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Comments: So just a quarter mile or so after the start, I noticed my heartrate was really high, like mid-170s high. For a 7:30 pace in cool conditions, it would typically by about 155-160. So I'm guessing some combination of fatigue and a cold (which in the past few days has progressed to a pretty severe head cold) were the cause of that. With that in mind I just tried to keep it under 175 and still run a decent pace. I didn't think I'd be able to run at that heartrate for a full marathon, but I figured I'd go as far as I could, then slow down or walk some if need be. Also had very tight hips and hamstrings pretty much the whole race. I had to stop to use the bathroom 4 times, so I was definitely drinking too much for the conditions. I thought the course was pretty cool overall. I made it to the 30K mark still holding pace for a 3:25, but slowed a lot the last 7 miles, had to to keep my heartrate down. Not completely disappointed with my time, but definitely could have performed better under other circumstances. What would you do differently?: Not get sick...  Post race
Warm down: Walked through the finish shute, grabbed some food, picked up my gear bag, and went back to the hotel to shower and watch football for a while until my wife would be finishing. Headed back out to see her finish, then loaded up the car to head home. What limited your ability to perform faster: Illness, sore muscles. Event comments: I enjoyed the race and I'm glad I did it, but it's probably not a race I would choose to do again. I guess I am just a small-town guy now, but I enjoy doing the smaller races, so I'll probably mostly stick to that. Last updated: 2012-01-03 12:00 AM
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United States
Chicago Marathon
40F / 4C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 4430/37315
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 739/3502
So here we go, another race weekend. I've raced a lot this year, so I was feeling kind of run down in the weeks leading up to the race. On top of that, the wife and I just got back from a Disney trip, so lots of walking and we also did a 10 mile run race while we were there. After the trip I took the entire week off prior to this race to hopefully recover. We drove over Saturday morning/afternoon from Iowa, and immediately hit a wall of traffic about 4 miles from the location of the expo, probably traffic from the expo and the Notre Dame-Miami football game at Soldier Field. I was immediately reminded why I don't really like being in big cities, because it took over an hour to go those last 4 miles. But it was poor planning on our part to get there right at that time. The expo was smooth, but I was a little bummed that the one shirt I wanted to buy at the Nike store was available in everything but a medium. After the expo we drove to the hotel. We stayed at the Congress Plaza Hotel, which was pretty decent, did not have a 2-night minimum, and was literally right across the street from the start/finish line. So that was nice and really convenient. After we did check-in, we headed to the pasta dinner, which was only a couple blocks away and actually had some of the better race pasta dinner food I've had. We headed back to the hotel and relaxed and watched college football until bedtime. I got a little too into a couple of the games and didn't go to bed until about 10:30. I slept decent and woke up at about 6 Sunday morning. Immediately noticed a tickle in my throat and head congestion. Figures, I have to get sick the morning of the race, but I tried not to worry about it. I headed out around 6:45 after a fluid-only breakfast to check my bag and get to my corral in time. I wore compression shorts, a singlet, and arm warmers, so it was a little chilly standing there waiting for the start...
Just walking to the corral...