This past weekend was the culmination of about 1,000 miles of training runs - it was the 32nd Chicago marathon. It was the second time I've run this race, and my fourth marathon overall (Chicago 2006, New York 2007, Illinois 2009, Chicago 2009).
Up at 4:29 am and out of the house at 5:15; into the city Brad (a neighbor also running) and I drove. As we pulled into the parking garage a few blocks from the start, the DJ on the radio said 'currently in Chicago, it's 30 degrees, but feels like 26'. I knew it would be cold - but in the 20's...I had serious second thoughts about shorts and a short sleeve shirt. We parked and I looked for my bag in the back seat - but it wasn't there....it was sitting in my kitchen floor! It had a lot of critical items in it - my hat, sunglasses, body glide (to help prevent chafing), 5 hour energy, and most importantly my knee brace. I thought 'What a stumble to start my day - it has to improve from here.'
Up until 13 days before the marathon, I had been injury free for the first marathon season ever - everything was going completely to plan. Then, I hurt my knee....I wasn't doing anything other than walking through my house, but a pain shot through my knee - uh oh! I rested my knee for 5 days, then resumed the last week of training - with a knee brace I was fine, without it, I had some mild pain. Luckily, I was able to find a medical tent near the start line and taped my knee. I also called Deb and asked that she bring the bag with her so I could get at least my hat when I saw her on the course.
So, off to the start line I went. I entered the mob of people to get into my assigned start corral. At the marathon, there are four start corrals (behind the elite and top 100 runners)....to get into a corral, you have to send in a qualifying time - I was assigned to corral C. Once into the start coral, I looked for my spot - at the very back of the corral was a sign that said '3:45' signifying if you planned to run the marathon in 3 hours 45 minutes, you should line up there....I thought - I guess I'm running faster than 3:45 today. Going into the marathon, my goal was 3:45, but I thought that was a bit of a stretch. The corral was great though - there was plenty of room to move around, finish stretching, and shiver to keep from freezing! Still questioning my clothing choice a bit, I was ready to get moving and warm up!
About 15 minutes later the race started, and 3 minutes after that I was across the start line and running. I was feeling great, I was running great miles and someplace around mile 7 or so, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to see Sterling, one of Deb's c0-workers who is a very good runner. We chatted for a few minutes, and agreed to pace off each other. We burned through to the 1/2 marathon point chatting now and then, and hitting the half marathon point way ahead of my goal pace. About that time, my right knee started hurting. It felt like a had a bruise on the top of my knee cap. The strange thing is my left knee was the one that had given me issues for the prior 2 weeks. I ran through it and tried to ignore it.
Just before mile 15, I saw Deb, Sarah, my In-laws, and Kim (Deb's friend) cheering me on. I took a hard right and stopped to grab my stuff. I saw a large yellow sign that said 'Go Dada' in block letters - it was by far the best sign I saw I saw all day! I grabbed my hat and 5 hour energy drink, and a pass to Deb's corporate tent. I was probably stopped for less than 30 seconds, but it felt like an eternity! I was back on the course and running. As soon as I put the hat on my head, I felt 10,000% better - I'm not exactly sure why, maybe it just felt like home having my normal running gear on. I picked up the pace for the next 1/2 mile and finally caught back up with Sterling. We continued running together until about mile 23 when my right knee started hurting a little more, so I slowed down a bit.
At that point I started thinking about the many people that have lived through a lot tougher things than running a few miles with a sore knee. Specific people who have touched my life went through my head - two in particular kept popping into my head:
One was Deb's late grandmother (Boggie), who despite being in a nursing home for 9+ years, was always thankful for everything she had, never wanted to inconvenience anyone, and always so grateful for our visits.
The other was my Mom's cousin Terry who has been in a wheel chair ever since I've known him, and has lived 30+ years beyond what the doctors said he would. Despite all of this, he always has a joke and a smile for everyone who he sees.
With that in mind, I dedicated the last few miles to them and pushed through to the finish line! When I hit mile 24, I knew I had a chance at 3:40, but I'd have to pick it up...so I did. I basically sprinted the last 1/2 mile of the race, and finished in 3:39:59! That's almost 16 minutes better than my previous personal best (3:55:51).
It was by far the best race of my life! I like to think I will improve in a future marathon, but if I don't, I'll always be able to say I was in the 3:30's for a marathon - which even impresses me!
Below are my splits for my fellow running geeks (per Garmin - which measured the race at 26.46 miles - it got off by .2 miles before mile 5):
Mile 1: 8:16
Mile 2: 8:21
Mile 3: 8:08
Mile 4: 7:48
Mile 5: 8:02
Mile 6: 8:12
Mile 7: 8:11
Mile 8: 8:16
Mile 9: 8:19
Mile 10: 8:19
Mile 11: 8:16
Mile 12: 8:08
Mile 13: 8:25
Mile 14: 8:18
Mile 15: 8:08
Mile 16: 8:32
Mile 17: 7:46
Mile 18: 8:19
Mile 19: 8:18
Mile 20: 8:22
Mile 21: 8:32
Mile 22: 8:30
Mile 23: 8:46
Mile 24: 9:03
Mile 25: 8:52
Mile 26: 8:23
Mile 26.46: 3:19 (7:12 per mile pace - this was the 26.2 plus the extra .26 Garmin measured it)
Get out there and run.....
No comments:
Post a Comment