I’m not even sure how to begin writing this Chicago Marathon recap? Ramble? Overview? Whatever it is. This weekend was so many things and it’s hard to put it all into words, let alone a coherent race recap post. I think I’m going to have to break this down into different posts.
Today we’ll start with some reflections on my goals for Chicago and what’s next.
My goals for the Chicago Marathon were:
B: 6:15
C: 6:30 (and making it into the paper and official results program)
D: Finish and don’t die in the process
I knew prior to this weekend that my A goal was a stretch. While my training for this race was going better than January, I knew I wasn’t quite where I needed to be to sub-6. I set my mind to hit my B goal. I printed out a race chart, knowing my GPS would be unreliable in the city. I would use my overall time and compare it at the mile markers. It turns out this was the best idea I’ve ever had as my watch was completely off as far as pace and distance were concerned. It had me three miles into the race before I hit the first mile marker and running 4:50 miles. According to my watch, I was Rita Jeptoo.
My race plan also included a lot of walking for the first three miles. I wasn’t going to get caught up in the excitement. It was cold and I needed to make sure my body was warmed and ready before I started running. There were plenty of miles ahead of me to run and there was no sense wearing myself thin so early. I stuck to my guns and walked, keeping to my pace plan. Once I hit the 5k mark, I started my run intervals and I managed to stay strong and on-pace through the half marathon. I was ahead of pace for a lot of the miles before the half.
And then I hit mile 17 and started to cramp. The wheels were starting to come loose and I wasn’t sure I was going to hit any of my goals. My feet hurt when I walked, but my glutes and thighs were all “Um, NOPE. NO MORE” when I tried to run. I took some extra walk breaks, ate my bar, drank some extra electrolytes, and tried to push on. I found another runner with the same issues and we started to walk together a bit. Around mile 19/20, I decided I just had to push on and ended up having to leave her behind (sorry about that!) I finally willed my body back into intervals and knew that with only a 10k left, I couldn’t make my B goal, but my C goal was still very much in my grasp.
I pushed and pushed, and I was able to make up some of the deficit I had created from 17-19. The crowds definitely died off towards the end of the race. There were still people on every street, cheering for runners, but the electric energy was fizzing out. Still, any time I heard someone call my name, I used it to push harder.
The “1 Mile Left” sign appeared and I think I checked my watch continually, trying to do race math. Would I finish in time? I was cutting it way too close. I tried to speed up, but my tank was teetering on empty. Finally, we rounded the corner to the last “hill” of the course and I dug in. I rounded the final turn and went as fast as I could towards that finish line. The grandstands were empty, but it was still pretty amazing hearing the announcer call my name (even if he said it wrong) as I crossed over the finish.
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In the end, I hit my C goal and I was only minutes from my B goal. I felt amazing. Sore, yes, but amazing. I had stuck to my plan, worked through my wall, and worked hard. I fought for every single step those last 6.2 miles.
Official race results:
I‘m pretending like I understand all of my splits from the official timing mats. It is a little disappointing not to have my watch splits to see how I did each mile, but it isn’t the end of the world.
So what’s next?
To start with, I get this week off. I’m doing lots of stretching, soaking in Epsom salts, and drinking lots of chocolate milk. I have very minor residual soreness at this point and I successfully mastered the stairs several times without pain. The pain in my feet is completely gone. I’m feeling 100x better now than I did after WDW in January. I focused a lot on recovery during this training cycle and it seems to be paying off in spades
I’m still putting the 26.2 on the back burner for a little*. I won’t lie. I’m already considering another marathon, but I know that I need to be smart and take a step back. I am going to focus on 13.1 and 6.2 for a while. I’m going to rebuild my base. Get faster. Work on cross-training more. Build my core. Then, once I’ve kicked the crap out of my 13.1 PR, I’ll focus on moving back up to 26.2.
I realized this weekend that I need to work on my speed. While I’m 100% happy with my performance, I want to be faster. I don’t always want to be at the back of the pack. I don’t want to be the one person everyone is waiting on at the end of shakeout run. I can’t do that by just doing 26.2 after 26.2. It’s time to break things down to basics and build myself back up again. I realize with my thyroid issues that I’m asking a lot of myself, but it’s worth it.
*All that being said, I reserve the right to change my mind if the perfect marathon opportunity presents itself.
As for my next race, well, I’m not sure what that will be. Right now, I’m registered to run the runDisney Star Wars Half Rebel Challenge (10k and half), but I’m considering deferring until 2016. Not so much because of training, because I’m excited to have a new goal to train for, but more for expense reasons. I’m hoping to have that figured out in the next few weeks.
For now, I’m going to enjoy my week break. I’m going to revel in the glory of a 48 minute marathon PR. And I’ll think about the rest tomorrow..
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