So, I trained pretty good with the goal of running a 4:30 and not walking at all; compared to my finish of last year at 5:33 and walking a solid 6 miles of the race. About 3 weeks ago, I injured my back and stopped running. I intended to sell my bib because there was no way I was going to run. So at about 2pm on Saturday afternoon I decided I wanted to run the race. I got home from working the expo, got my stuff ready, and went straight to bed.
When I rolled out of bed my little thermometer linked to outside said ’32.7*’ So I busted out all the Under Armour I could find and suited up. Compared to last years heat, this was a completely different ball game. I road my bike over to Harrison and Michigan around 6:45. I don’t know who the logistics coordinator was for the starting region, but I had to jump two fences just to get into the starting area. I, like Amy, put myself in the 4:30 pace group for starters figuring I
would be happy to finish between 4:30 and 5:00. It was really cool seeing a mirage effect over the 30k people in front of me when I looked at the Aon building directly in front of us from all the body heat being released. Once we got going, I remembered why I loved running last year. The running part sucks, but the fans are amazing! I can’t state that enough.
Taking it easy, I made it just past North Ave. before having to water a local tree, and then I was on my way to Addison. The entire north side went great. The men with parade-like wooden riffles, twirling them to ‘Lady Marmalade’ on Clark St. was quite entertaining. Just after on Wells, I slowly passed an amazing gentleman who was going roughly the same pace as myself who had one leg. He had two of those arm supports that have wrist cuffs and was moving right along with his running partner. That was the most encouraging thing I saw all day. So I made it down to the halfway point and ran a 2:10 half. Still going strong, my main goal was to make it at least past mile 15 where I died last year. I did, and then I saw my first supporter that I contacted at the last minute on Saturday night around mile 16, this was encouraging. Everything went very well, but around mile 18 I started to feel the burn and slowed my pace a bit, but was still moving steadily. In Pillson, some generous supporter gave me an orange slice and it was the most amazing tasting thing I have ever eaten. That gave me enough juice to get to China town where I started to feel some pain in my right arch. I kept going, but finally at mile 22, I started to walk a bit. I walked until a little past mile 23, then ran about to 24, then walked until 25 and ran the last mile. Shortly after I started to walk, the 4:30 pace group pasted me. Then when I started to run at mile 25, the 4:45 group passed me.
I ended up running a 4:53.
I shaved 40 minutes off my time and made it to mile 22 before stopping. Considering I had not run an inch for the 3 weeks prior to the race, I was relatively satisfied. Maybe I can shave another 40+ minutes off next year.
Now its onto swimming season and cycling training!
See you all soon,
Josh
Monday, October 12, 2009
Chicago Marathon - October 2009 - Part II by Amy Burnstine
I am in my last semester at UIC (if I pass everything) and this includes Physical Chemistry 2, Physical Chemistry Lab, and Advanced Organic Chemistry. What does this have to do with a race report, you ask? Well, because I also work full time and overnight, and since these classes are taking a ton of time and effort, I did not have time to train like I would and should have for this race. I never ran farther than 15 miles before yesterday. That means I increased my mileage by 11.2 miles in one day. Kinda dumb. Very painful.
I knew this was going to hurt going in, so I was mentally as ready as I could be. I raised over $1000 for my charity (The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation) and thank you to those of you who donated!! Since I raised money and people were excited to see how I'd do, I felt obligated to race even though I was unprepared.
I knew I could finish, but I set no time goals for the race. I thought when I signed up I could come in under 4.5 hours. I threw that goal out the window when I hardly ran at all in past last month.
Anyway, I was at the charity tent at 5:30am Sunday morning... Way too early but I was excited and ready to go. At race start I lined up in the 4.5 hour pace group just for kicks. I have never been in such a massive crowd of people. The energy was awesome. The gun went off and we didn't move for at least 7 or 8 minutes. When we did, everyone was cheering and waving to cameras when we crossed the start line. It was crowded but I had enough room to run comfortably most of the time. The spectator crowd was amazing. People lined the streets almost the entire distance of the race.
I felt good and was running comfortably until mile 10 when I started to feel a blister forming on my right foot. I was more than a little concerned about this because that's really early in the race to start with the blisters. My shoes were broken in and socks chosen carefully so I have no idea why this happened. Oh well. Keep running.
