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Chicago Marathon

1 lurker | 15 watchers

SarahL Oct 2008 11:24pm, 13 Oct 2008 5,860 posts	0 SarahL well done Rick - absolutely agreed it was horrific. All I can remember from Chinatown was the smell of cooking!!!!!!!!!! Have a safe flight back and recover well ((()))
paul a Oct 2008 11:27pm, 13 Oct 2008 1,397 posts	0 paul a There was a Chinatown?
SarahL Oct 2008 11:58pm, 13 Oct 2008 5,861 posts	0 SarahL Yes, near the end somewhere - about mile 21 according to the map. Didn't you smell it????????!!
Sweaty Frank Oct 2008 12:18am, 14 Oct 2008 1,587 posts	0 Sweaty Frank Got home about an hour ago, and went out for an easy 5.5 mile run. Other than shaking off a little stiffness, I feel well. I'm having a mug of black been soup right now. Very nice. Sarah, Contro, Paul, Kev: It was fantastic to meet you and get to know you. Paul and Kev, please tell Jane and Rachel we were so happy to meet them as well. They really help prevent my wife Sue from being bored out of her head with all the running talk. It is a lonely life being a Fetchie here in the states, and I was so happy to have a few drinks and conversation with real flesh and blood fellow-Fetchies. What are the odds that you would all be so nice, kind, clever, interesting, and warm?!?!
SarahL Oct 2008 12:26am, 14 Oct 2008 5,863 posts	0 SarahL Glad you're home safe Frank - and amazed that you're out running so soon! Massive well done again to you. Thank you for being our "hosts" whilst in the States. I know you're nt exactly from Chicago - but it's close enough!! Graet to meet you and your family and sorry I couldn't drag myself out of bed for breakfast this morning! Sarah xxx
Hanneke Oct 2008 12:52am, 14 Oct 2008 41,048 posts	0 Hanneke < thud > Just got back from the Lakes tonight and have sort of caught up with the nightmare that was the Chicago Marathon... sounds like you guys had a hellish time... Well done for sticking it out regardless! Sarah, your state sounds well scary at the finish. Not sure if it is wise to push oneself THAT hard... mind you, it is hard to gauge I suppose if you are not used to racing in the heat like that... I remember NY 2005, it was only 23 degrees, but hot enough for me to have to resort to drinking from every waterstation as well as throwing water over my head, wrists and back of knees and neck at every waterstation to keep cool! Well, if anyone is interested, after some epic weather in the Lakes last week the organisers decided NOT to cancel the Langdale HOrseshoe Fell race! This is the race I was doing in stead of Chicago and to put it into some perspective for non fell runners, it is like the FLM of fell racing... Conditions were perfect! Good visibility, sunny but not too much and a nice cooling breeze... It was however VERY wet under foot, which made it quite hard. Also, 500 entries for a fell race is A LOT! And again would put it on a par with one of the major marathons. So a lot of bunching up on the first ascent which slowed me down, as I started towards the back, not wanting to get in the way of the faster runners. I managed my desired sub 4 by about 3 minutes and am well pleased!
controversial Oct 2008 8:44am, 14 Oct 2008 4,874 posts	0 controversial back to london on the red eye flight .... didn't sleep a second, it is going to be a very interesting day!
Oct 2008 10:39am, 14 Oct 2008 364 posts	0 Hey guys - sorry not to log in sooner. Just back from Chicago now. Total shocker for me as you'll have seen!! Don't really know what happened there. In truth I was struggling from about 6 miles, and just forcing myself to push on to half way see how I felt. Felt dreadful, dizzy and a bit sick... really wanted to drop out... meandered into the med tent @ 14 miles... Docs took my BP, HR, Temp etc and while I was little on the hot side... well... it was a little warm(!) we established then that I would probably live. Anyway, I have never felt so stupid. My time was gone, and having wanted so badly to drop out, I was then sat there going well... what now?? Realised that I really wanted just to finish, I wanted my medal! I wasn't that bad and the alternative of using the second half as a training run (with slightly more company!) was more appealing than a very dull sweeper bus back to the start, so after I'd signed the medical treatment consent forms, I jogged off down the road... ... so there you go... 30-40k was the most pleasant marathoning I've ever done - nice trot along (fortunately no-one else was in a particularly chatty mood, so I could stew quietly) caught up and overtook the OH at 21 miles - he declined the offer of a pacer in for his BQ (we'd have just done it on his chip time...!). Last couple of ks were surprisingly tough, even at the steadier pace and predictably I cramped... but frankly by then I really couldn't give a toss!! So. lessons learned. quite simple. By all means have plan A - but when the weather is patently hotter and more humid than you anticipated on the start line, for criss-sakes change to plan B! Arrgggghhh.
CrazyLegs Oct 2008 10:47am, 14 Oct 2008 893 posts	0 CrazyLegs Respect to everyone who finished! I have just been looking at some of the photos taken of my friend on marathon foto and it looked tough out there!
controversial Oct 2008 11:28am, 14 Oct 2008 4,875 posts	0 controversial thanks wiz, i was wondering what had happened to you ... So my big question is: How do you deal with a hot marathon, I mean the winner still went in 2.06.xx meaning there is a way to deal with it without completely blowing off like most of us did (except sweaty F!!!) A post mortem of my camel bag showed that i had only drank about 1 litre of water when I usually have 1.5L One thing I was wondering, in this kind of conditions, if you poor water over yourself, does it make it better or worse. Does it stop you from sweating or any weird effect?? Please answers?!!