Notes
2:40:49 - Chicago Marathon 2016
Wow. Such a different experience than last year. I think I'd almost consider this to be my marathon debut, instead of last year. Unlike last year, I came in well-prepared, both with the longer taper, the better training (easy days easier, hard days harder) and figuring out how to properly fuel myself. This isn't to say everything was perfect this cycle, but we got closer than last year. Eating was, and probably will continue to be an ongoing issue (Editor's note - to those reading my log, I'm not struggling with any eating disorders. I just have a problem at times eating enough to fuel my body through the high mileage weeks, and so I bonk at inopportune times.). I didn't do my strength work these past few months due to a lack of mental focus, which didn't help. But we got a lot better from last year, and that's what counts.
Now, on to the actual race. Was feeling pretty good going into this, though I felt my hamstrings were a little tight going in (which is where either a massage or my strength/pre-hab work would've helped, but oh well), but I felt much more confident in myself and my fitness versus last year. Got there plenty early, which was nice, helped me get everything ready and not have any lines for the bathroom. Somehow lost one of my GU's in the bathroom during one of my pre-race poops, but I wasn't too nervous about that. Got to the corral in plenty of time.
My biggest fear was being able to locate Kristen in the masses, but once the gun went off I picked her up pretty quickly and rolled with her early. Around 3 miles in, once we turned north of the zoo, I asked her how she was doing, and she said her legs were bugging her. So, in a move I would later regret, I picked it up a tad (it doesn't show it looking at my splits, but I gapped her a little bit). I found Nate around 10K, and picked him up off the curb to get him back and rolling with me. It sucked knowing his race was in the toilet, but it was great having someone to roll with and work with. We worked from 6-15ish together, which was great for both of us. I, getting too hyped up off the crowd, picked it up around 20k-halfway, which was even more dumb. That surge probably cost me some.
Right after halfway, heading back out of downtown, I realized I was in a bit over my head. I'm proud I kept strong, and kept working, but I knew at halfway when my legs started to feel it I was in trouble. I worked hard from 13 to about 17 or 18, but eventually the wheels came off. I really struggled battling the gusts from 14-16, and that took the last bit out of my legs. I died the last 8 miles, which, like I found out last year, is a long ass way to die. My 18-26.2 splits are at the end.
On the one hand, I didn't die because I was overtrained and burned out, which I'll count as a win. I died because of my stupidity, which is much more fixable. Watching Kris beat me by a minute in the last 2ish miles kinda rubbed my nose in it. This is why I'd consider this my true debut, because like every marathon rookie, I went out too hard and paid for it. The one thing I still really need to work on is my in-race fueling. I only took 1 GU (at 8), which still upset my stomach. It didn't cause me to die, but I stuck with the Gatorade they were handing out, and I was cramping a little at the end. Could use drinking more and getting used to that. Other than that, no regrets. Kinda ironic that my pace was exactly the same for the 2 hour tempo as it was in the race.
6:04/6:13/6:23/6:34/6:44/6:46/6:37/6:48/7:03/1:31