-
- Signing up for World Vision
-
- Me at Mile 23
-
- Me, Jill, Robert & Pam
-
- Me and Robert before the race
-
- Medals for the finishers
-
- Billy Goat Tavern
-
- Me after race
Well, it has been a while since I have posted and there are many reasons for this. Let me start with the biggest reason. I was burned out. If you have read any of my other posts you would have noticed that I had bronchitis for a large portion (6 weeks) of my training for the Chicago Marathon. This affected the core portion of my training, where my speedwork and mileage was supposed to be at its peak. Now I did get all but one of my long runs in, but they were not quality. My speedwork was almost non-existent. It is hard to run all out when you cannot breathe very well. In my self-pity I became increasingly depressed about my running and discouraged. I was actually ready to almost give up the idea of doing marathons altogether. I decided to persevere and try to gut through Chicago, not at the 4:00 goal I had originally planned, but at a goal of just simply finishing. To be honest, I felt that this was going to be a challenge enough given the frustration of my training session this summer.
Now, please fast-forward to this past weekend. My wife Jill and I met my sister, brother-in-law, and two nephews up in Chicago on Friday. We actually arrived Thursday night, but only had enough time to quickly watch my beloved Missouri Tigers give the game away to the Nebraska Cornhuskers before turning in for the night. So Friday, we met my family at the BOA Chicago Marathon Race Expo. We picked the right day to go as most runners had not yet arrived. It was fairly empty overall, so we got first rate service from all of the booths. A few of the highlights of the Expo:
- The Brooks “B.R.A.S.H. Unit”: This was a mockup of the old MASH unit and they had a podiatrist onsite and treadmills to do gait analysis. After they would write you a “prescription” for the type of shoe that you needed for your foot/gait type. Pretty clever idea. They also had a still that dispensed Gatorade. I was impressed. The staff there was super friendly. To top it off, my brother-in-law Robert won a pair of trail running shoes. Not too shabby.
- Bart Yasso: If anyone out there does the Yasso 800’s and/or reads Runners World, you know who this is. He was friendly as ever and signed my bib (thanks to my wife who is also FaceBook friends with him).
- World Vision: I was moved by this organization as I learned about them and have become increasingly impressed since researching them further upon getting back home. Robert (brother-in-law) vouched for them and pretty much sold me on them while at the Expo. We both decided to run for their group and more importantly, Jill and I sponsored a child. I will hopefully run some more races in the future sporting my World Vision jersey, as the crowd support was amazing and the organization is top notch. This organization is also supported by Ryan and Sara Hall.
The next day we didn’t do things as we should have. Jill and I, in an attempt to meet everyone at the Museum of Science and Industry, took a train to Hyde Park to then get a cab to the museum. Big mistake. We ended up walking through a rather undesirable area of town and even worse, I put about 3 miles on my legs walking to the museum. This was at 10AM with a whole day of museum walking ahead of me. I ended up spending a lot of time on my feet and I was tired at the end of the day. We closed out the day with dinner and a couple of beers at a pub called Timmy O’Tooles not far from our hotel.
Finally it was Race Day! I awoke at 5:45 and quickly dressed for my three quarters of a mile walk to Grant Park, where the race was to begin. Jill joined me as she needed to meet up with her folks and my sister and nephews. We grabbed a coffee at Dunkin Donuts and walked in the 32 degree weather. I was dressed in running shorts, ASICS 2140’s, ASICS socks, Nike running shorts, 2 long sleeved technical shirts with a short sleeve technical shirt on top, long sleeve tee, sweatshirt, long windpants, stocking hat and gloves. I was to give Jill the windpants and sweatshirt prior to getting in the start corral and then ditch my long sleeve tee right as the race started. It was cold, but perfect running weather to be honest. The start was unbelievable. I have never seen so many people. 45,000 registered, it was crazy. The crowd at the start was loud and amazing. Sends chills just thinking about it. Robert and I walked pretty much up until we got to the starting line, which took about 20+ minutes. From there we could start our run. I have to say, Robert made the run go by quickly because we were deep into conversation for much of the first 20 or so miles. After that we were both so focused in keeping going that the talking because more scarce. I couldn’t have gotten through it without him though. I think we both helped each other through some tough spots.
The highpoints along the course for me were Lincoln Park area, Chinatown area and the finish line. All had amazing crowd support and it was incredible. That is not saying the other areas didn’t have great crowd support, because they absolutely did. The whole course was packed with people and it was amazing. I also liked the Nike Motivation Stations. They seemed to be right in the right place when I needed the extra motivation. Also, there seemed to be water and Gatorade stations everywhere. Many of the locals were also out with their own food/water/beer. They really know how to welcome the runners in Chicago that is for sure. Anyway, had to climb what felt like a huge hill in the final stretch, but we both finished. 5:16 was the time. Not my best time (best marathon is a 4:23), but my favorite race by far. We ended the race day with food at Gino’s East…..Everyone parted ways, but Jill and I were in town for one more night. I went home and napped and then that evening we met her cousin out for dinner and then headed back to Orlando the next day. What a fun trip and event. More important……it got me out of my running funk. I am now ready to plan for my next marathon and time goal. Right now, I have West Palm Half Marathon (I switched from the marathon to avoid burnout) and then Disney Half Marathon. I am looking for a spring marathon to do for a time goal. I think we are going to try to do NYC Marathon next year maybe through a charity (or maybe we will just start the lottery process). Anyway, I am no longer depressed or down on running……my bad training session is behind me and I am looking to improving this winter for a strong spring marathon. Hopefully I will have 2 sub-2 hour half marathons in the process. We shall see.
I run for food (and/or beer) 