My Quest to 50, 17
down 33 to go
October 7, 2018
Chicago Marathon
This past weekend I ran my 6th Marathon and my 17th
State. I was supposed to do Chicago 2 years ago but I had to defer due to a hip
labrum tear. What can I say Chicago is
beautiful, the streets are clean, and the architecture is beautiful, even with
the bipolar weather cold, hot, rainy, windy I still loved it. I would definitely go back since I need redemption for my race and to
take a picture with the bean, which I forgot to do.
Before Race Day
I arrived in Chicago a few days before staying with a friend
that was there for work which worked out perfect and grateful I was able to
stay with her since I almost didn’t go to Chicago since I wasn’t working,
although I did start working the week before I left. The second hotel
another friend offered me to stay at their hotel because I didn’t have anywhere
to stay which was awesome. We did a lot of walking, checking out the city, went
on the Tilt ride, and planned a gangster/ghost tour which was interesting. The
next day I went to the Expo picked up my bib and that was about over 2 hours
between waiting for my shuttle bus to take me back to the hotel. I was a bit frustrated from all the traveling
to and from the expo I ended up going for a relaxing 20 minute swim at the
hotel, which is one of the oldest swimming pools, built in the 1920s.
Day before the Race
I ran the 5k the day before the race, usually I don’t run
the day before a race but I had signed up and well didn’t want to lose out on
my money so I ran it anyway. There was a thunderstorm that morning and the race
was delayed by a half hour. I decided to run it sexy pace which was easy and
slow and take pictures along the way so I didn’t put too much strain on legs. I
checked out of the hotel with my friend and we walked to the Navy Pier, yes
more walking but had to kill some time waiting for my other friend to arrive so
I can check into the second hotel. I had
planned to do a meet up with a running group I am part of on FB (youvstheyear)
but unfortunately that didn’t happen. By
the time I checked into my 2nd hotel my legs were done, my thighs
were tired and then I had to go eat and walk some more. Not the smartest
decision with all the walking I did leading up to race day but I learned my
lesson when you read how my race went.
Race Day
Race morning was chilly and it had just finished raining, I
prefer chilly weather over hot weather for a run any day. I went to my gate
entrance, went through security, checked bag and went straight to porta potty
line. I always try and go before the race so I don’t have to go during, well I
waited about 25 minutes or more on the line and had to run to my start, which
wasn’t closed yet but started a corral back which was fine since I wanted to
pace myself slow in the beginning. The race starts and it starts to rain a bit
but didn’t mind it too much. I took my time not trying to pass anyone and made
sure I warmed up; my Garmin watch wasn’t working the first few miles but the
night before I wrote down the time splits I should be at for each mile. I was
on pace for a while, then at mile 7 there was a downpour for a few miles, a bit
annoying but wasn’t too bad just was wet the rest of the race. Chicago Marathon
is known for a mostly flat course and everyone says you can run your personal
best, well the personal best wasn’t for me on Sunday, by mile 14 I was slowing
down on my splits and by mile 19 my thighs were burning, I tried pushing with
my heart and not worry about my legs but they were done. I stopped at the 2
biofreeze tents and rubbed it on my thighs, it helped temporarily but I knew my
time was slowing down and started to walk a bit here and there which I wasn’t
happy about. The course was mostly flat but I welcomed the ramps on to bridges
or overpass here and there, gave my legs a little burst of energy running up
hill. I wasn’t a fan of some of the bridges that were medal and half was covered
in carpet and other half wasn’t so had to run to the side with the carpet
because I didn’t like that medal feeling on my feet. By mile 26 I was so happy
to be done, although my watch said 27 miles since it was off I knew I was
close. I crossed that finish line with relief and also disappointment. After the
race I walked in some pain and soreness, everyone was doing the zombie walk
with their Mylar blankets. I went to get my gear and changed my clothes head to
toe because it was still chilly and my clothes were wet. I took maybe 2 post
race photos and left right away to then catch a cab to the hotel because I
wasn’t going to walk 2 more miles to the hotel. I went back to the room,
stretched, rolled, showered and napped. I wanted to try the famous deep dish
pizza in Chicago so I went out to eat and waited about 2 hours for my pizza, I
guess everyone had the same idea. The pizza was delicious and so was my wine,
wasn’t crazy about waiting that long but what can I do.
Overall Chicago was wonderful, the city, the people, the
history and I checked off a state on my bucket list and set a new goal to do
the 6 Star World Majors Challenge which consist of (New York, Chicago, Boston,
London, Berlin, Tokyo) not sure how long this goal will take as most of them
are getting in through lotteries and so far didn’t get into London and Tokyo
for next year so here’s hoping for Berlin.
Next up is Baltimore Running Festival Half which will be
state #18 and NYC Marathon.
Until next time Happy Running, Boxing, Hiking, Swimming and
Biking!
