Chicago Marathon

Huge marathons are not for me, and I'm in the minority with disliking major marathons (I know, I'm the weird one!). Just like with Boston 2022, it took a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get me to the starting line of Chicago. I don't want my preferences to make it sound like I am not grateful, though - I am beyond thankful for the experience! I knew going in that I didn't like the city of Chicago, that I wouldn't like the crowds or hassle of a 50,000 person race, and that I likely wouldn't run my best - so none of these things came as a surprise to me. I suspected it would be a fantastic racecation with friends and that amazing things would happen at the front of the race, and those hypotheses were also correct!

Post-race with Casey & the sky line

The challenges and logistics of big city travel, the massive expo, and getting to the race start were very overwhelming. I felt like I nailed my taper when I felt peppy on my final runs in Missouri and had an effortless final workout, but my Friday shake out in Chicago felt terrible, almost like I'd already run a marathon. Saturday was a little better, but I didn't feel enthusiastic or excited to race like I usually do; I just felt tired. I loved being with three of my local running buddies who were also running the race (Casey, Abby, and Amy), and connecting with numerous running buddies from around the country, so I enjoyed everything we did despite feeling super drained.

Even though I was in the American Development Program (sub-elite), getting to the starting line was a huge ordeal including a long wait for security. I did ADP twice in Houston and expected this to be simple like that was, but it was not. We didn't have much time after arriving in the ADP pre-start area so I hastily changed my shoes, jogged for about 5 minutes, and pocketed my gels. 

I planned to start out conservatively and run by effort, but I also thought that on a good day I could slip in under 3 hours. I knew GPS wouldn't work in the city, so I turned my watch's auto-lap off and figured I'd take manual splits if I felt so inclined. I've seen a lot of people's Garmins read 27+ miles from this marathon and I didn't want my watch beeping at all incorrect times messing with me.

I lined up at the back of the ADP corral, and our corral walked up just behind the pros. I couldn't really see anyone but it was exciting to be in the same race with so many big names. I was mentally prepared for corral A runners to fly by me, but it was still uncomfortable when it happened because there were so many and a lot of elbows. I manually lapped my first mile at 7:25. It didn't feel nearly as easy as I'd have liked 7:25 to feel but I reminded myself I'd barely had a warm up and told myself I'd be fine once I settled in. A slow first mile in a marathon is always a good thing! 

I'm in the back here!

Mile 2 came in 7:12 and felt just about right effort-wise. I'd hoped that 6:50s would be what I settled into, but I wanted to get the appropriate effort and at that time it sure wasn't 6:50. I felt a burning sensation in my lungs, which continued throughout the race and has never happened to me before. I thought it could be from pollution, and I wheezed for several hours after the race, but then was fine on Monday (though I did get sick on Tuesday then tested positive for COVID after returning home). I also had to pee really badly early in the race, and ended up going behind a tree just off the course when there was about a 100 m a gap in spectators between 8k and 10k. In most marathons I see tons of porta-potties on the course but I didn't see any until later in this race. I know they were there, just a little too tucked away I guess.

I felt like I was being passed the entire first half; after Corral A evened out, the Corral B runners were going by me. By 10k I'd realized that my max on the day was probably 7:00-7:05, and decided to keep it at about 90% to hopefully maximize performance at another marathon in 4 weeks. If I'd have thought I could break 3 hours running at 100% I'd have gone for it, but I'm confident I could not have on this day. 

This photo surprised me because it's early (I only
had my sunglasses on top of my head & both
 gloves on for 4-5 miles), but not crowded

I took manual splits when I saw mile makers, but much of the time I ended up with 2 miles on one split, especially during the first half. The markers weren't as easy to spot as in other marathons I've done such as Boston, CIM, Indy, Houston, and Grandmas. Two mile splits worked fine though, and I seemed to be running 7:05-7:15 consistently. I mostly wanted reassurance I was staying even, and per the race tracker I was (my slowest pace was when I stopped to pee). In recent workouts when I've run poorly, I've been off pace from the start, and this race was like that. I guess I am good at not going beyond what I can do on a specific day, which is definitely beneficial in a marathon. If I'd have forced 6:45-6:50 to start I'd have ended up blowing up in this one!

I felt good for a brief period right around the half (which I went through in 1:33:41), and my fastest mile of the race was 14 at 6:54 per my manual split. I thought, "Maybe I just needed half the race to warm up!", but then I felt flat again and most of my splits after that were back around 7:10. From the half to mile 20, I felt mostly steady with people around me, and then from mile 20 to the end I was passing a lot of people. I didn't speed up, but a lot of people slow down, and that's probably happening to a greater extent in the 3:05-3:10 range than the 2:45-2:55 range.

I don't remember much of what was along the course, unfortunately. It just felt like a road with a million other people running! I tried to stay as close to the blue line (tangent) as I could. I remember downtown and Chinatown, and my favorite part of the race was the person with the bullhorn between miles 18-19 announcing that Kelvin Kiptum had broken the world record. For the rest of the race, when I felt tired I told myself "Sara, if Kiptum can run 2:00:35, you can finish this thing at 7:00 pace". I didn't have as much fun during this race as I usually do during a marathon, but it was never hard to keep going.

I felt pretty strong through the end and passed a lot of people going up the little hill before the finish. I made sure to smile at my actual finish, even though it felt anticlimactic. My official time was 3:07:38 (being in ADP we only got gun time, not chip), which is far from my best but even farther from my worst. A few days before the race, Facebook memories had reminded me that in 2009 I was over the moon about my then-PR of 3:08:33, so I tried to keep that in perspective. I think if I'd have gone to the well I could have run 3:03-3:05, but I didn't think there was a reason to. I ran hard but I wasn't sore or beat up from this one (carbon plated shoes help there too).

After finishing I asked many race officials and volunteers in the chute how to get to the ADP tent, but no one knew. One person directed me to the VIP area, but then I got sent back out. Eventually I saw a man who also had an ADP number on and we made our way to ADP together, both of us lost at different times.

I am in awe of people who run really fast at huge marathons - many people do. Casey, who ran 2:53, said she gets energy from big cities and crowds. Abby and Amy also loved the event and want to go back next year. I don't see myself doing any more big ones, but never say never... It was awfully special to be in the race where so many records were broken: men's world record, men's and women's course records (second fastest ever women's marathon), and US women's masters record. Hopefully this race report doesn't sound too negative; I really struggled with being truthful yet not a downer and don't know that I was successful.

Exhaustion

More details are here.

My Strava activity is here. Like I mentioned, GPS is crazy in the city so my splits aren't correct, but my overall distance and pace are closer than I expected they'd be.