Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Chicago Marathon Recap
So it's been a couple days now, plenty of time for thoughts to settle. First, how'd I do? I finished in 4:17:25 (overall & 5k split times here), not quite what I was hoping. Context: last year I finished in 4:57:55, and this April in St. Louis I finished in 4:08:53. Much better than last year, though not a personal best.
It was chilly race morning with a little wind and some mist/drizzle during the first 8 miles or so. I was cold at the starting line but once we got going I felt pretty good temperature-wise. I was running at a very steady 8:30/mile pace through the first 10k and 15k and while I was able to keep it going through 20k I noticed it was getting harder to maintain. I passed the halfway point in 1:51:21, just two minutes slower than my best half-marathon time.
At the halfway point the course (Chicago course map in PDF) turns west for about 2 miles, goes south for one block, then back east for another 1.5 miles, a pretty boring stretch. This is where I started to slow down - my splits really start to trail off here. By mile 18, in the middle of Little Italy I was really dragging. I managed to slog through the next four miles but had trouble during 23. I was crossing the bridge over the Dan Ryan highway when my left calf and the innermost quads in both legs started to cramp. I managed to walk it off, but after that my shot at a personal best was over.
Coming up Michigan Avenue during 24 to 26 was long and tough, but I just put one foot in front of the other, regardless of the cliche factor, and kept moving. Finally I crossed the finish line just happy to get there under my own power.
So that's the downside: a colder, wetter, slower and more painful marathon than I'd hoped. But how about the positive side: I finished! I ended up 15874th out of 33633 finishers, and every single one of us got lots of encouragement from the bazillion people on the sidewalks cheering us on. All the effort and hard work and pain were totally worth it in order to get to go through that experience - almost every other race will be a step down. The crowds were universally positive and encouraging and cheered just as loud for us non-elites as they did for the winners.
Finally I had a chance to do some tiny bit of good by running with, and raising money for, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program. The thousand or so people who ran and/or walked the marathon on Sunday collectively raised over $2.5 million for blood cancer research, and I was very proud to be a part of it - and one more big Thanks! to everyone who donated.
So what's next? Disney World, the Indy Mini-Marathon, Green Bay, then either Marine Corps or New York next fall. In between, some 10k and 8k events, or maybe even a 5k. Strength training, hill work, flexibility & stretching, maybe some speed work, and improved nutrition as always. My goal for Green Bay next May 20th is 3:59:59 or better, so I'll get started on that right after my final post-race indulgence: McDonald's for lunch on Wednesday.
It was chilly race morning with a little wind and some mist/drizzle during the first 8 miles or so. I was cold at the starting line but once we got going I felt pretty good temperature-wise. I was running at a very steady 8:30/mile pace through the first 10k and 15k and while I was able to keep it going through 20k I noticed it was getting harder to maintain. I passed the halfway point in 1:51:21, just two minutes slower than my best half-marathon time.
At the halfway point the course (Chicago course map in PDF) turns west for about 2 miles, goes south for one block, then back east for another 1.5 miles, a pretty boring stretch. This is where I started to slow down - my splits really start to trail off here. By mile 18, in the middle of Little Italy I was really dragging. I managed to slog through the next four miles but had trouble during 23. I was crossing the bridge over the Dan Ryan highway when my left calf and the innermost quads in both legs started to cramp. I managed to walk it off, but after that my shot at a personal best was over.
Coming up Michigan Avenue during 24 to 26 was long and tough, but I just put one foot in front of the other, regardless of the cliche factor, and kept moving. Finally I crossed the finish line just happy to get there under my own power.
So that's the downside: a colder, wetter, slower and more painful marathon than I'd hoped. But how about the positive side: I finished! I ended up 15874th out of 33633 finishers, and every single one of us got lots of encouragement from the bazillion people on the sidewalks cheering us on. All the effort and hard work and pain were totally worth it in order to get to go through that experience - almost every other race will be a step down. The crowds were universally positive and encouraging and cheered just as loud for us non-elites as they did for the winners.
Finally I had a chance to do some tiny bit of good by running with, and raising money for, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program. The thousand or so people who ran and/or walked the marathon on Sunday collectively raised over $2.5 million for blood cancer research, and I was very proud to be a part of it - and one more big Thanks! to everyone who donated.
So what's next? Disney World, the Indy Mini-Marathon, Green Bay, then either Marine Corps or New York next fall. In between, some 10k and 8k events, or maybe even a 5k. Strength training, hill work, flexibility & stretching, maybe some speed work, and improved nutrition as always. My goal for Green Bay next May 20th is 3:59:59 or better, so I'll get started on that right after my final post-race indulgence: McDonald's for lunch on Wednesday.
# posted by Joel Corbin @ 8:48 PM 
