Chicago 2011

Well, that was disappointing! I feel like I could copy and paste in some description from previous sub3 attempts because Sunday was the 4th time I've gone for it and blown up badly. Two years at Boston and two years now at Chicago, I have gone through the half between 1:29:00 and 1:29:45 and every single time I've cratered by the end to finish (or not in the case of Chicago last year) with a much slower time than I know I can do. But do I know it anymore? I sure think I'm well trained for the distance and lots of things point to a sub3 being a very doable marathon time but the fact is that I haven't come close to that time now in 4 attempts. Ugh!

But it still managed to be a great weekend, despite the race debacle. As I think everyone knows, Dave is my coach and while we interact just virtually 99% of the time, it is always a ton of fun to hang with him in real life. Even though both of us were frustrated with our races big time, that didn't stop us from drinking a bunch of beer, doing a lot of NFL watching and then Mul21 joined the two of us for dinner and seeing Weezer in concert. That's a real good day if you just skip the running part. But no, the running part was special too becuause Schuey was with me for every step of the way.

Schuey is prepping for his debut at the ultra distance next month so he kindly agreed to pace me on Sunday and do the marathon as a training run for himself. Soooo nice of him. He picked me up at the airport on Saturday, we hung out for a bit with Lisa and Schuey's Mom, and then Schuey and I did 4 miles easy along the lake ending up by the Chicago finish. I was mentally rehersing what crossing that line with 2:59:XX on the clock would look like. I think I saw that time flip over somwhere around mile 24! Dinner with the Schueys was awesome the night before and then it was early to bed.

As soon as we started rolling on Sunday, I knew it was not an "on" day for me. Usually in races, I really need to hold myself back from flat killing it at the beginning and running way under race pace. Not Sunday. I can't recall a race like that where I simply never found a groove or rhythm all day. Schuey perfectly set the pace and I just fell in next to him easily but while I was never really working early on, it also felt like more effort than simple MP should. Nothing that early in the race should ever feel too hard and I constantly felt like it was OK but not a easy feeling to sit right there at MP pace. Frankly, I kind of thought it might be a good thing and I would magically hit a groove later in the day. Nope - never happened. Schuey was AWESOME. All I had to do was simply follow his lead. I wasn't tracking pace or time too carefully because he had that completely covered. Every once in awhile I would look down expecting to see something like "6:32" on the watch but it would be "6:49" or something in that range. Hmmm, I thought. We hit the half just fine at 1:29:30 or so but I couldn't help but think that I had done a 1:24:30 a month earlier that felt a little better and of course in that race, I was done but here I had a whole 2nd half to run. Still, Schuey was money and keep us right on pace. I think I started to falter a bit around 20 and I think the 3:00 pace team passed us soon after that. I was starting to lose it mentally and was really struggling with my breathing as well. Then out of nowhere, I just kind of blanked and felt myself lose my balance. Just a moment of feeling like I would puke (I think I said that to Schuey) and my vision got blurry. Not a good feeling at all. Scary. I stopped dead in my tracks there. The feeling passed after a bit and I never felt sick to my stomach the rest of the day but when I tried to get rolling again and at least get a healthy PR in the sub 3:05 range, I wasn't able to hold it together for too long. I think we walked twice more and even when running, the pace was now pretty bad. I didn't actually cramp up until the final mile of the race which just added a nice additional level of misery to the end. But during that whole last 5 miles, I was just shot. Zero energy. I must have been a pain for Schuey to deal with as I was just dead to the world. He is the Man of the Year for sticking with me all day and constantly encouraging me to just keep digging deep and moving forward. About the only dignity I salvaged was that we passed some kind of "Cheer Zone" thing where the guy said 2 miles to go and I swore I wouldn't walk again the rest of the way and didn't. Small victories! Oh, and how about this....somewhere along the way in there, I became a one of those runners you hear about who pees themselves without stopping. Scary thing is that I had no idea it was happening until it was. Whatever signals normally go to the brain saying "hey, man, stop and go to the bathroom"...well, I guess they got turned off. Schuey was cracking up when I told him "hmm, I'm pissing myself". Too much information, I know! Ah, marathons...

