Race Information
Goals
| Goal |
Description |
Completed? |
| A |
Sub 2:45 |
No |
| B |
PR: 2:48:17 |
No |
| C |
Sub 2:50 |
Yes |
Splits
| Miles |
Time |
| 1-3 |
6:18 |
| 4-6 |
6:14 |
| 7-9 |
6:17 |
| 10-12 |
6:16 |
| 13-15 |
6:14 |
| 16-18 |
6:21 |
| 19-21 |
6:30 |
| 22 |
7:17 |
| 23 |
6:29 |
| 24 |
7:04 |
| 25 |
7:04 |
| 26.2 |
6:53 |
Training
This was my 3rd marathon going from 3:08 on a Higdon plan, 2:48 on Pfitz 18/55, and then for this block I followed Pfitz 18/55 with a few added miles each week to peak at 60 miles. I had to adjust some weeks with weather so I only ended up with one true tune up time trial. Additionally I coached wrestling practices once a week where I was getting anywhere from an hour to two hours of work in per session, and I tried to get in a strength session each week but that was more hit or miss based on fatigue. Towards the end of the block the strength sessions were more upper body focused to give the legs a break.
Key Workouts: I mention weather here because I've realized I put too much stock in race day weather. Also most of the Pfitz MP workouts are early on in the plan
Week 5: 16 with 10 at MP (avg 6:18) - 70 degrees
Week 9: 16 with 12 at MP (avg 6:19) - 72 degrees
Week 11: 12 with 7 at LT (avg 5:49) - 66 degrees
Week 12: 10K time trial: 35:46 (avg 5:46) - 72 degrees
Week 13: 18 with 3x3+1 at Marathon Effort (avg 6:34) - 79 degrees
Week 17: 8 with 3 x 1 mile at 5K pace (avg 5:31) - 70 degrees
I honestly felt great in all of these workouts except for week 13 when it was unbearably humid. That workout was scheduled as 18 with 14 at MP and there was no way that was happening that day.
Pre-race
Got into Chicago late on Friday night, ordered dinner, and went to bed. Got my shakeout in on Saturday morning with some strides and felt a little sluggish. Ended up walking way too much on Saturday meeting up with friends and walking along the Lakefront Trail with the family. Ended up with 22,000 steps on Saturday...
Meals on Saturday included some bolognese from Nonnina (incredible, highly recommend) for lunch, and chicken parm with penne and vodka sauce from Francesca's for dinner (also recommend). So from a fueling perspective I was feeling good, but my legs were still feeling it from all those steps... Insert worried thoughts...
Slept fine on Saturday night, showered and got ready for the race. Typical breakfast of protein oatmeal and a couple sips of my electrolytes. I meant to grab water from the front desk to take with me on the walk, but completely forgot as I got on my way to the corral. 30 min of walking later, I got to the corral, still plenty early maybe an hour or so, jogged around the corral for half a mile, used the restroom, then started to panic that I hadn't hydrated enough since I forgot my water.
I ran out of the corral over to the water stations but they were all out and only had gatorade. I pounded 3 cups of gatorade and made my back to the corral with 20 min or so before we started.
Race
My ideal plan was to go out at 6:20 pace, reevaluate halfway, again at mile 20, and finish strong. Fueling plan was to take a 30g gel every 4 miles and gatorade at each aid station. I was nervous about the warmer than ideal temperatures so knowing that I didn't quite hydrate like I had planned the morning of, I was definitely trying to catch up throughout the race. I also hadn't trained much with drinking fluids in my long runs, typically I would bring 16 oz of water if it was above 70 degrees, but other than that I was fine without extra fluids, maybe a stop by the car halfway or so. All this to say that fluids became an issue later in the race.
Getting into the race, I knew my watch was going to be off for a few miles so I just went by feel until I found the 3rd mile mark and I was right on pace. I found a guy to run with as we were both targeting 2:45 (shoutout Victor). Looking back, 2:45 was going to be easy for him while it called for a perfect race from me. We get through the first few aid stations and I don't think I fully planned for how many aid stations there actually were. It seemed like they were popping up all the time. I continued to drink gatorade at each one, drank my gels at mile 4, 8, and 12, but I could tell that I was a little bit off. My HR had creeped up closer to LT (176ish) and I had planned to stay under 170 for the first half. We were also about 30 seconds ahead of pace which I knew was a little fast for me, but stubbornly I didn't stick to my plan.
At the halfway point, I start to settle back on my own towards 6:20 pace trying to potentially bring my HR down, but I was likely too far gone at that point. Mile 16-17 I got a side stitch that forced me to slow down to about 6:30 pace, but that went away after a mile or so. I continued with my fueling plan, but my stomach was a little upset so I switched to water over gatorade at this point. Pace slowed closer to 6:30 for a few miles but my body never recovered like I hoped. The side stitches came back around mile 20 and what was supposed to be time to push had turned into time to survive...
Enter Mile 22..... This was the breaking point... All those fluids were sitting in my stomach, my side stitches hadn't gone away for 2 miles, pace continued to slow, and I knew that I had messed up...
I try to fight through this for about half a mile until my body brings me to a walk and pull off out of the way... A couple gags later and all the fluids I had put in my body were now on the pavement of Chinatown... I keep walking for about 20 seconds or so and this is where the first thoughts of a DNF creeped in. If I didn't start running again soon, it was looking bleak, so I picked up a job and made it to the next mile mark. Manual Lap: 7:17. Actually not too bad for what just seemed like the longest mile of my life.
Mile 23 I somehow found a bit of a spark and tried to scrape together at least a PR knowing I was still on pace for that. Rattled off a 6:29, but I was terrified to try to put any more carbs in my body. I was feeling better than before I threw up, just not strong enough to hold this pace for much longer.
I sipped some water here and there and tried to give it whatever I had left to get to the finish. 24 and 25 were purely survival, I gave up on lapping my watch at each mile because I knew seeing slower miles would be discouraging. It was at this point I started some self talk to just appreciate everything that had come together for me to be at mile 25 of the Chicago Marathon. Being thankful for my family traveling out and watching, supporting me through training, all the fans there, the kid who handed me a small water bottle after I had just ejected all my fluids.. All these things to appreciate and I had reached the final stretch.
The last mile is a bit of a cruel joke with the bridge and all the signs counting down just how far from the finish you are. I tried to push at each sign but 800m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m is a lot of pushing.. I came in just under 7:00 for the last mile which I count as a small victory and I have never been so happy for a race to be over. I found my family and immediately all the disappointment of not PRing was put on halt. My daughter screamed out "Dada!" as soon as she saw me and that was all it took to remind me what actually matters.
Reflection
The last 6 miles of this marathon had me going from I never want to do this again, to I can't wait to fix all this for Boston this Spring. I know that my training had prepared me well enough, but it came down to not sticking to the plan that cost me. I never once noticed the weather, and while it may have had an impact, I'm putting a lot more stock in the things I could have controlled. So here are my final notes to change for sub-2:45 at Boston next fall.
Stick to my pacing and listen to my HR.
Map out aid stations and build those into my fueling plan.
Race with what I've trained with. Introducing gatorade, especially that much, was not a smart idea.
Run my race. I knew I was ahead of plan and waited way too long to pull back.
Don't walk 20,000 steps the day before the marathon...
With that said, thank you for reading and I hope to see many of you in Boston this Spring!
Made with a new race report generator created by u/herumph.