Chicago Fade away 21 miles then one to undo

Well another Chicago marathon has come and gone. This was my fourth and even though it was a rough last few miles I can't complain too much overall. The weather was about as perfect as you can get and did manage to hobble in with a half way respectable finish time. Started out fine meeting at the usual CARA compound in the Hilton set up by my local club. Met up with a couple people I helped pace on Saturday mornings. I was going to try and run with Javier but he was in the B corral and I was in A so I thought I'd hang in back and see if he could sneak to the front to meet up. We kind of took our time and almost paid for it by getting stuck in the massive bottle neck leading to the corrals. We just got in by the hair of our chinny chin chin. Anyway meeting up was near impossible at that point so I stuck with the 3:10 pace group thinking he might find me there. Talked to the pacer who helped me last year and he told me I should shoot for the 3:05 group after last year. I was thinking that anyway so i eventually went in search of the 3:05's. Pretty consistent pace for me most of the way until mile 21. Javier passed me about mile 9 and said he felt great and cruised on by @ about 6:50 pace. I told him to be careful since it was a long race. Sure enough caught him back at about mile 15 where sure enough he was struggling. I was pacing off two young females and feeling strong. Really had no major issues except for the usual late race fatigue. Then like clockwork my body just started rebelling at mile 21. I could feel the dreaded side stitch coming on that sacked me in previous races. I actually caught up with Michael Young and had a brief conversation with him a little while before that. He informed me he had missed his corral so that explained why he was back further than his usual sub 3:00 attempts. Well long story short I was fighting the walk demons all along the Dan Ryan heading towards Sox Park. Last year I conquered that area, but this year my least favorite spot on the course took its toll. I eventually walked briefly, started running, then power walked again. Finally I literally had to will my legs to start running again, but could only muster a slightly less than long run pace. When I saw the 37K mark my brain bargained with my body that it was only 5K left only 5K. The fade felt like I was massively bleeding time, so I just kept going passed all aid stations wanting just to get home. I was very surprised to see 3:12 on the clock giving me a 3:11:28 finish time. I must be getting better at the art of the stinking late race fade, amen. My crew from my Saturday morning long runs fared well. We had a 3:04:56 BQ for another pacer, bringing his time down from 3:40's. Javier got some salt tabs from a race course aid and managed his quad cramping for a 3:15, a 10 minute PR. Another guy scored 3:17, another huge PR. Had a couple disappointed pals but still respectable finishes also.


Participant

Name (CTZ)	Foster, Steven (USA)
Age Group	50-54
Bib Number	1594
Age	54
City, State	Chicago

Race Info

Start Time	07:30:59
Est.Finish	-

Totals

Place Gender	1511
Place Age Group	90
Place Overall	1707
Finish Time	03:11:28

Splits

[th]Split[/th][th]Time Of Day[/th][th]Time[/th][th]Diff[/th][th]min/mile[/th][th]miles/h[/th]

05K	07:53:19AM	00:22:20	22:20	07:12	8.35
10K	08:15:31AM	00:44:32	22:12	07:09	8.40
15K	08:37:48AM	01:06:49	22:17	07:11	8.37
20K	09:00:02AM	01:29:03	22:14	07:10	8.38
HALF	09:04:54AM	01:33:55	04:52	07:09	8.40
25K	09:22:17AM	01:51:18	17:23	07:10	8.38
30K	09:44:28AM	02:13:29	22:11	07:09	8.41
35K	10:07:35AM	02:36:36	23:07	07:27	8.06
40K	10:31:53AM	03:00:54	24:18	07:50	7.67
Finish	10:42:27AM	03:11:28	10:34	07:45	7.75

Race Info

Start Time	07:30:59
Est.Finish	-

Steven, nice pacing till after mile 21. Sorry it didn't work out in the end. 305 in Boston?

Wow - by looking at your times, that wasn't much of a fade - not a crash anyway.  Good job and I would take that finish any day!

Good job fighting the walk demons!
Tough event, as you know all too well. Keeping it going past 20 is huge.

Good race Steve, even with the slight fade at the end.  Way to gut it through and a sub 3:12 is a good time.  It was good meeting you on Friday.

great job! congrats. sorry the last few mi. were extra tough but it looks like you toughed them out well.

Great job managing that late-race fade. It may have seemed to you that you were crawling, but the splits (and final result) show you were moving faster than you thought.

