The Chicago Marathon

Well, I thought it was about time to write about the marathon. Let me back up a bit:
My last 5 weeks of training went really well. I ran a 21 miler and a 23 miler. I felt great both times and took it nice and easy. I also ran a half marathon on Sept.23rd- only 2 weeks away from the marathon. My running coach advised me to just run it easy and I did- finishing in 2:05. My PR is 1:47 for a half- so this was easy for me. I mostly ran it to practice drinking on the run: something I've never been good at. I decided during this race that I would plan to wear my Fuel Belt at Chicago. I like having it on me at all times. You can drink while you run and it doesn't weigh that much.

The week before the marathon, the usual obsessive weather checking began. The initial long term forecast was for rain and high of 60. Ugh- But as the days passed, the forecast changed to "record breaking heat- high of 88 and humid" What??? this was Chicago in October. I couldn't believe it was going to be that bad. Last year, they ran the marathon on the 22nd of October and they had some snow! So, even though I was reading the weather, I still wasn't thinking it would be that bad. I figured there would at least be a breeze from the lake and all.

Our whole family flew to Chicago on Thursday before the marathon (Oct. 4th) I had been having some sinus issues, I was feeling pretty bad by the time we got to my sister's house in Naperville. So, I needed to lay down and rest and Greg took the girls to the park with my brother in law, Chris.

We spent the next couple of days hanging with friends and family. Greg's parents came up and stayed with his sister and her family. My parents came up from Georgia and the entire group of us ate Italian Friday night. I felt OK. My sinuses bothered me some, but it could have been worse.

Saturday, Greg and I went to the EXPO while my parents babysat. My sister was strangely absent. I kept asking about her and I was told that she was just tired, which is not like her. (more on that later.)

If you've never been to an EXPO, it's totally awesome. I always love expos, I don't know why. There was a huge screen playing a video of the course. Picture a fast moving car driving the streets of Chicago. There was also a segment of the marathon from last year: the elite race as well as the regular runners. I'm telling you, that video got me. I even caught Greg tearing up. It was really well done- complete with slow motion footage- very "Chariots of fire-like."

My stomach was bothering me some along with my sinus issues. All I can think is, I know it's hard to run a marathon when you're feeling %100 healthy and the weather is perfect. What am I going to do? I chalked up the stomach issues to nerves. I don't know why I would be nervous for my fifth marathon but I guess it just adds a different element when you have family members coming to watch you; my own self-imposed pressure to do well, I guess.

After the expo, we went to Lou Malnati's for dinner with Team CdLs. I was so excited to meet these people! We've been emailing some and keeping up with each other's training that you feel like you know them. We ate deep dish pizza, chatted, got our Team shirts. By 6:00, we head back to Naperville and I started to lay everything out for the morning.

Ok, I am what I call a high maintenance runner. It takes me awhile to get everything "just so". I put my name on the front of my shirt as well as Hebrews 12:2. On the back, I wrote the names of all the people who donated to CdLs. Thanks to their support, I was able to raise over a $1,000!

Finally bedtime- around 10:00 and I feel Ok. I've set the alarm for 4:15- yes a.m. The race starts at 8:00- but we were meeting in the team tent at 6:30- it's a 40 minute drive and I just didn't want to chance it.
Wouldn't you know at 3:45 my eyes pop open. This happens to me every marathon. I think I'm afraid that I will oversleep.

So, we're on the road. We make it in plenty of time and I get to hang with Team Cdls while Greg goes to find his tent. His family would be arriving in a little bit. My parents were in Naperville watching Darby and Piper which was a huge help. It's too hard to move fast around a city with little ones. When they're older, if I'm still running races, they may want to come cheer Mom on.

