RACE REVIEW:CHICAGO MARATHON

"I'm holding on

To something I don't want

To hold on to

I'm reaching out

For something I can't touch

Although I know I want to" 

~ The River, KT Tunstall

On Sunday I lined up in Chicago for my 29th marathon.  The weekend was a blast.  The race itself went pretty well.  I'll just come right out and say that I expected more from myself.  Aside from a bout of Covid back in July, my training cycle was super smooth.  When my coach asked me how I was feeling earlier in the week I told him that I'd never felt more prepared for a marathon.  Obviously there are a million things that can go wrong on race day and one can only control so much but I still felt confident that if the unknowns (weather, travel, etc.) were in my favor I could probably hit my goal which was somewhere in the 2:55-56 range.  Lofty, yes.  But I've managed to run personal bests in every distance this year from the 10K to the half marathon and hit pace during workouts steadily so I didn't feel like it was out of reach.  More importantly, my coach agreed that it was tangible and he's not one to sugar coat things.  So off I went on Friday, feeling excited, nervous and cautiously optimistic.  My flight was at 1:30 in the afternoon and I landed around 3:00 only to hop in a cab with Achmed, a very nice gentleman from Jordan, who informed me that even though it was 14 miles into the city the ride would take an hour and a half because of traffic.  I got the sense that Achmed wasn't too thrilled about driving into the belly of the beast during rush hour but he agreed nonetheless.  We fell into conversation pretty easily and ended up chatting the entire ride.  We were going about 2 miles per hour but time went by pretty fast all things considered.  In the end, I was grateful for his company and for the history lesson that he gave me about Russia.    

After settling into my room I immediately texted Carrie Birth, a friend of mine who I connected with through running about 8 years ago and who I was planning to race with on Sunday but who I'd never actually met in person.  It's crazy but it's not, you know?  We both used to run for Skechers Performance and have grown very close since we joined the team back in 2016; cheering each other on in racing and in life, and finally we were connecting face to face.  After a very long hug, we dove right in and started discussing our race plan, including pacing, fuel and anything else we could think of that we might be dealing with.  I've never lined up specifically with a buddy who shared my exact same goal and I was really fired up about it.  Obviously things might not work out and we might have to split up at some point.  And of course we both knew this.  But we decided to try and stick together for at least the first 10 miles and then make the call after that.  Stronger together, right?  She and her husband Justin eventually left for their hotel and I went back up to my room to settle in for the night.  Chicago is an hour behind and it was already 8:00 so....yea.  What can I say?  I'm nothing if not predictable. 

I was up very early the next morning and beelined it down to the Starbucks that was IN MY HOTEL.  I know.  Too good to be true.  I sat and drank a latte and then made my way out to the riverfront for the NUUN meet up.  I've been on the NUUN team for 12 years but despite this I did not know a single person at the meet up when I arrived.  It's always a little awkward to arrive at these things solo and even more so when you don't have any connections but I needed to run anyway and all of these very nice people were headed out so I figured I might as well tuck in with the group and get my miles in.  I guess my feeling is this: I'm 47.  I'm in Chicago by myself.  And life is too short to be shy at this point in my life.  Shortly after we got going I struck up a conversation with a really nice guy who ran on the local Under Armor team.  Turns out Under Armor was co-sponsoring the event together with NUUN.  We then started chatting with a lovely gal named Alia who was running her first marathon.  Alia and I ended up turning around sooner than everyone else and continued chatting back to the event site.  As I grabbed some NUUN to sip on I spotted Melia, our team manager.  I have never met her in person either but she emails us all the time and keeps our NUUN world in order so I was thrilled to put a face to the name.  She's an absolute gem and after hanging with her for a while we said our goodbyes and took some pics. Before I left I went back and gave Alia a quick hug and wished her good luck.  Because, as we all know, your first marathon is a big deal.  I also happened to win a water bottle and UA backpack in the event raffle which was an unexpected bonus and had me skipping with a stupid smile on my face back to the hotel.

Next up, the expo.  My plan was to grab my number and shirt and take a quick spin around to pick up any cool samples along with some merch for my kids and then to get back to the hotel so I could get off my feet.  Side note, I did Chicago back in 2019 and had too much fun with my family running around the city and doing all the things but then paid for it on race day so I wasn't going to make the same mistake this time.  At the expo, I got to meet up with my dear friend, Kara Goucher, right before I was leaving.  We've known each other for a while as well and caught each other up on life and what not before she started to get pulled away for photos with fans.  She also happens to very close with Carrie and I knew I'd see her out on the course the next day so I gave her another hug and took off for the Sheraton.

After about six episodes of The Office I got a text from my sweet friend, Kim Pearlman, who was in the city to pick up her daughter and wanted to know if I had time for a visit.  YES!!, I exclaimed.  Please come save me from myself and Michael Scott.  We hung out in the lobby for about an hour and talked family, friends, life, jobs and Kung-Fu among other things.  It was so nice to hang out with her as it had been a few years since I'd seen her.  I was super grateful for the distraction as well.  We said goodbye and I sent her off and then, once again, went back up to my room to curl up for the evening.  I laid out my gear, ate some cold pasta, did some foam rolling, watched a really bad movie and then shut it down around 9:00.  I know, late for me.

