Sunday, October 10th - CHICAGO MARATHON

27 miles, hard
60-75 degrees, sunny

Today was the big day. I came to Chicago with dampened expectations and shaky confidence, but got to the line this morning feeling calm and ready to give it my best.

I can't say I've experienced a race start quite as intense as the one in Chicago. The first three miles snake through the canyons of downtown with huge, loud crowds and thousands of runners. I never saw mile markers 1 or 2 amid all the distractions, but hoped that last Wednesday's dress rehearsal would help me keep pace. Through the third mile maker I saw 17:52, so I was averaging 5:57/mile, just a hair off my goal of 6:00/mile even. I settled down on the run north out of downtown and hit consistent 6 minute miles, gradually passing hundreds of runners.

Around mile 8 Mike Cotterell caught up with me and we began to run together at a 5:55/mile clip. We both felt pretty good at that point and didn't mind pressing the pace a little. Another runner latched on to us, and entertained us with snarky comments.

We crossed the half-way point in 1:18, so I was on pace for a PR if I could hold on. We were still running 5:55 mile after mile, but I wondered if I would keep it up. Realistically, though, I knew I was banking time for when I would slow down the last few miles.

The second half of the course exposed us to the sun as the temperature rose to about 70F. It wasn't too uncomfortably hot yet, but as the race progressed the heat definitely became a factor for everyone. I made a smart move at the two sponge stations and kept my sponge to re-wet at every water stop. This, plus taking water/Gatorade at every aid station made the heat bearable for me.

While still running 5:55-6:00 through mile 18, I wondered if/when my biggest weakness would reveal itself: endurance. Much of my poor confidence was derived from a lack of training miles over the summer. At some point it had to catch up to me. Then, suddenly at mile 20, I fell off pace.

Mike and I had just passed former teammate Benedict Sloane, and were catching up to Charlie Ban, who was visibly struggling. I slowed more and more, desperately trying to kick start my pace whenever I passed a cheer station and hoping the course would turn back towards downtown soon. By miles 24 and 25 I was running close to 8 min/mile and fully blowing up.

I managed to run a respectable final half mile, passing about 6-7 runners and kicking to the finish. I did not reach my goal of crossing the line at 10:10:10am on 10-10-10, missing it by just a minute and a half. Still, I ran about what I expected to run (2:40-2:45) and recovered through the day surprisingly well. Final time: 2:42:52.

Splits:

Mile 3: 5:57 (avg); 17:52
Mile 4: 5:49; 23:41
Mile 5: 6:04; 29:45
Mile 6: 6:00; 35:46
Mile 7: 6:00; 41:46
Mile 8: 5:59; 47:46
Mile 9: 5:59; 53:45
Mile 10: 6:01; 59:47
Mile 11: 5:54; 1:05:41
Mile 12: 5:55; 1:11:37
Mile 13: 5:55; 1:17:22

HALF: 1:18:13

Mile 14: 5:54; 1:23:26
Mile 15: 5:55; 1:29:22
Mile 16: 5:58; 1:35:20
Mile 17: 5:55; 1:41:16
Mile 18: 6:00; 1:47:16
Mile 19: 6:01; 1:53:17
Mile 20: 6:02; 1:58:20
Mile 21: 6:14; 2:05:34
Mile 22: 6:21; 2:11:55
Mile 23: 7:08; 2:19:03
Mile 24: 7:52; 2:26:56
Mile 25: 7:38; 2:34:35
Mile 26: 7:00; 2:41:35

FINISH: 2:42:52

Saturday, October 9th

4 miles, easy
60 degrees, sunny

Met with Reaves, Askey, Ernst, Dylan, and Hughes for a shake out run. We headed down to Grant Park to scope out the race day set up, then had breakfast.

Despite being 60 degrees, it felt pretty warm, especially in the sun. This doesn't bode well.

Friday, October 8th

0 miles. Travel to Chicago.

Arrived in Chicago this afternoon and met up with Reaves, Mike, and Hughes to go to the expo. Afterwards we met the Askey's and Dickson for dinner. All that walking around made me glad I can stay off my feet tomorrow.

Thursday, October 7th

4 miles, easy
70 degrees, dark

Met with HUGE after work for a short run to Gtown and back.

Wednesday, October 6th

6 miles, moderate
65 degrees, dark

Met with the guys for a Chicago dress rehearsal on the track. We ran 3 miles at marathon pace to get used to the feeling of "racing" so slow. I was uneven in my splits, but felt generally good doing the workout:

Splits:
Mile 1: 6:14
Mile 2: 6:01
Mile 3: 5:55

Tuesday, October 5th

Off.

Monday, October 4th

7 miles, easy
55 degrees, sunrise

I met with Ben for a morning run in RCP.  The toughest part about this run was getting used to running in the morning again.

