It’s been a little over two months since I finished the Chicago Marathon, and it is about time I sat down and wrote down my thoughts about it. This was arguably the one event I scheduled the rest of my year around, so as 2024 winds down here I think it’ll be good to reflect on what went well, what went poorly, and what I can take away for future training cycles and plans. I figured I’ll post it too in case any other prospective runners ever stumble upon this, maybe it’ll help them.

Running Background

Before getting into the race, I’ll catalog my running background up to this point. To preface, I am not a runner by trade. In my younger high school days, I was a baseball and football player, and didn’t really start running with any consistency until maybe my junior year of college, and still even at that point it was rarely ever over 15-20 miles per week (mpw). I was mostly lifting, never really did any races besides a couple of Thanksgiving Turkey Trots.

Following college, there were two really important races that really started to spark the running interest. The first was Chicago’s Hot Chocolate run 15k in November of 2022, which one of my good college friends, Declan, convinced me to sign up for, and was really the first race of any significant distance I had ever done. This I ran in 1:22:22 or 8:51 pace/mile which I thought was a really good start to the running career, and I guess is a decent framing of where I was for when I started to take running a bit more seriously.

About 6 months later in May of 2023 I signed up for my workplace’s corporate challenge, which was a 3.5 mile run in downtown Chicago, also with Declan. I can’t say I remember specifically the training I did for this, most of it was out of my own head, nothing formal. And although the course was about an eighth of a mile shorter than advertised, I was still able to run it at 6:29 pace/mile which I was very pleased with. I had never really considered myself to be fast before (and to some extent, I’m still not sure I do), but objectively that was a pretty quick time. What was important about this race was less about me, but more about Declan who totally caught racing fever (and who also dusted me) and immediately started trying to convince me to sign up for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon that year. Succumbing to the peer pressure as I always do, I accepted the challenge and signed up shortly after, thus launching my endeavors into distance running. I owe Declan a lot of thanks, as this decision has arguably had the biggest impact on my lifestyle post-undergrad.

Indy Marathon 2023

First Time Training

So going into the Indy Marathon, I’m not sure I really knew what I was getting into. I did know I needed some sort of structured running schedule and chose to follow the Boston Athletic Association’s Level 3 Training Plan. This was a 20-week plan that peaked at about 55 miles per week, and considering it’s put out by the hosts of the Boston Marathon, I figured it had to be alright. As an initial goal I had hoped to crack the 3:30 mark (I did not realize how ambitious this was for a first time goal, especially as a 6’1” ~200lb guy).

I’d say I did a “good-not-great” job of sticking to the plan, I took it seriously, but it definitely wasn’t the number one priority in my life. I bet I stuck to the schedule about 85% of the time, there were a few big weekends I remember not really being able to run as much, for example, Lollapalooza and a trip to Panama on Labor Day weekend. During this summer, I also embarked on a personal crusade which I had deemed “The Summer of Indulgence”, which maybe will get its own post some day, but for now just know it involved a lot of late nights and hungover mornings, not very conducive to marathon training lol.

I would bet my peak week was around 50 miles and my longest run was 19.5 miles. I didn’t really get into the “science” of training that much either. I never considered things like heart rate or cadence, it was pretty much just “today I need to run at this pace for this long so that’s what I’m going to do”. At the end of the training cycle, I had since adjusted my goal, hoping at the very least to crack 4 hours, but more realistically trying to ballpark around 3:45. Like I said, I wasn’t really into the science of it yet and was somewhat free-styling to be honest.

Race Day

The race itself took place on the Saturday morning of Hallo-weekend. I took a half day off work, drove down to Indy with Declan and our friend Jack (and their significant others) the Friday before and checked into a hotel maybe 200 yards from the start line. This honestly was such a good call, that was so nice on race day morning and would recommend for future races. The weather the day of was great, I was worried it was going to rain but it held off and left us with a cool, cloudy morning. I don’t really remember any issues with the start of the race. My plan was to go out at about 8:30 pace and just see how it goes. I had about 5-6 GU’s on me for energy during the race and my Dad’s advice of “mile 18 is halfway” echoing in my head.

Out of the gates I felt really good, I honestly don’t remember too many thoughts from the first half of the race except that it was nice to see our friends who came down to support at various points, and that my playlist was fire (lol). I was taking gels maybe every 40 minutes and kept focused on getting to mile 18. I remember looking down at my watch just about at mile 18, seeing my pace was 8:11, and thinking “wow I’m doing great! And there’s the ‘halfway’ point, 8 miles left, we got this in the bag”.

