Chicago Marathon -- The Quest for Sub-2:40 Continues

2018 was my second time running the Chicago Marathon. My first attempt here was back in 2013. I was a senior in college and had a half marathon PR at the time of 1:19. I had put in some really good marathon training in 2012 and in 2013. I ran 2:54 at the Philadelphia Marathon in the fall of 2012. I probably was ready for something closer to 2:50. I then had a really good training block before Boston in 2013 but ran just 2:56 after going through halfway in 1:23. I was really aggressive with my race plan at the 2013 Chicago Marathon. I thought I could run 2:39 on the best day but wanted to give myself a shot at the low-2:40s. I went out in 1:20:38 and was on pace for a 2:41 marathon through halfway. That proved to be too much, as I faded hard over the last 10k to finish in 2:47. We had a perfect weather day in 2013 and I realistically was more likely ready for something in the 2:43-45 range on that day. After Chicago, 2013, I went through a rough patch with the marathon. I went through a period of time where running was making me lightheaded and dizzy. I could not train at the same level. I tried to run a couple of marathons but dropped out because of those problems. I finally completed a marathon in the spring of 2016. I had moved to Oregon, had put in some good training, and ran the race. I ran a disappointing 2:59 but not all was lost as I had set a PR in the half marathon a month and a half before that race. I ran the Twin Cities Marathon the following fall and ran a nearly identical time. I was struggling with the marathon but was finally starting to feel healthy again. Less than a month after that race, however, I got the blood clot in my lung. I stopped running. I got treatment. I did not know if I would be back to running. After some time off and some healing, I returned to running in the spring of 2017. I was on a vengeance. I set PRs at 5k, 10k, the half marathon, and, yes, the marathon. I ran a 2:46 marathon in the summer of 2017. I refocused on the marathon and set out to try to break 2:40. I took a shot at NYC in the fall of 2017 but ran 2:47 after going out in 1:20-flat. I put in great training prior to the race but it was 60 degrees with 100% humidity on race day. My body did not agree with that. I was frustrated with that performance so I ran the California International Marathon in 2:44:01 just 4 weeks later. I ran perfectly even splits, running most of the race with the 2:45 pace group. I felt well within myself that day. That is my current PR. Running back to back marathons like that does not usually produce the best results. I figured I might be in better shape and set out to attack 2:40 at the Boston Marathon in 2018. I ran arguably my best race effort in dropping a 2:44:51 into a 20+ mph headwind. Many speculated about how much that slowed times down by. Most agreed that it was by at least a few minutes. I knew I was close to the elusive sub-2:40 barrier and set out to do that this fall with dreams of better weather.

I went into Chicago, 2018, in the best shape of my life. I built on what I was able to do at Boston and got stronger and stronger over the summer. I averaged more than 80 miles a week over a 15 week period. I hit 8 of those weeks over 90 miles. My workouts looked great. I did some altitude training at a Chicago gym that has an altitude chamber. They simulate 10,000 feet by pulling air out of the room. I did my interval workouts on a treadmill in there during this build-up and felt really strong as a result of that when I would do the rest of my training outdoors. My long runs went great. I had a few 20+ milers in the 6:20-6:40 range, never feeling uncomfortable. I also hit some long tempos at marathon pace. Two weeks before the race, for example, I hit a 10 mile tempo @ 5:54 pace. That comes out to 2:34 marathon pace...and I felt like I wasn't pushing during that workout...I was ready to rock it. I backed off my training and tapered well over the final two weeks. I had some lingering hip/hamstring/calf tightness but nothing that would have impacted my race or would have kept me from running. The excuse I will make for what happened on Sunday is the weather and my own attitude. I do not run well in the heat/humidity. I know that and my attitude got sour before the race when the forecast was set for low-60s and 100% humidity. It was identical to NYC where I ran 2:47 a year ago. I was too aggressive with the weather there when I went out in 1:20-flat. I thought I could still run a PR this time around but adjusted my race goals accordingly. I wanted to give myself a shot at sub-2:40. On a perfect day I would have gone out in 1:18-19 or so. I targeted a 1:21 opening half, knowing that 1:20 was a touch too fast in NYC, and executed that plan perfectly. I ran 1:21:03 for the first 13.1 miles. Every mile was between 6:05 and 6:15. I was slower than I was in 2013 but thought I would be able to hold on much better. For whatever reason, I did not. Breathing got really hard just before the 25k mark. I think I can just chalk it up to the weather. The pace should have felt a lot easier for a lot longer. My legs never really failed me. I did not cramp up. I just could not breathe. I pulled over at mile 17 and almost threw up. I stepped off the course for about 2:00 or so at that point, collected myself, and chose to gut it out. Aside from the lightheaded marathons I have never DNF'd from a road race. I am stubborn and knew it was not going to be easy to finish. I knew I would not be happy with my time. I was upset with the hand I was dealt by the weather Gods. I ended up finishing in 2:51-low. I honestly thought I would be closer to 3 hours but ended up running some 6:30s/40s in the last few miles, down from the 7:00 pace I had been jogging since the throw up scare. I finished in about 600th place overall.

