Chicago race report

[moreace01]

I know we don't do these often anymore, but I always loved reading them and usually learned a little something so here goes.  

This was my 4th Chicago marathon. I was trying to break 4 hours this year and after a long, very hot and humid training season, I was pretty nervous and not really in the greatest mindset (I need to take a course in positive thinking or something!). 


Weather was 40 at the start, winds at the start were around 13mph WSW and were supposed to be around 16mph by finish. The wind was a bit stronger than I would have liked. I wore shorts, t-shirt, arm warmers and gloves. In the corral I had hand warmers in my gloves, a sweatshirt and a heat blanket from a previous race. Was very thankful for all of it. Save those heat blankets!! Sweatshirt tossed before race start - I kept the heat blanket until we started to go, hand warmers were tossed at mile 2, and the gloves and arm warmers went off and on a few times when the wind picked up. It was really windy going north up Michigan avenue at the very end (what happened to WSW winds???)...

I was a bit behind the 4hr pacers at the start. And I had the nike pace tattoo on my arm - which was so helpful cause my Garmin was jacked up the whole race (no, Garmin, I did NOT just run a 7:32 mile...Stop flattering me!). 

Lots of dodging and weaving throughout the race. I was in the first corral of wave 2 and was totally on target for the predicted finish for that corral so... Ugh...it's really rude to start in a corral that's way ahead of your ability. I passed a lot of people that were in wave 3 (per their bib corral). I guess...there's no way I'd put myself in wave 1. So. Huge pet peeve. Anyway...


Pilsen is HANDS DOWN the best part of the race. If you are a spectator - go there. So fun!!! I almost cried when I got there cause the energy was so great- I wanted to hug everyone (and I needed that big mental boost).

According to my pace tattoo, I was a minute ahead of schedule up until mile 22 and that's when I started to fall apart a little bit. I was trying to dig deep and just keep going. So I was supposed to be around 9:09 pace and was falling to more like 9:30. I stopped looking at my pace tattoo cause I sort of knew it was slipping away and I just couldn't make my legs go any faster.

Oh and Gatorade - you are my new nemesis. OMG... I always thought I had an iron stomach. Recently I have found that's no longer true. I did train with Gatorade endurance all summer but apparently I make it way weaker than what they serve in races. Every time I took it, I thought I was going to die. But I was so hungry - and I'm a salty sweater - so I had to do it. I had Maurten gels with me but only had 4 of them. Next time - I will have to have another plan.

Anyway. Going up "Mt Roosevelt" it was all I could do to get to that finish. I finished at 4:01:30. Just 1 minute and 31 seconds short of my goal. Curses!! Guess I'll have to try again (of course I have already said that this marathon was going to be my last - but we all know how that goes).  

Thanks for reading.  

 

[brooke77]

Awesome job and great time!!! Very impressive!

I deferred Chicago this year and have major FOMO. I hope to be there next year.

Gatorade shreds my stomach, too.

[jwright]

Thanks for the report! I love reading these! Congratulations on an awesome race; I would not have done well in the wind.

[sadlebred]

Congratulations on a great race!!!!

[katyintx]

I was just wondering the other day if people still did recaps (I haven’t been around for awhile). I’m so glad you did one - I love reading them!

Congratulations on a great race, even if it was just a bit off of your A-goal! You got a 10 minute PR?? That’s incredible! What a bummer about the Gatorade (it tears my stomach too). I wish races had a different option. You still kicked ass
though - good job!

[vcubergirl]

Congratulations! Sounds like you had a great race!

I am another person who just can't stomach Gatorade. I prefer to just carry water, and use the salt chews. I'm not big on flavored drinks.

[lilypad1126]

Congrats on a great race! And a huge PR! I second the annoying-ness of people self-selecting too fast corrals. The bobbing and weaving in the first miles is obnoxious. 

I'm selfishly glad you did a race recap, because I'm dying to do one too.  Chicago is such a great race!

[Wines Not Whines]

Congratulations! You had a great race!

I can’t drink the super strong Gatorade at races either. It tears up my stomach.

[hurricanedrunk]

Congrats on a really strong race! Awesome PR!

Both these recaps are making me want to run Chicago again, darn it.

[sassystace]

Awesome job!

[Mushe]

Fantastic job! Do you think you’ll go again next year? I’m sorry about the Gatorade. 😥 I just found Maurten gels and really liked the one I tried. Have you found a good place to get them? I had no idea I’d paid $3.50 for one until it was too late! The Nike tattoo sounds amazing! I’ve never heard of that.

