I got back home at 9:30pm on Saturday night from the dinner. Set out the race clothing for the next morning on a chair--T-shirt, shorts, shoes and socks, a throwaway sweat shirt and a pair of gloves, and also packed a bag with post-race clothing. Even pinned the bib number to the running shorts and inserted the Gu's inside the pockets. Had couple of excedrins as a results of a slight headache, and after a shower, I hit the bed at 10:30pm. I just couldn't buy any sleep, which was due to a combination of pre-first-marathon anxiety and the fact that I had slept for 10 hrs the previous night. I did manage to finally sleep at around midnight or so. Had set three different alarms for 4:30am--a clock radio, my watch, and also the telephone wake-up alarm. Well, I needn't have bothered to use such an over-cautious and foolproof approach for I opened my eyes at 3:00am, and could not go back to sleep. I whiled away time in chunks of 15 mins at a time until the alarms went off at 4:30am. Well, the much anticipated marathon-day had finally arrived!
I took the 5:26am train from Evanston to downtown. One could see many other runners hopping-in at all stations along the way. Got off at Jackson station, and then walked over to Grant Park. Headed to the CARA training tent where I left my bag. At 7am, group photographs of runners in the CARA marathon training program were taken. Ran into Lynda at around 7:15am, and after stretching out, I spotted Barney too--the three of us planned on running together. We got to the starting line at 7:35am. It was already packed, what with the estimated 16,000 marathon runners in all. Placed ourselves at the rear-just beyond the 10min/mile mark. The weather was ideal, with the temperature in the early 40s with no wind whatsoever. The wheelchair racers took off at 7:40am and the marathon started soon thereafter (7:45am)--so I inferred based on the cheering. Well, it seemed like eternity before we could finally move. We crossed the starting line in about three and a half minutes and the first mile took us 15:20--a combination of walking and jogging. Felt a twinge in my right knee (unusual) in the first mile itself. Mile 2 was a tad-bit faster and we passed it at 26:30 or so. I discarded the sweat shirt as well as the gloves before the two mile mark. We wanted to maintain a 10min pace after mile 2, which included walking all the water stops. The running-crowd did not thin out as the miles went by, and one had to keep a constant eye on the runners in the immediate vicinity for fear of running into or tripping someone else. Hence for the most part, I just watched the roads and the cheering crowds along the way. The 10k mark was crossed at a shade over 67mins. It was very hard to maintain any sort of rhythm in the running due to the fact that we had to weave our way (even at our pedestrian 10min pace) through slower runners to open spots on the road. The H20 stops were also increasingly crowded and many were not ready with the cups of H20 and/or had run out of Gatorade--the rather unexpected large turnout for the marathon was taking its toll. We reached the half-way point at 2:18:10 and a sub-4:30 did still appear to be a possibility if all went well.
Apart from my own travails with knee discomfort which did not seem to abate, Lynda was having severe knee pain, which prompted Barney and I to slow down couple of times so that she could catch-up. At around the 14 mile mark she was again lagging behind; I ran 50m in the opposite direction to check on her. She was stretching out and it appeared the pain had exacerbated. I told her to just slow down and take it real easy which would enable her to finish the race. I hesitantly moved on with mixed emotions, hoping that she would be able to pull through the marathon--after all I did not know for sure how events would unfold for me. Barney was the only one amongst us who was feeling pretty good. We both ran for couple of miles at around 9-9:30min pace. By mile 15, the knee was not the only source of pain, for the muscle leading up to the groins as well as my thighs were also aching a lot. It was unchartered waters, since I had never experienced such pain in any of my long/short runs. I had even managed to run sub-9:00 min miles over the final few miles of the 20 mile training runs with no adverse effects. Hence the pain was all the more perplexing, and undoubtedly distressing to say the least. The shins were the sore (pun intended) point during the final month of the training but today they just felt great--probably the slower pace helped? At around the 16 mile mark, I saw the 4:30 RW group leader Cristina, and ran with her for a mile or so. At the next mile marker, in accordance with her plans for the group, I walked for a minute hoping that I might get some respite in the process. It wasn't to be, for by now the