And the more experienced runners will have seen this one coming, but it was soon after this that I was introduced to “The Wall”™️.

The Wall, “Bonking”, there are many names for this, but essentially it’s the feeling when your energy stores are so depleted that your body basically shuts down and tells you to stop. A few short minutes later I got to mile 19 and was starting to hurt pretty badly, the crowd was thinning and morale was sinking. This continued through mile 20 and then I remember hitting the wall hard during mile 21, at just over the 3 hour mark. It was tough, on the Indy course this is the part of the race with the least amount of spectators and you’re watching people hit the wall left and right, it’s pretty brutal. I stopped to walk, I couldn’t keep going. I caught my breath for a bit, I ate some candy at some of the aid stations just for the energy.

It’s this point of the race where you start to consider quitting, it becomes gut check time. When running a race, before you catch the final wind of knowing the finish line is close, there’s that period of distance where you’re exhausted and you know the end is still very far away. In the marathon, I find it’s those 20-24 miles, that’s really where you’ll find out what you’re made of. I think a part of this is also due to most training cycles peaking at a distance of ~22 miles, so anytime after this point is uncharted waters. The only thing you can do is turn off your mind and search for a reason or mantra that’ll get yourself to keep moving.

Eventually, not wanting to throw away what was already a solid race as well as all my weeks of training, I was able to convince myself to start running again, and hobbled my way to the finish line, coming in with a final time of 3:43, which was exactly 8:30 pace. I was really pleased with my time, and there is a serious post-race euphoria feeling of accomplishment. After finding our friends after the race, we didn’t really linger. Being Hallo-weekend we had festivities in Chicago to get back to, but there is a nice crowd around the finish and the vibes are high.

I’m a big fan of the Indy Race, and would recommend it to anyone in and around the midwest. It’s large enough to feel the energy of the event, but definitely not overcrowded as a major might be. The course is flat, well-marked, and sees quite a few of the main sites around Indianapolis. Bonus points too because the people are really nice, I wore Purdue merch and was cheered on consistently the entire way, it was a really nice pick up and left me with a very positive experience of the Monumental Marathon.

Application and Off Season

In the days following the race I found I couldn’t stop thinking about it, I kept replaying it in my mind, specifically when you face the wall. I was trying to think of the last time I’ve been challenged like that, when’s the last time you were faced with a task that despite your best efforts you legitimately couldn’t do? In modern life, I don’t think it’s that often, at least not on this scale. In the moment, overcoming the wall seems insurmountable, but after some time away, you start wondering if it’s attainable.

I started craving another chance to face the wall again, but to mount it and to succeed. Shortly after the Indy Marathon, I put my name in the Chicago lottery. This might sound a little far-fetched but I had this feeling the entire time that I almost knew I was going to get it. The race was on my birthday, the timelines made sense, and it really felt like it was meant to be.

In November and December, while I was waiting to hear on the application, I really did almost no running. Training for the Indy race without lifting left me feeling pretty weak, and I was working to put some of that muscle back on. Towards the end of the year, I finally did hear that I got into Chicago (as it was written) and I started to shift my mindset back into the running mode. I ran maybe 10 miles the last week in December to begin getting back into the grind, and I was also in Brazil, so I was trying to capitalize on 88 degree weather as opposed to the frigid Chicago temperatures. I came back to the States on January 2nd and essentially began training the next day to start prepping for Chicago 2024.

Training Cycle 1 - The Spring

The Plan

Looking at the upcoming year, I tried to set another pretty ambitious marathon goal, and I wondered if sub-3 hours was possible. Not knowing if it was, I signed up for the Chicago Spring Half-Marathon as a race to get my time recorded, and then would adjust the fall goals from there.

Having done a bit of “research” (perusing r/advancedrunning on reddit) I decided that for my main marathon training block, I’d follow the Pfitz 18-70 plan (18 weeks, peaking at 70 miles). I knew in my current state, I wasn’t in good enough shape to make it through that plan. So I designed a spring plan with essentially 2 goals in mind, the first was to prepare my body to be able to run at a volume of 70 miles per week in the summer, and to lift throughout the plan consistently so I’d still feel strong.

With the help of chat, I created a 20-week training plan, with 4 lifts per week progressing into 6 runs per week. In total, by the time I finished the race and took off to Europe (little more on that later), I’d have totaled about 650 miles through 5 months, which would be great for me. I intended this plan to peak at around 50 miles per week, having a solid month running around 45 mpw, which I think would prepare me well enough to complete the Pfitz plan later in the year. You can see the finished product of my schedule here (also keeping track of my weekend plans, lifts, and weight for the last 10 weeks on the board).