I still felt good until mile 16 or so when I realized I hadn't seen a friend cheering for me on the course yet. What a bummer. I knew they were out there, but it's so crowded I couldn't find anyone and vice versa. I found my mom and my friend Ryan at mile 17 and stopped to give hugs all around. I was beginning to hurt here, just all over. My hips were especially painful. I think it is from pounding the pavement for so long. Whenever I train I run on the lakefront path on the sandy part for some cushion.
I have to admit that it just got worse from here. Ryan was running the last 9 miles with me for support, which was awesome but I couldn't even talk to him anymore after mile 20 or so. At first it was my hips, then my knees, then my ankles, then my feet. The blister was completely forgotten by now - the pain replaced by everything else. Every step sent shooting pain up my leg. I felt my toenails getting blistered and I knew I was going to lose at least one of them. The only thing that could have made this worse is chafing, which thankfully I did not have. I used a ton of assos cream on my running tights and body glide everywhere else and I think it worked.
There was a time, around mile 23 I think, when my run pace was only slightly faster than the people walking around me. I was still running, but barely. I stopped to walk the aid stations and a few times for some stride outs in between, but for the most part, I ran the whole race. I've had painful races before (Trek 100 anyone?? LOL) but this was bad. I'm just stubborn and wouldn't quit. My last mile was my fastest mile split of the race. :-) I knew it was almost over and I picked it up because I just didn't want to be out there anymore. Then I saw the finish and gave it everything I had left, which wasn't much. My face had to be a priceless *Faces of Pain* moment. But I did finish. A little over 5 1/2 hours. ugh.
The moral of the story? Prepare for races. And toenails are for sissies.
Congrats to everyone else who finished!! Whether or not you made your time goal, 26.2 miles is something to respect - even if you have to crawl across the finish line.
Happy racing,
~Amy
I knew this was going to hurt going in, so I was mentally as ready as I could be. I raised over $1000 for my charity (The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation) and thank you to those of you who donated!! Since I raised money and people were excited to see how I'd do, I felt obligated to race even though I was unprepared.
I knew I could finish, but I set no time goals for the race. I thought when I signed up I could come in under 4.5 hours. I threw that goal out the window when I hardly ran at all in past last month.
Anyway, I was at the charity tent at 5:30am Sunday morning... Way too early but I was excited and ready to go. At race start I lined up in the 4.5 hour pace group just for kicks. I have never been in such a massive crowd of people. The energy was awesome. The gun went off and we didn't move for at least 7 or 8 minutes. When we did, everyone was cheering and waving to cameras when we crossed the start line. It was crowded but I had enough room to run comfortably most of the time. The spectator crowd was amazing. People lined the streets almost the entire distance of the race.
I felt good and was running comfortably until mile 10 when I started to feel a blister forming on my right foot. I was more than a little concerned about this because that's really early in the race to start with the blisters. My shoes were broken in and socks chosen carefully so I have no idea why this happened. Oh well. Keep running.
I still felt good until mile 16 or so when I realized I hadn't seen a friend cheering for me on the course yet. What a bummer. I knew they were out there, but it's so crowded I couldn't find anyone and vice versa. I found my mom and my friend Ryan at mile 17 and stopped to give hugs all around. I was beginning to hurt here, just all over. My hips were especially painful. I think it is from pounding the pavement for so long. Whenever I train I run on the lakefront path on the sandy part for some cushion.
I have to admit that it just got worse from here. Ryan was running the last 9 miles with me for support, which was awesome but I couldn't even talk to him anymore after mile 20 or so. At first it was my hips, then my knees, then my ankles, then my feet. The blister was completely forgotten by now - the pain replaced by everything else. Every step sent shooting pain up my leg. I felt my toenails getting blistered and I knew I was going to lose at least one of them. The only thing that could have made this worse is chafing, which thankfully I did not have. I used a ton of assos cream on my running tights and body glide everywhere else and I think it worked.
There was a time, around mile 23 I think, when my run pace was only slightly faster than the people walking around me. I was still running, but barely. I stopped to walk the aid stations and a few times for some stride outs in between, but for the most part, I ran the whole race. I've had painful races before (Trek 100 anyone?? LOL) but this was bad. I'm just stubborn and wouldn't quit. My last mile was my fastest mile split of the race. :-) I knew it was almost over and I picked it up because I just didn't want to be out there anymore. Then I saw the finish and gave it everything I had left, which wasn't much. My face had to be a priceless *Faces of Pain* moment. But I did finish. A little over 5 1/2 hours. ugh.
The moral of the story? Prepare for races. And toenails are for sissies.
