Running Down the Dream: Chicago Details

I had big plans to write multiple detailed Chicago Marathon posts, but when I returned home with COVID it didn't happen. Instead, here are some bulleted points about things I want to remember!

COVID

I mentioned in my race recap that my lungs burned during the race and I blamed pollution, but I now wonder if I had already picked up COVID. I blamed the big city and huge race for feeling super fatigued and flat, but I may have been in the beginning stages of getting sick. That doesn't change my mind about huge marathons though! ;-)

The Travel

Casey, Abby, Nathan (Abby's boyfriend), and I drove to St Louis on Thursday evening, stayed the night with former running group member Sean who now lives there, and took a 4:30 a.m. Amtrak train to Chicago on Friday. It was my first time doing that and many laughs were had en route.
Casey and I took the 7:30 a.m. train back on Monday morning, while Abby and Nathan flew back in order to work on Monday. The Monday drive from St Louis back to Springfield was not easy to stay awake for!
I taught online class for MSU on Thursday evening and Monday at noon while traveling, which wasn't ideal, but the only class I've ever cancelled was the one that took place while I was actually running the Boston Marathon. You're welcome, students!

Pre-Race

We were miraculously able to check into our hotel early, around 10:00 a.m. on Friday when we arrived. I had a room at the Palmer House Hotel through a Nike program I'm in, and it was close to the start and finish.
Casey and I did a shake out run along the lakefront upon arriving.
Nike had several fun opportunities set up in the hotel, so throughout the weekend I also did a Saturday shake out run, 3 meals, nail-painting, sport bra-fitting, Normatec boots, foam rolling, product trials, lots of socializing, and probably some other things I'm forgetting in their hospitality suites.

Vacation Stuff

We saw many things on our shake out runs and while walking around: Michigan Avenue, Buckingham Fountain, the Art Museum, the Aquarium, Millennium Park, Crown Fountain, countless shops and restaurants, and of course the Lakefront.
We ate at Demera Ethiopian Cuisine at Time Out Market (a food hall), Victory Tap, Naf Naf, and The Hampton Social, and went out to Timothy O'Toole's Pub.
We did an architectural boat tour on the river.
We also saw a lot of the train system and my skills at using it improved, slightly.

The Expo

It was huge as expected, and also took commitment to get to and from.
Packet pick up ran very smoothly, I'll give them that!
We met Joan Benoit Samuelson and got her autograph. Casey spotted her before she set up to start signing so we only had to wait a few minutes! There were lots of lines of 30+ minutes to take photos by race props and we didn't do any of those.
We got some free samples (drink mixes, bars) but neither Casey nor I bought anything and I was relieved when she wanted to leave before going through everything (Abby and Amy were at different hotels so we were splitting up post-expo anyway).
I don't particularly enjoy any race expos but this one left me extra exhausted.

I was in the American Development Program, which meant a tent near the start where we could leave our bags, a park area to warm up in, separate porta potties, and a start just behind the professionals.
We had to go in the same gate as Corral A, and getting through security took forever. I walked over with a Nike group and had trusted others knew that we were leaving with ample time, but I didn't have as much time as I'd have liked pre-race. It was also difficult to find my way back to the area post-race! Amy did the VIP area and also had difficulty finding it post-race.

The Start

My regret about the race is not paying more attention to the pro athletes in front of us at the start. I stayed at the back of the ADP corral, and we were not in the corral very long before the start, but I wish I'd have looked harder!
I did hear them announcing pro accomplishments when we were entering our corral, specifically Des Linden's 50k world record.
ADP athletes were eligible for prize money so we got only gun time, no chip time. I wasn't worried about this for myself, but Casey was aiming for a PR and I was going to be upset if she missed an official one by a few seconds - not to mention people trying to OTQ. It probably took less than 5 seconds to get across the line, but every second counts when you're trying for your best!

The Race

I noted most of the highlights in my race recap.
I tried to pay attention to my surroundings but still didn't take in too much during the race. I think because there were so many people, I kept my eyes ahead.
The mile markers were surprisingly difficult to spot. I don't think I ever missed so many mile markers in a marathon - ironically, since this was the first marathon I've taken manual splits in since about 2006 (i.e., pre-Garmin).

My nutrition (4 gels) went smoothly and water stations were numerous, huge, and easy to see. The aid stations were crowded early on so if this race is hot it would be worth carrying a bottle early, but I didn't need any water for the first 6 or so miles anyway.
I kept a little (maybe 1-3 minutes) in the tank but 26.2 miles is still a very long run.
I didn't have as much fun as I usually do in a marathon, but I think that was related to being fatigued. I always remembered to be thankful!
Each time I crossed a timing mat I thought about people tracking me getting updates.
I also thought about my friends a lot, hoping they were hitting their goal times. I kept hoping that Abby would pass me, meaning she was going to go sub-3. When I had 3 miles left I was hoping Casey was near finishing (they ran 2:53 and 3:11, and poor Amy got sick before the race so had a hard day but finished it!).

Post-Race

Before the race, I'd gone back and forth a lot on just running Chicago "for fun" and "saving it" for my next marathon 4 weeks after. I ended up deciding that if the weather was good and I felt good, I'd try for a sub-3 since I wasn't guaranteed either in my next marathon. Based on how I actually felt knew sub-3 wasn't going to happen and held back a bit (but not much).
We were super active post-race, with brunch, walking back to the marathon area to watch and take photos, switching hotels, going to dinner, and going out until midnight. I wish I'd have kept tracking of my total walking for the day because surely I covered at least 36 miles on foot!
As per usual, I slept very little the night of the marathon.

What's next?

As mentioned, I was planning to run a local marathon 4 weeks after Chicago. I'd still like to, but will see how my COVID recovery goes. Last time I had it I didn't run well quality-wise for about 4 weeks post-illness, but I was able to pick my mileage back up quickly.

Fun fact

This was marathon #46 for me if you count the marathon marks I crossed in my 4 ultras, #42 if you don't. It was #20/46 time-wise, or #18/42 if you're not counting my ultras (yeah, I split faster in 2 of my 50ks). When people asked about my performance I often said, "It was far from my best but also far from my worst", and I guess officially it was closer to my best (21 minutes) than my worst (58 minutes).