Do Epic Sh*t, or, Chicago Marathon 2012

This was marathon #9, one week after completing a half-iron tri. Probably not the best planning. But I digress.

I used to live in Chicago, so I still have friends there. This was a combo marathon/see-friends-and-family trip. I drove up Friday night, made it through Gary without encountering any cars burning on the highway, and hit parking-lot traffic as expected. This was when I discovered two problems with the car. 1) The headlight that I replaced the day before was out again, and 2) my oil light came on a couple of times when I had to stop suddenly. Great. Issue #1 was simply massively annoying, as this was the second time I'd replaced the headlight and been ignored when I suggested it was an electrical problem. #2 was very concerning.

Upon arrival to my friends' place in Oak Park, we decided to drop the car off the next morning at his mechanic. I scrapped my breakfast plans with family and we had a nice quiet morning just hanging out and relaxing while waiting for the car. The garage called, and it turned out the engine was bone dry, and thankfully didn't appear to be damaged. Why was it bone dry? Don't know. The last time it was worked on it was supposed to have had an oil change. Not sure that happened. In any case, I was extremely grateful to have been caught in stop-and-go traffic. Otherwise, that light would not have come on and I probably would have seized the engine somewhere on I-65 between Chicago and Indianapolis. Crisis averted. Headlight issue would just have to wait until I can go be pissy with my hometown mechanic.

Got the car around lunchtime, complete with oil. Drove through horrible traffic to get to the expo and picked up my bib/shirt/etc., more horrible traffic to get back to the suburbs, then spent a quiet evening with friends.

Sunday morning my amazingly wonderful friends drove me into Chicago, and dropped me off within a couple of blocks of the start. I was there about two hours early to avoid the horrible traffic, so there was plenty of time to scope out the area, people-watch, shiver uncontrollably from the cold, and get to gear check. I don't know what the temperature was, but there was a very cold wind that made it uncomfortable. I had not planned on the cold wind, so really wasn't dressed warmly enough to sit around for two hours. While sitting there, I was missing my usual pre-race enthusiasm. As I watched arriving runners, many of them all excited and happy, some of them nervous, I just wasn't feeling it. I reminded myself that at least today I would be exerting myself for less time than last weekend (six-and-a-half hours), and wasn't even going half the distance as last week (70.3 miles). That was a happy thought, and I was almost as happy as if I'd had a wonderful hot latte to wrap my cold hands around. Finally I gave up my sweatshirt, checked my stuff, and wandered into the crowd in the start corral, hoping to enjoy the collective warmth of all those bodies sharing a smallish space.

After another 30 minutes of standing around with thousands of excited people, I finally started to feel ready to tackle the day. We shuffled to the start line, and were off.

Things went really well for the first 13 miles. Then my hamstrings started hurting. Then my calves. Then my butt. (See a trend here?) It was at this point that I started seriously questioning the wisdom of running a marathon on only six days of rest after a half-iron tri. Oh well, I knew it would be hard when I signed up, I really wanted to do Chicago this year, and there wasn't a darned thing I could do about it now except suck it up and keep going. I reminded myself that this was a heck of a lot easier when not preceded by a long swim and longer bike ride. Small consolation, but a wee bit helpful. Let the walk/jog process begin!

At least Chicago offers constant distractions. There are no lonely spots on the course; there are spectators everywhere and they make a lot of noise. They also carry some very funny signs. I saw a couple that referenced Paul Ryan's (bogus) claim that he had once run a marathon and done it in under three hours. One said something like, "Don't worry, this marathon is being timed the Paul Ryan way". Another said, "Run like Paul Ryan". "Run faster, the Bears kick off at 3pm!" and "Run faster, my arms are tired" were also good. However, my very favorite sign of all time was "Do Epic Shit". That one just summed it up!

I'm afraid that I was in too much pain to fully appreciate my surroundings; I was just trying to get through it. I vaguely recall a nice little Spanish neighborhood with a great Greek band (!), and a couple of spectators handing out beer. I seriously considered the beer, but decided that might make things worse. Around mile 24 my shoes began letting me know they were due to be replaced, and the feet got into the pain party. At this point I was fully appreciating the runner with the shirt that said, "This is the LAST time!" It was a good reminder that the pain really is forgotten remarkably quickly, and we keep coming back for more. At least the temperature was perfect for running -- nice and cool. It was downright cold for the volunteers and spectators, though.

The mile 25 sign was cause for celebration, and I was actually able to keep passing people, and eventually the finish line was in sight. Thank goodness for all those spectators! They really do make it hard to walk for very long at a time, and probably had a lot to do with keeping me moving faster than I otherwise might have. At last I threw myself across the finish line and was very happy with my 5:07 time. My average time is in the 4:50-5:15 range anyhow, so this was not an especially pitiful performance. I didn't have my typical steady pace, but the overall time was well within my abilities. Another good day and the hot shower was bliss.

Went and visited the family that I had missed on Saturday, had a really nice time, then drove back home. Thankfully the cop that pulled me over for the burnt-out headlight was a nice guy and didn't give me a ticket. All in all, a successful weekend! Next up: Detroit marathon in two weeks.

Total time: 5:07:23

Split	Time	Pace
5K	35:06	11:18
10K	1:07:54	10:34
15K	1:41:07	10:42
10K	2:15:46	11:09
HALF	2:23:51	11:52
25K	2:51:56	11:35
30K	3:30:16	12:21
35K	4:10:35	12:59
40K	4:51:02	13:02
Finish	5:07:23	11:59