I was going to type a more detailed pre-Marathon account, but I thought that I'd just jump into the marathon experience. It's quite long, so take some reading breaks 😉
“You'll need stamina to finish.
What's really impressive is the
courage it takes to start.” — Anonymous
Saturday. Day before the Marathon.
Did a 20-minute morning run. Went to the Expo to pick up my bib. Went to church. Had carbo-loaded supper. Prep'd racing gear — shoes, bib, timing chip, energy gels, salt packets, Gatorade, sunscreen, and so on.
Sunday. Early morning.
I woke up at 1AM 'cuz I had to go pee >.< -- I've been hydrating myself, so naturally... ^_^
Sunday. M-Day (M for Marathon)
I got up earlier than my sis to shower and get ready. I can't remember if I said a prayer or two — it was surreal getting ready that morning. With everything in-tow, my sister and our friends, Myrna, Irene, Vee and Steph all head to the starting line. It was about a 1.3 mile walk from our hotel to the start line. I take the time to keep my mind off the race and take some photos en-route. It was a chilly morning, but I'm glad I had a “sheddable shell” on. We all discuss where to meet after the marathon, and then head off to the “Gear Check” area and then the “Open Seeding” area of the start line. To give you an idea, there's Elite, Sub-Elite, Competitive, Preferred and then Open Seeding sections.
The Start
We got to the start area a good 10 minutes before gun time. During this time, I took more snapshots to keep my mind off the daunting task of running a marathon… After the stretching and the Star-Spangled Banner, the Elite runners were off. About 20-minutes later, we finally started, hearing the “beep” from the timing chip that our start times have been recorded. It was very crowded — spectators and runners. Participants alone were claimed to be at 30,000+
Mile 1 to Mile 2
We started off well. We didn't go too fast and took our walk break on schedule. We were doing a 8-1 interval (run 8 minutes, walk 1 minute) so despite the thick crowd, we were able to walk on the side safely and then get back up to run. Around mile 1.8 or 2, Vee had to go to the bathroom, so Myrna decided to wait for her while I sped off. That's the last that I see of them until around mile 17. Gross fact: some guy runners were going to the side of the course to pee! Yuck!
Mile 3 to Mile 5
I felt fine. I did not get an accurate report on my pace from my GPS-enabled watch because of the buildings around me. They were towering high enough so that there was insufficient “space” for the watch to track any satellites. I was on my own to pace myself. I did check my watch at the 5K mark, and I thought that I PR'd it. (PR = Personal Record). Apparently, I didn't; but this helped keep me positive because of the “good” record. I'm still cold, so I keep my “sheddable shell/paper jacket” on. I was also surprised that the course wasn't really flat (by my standards). I had a good ways ahead of me and kept this in mind.
Mile 6 to Mile 10
I remember looking at my watch when I hit the 10K mark. Again, I thought that I was ahead of schedule (I wore a “5:00” pace bracelet that gives suggested times for the different mile markers). I also remember thinking to myself that I'll save eating the energy gel, because I felt fine. I drank my Gatorade, though (I carried a bottle). I think we passed through “Lincoln Park”. I remembered the park's name 'cuz it reminded me of the band and then started pondering if they named themselves that 'cuz they were from Chicago. Are they from Chicago? Anyway… Everything else was a blur. I do kind-of remember crossing mile 10, but I don't recall anything special that happened. Around Mile 8, I think I finally folded my paper jacket and tied it around my waist. The sun was shining, albeit the semi-windy weather. No wonder Chicago's called the “Windy City”. Oh yah, LOL there was like, “Gay Street USA” or summat and there were these transvestites + gay men dressed in costume cheering us. Those were the funniest spectators.
Mile 11 to Mile 15
I enjoyed crossing all the markers because at specific ones (5K marker, 10K marker, 20K, etc.) they recorded my times. Those times would then be sent in an email to whoever was tracking me online. In that case, it was my mum, who was tracking me all the way in Rome, Italy. It kind of “tied” me to them so that they knew that I'm still running the race! LOL. At this point, I'm feeling a bit fatigued. I have had only the energy bar for breakfast, and Gatorade. With about two to three hours of running under my belt, I was getting a bit hungry. Despite this, I toughed it up and kept drinking my Gatorade. I deferred eating my energy gel because I knew how it made me feel — queasy and sick. You see, I haven't “mastered” consuming these gels and each time I tried them during my training runs, I either felt sick or very sick. +_+ When I crossed the half-marathon mark (13.1 miles), I checked my watch to see my time. Still “on-schedule”. I think we passed a couple of neighborhoods there with homes that reminded me of New York City. The crowd was still thick — even in the residential areas.
