Chicago Marathon - RunMarathon

Once we crossed the start line it didn’t take long to start sweating. I ran next to another girl around my age for the first mile or two and talked to her a little bit. I think she would have liked to run together and chatted the whole way but I have found from other races I do a lot better if I don’t talk and push my pace a little harder so I finally had to lose her. The start of the race is lined with people screaming and cheering and I kept getting the chills thinking of what an amazing experience this was. It was great to look at all the tall buildings and stores as we ran right in the middle of the city. I quickly noticed that I didn’t feel packed in like sardines this year. I can’t believe what a difference starting in corral D made compared to being in the open section.

Almost immediately my Garmin didn’t work right because of all the tall buildings so I was trying to track the time and follow the pace to run a 3:50 marathon. I had a pace temporary tattoo on my arm to cross check my pace. I ran conservatively the first 10K but really felt great so started to pick up the pace and ran around 8:30 minute miles for the next 10 miles or so. I had been running with the 3:50 pace group but passed them and was about 200 yards behind the 3:45 pace group for quite a while but never did catch up with them and eventually fell back with the 3:50 group.

I remember running by the Botanic Gardens and the flowers were just gorgeous (except lots of guys decided this was a good spot to “water the flowers.”) Next, I remember Lincoln Park about mile 9 and once again the drag queens dressed as cheerleaders were a riot to watch. This is my favorite section and seems to have the most people.

As I was running, I could really tell that I was faster than last year and was feeling strong. I had a Gu after 1:15 and another one each hour for a total of three. As the time went by I just kept feeling warmer and warmer and the sweat kept running into my eyes. Next year I will carry something to wipe off my face. I saw the temperature said 69 at the start of the race and every time I saw it, it kept rising. Eventually the race reminded me of the scene from last year with people spraying hoses on us, fire hydrants open and a bunch of misting stations. Once again I ran through all the water I could in addition to pouring some of my water on my neck and back at every water stop. This year they had three sponge stations were people handed out cold sponges. Those were the best! It felt so good to wipe off my face and the back of my neck—what a relief.

Between miles six and 16 I actually thought there was a slight chance I might be able to qualify for Boston and come in under 3:45:59. Looking back at my times I was fairly close at several points (with an expected 3:46:20 finish) but that was the closest I got.

I’m not quite sure exactly when but sometime around mile 15 or 16 my right knee started to hurt, the same knee that had been giving me trouble during my training. I took 2 ibuprofens and tried to play games with myself to distract me from the pain in my knee. Several times while running people had “Shook me all night long” by AC/DC blaring and that always gave me a big boost and took my mind off my knee.

I tried to keep up a good pace but could feel myself slowing down. I really knew at this point there was no chance of qualifying for Boston and I felt completely okay with that. I had not been training with that goal in mind and only the past two weeks had even thought that might be a possibility. At that point I really wanted to try and finish under 3:50 and tried to make sure I held a pace that would get me there. I knew I had made up enough time that all I needed to do was stay around 9 minutes and I could break 3:50 so I just held on and made that pace each mile. At this point I put my i-pod on to try and give me that final shot of energy.

From miles 22-24 I really slowed down and just wouldn’t let myself walk then realized how close I was going to be to 3:50 and made myself pick up the pace the last two miles. Although my knee really hurt I just kept thinking that once I got to the finish line it would all stop. I just tried to keep the 3:50 pace group in sight.

Then I picked it up the last mile and finished strong. This time I saw the cameras and hammed it up at the finish giving the “rock on” sign. I was smiling ear to ear knowing I had broke 3:50 because I finished with one of the pace groups (although at that point I didn’t know my exact time.)

I felt good and felt like I had pushed myself a lot harder than I had before but I was also a little bummed knowing that if my knee hadn’t been hurting I could have pushed myself a lot harder and ran faster.

Still, it was a great feeling and I was ready for a post-marathon beer! After the beer I grabbed my i-phone and had a text from a friend congratulating me on my time of 3:49:19.

The next marathon in 2009 is going to be a serious BQ attempt for me.


Speed work. I hardly did any speed work for training and next time I will do that. As far as the race goes, I wouldn't have done anything differently except maybe tried to keep up the 8:30 pace for a few miles longer.

Crossed the finish line and just wanted some water but couldn't find any right away so made my way to the beer area for some 312 beer (which was a nice treat) then started drinking water. I ended up walking around while I talked on the phone to friends and family then walked back to hotel so walked 2-3 miles. I think that really paid off as I was not that sore the next day.


There were really two main issues. The first was the heat. It was not nearly as brutal as the marathon last year when it was 89 degrees and high humidity but it was still quite warm and I was sweating like crazy the whole race. I made sure to get Gatorade and water at all 20 stops which made me feel hydrated but probably took a little extra time. I was feeling great and running faster than I had planned until about mile 15 my right knee started to hurt under the knee cap so I had to deal with not thinking about that pain but it did slow me down.


I think the Chicago Marathon is an amazing race. The number of volunteers and specators make it so successful. I would like to keep doing this race every year and hope for decent temperatures eventually.