Chicago Marathon - 12th Oct 2014

ClashCityRocker

My training is going grand, solid if unspectacular. 21 miler on the cards this weekend then a longish MP run the following week should give a good indication of where i am. Still have to actually book flights and accomodation mind you :pac:

I note the Blackhawks are playing at home the evening before. How likely would you be to pick up a couple of tickets for that?

tHE vAGGABOND

Have been away for weekend I see this has not been updated yet and I dont see any mails on this from organizers. Assume its just late..

blockic

ClashCityRocker wrote: »

My training is going grand, solid if unspectacular. 21 miler on the cards this weekend then a longish MP run the following week should give a good indication of where i am. Still have to actually book flights and accomodation mind you :pac:

I note the Blackhawks are playing at home the evening before. How likely would you be to pick up a couple of tickets for that?

Blackhawks tickets are pretty tough to get as they are in high demand. Simply because the team is decent. Will keep an eye out though.

blockic

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

Have been away for weekend I see this has not been updated yet and I dont see any mails on this from organizers. Assume its just late..

Ya looks like they changed it to "beginning the first week of August" so hopefully this week.

ClashCityRocker

blockic wrote: »

Blackhawks tickets are pretty tough to get as they are in high demand. Simply because the team is decent. Will keep an eye out though.

I thought they might be, the last (only) time i was in Chicago was in May 2010 when they were just about to play in the Stanley cup final. It was all anybody seemed to be talking about! From my limited knowledge of NHL they seem to be one of the top dogs at the moment so i guessed the demand would be there.

ClashCityRocker

Bekele is running http://www.suntimes.com/sports/29222092-419/kenenisa-bekele-on-course-for-chicago-marathon-record.html

tHE vAGGABOND

Going to use him as my pacer

tHE vAGGABOND

Im not totally sure how many folks are running, but according to twitter corrals are getting assigned and updated last night / today..

Checked mine this morning, and it was not done at that stage.

tHE vAGGABOND

There now, they have put me in corral C, the feckers, as I actually went to the bother of giving them proof of two differnet times to go into corral B...

But then I see this on the pacer section...

Corral B: 3:10, 3:15, 3:20, 3:25, 3:30, 3:35
Corral C: 3:30, 3:35, 3:40, 3:45, 3:50

Having two sets of 3.30 pacers, one right at the front of Corral C, and near the back of Corral B seems weird, but being at the front of C seems a far better plan anyway..

They must have literally millions of pacers

yaboya1

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

There now, they have put me in corral C, the feckers, as I actually went to the bother of giving them proof of two differnet times to go into corral B...

But then I see this on the pacer section...


Having two sets of 3.30 pacers, one right at the front of Corral C, and near the back of Corral B seems weird, but being at the front of C seems a far better plan anyway..

They must have literally millions of pacers

I remember seeing the two different groups of pacers when I was there last year, thinking it could be confusing alright. It doesn't really matter whether you go to the front of Corral C or the back of Corral B, as there's only one start (no waves) and the barriers get moved before the gun goes anyway. Just make sure you stick with the right set of pacers though

tHE vAGGABOND

You may laugh, but for Berlin in 2012 I left it far too late to get into place and was about 300 meters or more behind the 3.30 pacers [and then my watch crashed], so ran on feel [and was on pace for around 20 miles to be fair]..

So this time I will be there waiting for them the night before and just pitch a tent

blockic

I still don't have a Corral! :rolleyes:

Maybe they don't expect me to be there. A possible assumption on there part! :pac:

ClashCityRocker

I'm in corral B. 3:09:59 is my target so i think i'll need to head to the front!

tHE vAGGABOND

So how are the 2 or 3 of us doing this going then

I took weekend off after I had an "almost" grade 1 hammy issue, but caught it early, and a couple of physio [first time into him in 14 months, where I used to be in their twice a month, being sensible with training for the win!] sessions later, I did 4.5 very easy miles last night with no issues. Will push things to 7 or 8 easy miles on Thursday after work.

Apart from that, all good here.

Fly into Chicago on Thursday, and fly off Monday afternoon, to see family for on West Coast.

blockic

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

So how are the 2 or 3 of us doing this going then

I took weekend off after I had an "almost" grade 1 hammy issue, but caught it early, and a couple of physio [first time into him in 14 months, where I used to be in their twice a month, being sensible with training for the win!] sessions later, I did 4.5 very easy miles last night with no issues. Will push things to 7 or 8 easy miles on Thursday after work.

Apart from that, all good here.

Fly into Chicago on Thursday, and fly off Monday afternoon, to see family for on West Coast.

Not great from my side! Ran the Half on Saturday, result was average but as expected under circumstances.

I've only got up to 16 in the LSR, hoping to get two 20s in the next 3 weekends before a taper.

Dialing it back a bit now in terms of an original slim hopes of hitting a target. Gonna jog around and enjoy the event in anything around 3:15-3:30.

I'm around anyway and have the Monday off work.

