Allison’s Gourmet drinking chocolate with Sweet & Sara mini marshmallows (in a running mug).
Speaking of running, here’s my very belated Chicago marathon race report.
A brief history of Chicago marathons:
2007 – my first Chicago marathon, turned “fun run” at mile 21 due to extreme heat. Finishing time – 5:10:52
2009 – There was great weather this year, but my left leg had been bothering me the for almost a month before the race. The first half went OK, but I was limping by mile 14. Found a limping buddy and we shuffled across the finish line together. Finishing time – 4:35:42 and I couldn’t run (I could barely walk) for weeks thanks to a stress fracture.
2010 – I had decent training for this race but I completely fell apart around mile 18. I didn’t just hit the wall, I slammed into it head first. It was another hot one, and I did not handle it well. Finishing time – 4:28:32
I swore off the Chicago marathon after 2010. I finally broke 4 hours at Illinois the following year, but it was a horrible experience (that wall!). So I ran Milwaukee just for fun- no time goal, no watch, I just wanted to finish strong (something I hadn’t done since Atlanta 2008). But then I was back in Chicago.
I missed out on some speed work in August as well as a couple long runs (probably made up for it with a 42 mile ultra), but besides that, training went really well. There were no injuries either. The weather forecast? Perfection!
Goals:
Realistic goal- under 3:50
Happy goal- 3:45
Secret goal – qualify for Boston 2014 with 3:40.
But most important: just break the Chicago curse.
I missed my secret goal by 2 minutes, 17 seconds, but it was a 14 minute PR and the Chicago marathon curse was finally broken and I finished with a smile. I did learn an important lesson though: Garmin is useless in a marathon. It was close for most miles, but around the half it went crazy (at no point did I run a sub-8 minute mile).
Accurate 5K Splits
Race pics
Best race photo ever on the left here
Best race moment: passing a guy in a “Fueled by Beef” shirt at mile 22 in my No Meat Athlete “Runs on Plants” tee.
