Bank of America Chicago Marathon - Run

Had to use the portapotty twice (mile 5 as usual and around mile 16 I think) - because of the cooler weather I don't think I was sweating off enough liquid, but I didn't want to let myself get thirsty. Hard balance. I also had to stop to retie my shoe around mile 7-8 because the rain made everything kind of lose. I wasn't using lock laces this time which I kind of hated- I think I tied my right shoe too tightly but this is a hard thing to adjust without stopping a dozen times so i left it. It loosened up a bit but I wonder if this, plus rain, ultimately caused me extra problems with my ankle.

All this aside, the run went well. I started taking my Tyleonal around mile 10 and probably took 4-5 total, plus 3 or so salt tabs. Ben met me at mile 21 with some popsicles and again at mile 24ish. So I had 3 popsicles in the last few miles which was great. I only ended up eating about 8 shot blocks and one bite of my PB sandwich square during the race, so I guess most of my run was fueled by gatorade (I tried to take a sip at almost ever aid station). The last few miles my calves, especially my right one, felt exceptionally sore. Was a little worried I was on the verge of a cramp but I tried to quicken my cadence and push through them. Was able to stick to my intervals and keep my pace fairly consistent the whole race which was a first! I was so happy that the temps were better than last year. Not worrying about heat exhaustion was a relief.

Get my shoe lace situation figured out (stick to lock laces). I couldn't change the weather so I did the best I could to adapt!

Hyperventilated a little after the finish line (mix of emotion plus breath catching) but recovered quickly and got all the stuff and wandered back to the team HQ- grabbed a little bit of a hummus veggie wrap, water, and got a post race massage after changing out of running clothes. Took a cab up to Furious Spoon for a ramen dinner, then walked down to Scofflaw for cocktails which was a decent shake out walk. Ice bath for feet, massage from Ben at home.

Day after the race- felt about the same as last year (feet/ankles hurt the most) but right ankle was way worse. Saw PT on Wednesday and he said ankle would be fine and worked on it a bit. Going down stairs still hurt ankle on Thursday. Friday, the stairs ankle pain was gone, went for longest walk all week while waiting for Bela to have his scan at the vet. As of Saturday, it is much better but still bothering me. I likely won't try running again until mid next week. I was pleasantly surprised that all other muscle soreness was pretty much gone by Tuesday/Wednesday. Stupid ankle.


The weather, for sure. While my feet weren't wet like at the rock n' roll half marathon (where it rained/poured the whole time), the wet road introduced enough slickness to cause small problems that added up over 26 miles.


The Chicago Marathon is always a blast. Very well organized and fun with lots of volunteers and spectators. My ONLY gripe was new this year, the security getting into the expo added a lot of time (just took lots longer than previous years) and security getting into the park before the race made us dump out our water bottles. Had I known this I wouldn't have filled mine with my Skratch packet. Not a huge deal but I had wasting stuff.