Mile 16 to Mile 18
There's a definite change in my pace now. I've slowed down a bit, and have been alternating between short and longer walk breaks. I finally break out one of the energy bars I cut into small pieces and start munching on it while running. It was really insufficient because I didn't bring a whole bar — more like, half-a-bar. Why I didn't bring more of that kind of food, I thought as I ran, was beyond me. Vee and Myrna caught up with me and I ran for about a mile with Myrna until I told her that I had to take an “unscheduled” walk break. By this time, my already hurting arches were somewhat intolerable and my upper back (closer to the shoulders) was also painful. My legs, arms, lower back were fine except for those two trouble spots. I've been spraying “Kool 'N Fit” on my neck and legs since mile 14.
Mile 19
By the time I got to the 19th mile, I've already done more “walk breaks”. I was still hungry and cold, so I put my paper jacket back on. Mile 19 to 20 seemed like an eternity, so I told myself that I'll do more walking to “rest” so that I can run the remaining 6.2 miles — I likened it to preparing for a 10K race. I think I had one salt packet. It was salty. LOL.
Mile 20
I stopped at the curb to stretch. My arches hurt so much that I could barely remove my shoes to spray “Kool 'N Fit” on my feet. I see small, opened, JellyBelly bags on the asphalt; looks like they were handing out candy at this mile marker earlier… Clearly, they've run out of candy, though. I was half-tempted to pick a bag off the ground. I've only had half an energy bar at this point and Gatorade. I was famished and yet I still did not break open any of the energy gels I brought. Needless to say, I didn't run the rest of the way as planned. It felt like crawling to the next mile marker.
Mile 21
I think it was at this mile marker that they were handing out Powerbars — or was it Mile 23? I gladly took a “Chocolate Nougat” powerbar and began munching on it; only to lose half of it 'cuz I accidentally dropped it while drinking Gatorade. D'oh! It's gotten sunny around these parts, but I didn't take off my jacket 'cuz I was too tired. I've slowed down to a “jogging”/speedwalk pace.
Mile 22
I decided that I'd never run another marathon again. This was it. I also have been doing more walking now than running. Although the weather was tolerable, I was still hungry, and my arches and upper back still hurt. I've also deferred “running all the way” until I have 3 miles left to go (likening it to a 5K).
Mile 23
This nice lady on the street had a pretzel bag and was sharing it with the runners so I gladly took 3 as I thanked her while running off. That helped a lot.
Mile 24
Two halves of an energy bar, 3 pretzel pieces and loads of Gatorade later, I still was doing more walking than running. It was painful to walk for long periods of time, though, because it made the pain of my arches more “noticeable”… I was tired and if I slowed down my arches hurt; if I sped up, my arches and back hurt. I “delayed” running the rest of the way until I had 1 mile left.
Mile 25
Almost there, and yet, still so far away. I had more Gatorade, and then threw the bottle away; I thought that I wouldn't want to carry a bottle across the finish line. It was good to lose a bit of that weight. My arm was actually relieved not to have a “heavy load”. Carrying an 18-ounce bottle doesn't sound so heavy, but after 25 miles, it felt like a 50-pound barbell. I also took off my paper jacket and neatly secured it to my waist. This was the final mile, and yet I couldn't run through and through… I still couldn't see the finish line and I was getting disheartened. I thought that I could see the “promised land” but it was nowhere in sight! I finally figured that it was around the corner…
Mile 26 to 26.2 (Finish)
I finally see the last “hill” that they've been talking about. After that hill, was the finish line. With the little ounce of energy I had, I ran up the hill, not feeling anything anymore, just glad that I'm almost there. The run “down” the hill was a godsend. The stretch from the bottom of the hill to the actual finish line seemed like forever, though. When I finally crossed, I definitely felt relieved, but at the same time, the pain set back in.
Finished
No one really greets you with a space blanket when you finish this late. The only other “staff” that greeted me was the one handing out the finisher medals. I was grateful for that, and happy to have endured 26.2 miles.
I limped over to the stacked silvery space blankets and wrap it around myself. Then, I limped to the “Finisher's Photo” area to pose with a big smile on my face, brandishing my medal. I wanted to go to the “foot tent”, but I thought of finding my group first. I finally limped to the meeting place, where my sister, Myrna, Vee, and Irene were (they would've been waiting for me for at least an hour now.) They're relieved to see me (they thought that I finished earlier, but can't find me!) and give me hearty hugs. I was half-crying when I saw my sis, though, 'cuz I told her of my “bad” finish time. She assured me that time was nothing — completing the marathon was a goal in itself and that I shouldn't really place a “target” finish time for my first marathon. I kind of felt better. However, a fully-loaded, yummy, authentic Chicago hotdog was what put the smile back on my face. ^_^
What I learned from this experience:
1. Don't skip your long training runs.
2. “Practice” eating energy gels
3. Psychologically prepare yourself before and during the run!
4. Have fun.
5. Never say never to another marathon! (I'm thinking of doing The Las Vegas in December 2005) 😛
Photos to be posted later. Thumbnails courtesy of www.ChicagoMarathon.com.