Also in this plan, the main focus was volume as opposed to speed. I think this was a blessing in disguise that I didn’t really realize at the time, just because I think that’s a healthy, productive framing for a lot of endurance training. For this training block too, I often wouldn’t wear my watch to record (mostly being on the treadmill for indoor running) and I refused to download Strava yet too. I had this mindset of “I’m going to move in silence” so that I could shock everyone when it was finally time to run. Considering how active I am on Strava now… I do miss that every so often, maybe one day I’ll go back.

Reflecting on this plan now too, man it was brutal. I’m not sure I appreciated how difficult it is to keep your squat up while running for any sort of volume. Doing some Sunday leg days where I’d rep out some back squats of 225, then needing to go run 6 miles was brutal, and I often had runs on these days up around 10:30 pace. But I think what was most commendable about this plan is how diligently I stuck to it. Even traveling for the Final Four and the eclipse, even with a St. Patrick’s day filled with drinking, even while I was applying to colleges, I was able to plan and succeed following through on it, and it set me up very well for the upcoming year.

Chicago Lifetime Spring Half

Eventually the time came to run the Spring Half, my first real race since the Indy Marathon. So with the eventual Chicago stretch goal in mind of a sub-3, logically I assumed that if I could run a half at that pace, I would be golden (I now know it is often recommended to run much faster than a 90 minute half before attempting to crack the sub-3 full).

I don’t remember too much from this race day morning if I’m being honest. Thinking on it now, I don’t really remember the start of the race well either. Looking at some pictures though, wow it’s so nice that it’s basically full daylight at 6:30 am. Writing this now at the end of December, I am missing that time of the year heavily. But back to the race, I think my first specific memory is from around mile 4, looking at my watch and knocking down another mile around ~6:55 pace, and thinking, “I know I’m a few seconds behind here, but even if I crack 91 minutes I’ll be really pleased”. Again, I was running with Declan, and I remember mentioning something along those lines to him as well.

The course for the spring half is very straightforward. It begins in Grant Park, heads south on the Lake Path for 6.5 miles, and spins around and comes back. What’s worth paying attention to is which way the wind is blowing. We had it at our backs for the first half of the race, but I don't think I realized the extent to which we did until the course flipped and we had to come back. I wouldn’t say I felt good the entire time, but through the first 10 miles I was sub 7 min pace the entire time. Eventually though, just after mile 11 I started to get some Indy flashbacks, and I could tell the reserves were emptying. Again I was staring at “The Wall”™️. This wall was not as big as the other wall, I didn’t need to stop this time, but I did have to slow a bit to climb over it. Ultimately I came in at a time of 1:32:17, or 7:03 pace.

I felt really solid with this time. Especially since I really did not do a lot of speed training throughout my block, I felt really fast coming off this. Having looked at some race pace equivalence charts, it determined my full marathon time was likely somewhere around 3:15. It started making me believe that with a fully dedicated training block, I could get that down really close to the 3 hour mark and maybe even break it. So with the first half of the year’s training in the books, 3 days after my half marathon I hopped on a flight and went to Europe for 3.5 weeks.

“Month Off”

There are other things to do in life besides training for races, and my college friends and I had been scheming this Europe trip for almost a full year. Eventually it made it out of the group chat as they say, and we went on a tour across the pond for a few weeks.

There are a couple relevant aspects in the timing of this trip in regard to marathon training. The first is that the planning worked out really well in terms of running schedule. Being right after my race, it allowed me to maximize vacation time without jeopardizing the upcoming training block too much. Second is that while I was gone, I did almost no running. The first 2.5 weeks I actually did not run a single time. During the last week of the trip while with family in Norway, I did go on 2 runs, but neither for more than 40 minutes. Besides that just a lot of walking, drinking, and European fine dining.

So how did this impact my marathon training? I read in the Pftiz book that it takes about ~3 weeks before you start losing your cardiovascular fitness, which is why taper periods tend to be that long, (although during a taper you continue to run, and I did not), so in my mind I figured there wouldn’t be too much detriment to my fitness. Also due to the timing of the trip, I did have to cut the plan one week short, as I only had 17 to go and not 18 from when I was back in Chicago. The final caveat too is that usually when starting these plans you’re at a consistent running schedule of about 45 mpw before you get it going. Effectively I was starting from 0. I had the fitness in me somewhere, but the first few weeks would be more about bringing that back out, rather than preparing for the later weeks of the plan. Ultimately, had I not gone one this trip and taken 2 recovery weeks and 2 build up weeks, my time likely would’ve improved by a decent bit with more prep, and I probably would’ve been more satisfied my with my performance.