[moreace01]

Oct 16, 2019 15:43:57 GMT -5 Mushe said:

Fantastic job! Do you think you’ll go again next year? I’m sorry about the Gatorade. 😥 I just found Maurten gels and really liked the one I tried. Have you found a good place to get them? I had no idea I’d paid $3.50 for one until it was too late! The Nike tattoo sounds amazing! I’ve never heard of that.

I am probably most likely doing Chicago again next year. I need one more to get legacy.  
I was buying Maurtens at my gym and yeah, they are pricey. I ended up buying a box on the Maurten site. Still not economical. Lol! Clearly, all around, I've got to find a better solution!

ETA: At the expo, with the nike pace group teams, that's where the pace tattoos were. I have no idea if those are offered at other races cause I've only run Chicago. I would assume anytime there is a nike pace group, they would have them. 

[wambam]

10 minute PR is huge! Congrats!

[Mushe]

moreace01, was the pace tattoo based on where the hills are for your race, or even pacing?

Also, I just discovered that our MRTT discount for running warehouse applies on the Maurten gels...message me if you’d like it! It’s 10%, but better than nothing!

[chitownbelle]

Great job!! I know what it is like to be 1:30min off a time goal, but there are some races that you forgive yourself because you know you gave it everything you had, and you had fun! And obvi you need to go for #5!

*i always forget to grab like 10 pace tattoos (for future races) from the expo, because it's the only place ive seen them and they are amazing
*an old man asked me in the hot tub the next day what it was and if it was a permanent tattoo (AND i had 2 on)
*why was it so damn windy no matter what direction we turned?! i almost got knocked over on my wobbly legs around mile 15 (mile 11-12 was crazy windy)
*they changed the course since I ran it last in 2016

[chitownbelle]

Oct 17, 2019 17:12:50 GMT -5 Mushe said:

moreace01 , was the pace tattoo based on where the hills are for your race, or even pacing?

Also, I just discovered that our MRTT discount for running warehouse applies on the Maurten gels...message me if you’d like it! It’s 10%, but better than nothing!

The pace tattoos are even paces and i puffy heart love them.

example: 

[lilypad1126]

]*they changed the course since I ran it last in 2016[/quote]





chitownbelle Thank you for this! I thought the same thing and a bunch of people told me I was nuts. But it was definitely different from what it was in 2016.

[moreace01]

Oct 19, 2019 10:25:47 GMT -5 chitownbelle said:

Great job!! I know what it is like to be 1:30min off a time goal, but there are some races that you forgive yourself because you know you gave it everything you had, and you had fun! And obvi you need to go for #5!

*i always forget to grab like 10 pace tattoos (for future races) from the expo, because it's the only place ive seen them and they are amazing
*an old man asked me in the hot tub the next day what it was and if it was a permanent tattoo (AND i had 2 on)
*why was it so damn windy no matter what direction we turned?! i almost got knocked over on my wobbly legs around mile 15 (mile 11-12 was crazy windy)
*they changed the course since I ran it last in 2016

Apparently you can buy the pace tattoos on Amazon! Clearly free is better but in a pinch: www.amazon.com/PACE-TAT-Temporary-Pacing-Marathon/dp/B009XW6DDO?th=1&psc=1

And it was totally windy in all directions. It was just swirling. Parts I thought should have been windy weren't, and parts that shouldn't have been windy were.

Congrats to you! You are legacy now, right? Sounds like you had a great recovery day too - I went to a spa in WI for a little bit. Best idea ever.

[moreace01]

Oct 17, 2019 17:12:50 GMT -5 Mushe said:

moreace01 , was the pace tattoo based on where the hills are for your race, or even pacing?

Also, I just discovered that our MRTT discount for running warehouse applies on the Maurten gels...message me if you’d like it! It’s 10%, but better than nothing!

Even pacing. Here's a link to what they are like: www.amazon.com/PACE-TAT-Temporary-Pacing-Marathon/dp/B009XW6DDO?th=1&psc=1

And thanks! I have a full box of Maurtens at the moment - and no plans to run that far anytime soon, but thank you.  

[chitownbelle]

Oct 19, 2019 10:55:34 GMT -5 lilypad1126 said:

]*they changed the course since I ran it last in 2016

chitownbelle Thank you for this! I thought the same thing and a bunch of people told me I was nuts. But it was definitely different from what it was in 2016. [/quote]

You are totally sane in this regard ;-)  I don't know what year they changed the course, but we turned south on Loomis a few blocks shy of Ashland (mi 18), and so I feel like we ran through Pilsen a little less.  Probably to make it easier to shut down the street, since Ashland is a 4 lane road.  There also seemed to be other twists and turns that were a little different.  It took be awhile to recognize and realize we were on Michigan Ave around mile 23.5.  

