Tuesday, October 11, 2005
2005 Chicago Marathon Race Report
It was a very chilly morning to start the day. Amy woke me up around 5:30am so that I could shower and get dressed. I had everything I needed laid out and packed in my bag so the only thing I needed to take care of was breakfast. Saturday before the race was cold and overcast, so this made me doubt my planned race outfit choice. I decided to stay with the tank top and
add my cycling sleeves instead of going with the long sleeve shirt.
Amy toasted some wheat bread for me and I made a PB&J and had some water. It was satisfying enough for me to not need more. I put a Boost in my gear bag with my water bottles and Gatorade. We left the house around 6am and I navigated down to the Grant Park garage without a problem.
We parked and sat in the car for a while. I was a bit nervous and didn't know what to expect. Amy was nervous as well. Helping her through her first marathon helped me be more confident and focused. It may have also led me to be a bit overly optimistic when I should have been conservative. We listened to a little Her Space Holiday to ease Amy's nerves. I drank most of the Boost and started drinking from my quart of Gatorade. We left the car and I knew it was going to be a cold couple of hours before I started running. I didn't bring a throw-away shirt and almost started to panic about being too cold. Only after I saw a couple of guys in garbage bags did I remember the garbage bag I had cut up the night before. I'm glad I made my race plan before hand, because "monkey brain" was taking over and I almost wore a dri-fit long sleeve to the start as a throw-away.
I was having the last laugh as my plastic bag jacket was quite warm even though Amy said it was Ghetto as fuck... at least I didn't have to gear check. In a race with 40,000 participants, it's the small details that save you stress and time. The sun worked it's way up between a solid blanket of gray clouds and the horizon as we passed Buckingham Fountain. Only half of the bright red sun shone above the horizon. An inspiring sight.
We kept heading North toward the Medalist's Tent, a private LaSalle Bank area South of the Charity Village, for ABN AMRO guests and Big Wigs. I don't know why I was offered tickets (being a bank customer?) but it was sweet. There was a buffet spread with muffins, bagels, juices, and most importantly COFFEE. I wasn't interested in eating but it was nice to get warm and watch some of the pre-race coverage. They also had private gear check (D'oh!) and porta-pots. Nice to get some VIP treatment.
At about a quarter to 8 we headed off to the starting pens having to backtrack a long way North. For a while I stood with Amy near her pacing group as we chatted nervously with a older woman who was running her 14th? marathon. She was so cute and small, maybe in her 50's. She passed on her words of wisdom and a few laughs.
I started making my way up toward the front, trying to reach the 4 Hour pacing group. I never did quite get there as all 40,000 runners seemed to have the same idea. I only reached the 4:15 pacing group. I should have taken this as a sign. It was starting to warm up as the sun burned through some clouds and I still had my plastic coat and quart of Gatorade in hand.
I started playing with my HR monitor and turned on the foot pod. I wasn't getting a Heart Rate reading because the strap was too dry. I wasn't in the mood to mess with it as my gloved hands were full and the start was minutes away. Everyone started walking to the front and people were chucking shirts and bottles off to the sides. For the first mile or so we'd be dodging
random shirts and bottles cast off from runners ahead.
It was finally here. I crossed the starting mat, pressed play on my mp3 player and started my stop watch. My first marathon was under way.
add my cycling sleeves instead of going with the long sleeve shirt.
Amy toasted some wheat bread for me and I made a PB&J and had some water. It was satisfying enough for me to not need more. I put a Boost in my gear bag with my water bottles and Gatorade. We left the house around 6am and I navigated down to the Grant Park garage without a problem.
We parked and sat in the car for a while. I was a bit nervous and didn't know what to expect. Amy was nervous as well. Helping her through her first marathon helped me be more confident and focused. It may have also led me to be a bit overly optimistic when I should have been conservative. We listened to a little Her Space Holiday to ease Amy's nerves. I drank most of the Boost and started drinking from my quart of Gatorade. We left the car and I knew it was going to be a cold couple of hours before I started running. I didn't bring a throw-away shirt and almost started to panic about being too cold. Only after I saw a couple of guys in garbage bags did I remember the garbage bag I had cut up the night before. I'm glad I made my race plan before hand, because "monkey brain" was taking over and I almost wore a dri-fit long sleeve to the start as a throw-away.
I was having the last laugh as my plastic bag jacket was quite warm even though Amy said it was Ghetto as fuck... at least I didn't have to gear check. In a race with 40,000 participants, it's the small details that save you stress and time. The sun worked it's way up between a solid blanket of gray clouds and the horizon as we passed Buckingham Fountain. Only half of the bright red sun shone above the horizon. An inspiring sight.
We kept heading North toward the Medalist's Tent, a private LaSalle Bank area South of the Charity Village, for ABN AMRO guests and Big Wigs. I don't know why I was offered tickets (being a bank customer?) but it was sweet. There was a buffet spread with muffins, bagels, juices, and most importantly COFFEE. I wasn't interested in eating but it was nice to get warm and watch some of the pre-race coverage. They also had private gear check (D'oh!) and porta-pots. Nice to get some VIP treatment.
At about a quarter to 8 we headed off to the starting pens having to backtrack a long way North. For a while I stood with Amy near her pacing group as we chatted nervously with a older woman who was running her 14th? marathon. She was so cute and small, maybe in her 50's. She passed on her words of wisdom and a few laughs.
I started making my way up toward the front, trying to reach the 4 Hour pacing group. I never did quite get there as all 40,000 runners seemed to have the same idea. I only reached the 4:15 pacing group. I should have taken this as a sign. It was starting to warm up as the sun burned through some clouds and I still had my plastic coat and quart of Gatorade in hand.
I started playing with my HR monitor and turned on the foot pod. I wasn't getting a Heart Rate reading because the strap was too dry. I wasn't in the mood to mess with it as my gloved hands were full and the start was minutes away. Everyone started walking to the front and people were chucking shirts and bottles off to the sides. For the first mile or so we'd be dodging
random shirts and bottles cast off from runners ahead.
It was finally here. I crossed the starting mat, pressed play on my mp3 player and started my stop watch. My first marathon was under way.