That being said, in the grand scheme of things, this was the trip of a lifetime that’ll live in the lore of our college friend group forever. Did it fully optimize my Chicago marathon time in 2024? No. But I’m trading the 5-10 minutes off my final time, whatever the cost may have been, for this trip every single time. I have no regrets about it and I’ll cherish it for a long, long time. There’s more to life to running and discipline, and it’s important to remember that and cut loose every so often.

Training Cycle 2 - Summer / Fall

Back in The Swing

Following my Europe trip, I essentially went back into training immediately, like the first day. Since I hadn’t really been running, and I was a week short, I had to modify the Pfitz plan a bit to suit my purposes. My modifications took place during the first mesocyle of the plan. I took the “Build” phase from the 12/70 plan (since it was shorter), slightly reduced the mileage on the first week, and plugged that into the rest of the plan. During this block, since we were building back up, I tried not to focus on the pace too much, but mostly follow the plan according to heart rate. I think this was pretty effective, however, the running was definitely more difficult these first 3-4 weeks of the plan, but I was able to follow the plan.

After the build phase, the next mesocycle is the Lactate Threshold (LT) + endurance phase. I knew going into this phase it was going to be difficult, mostly because this was peak summer in terms of social plans at the same time the mileage really starts to pick up. Weddings, visitors, baseball games, and plenty of going out, it makes the Sunday long runs really difficult. But again, this was a trade-off I was willing to make throughout this phase of the plan.

I had grad school starting the last week of August, which I was intending to be sober for, so for these 5 (6?) weeks I decided would be the “fun” part of summer. To be honest, I was able to stick to the plan decently well. I did miss a run on the 5th of July (for being more hungover than one can imagine), and I had a couple long Sunday runs where I simply had to take the pace down (notably a 20 miler the day after a wedding), but otherwise I was pretty on the nose.

During this phase, I found it was pretty effective to get the runs in before work. A few times this was pretty difficult because I usually leave around 7:15 for the office, which means there were a few 4:50am alarm mornings which were not fun. I was also starting to get my pace closer towards the desired ranges, but I still wasn’t entirely where I needed to be. My LT range was a bit slower than marathon pace, and I think that should’ve been an early sign that the sub-3 goal probably wasn’t realistic. But alas, I chose to keep pushing and see where we ended up.

As mentioned, once late August rolled around the schedule lined up well with my own grad school transition as the race specific plan began the same day I started school. At this point, I chose to cut out alcohol, really tone back going out to focus on the training plan and starting school on the right foot.

On The Edge

There’s a running podcast I listen to every so often called “Rogue Running”, and they describe this mindset as “being on the edge”. Their philosophy, which I think is a good one, is that throughout your running schedule, you can’t be “on” at all points, it’s not sustainable. There’s going to be fluctuations within a plan and throughout the year, it’s healthy. It was this point in the year which I decided I would be “on the edge” as school started, as I didn’t see how else I’d be able to work, go to school, and run 70 miles a week.

One thing I’d note about this philosophy is it requires a lot of diligent planning and sticking to it. I’d have my entire weeks planned out on Sunday, almost down to the minute, estimating how long each run would take and when the optimal time to get it in would be. This is not to say I never made adjustments, but you’ve got to be intentional about everything you do and know when to say no to things. It’s difficult, it’s not for everyone, but honestly, if you can do it successfully, it does make you feel really good and really productive.

At this point, the plan incorporates a bit more interval work, as well as some tune up races. The interval work was really good for me, running at a faster pace is what I needed more work with so that was really helpful. It’s also important to note at this point that the plan is just really fucking hard. In the month of September I totaled like almost 300 miles. If you had told me that 2 years earlier I would’ve thought you were insane. There was one ~9 day segment specifically where I think I hit over 90 miles, which was really tough. Following that I had a mini 3 day taper, and then had a 10k tune up race on Saturday.

The tune up was the Chicago Run Mag Mile race, and I was looking forward to seeing what time I’d be able to put up. Looking at the pace equivalence book, for a sub-3, the 10k time is about 38 minutes. I thought that’d probably be a bit ambitious for me, but I thought that sub 40 might be attainable. The only other race I’d done since the half was the Big 10k, which my friends and I have started to make an annual tradition, but that I run slow with them, so I was anxious to see how the training would’ve paid off.