Also I was annoyed that I followed the rule of not brining liquids through security, and the water fill station was on the east side of Buckingham Fountain which was a total clusterfuck to get to, and they didn't even check my bottles at security.

[chitownbelle]

Oct 19, 2019 11:09:00 GMT -5 moreace01 said:

Oct 19, 2019 10:25:47 GMT -5 chitownbelle said:

Great job!! I know what it is like to be 1:30min off a time goal, but there are some races that you forgive yourself because you know you gave it everything you had, and you had fun! And obvi you need to go for #5!

*i always forget to grab like 10 pace tattoos (for future races) from the expo, because it's the only place ive seen them and they are amazing
*an old man asked me in the hot tub the next day what it was and if it was a permanent tattoo (AND i had 2 on)
*why was it so damn windy no matter what direction we turned?! i almost got knocked over on my wobbly legs around mile 15 (mile 11-12 was crazy windy)
*they changed the course since I ran it last in 2016

Apparently you can buy the pace tattoos on Amazon! Clearly free is better but in a pinch: www.amazon.com/PACE-TAT-Temporary-Pacing-Marathon/dp/B009XW6DDO?th=1&psc=1

And it was totally windy in all directions. It was just swirling. Parts I thought should have been windy weren't, and parts that shouldn't have been windy were.

Congrats to you! You are legacy now, right? Sounds like you had a great recovery day too - I went to a spa in WI for a little bit. Best idea ever.

Yes, legacy!  BUT even with legacy status, you still have to register within the enrollment window, which closes Dec 3 this year!  It is crazy how soon applications are due.  I am taking a year off.

I wrote a recap, and then my computer shut off before I could submit it, so I took it as the universe's way of putting it all behind me. It was my slowest race ever, 4:36, and I was in severe pain the entire way.  ITB injury a few weeks before and I just couldn't heal.  It was more painful than childbirth.  But you know what was great about the physical pain being at the forefront?  I never wavered mentally!  One mile at a time and happily never hit a mental wall.  I went slow, I enjoyed it, and I had as much fun as I could while wincing every step I took.  :-)

[Mushe]

Oct 19, 2019 10:27:39 GMT -5 chitownbelle said:

Oct 17, 2019 17:12:50 GMT -5 Mushe said:

moreace01 , was the pace tattoo based on where the hills are for your race, or even pacing?

Also, I just discovered that our MRTT discount for running warehouse applies on the Maurten gels...message me if you’d like it! It’s 10%, but better than nothing!

The pace tattoos are even paces and i puffy heart love them.

example: 

Thank you! I hope our expo has them.

[wawa]

Amazing time but better luck next time on your goal. Still a stellar performance.

And yay recaps!!!

[moreace01]

Oct 19, 2019 16:50:33 GMT -5 chitownbelle said:

Oct 19, 2019 11:09:00 GMT -5 moreace01 said:

Apparently you can buy the pace tattoos on Amazon! Clearly free is better but in a pinch: www.amazon.com/PACE-TAT-Temporary-Pacing-Marathon/dp/B009XW6DDO?th=1&psc=1

And it was totally windy in all directions. It was just swirling. Parts I thought should have been windy weren't, and parts that shouldn't have been windy were.

Congrats to you! You are legacy now, right? Sounds like you had a great recovery day too - I went to a spa in WI for a little bit. Best idea ever.

Yes, legacy!  BUT even with legacy status, you still have to register within the enrollment window, which closes Dec 3 this year!  It is crazy how soon applications are due.  I am taking a year off.

I wrote a recap, and then my computer shut off before I could submit it, so I took it as the universe's way of putting it all behind me. It was my slowest race ever, 4:36, and I was in severe pain the entire way.  ITB injury a few weeks before and I just couldn't heal.  It was more painful than childbirth.  But you know what was great about the physical pain being at the forefront?  I never wavered mentally!  One mile at a time and happily never hit a mental wall.  I went slow, I enjoyed it, and I had as much fun as I could while wincing every step I took.  :-)

Congrats on getting legacy and completing the race even though it hurt. I hope everything is ok now and you are on the mend. Sounds like you had a good race though - not hitting a mental wall is huge!

[emilyj]

Congratulations on a great race! A 10 minute PR is AWESOME!

[gt7301b]

Congrats! A 10 minute PR is HUGE!!

[labbie]

I love reading recaps so thank you for writing this. Congrats on a PR and I'm sorry about your stomach. Thanks to this board, a couple years ago we ended up staying in Pilsen when in Chicago for a week and we loved it there, I can imagine on race day it's awesome.

[keweenawlove]

Congratulations!!!!

I can never count on my GPS watch for downtown Chicago races. I guess making myself do the math in my head gives me something to think about!