Sunday, October 3rd

12.5 miles, easy
55 degrees, cloudy

I met with Dickson for a run along the towpath, but he had to pull out early with hamstring troubles.  I continued on at roughly 7 min/mile pace for an easy "long" run.  One more week until Chicago.

Saturday, October 2nd

8 miles, easy
55 degrees, sunny

Met with Charlie for a store run.  Felt easy.

Friday, October 1st

5.5 miles, easy
70 degrees, sunset

I ran around Hains Point on my own after work.  Short easy run.  Felt a little sore from Wednesday's workout and going to the gym yesterday.

Wednesday, September 29th

9 miles, hard
65 degrees, dark

I met with the guys for one last hard track workout before Chicago.  We ran 3xmile, and I ran with great consistency.

Splits: 5:14; 5:15; 5:14

Monday, September 27th

7 miles, moderate
75 degrees, cloudy

I ran up the Potomac Heritage Trail along the west bank of the Potomac north of Arlington.  It was fun to explore a new trail, but it was a stop-and-start kind of run because of all the obstacles.

Sunday, September 26th

15 miles, easy
65 degrees, sprinkling

I met with a group at The Line for the Zoo Loop.  The run was a little faster than I was up for, so I held back along Beach Drive with Jarrin.

Saturday, September 25th

10 miles, moderate
70 degrees, partly sunny

I ran with the group from the Georgetown store around the Hains Point loop.  We picked it up and my legs felt pretty sore, so I shut it down the last two miles and ran with Ernst.

Friday, September 24th

0 miles.

Thursday, September 23rd

8 miles, easy
80 degrees, humid, dark

I ran into Jim Daly at an impromptu photography meet-up at the Iwo Jima Memorial, where dozens of amateur and professional photographers awaited the rise of the harvest moon over the National Mall.  None of my photos came out, but I learned a few things about my camera.  Jim came over to my place and we met up with Ben for a night run around NW DC on the Dupont-Gtown-Mall-16th Street loop.

Wednesday, September 22nd

11 miles, "easy"
93 degrees, MUGGY

Man the weather was a shock to the system tonight.  I went up to BCCHS to meet the guys, but planned on just running instead of doing the workout.  We ran along the CCT, and while Paul and Dave did a workout, Mike C and I ran out-and-back.  It was an incredible struggle just to run 6:50-7:00/mile.  I've still got some recovering to do...

Tuesday, September 21st

4 miles, easy
75 degrees, sunset

I ran around the Mall on my own after work, and my legs felt shredded.  Kept it short.

Monday, September 20th

0 miles, recovery

Sunday, September 19th - Philadelphia Half Marathon

15.5 miles, hard
65-70 degrees, sunny, muggy

Today was the big tune-up half marathon. I haven't had a lot of luck in Philadelphia, but I was feeling strong this week so I decided to go for a PR. My half marathon PR was only 1:14:20, which makes it one of my softest PRs. My goal was to run ~1:13 low, or ~5:35/mile.

When the race started, I deliberately held back to avoid being swept up in the crowd of elites and the fools who chased them. Still, I went through the first mile in 5:21... too fast, but not detrimentally so. I adjusted my pace, and let a pack run by. When I saw my mile 2 split was 5:38, and I was only a few seconds behind the pack, I made the call to latch on to them as long as I could. We ran consistent 5:27s through downtown Philly, back by the museum, and up Kelly Drive. By mile 6 I was starting to struggle keeping up with them, and I broke just before the 8 mile mark.

I had told myself before the race that if I fell off pace, I would just cruise in at marathon pace. Despite takeing a GU at mile 7, I slowed to slower than 6 minute pace. I was crashing hard, but the GU kicked in and I was able to staunch the hemorrhaging. I still couldn't get back under 6:00/mile pace most of the way down JFK Boulevard even though I tried several times to kick start my race and try to get the PR. Mile 11-12 I was only able to accelerate to 5:54, but I finished relatively strong (compared to the last few miles) with a 5:43 final mile. I rounded the corner to the finish and saw the clock already over 1:14, and I knew I wouldn't hit the PR. Oh well, I was happy I gave it a shot. This endd up being my 3rd fastest, and 4th sub-75 minute half marathon. One of these days I'll break 74.

Splits:

Mile 1: 5:21
Mile 2: 5:38 10:59
Mile 3: 5:30 16:30 5K: 17:04
Mile 4: 5:28 21:58
Mile 5: 5:27 27:26
Mile 6: 5:27 32:54 10K: 34:04
Mile 7: 5:27 38:22
Mile 8: 5:35 43:58
Mile 9: 6:03 50:01
Mile 10: 6:07 56:08
Mile 11: 6:17 62:26
Mile 12: 5:54 68:20 20K: 1:10:50
Mile 13: 5:43 74:04

FINISH: 1:14:47