I came out pretty hot, around 6:15 pace, and just never really died. At the end, I finished around 39:30, coming right in under the goal. I was pretty damn excited I’m not going to lie. Run Mag Mile is a pretty small event, and that was good for third in my age group. Never having won anything for running before, that felt really nice. Oh and my friend Declan who ran it with me (you should notice this is a recurring theme), took first in our age group with a blazing 37:29. We both were sent “Run Mag Mile” cooler back packs which was both cool and unexpected. Also, I can’t recommend this race enough.

They block off all of Michigan Avenue in the morning so you get a great view of the city. The course is straightforward, and the 10k goes out to the lake path, it’s not huge either, so race day morning isn’t stressful. All around great experience which I’d recommend to veteran and amateurs alike.

With this tune up race, I did shuffle 2 weeks in the plan. The Pfitz plan calls for 2 tune up races during the race specific phase 2 weeks a part (technically these are optional), but I thought it’d be better for me to just focus on one, and split the difference on the timeline. What this meant is that I’d conclude the hardest part of the taper with an 18 miler in which 14 were at MP. I was pretty nervous for this one, as again, because I was building up I didn’t have that much experience running so fast trying to get my pace up to speed. Putting it all out there though, I was able to complete this workout just a hair (1 second) off of marathon pace, although I did stop twice for water. It sparked a little belief in me that it might not be impossible to sniff that 3 hour mark come race day, all though it did take a pretty tough toll on me too.

Taper Time

After this, it was time for the three week taper. It should be said though, the Pfitz taper is no cakewalk. Week one is still almost 60 miles and the second week is in the high 40s. What is nice is that the pace of a lot of the runs backs off a bit. Although, I noticed that my left hamstring was definitely not feeling 100%. It would take me much longer than usual to get loose into my runs and I had a bit of a weird gait. I think I had likely strained it a little, probably for overuse. It might’ve been more effective to take a bit off my taper, but I mostly just pushed through it and tried to ignore it.

During this time, I did have to travel once to Plano, Texas for work, and while I was still able to complete the runs, I can’t say I envy all the consultants out there who regularly have to travel while trying to meet training goals. Not only is Texas just about the least walkable place on Earth, but more generally it’s really just really annoying to have to pack all your workout stuff and get in the workouts when your coworkers aren’t on a similar schedule. I ran in the morning every day this week, which was the first week of the taper.

Soon after, the week was finally upon us, and race day was quickly approaching.

Review of Cycle

Before getting into the details of the race, I think it’s important to pause and reflect on the cycle itself. Thinking about it, the training cycle is a much bigger deal than the race itself. You might find yourself running over 1000 miles over 3-4 months to prepare for one 3-4 hour period. Regardless of what your time ends up on race day, it’s important to look at the process as opposed to the results specifically. So quickly, I’ll write some thoughts about what I took away from the most intense training cycle I’ve done so far.

So one common theme I did in this cycle, which I think I’ll continue in the future, is that I labeled all my long Sunday runs as “weekend atonement”. This framing was really important to me. Traditionally, atonement is used in the religious sense, and one will go to Church to pray for, or confess their sins of the week. While I’m not an active participant in any religion, I viewed these runs in the same light. Whatever sort of vice I got into throughout the week, this is how I’d atone for it. It was a manner of expressing physical productivity, and afterwards I’d feel really good about it. At the end of the day, you’re running for yourself, for enjoyment, health or whatever your reason is, and by framing it in this way, I was able to feel really positive when the big weekend rolled around, rather than dread it.

Looking back on the cycle now in the dead of winter, the biggest thing I think I took for granted is just how much more feasible it is to run in the morning during the summer. Not only is the weather warmer, that’s a given, but in terms of the amount of sunlight available, it’s just not even comparable. The runs are so much more enjoyable in the summer because in the winter, you get up, it’s freezing and dark the entire time. In the summer, you don’t need to bundle, often times you’ll catch the sunrise during your warm up and it’s a great way to start the day. The only con is there were a couple exceptionally hot days that I got onto the CTA still a bit sweaty, otherwise it’s relatively smooth sailing. I’ll definitely be keeping this in mind for future marathon cycles while living in cold weather locations.

Specifically on the workouts, I was a big fan of the Pfitz plan. It is hard, but if you can gut it out you should feel really prepared for the race. I really liked the emphasis on all the volume too, if you complete it you’ll feel like a runner. One thing personally that I’d like to improve on is getting more sub-marathon pace runs earlier in the plan. It’s really good prep, and many of my LT runs at 15-20 seconds over marathon pace should’ve been a clear sign to humble my goal pace a little bit.

