FIRST MARATHON. My training was going well, I was going to conquer the world, beat the Kenyans into submission, and then tell Mike Phelps he ain't all that. I knew I was screwed when I noticed I was hanging with the 3:10 marathoners up to mile 17, then I suddenly realized this was a really bad idea. This flies in the face of all the great advice from many experienced and smarter than me marathoners. Additionally, my "tiny" blister on the right foot started to hurt... more on that later. Then around mile 19 the calf cramps came on, run a mile - stretch - walk - repeat all the way to mile 24. I did manage to trot in from there. Once over the bridge/hill near the finish it was all adrenaline/personal angst/guts that got me to the finish. Post race I decided to see the podiatry tent, once inside they took off my shoes and gasped. Not good when seasoned professionals gasp. I did manage to break one record in Chicago - the absolute largest blister they have ever seen - it was about 4" from arch to big toe and about 1" across. It was basically an IV bag on the foot. They said to me "well, there's always next year to finish". I asked them what they were talking about, I just came across the finish line. After the stunned looks ended, they said "well, ok then". After getting my foot wrapped like King Tut and taking the laces out of my shoes, I walked/hobbled a bit back to the meeting place. The stunning part of this race is the mass of people who cheer you on, it was awe-inspiring to say the least. I can not guess how many lined the streets for 26 miles, crazy. The sound of the crowd was deafening, the people of Chicago embraced 45,000 insane people for an entire day.

Many, many things. Came out too fast - like stupid fast, did not take care of the blister well, drink more although I thought I did.

Bananas, a beer (best part of the day), lots of water, walking, getting the blister popped, etc. From this point it was all downhill back to my wife's cousins house near mile 13/16.


My own profound ignorance of running and listening to people who know what they are talking about. To say I learned a lesson is to put it mildly.


I have to say, this was the absolute best run event I have done in the 3 years of doing endurance events. My own silliness aside, this is the best race for a first timer to get started. My profound thanks go to all the volunteers, they rock - period.