I arrived in Chicago on Friday morning October 11th. I arrived there super early. Thankfully my room at a hotel in River North was ready for me! I had a 530am flight and had been up since 2:30am. When I got to the hotel, I took a nap and relaxed for a while. I brought bread, peanut butter, bananas, and some granola bars with me to Chicago. I was also within walking distance to a Trader Joe’s and stocked up on a few extra things, such as water and snacks for after the race.
The Chicago Marathon provides shuttles from some of the hotels to the expo. I hopped on the shuttle and went to the expo on Saturday morning to pick up my bib. I also did a 3 mile shakeout run along the lakefront trail. I always do a shakeout run the day before a marathon and usually have a full rest day two days before. Some people prefer to run two days before and don’t run at all the day before. It all depends on what works for you. I tend to feel flat if I don’t run the day before. I had a burger for lunch. This is not normal for most people, but this is what I have the day before every race I’ve gotten personal records in so far. Therefore I’m going to keep it up for now! Those superstitions! I like to have a heavier lunch and a lighter dinner the night before the race. This is because I don’t want to worry about my stomach being upset during the race. I ended up just having a six-inch turkey sub from Subway the night before and tried to stay off my feet and relax as much as possible. Plus, it was cold and I wanted to spend as little time as I could outside! It was great for running though, so I tried not to complain too much!
The marathon was on Sunday, October 13th. Normally on race morning, I wake up super nervous and doubting myself. But, this time I woke up feeling excited! I just kept thinking, “I got this.” Unfortunately, I tend to get what I call “noodle brain” before marathons. Basically I can’t think straight. I started panicking about losing my gloves and eventually realized they were in my pocket. Then, I did the exact same thing with my cell phone a few minutes later. I had a little caffeine and ate a granola bar. I eat these before every morning run, so I know it’s safe. The nice thing about Chicago is that the start/finish are near each other and you can stay within walking distance to both. This way you don’t have to get up super early to take a shuttle to the start. My husband walked with me to the start corrals, a little less than a mile, and we were laughing and joking along the way. I was planning to try going for a sub 3. I did not tell many people this. Everyone must have somehow known anyway since lots of people asked me about it at the race or asked me if I got it after.
Before and during all of my long runs, I remind myself, “Okay, less than [X] hours to go. You’ve done this a million times. Let’s go!” Just as the race started, I chuckled to myself and thought, “Okay, less than 3 hours to go.” I wrote down splits for a 6:45 pace marathon at 5K, 10K, 13.1 miles, 15 miles, and 20 miles. This comes out to a 2:56:59. I figured if I was close to being on target at the 20 mile mark and still felt fine then I had a decent shot at getting sub 3. I wrote it on my arm, then realized that my arm sleeve would cover it. I instead wrote it on my hand, but realized again, duh, my gloves are going to cover it. By that point, I had it memorized anyway. I repeated these splits over and over in my head before the race started.
Within the first mile of the marathon, my GPS watch was way off. I decided to just run by feel and, as long as I was hitting my check-in points, then I knew I was on track. I did not realize I was going so fast for some of these earlier miles! I was going around a 6:30/mile pace at some parts, but I did not feel as though I was pushing too hard. I felt comfortable. The weather was just perfect. There was some headwind in areas but we could not have asked for better weather. I thought at one point, “Oh so this is what’s it’s like to run a marathon in perfect weather. This is amazing!” I did not feel like I hit the wall during this race. I’ve hit it really hard in the past and it is brutal. I was slowing down some later in the race, but I still felt fine.
Once I hit 20 miles, was under my target, and still felt like I had plenty left in the tank, I was grateful. Someone recognized my Charm City Run shirt because they were from a town nearby Baltimore. Charm City Run is a local Baltimore organization with running stores and training groups. I participate in one of their training groups with a designated coach. This other runner started talking to me around the 21 mile mark. He asked me how I felt and I responded, “Good.” Then I thought to myself, “Did I really just say that?” I realized it was true. “Good” is relative to the situation of being in mile 21 of a marathon, but, all things considered, I felt good. I got through the last 5 miles by thinking of everyone that helped and supported me through this and knowing it would be over soon. I just needed to keep fighting for a little longer. Oh, and I had a box of cookies waiting in my hotel room that I’d been staring at for two days. I thought about how good those cookies were going to taste if I didn’t give up on the last miles. I heard my husband cheering his head off near the finish and threw those hands up as I crossed! I’ve never felt so strong during a marathon before. I finished in 2 hours, 55 minutes, and 50 seconds. This was an almost 15 minute improvement for my personal record!
Now I’m wondering if this was the race of my life. Should I retire now? But, I know myself better than that and I’m always looking to improve. The journey continues!
For fueling I took Maurten 320 drink 15-20 minutes before the start. I had 3 Maurten gels during at mile 7, 14, and around 20. Other people may need more or less than that. This is just what worked for me and what I’ve been doing during training. I grabbed water at almost all of the water stops and would just have a few sips at each.
This was my second time running the Chicago Marathon and it continues to be my favorite. It is just so easy to plan. Being able to stay within walking distance to the start and the finish really sells it for me! It’s also pancake flat and a large race that’s really well organized. I will definitely keep the Chicago Marathon in a regular rotation when scheduling my marathons for each year!