In the end, not trying to be too results-oriented (spoiler at this point if you haven’t realized but I didn’t sub-3), I am able to look back and feel a lot of pride in this training block. I was looking to challenge myself, and I really feel like I did. I feel like I set my running career up for a lot of future success and that I’ll be able to grow off of in the future. Also, it was just great practice for being disciplined. It’s a skill that’s difficult, but worth cultivating, and I feel like I can really “lock-in” for an extended period of time when the times necessitate it. Anyone looking for a training plan, I would recommend the Pfitz 18/70 for experienced runners, but if it’s your first time doing a serious training block, I’d probably recommend doing the 18/55 first.

Going into the race, my plan was this: run at the 3:00 pace until you fucking die. Now, was that a great strategy… probably not, but I figured it was an ambitious goal and I was going to run as hard as I can, and if it’s meant to be and I just had one of those days, we’d give ourselves a chance.

The Race

The Morning Of & Pre Race

After the final few days of tapering and carboloading, I set my alarm for 4:00am and hit the hay around 9:00pm. It took a minute, but I don’t really remember any trouble falling asleep and I woke up without feeling groggy. The first thing I did after waking up was eat a bowl of overnight oats. They say it’s good to get your morning carbs down at least 3 hours before the race, so with a 7:00am start time, this lined up pretty well. I took a shower, got dressed, and left for the Brown Line a bit after 4:30 to head down towards Millennium Park. What I didn’t realize is that apparently the trains don’t run that early, so I spent a good 25 minutes waiting at the Sedgwick platform trying to stay warm. It gave me a good chance to throw the pregame playlist on though and start to focus up.

Once you get down to the actual race, depending on the time, it’s inevitably going to be a mad house. There’s a decent bit of walking from the CTA, so be prepared. The first thing I did once I got down there was hit the porta-potty, then went to gear check and got dressed, grabbed some water and started slowly getting loose, got back in line for the porta-potty (which at this point took like 15 minutes), then really warmed up before heading to the corral.

I was in Wave C, and it took a bit to actually get into the corral because they have people checking bibs, but once I did I went all the way to the left and bobbed my way to the front. I had a sweatshirt and gloves which were old and eventually I threw away before the race, you’ll see many people do the same.

Shortly after, the announcer came onto the PA to announce the start of the race and sing the national anthem. They did a moment of silence for Kevin Kliptum too which I thought was really cool. I geared up the playlist (a new one this year) and got ready to rock.

Gun Goes Off

The anticipation really is palpable as the start nears. All around you are people you’ve dedicated thousands of hours to this race, and you can feel the excitement. As it gets closer to your corral’s start time, you’ll notice a couple people break lose and join the earlier ones. I decided to stay put and walk the rope up. Before I knew it, we were at the front, a coordinator looks at us and shouts “We’re dropping the rope! Wait for my signal! Wait for my signal!”, and then BANG you’re off.

Being right at the front was a blessing and a curse. What’s really nice is that there’s no one in front of you, so you can rip out the gates at your own pace. The curse is that when the crowd is that big and the cameras are quite literally on you, it’s so hard not to just put it all on display immediately. The race starts with a slight incline before going briefly on lower wacker and man I was hauling. Eventually the “peloton” catches up and I felt like I could slow it a bit, but my first mile was 6:54 with a heart rate of 170. Ope, this might not be sustainable.

The first portion of the race through River North was great. The crowds were big, you feel good at the start, and you just try to take it all in. Eventually you get onto LaSalle and it’s almost a 3 mile straight shot into Lincoln Park. Through these first 7 miles, I was sitting at about 6:53 pace, or just 1 second off of the 3 hour mark, but my heart rate was still around 170. Every time I saw someone I knew it was a great pick up, that can’t be understated. Just after this point the race is about as far north as it goes, and I turned around in Lakeview and started going south.

The Peak

So I live around Old Town in Chicago, and I knew just past the 11th mile is where all my friends were going to be posted. I wanted to look strong and have a smile on my face when I went by, and make sure to see them. I took the turn onto North Ave and when I did run by, it sparked an immediate runner high.

If there’s one regret I have about the race, it’s that I didn’t stop, or at least slow down when I went by them. It’s worth shaving a couple second off your time to gas up all your homies who came out to support you, and the least you can do to help make their day too, and the endorphins might honestly make up for the lost time. The next marathon race I run, I’m going to make sure to do this. Running is often such a solitary sport, it feels really good to share it with close friends, and I definitely appreciated them coming to support.

