Terry Jones, Another Lost Dutchman
Chicago Marathon
October 12, 2008
"Lightning Strikes Twice"
I signed up to run the Chicago marathon this year despite the disaster they
had last year with the heat and lack of preparation. I'd been meaning to
run this marathon for quite some time since my older brother runs it every
year (for 18 years). So I said, what the hell, lightning doesn't strike the
same place twice, right?
I signed up through a charity (Opportunity Enterprises), which is based in
Valparaiso, Indiana. My older brother lives in Valpo and my younger
brother, who has Down's Syndrome, is a client at OE. Mike, my older
brother, has run Chicago 10 consecutive years through OE and was given some
special recognition at the pasta dinner Saturday night.
This would be my first marathon since Boston in 1996. Despite my contention
that lightning would not strike the same place twice, the weather prediction
was for a low of 66 and a high of 84 (hot, sunny and humid). Not as hot as
last year but certainly not ideal. Anyone who has run with me knows that
I'm not the best runner in the heat so I decided I would shoot for a 4:30
time and be happy with anything under 5 hours. Finishing would end up being
the big goal later on....
Sunday (marathon day) began by catching a bus at OE at 4:30am (makes those
6:30 training run starts seem easy). Slept on the bus until we were nearly
to Lake Shore drive. I drank lots of water Saturday night and finished a
couple more bottles Saturday morning. I decided to wear my water belt and
carried various nutritional items in the pouch. Two things I forgot were
sunscreen and the electrolyte tablets I has used on some training runs.
Darn! OE had a big tent (they have over 300 runners) in charity village so
we hung out there until a little after 7am and then started making our way
to the start line. I was able to weazel my way to the 10 minute pace signs
but could get no closer to the start. It was an unbelievably large crowd -
around 35,000 starters. Despite the large crowd, I was able to cross the
start line roughly 10 minutes after the official start. It was about 70
degrees.
I wore my orange OE singlet and I started hearing the "Go OE!" cheers from
nearly the start. That continued around the course which was cool. I
decided to run 9:30 pace miles while stopping at water stops only. The
crowd was so large at the start that doing 5 and 1's seemed impractical. I
ended up doing a little under 10 minute pace for the first few miles since
there was no room to go any faster. The sweat began to pour off me early on
and I hoped to get pretty far down the course before it got REALLY hot.
I kept running except for the water stops where I tried to make sure I was
getting a little gatorade and water each time. The way I perspire, I tried
to make sure I got plenty of fluids. I had initially planned to start doing
5 and 1's at around the halfway point but due to the heat, I decided to back
that off to the 10 mile mark. I was cruizing along ok. Just over 1 hour at
the 10K mark and 2:11 at the halfway point. However, I pretty much knew by
then that a 4:30 was not gonna be in the cards. It was getting hot and my
legs were already getting a bit sore. But I was still running with a lot of
4:15 and 4:30 pacers and the miles kept going down.
If you haven't run Chicago, its a great course through various distinctive
neighborhoods in the city. There was an estimated 1.5 million spectators so
the entire course was lined with people. Lots of cowbells (and other noise
makers) so I was reminded of the Christopher Walken Saturday Night Live skit
calling for "more cowbell!!" I had a fever and there was only one cure!
I did 5 and 1's to the 20 mile mark but my legs were getting even more sore.
I decide to back off to 3 and 1s. I've definitely slowed down now since my
30K split is 3:15 (a little under 10.5 pace). But things still seemed ok.
At 22.5 miles, the wheels came off! I'd been feeling tightness in my calfs
for a few miles but now any attempts to run were greeted with full blown
cramping. Stretching didn't seem to help. The electrolyte tablets would
have been great but not having those, I tried to take in all the gatorade
and gel shots I could handle. Now I was cramping and my stomach couldn't
tolerate any more intake. My pace slowed to a crawl. 35K to 40K took 53
minutes (17 minute pace!). Any attempt to run was still greeted with
cramping so I walked and walked and walked. At around 25 miles, I was able
to peg-leg run a bit but only in short spurts. There was a slight uphill
towards mile 26 that I was able to run and it felt the best I'd felt for
what seemed like hours. I finally crossed the finish line at 5:05.
The high for the day ended up being around 85. The asphalt surface and
radiant heat of 35,000 runners probably made the effective temperature even
hotter. However, this year they were prepared. All the water stations were
manned and I never had a problem getting fluids. I did see several runners
down but they were being attended to and reports after the race were that
heat related injuries were as expected. Nobody died. I have nothing but
praise for the race organizers.
I was so nauseous after the run that I couldn't drink anything at all. I
even passed up the free beer at the end which should tell you how bad I
felt! I didn't drink or eat anything until we got back to Valpo (nearly 2
hours after my finish) and ate a couple of yummy, nutritious tacos. After
going to the bathroom, I discovered that my urine was pretty much clear so I
can only conclude that I had actually overhydrated during the race,
surprisingly enough. Sorry for the graphic details but I thought this was
an important lesson. Apparently the body can only assimilate so much fluids
and any more than that will just slosh around. I intended to keep
electrolytes coming in but I reached a point where I was just making myself
sick. I think if I had remembered my electrolyte tablets, I would have been
less concerned and would have drunk less - especially less gatorade. Live
and learn....
At the 24 mile mark of this marathon I decided that I would never do this
again. But today, I signed up to run Raleigh. Let's hope for cooler
weather!
|
