Chicago Marathon 2006

What I should title this post is....How the most totally awesome thing happened to me not at the marathon, but at the airport! Read on....

This is my second marathon in which I have followed the Pfitzinger Advanced Marathoning plan. I ran Boston this year and had a great race, but that is a hard course to determine if you could have PRed. Again this summer I followed the plan, although not to a T, and set my goals to run between a 3:30 and 3:35, realistically knowing that 3:35 was obtainable. Despite all the training I did, I really was not looking forward to this marathon and spent most of the weekend in a terribly bad mood as the start time came closer.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) the start time did come and with it wind and rain and cold weather. Dave, Dad, and I walked to the corrals together. Dave was in the open corral, and Dad and I were in the Preferred II corral. We said our goodbyes and then headed to our areas. The gun went off and I was able to cross the start line in about 3-1/2 minutes. That was great compared to the last time I ran Chicago when it took me 20 minutes to get to the start line. And because of the preferred start, I was able to get up to speed pretty quickly. My first mile was 8:47, which is a pretty quick start for me. Although unspoken, I think Dad and I were planning on running together, but within the first mile he stopped to relieve himself and I was alone. But, he caught back up to me and we ran the first 13 miles together.

Not to brag, but I run water stops really well. I'm quick to grab my cup and cut back to the middle and never lose pace. Everytime I went through a water stop, I would lose Dad and then magically he would reappear. We ran together for about 13 miles and then we went through a water stop and I didn't see him again. He said to me that he had a blister that had formed in mile 5. I didn't see Dad again until after we were both up in the hotel room. He had a blood blister the size of a silver dollar right on the back of his heel. I'm surprised he finished the marathon at all. It is nasty!

Most of the marathon I was ticking off times that I figured were too fast. I wanted to be running around an 8:15 pace, but spent most of the run around 8:05 pace. After the midway point, I picked it up and dropped it down to around an 8:00 pace until late in the race. I got really tired in the last 3 miles, but just tried to hold on. I ran the race without taking any walking breaks.

I PRed BIG! My time was 3:35:05. I'm pretty excited about it. Here were my splits:

Mile 1: 8:47
Mile 2: 8:31
Mile 3: 8:29
Mile 4: 7:57
Mile 5: 8:08
Mile 6: 8:22
Mile 7: 8:07
Mile 8: 7:58
Mile 9: 8:06
Mile 10: 8:05
Mile 11: 7:59
Mile 12: 8:14
Mile 13: 8:08
Mile 14: 8:10
Mile 15: 7:59
Mile 16: 8:01
Mile 17: 7:59
Mile 18: 7:53
Mile 19: 8:01
Mile 20: 8:07
Mile 21: 8:10
Mile 22: 8:09
Mile 23: 8:11
Mile 24: 8:24
Mile 25: 8:34
Mile 26.2: 10:27 (8:37 pace)

So here is the coolest thing that happened to me all weekend. Yesterday as we were in the Midway airport in line at security, one person behind Dave was a man who looked just like Bono from U2. I turned to Dave and was like "oh my gosh! That's Bono." And Dave was like, "No, he'd be taller than that." Then they opened a new security line and this Bono-looking gentleman went to that line and I grabbed Dave and we filed in with two people in front of us and then Bono. So, the girl in front of us turned around and mouthed, "Yes, that's Bono." Her brother asked him and he smiled and patted him on the shoulder and then said "Yes, I am, but let's not make a big deal out of it." OMG!!!!! The amazing part was he didn't have any security; he waited in line like the rest of us; he took off his shoes like we're all supposed to do; and he was flying out of the Southwest terminal. He seemed so normal. I wanted to ask to get a picture, but I was afraid he'd say no and then it would cloud my outlook of how admirable he is. But you better believe I called everyone I knew as soon as he was out of sight.

Totally awesome day or maybe I should say, "It's a beautiful day."