I feel that we are at the end though, really, we are at the brink. This is the weekend that colors the outcome of the campaign.
Specifically, getting past the next two races only gets us two-thirds of the way there but that last third? That’s only about tidying up the loose ends and there’s three languid weeks to do it in.
Showtime is now.
As I write this, it is Thursday October 7 and Lynn and I have been re-united in Boston for the past two days; she flew in from Seattle and I returned to the States from London.
The mad logistics start tomorrow: while in Boston I get my bib, then fly to Chicago, get my bib, run Chicago, fly back to Boston, run Boston. And sundry other details.
Chicago has always been the lynchpin. I need to leave Chicago with the audacity to run another marathon the next day.
But if I feel as wretched after Chicago as I did after Berlin then I fear Boston may turn out insurmountable. And now they’re forecasting temperatures in the 70’s to 80’s in Chicago on race day. The heat frightens me a bit.
I have a plan for getting through Chicago minimally scathed. I’m confident I can avoid a repeat of Berlin but I’m not entirely certain that I have anticipated all potential snags.
I’m a major player in this next act yet I can’t help but feel as if I’m a spectator as well. Like a child on Christmas morning in giddy anticipation, hopeful towards how all this may unfold.
Team Fox held a meet and greet in Chicago and though I was not actually raising funds for them in Chicago, they graciously allowed me to crash the party.
As is always the case at Team Fox events, I met some fantastic people. One of them was my hero, Liz Berger, who made London, Boston, and New York race bibs available for me.
The best part though was that Team Fox had set up headquarters in Roosevelt University very close to the start line. Food, water, gear check, luggage check, and showers all were available for us. This was an enormous benefit; it allowed me to check out of the hotel early in the morning and stash my stuff close to the finish line thus shaving off critical minutes needed to catch my plane back to Boston.
During the week leading into Chicago I pondered pacing strategies and settled on this: break up the first 24 miles in chunks of six miles each, run the first five of those miles at a 10 minute pace and walk or very slow jog the sixth. Repeat that sequence four times then run the last 2.2 miles the best that I can. That should work out to a finish time of about five hours.
I had hoped that those five mile running stretches would not be too taxing in the heat and in any event the intervening slow miles would allow for cooling down, fueling, hydration, and a reset of the heartrate.
Importantly, I figured this approach would avoid the common marathoning error of “going out too fast” because I would be reining it in to a walk after five miles.
Of course, I would assess the situation constantly and dial back further if need be.
The fueling with Nuun tablets and Maurten gels worked well in London. But in studying the on-course fueling stations in the event guide I realized that the Gatorade Endurance Formula being served may cover both my hydration and carb needs.
That Gatorade is also to be served on the Boston course. If I could prove it worked for me in Chicago then I could use it in Boston. So I carried my Nuun tablets and Maurten gels just as I did in London to serve as a backup while my primary strategy was to drink the course-provided Gatorade during the race.
The atmosphere on the course was similar to Berlin and London. Bands, music, wildly cheering spectators, etc. Absent were London-style costumed runners but the people of Chicago more than made up for that with entertaining signage.
A pleasant first was when, on two separate occasions, runners noted my Team Fox jersey and passing by thanked me for raising funds for Parkinson’s research. They had both recently lost loved ones who suffered for years with PD. Same for the volunteer who handed me my finisher’s medal given that his brother had just been diagnosed with PD.
Heat, humidity, and wind caused dehydration problems for many runners. I understand that even some of the elites were suffering from the weather conditions.
My pacing strategy held up well for the first 18 miles but the wheels fell off for the last 8.2. As I thought might be the case given the conditions, I did have to rein it in towards the end. I walked some of the last miles and justified this by noting that my walking pace was not much slower than my running pace at that point in the race and walking hurt so much less than running.
I have mixed feelings about the fueling strategy. It could have been that the Gatorade plan worked as well as could be expected given the condition but I nonetheless felt wretched at the end of the race. My Boston strategy will need reassessment.
An unplanned fueling tactic was some beer handed out at mile 23. That tasted very nice.
I brought it in at a new personal worst of just under 5:14. This and a miscalculation on my part as to when I would actually pass the start line led to a serious decrease in the time available to get on my flight back to Boston. I just barely managed to board in time before they gave my seat away to a standby.
So here I am now in Boston with the next step of this increasingly insane double header looming.
It will be a challenge; there is much discomfort at the moment. If I finish in under six hours it won’t be by much.
Like some of you, I’ve wondered how Shalane Flanagan would handle the Chicago-Boston doubleheader. Would she, like I did, dial it back in Chicago to make Boston possible or, running goddess that she is, shrug off the mere pedestrian challenge and turn in another serene sub-2:40 effort?
Hard to say for sure what her strategy was without speaking to her. The weather conditions were not kind to anyone. I spoke to Brendan Reilly, an agent for some talented runners, on the plane back to Boston who assured me that many of the elites suffered today just like everyone else.
Weather notwithstanding, Shalane ran Chicago in 2:46:39 to my ever-escalating awe.
My 5:13:59 is within a factor of two of her time and so I’m still on track with my recent scaled back goal. But, damn! Shalane is a marvel.
I am a charity runner in the London, Boston, and New York marathons this year. There’s still time to contribute to my cause (assuming that you have not already done so).
If you share the passion that the Michael J Fox Foundation and I have for finding a Parkinson’s cure please consider contributing to any of the WMM I am running in as a member of Team Fox (links below). All donations are meaningful and greatly appreciated.
fundraise.michaeljfox.org/boston-marathon-2021/joesgottarun
fundraise.michaeljfox.org/londonmarathon2021/joesgottarun
fundraise.michaeljfox.org/tcs-nyc-marathon-2021/joesgottarun