I woke up before my alarm at about 4:45.  I made some crappy coffee in the room's little single serve machine because nothing was open yet and I needed it asap.  I had done a test run the day before and knew it was going to be bad so I wasn't terribly disappointed by the taste of this first cup.  Let's just say I've had worse.  

I got myself all packed up, pinned on my bib and then headed out to walk the mile or so over to Grant Park where we would be starting.  I'd been accepted into the American Development program for this race with a qualifying time from my last marathon.  Basically, this meant I got to take advantage of the special tent that was set up right near the start line for a small group of athletes that was both heated and stocked up with snacks and drinks and that we would get to start before the masses.  This is a really nice comfort to enjoy on race morning when you're likely stressed out due to race nerves.  Well, it would have been.  But, you see, every single person I asked as I walked around the area had no idea where the American Development tent was despite the fact that it was marked on the map.  Literally.  No one.  I probably asked about fifteen volunteers and walked an extra mile around the start area looking for it.  And to be honest, I would have given up and just sat my ass down and waited but I needed to find it because I was meeting up with Carrie and it would be the only way we could start together.  By the time I found it I was wicked flustered and had very little time to enjoy the amenities.   Carried hugged me and told me to try to relax, bless her.  I basically was able to stash my gear and re-tie my shoes before we were told we needed to move out.  

It was now about 7:20am and the temp was in the low 40s.  We could not ask for better race weather.  But it was still pretty chilly standing there in a crop top so Carrie and I linked arms and stayed close in an attempt to keep each other warm.  Finally, at 7:30am, we were off.  

THE RACE:

As I mentioned, Carrie and I had decided that we would work to stay together for the first 10 miles and see how we felt.  If we could get into a good groove and we were still hitting goal pace after 10, then we'd buckle down and work to push each other along for as long as we could.  These first 10 miles were amazing.  Carrie is an insanely good pacer and was able to lock right into 6:45.  My first mile, according to my Garmin, was 7:16, which just wasn't right.  Carrie assured me that she had 6:44 and that I shouldn't panic.  Unfortunately, GPS signal is weak or not accurate in the city due to the height of the buildings and I knew this from the last time I'd done it but it's still somewhat unsettling.  I was doing my best to watch my individual splits, trust Carrie and just use the force.

We were able to communicate at almost every water stop.  We'd check in and if we both decided we wanted it we'd grab either water or Gatorade and just share the cup so we didn't have to slow down or split up.  I'm not gonna lie, we were really good at this.  I was super proud of our team effort here.  We were still right on pace through about mile 16 and then we started to slow.  Not a ton.  But enough that if we didn't pay attention it was going to cost us our sub-3 which we both wanted.  And, bottom line, I just didn't pay attention enough.  Miles 16-20 were right around 6:55-7:00. I wasn't looking at my watch and I wasn't looking at the clock.  I was just in cruise control.  Still feeling really good and having a grand old time.

Right around mile 21 I realized my mistake.  I had to get my ass in gear if I was going to run anywhere close to my goal and I only had 5 miles to do it.  I kept watching the clock as the miles ticked by and trying to do the math in my head since my GPS wasn't working.  Turns out, math during a marathon is really hard.  Like, I couldn't do it.  I was able to pick it back up for this last section but it was too late and as I got closer to the finish I knew it.  Regardless, I did everything I could to find a faster gear for my last couple miles and finally crossed the line in a respectable 3:01:08.  Initially I was pleased.  I'd run really steady and my body had held up better than usual.  That said, I'd needed to buckle down and focus a little sooner and I was disappointed that I hadn't done this.  If I'm being honest, I kind of felt too good at the finish.  This never happens.  And it's nice not to feel destroyed.  But I would have rather bit down and finished in pain with a better time and I won't make this mistake again.  Marathon #29.  47 years old.  And still, I'm learning.  Which is a good thing.  Because, as you can guess, it makes me want to try again.  Which I most certainly will.  

I found Carrie in the finish chute.  She'd come in right behind me and had similar feelings about her performance.  She was a bit dehydrated and slightly out of it and she kept asking me questions like the ones below as we walked gingerly back to our tent.

1. Can we sit down?

2. Can we sit down now?

3. Where is our tent?

4. Now can we sit?

5. Are we sunburned?

6. Why are there curbs on the street?

7. In how many minutes can we sit?

For the record, even at the finish no one had a clue where the American Devlopment tent was.  We were dying laughing as we asked every single volunteer we passed and they looked us like we were crazy or apologized and said they had no idea.  I swear you guys, there was a tent.  I think.  Right, Carrie?

Listen to this:

The River - KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall · The River