2018 Chicago Marathon (Read 270 times)

Running Problem


Problem Child

    Training has started. Anyone following a new plan? An old plan? Creating their own?

     

    I'm doing Jack Daniels 2Q (in case you didn't know from the Sub 3:20 thread I'm in) and aiming for a 3:07 (or faster, I'll take faster) so I have enough of a cushion to get IN to the April Marathon in 2020. I'll be coming in Friday and leaving a few days after the race. First trip to Chicago and first time running Chicago. Looking forward to exploring Chicago (food and beer) as well as seeing new things. Other than the Bean ideas of what to see will be awesome. I'll have a 10 month old in a stroller/backpack.

    Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

    VDOT 53.37 

    5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

    Running Problem


    Problem Child

      Corral assignments are out. I'm in B. Anyone know if the pacers are in this corral or A?

      Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

      VDOT 53.37 

      5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

        Both.   The Nike pace team has enough pacers that they straddle corrals.   They’ll have a booth at the expo where you can meet pacers, get a bib for your pace group, and get pace bands or tattoos

         

        Corral assignments are out. I'm in B. Anyone know if the pacers are in this corral or A?

        Running Problem


        Problem Child

          Both.   The Nike pace team has enough pacers that they straddle corrals.   They’ll have a booth at the expo where you can meet pacers, get a bib for your pace group, and get pace bands or tattoos

           

           

          Awesome.

          Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

          VDOT 53.37 

          5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

          Running Problem


          Problem Child

            Any advice on how to handle pacing without GPS? I've always been able to use GPS and all I've heard is Chicago GPS is wonky for a lot of the race. Targeting a 3:07 so I can't exactly hang with a pace group. I think my target pace is around a 7:08 and the 3:05 group will be going a little faster than that. Should I plan for a fade towards the end and try to hang with them for the majority of the race?

            Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

            VDOT 53.37 

            5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

            Joann Y


              Any advice on how to handle pacing without GPS? I've always been able to use GPS and all I've heard is Chicago GPS is wonky for a lot of the race. Targeting a 3:07 so I can't exactly hang with a pace group. I think my target pace is around a 7:08 and the 3:05 group will be going a little faster than that. Should I plan for a fade towards the end and try to hang with them for the majority of the race?

               

              I've raced Chicago a few times and yep, gps is mostly useless. My suggestion is to turn off any autolap settings on your watch and manually push the lap button at each mile marker. This will at least let you know what your mile splits are during the race and after. I think it would be smarter to start with the 3:10 pace group and keep things under control until you get to a point where you just feel ready to ditch the pace group. That's how I've done it the last 2 times at Chicago and it's worked out great. Keeps you steady and in control to start when you need to be conserving energy.

              Running Problem


              Problem Child

                 

                I've raced Chicago a few times and yep, gps is mostly useless. My suggestion is to turn off any autolap settings on your watch and manually push the lap button at each mile marker. This will at least let you know what your mile splits are during the race and after. I think it would be smarter to start with the 3:10 pace group and keep things under control until you get to a point where you just feel ready to ditch the pace group. That's how I've done it the last 2 times at Chicago and it's worked out great. Keeps you steady and in control to start when you need to be conserving energy.

                 

                There are mile markers at Chicago? That's helpful. I only saw something saying 5K markers so I was a little concerned.

                Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

                VDOT 53.37 

                5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

                Joann Y


                   

                  There are mile markers at Chicago? That's helpful. I only saw something saying 5K markers so I was a little concerned.

                   

                  Definitely mile markers! It's a great race. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Did you decide where you are staying? Chinatown? I have some local breweries/brewpubs I can suggest in the Pilsen neighborhood if you are interested.

                  Running Problem


                  Problem Child

                     

                    Definitely mile markers! It's a great race. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Did you decide where you are staying? Chinatown? I have some local breweries/brewpubs I can suggest in the Pilsen neighborhood if you are interested.