I am really proud with what I have been able to do in the marathon over the last two years. I have run 5 marathons and that's 5 marathons since having a blood clot in my lung. I don't think that's how most would come back from a clot. I have lowered my PR to 2:44:01 and I ran 2:44:51 on a garbage day at the 2018 Boston Marathon. That's why the 2:51 is so disappointing to me. My PR came a month after a sub-par marathon attempt in NYC. I'd like to think if that had been my goal all along (instead of NYC) my legs would have been more fresh and I could have perhaps run faster. I'd like to think all of the work I did between then and Boston made me faster but my official time was 2:44:51. 50 seconds slower but in awful conditions. Your time does not have an asterisk to account for weather. I ran 2:44:51 at the 2018 Boston Marathon. Period. Chicago was my chance to run a time that was indicative of my fitness, of everything that I have put into training over the last two years. Instead, I got a similar weather day to NYC, tried to be smarter with pacing, but still fell short. It is not that the pace was too fast for me or that I am not ready for a 2:39-2:42 marathon. It is that I did not get the right day for it. I did not have a choice but to run Chicago and I am proud that I went out on PR pace through halfway. It would have been more of an insult to all of the work that I have done to not have done that. I am still torn on what comes next. I feel like I have been ready at various points to run 2:39 during the last five years or so. My original plan was to run a marathon PR and then spend the next year focused on the Berlin Marathon. I've run a lot of marathons in the last two years and want to skip a spring marathon, run fast at shorter distances, and then go for a big PR at Berlin. It's tough to stick to this plan when my PR remains 2:44:01. I feel like I could almost jump into any marathon a month or two from now and PR. I need to think things through and weigh my options. I know what the best and most rational track is but that is the last thing that I want to do right now.

I am definitely writing my thoughts here too close to the finish of the race. I should be more excited and happier with what I've done but it's hard when I just ran a 2:51 when I ran 2:47 on this course five years ago. I also know that I am in much better shape now than I was then but the times might make you think otherwise. It's just hard to sit on 2:44:01 for another year when I could get another less than stellar weather day and then be in the same situation. If I'm smart the next you'll hear from me is after a half marathon PR attempt in the spring. I have a lot of room for improvement there (1:16:40 from May, 2017) and can bring my marathon potential down the more I chip away at the half marathon. I honestly do not need to change much in terms of training. I have been consistent for two years and simply need to race more. I have basically just run marathons since June of 2017 when I know I could have run a fast 10k or half marathon in that time span. If I can stay consistent over the next year, a monster PR might be there for the taking in Berlin. That is my main goal for the next year. Between now and then I need to accept my marathon PR and not use it as something that holds me back from going after a time that my fitness shows me is possible. I hope that thought process makes some sense. I thought that I was ready for 2:38-ish this fall. Without running that time, I am not a 2:38 marathoner even though I am training like one. I am a 2:44 marathoner. In the next year, I could keep improving and will maybe be in 2:35 shape. It will be hard to have confidence to go for that time when it is even faster than what I have run. 

On a positive note, this way my 14th marathon finish. 11 of 14 have been Boston Qualifiers, I've gone under the 3:00 mark 9 times, under 2:50 5 times, and under 2:45 twice. I hope marathon #15 brings me under 2:40 for the first time. There is always something to keep you motivated.