Congrats to everyone else who finished!! Whether or not you made your time goal, 26.2 miles is something to respect - even if you have to crawl across the finish line.
Happy racing,
~Amy
Chicago Marathon - October 2009 - Part I by Joe Imbrogno
I'll start with the night before the race. I went to a friends house to celebrate her birthday, and since everyone but me and a friend, who also ran the marathon, was drinking, she made me coffee. Feeling obligated to finish the whole pot (a little over three cups worth), I had a nice caffeine buzz by the time I left at about 9 pm. I hardly ever have caffeine anymore (except when it's in energy gels), so I did not fall asleep until sometime between 5 am and 6am, when my alarm went off. Not exactly what I was hoping for before my first marathon.
But cutting to the race, the first few miles were pretty slow with so many people running around. It was kinda chaotic. After a while, the mobs dispersed a little, and I was able to run at my own pace. At around mile six, I found myself running alongside a pretty girl in tights, running
slightly faster than my pace, but still tolerable, so I stuck with her until about mile 16, when she started going too fast for me to hang with, but she did help to keep a nice pace. At around this time, I still felt strong, but the legs were definitely starting to get a little heavier, but nothing I was concerned about. At around mile 19, I think at about 18th and Ashland, maybe, we ran through a very Mexican neighborhood, which was definitely my favorite. The streets were mobbed with people cheering and people banging on various percussion instruments, and horns. Just what I needed, because the miles were starting to become difficult here.
Before the race, I told myself that, unless I was injured or in a real bad way, I was going to go as hard as I could for the last 3 miles, everything I had left. And I was feeling pretty bad, but I thought that going just under 4 hours total was still a possibility. So, I tried to push it, and
after 1.5 miles of this, the legs said knowck it off, so I had to slow down, as my hamstring started twitching. The final mile seemed like the absolute longest mile of my life. When I finally crossed the finish line, and slowed to a walk for the first time in over 4 hours, my legs were striding still as if I was running, so that was a pretty cool, but wierd feeling.
This race, just like any big race, was, at the same time, a very humbling and inspiring experience. Of the people I saw that finished with times similar to mine, I was definitely the most wiped out. So many people were jumping around and talking and celebrating, while I was finally becoming aware of just how much my legs really were hurting. All these people just inspire me to be better, and smarter.
And no, if you're wondering, I was not able to go under 4 hours. All in all, I am still quite happy because my 5k splits were all similar, and my half way split was 2hr 1', and a total time of 4hr 5'.
I felt bad for ignoring my legs for so long yesterday, but they are making up for it today, as I can hardly walk. But it was still worth it.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
But cutting to the race, the first few miles were pretty slow with so many people running around. It was kinda chaotic. After a while, the mobs dispersed a little, and I was able to run at my own pace. At around mile six, I found myself running alongside a pretty girl in tights, running
slightly faster than my pace, but still tolerable, so I stuck with her until about mile 16, when she started going too fast for me to hang with, but she did help to keep a nice pace. At around this time, I still felt strong, but the legs were definitely starting to get a little heavier, but nothing I was concerned about. At around mile 19, I think at about 18th and Ashland, maybe, we ran through a very Mexican neighborhood, which was definitely my favorite. The streets were mobbed with people cheering and people banging on various percussion instruments, and horns. Just what I needed, because the miles were starting to become difficult here.
Before the race, I told myself that, unless I was injured or in a real bad way, I was going to go as hard as I could for the last 3 miles, everything I had left. And I was feeling pretty bad, but I thought that going just under 4 hours total was still a possibility. So, I tried to push it, and
after 1.5 miles of this, the legs said knowck it off, so I had to slow down, as my hamstring started twitching. The final mile seemed like the absolute longest mile of my life. When I finally crossed the finish line, and slowed to a walk for the first time in over 4 hours, my legs were striding still as if I was running, so that was a pretty cool, but wierd feeling.
This race, just like any big race, was, at the same time, a very humbling and inspiring experience. Of the people I saw that finished with times similar to mine, I was definitely the most wiped out. So many people were jumping around and talking and celebrating, while I was finally becoming aware of just how much my legs really were hurting. All these people just inspire me to be better, and smarter.
And no, if you're wondering, I was not able to go under 4 hours. All in all, I am still quite happy because my 5k splits were all similar, and my half way split was 2hr 1', and a total time of 4hr 5'.
I felt bad for ignoring my legs for so long yesterday, but they are making up for it today, as I can hardly walk. But it was still worth it.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
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