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Comments: I had no goal. I knew I would finish, but really had no clue how long it would take me. My plan was to start very conservatively, see how I felt around mile 15-16 and go from there. I carried 4 GUs and a package of Shot Bloks and planned to take one in every 5 miles. I started with the 5:00 finish time people, so it took us about 20 minutes to even get to the start line! I really took it easy the first 6 miles, chatting a bit with a girl I met at the start. Though I lost her sometime after the 6 mile aid station - I thought she was right behind me. My HR was fairly low and I was just enjoying myself. Before I knew it, I was 1/2 way done. I felt pretty good and was keeping a consistent pace, so I decided to pick it up a little bit. By mile 18 I had caught the 4:45 pace group and passed them a bit later. My HR crept up to the mid 170s, and I was confident I could maintain that pace until the end. I surprisingly felt good - a LOT better than the 20 mile run I did in August. Unfortunately, this was the part of the course where it seemed EVERYONE decided to walk. It was a bit frustrating having to dodge people, and I ran SMACK into the back of two people. By the time I hit mile 23 I was ready to be DONE, but kept pushing. I ran strong through the finish, just happy to be done! What would you do differently?: MMM, train a bit more intentionally? Not drink 1/2 a bottle of wine the day before?  Post race
Warm down: I walked as soon as I crossed the finish line! Wrapped up in a space blanket, grabbed a beer, saw M and her mom outside the fence. Met up with them, snapped some pics, and walked the mile back to the hotel. Showered, popped some blisters (ew!), called the family, the Boyfriend, texted everyone who texted "Congrats", walked to meet up with other friends for a late lunch. Ordered a lemondrop martini (maybe I do have a problem?) and fatty cheeseburger. What limited your ability to perform faster: I'm slow. And I'm ok with being slow! I know I'm not going to win the race, so I just try to enjoy running. Event comments: This was an amazing weekend. Chicago really does this right. I am glad I did the marathon, but not sure I want to do this again. For not training, I think I did pretty good. I only walked through the water points, kept a consistent pace and I'm fairly proud of that. Profile Album Last updated: 2008-04-18 12:00 AM
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United States
LaSalle Bank
84F / 29C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 14992/31000
Age Group = F30-34
Age Group Rank = 912/?
Well, I flew in on Friday night, met up with M and her mom and promptly went to the bar. Nothing tastes as good as a Grey Goose Dirty Martini. :) There were 4 of us that were supposed to do the race, but with injury and work, I was the only one running! Saturday we went to the expo and then met up with another friend. Ate a late lunch at Bin 36 (?) where I enjoyed a "flight" of pino noir. I, ahem, may have a problem. Who drinks before a marathon?!
I did not get a good night's sleep - very very nervous. I woke up at 5:30, got dressed, body glide-ed, sunscreened. Walked the mile from our hotel on Michigan Ave to the start. Stretched and tried to NOT freak out. I hadn't run a marathon in 10 years (since college!) - and I had not specifically trained for a marathon (logs will prove that!).