                     

                    STaying downtown at the host hotel in Grant Park. The AirBnB thing turned into a shart show quickly. Rental companies saying the unit I picked is booked, or priced different that weekend, but that have one in the same spot for $100+more a night among other things.

                     

                    The current "rough outlined" plan is to hit the expo Saturday and do some tourist stuff (pizza tour? architecture boat tour?) for the day. Race then Monday and Tuesday for other tourist activities so any suggestions of beer spots or "things to see" other than what I find on Google would be cool. Public transit should work well to get out of the downtown area as needed.

                    Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

                    VDOT 53.37 

                    5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

                    Size12shoes


                    Old Geezer

                      GPS at Chicago is really wonky in two sections of the course though there are other parts of the course where it can be bad. The worst part of the GPS signal is from the start to about Mile 3. Right after the start, you'll go through a long tunnel where you'll totally lose your signal. And after you get through the tunnel, the tall buildings will also wreak havoc on your GPS. Then starting between Miles 10 and 11, as you approach the downtown area, GPS should go bad again until about the 13.1 mark. From there until the finish, except for when you go through a couple of underpasses, it should be OK, though not great.

                       

                      If you use a Garmin watch, you might want to try using the Garmin Foot Pod rather than press the lap button at each mile marker. This little thing that you attach to your shoe measures stride and cadence. And since I do some of my running at my local gym's indoor track, I use it to track my indoor runs and not use GPS. You don't get a nice pretty map of where you've run, but based on my experience, it seems to accurately track mileage and pace that you can see on your watch. The foot pod costs about $50 and you can get it at just about any place that sells GPS watches and stuff like that.

                       

                      There are markers for both miles and kilometers on course. Maybe because I don't look for them, I don't usually seem many of the K markers. Maybe they get removed after the elite runners go past them?

                       

                      After the race you will get split times for each 5K plus start, finish, and 13.1 on your account at the race's website.

                      Running Problem


                      Problem Child

                        GPS at Chicago is really wonky in two sections of the course though there are other parts of the course where it can be bad. The worst part of the GPS signal is from the start to about Mile 3. Right after the start, you'll go through a long tunnel where you'll totally lose your signal. And after you get through the tunnel, the tall buildings will also wreak havoc on your GPS. Then starting between Miles 10 and 11, as you approach the downtown area, GPS should go bad again until about the 13.1 mark. From there until the finish, except for when you go through a couple of underpasses, it should be OK, though not great.

                         

                        If you use a Garmin watch, you might want to try using the Garmin Foot Pod rather than press the lap button at each mile marker. This little thing that you attach to your shoe measures stride and cadence. And since I do some of my running at my local gym's indoor track, I use it to track my indoor runs and not use GPS. You don't get a nice pretty map of where you've run, but based on my experience, it seems to accurately track mileage and pace that you can see on your watch. The foot pod costs about $50 and you can get it at just about any place that sells GPS watches and stuff like that.

                         

                        There are markers for both miles and kilometers on course. Maybe because I don't look for them, I don't usually seem many of the K markers. Maybe they get removed after the elite runners go past them?

                         

                        After the race you will get split times for each 5K plus start, finish, and 13.1 on your account at the race's website.

                        So around half time I'll get good GPS signal to see if I'm on pace? NICE!

                         

                        I have the footpod. I believe I calibrated it at a local track when I first used it. I think I'll go with the mile markers as even GPS based mile splits don't help when a course isn't measured by my watch. I think every marathon I've run measures far and it's the overall time I'll need to account for. It's just going to be REALLY weird not being able to speed up or slow down a few seconds in the middle of a mile and having to wait that whole time to find out I'm 15 second ahead, behind or right on pace.

                        Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

                        VDOT 53.37 

                        5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

                        Joann Y


                          It's just going to be REALLY weird not being able to speed up or slow down a few seconds in the middle of a mile and having to wait that whole time to find out I'm 15 second ahead, behind or right on pace.

                           

                          This is probably a good thing. I think it kept me more relaxed and focused. Just run, baby. Smile

                          JMac11


                          RIP Milkman

                            So around half time I'll get good GPS signal to see if I'm on pace? NICE!

