Race Information
- Name: Chicago Marathon
- Date: October 8, 2023
- Distance: 26.2 miles
- Location: Chicago, IL
- Strava Link
- Time: 2:50:33 (6:30/mile | 4:02/km)
Goals
| Goal | Description | Completed? |
|---|---|---|
| A | PR | No |
| B | Sub-2:50 | No |
| C | Sub 3 / BQ | Yes |
Summarized “TL;DR” Recap
Very long overdue recap but very happy I took my time to write this (also need to be more timely about these). Absolutely pleased with the result despite falling 34 seconds short of sub 2:50. It was a quick 1 week turnaround after returning from Germany and 2 weeks since the Berlin marathon. Legs were more tired than I liked to admit but I also did some stupid things during the race (i.e., running too fast to catch the group after tying my shoes at mile 12). A break from the PR chase this year and maintaining the fitness for the final major marathon of the year – NYC!
Training
I won’t dive into the training because it was covered during the Berlin blog (you can read it here if you’d like!). I took most of the week off after Berlin and explored Munich for a few days (enjoyed a few days of Oktoberfest too!). I did 6 runs with a 12 mile long run the week before the race and a 3 x 1 mile @ 2:40-2:44 marathon goal time. Nothing fancy but wanted to keep the legs fresh!
Pre-race
First and foremost, Papa Smith (Mimi Smith’s) dad deserves a huge shoutout for coordinating logistics. He drove Mimi, Craig, their friends, and me to the Chicago Marathon start line. Wake up time was around 3:45am-4:00am so I could be ready by 5:10am. We made it to the start area, but we are on Lake Shore Drive – the other side of Michigan Ave. Which was a problem…
We could not get through the gates at Grant park so we jogged all the way around through Columbus to get to Michigan (close to a mile but it was a nice warm-up). It was much smoother going through security and dropping my bag off. Made my trip to the port-o-potties (twice) and lined up in Corral A with Taylor Murphy (glad we rejoined at the start) and Matt Campbell (who lined up near the front).
Race
5K 21:21 (6:52), 10K 20:04 (6:27), 15K 19:56 (6:24)
It was a very congested start and we held our position on the blue line despite other runners crashing in hard. Taylor manual lapped each mile and I manual lapped each 5K. It was good team work and we stayed steady throughout the first 15K. We also bumped into other sloths (great job Jennifer Pope and Maddie Stier). Taylor and I caught up with Eric Woodcock around 10K and formed a small sloth pack.
20K 20:51 (6:42)
Everything was fine until it wasn’t. My shoes felt loose and forgot to double check them before the start. I decided to stop and tie them again – I didn’t want my shoes to fly off or roll my ankle. This took almost 2 minutes – much longer than I expected. I tried not to panic but unfortunately my anxiety took over.
25K 18:54 (6:05), 30K 19:28 (6:15)
I decided to push the pace to catch up. I think it was the adrenaline because I really had no idea I was going this fast. I saw the sub 19 5K split at 25K and immediately panicked – I knew I messed up. I also think the quiet west loop got into my head a little bit. The crowds thinned out and my focus was looking straight and I was just clipping away at sub 6:10/mile pace. Not making excuses – just sharing where things went wrong. I finally caught Taylor and Eric. Finally I can dial the pace back or so I thought.
35K 19:57 (6:25), 40K 20:24 (6:33), Finish/42.3K 9:28 (6:56)
Taylor and Eric were slowly picking up the pace as we entered Chinatown. This was part of the course where there were some elevation but nothing too daunting – just enough to take the pace back. I couldn’t quite keep up but I wanted to hold 6:30/mile – 6:40/mile pace so I could finish under 2:50. The mental fatigue was weighing more and more during the final 10K as my pace was slowing slipping.
The final 5K where we go down and back on Michigan “broke” me. I saw the clock at the final mile and needed a sub 6:00/mile to finish under 2:50 – I didn’t have this and I told myself this mentally. I made the push up Roosevelt and sprinted down Columbus to see 2:50:xx on the clock. Official time was 2:50:33. So close but yet so far away…
Post-race
Crossing the finish line felt like a blur. I was pretty devastated after seeing my watch and the final clock. I shed some tears and a huge thanks to Maddie for being there to help console me (find a group that supports you in your lows because it’s easy to support you at your highs like Completely Slothed). However, time heals as they say. It’s been a big year even without a PR. 5 marathons and 2 majors completed for the year – none of which seemed doable almost a year ago with the ankle sprain at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. All I can ask myself is to train hard and give it my best on race day – and that’s exactly what I did at Chicago!