right knee as well as the muscular pain in the vicinity of the groins was very intense. My calves were also sore and it seemed as if any and all possible pain had invaded my legs on race day. I could barely jog thereafter, and could soon see Cristina's red hat and the distinctive red fan on top vanish from my line of sight. Barney too went ahead at about the same point. I think at or around mile 17 was the first instance when the pain was beginning to induce some doubts in me about finishing the marathon. I wasn't sure what the breaking point of pain (in)tolerance was nor was I keen on finding out, and hence did not want to even try to push the pace. Just getting through the marathon without further aggravating/breaking my legs was on top of my mind. From hereon, I ran from one mile marker to the next mile marker, totally oblivious of the surroundings. My upper body and arms felt great, so I could maintain good form, albeit at a very slow pace. I crossed the 20 mile mark at 3:25:10, and just moved along. Took every opportunity to high-five the cheering crowds for they provided much needed support, encouragement, and relief from the seemingly endless pain. Tried to stretch my calves at mile 22, which was met with rather unpleasant consequences-calves seemed to tighten even more and I could feel a shooting pain run through them. I realized the error in my ways and decided against any form of stretching thereafter. With a 5k left, I was at the 4:00hr mark, and had the sense that I would definitely finish. Do not recall many of the sights during the final eight miles- Comiskey park and the McCormick place tunnel are the only ones that come to mind. Was glad when I hit the 25 mile marker in 4:21, even though it did suggest that a sub-4:30 was out of the question. I took my first unplanned walking break of 2 mins up the final ramp, and then jogged through to the finish line. Was happy and relieved at the same instant for I did not have to run any more miles. The official finish time from the marathon web page reads 4:35:25. After the post-finish photograph was taken, I had some Gatorade and a banana. I did not feel like eating, and possibly suffered dehydration in spite of my regular water/Gatorade intake at the stops. An attempt at merely lying on the ground was an exercise in pain-control. Was soon prostrate on the ground with an aluminum foil wrapped around myself. I did not budge for the next 10 mins or so. I slowly got up and headed in the direction of the CARA tent. Put-on a sweat shirt and made my way back to Jackson station, enroute to Evanston. Barney finished in 4:26:10 while Lynda also did finish with a time of 4:59:46-so the story does have a happy ending:)
Today, the remnants of yesterday's marathon very much exist-right knee
is still very painful and walking up or down stairs is no longer a simple
exercise by any stretch of imagination. No running is on the cards
for this week; hopefully I will be up to some after a week or so. I do
look back at the marathon with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I did not
run it the way I had planned/imagined it to be-the finish time
notwithstanding, I would have been a lot happier and enjoyed it a lot
more if it would have been a less painful experience. On the other hand, I
take solace in the fact that in spite of the new circumstances and
challenges I was confronted with, I was at least able to finish the
marathon-a DNF would have been been extremely disappointing and hard to
digest. A first-marathon is said to have a lot of surprises for one, and
it sure did have its share for me. I look forward to taking the first
marathon-experience in its entirety and moving on to the next one,
whether it be a Spring marathon such as LA and/or possibly Chicago/NY
next year. After all, there ain't anything like a second marathon, eh?:)
Clipping from the Chicago marathon results web page--placed 10538 out of 14322 marathon finishers, and 1484 of 1781 in my age group
Post-Marathon Gratitude
Thanks to the many with whom I have exchanged information and training tid-bits over the past year. In particular, the CARA training group at Wilmette lead by Brian Piper--Barney, Catherine, and Lynda made the long runs an enjoyable and memorable experience to say the least. The many Internet acquaintances over the newsgroup rec.running, Runner's World running forums, and the Chicago marathon forum (especially), provided very useful marathon training information and were a valuable source of support and inspiration. Last, but not the least, I greatly enjoyed the many e-mail exchanges with Ben Yau, who's long-winded and detailed running-related messages made me feel secure about my sanity, for I was not the only one who was seemingly obsessed with this elusive object of desire--the marathon!:)
Take a look at Suku's marathon photos.