Mile 20, Why you no love me? - Chicago Marathon 2011

Although I knew it would be hot, I went out yesterday mentally ready to BQ.  I needed a 3:14:59.  My race strategy was to be on MP at mile 20 and then figure out what to do from there.

The start was warm at 64 degrees, but was pretty uneventful.  I am amazed how well this thing is organized and getting 44,000 runners out there without a hitch is a miracle.

I was in B coral and everyone around me was doing my pace so I was not having to weave or pass.  The Garmin went crazy for the first 3 miles due to the underpasses and buildings so I just checked pace off the official time and I was just slightly fast.  After mile 3, I basically bounced around from 7:00 to 7:30.  I don't have good pace control, and was largely just running off feel.  Up until mile 20 I felt great.  This was by far the fastest I have run the first 20 in a marathon and it was really cool to be able to keep the hammer down like that.

I did 5 GUs up to 20 and alternated water and Gatoraid.  Every station I dumped a little water on my hat to cool off.  I definitely think wearing the hat and shirt and keeping them wet helped with temperature control and sweat rates.

The think about Chicago is it very homogenous - Flat with tons of spectators the whole way.  So, I don't really remember many landmarks and there were no tough spots - UNTIL 20.

As I rolled through Chinatown, I did a pace check and saw that I still had a bout 1 minute in the bank at mile 20.  I also realized I was starting to get hot and dizzy and my breathing was getting elevated.  I deliberately backed off a bit and used a little of my bank to see if I could get things back under control and decided to wait another mile to commit or not.  I rolled into 21 and was feeling worse.  My legs felt strong and loose, but my head and heart were giving all the wrong signals.  I've been here before.  I know that this is dangerous and I definitely have the ability to outrun my hydration and aerobic capacity (hence the hospital visit at Big D).

I decided to walk through the water station somewhere along mile 21.  This definitely helped and I jumped back in for a minute, just to realized that this is not going away.  It was here that I realized today was not my day and I needed to back off to Plan B - PR.  This was a huge mental relief  to know I had 7 minutes to burn over the next 5 or so miles.  I thought there was no way I would use it all up, BUT...

The sun kept beating down and the temperatures kept rising and I kept getting dizzier with spotty vision. All I could think about was how mad Sheri would be if I went to the hospital again and so I walked the remaining stations, dumped lots of water on my head and just went into cruise control.  While I was running, I was still doing an 8:00 pace, but the walk breaks took me down to 9 min.  At 26, I started to pick it back up until that stupid hill just before the end.  Shaheen warned me about this thing.  It is probably just a 40 ft climb over 50yds or so, but my legs cramped half way up it and I was forced to walk to the top.  Then I was able to start running again and finished the last 200 yds at a brisk pace to a 23 second PR.

I would like to blame it all on the weather and I know that played a role in it yesterday.  Everyone at the finish was talking about the 15 minute heat.  I would probably call it 5 minute heat.  If I am honest with myself, I went out a bit too fast.  I should have been averaging 7:25s, not 7:20s.  Would a slower first 20 and 20 degrees cooler gotten me a BQ yesterday?  Who knows.

What I do know is I am a big sweater and loose a ton of water and salt in a hot marathon.  I really need to do a cold one.  I mean mid 30s cold, where I am not sweating at all.  I need to start looking for a spring fast and cold race.

As for training, I probably need to push myself out on some longer runs.  My longest this cycle was 22 and I usually still feel good at that point.  I need to train past the marathon distance and get my body more comfortable with the final miles.

Here's the Garmin Data: