Chicago marathon race report

WOW. All I can say is WOW. An experience I will never forget. I traveled to chicago on Friday, very early in the morning. I arrived in the windy city well rested, albeit a bit sore from my treadmill mishap the week prior. I had been smart with my training since May, using jeff galloway�s run/walk method, faithfully completing each prescribed Saturday long run without incident. My fueling was totally dialed in-my faithful homemade brew of water, apple cinammon carboom, and soy protein. With supplemental black cherry shot bloks with caffeine for the last 6-8 miles. And of course water and endurolytes. I had practiced. My testing at the training center had revealed that I had excellent endurance, but I had not exactly been pushing myself at the track. The physiologist warned me that I should be very conservative with my heart rate, since I really did not have much training effect in the higher heart rate zones.Despite my large endurance base, I really didn�t have the goods to push higher into higher heart rates for very long.Turns out that her warning would be KEY NUMBER ONE to surviving what may go down as the largest endurance sports disaster in history.

Friday was a blast! I arrived at the Hotel Burnham, a charming, low key hotel just two blocks from the start line. Walking into the Burnham was like traveling back in time. Unlike the practiced elegance of a Hyatt or a Hilton, the Burnham was small in size. And ginormous in style. Dark woods, red velvet fabrics, tiny tiled mosaics near the elevator, ornate ceilings. To the right of the small check-in area, I could see into the cozy restaurant�a scene right out of the roaring 20�s, complete with cobalt glassware. I was in heaven! The rooms on the top floors (only 14 of them) were not ready, so the polite, attractive 20 something college boy took my cell phone number and told me he would call me when my room was ready. I walked about 10 blocks to the host hotel and caught a free school bus to the expo at McCormick place. The Expo was amazing. I had three independent analyses of my gait, the most elaborate being at the Mizuno tent. They had a device that photographed and measured the dimensions of your feet, videotaped your gait while running on the treadmill, photographed you while performing various flexibility testing, and monitored you both running and walking on about a 10 meter track. I am happy to report that my biomechanics are very normal. Of course I got caught up in the science of it all and purchased a pair of Wave Creations. I tried a gazillion different energy bars, drinks. Tested a new type of strength training gadget where you exercise on a vibrating platform. Oh, yeah, and picked up my packet, checked my chip, got my long sleeve race shirt. Julie called me when they got in, and Jimmy and Julie met me at the expo. We shopped. A lot. I bought a cute tshirt that said FINISHER in grass green lettering. Looking back, I am now realizing how fortunate I am to be able to legitimately wear that shirt.

Dinner Friday night was Giordano�s pizza�traditional deep dish chicago style. I also had a chopped salad and minestrone soup. Delicious!

I slept like a baby in my gorgeous room that overlooked the theater district. Woke up Saturday morning refreshed and ready for my carb loading protocol. I donned my running attire and ran into my friend Abbie in the lobby. She decided to join me in my walk to the sister hotel, the Hotel Monaco, to avail ourselves of the treadmill. I had packed my backpack with animal crackers and apple juice. At Starbucks, we got an iced venti nonfat latte for extra carbs and a bit of protein. We arrived that the Hotel Monaco after a 10 minute walk. I ran my 2.5 min hard, followed by 30 sec sprint. Except I could really tell the difference in my dietary choices over the past 24 hours. Running hard when you eat deep dish pizza the night before was not exactly a pleasant experience. I think the longer your body goes without junk the sicker you get when you reintroduce it. I immediately drank the apple juice and ate the animal crackers while catching up with Abbie. She enjoyed her time on the elliptical. We walked back to our hotel, where I hitched a cab to whole foods to buy some healthy carbs for my carb loading day. I found baked tortilla chips, homemade salsa, cut fruit, vanilla yogurt, fig newtons. Carb fest! I enjoyed the most delicious cioppino at whole foods, with a homemade italian baguette. Drank plenty of water. Walked to the race venue to check out the progress. Went down lakeshore drive and sat near lake michigan for a bit and reminisced about our first triers chicago trip�what a blast!!
Showered quickly, since we had a 1pm date with the cast of WICKED!!!! Our friend Richard is a theatre buff, and back in january had purchased the most awesome orchestra seats for the broadway show, Wicked. I purchased a large box of junior mints, not typically part of my carb loading protocol, but what the hell! Wicked was beyond fantastic! The special effects were amazing. We walked from the theatre, to Rosebuds, for our Team Galloway pasta dinner. I had homemade paparadelle (square noodles) in a tomato basil sauce. Since dinner was at 5pm, I later had some oatmeal and banana to complete my carb loading.