Anyway, we made it to the finish in 3:13 something. I was happy to finish and proud today that I at least stuck it out and kept grinding when truly nothing was going right. Schuey deserves all the credit for that. He simply said "give 110%" and I did my best out there to do just that. I've never felt so depleted and crappy finishing a race but I did try and max out with whatever I could over that 2nd half.

So.......where from here? It is always tempting to say "NO MORE MARATHONS!" and maybe I did say or at least think that a few times on Sunday. Right now, that distance is just not working out for me. But I wan't to solve it and have ONE marathon go well as a race. I've completed 10 marathons but in the 6 I've raced, not a single one of them has ended with a non-bonk finish. The ones I've run smooth all the way through were at easier paces so they don't really count as much. I've got to figure all this out and I'll keep trying. But for now......rest!

Hey Chris nice meeting you at Sweetwater. All I can say is you left it on the course and even though you bonked you laid it all out there. I truly think you'll have a great marathon when everything lines up. I guess you and Dave may need to look back and see if there is something you may need to do like taper a bit more, who knows. It was a tad bit warm which can really effect a balls to the walls effort like that. I noticed you said you had a 1:24 half earlier in the month? Not Oct. I hope. Hey, a 1:24 is fantastic and a predicter of a sub-3:00. maybe the half should be MP next time , just a thought. Anyway don't be disappointed you finished well, glad you enjoyed Chicago and Weezer!

Soooooooooooooooo bummed for you Chris! UGH! You know what I think you need?! You need to come run Grandma's Marathon. It's a perfect race and will be nice and cool there from this point on, I promise!

Keep at it - you'll get it.

So sorry, Chris...and I had a rough one, too. I actually can identify with your feeling "off" from the beginning. I kept thinking I'd shake it off but it ended badly. Don't give up yet!

Chris,

I think with the blood issue figured out, you now just need to have a race in cooler condition. I presume you can handle cold well as you live in the north most of the time(?). The warm weather might cause more damage on you than others.

Still as you said, you had lots of fun over the weekend.

Rest well!

Chris, besides saying how sorry I am that you had such a rough marathon, I can also say that I can relate in a huge way. Your experience on Sunday looked eerily similar to my experience in Boston, when I was being paced so fantastically by Kevin Fitz (well, o.k. the similarities ended at the point where you peed on yourself ), but ended up with a major bonk.
I really believe that you have sub-3:00 in you, so I'm glad that you closed your report by saying that you're not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
Besides the disappointing race, the rest of the weekend looked just fantastic. How cool to hang out with the Schuey's, Dave, Jim, etc. all weekend.
Rest up buddy. April's almost around the corner!

All you need is a cool day, so just hang in there and pick a nice chilly race! Sorry it turned out this way, but you definitely will break 3.

So sorry to hear how rough the day was for you. I am in awe of how you could just keep going. Have a good recovery.

Hey Chris, way to tough out 26.2 when it wasn't your day. I'm sorry things didn't work out for you the way you'd hoped, but I'm glad you still had a lot of fun last weekend. I guess your sub 3 is meant to come when your family is there cheering you on. Hopefully I can celebrate it with you in April (unless you are trying again sooner than that).

Hang in there and take the time to recover physically and mentally. You have improved so much and are just ready to have a great race. It will come soon.

Tough day for most out there Chris. I think you failed to mention, even once, about the weather. It was a bit warm out there. I was standing in it and felt it. Not as bad as a couple of the past years, but still warm enough that for most, it affected their performance.

Keep at it. It's gonna happen.

Great meeting you Sunday and look forward to seeing you in Boston.

Ouch! I'd have said the same as others about the heat, but you felt crappy even at the start. I'm glad you had a great non marathon experience. Friends are for life. I would have loved to have someone pace me. Dinner and concerts with friends are priceless. That's the important stuff.

I'd only change one thing. I think you have flown into your race the day before for both Boston and Chicago and think that may play a role in not feeling great on race day. I would not change anything about the training. Get to the race a day earlier, get a nice cool day, and I think you will have a great race.

I know you'll get there.

Bummer, Chris, but given my complete lack of motivation, I am jealous of fast people like you and their commitment. I've obviosuly made the decision that life trumps running for me, and your weekend sounded like a blast regarldess of the marathon's "details".

Jerry says a cool weather race - Napa 2012!

What a kick in the shorts. I've told you this already, but to put it in perspective, I hope one day I can run a GOOD marathon at 3:13. I know you worked about as much as you could of to get ready - I don't think you can ask too much more of yourself. It totally sucks, but you are continuing to get better by setting new PRs. Hang in there and don't give up - you have too much running potential. Watching your training and racing leaves me inspired. Maybe a stupid analogy, but it took Kurt Warner a while to get things figured out, but once he did - look out... You have a lot of teaching in you and I always appreciate your thoughts - you are a great runner! Keep coming......

Oh Chris, I'm so sorry that you found yourself in another crappy marathon moment. It seems that you were doomed from the start and that it was only a matter of time before everything went to hell. That you kept trying says a lot about your determination and commitment. You'll get there someday, but this was just not your day.

Chis, I was sorry to hear on Sunday that it wasn't your day. I know that you have been trying hard to reach that elusive sub 3 marathon time. Don't get discourage. You definitely have a sub 3 marathon in you. If mother nature would just cooperate, I think that you would see the results. Keep plugging at it and it will come!!

DANG!

I'm so disappointed for you! I pray you find that good race soon.

I'm sorry Sunday was a disappointment. I think for a marathon goal to be reached, so many factors have to be just right, just the right food the few days before, good sleep, great weather, no hint of injuries...and if any one of those gets tweaked somehow it becomes much much more difficult.

Don't give up hope!

Scary how similar we felt from the get go. I agree with Jim on the attempting to travel a day earlier next time. That might prove to be an advantage for you. And seriously, we need to find a friggin' cool weather race!

We'll both hit our goals, it's just a matter of time before we solve this puzzle. The marathon is a cruel, cruel mistress!

The weather clearly messed up a lot of peoples goals. You gave it everything you had. You can't ask for more than that. You just need a nice cool day.

I think everyone here was pulling for your sub 3 but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. It is strange to me how well your races go when you are not racing them. You ran a 3:12 and made it seem like no big deal. You go for something more aggressive and it continues to backfire. Do you think that perhaps you need an intermediate goal like 3:05 before you take on the the sub 3 monster? or maybe you need to start really slow and go for that huge negative split. Anyway, It was really great to finally meet you. I wish we would have had more time to talk after the race but at least we did meet.

Sorry the race didn't go as planned Chris. It was great that you had Schuey there though. Glad you were able to finish the race. Sounds like you all had a great weekend otherwise so that is worth a lot in my book.

It took me about three years of training and racing to finally BQ. I realize sub 3 is your goal and that takes quite a bit more than BQ, however I would encourage you to keep after it which I am certain you will. Part of the answer in my case was focusing on more slow training while increasing mileage. Also ended up running five or six marathons a year, using some as training runs. Getting used to the transition from mile 20 on and being able to run through tired legs at close to or the same pace as pre 20.

I am sure you and Dave will sort through all of this and keep after it. I have enjoyed reading about your process. You have already overcome some obstacles and you have a good attitude so you're halfway there. Keep up the good work!

I'm really sorry to hear about your race the peeing thing really made me laugh too:D .I'm not trying to make excuses but I guess I am it was real hot our there. Maybe you like hot weather like Randy and are use to it,but I can't I'm sure the weather was definetly part to blame. I think mentally you need a strong finish to a marathon ,try one at an easier pace see how that goes

Aw, Chris, no matter how long I waited to reply, I still feel bad for you. That was one tough day out there. I guess having Schuey run with you kept you from some exciting trip to someone's loft apartment like last time. You did so well this summer getting ready, I just really feel it wasn't your day, and that as Bob said, you didn't allow for the warm day at all in changing your pace. Going through the half on original pace meant that it would be that much tougher the last half, which it was. You know you are so close, just find a November marathon, and knock out the sub-3.

Sorry to hear you had an off day but I am willing to bet that you will have more "on" days than off. Hate that "something not right feeling" at the start of a run.Makes the whole day tough. Next Time!

I know we already drowned our sorrows on Sunday (at least Weezer was kick ass), but again, I'm sorry buddy. You more than anyone I know deserves that Sub-3.