My first marathon!! Chicago Marathon race recap
ariceroni
Posts: 422 Member
I ran my first marathon on Sunday (10/8/18)!! I was planning to just post a recap in the October thread, but this got a little long so I figured I'd post it here instead:
I woke up at 5am on race morning feeling pretty awake, I surprisingly had slept quite well! I had a quick breakfast (bagel with PB, banana, and honey plus 2 energy nuun tablets) and even pooped twice before I left for the bus, so things were off to a really great start
and then I got to the green line and realized the train hadn’t started running yet, so me and about 40 other runners had to wait 20 minutes for the first train to arrive -_- the good news is that I ran into a girl that I ran XC with as an undergrad and we chatted to pass the time. I was a little frazzled by the time I got to Grant Park, because it was about 15 minutes later than I had intended to arrive. I still had time to hop in the port-a-potty line (pooped again lol), check my gear (I cried a bit because they turned on Buckingham Fountain right as I got there to check my gear!), then wait in the port-o-potty line again. Made it into my starting corral at 7:15, then shuffled around nervously until 7:30 when the race began. I cried again when the announcer said “The 40th running of the Chicago Marathon is now underway!”, and then had plenty of time to stop crying before crossing the starting line around 7:45 am.
I was feeling really really great when the race finally started, except that I kind of had to pee again already. Like a typical rookie, I started off way too fast. I was planning to run even 9:00 splits for the whole race, but instead hit the mile 1 marker in 8:18. I tried to slow down, but my garmin wasn’t working very well (because of all the tall buildings, plus we were underground for a bit) so I apparently didn’t actually slow down at all. Hit the 5K mark at 25:57 (8:21 pace). I also saw my dad and boyfriend Manny near mile 4 and felt like I was on cloud nine!
All smiles at mile 4!
I made a quick stop at the next aid station to use the bathroom and then continued on at a still too fast pace. Hit the 10K mark at 53:04, meaning that 5K was at a more modest 8:44 pace, but of course that is with a ~1 min bathroom stop averaged in. Still way too fast. At this point I decided to stop worrying about my pace, because obviously all my stressing about slowing down was not doing any good. I had so much fun in the first 12 or so miles, reading all the different race signs people had and giving high fives to everyone who wanted one! Saw dad and Manny again at mile 11 and was still grinning like crazy!
My 15K split was 1:19:39, then 1:46:26 for the 20K. Made it to the half in 1:52:18, which is actually my third fastest half marathon time! I still was feeling good all the way through mile 17, and maintained an 8:20-8:40 pace the whole way. I noticed my legs were starting to feel pretty tired at that point, and my hamstrings started cramping up pretty badly. I stopped briefly to try massaging them, but that only made things worse so I just kept going instead. I also realized then that I had a giant blister on the ball of my right foot (not quite sure when it developed), and I could feel the fluid inside it squishing around with every step. Finished mile 18 in 8:45, then decided I would have to start taking a few walking breaks if I wanted to be able to finish the race. I don’t really remember much from that point on. For miles 18 through 25, I walked through all the water portions of the aid stations (5 in all, I believe) and then ran the rest of the time. Mile splits were in the 9:05-10:00 range for 19-22. I saw Manny and dad again right before the mile 23 marker, stopped for a bit, and apparently told them I wanted to die so that then I could at least stop running lol. Between this stop and walking through another aid station, mile 23 was my slowest of all, 10:39.
Right after mile 23. I was hurting but still managed a little smile!
I don’t really remember anything from miles 24 and 25, even the part where we ran through my school’s campus, and the splits were 9:44 and 10:01. I do vaguely remember telling myself out loud “you have to start running again” after the aid station in mile 25, then crying because I really didn’t want to (but I did anyways). The mile 25 marker was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen, because I knew that meant I was almost done! I woke up mentally and checked my watch, then realized if I didn’t take any more walk breaks I would finish under 3:55 (which was my super stretch goal!). I dug deep and somehow found another gear for the last little bit. Finished mile 26 in 8:42, which included the giant hill at Roosevelt 400m from the finish line.
