And we're off. Well sort of; these big races always take some time to cross the actual start line. As mentioned above, I have to use the bathroom, but I'm not in such a dire situation that I must use one of the concrete walls of the Columbus Dr underpass to relieve myself like many of the dozen or so guys that actually did. Around me were the 3:20 and the 3:30 pace group and my goal for the race was to stay somewhere between them, and I did this pretty successfully for about 2/3rds of the race. The first few miles I was only concerned about keeping things calm, relaxed and to not let the moment get me too carried away. For the most part this was a success. As I figured, my pace was a little wacky from trying to keep from being lost in the shuffle of the start as things got sorted out for the first few miles. But really, all I'm really paying attention to at this point is the masses amount of people out there cheering; it was quite awesome.

Then it was time to get down to business. The first point of order: be on the lookout for the port-a-johns on the course - my bladder be full. At mile 5 I come across the toilets and I scamper over to the first empty one and quickly take care of business. I'm so speedy that I only lost 30 seconds or less on this endeavor. I get back out on the road and I'm focused.

Now, I would love to give a mile by mile analysis on how I was feeling, what I was seeing on the course, and how I adjusted strategy along the way, but I can't. I only have highlights. For a 3.75 hour race, time really flew by! Even in the agonizing final miles. Sooo the opposite in a long training run. In fact, I'm almost lead to believe that the heat may have gotten to me and I may have been operating on autopilot for a portion of the race. Here is what I can tell you:

*Miles 3-17, evenly paced in the 7:30-7:40 min/mi pace. At no point did I feel like I was pushing the boundaries of what I could do. Comfortable. Rock-n-Roll. Happy.

*At no point do I ever remember looking up at the buildings or taking in the scenery, that's how focused/in the zone I was. The thing is, Chicago is a beautiful city and I didn't take the chance to admire it. The much entertaining Boys Town was a blur, I don't think I saw one funny fan sign, and if there were tall buildings around me I sure as heck didn't notice.

*If I do remember anything it was the pace booty pulling me along for miles 6-12. Alas, I lost her when I felt my body get "fuzzy" and I had to slow down at aid stations to make sure I was actually drinking in the Gatorade and water and not simply putting 5% in my mouth and the other 95% on my face and shirt. At this point they were announcing that the course alert system was being raised to yellow due to rising temperatures.

*Mile 13: I give a fist pump to the mass amounts of people in the stands. I then spot my mom and dad in the crowd and give them two thumbs up. They were awesome enough to come support me and make me feel like I wasn't out doing this race alone.

*Mile 15: Felt first muscle twinge in my left hamstring.

*Mile 19-Finish: I'm not sure where miles 16-18 went but I can summarize these last miles because they were all the same story. I am now frequently pulling up in pain from hamstring and calf cramps. I have moved from 7:30min/mi to 10min/mi. I try to convince my body that I can run through this pain and that its just mind over matter, that I will force my legs to keep moving despite the sharp, stand you up straight, agonizing pain cramps. But my muscles had other ideas. I don't know if I have the adjective or metaphor to describe what it felt like. Perhaps like marbles rolling up and down the backside of your legs. I did all I could to ward off the cramps. I took in gels, salt tablets, Gatorade, water, and bananas and accepted the free sprays of water from the neighborhood hoses. In all I consumed 6 gels, 5 salt tablets, Gatorade and/or water at every station, and a banana. And I was still dehydrated when I was finished. It wasn't until 8:00 later that night when I finally peed.

The hardest part of this race was in those last two miles. When the crowd is so encouraging and they're telling you that you're almost there and to fight through the pain. They're telling you to keep going and to be strong. However, I had no choice but to take yet another walk break to calm fire in my muscles. Everytime I did that I felt like I was disappointing myself and my onlookers. As I neared the finish I made sure that I would not be seen walking down that final chute, but instead of an arms raised celebration as I crossed the finish line I wore an grimacing expression of pain and exhaustion.

5k - 7:54/mile
10 - 7:46
15 - 7:35
20 - 7:42
13.1 - 7:43
25 - 7:47
30 - 8:14
35 - 9:49
40 - 10:39
1.4 - 9:55

Nothing. I left it all out on the course. I wouldn't change my approach again - well maybe, but it was my first marathon so what do I know.

Slow, plodding walk to pick up my medal and gear check bag. This walk was loooong. I tried to sit down on the curb to rest but a lady whose face I never saw said I had to keep moving or else she would have to have medical come check me out. I was bad but not that bad.

I passed by the free 312 beer. I passed on the free solid food. I passed on the finishers photo. I just grabbed my water, Gatorade, banana, and medal and continued my zombie walk to the gear tent.


Two things. First, my lack of long distance training. Sure I did the scheduled training plan and did the long distance runs, but I think if I had a longer resume in doing long training runs I might have been better off. Plus we had our first baby born right at the beginning of this training program. I traded many weekday maintenance runs for sleep which often translated to my long weekend run being over 50% of my weekly mileage.

Second, the heat. I don't know if I could've hydrated more than I did. Sponges and water hoses at aid stations helped a bunch.


For an event designed to host and process 45,000 runners plus all of the needs that can come along with that - this was a pretty well oiled machine. The volunteers, as always, were awesome. They are everywhere. Probably the best thing is that before the race they are scattered throughout Grant Park and on the streets. Their sole existence is to be there just in case you have a question and/or get lost and might be a mile away from where you need to be.