So yeah, the Chicago Marathon was ... OK. As you've probably read in the papers, race day conditions could not have been worse: temperatures were in the low 90s and very humid. Several hundred runners were admitted to hospital and one died. The race was called around 11.30am and only about 24k out of 46k registered finished. I did manage to finish, and was safe (though it took me 3-4hrs, a cold Jama Juice, and a cool shower to feel normal again), but nowhere near my goal time (goal = 3h20m, actual = 3h49m).
The thing is, while I'd like to blame the weather, and it was certainly a factor, I think the real culprit was my training. I didn't do enough long runs, and they weren't long and slow enough (longest was 2h40m). Next time I will do them based on time, not distance. I went out too fast (again), weaving through the crowd with a really nice guy Mark, but paid big time at the end. We stupidly did 7m30s miles, moving up from a slow start behind the 4hr pace group to the 3h20s. Things were good until around miles 19 when the wheels came off and I totally blew up. I overheated, my knee acted up, and the miles turned in to 8 minute miles, then 9, then 10. Managed to run the last two after getting a pick-me-up from a nice girl ("yeah buddy") but did not kick at the end. Yuck yuck yuck. The next one will be better.
Shout outs to Dr. Cipriano and to the Kopinski boys for coming out and cheer, and for the good company post-race.
So yeah, the Chicago Marathon was ... OK. As you've probably read in the papers, race day conditions could not have been worse: temperatures were in the low 90s and very humid. Several hundred runners were admitted to hospital and one died. The race was called around 11.30am and only about 24k out of 46k registered finished. I did manage to finish, and was safe (though it took me 3-4hrs, a cold Jama Juice, and a cool shower to feel normal again), but nowhere near my goal time (goal = 3h20m, actual = 3h49m). 
The thing is, while I'd like to blame the weather, and it was certainly a factor, I think the real culprit was my training. I didn't do enough long runs, and they weren't long and slow enough (longest was 2h40m). Next time I will do them based on time, not distance. I went out too fast (again), weaving through the crowd with a really nice guy Mark, but paid big time at the end. We stupidly did 7m30s miles, moving up from a slow start behind the 4hr pace group to the 3h20s. Things were good until around miles 19 when the wheels came off and I totally blew up. I overheated, my knee acted up, and the miles turned in to 8 minute miles, then 9, then 10. Managed to run the last two after getting a pick-me-up from a nice girl ("yeah buddy") but did not kick at the end. Yuck yuck yuck. The next one will be better. 
Shout outs to Dr. Cipriano and to the Kopinski boys for coming out and cheer, and for the good company post-race.
No comments:
Post a Comment