We take pictures, stretch a little and then move to the start. I'm so afraid of getting boxed in like I did in New York that I moved to the very front of the open corral. And I just sit down and starting talking to a very nice girl, Vicky. We were both commenting on how warm it was at 7:00. Not a good sign- when you're sweating a little just standing around that doesn't bode well for when you're going to be running. (there's a reason they don't hold marathons in the summer)

The marathon starts with an unbelievable rendition of the National Anthem sung by JoDee Messina. Other huge marathons I've run you can never hear what's going on way up there- but this one you could hear everything.
The gun went off and we started slowly moving while listening to Black Eyed Peas "Let's Get it Started" Many people were singing along- I was laughing because I voted for that song (online poll) I exchanged a smile with the guy next to me as we sang at the top of our lungs. :) 4 minutes later we were running.... not too bad- in New York it took me almost 20 minutes to get to the start.

Soon, everyone took off. I could tell right away that it was going to be rough. I usually take a few miles to warm up but this time, I was sweating right away at mile 2. I decided on a plan of every 15 min. about 3 ounces of gatorade. every 30 min. 3 ounces of gatorade, a gel, and a salt tablet. I knew that in this heat your body is working very hard just to cool itself, so you have to give it even more than you would normally.

My pace felt good though. I loved the crowds and spent most of the time just looking at the spectators.

The course starts in Grant Park and we actually ran underneath the river. That was cool.
My first 5 K split was 29:30. (9:30 pace) My GPS watch was not getting a signal with all the buildings. I needed to be running by feel anyways with the heat. The crowds are spectacular through this section. The course goes up to Wrigley Field, where we heard a band playing the Rocky theme. My next 10K split was 1:00 (9:45 pace) I felt fine but I was slowing down gradually- already at mile 7!

the course then loops down through Lincoln Park and Old Town. There were tons of people everywhere! I loved seeing the cheerleaders and bands. And people cheered for me. I saw one of the same spectators over and over. And Team Cdls had their own cheering squad with a Casper mylar ballon. That was cool.

The heat was getting worse; no more shade. It was somewhere around here that I saw a bank thermometer that read 98! What? It certainly felt that way.

I was still paying attention to my fueling strategy and waiting to see my family at mile 13.
15K split- 1:32 (9:57 pace) (9.3 miles) I still think I can somehow recover this pace. 20K -2:05 (10:07 pace) 13.1 miles- 2:13 (10:11 pace) my slowest half ever.... That's Ok, keep moving.

At this point, I am scanning the crowd looking for Greg and the fam. He said that they would be at mile 13.5 so I was watching. When I saw him, I was ecstatic. I ran straight into his arms. Bruce, Georgiana, Melissa, Travis and Bryan were all there and they were wearing shirts that said RUN KIM RUN in huge letters on the front.

I actually was done with my fuel belt at that point, so I handed it off to him. My plan was then to use the water stations. I immediately missed my fuel belt. It got so much hotter at this point. 25K split- 2:40 (10:20 pace) (15.5 miles) Ok, really slow- still feel good but can't seem to do anything about the speed.

I saw my family again at mile 16.5- I was happy to see them. Greg had a donut for me. I didn't want it. I was feeling a bit nauseous. Could have over done it on the gatorade, not sure. It was at this point that I told Greg that I was throwing all time goals out the window and just wanted to finish. I was starting to see more and more people walking, people yelling out that there were runners down, med staff attending to runners. I've never seen anything like it. Greg's brother Bryan, was going to meet me at mile 20 to run the end with me. I could tell I would need his help.

At mile 20, I flew right by Bryan but he jumped in. It was great to have him there. I am so thankful that he was able to run me in. At this point, I'm barely moving forward but I refuse to take more than a few 30 second walk breaks here and there mostly just through the water stations.

The crowds never let up. They were amazing. It was at mile 21, I think, that someone who was running said to us, "Did you hear that they called the race?" I had never heard of anything like that before. then a water station volunteer told us that the race had been cancelled. They were now calling it a fun run and we should either get on a bus or walk to the finish. Well, I just didn't want to hear that. I didn't understand why people were telling us to walk. The cops were everywhere and you could hear all of the sirens. Overhead there was a helicopter that was announcing to us the news and that we should walk. Almost everyone around us was walking, but i just kept going. I still took the walk breaks through the aid stations.

