Chicago on minimal miles

Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2011 Race Report

Leading up to my second Chicago Marathon training cycle was 6 weeks of PT and an MRI on my back due to a stabbing pain in my right thigh that left me unable to stand at times leading up to and especially following a half marathon May 1st. The MRI showed bulging lumber vertebrate that cause sciatic pain and other issues down the kinetic chain. The PT and core routine that was developed from this really help form a base of strengthening to support my future in this sport. Coming off my first major injury forced me to re-access my choice of training plans. This cycle had to be kept at a minimum to avoid the breakdown of this aging body. I decided to go back to a simple plan of following Hal Higdon's somewhat conservative intermediate plan with long runs pulled fom advanced one. This would be the same strategy I used in my debut (PR) with last year's attempt falling short due to extreme cramping from a stitch in 83 degree heat in the last 7 miles at another venue. I learned after 4 marathons that I don't respond well to high mileage beyond 50 miles so this cycle consisted of an average of 33 miles a week with a peak of 46.



Felt really good in the last weeks during the taper and felt no real major nagging aches which was agood sign. Friday Toni and I met up with some other runners at a restaurant to socialize and comiserate about the upcoming race. had some real good conversation and was able to meet some new folks from the 365 runners. Thanks Lisa for organizing it, the food was super.



I think I probably followed the training plan as closely as possible, but probably shouldn't have water-proofed the deck in the 3 days leading up to the race. Oh well. The night before consisted of some of the leftovers from Friday night Italian. The previous week I kind of laid off carbs without really planning to do it but it kind of turned out that way so I guess it was that carb deficit to carb loading strategy. I decided to read an article about conquering the marathon in Running Times before I shut my eyes. It talked about sticking to the basics, being patient and pacing consistently. Got a decent nights sleep for once since the family was at a family gathering until late.



The morning of the race I woke up to my daughter and 2 nieces sprawled out sleeping on our living room floor which temporarily threw a wrench in my perfectly laid out running clothes stretegy. It ended up working out though. Got my gastronomical business taking care of and a hot shower to loosen up the old legs. Ate some cream of wheat, a banana, and a English muffin. had a tad bit of coffee and a gel with some water. Took the bus and packed transit system down to the race and met up with some of my training partners at the CARA compound at the hotel ballroom. Didn't do a lot of water to avoid the potty stop that slowed me in my first race. Got my bag checked and prepared to walk to the corral. Was able to use my clubs exclusive porta-lets even though I didn't have to that bad. Made my way to the "A" corral which must have been an adjustment for some faster "B" corral participants with faster times due to crowding there. There was plenty of room in "A" and was glad to be there. Said hi to a couple folks I knew from Friday and past races, did some dynamic stretches and it was go time. The weather was on the warm side with it being about 64F at the start and in the low 70's by late morning. The plus side was low humidity with the down side being no cloud cover. Oh well, I'm not letting that cause me to loose heart, why should it? My strategy would be to sip from about 5 ounces of gatorade in the corral 15 minutes before hte horn. Then I'd take some at most aid stations. I decided to utilize gels this time more than usual so 3 was the game plan spread evenly on the course.



So the horn sounded and all 45,000 give or take a few K started off. I also decided to shed my watch and road ID to be totally running free. One mistake I made was to re-tie my shoes right before taking off, more on that later. I wanted to latch on to the corral "A" 3:10 pace group for moral support, but they seemed to burst out of the gate way too fast and that was confirmed by another runner. I kept looking back for the "B" corral 3:10 group, but couldn't see them. I struck up a conversation with a guy named Dave who said he'd be running consistent splits on track for 3:10 so stick with him. He said he would start to surge at mile 22. I said fine with me sounds like a strategy. He also said he walked through all water stops. So I figured that might just work since I usually wear my drinks in races. The crowds in Chicago are great, almost annoying, but I've learned to appreciate it. They had sponges at two places as well as many hoses so staying cool wasn't a problem. We tried to get in the shade as much as possible and it seemed to work. So this gury Dave was my constant companion until about mile 14 where he had to duck into the porta-pot. He said he would catch up so I was on my own for a while. I felt strong the whole way with one little nagging issue, my shoe strings were too tight on my left foot and it was really digging into the top of my foot. I finally stopped and re-tied, which was a huge boost to loose that pain. It did take 2-3 minutes since bending over disoriented me and I fumbled a bit with it. Dave caught up with me a little later and the support helped at this point. I took gels at mile 8, 14, and 17. These seemed to really keep me pumping. I was waiting for Dave to surge, but instead he seemed to start to fade. I felt good and decided to keep up as consistent pace as possible so that was the last I saw of him until the end. All my other marathons were a struggle from mile 18 on, but not this day. Yes I was hurting, but felt strong and not exhausted or spent. Finally hit the home stretch going back north towards Grant park and saved a little for the last hill they call Mt. Roosevelt on the last half mile, then gave it a good charge to the finish. Right after crossing the mat I heard the announcer say the clock had just reached 3:15 so I knew at that point it was a PR! Yes, raised a triumphant fist after catching my breath and telling the medic assistant I was just fine. Dave came up later and congratulated me as he was trying to stay within reach. I feel this was my best marathon so far as I came in at the half in just under 1:36. Official time 3:14:41 PR by 44 seconds, overall 1520th, gender 1317th, AG 67th So the 2 minutes or so I lost in the second half were from the shoe tying incident which means pace consistency. I met up with the crew from Friday for some food, beers and football watching. I have minimal soreness today and decided to finsh off the deck after my 10am appointment.

Great race, Steve! Impressive time!Recover well!

Great job on the PR in those conditions. Looks like the training and pacing came together just right for the race. Congrats.

Great job and congrats on the PR!!

Steve, sounds like you raced very well! Congrats on your PR! It's great when plans fall together well.

Great report, congrats. I think my max planned mileage for this cycle is mid 40s as well, so I'm happy to see it worked out for somebody else. Awesome PR.

Awesome PR Steve. Very upbeat report. Glad you took the heat in stride.

Great race! Congrats.

Nice job on a warm day - congrats!

Great job Steve. Not many PR's to come out of this year's Chicago. It looks like you're training as race strategy was perfect.
Congratulations!

Congrats on a well run race, Steve! Woohoo on the PR!

Congrats Steve! It must be such a good feeling to have run such a good race with no fading towards the end! What an awesome PR!!

Congrats, Steve...I'm very impressed by the race that you ran! It was great to meet you...recover well!

Way to go, Steve. Congrats on the PR. All this with, "minimal miles." Maybe others will learn from your example.

Congratulations Steve. You PR'd with no carbs and little training. Just think if you had trained and carb'd up, you'd have run a 2:50! Nice job.

JohnP wrote:Congratulations Steve. You PR'd with no carbs and little training. Just think if you had trained and carb'd up, you'd have run a 2:50! Nice job.

Actually did carbs leading up to race day, but earlier in the week took more protein. I wish 2:50. I'd be happy with 3:10 some day. I'm learning patience and incremental gains work best in this sport. Nice meeting you, good luck with your upcoming race, looks like the cool weather is on the way.

Congrats Steve, you did very well on minimal miles. It was nice talking to you before the race.

Man, that's a great race, especially considering the mileage you ran it on and the conditions you did it in. I probably would have been best served to take a bit more conservative approach like you did.

Thats a kick ass race Steve! Very well done