. But something suddenly wasn’t right.
As I approached Mile 20, I felt something terribly wrong in my legs. The muscles in my legs started to shake and then tighten whenever I was running. I didn’t think it was it was dehydration as I was taking in fluid regularly. It must be the damn heat. Ok, I’ll slow down and walk for a little more…and then a little more. I grab some ice from someone watching, put it down my back and on my head to try and cool my core down and keeping moving…I refuse to stop so while I am walking more often than I am running (I run as long as I can before the muscles started to twitch), I am walking towards the finish line.
By now (about Mile 22), it is like walking among the living dead…racers are literally sitting on the curbs, I see some EMS taking people off the course (some on stretchers), but hardly anyone is running. While it was only probably in the high 80s, it felt as lot hotter. I was no longer thinking about a goal time, but finishing – in one piece. When I am able to run (even if for 30 seconds), I pass people who were in the 3:30 pace group (this is a brutal day), but keep telling myself one foot in front of the other is closer to home. I pass Mile 25…1.2 to go and continue to struggle. More racers giving up sitting on the sidelines, the roar of the crowd gets louder every meter we get close to the finish line. I see the 800 Meter sign – ½ a mile to go… The last 400 meters of the race has a 100 meter uphill and then about 300 meters of downhill to the finish. I try running up the hill, but opt to walk, as I want to run, not walk across the finish line. At 300 Meters, I grunt, and dig as deep as I can and run…across the finish line…The first thing that pops into my mind – thank god this is over!
I grab my medal, a glass of beer, my dry clothing bag, and look for ice before heading back to the hotel. At the hotel I take an ice bath, stretch a little, and grab some food. Julie and I share horror stories – as she finished half an hour before me she saw some of the quicker athletes go down (literally) because of the heat. We ended the day with a great dinner at a Tapas place – Julie opted to sit with Jenna (and some of her friends) and our colleague/friend Deanna Derrig (and her husband Mike) and I opted to stay at the bar with Melissa, Michael, Jean and her friend Heather. At the end of the day, we both finished and both agreed that while Chicago may be a flat (and if we were healthy) a fast race, it’s checked off on our bucket lists and we won’t be returning.