Be up for meeting up the Saturday and pints on the Sunday night if ye are interested. Should be a group from my club out and we can join up if we want too.

tHE vAGGABOND

Always on for pints

ClashCityRocker

Going ok for me, not great but ok. Missed (or at least cut short) last sunday's LSR due to a hangover but hitting most of the important stuff over the last while. Ran a half marathon in 88 and a half mins the other week which was a new PB by 2 mins - good confidence booster and suggests 3:10 target for the marathon should be within grasp. Still plenty to do in the next few weeks though.

I'm arriving on the friday and around til Wednesday. Pints on sunday could be a plan, assuming i can stay awake - pretty much fell asleep in the pub after the cork marathon in June, and that was without any potential jetlag

tHE vAGGABOND

This time two weeks I will be waking up in Chicago, and making my way to the expo, WOOOHOOO

Im not jealous of the people going to Berlin this weekend. To be honest I have done Berlin before and have zero ambition to do it again. Thought the course was...dull. But the mean reason Im not jealous is that I have bruised ribs. The rib issue is now very localised to one small area, after just over a week of total rest. But I simply could not do a marathon this weekend [going to do a long easy cycle tomorrow, to get some kind of cardio done and give legs a bit of work].

I would think my next weekend I will be fine. I'm glad I have 6 or 7 runs over 18 miles in the bank already, so there are no worries about getting around without being in bits.

All this means that I wont be running Chicago to break 3.30 anymore. The simple fact is that by race day I wont have run long or fast in a month. I will go with the 3.40 pacers to start with, and not be too crazy with pace for the first half, and see from there. So new A goal would be a PB [PB is 3.38 and change from Berlin] and B goal is my second best time [3.46, from Paris 2012]

belcarra

Enjoy Chicago! The first half is through the leafy suburbs of North Chi town and is the most enjoyable.
The second half is through lots of ethnically distinct Latin neighbourhoods and is enjoyable too but the scenery less pleasing to the eye.
Watch out for 'Everest' waiting for you before the last turn into the finishing straight - Mock it at your peril!!:pac:

Runner2012

Anyone have any insight on what the weather is likely to be like?

blockic

Runner2012 wrote: »

Anyone have any insight on what the weather is likely to be like?

Actually warm for the time of year here at the moment.. Getting a bit of an Indian Summer. Hopefully it will be 10-14 degrees on race morning..hard to know at the moment

blockic

Well how are we set? I'm a lost cause so will be taking the "high-fiving" route this year.

When are ye all in and what area's are ye staying in? I'll pick a good spot for post-celebration beers and food on the Sunday night.

Can give suggestions too for the night before too if ye need them! Anyone up for meeting at the expo on the Saturday morning?

Weather has taking a change the last couple of days, much cooler. was 55 (13) all day today and overcast, perfect autumn running weather.

tHE vAGGABOND

I managed to do 3.5 slow miles last night. That was my first run for a couple of weeks [due to bruised ribs] and was purposely REALLY slow and short to ensure I was ok. It was like running with a stitch, not painful per sae. Was doing 9.30 min miles, and could not have gone a wild amount faster, but that speed *should* return over next few days after a bit more rest [I'm assured].

Im staying in an AirBnB just off Lincoln Square, and well on for meeting up at the expo, as I tend to spend hours at them [bad idea] or rush in and rush out [also a bad idea!] so I need someone to bring some balance

ClashCityRocker

I'm good to go. I've decided to be a bit more conservative with my aims, had hoped for sub 3:10 but gonna go with 3:15 pacers now and see where it takes me. Looking forward to it a lot now

I'm in Friday lunchtime til Wednesday, staying in a place called the Public hotel which seems nice. I had planned on trying to get to the expo on Friday evening, but no reason i couldn't put it off til Saturday

blockic

Great stuff we can sort details next week. Based on yere locations I'd say Lincoln Park area is the best shout for after drinks..have a few in mind I'll also see where my club here are meeting after too. Get a few together for after race celebration!

tHE vAGGABOND

Less than a week to go now

I cant wait to get out there and get the party started. Looking like Im jogging around and trying to break some high five records and nothing even close to racing. I clearly do care a bit as I was training hard. But no point crying about it, will have a great time and there will be other events to race

blockic

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

Less than a week to go now

I cant wait to get out there and get the party started. Looking like Im jogging around and trying to break some high five records and nothing even close to racing. I clearly do care a bit as I was training hard. But no point crying about it, will have a great time and there will be other events to race

Good stuff. Weather looks like it will be good for racing, low 50's at 7am rising to high 50's by 11, so around 10-14c, will be sunny too with light breeze. Pack a jacket when coming over as its getting chilly here now.

I'll be heading to the expo via shuttle from Nike Store on the Michigan Ave at around 9:30-10am on Saturday if anyone wants to meet there and head down or can meet people down there.

Best way to get to Nike is the "L" Red Line and the stop is Chicago - Red.

If you are going without shuttle then Uber or a cab is the best option.

For after race celebrations after Butler field then Millers Pub or Elephant and Castle would be good, Kitty O'Sheas was a bit jointed last year.

Still looking at night celebrations, my running group should have plans up tonight and ye will be more that welcome to join. Think Cortland's Garage in Bucktown is the current plan.

tHE vAGGABOND

This time tomorrow I will be in a queue somewhere in the airport, which is pretty exciting

yaboya1

Good luck to all running this on Sunday.
Great race.

blockic

For the weekend that's in it!