Slept like a baby again, and woke up before my alarm. Had the rest of the italian baguette with honey, a banana, coffee. Suited up in my very best chi-town race gear and headed for the lobby. Julie came down still in her PJ�s. I knew she would have race day jitters and no appetite. But best friends always know how to fix that, I had purchased a honey bear just for her, knowing that honey always sits well with her. She was so appreciative! Told the rest of us that she and Jimmy would see us later on, they didn�t want to leave as early as we did. (630am for an 8am start). Typical newlyweds!!

I walked with my friends to the start corrals, where I promptly parted ways to go to the VIP runner tent. I had purchased a VIP ticket. I made the decision to purchase this ticket months ago based on the promise of private toilets and free post race massage. Little did I know that this purchase would soon become KEY NUMBER TWO to surviving the day.
My tent included all of the VIP runners and also the Top 100�100 top amatuer runners in the country that were invited to start behind the pros. So fun meeting some of them! The attendants told us to simply leave our gear check bags on the tables, and they would be couriered to the finish for us�the start and finish were about � mile apart. The private toilets were divine�clean portajohns with handwashing stations. Plenty of gatorade, water, bananas and snacks.

By 7:30, they allowed us to walk toward our corral�I was in corral D, with other VIP runners and runners who had previously run 3:50-4:00 marathons. Naturally, I seeded myself at the very back. About 300 meters back, I could see the sea of runners in the open corral. The national anthem was sung by jody mecina. And we were off!! Took my only 4 and half minutes to get to the starting line�I clicked on my gps and started in my 3 min run 1 min walk. The temp was already mid 70�s. I decided to heed the physiologists warning and not allow my heartrate to leave the low 150�s. By mile 8, it was getting hotter than we expected�by then I was in boystown with the gay cheerleaders in drag, and the gay flag corps. I laughed my ass off and began imitating michellie jones at Kona�started pouring cold water on my head and down my shirt. This decision would become KEY NUMBER THREE to surviving the day.

There was nary a cloud in the sky, the crowds were out in huge numbers. But by mile 9 or so, I starting hearing the ambulances. Lots of them. That is when I made the decision to never let my heartrate go beyond 160, screw the pace, and screw any time goal I had whatsoever. I knew this was not the day to run hard�people around me were suffering. I settled into my 3/1 rhythm and continued to take in the sights! The people of chicago were amazing. Many had vats of ice that were little chunks of heaven for us. As I crossed the halfway mark, I was happy with my time of just over two and a half hours. I was still keeping my heartrate very low and I felt great, with the exception of some sore calves, a byproduct of choosing fashion over function. I had worn my black boots with heels Friday night and Saturday night. Major fashion do�I looked fab, but Major marathon DON�T. Was still keeping an awesome pace. Kept my routine of filling my 10 ounce water bottle on my fuel belt, water on head, water down shirt. Endurolytes. Carboom. Decided to switch to shot bloks at mile 16 instead of 18. I needed some caffeine!!
A bit before mile 20, I saw a huge fire truck. With a wide open hose that had ice cold water. Went through it and felt like I was in a Florida thundershower with rain sheets instead of rain drips. The firefighter was announcing over the PA �the marathon has been cancelled. For your own safety, please stop running. The marathon has been cancelled��� I thought it was a joke!! I started laughing and waving at the cute firefighter. After few minutes, I realized that it wasn�t a joke. Most runners were walking.

