Anyone else running Chicago?
Was wondering if anyone else from EN is running the Chicago marathon this year? It looked like a lot of the IL sleeper cell had a busy tri season but thought there might be another lurker or two out there giving it a go.
0
Comments
Would love to meet any EN'ers! We come in on race day, on buses, to Charity Village.
Hopefully I'll see some of you down there. I'm running with Open Heart Magic - it's our first year as a sponsoring charity so should be a good time.
Hoping it's not going to be too hot - I haven't been liking the 7 day forecast very much.
P
I guess it's about time to post a plan. If you have suggestions feel free to chime in.
It's my first marathon, so I'm running a bit blind and am looking to have some fun and just enjoy the moment for once. After IM-Moo 09 I promised my wife we'd do more things together this year, and this is one of those events. It's really more important to her - she's trying to qualify for Boston and has a few of her Chi running clients doing the race as well. So I'm planning on playing semi-Sherpa up until she gets into her corral. We're also running for a good cause. I helped found the charity we're running for when we lived in Chicago. Since we moved away I haven't been involved but it's nice to have a chance to hang out with some old friends and help out again in a small way.
I've done two halfs this year, and using Daniel's table I'd be predicted to come in at ~3:55. If it's hot out, I know that goal is out of reach so I'll adjust up to somewhere under 4:10 and just enjoy the day. I generally fall apart in the heat above 14 miles - I'm a big boy.
Goals: (in order of preference/fallback)
1) Don't get injured - this is supposed to be for fun. 2) Break 3:55. 3) If things head south, hold on to 4:00 - this is my fall-back, line-in-the-sand time for a normal October day. 4) While it's looking like nice weather (high of 70), if it starts creeping up above 80 I need to adjust my expectations accordingly.
Pace: I plan on using the EN race pace guide - so a ~9:15 the first 5 miles, 8:50 the next 15, and then 8:58 to bring it home. I'm going to see what the pace groups in corral D use for their run - if they don't go out a little slower then pace I'm just going to skip running with them and home to latch back on around hour 3.
Nutrition: Prerace I plan on drinking some Infinit a few hours before heading down to the race, and taking some in a throw-away bottle with me. We're having an early dinner with some friends the night before
The positive flip side to my girth is my ability to eat nearly anything while running. I've done some weird stuff on long runs in the past - gummy bears, twinkies, Slim Jims. I ran the corporate challenge in Chicago on a dare after eating a tripple Peppers cheeseburger/Fries combo (though that hurt). My old track routine used to be run the 2 mile relay, eat a egg mcmuffin, run the mile an hour later, drink OJ diluted with sugar water, then anchor the 400. While I can't pull off all of those feats anymore, I have an iron stomach.
I don't plan on doing any of that in the marathon. I'm going to bring Gu's along, and plan on sucking them down every 3-4 miles or so. I've found in my runs that I can handle the quicker intake better than the average bear, and I start to fade mentally if I don't get some sugar in the system every 45 minutes or so. If I drop them or something unforseen happens, I'll switch to the course supplied fare. No worries.
If you see me on the course, feel free to yell at me. I'll be in a OHM shirt with my name on the front. Hopefully I'm smiling too
Suppose to be a beautiful day so lets set some PR's.....Running for the A-T Charity and will be the guy with lots of tattoo's on his back.....good luck everyone and see you at the finish line with a few beers in hand.
Carl Noftsger
Altoona, IA
Best of luck everyone! See you at the finish line! Save me a Goose Island beer!
Here's my short version - felt really good going in, nailed the first half exactly as I wanted (~2hrs, decided to dial it back a little because I knew it was going to get hot for me). Really enjoyed the crowds.
Second half - started getting really warm on the fresh blacktop out west towards the United Center, but kept it together to mile 15 where I started some leg cramping. Was painful, but still able to run. Mile 18, calves started cramping. Pretty much meant run/slogging for a block or two, then stop or walk to work out cramps. Made for a long second half of the day. Still was fun though, and don't think I did any permanent damage so it's all good.
The crowd support for the race was way higher than I remember when I used to head down and cheer for friends. I was amazed by how many people that would yell "You're looking good Bryan" while I was zombie-lurching it in the final four miles. I was many things at that moment, but "looking good" was not one of them