Post Chicago Marathon Thoughts

I’ve had a few days now to reflect on the 2014 edition of the Chicago Marathon.  It was my 2^nd time running it and my 2^nd marathon ever.  Initially I was a little disappointed in having a less than optimal day, but as I reflect there is a lot of positive to be taken from the experience.

• I finished over 36 minutes faster than my first marathon ON A BAD DAY! That’s a testament to what kind of fitness I’ve worked myself into this summer
• I was able to keep to a training schedule for the full 18 weeks and ran every single day.
• I logged over 200 more miles that I did training for the first marathon.
•  My training averaged 40 miles per week for the first 16 weeks of the plan. Before this year I had only run 40+ miles in a week once.
• I never felt like I hit a wall during the race, perhaps just a big slope. I faded a bit from 30K to 40k, but not as dramatically as last year.
• I surged from 40k to the finish. My pace picked up to the same levels that I was at early in the race
• From the top of Mount Roosevelt into the finish line I was able to run at a sub 7 min/mile pace. That’s 5K speed for me at the end of a grueling run.
• My half splits were 1:50:01 and 1:59:50. In the past on bad days I would have been round 2 hours or more, so to have back to back halfs like this is fantastic.
• I have 2 more chances to redeem myself. I feel like a mad genius being able to take a 2^nd crack at the marathon so soon.  Most would just call me mad. I have my pick of either going for broke in NYC or Las Vegas. NYC will likely been a wait and see how I feel run especially since I’m in the 3^rd wave and will likely be dealing with crowds. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to use it as a training run so that I can kick some butt in Vegas along with Mo.

It may be hard at times, but don’t let a bad race get you down. Think of it as a learning experience. It took me a couple days to digest what happened and turn the negative thoughts around, but now I’m ready to go out and tackle the next challenge.