About to turn on to "Mount Roosevelt", with 400 meters to go
Finally we turned the corner and I could actually see the finish line! I sprinted (ish) the last 200m just to be sure that I would finish under 3:55, and also because I was so ready to be done running. I even briefly saw a 7:XX pace on my watch before crossing the finish line! I felt so relieved to be done, and so proud of myself for all that I had accomplished, that I started sobbing! Except I was so dehydrated that only two actual tears came out, though I had an ugly cry face on for at least 5 minutes haha.
The worst part of the entire race was that we had to walk for almost a whole mile before there was a spot we were allowed to sit down! The race volunteers kept telling us to keep moving, but after a few minutes I just could not keep walking any more and sat down. They came over right away and told me I had to keep walking or they would have to take me to the medical tent, so got back up and walked another 300 feet and then sat down again. So they came back over and said the same thing and I got back up. This happened four times in all before I finally got to a grassy area where I could sit down! At this point my foot (where I had the blister) was absolutely throbbing and all the muscles in my legs were cramping up. I sat in the grass for about 20 minutes before I was finally able to get up, pick up my gear, and meet up with Manny and dad. Of course as soon as I met up with them, I told them I couldn’t wait to run again next year! It was a painful last few miles, but absolutely worth every step
Official finish time was 3:54:35, which was well under my goal of 4:00, and even faster than my most ambitious goal of 3:55! I can’t wait to run another marathon, now that I know what to expect, and do even better!
I woke up at 5am on race morning feeling pretty awake, I surprisingly had slept quite well! I had a quick breakfast (bagel with PB, banana, and honey plus 2 energy nuun tablets) and even pooped twice before I left for the bus, so things were off to a really great start
and then I got to the green line and realized the train hadn’t started running yet, so me and about 40 other runners had to wait 20 minutes for the first train to arrive -_- the good news is that I ran into a girl that I ran XC with as an undergrad and we chatted to pass the time. I was a little frazzled by the time I got to Grant Park, because it was about 15 minutes later than I had intended to arrive. I still had time to hop in the port-a-potty line (pooped again lol), check my gear (I cried a bit because they turned on Buckingham Fountain right as I got there to check my gear!), then wait in the port-o-potty line again. Made it into my starting corral at 7:15, then shuffled around nervously until 7:30 when the race began. I cried again when the announcer said “The 40th running of the Chicago Marathon is now underway!”, and then had plenty of time to stop crying before crossing the starting line around 7:45 am.I was feeling really really great when the race finally started, except that I kind of had to pee again already. Like a typical rookie, I started off way too fast. I was planning to run even 9:00 splits for the whole race, but instead hit the mile 1 marker in 8:18. I tried to slow down, but my garmin wasn’t working very well (because of all the tall buildings, plus we were underground for a bit) so I apparently didn’t actually slow down at all. Hit the 5K mark at 25:57 (8:21 pace). I also saw my dad and boyfriend Manny near mile 4 and felt like I was on cloud nine!
All smiles at mile 4!
I made a quick stop at the next aid station to use the bathroom and then continued on at a still too fast pace. Hit the 10K mark at 53:04, meaning that 5K was at a more modest 8:44 pace, but of course that is with a ~1 min bathroom stop averaged in. Still way too fast. At this point I decided to stop worrying about my pace, because obviously all my stressing about slowing down was not doing any good. I had so much fun in the first 12 or so miles, reading all the different race signs people had and giving high fives to everyone who wanted one! Saw dad and Manny again at mile 11 and was still grinning like crazy!