The North Ave section is quick, and similar to how the race heads north mostly on LaSalle, it does the same down Wells coming back from about mile 11-13. This part of the race was also very enjoyable, and here I got to see my sister as well. The first indicator that you’ll be turning off wells is that you’ll start to run under the L and go past Merchandise Mart. This corridor has to be the most impressive of the entire on the course. You go back over the iconic maroon bridges, the crowds swell to 5 or 6 rows deep and when you turn onto Wacker you’re in the heart of the Chicago with the loop on your left and the river on your right. It feels like you’re in the Olympics, I’m not sure I’ve ever had a crowd like that. This portion of the race is specifically why I have tried to get everyone I know who lives in Chicago to sign up, it was exceptional.

The Explosion

Shortly after this moment, you’ll cross the halfway mark close to the Willis Tower and begin to head west for the second half of the course. Like I said, the crowd is unmatched and I was feeling fast, who doesn’t want to perform. I crossed the half way mark at just over 90 minutes, notching a half marathon PR and sparking a bit of uncertainty in the pit of my stomach. I was feeling good now coming of the high from Wacker, but I feared I didn’t have another 13.1 in me like the first.

After a few more minutes, my watched buzzed and I checked on my pace for mile 14: 6:36. Uh oh.

I’m sure the buildings fudged the numbers a bit but I knew I had to slow down, that was not sustainable. Half by choice, half from exhaustion, the I slowed my pace and felt people overtaking me on either side. Mile 15 went by at 7:26, my slowest immediately following my fastest and my fears slowly found themselves in reality. The Wall had mounted an early sneak attack this time around.

I had been anticipating this moment, but I was struck by how insurmountable The Wall seemed this time, and by how early I found myself here. 10 Miles is well over an hour of running at this pace, and one which I was already struggling to keep. It was here my mind lost the fight against my body, and I stopped to walk at about 15.75, feeling disappointed.

Finishing

Sitting at mile 16 when you’re cooked is not a good feeling. Like I mentioned with Indy, at that point in the race I had just over 5 miles to go, and now I was facing twice that distance. For me, there we’re really two thoughts in my head which kept me going: don’t ruin your time, run so you don’t have to tell everyone you quit fully. Shame can be a great motivator.

The rest of the course can be a bit sparse, you’ll go past some crowds around UIC, some nice parades in Chinatown, and eventually it picks up again in the last 2 miles. It’s hard to trudge through this. I did my best to take it an aide station at a time, consumer calories where I could and keep going at a somewhat respectable pace, most of these miles I ran between 8:30-9:00 pace.

Eventually, with about 5k remaining, I was able to push it down a bit closer to 8:00, saw my sister for one final pick me up and power through to the end. There’s a quick right turn, a small bridge, and then maybe the last 0.2 to finish. Brain goes off, leave what you can out there. Watch the clock. 3:21:32.

After The Race

Crossing the finish line, I felt a bit overwhelmed, and I wanted to keep moving, keeping reality at bay for a few minutes and keep my legs from getting stiff. I grabbed my medal, foil blanket, and whatever form of calories they had, I walked my way over to gear check by Buckingham Fountain to collect my things.

As I sat down, that’s when the emotion really started to wash over, the first being frustration honestly. I wanted to run faster than I did, and even if I missed that, I was wishing I hadn’t stopped. It’s difficult when expectations which are disconnected from reality are quickly knocked back in sync, especially against your will. That was hard to internalize.

But there was also nothing I could do about it. So I took a deep breath and tried to reframe my experience in a more positive light. I had finished my first major marathon, I had PR’d by over 20 minutes, and I wanted this to be uplifting, for both myself and for everyone who had helped me along. Thankfully, that was made much easier as soon as I turned my phone back on. My phone, which I had left in gear check, was flooded with supportive messages. Queue the endorphin flood once again.

I knocked back my limited edition Goose Island finisher beer, found my sister, and enjoyed the park and the city for a bit. I met a guy who spoke almost no English who traveled from the Philippines to run the race, I met a girl from Philadelphia recovering from an injury who somehow managed to PR? The running community is one of the best aspects of the sport and the energy from all the finishers is really wholesome. Finally, I made my way up towards the Old Town bars to go celebrate my 25th with my friends.

Reflecting & What’s Next

What went well

Without echoing too much of what I wrote before, the number one thing that went well was the training cycle. I mean it was a serious expression of discipline. Working full time, starting graduate school, running close to 300 miles in a month, keeping the social life afloat, it’s not all easy. Prioritizing is important, planning is required, and effort is non-negotiable. It was honestly really empowering to complete this as I did, and really rewarding to take a break for a bit when it was done. I hope I can have another bout of focused effort sometime soon.

I think objectively, it’s fair to say a 22 minute PR is quite good. Basically knocked off half of the way to the ultimate sub-3 goal, so we’ll keep chasing that one. I feel my cardiovascular fitness improved greatly, and I can rip 90-120 minute runs now at a casual pace almost without thinking about it. That’s definitely new.

