2008 Chicago Marathon Race Report

I signed up for the marathon this year with the thought, “I might as well do it this year since the chances are so slim that it could possibly be as hot as it was during last year’s race”. With Chicago being a candidate city for the Olympics in 2016, I knew they really needed to fix the mistakes that they made during last years race. I am very happy to report that yes, there was plenty of water, Gatorade, wet sponges and cooling water misters. I wish I could report that it wasn’t as hot but I’ve read various reports that it soared to 86 and 84. Luckily, we were blessed with low humidity.

I have been nursing a right hip flexor injury for about 4 weeks. Unfortunately, the only way to let this injury heal is with rest, which is impossible to do with the amount of running we had to do in order to train. I knew going into the race that it was going to be a painful one for me, but I didn’t train for 18 weeks to hang up my shoes without stepping up to the start line.

When we stepped off at the start at 8am, it was already 65 but with lower humidity. I wasn’t so much worried about the weather as I was about my hip flexor. There was a bridge at Mile 2 and as soon as we ran up the bridge, I could feel my hip flexor starting to say Hello. By Mile 4 or 5 it went away and I felt great. The crowds were amazing during the entire race, but they were especially amazing on the near north side of the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park and in Boystown. Man I love those dancing queens!!! I ran with a friend until about Mile 9. At that time she needed to slow her pace as she was nursing a back injury that was bothering her. I found one of my best friends, Chanthana, running a little ahead of me and I sped up to meet her. Around Mile 9, I noticed that now both of my hip flexors were hurting. I sort of laughed at the fact that here I was worried about the right one and the left one came out of no where to surprise me. Go figure. Chanthana and I continued to run together until about Mile 17. Somewhere between Mile 10 and 15 my left knee was now killing me. I had a sharp pain that went down the outside of my hip to my knee. At this point, I took some Ibuprofen at an Aid station. I noticed that when I stopped to get water and Gatorade, it was very difficult to start running again. My body was now hurting in all sorts of places and running was clearly the last thing it wanted to do! It literally took a good half mile to find a good groove; a nice painful groove, at that. Around Mile 18 I ran past a bank that had a digital sign and the temperature read 86 degrees. It was certainly warmer out at that point, but it didn’t feel like it was 86 degrees. I had to make one pit stop at a porta potty around this mark but kept going afterwards.

Around Mile 22 I was amazed at the crowd support. I tried to focus on the people around me and their smiles and cheers and not think about the pain in my body. They had already raised the running conditions to “Red Alert” and they had announcers telling us to slow down and drink more water. At one point I started saying “I feel good, I feel good, I feel good” out loud. I knew if I could just stay positive, I’d get through these last few miles. I laughed when a guy who was running by me turned to me and said, “You look good, too!” I didn’t know my mantra was loud enough that my neighbors could hear me. Ha! He and I made some small talk until the next aid station. At that point, I popped a few more Ibuprofen and I also took an Imodium AD to prevent the gastrointestinal issues I always have post-race.

I was really hoping to run my race in under 4 hours. I looked at my watch at mile 24 and I was already at a time of 3:45. Even though I felt like I was running 8:30 minute miles, my watch told me I was over 9’s. That’s how I knew it was even hotter as I couldn’t seem to run any faster than 9’s. I quickly did the math and realized that there was no way I would be able to finish in under 4 hours. So what was my next goal? It was to beat my last marathon time. This was still possible so I just kept my head down and kept moving one foot after another. I envisioned myself crossing at 4:03. The sun was blazing on my back and I could have moved over to the right side of the street that was somewhat shaded but I couldn’t even think about making the effort to do that. I just had to keep moving my feet and finish. I thought about my husband who was waiting at the finish line, and the fact that my training was over now and I could relax post-season and eat a lot of chocolate and drink a lot of wine. I just pictured all sorts of things that made me happy. J

I crossed the finish line in 4:07, beating my last time of 4:09 by a mere two minutes. At first I was very disappointed with this time, but seeing all of the people in wheelchairs and in the medical tent, I realized that I should be happy to have a PR (Personal Record) in these conditions.

My “marathon moment” was at the finish line. I was making my way to get my medal and I passed a woman who was soaking wet, crying and looked a little lost as she was walking against “traffic”. I reached out and said, “You did it! You finished!!” and she just took my hand, squeezed it and quietly sobbed. We walked to get our medals hand in hand without saying a word. I think she just needed a little support at that very emotional moment and I was happy I was there for her. We went our separate ways without saying anything but just smiled at each other. I knew the 18 weeks of training and a grueling race was worth it at that very moment.

I was very happy to reunite with my husband and my in-laws at the finish for a nice cold beer. Even though my mother-in-law is still recovering from knee surgery, she and I limped together a mile or so to their car.

Then the real fun began!

I took a few more Ibuprofen at the finish line. I didn’t realize that I basically took over 2000 mg’s of Ibuprofen between 6am and 12:30pm. Oops. That’s a bit too much. So I spent the entire afternoon and evening in my bed with severe cramping, dizziness, shivers and a fever. The only time I was able to move around was when I raced to the bathroom every 15 minutes not knowing which end was going to surprise me this time (sorry for drawing that picture). It was a horrible, horrible night. Brian noticed the bottle of Ibuprofen expired in 2003. Damn you, Costco, for making bottles impossible to finish!! Lucky for me, Brian’s best friend, Andy (who also ran the race that day) is an ER Nurse. He instructed me to drink lots of fluids and try to eat something. At 9am Monday, I finally ate some cereal and kept it down. Any runner can tell you the only way to help your muscles recover is to eat protein. Going the entire day after the marathon not eating a single thing is not going to help my recovery.

I’m still very sore, but I know the worst is over. I'll definitely lose another 2 toenails, bringing the grand total to 3 this season. Ahh, toenails are overrated!

Kudos to all of my friends who pushed through the hot and horrible conditions and finished the race!!! Thanks to everyone for your emails, calls and texts!! You are all amazing!