Chicago Marathon - RunMarathon


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Chicago, Illinois
United States
Bank of America
40F / 4C
Overcast
Total Time = 4h 51m 40s
Overall Rank = 23497/33608
Age Group = 40-45
Age Group Rank = 1127/1833
Pre-race routine:

The Wilkinson family picked me up on Saturday to head to Chicago for the expo. We spent a good hour for registration and looking around. From the expo we went to Michele's brother's house about 10 minutes out of downtown. We dined on one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had, hung out and lights out by 10:30. Up every two hours for whatever reason and finally said screw it at 5 and got dressed. Had my poptart, banana and water and waited for Michele and Brendon to get ready. Quick ride to the venue in the balmy fall air (32 degrees) in the early a.m.

Event warmup:



Warm up? What? It was absolutely freezing out there. So glad I chose the underarmor shirt with a long sleeve t over it with the capri length tights. Hat and mittens to complete the ensamble. Michele and I tried to stand near the crowds to keep ourselves warm. Shivering sucks. At 7:15 we got in our corral and huddled next to a group of women in garbage bags. Hmmmm. Race started at 7:30 but we lined up with 11' pacers so we didn't start until 7:45ish. Before the gun went off it was cool to see people stripping down to their running gear, throwing their sweats to friends and family on the sidewalks.....overhead. Our volunteers kept us about 3' back from the next group so we wouldn't have a stampede. Very nice thinking. Finally saw the start line and started to jog. Where the hell are my toes? I felt like I was running on bricks. Please Lord, let the blood start thawing and flowing to my piggies.
Run
  • 4h 51m 40s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 11m 08s  min/mile
Comments:

Wow, can I actually say that running this MARATHON was fun? It was. The amount of spectators was astounding. All their energy certainly keeps you moving along. I can't believe how the miles passed by. But then again, maybe it was the company I was in. I got to complete this amazing feat with my BFF Michele...and it is her first. Plan was to beat Tara from the Biggest Loser last season and that we did...and we even had to wait 5 minutes for a potty break at mile 8. Walked all the aid stations and then after mile 13 took an extra minute or two to complete the distance. Another plan was to take a pix every mile (as requested by Tridds), by mile 3 that was shoved out the door. Pix would be at 13 and 25 to complete the day. Michele's hubby Brendon was all over the course. He would pop up unexpectedly here and there to give Michele the extra boost she needed to keep on going. This in turn, made me feel all wishy washy inside and gave me an adrenaline boost as well. It was so fun to see the drag queens, boys town, little italy, china town (talk about being swept up by the crowds....wow!), etc etc etc. The most fun of the day was reading all the signs and tshirts. They were hilarious..."race long and hard (with a pix of a penis)", "if it were easy, i'd be doing it", "not every one can run a marathon, some of us have to hold signs" and the list goes on and on. We laughed alot, sang and danced a little, cried a few tears, got a bit philosophical at times and just pushed each other through a cramping legs, hurting knees and mental breakdown.
What would you do differently?:

Not a damn thing!!!
Post race
Warm down:

Walked thru the finish shoot, received our space blankies, medals and turned in our chips. Grabbed some grub and some beer to give to the best Sherpa out there today and headed for the finisher photos. Called Brendon and met him at the reunion area. Scouted for finisher jackets, made our purchases and walked about 4 blocks for a cab. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long for a cab at all. Woo hoo. While walking to the cab another athlete asked if we would do it again...I said no. I was in pain. But now that everything is back in order the answer is still....I don't know aobut VEGAS!! We were shivering to the core again and couldn't get back to Michael's place quick enough. Quick clean up and back in the car to be home by 4:45. Legs were quite stiff and I was dead tired but couldn't fall asleep in the car. Waaaaay too much adrenaline I guess.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not a damn thing!!!


Event comments:

I was going to give the race a 5, but they didn't have gels at the water/gatorade stations until about 15 or so and I think there were only two in total. I was freaking out cuz I dropped on of mine and was planning on having enough til the aid station. Lucky for me, the good spectators were dolling out pretzels, candy and water. Someone was even handing out beers!! Passed on that.




Last updated: 2009-02-04 12:00 AM
Running
04:51:40 | 26.2 miles | 11m 08s  min/mile
Age Group: 1127/1833
Overall: 0/33608
Performance: Good
Course: Amazing course. Very flat and very fun.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4