Good luck getting that 3:05.

This is why everyone is always saying that the marathon start line is really at mile 20.  Seems as if you were able to hold it together much better than it seemed at the time and you didn't bleed too much time off.  Congrats on your 4th!

Congrats, Steve!  Looking at your splits that fade wasn't nearly as bad as I'm sure it felt, and you hung on.  Many of my friends had similar days, so who knows - you'll get that 3:05 soon enough.

Nice job overall.  I smiled at the line about fighting the walk demons--but know EXACTLY what you're talking about.  I'll echo others in that your blow-up wasn't as bad as what I expected--even with the walking your average pace didn't even get 1 minute / mile slower, so you must be a decent power-walker  Congrats, and I hope that 3:05 is coming soon.

It was good seeing you Steven.  Hard to believe you recognized me during the race.  I tend to zone out on those around me.  Fun to catch up after the race.  Good job in the end!!

Congratulations on keeping going in that final 10K. I know you won't be happy with a time that many of us would love to do, but I believe you will get that 3:05.

Still very respectable!

Jerry wrote:Steven, nice pacing till after mile 21. Sorry it didn't work out in the end. 305 in Boston?

Yup, but Boston is a bit tougher, praying for tailwind!

John Kilpatrick wrote:Wow - by looking at your times, that wasn't much of a fade - not a crash anyway.  Good job and I would take that finish any day!

It really felt like a crash, but in retrospect keeping a sub 8:00 pace was just kind of muscle memory from long runs. Thanks

Michael Enright wrote:Good job fighting the walk demons!
Tough event, as you know all too well. Keeping it going past 20 is huge.

Thanks, they are correct saying this is where your glycogen store is max depleted. Not sure why last year felt stronger.

Nick Morris wrote:Good race Steve, even with the slight fade at the end.  Way to gut it through and a sub 3:12 is a good time.  It was good meeting you on Friday.

Likewise, great to meet you, good luck in Canada!

Julie wrote:great job! congrats. sorry the last few mi. were extra tough but it looks like you toughed them out well.

Inside I was crying! thanks

Mark B wrote:Great job managing that late-race fade. It may have seemed to you that you were crawling, but the splits (and final result) show you were moving faster than you thought.

Good luck getting that 3:05.

True, and I'm grateful for that. appreciate it!

dot520 wrote:This is why everyone is always saying that the marathon start line is really at mile 20.  Seems as if you were able to hold it together much better than it seemed at the time and you didn't bleed too much time off.  Congrats on your 4th!

For sure and that's what i told one of my running pals, thanks. 

Penelope wrote:Nice job overall.  I smiled at the line about fighting the walk demons--but know EXACTLY what you're talking about.  I'll echo others in that your blow-up wasn't as bad as what I expected--even with the walking your average pace didn't even get 1 minute / mile slower, so you must be a decent power-walker  Congrats, and I hope that 3:05 is coming soon.

Thank you, but have to really think positive due to passing of time on this master's body for that goal.

mountandog wrote:It was good seeing you Steven.  Hard to believe you recognized me during the race.  I tend to zone out on those around me.  Fun to catch up after the race.  Good job in the end!!

I kind of look to interact to take my mind off the distance, thanks for being there, had fun in the chute.

Dave P wrote:Still very respectable!

Thanks Dave

3:11 is very respectable, good race, 3:05 around the corner !!!

RobA wrote:3:11 is very respectable, good race, 3:05 around the corner !!!

Appreciate the confidence boost!

Great job Steven, Your report makes it sound much worse than the splits reveal.  Yea, you had a slight fade at the end but that is a solid time.  Congrats.

Another great one in the books.  Good consistent splits.  The end wasn't nearly as bad as you may have thought it was.  Great job and congrats.

T Miller wrote:Great job Steven, Your report makes it sound much worse than the splits reveal.  Yea, you had a slight fade at the end but that is a solid time.  Congrats.

Thanks Tim, Love getting the feedback!

Alex Kubacki wrote:Another great one in the books.  Good consistent splits.  The end wasn't nearly as bad as you may have thought it was.  Great job and congrats.

Appreciate the encouragement Alex!

Very nice finish time!

Jim Lentz wrote:Very nice finish time!

Can't complain except for the pain. Thanks Jim!