                             

                            I have the footpod. I believe I calibrated it at a local track when I first used it. I think I'll go with the mile markers as even GPS based mile splits don't help when a course isn't measured by my watch. I think every marathon I've run measures far and it's the overall time I'll need to account for. It's just going to be REALLY weird not being able to speed up or slow down a few seconds in the middle of a mile and having to wait that whole time to find out I'm 15 second ahead, behind or right on pace.

                             

                            If you need to constantly look at your GPS for pacing in a marathon, you really are not training well, and I mean that in the most friendly way possible. Constantly looking at GPS should only be relevant for 5Ks given how little time you have to correct, but even then, it shouldn't be needed. Your marathon pace should be so fine tuned that I could throw you out on any course and you should be able to run plus or minus 5 seconds of that pace after a few warm up miles. If you can't do that, you need to add more marathon pacing to your program. You should then just be using clocks at every mile marker to figure out if your pacing is way off, not your GPS. There's often a period between miles 5-10 where you may say "oh I ran that 10 seconds too fast, let me dial back a tiny bit," and then you find your rhythm again. Feeling like you need to speed up or slow down all the time is means you are wasting too much energy on the course.

                            5K: 16:37 (11/20)  |  10K: 34:49 (10/19)  |  HM: 1:14:57 (5/22)  |  FM: 2:36:31 (12/19) 

                             

                             

                            Bee2005


                              So around half time I'll get good GPS signal to see if I'm on pace? NICE!

                               

                              I have the footpod. I believe I calibrated it at a local track when I first used it. I think I'll go with the mile markers as even GPS based mile splits don't help when a course isn't measured by my watch. I think every marathon I've run measures far and it's the overall time I'll need to account for. It's just going to be REALLY weird not being able to speed up or slow down a few seconds in the middle of a mile and having to wait that whole time to find out I'm 15 second ahead, behind or right on pace.

                               

                              I ran it a couple of years ago, and the GPS thing really wasn't that serious. The first two miles were weird, but you are boxed in at that point anyway and kind of have to move with the flow of traffic. You'll see the clocks and know if you're on pace and how much you need to adjust. After the first couple miles, I didn't have any real trouble with the accuracy of my watch at all- I left the auto-lap on, and it gave me reliable splits. Don't stress. You'll be fine.

                              Running Problem


                              Problem Child

                                 

                                If you need to constantly look at your GPS for pacing in a marathon, you really are not training well, and I mean that in the most friendly way possible. Constantly looking at GPS should only be relevant for 5Ks given how little time you have to correct, but even then, it shouldn't be needed. Your marathon pace should be so fine tuned that I could throw you out on any course and you should be able to run plus or minus 5 seconds of that pace after a few warm up miles. If you can't do that, you need to add more marathon pacing to your program. You should then just be using clocks at every mile marker to figure out if your pacing is way off, not your GPS. There's often a period between miles 5-10 where you may say "oh I ran that 10 seconds too fast, let me dial back a tiny bit," and then you find your rhythm again. Feeling like you need to speed up or slow down all the time is means you are wasting too much energy on the course.

                                 

                                It's just something I've done for all races. I get your point and It's my 5th marathon but the pace is going to be a new one and I don't have an area marked with miles to learn how to run miles by feel unless I take a measuring wheel out on a local run and mark miles then run by time other than one little 2-3 mile stretch about 3.5 miles away I could use for a few miles now that it's open. I've surprised even myself on races with what I have maintained as race pace compared to training so it's just always been possible to see every mile split and what pace I'm running it at and adjust accordingly. Downhill mile...don't run by feel and go 20 seconds too fast. Uphill mile...don't slow down 30 seconds and have to make that up.

                                 

                                EDIT: I'm also doing the JD2Q plan up to 70 miles...except this week...which sucks because there is too much smoke in the air.

                                Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

                                VDOT 53.37 

                                5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22