Chicago Marathon 2022

I've never had an inkling to visit Chicago. In all honesty, I've never understood why Chicago was so significant in America? 

But with my desire to enter big time world marathons, I decided to put my name into the Chicago Marathon lottery last December. Luck was on my side again as I was chosen to participate in the run. 

I saved up as much money as I could. One thing about these major marathons is that it is very expensive; the hotel and flight alone would cost me $1,700. The registration and add-ons were $340. This is all before I even set foot in Chicago. Of an important note, once the people get chosen for the lottery, the hotel rooms get booked and hotel prices get jacked up. Also the airfare gets jacked up too. I can't believe how expensive some of these places were, it goes to show you that when things are in demand the prices go through the roof. 

I wanted to focus on my training. It went better this year than last year. But I'm still not where I need to be. I continue to drink too much alcohol and I love to drink on the weekends. Of course, the problem is that my long runs are on the weekends. I did manage to get my long runs done even though I was hungover most of the time. 

My pace has slowed down. I'm about an 11:30-12:00 mile. Though I can still run fast, I can't sustain that for a long period of time like I used to. I have to really go slow the first mile and can't seem to go faster after I'm warmed up. 

The flight to Chicago was quite fast. It was under 3 hours. But getting from the airport to downtown Chicago was harder than I thought. My plan was to take an uber, but that would cost $65. I decided to try the "L" (elevated train). It reminded me of that movie The Fugitive where the FBI was trying to track down Harrison Ford and they figured out from an audio recording that he was in Chicago based on the background noise of the elevated train. The "L" train from the airport was only $5. What a deal right! In addition, I got two transfers on CTA transportation vehicles within 2 hours of my purchase. It only took me around 1.5 hours to get to the hotel. In hindsight, if I took an Uber it would have taken a little over an hour because there was so much traffic. In the end I saved up over $60 which is always a good thing.

The Marathon Expo

Getting to the marathon expo wasn't that easy. I wanted to catch the "L" but google maps just gave me buses. I decided to catch the bus, however while waiting at the bus stop there was a sign that the routes were adjusted which meant that the bus wouldn't be showing up. It took me a few minutes to figure that out. I had a notion to catch an uber but decided against it. I walked to "the L" red line subway station and caught the subway. I really didn't know where I was going, but overheard a group of people saying they had to transfer to the green line and get off at McCormick Place. I was like f-it, I'll follow them.

The walk from the subway station was over 15 minutes and about 1 mile. To get into the expo you needed to scan your QR code. The expo was huge but wasn't anything spectacular. There were no jackets to purchase and I was somewhat disappointed. I ended up settling for a long sleeve shirt for $86. Did you know that Chicago charges a 10.5% sales tax. Damn! Also the commemorative stuff was junk so I didn't buy anything. 

After about 1 hour, I had enough and decided to leave and get some sightseeing started since it was still early in the day. I caught the bus nearest to the expo and headed towards The Institute of Chicago Museum of Art.

Race Day

The day started off great as I was able to eat my oatmeal and drink my coffee. I got ready and tried to layer as much as possible. I had the route to the subway ready, but when I left the hotel I saw hundreds of people making their way to the start line, so I followed them. I walked about 1.5 miles and got to Grant Park. I now needed to find my gate. I was in gate 5 at the end. There are no accommodations for slow runners. It was only 7am, I had 1.5 hours till start time. My wave was wave 3 which started at 8:35am and my corral was letter L. It was going to be a while before I started. I had my check in bag ready to go, but waited till the last possible moment to check it in. I went to the restroom first since the line was long. After checking in, I made my way to coral L. I put my poncho on thinking it would help with the cold. As I walked past coral M, there was a sign that said Coral K. I had to ask a volunteer where coral L was, she said it was on the other end. Well, that didn't make much sense. 

Coral L was already full when I got there. It was only 7:50am and I was shivering cold. The girl in front of me was really cold because she was shivering worse than me. 8:35 am came and they released us. Walking to the start line took about 15 minutes, but it felt like an hour because I was so cold. I couldn't regulate my body temperature and was in bad shape mentally and physically.

I was miserable for the first mile and my pace suffered. I also had to take a piss. What a rough start!!! In an hour my body warmed up and I saw a porta potty to use the bathroom. There was a small line and I knew I would lose 2-3 minutes, but that's okay because after I took a piss I felt great. I took off my poncho and I ran miles 6-13 like a champ, probably my fastest time of the marathon. One thing I noticed was that there were people throughout the entire course every step of the way through all 29 neighborhoods cheering us on. It was a very lively crowd, almost ruckus like.

I started to get weak at mile 18 and decided to walk/run the rest of the way. My time suffered and I lost about 18 minutes. I ended the marathon feeling great though albeit sore legs but nothing out of the ordinary. 

I got my mylar blanket and medal. My goal now was to find the check in bag tent and change. That is what I did, executed to the T. On the way there, the Goose Island station was giving out a free can of finisher beer. Man I felt so good drinking that beer. My next goal was to find Mile 27 after party. I exited the park and walked for about 1/4 a mile and couldn't find it, so I asked a volunteer. They said I need to go back into the park to get to the Mile 27 after party. I was like fuck, I have to go through bag search and the metal detector again. But that is what I did. I ended up waiting in line for the after party but the guy said that I'm trying to get into the wrong party, "this is the Ronald McDonald Charity Event". I asked him where the after party was. He pointed across the way at a huge field, so I went there. 

Because it was 3p, they started closing up. I rushed to get my complementary beer. I found my ticket in my wallet and got my beer, next was to get food. There was a burger tent but they were sold out, the guy told me to go to the tent across the field. I was like fuck, more walking I just ran a marathon you know. I didn't say that out loud. I bought a burger and found a place to sit. I opened the burger and saw that it was raw, but I was so hungry. Then I thought I don't want to die, so I drank my beer and threw the burger away. 

That was such a disappointment. I walked about 0.5 miles to the subway "The L" and took what I believe was the red line back to Grand stop and walked another 0.5 miles back to my hotel. My legs felt pretty good, my body was still in shock. I tell you that that shower was amazing. 

I was still so hungry and was tempted to go across the street to the Dunkin' Doughnuts to get something to eat, but I had some discipline and ordered from Al's Italian Beef. I walked almost 1 mile to get my order. Let me back track I tried to catch the bus, but it wasn't coming, so I was like fuck it I'm walking I don't care about my sore legs. I was expecting Al's Italian Beef to be world class Chicago dining, busy and loud run by Italians. Instead it was empty, quiet and only Asian people worked there. I was thoroughly disappointed. I wanted to experience authentic Chicago, not Asians working at Al's Italian Beef. Anyway the customer service was excellent. They were so nice, got my order correct, and got me out there. They knew I probably ran the marathon and I was most likely hungry. I wouldn't expect anything less from Asians. 

I walked back to the hotel and ate my Italian Beef Sandwich with Loaded Chili's Fries. I did not stop until I finished every last bite. The sad part is that I was hungry for more. I mean seriously that was almost 2000 calories I consumed in one sitting. I passed out and woke up in the middle of the night to pack up. 

If I make it into London or New York next year, I really have to consider the layering of clothes. I have my mylar blanket I can use for the next time. The problem this year was that the temperature went up 25 degrees from 7:30am thru 3:00pm which could have affected my pace. 

This was my 14th marathon which is amazing, who would have ever thought I could do such a thing.