As I crossed mile 20, I began crying tears of happiness. All at once, I realized that I would have an opportunity do my first sub 5 at Lisa�s memorial marathon in palm beach dec 2. I looked up at the cloudless sky and started laughing and crying at the same time�ok, you controlling bitch, I get the plan. You see, Lisa and I and her other running partner, Kari had a dream of someday going sub 5. Even if the clock said 4:59:59--at some point in our running lives were all going to go sub 5�we had a pact. So in true Lisa style, Kari and I will have an opportunity to go sub 5 together for the first time in palm beach. I was overcome with joy in that moment. I could choose to stamp my feet and be angry that the weather wasn�t picture perfect marathon, spoiling my quest for a sub 5. Or I could choose to revel in the beauty of the moment and celebrate being alive and fit. I chose the latter.

And that�s when the ambulance sirens grew more frequent. And then the helicopters started coming. And I went into full on disaster mode. My only goal was to survive. I never ran another step until 200 meters before the finish. I decided to conserve the fuel that I had on me and utilize gatorade at every aid station. I didn�t know how long it might take me to make my way back to the course finish. Thank goodness I had grabbed a power gel earlier. I continued my water baths, ala michellie. The aid stations had run out of cups, but I had my trusty fuel belt, and kept up my hydration. Met lots of wonderful people.

I kept expecting to be pulled off the course, I had heard rumors they were doing that. But I never got pulled. I kept walking at a steady but easy pace, trying to enjoy the experience, but offering up prayers every time a heard an ambulance siren. I had to keep believing that my 20 friends were safe. We train in this. We respect it. We will all survive, I kept telling myself. And praying. Around mile 24, I realized that not only was I going to finish this race, I was going to break 6 hours!!! And PR by a lot!!

I made the left hand turn and could see the finish. When the sign said 200 meters, I ran it in. Hard. The race clock said 5:51:xx. I would later learn that my chip time was 5:47:20.

Post race, I was escorted to the VIP tent, where I received my metal and the sweetest, coldest bottle of orange strawberry gatorade ever. signed up for massage. Peed in a pristine portaloo. Changed in the women�s changing tent after a babywipe cat bath and deodorant. Had a fabulous massage. Drank an amstel light amber with lightning speed and got a bit buzzy. Had some veggie chili and a bite of turkey sandwich. And wandered to the G for galloway runners reunite area, where I only found michelle. It was such pandemonium that no one stuck to the G for galloway plan except michelle. I had told everyone at dinner the night before not to wait for me, because I wanted to live it up in the VIP tent. Michelle was waiting on her 3 roomies, who apparently had blown her off. We later found out that since michelle was ahead of them, she got to do 23 miles to their 19, so they did wait for a while, but then they returned to the hotel. I offered to bring her to mine, but she insisted on taking the train to hers. I insisted on giving her all of my cash and put her in a cab. I hope they all make up, haven�t called anyone yet today.

Post race party was at Dick�s downunder. A total redo of beerfest in portland with different characters but same degree of raunch. For some reason, in some strange explosion of synchronicity, the four finishers found eachother in the lobby and traveled together�Jim 4:22:45, Chris 5:25:20, and Richard, 5:35:52. I just realized I was the only female finisher. We toasted and began drinking the yummiest local brew ever, a brown ale. Dick�s is a whole �nuther novel for some other time. Most of the group showed up, and we laughed until we cried. And then laughed more.

Breakfast with Julie, Jimmy, Jane, and Abbie was magnificent in my roaring 20�s venue. The best french toast ever with marscapone cheese.

Was so happy to see my eddie at the airport last night. We were up to the wee hours reliving the trip etc, so I might be napping today!

Just for the record, Disney 2000: 7:13:52
Disney 2006: 6:16:59
A PR by 29:39, disaster and all.

All 20 of us are safe. Only 4 of the 20 did 26.2. 320 people hospitalized. One dead. 4 critcally ill still. 8 with core body temps of 107 degrees. So many more stories that I can tell you all when you have more time.

As I type this, I feel great, some calf and hamstring soreness, but mentally I am strong. I celebrate being alive. I celebrate the strength of my body and soul. I celebrate the friendships with my fellow chicago galloway group and with all of you on this board. Thanks for taking the time to read this obscenely long report. :)