My 15K split was 1:19:39, then 1:46:26 for the 20K. Made it to the half in 1:52:18, which is actually my third fastest half marathon time! I still was feeling good all the way through mile 17, and maintained an 8:20-8:40 pace the whole way. I noticed my legs were starting to feel pretty tired at that point, and my hamstrings started cramping up pretty badly. I stopped briefly to try massaging them, but that only made things worse so I just kept going instead. I also realized then that I had a giant blister on the ball of my right foot (not quite sure when it developed), and I could feel the fluid inside it squishing around with every step. Finished mile 18 in 8:45, then decided I would have to start taking a few walking breaks if I wanted to be able to finish the race. I don’t really remember much from that point on. For miles 18 through 25, I walked through all the water portions of the aid stations (5 in all, I believe) and then ran the rest of the time. Mile splits were in the 9:05-10:00 range for 19-22. I saw Manny and dad again right before the mile 23 marker, stopped for a bit, and apparently told them I wanted to die so that then I could at least stop running lol. Between this stop and walking through another aid station, mile 23 was my slowest of all, 10:39.
Right after mile 23. I was hurting but still managed a little smile!
I don’t really remember anything from miles 24 and 25, even the part where we ran through my school’s campus, and the splits were 9:44 and 10:01. I do vaguely remember telling myself out loud “you have to start running again” after the aid station in mile 25, then crying because I really didn’t want to (but I did anyways). The mile 25 marker was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen, because I knew that meant I was almost done! I woke up mentally and checked my watch, then realized if I didn’t take any more walk breaks I would finish under 3:55 (which was my super stretch goal!). I dug deep and somehow found another gear for the last little bit. Finished mile 26 in 8:42, which included the giant hill at Roosevelt 400m from the finish line.
About to turn on to "Mount Roosevelt", with 400 meters to go
Finally we turned the corner and I could actually see the finish line! I sprinted (ish) the last 200m just to be sure that I would finish under 3:55, and also because I was so ready to be done running. I even briefly saw a 7:XX pace on my watch before crossing the finish line! I felt so relieved to be done, and so proud of myself for all that I had accomplished, that I started sobbing! Except I was so dehydrated that only two actual tears came out, though I had an ugly cry face on for at least 5 minutes haha.
The worst part of the entire race was that we had to walk for almost a whole mile before there was a spot we were allowed to sit down! The race volunteers kept telling us to keep moving, but after a few minutes I just could not keep walking any more and sat down. They came over right away and told me I had to keep walking or they would have to take me to the medical tent, so got back up and walked another 300 feet and then sat down again. So they came back over and said the same thing and I got back up. This happened four times in all before I finally got to a grassy area where I could sit down! At this point my foot (where I had the blister) was absolutely throbbing and all the muscles in my legs were cramping up. I sat in the grass for about 20 minutes before I was finally able to get up, pick up my gear, and meet up with Manny and dad. Of course as soon as I met up with them, I told them I couldn’t wait to run again next year! It was a painful last few miles, but absolutely worth every step
Official finish time was 3:54:35, which was well under my goal of 4:00, and even faster than my most ambitious goal of 3:55! I can’t wait to run another marathon, now that I know what to expect, and do even better!
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Replies
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Well done, congratulations! And thanks for sharing your story with us. Yeah, reading about your early pace was a bit ominous, but it sounds like you kept it together really well!
And you are already thinking about another one? That's definitely not normal.
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Fantastic job!!!! @ariceroni woohoo!!!0
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You are amazing!!! Great job!0
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Woo-Hoo!!!! I love that last photo! Pride in both faces!0
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Great photos and great recap! You summed it up well. I don't think non-runners will ever understand how you can experience such agony and such joy in the same morning!1
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Congratulations. You did really well, especially with the heat on Sunday. A lot of very experienced marathoners suffered badly from the sun and heat at Chicago.
It may have been hard to keep moving after the finish, but it was really good that they made you keep walking. After my first, I threw myself on the grass too soon and then cramped up with just about every muscle in my legs. I had to have help to stand up and then could barely make it up a slight slope to the car. I couldn't do stairs for days. After that, I made sure to keep moving for a while afterwards, and my recovery was much easier.0
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