A Cold Chicago Marathon 2006….Completed
With school, work and training, I haven’t had a chance to blog. Well, the marathon training part has been completed. The Chicago marathon was the past weekend, Sunday October 22nd. I had been training for six months and the big day finally came. Is it everything I thought it would be? Yes. Well, except the cold weather part.
I arrived in Chicago on Friday morning. I went to the expo and this is when I started to get fired up. There were so many runners there from all over the world. Some novice marathoners, like myself and other experienced marathoners. You could just feel the excitement around you. There were really great booths, from Gatorade to PowerBar to Cliff Bar to New Balance to Nike and many more. They had some interesting running gear. I got stocked up on stuff.
On Saturday, I went to a broadway show, Wicked, which was amazing. Of course, I had a pasta dinner each night. Being in a different city, it was so hard to really think about running. I had only ran twice that week so in my head, it seemed so long ago. I went to bed on Saturday night very calm.
The weather on Friday and Saturday was great. It was about 60 degrees. Well, come Sunday morning, I figured shorts and a long sleeve shirt would do. I walked outside and went straight back into the hotel. A cold front had come in and it was about 40 degrees. The high was going to be 46 degrees. Luckily I was prepared with the right gear. I put my tights on, my head band, a sweatshirt and gloves. We walked to the race and I got in line and was ready to go. With 47,000 runners all huddled around, it got warm pretty quickly. So I got rid of the head band and sweatshirt.
The race didn’t start until 8am, however, being positioned where I was at, I crossed the starting line at 8:05.51am. That was my official start time. I started off at a good pace. It was so crowded so getting around people was a bit difficult. I had my Ipod and I was feeling great. I did have to use the bathroom though as I drank 2 bottles of water before the race. I took the 2nd porter potty stop and luckily, I found one that had no line and was super clean. This was about mile 6. I wasn’t going to need one again throughout the race.
The race took you all through Chicago, literally. I saw Lincoln Park, Michigan Avenue, Little Italy, Chinatown, United Center, Millenium Park, Grant Park and much more. It was a very scenic route. During a 26 mile race, there is a lot to do. I observed runners and read different t-shirts. I saw many friends running together or families such as father and daughters. I saw many runners running in memory of someone, which was really moving. The most amazing part of the race were the fans. There was a fan every part of the way. It was so awesome to see runners reunite with their fans different parts of the way.
Unfortunately, my fans never found me so I ran all those miles without seeing a familiar face except for the last mile. I saw my cousins in the crowd on the last 400 meters. They were screaming so loud and I turned and saw them. It was so awesome!
I would say the last 9 miles were the most difficult for me. I really felt like my legs couldn’t make it. I really had no choice but to go. I think what made me keep going was looking at everyone else going and I was like, if they can do it, I can do it. My body felt good, my endurance was holding up, it was just my legs that were killing me. My legs felt like jello.
It was 42 degrees and drizzly. I was so cold. I kept my running pants and long sleeve shirt on throughout the race. I barely broke a sweat. The cold wind was brutal. I mean, I am a Texan, what do you expect me to say. It was damn cold. I had trained in hot weather and this was my first real cold run. It was a bit different. I tried to keep up with the 4 hour pacers but kept losing them. Towards the end, I stopped for a banana, twice. I had a Milky Way, which I don’t even like. I had gatorade and water. My tummy was pretty full. I probably shouldn’t have had all that but I felt like I needed something to give me that boost.
When mile 20 came round, I figured 6 more miles should be a cinch. Well, not so. Mile 22 came and it felt like I had done 6 miles already. I kept thinking, when will this be over? I had to stop multiple times to stretch. Then I would jump back in and run really hard. I did this back and forth a few times. The last mile, I really kept a strong pace. The last 400 meters, I sprinted. I still had a lot of strength. I was beat. I was cold and delirious. I didn’t even pick a place to meet my family and friends afterwards so I wandered around 30 minutes looking for a familiar face and it never came.
Finally, I used a cell phone to call and I met up with my family and friends. I was so relieved because I was so cold! I put my sweater shirt back on, doubled my pants, put gloves and a scarf around me. I was still cold after 4 hours of running.
It was a great marathon and I am so glad I chose this one. The fans made the difference. You really feel special in that marathon. Now I can say I completed a marathon. Would I do it again? Heck ya!
SAFUN » Blog Archive » A Hot Chicago Marathon hits home
October 8th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
[…] year’s marathon had 40 degree cooler weather. I actually ran the Chicago marathon last year and I was freezing! Unbelievable. Weather is […]