At one point, someone told us to get on the bus and all I could think was " Why would I get on a bus if I'm running a marathon?" And I know that I wasn't delirious from the heat because Bryan didn't understand either and he had just started running. I just wasn't sure what was happening. no walking, no walking. I felt bad for Bryan, who was probably expecting a much better experience for the end of a marathon.

Right around here was chinatown- the crowd was so loud! I loved it! I told Bryan to get the crowd going by raising your arms up and down- He did and they went crazy and yelled my name. Very cool and I used the energy from the crowd to pick up my pace for maybe 50 yards. Of course that little "sprint" cost me.

The last 5 miles were filled with just determination to finish. Sometimes I kept my head down, other times I looked straight ahead. A few times I even had a smile on my face. There was a well meaning volunteer who dumped an entire jug of water on my head; which I didn't want her to do. especially finding out later that others didn't have water. But she meant well.

And the only significant hill in the entire marathon comes at mile 25.5. Oh my goodness, I told Bryan that he had to help me get up that hill. Bryan was a great help even though I think he did tell me that he could walk faster than I was running. :) 30K split- 3:20 (10:47 pace) 35K- 3:59 (11:02 pace) 40K- 4:42 (11:23 pace) At this point, I'm not even looking at my watch. I've already run 30 minutes slower than my first marathon. After the big hill, you turn a corner and there is the finish. I knew I could run the rest of the way, even though I was exhausted. I kept saying "It's right there. it's right there." I think Bryan thought I was a little loopy. I ran through to the finish with my arms raised. Even at the finish, there was an official who was yelling at people to slow down. My final time- 5:01- although I like to say 4:55. That's what my watch said and it's a little less painful. Almost everyone I know was at least one hour off their goal time. This was 52 minutes slower than last year's Philly marathon, but I honestly didn't care; especially given the fact that so many people suffered heat exhaustion and I felt fine.

After crossing the line, I got my medal and my picture taken. I actually smiled.
Then I went to the Team Cdls tent, where I shed a few tears- I think of relief to be done. I got some food and water and then met up with the family. Greg brought me some gorgeous roses. We had to say goodbye to his parents and Melissa and Bryan. Greg and I then went and got MORE food at a restaurant nearby. I don't think you can eat enough after a marathon.

We went back to Naperville and relayed the story to my parents and sister. It was all over the news... a major world marathon was cancelled, over 300 went to the hospital, thousands were forced to either walk, get on a bus or take a short cut or forced to drop out sooner because of the heat. I feel very fortunate to be feeling so great.

That night, we went to eat some MORE food- deep dish pizza. And Karen let me know that she was absent all day Sat. because she had a stomach virus. She didn't want to get me sick or freak me out; which was quite nice of her, I think. :)

As for me and the only physical aftermath? Major blisters underneath my toes. I think from the water on my feet or the fact that I've never run for 5 hours before. I had to go to a doctor to get the toenails removed. That was not fun. But they're all healed up now.

One week later and it's all over now. What an experience. Hopefully, people will not blame the race director for cancelling the marathon. He did it to save lives. They're being criticized for running out of water and gatorade, but thankfully, I never experience any of that. It's hard to say whether I will come back and run this one again. It's truly amazing to me that my slowest marathon to date will probably also be the most memorable.

Thanks for reading this LONG post. Thanks to all of my family and friends who supported me in so many ways. Thanks to Karen, Chris, Anna Grace and Haddon for hosting us. Thanks to my parents for babysitting. Thanks to Georgiana, Bruce, Melissa, Travis and Bryan for making the trip, wearing the cute but goofy T-shirts and being an awesome cheering section.

Thanks, especially, to Bryan, for helping me finish. I'm fairly sure I wouldn't have been able to do it without him. I know I was delirious at the end.

And of course, thanks to my family for their unending love and support. My girls, Darby and
Piper and my wonderful husband, Greg, who made all of the training possible.

Pictures are online at http://picasaweb.google.com/ogorek/ChicagoMarathon2007