I guess more broadly throughout this entire process a large positive is almost an identity shift. Previously, I’ve never considered myself a runner. That is not the case now. I remember in early ‘23, I went out one night for drinks with a coworker (shoutout Casey, another big source of inspiration for running) and his buddy who had both run the Boston marathon before. He casually mentioned he was going to run 10 miles before work the next day and my jaw about hit the floor.

Two years later, I get it. I’m not saying I want to get up and run 10 miles in Chicago at 5am in January, but I get it. I never thought that could be me (and I will need many lifetimes of training before I ever reach Casey’s caliber), and I think that’s a significant change. I think anyone can make this shift too, if they really want to. It’s cool to do challenging things.

From the race day itself, I think besides getting to the train a bit early, logistically I was pretty successful, in terms of the morning routine and getting there sufficiently early. I also visited the expo for packet pick up on Thursday, which was definitely the move (although I was one-shotted by the Nike merch booth).

What I’d do differently

When I think about what I’d try to do differently, I mean the most obvious one is that I should’ve tried to be more incremental about my goals. Sub-3 coming off a 3:43 in less than a year was too ambitious.

Running is an honest sport, and I tried really hard to mentally will and speak a time into existence that wasn’t there for me. I wanted the goal time now, and I don’t know if I had enough respect for what it took to achieve that. They used to say that Steve Jobs had a “Reality Distortion Field” around him that allowed people to push beyond their limits and achieve incredible things. I think I tried to cultivate this a little too hard for myself, and when my reality was broken, it was a little hard to take my goals seriously and re-center.

I should say, I don’t think it’s a bad thing that I missed my goal. I think if people are achieving their goals too frequently, they probably need to consider setting harder ones, and it is the process that matters.

It’s a strange equilibrium to find. By setting this goal, I’m not sure I could’ve trained harder unless I became entirely a recluse, and that wasn’t a constraint I was willing to live by. That’s a positive, the journey was excellent. But a race may be the most results oriented of an event which you can get, and when considering results, I bet I could’ve run a faster time by humbling myself and being conservative, yet realistic in both the race and in the training cycle.

Take that as you will, but if I could go back I’d likely tell myself to train for 3:10 to the best of my ability rather than 3:00, I might’ve fared better.

From a practical racing perspective (outside of knocking down the goal pace a few pegs), there are also a couple generic things I’d like to note, for future reference. The first is that I probably should’ve tapered harder, or honestly trained maybe a little bit less, just when I was trying to push through pain towards the end of the cycle. The best thing I probably could’ve done during training would’ve been to reduce the pace on a few runs by maybe 5-10% instead of stopping, I think that might build some bad habits as you can’t stop during a race.

Also, I think I maybe should’ve taken in a bit more calories during the race. I was strapped with quite a few gels, but I passed up a few stations. I don’t think there would’ve been any harm in increasing my intake by one or two.

And finally, as I noted before, stop and say hi to those who came out to support you :)

What’s next

Well yeah, that is the question now isn’t it.

Step one was to write this blog post. It’s not going to be the most polished or most eloquent thing I ever put out, but running has become a serious part of my life over the past two years, and I think this was an important thing to categorize as I continue throughout this. Ideally I can come back to this in the future, or maybe it’ll inspire someone else.

I haven’t nailed down any specific next races yet, but I have a few broad goals in mind. The first is that I think I’d like to try to complete all the Seven World Majors, as a broad life goal. One down, many to go, but that experience was really cool, and I’d like to chase it in more places. It sits in my travel + athletics Venn Diagram perfectly. The implications of this goal mean I need to qualify for Boston, but they say the running career is long, so we shall see how that endeavor goes. I did put my name in for Chicago and Berlin ‘25 and missed on both lotteries.

In the more short term, I think I’d like to do some sort of race every year, to the best I can. I understand life gets in the way, but carving out time to focus on your physical goals I think is important, especially when you’re young and build your lifestyle/shape your habits. It’s productive and gives me a competitive outlet, and I think that’s worth prioritizing.

So we will see when the next time I get back on the edge and crack up a training plan. I’ve been eyeballing the Cleveland Marathon for May of ‘25. I haven’t registered yet (and if I’ve learned my lesson I would’ve kept my mouth shut rather than write about it), but if I was a betting man, I’d say that’s the most likely.

All in all, I’m thankful for the 26.2 in ‘24 in the Second City. I’ve learned a lot about myself and ideally set myself up for a lot of future runs.

If you live here, do yourself a favor and sign up.