Chicago Marathon

The boys met me at the airport with sign. It was a kind thing; they had been there hours before upon their own arrival, got our place in old town situated, then took the train in to accompany me home. It allowed me to just be, in my own head, ignorant of. Outside. the L we went for our first chicago pizza - a greasy thin slice at 2 am. Unpacked my goods in a downstairs bedroom, and fell asleep to Youtube. Adrenaline dispelled sound sleep & when I heard the girls upstairs I bundled in blanket and we shared coffees before a 2-mile shakeout under gold leaves glittering between tree-hugged streets of brick three-story walkups. Took the L to a school bus to the expo for our bibs & schwag. Simmonds was signing books at the Brooks booth, Scott the Fox was drinking Goose Island in a converted bus, Amber was desperate for bodyglide, some lady was really into powerbar & we needed to get out of there. Stopped for (what was the highlight of the trip for me), cuban sandwiches, plantain chips & coffee.

I ordered conservatively at first, unsure about the coffee cubano, downed it, then ordered two more. Huge fan of cuban coffee. Got groceries for dinner, then home to put our feet up; spaghetti & pizza & "the short game." I tried falling asleep to Ira Glass, but sleep was lost to each of us.

T carrying our groceries en basket.

Scott the Fox wishing Ber luck.

4:30am wakeup - coffee's, bagels, almond butter, bananas. Geared up. Us three bundled, left a dark home into a dark morning walk to the L. The train was filled with bodies in throwaway layers & sleepy eyes, swaying to the jerks of the high rise track turns. Exited off the redline at Jackson; herds of runners with side slung clear bags walked through the security checkpoint/s, body scans, bag checks, and ushered to prospective corrals, the sky still black - the only thing lit - the glit of mass-windows from tall buildings in clusters.

We separated from Al towards the ADP tent, which was kept warm with water & snacks. Announcements were made that we would head to the start line 30 minutes prior to gun; it was a cold morning & we hadn't prepared for tossaway clothes. A lovely woman navigated plastic garbage bags for Ber & I, which we were able to maintain warmth within. We were lined up behind the elites, got to see the thin gams of Jeptoo, the American's hoping to solidify some top finishes, Sarah Porter-Crouch and Jake Riley, two old flames I miss. We examined the differences in the bodies, the similarities, was there a formula? No. Was there a type? No. Ber & I at the start, critical of bows in hair & too-thin thighs were hungry to see a variance in elite bodies.

The anthem was sung to the sky. The elites went, us then, which was a bit anti-climactic, or our spirits were, because it began with a start, and startled were we as we pushed start on our watches for gun time accuracy. To be considered for an OT cash prize ($2500) at Chicago, you needed to have garnered a 2:42:59 off gun time (wmns). Two small forms of anxiety - how much time would lapse between gun and our actual crossing of the start line, and would the course run long? I felt my training indicated [close enough] proximity to a 2:43 that factors such as these could change the whole race. (Un)luckily, I didn't give myself the opportunity to take hold of these factors and make them my b****. I, in my naivete & with a watch disillusioned by the scrapers, didn't consider pacing till mile 7. My only beacon was oiselle runner & teammate in the team comp, Allison Maxson, who was going for the OT. Keeping her in sight was a helpful indication. Maxson ended up with a 2:39. The buildings & tunnels likely threw these times askew - my gps held the following:

5:46, 5:36, 5:27, 5:46, 6:03, 6:02, 6:09, 6:10, 6:09, 6:11, 6:07, 6:11, 5:57, 6:06, 6:13, 6:14, 6:31, 6:18, 6:20, 6:30, 6:38, 6:30, 6:38, 6:50, 6:35, 6:35.

Chi-Marathon tracking indicates: 

5k (6:07's) 10k (6:06's) 15k (6:12's) 20k (6:16's) HALF (6:09's) 25k (6:15's) 30k (6:28's) 35k (6:37's) 40k (6:43's) Finish (6:35's)

Naive. Yes. Despite the efforts to "start out conservative" and run a smart race - I just really enjoyed the feeling in my legs that first half & I wanted to believe in the possibility that it could continue further.

Once I realized what I’d done, an unconscious “banking of time,” I didn’t believe that I lost the opportunity. It was at mile 15 that I understood the deficit. Was I giving it everything? An unfair question at 15 - it’s likely that even if you aren’t, you feel as if you are, or it’s complex, because you need to wager systems of reserve in order to estimate pacing for 11 more miles. I tried not thinking. I tried to keep below the 6:12 marker. The pace rose.  At some point I developed a second tier goal – pr. When you’re ¾ of the way through, know there’s a cash prize lost to you, know it’ll take another race & another training sesh to try to obtain your goal, it makes those last miles a lesson in dissolving negativity. However, though I made some obvious mistakes, I felt stronger mentally.

Ber’s race plan was to start conservative & cut down for a negative split race & since I had run the opposite of this plan, I was hoping our two strategies would find us finishing at the same time. I thought of her & of Al & quitting never came to mind. I mean, I thought of stepping to the side for a hot dog real quick, but not finishing was not an option. I’m really anti the “DNF.” I haven’t been faced with reason enough to, so I’m not sure where my threshold ends, but even if I make the mistake of running a not-so-smart race, I’m going to suffer it through to the end of the lesson.

There was a couple in Michelob Ultra kits, a husband pacing his wife, who I was leap-frogging with on the course. I felt strong, surged, then my pubic bone ached & I could feel the surrounding area get locked up; I pulled over & did leg swings to try to loosen, they passed. Instead of Maxsom, who I had lost halfway through, I used this booze-kitted couple as a new beacon to keep alert, to follow as unconsciously as I could. I gained them back & ran in to the finish. Finish time - 2:46:21 (34th woman/324th overall) In a single step past the finish line, the entire right side of underbutt, hip, pube locked up & ached & stayed that way for a few days post. I feigned some stretching moves beside volunteers until I found Ber a few minutes later. Noticed there was blood on my Brooks top – found I was cut from packing a gel in my top through the race - closest thing to nipple chafe yet. We walked the long finish chute with our Goose Island beers, back to the ADP tent & family meet up where beers hung from limp wrists of bodies strewn about the grass. We tracked Al’s splits, wondering about the bottom of her feet baring all that cement with a freshly healed metatarsal- but she did it – from months spent in the pool and treadmill to 26.2 miles of concrete (incredible).

From Left: Maxsom, myself & Ber.

Superhawk.

This was Sunday football - the Morrison’s had found a Seahawks bar, so we cleaned up & headed there post race. So packed. They had a tv facing the street so you could watch from outside. They sold buckets of beer like Vegas. Ber became Superhawk, and we maintained the mantra, “This is not our day,” watching as the Hawks lost. The city is full in stairs. The three-story walk up is just, stairs. Everywhere was an exhaustive attempt at walking. I got a good sense of my weakest points, which were the bottoms of my feet, the outsides of my knees, my calves, and the right hip. For hours we laughed about our feet; photographed them swollen, the tendons buried deep in the pillowy flesh. We needed a lot of beer to gain mobility; after all, there were three more days to experience Chicago.

Positives -
1. I can handle a large training session
2. I am one step closer to obtaining an OT
3. I have a better sense of my strengths & weaknesses
4. I did not chafe behind the knees

Lessons -
1. I need to trust a conservative start
2. I need to learn pacing more intuitively
3. I should probably not put things like root canals or weeks of pubic pain to the wayside prior to a big race
4. I need to find groups instead of pockets