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La Decima: Chicago Marathon, 8 October, 2017

Number 5 of the World Marathons Majors requires a different plan as it will be a warm day, 76 F or 24.4 C. It will be my tenth marathon, la decima.

Introduction
The weather forecast for Sunday is not good. 76 F or 24.4 C will be the temperature on marathon day at 14:00 h. Luckily, we start early, at 7:30 h. For the first time I will use a singlet to avoid overheating. Also, the rain from Thursday to Saturday will clear out air pollution, better warm than rain.
This will be number 5 of the World Marathons Majors, only one more to go after Chicago.

The first one was in Boston in April 2014, the second one in London in April 2015, the third one in Tokyo in February 2016 and the fourth one in Berlin in September 2016.
I hope to finish the sixth in style in New York in 2018.

The first 4 World Marathons Majors I targeted at 3:35 h. This one will be more modest, as I decided to hold back by being a pacemaker for Henk. Will this be an easy 3:59 h?

Nepal Sponsortrek Run

During the first three World Major Marathons I did a sponsor run for Sponsortrek Nepal. Thanks to all of you who sponsored minutes below 4 hours.

Most mountain villages were devastated by the 2015 Earth Quake which was one day before the 2015 London Marathon, see e.g. the village of Keronja below where most houses collapsed.

Village of Keronja after the 2015 Earthquake, most houses collapsed. Blue tarps are as a temporary shelter.

Sponsortrek is now also building an earthquake proof health post in Gairamudi [1] [2] using a lego system. This will serve as an example to build private houses in the village.

Building earthquake prove stone houses using the lego system, reinforced with steal rods, vertically and horizontally.

Another major project is the disabled women rehabilitation centre in Kathmandu, see [1].

If you feel my “la Decima” is special, you could again contribute, e.g. with 12 times € 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 Euros, i.e. 12 minutes below 4h15min, see below for results. Please transfer the amount to, with the note “Chicago marathon”: Sponsortrek Nepal, bankaccount number NL81ABNA0861147545, Bic (swift): ABNANL2A. ABN – Amro Bank, Amsterdam.

Chicago
Chicago is definitely not a tourist destination, but a working town.

The Art Institute of Chicago: Tarsila do Amaral, “Workers”.

No wonder economics at the university is so big here, this is a business town. Friedmann did well for three decades until proven wrong.

Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago just got the Noble price explaining that financially people are mostly irrational, so financial nitwits.

This is why some 15% of the people speculate on ever increasing housing prices, hurting the other 85%. A house is not a speculation object, but a safe shelter, a democratic right. Again, again, tell our politicians but they are not listening, instead they copy this behaviour.

Chicago has many closely spaced skyscrapers downtown, esp. along the river. This area is like Manhattan in New York.

The traffic noise of the six (!) lane roads creates a constant background hum, day and night. I could not live here, but many people don't know that noise kills early, just like smoking and lack of sleep.

In the nearby Double Tree Hotel by Hilton we had a room on the 11th floor at the corner of Ohio and Fairbanks Street, opposite two other skyscraper and a parking lot. A nice view but noisy with the sound echoing between buildings.
After a change of room, to the back side, with a wide space between buildings, the noise in our hotel room was finally bearable, just a faint hum. I stopped using ear plugs at night.

For tourists there is not much to see, except for the two giant museums, the historical museum and modern art museum with the roof top terrace restaurant with a snowmen in an outside freezer. Many take a boat tour on the river.

A prominent skyscraper with a large sign "Trump" on the river is a big laugh. Other buildings don't have the  real estate developer's name on the building. Why would you. He did not even build it, just sold his name.

A Trumpy Dumpy Building

The nearby pier on Michigan Lake with the giant wheel and tourist boats is just a walking area. At the far end you do have a nice view over Michigan lake with two seemingly floating stone light houses in the distance.

I do see many tourists boarding double deck tourist buses and boats on the river. What is the attraction? The Trumpy Dumpy tower?

The shopping district is called the "Magnificent Mile". All the common brands are here, including Apple, Tumi and Nike, our interest. This is one of the few streets with proper sidewalks with trees and flowers.
When you are from Europe, it does pay off to get a piece of "Apple" here. However, like Eve, the wife of Adam, you violate a holy rule. Don't bite an apple offered by a snake.

We are all “Appled”

A holy economic rule is that you should not buy products with a 30% profit margin, and especially not with underpaid store personnel and goods that are all based on innovations by academics that do not charge for the patents and make you believe these are their inventions. The goods are simply repackaged with a nice cover and wrap, put together by underpaid near-slave labour at the Taiwanese company FoxConn in China. A no go.
Even worse, none of the profit is recycled back into the academic world to encourage innovations but stored somewhere in a tax free haven, just accumulating.

I upgraded my iPad from 2012 to a 2017 one called iPad 2017. The iPad Pro is double price, for what? The drawing pencil at an extra cost of $100, a bit more memory, only slightly higer specs? The main attraction seems for gaming and sketching.

I wanted to purchase the iPhone X but this will be available a month later, 4 November. Lucky me.

Getting downtown
The subway is old. Maintenance is poor, stations look dirty, the noise deafening and the underground platforms too warm. You better spent $45 for a taxi to get from the airport to downtown instead of $5 each.

A riddle, why are old metro undergrounds like London so warm? Underground basements are cool, 10 C, so this seems like a contradiction. There is plenty of ventilation. The hint is "old".

The marathon area
The marathon start and finish is in Millennium Park. It pays off to explore the area on Friday when it is still accessible. On Saturday it will be closed off.

For the red bib numbers, 1-20000, Gate 1 near the museum is the quickest entrance, esp. when you have nothing to check in. As it would be warm that day, we decided to avoid the crowds and not check in a bag to save time, ... for the last toilet stop before the start.

Early morning
At 5:15 h the alarm went off and we had a breakfast inside the room, oatmeal using hot water from the coffee maker and sandwiches. Eating sandwiches is difficult so early in the morning. You don't need to eat much anyway, it is just a morning run, finished before lunch, so a single sandwich is plenty to cover the 2500 Cal (really?).

At 6:00 h we left for the 2 km to the start. On Michigan Street, 100's of runners were making their way to the start. The sidewalks did not overflow and the crowd was moving orderly. At Gate 1, the first one, it was busy. All transparent plastic bags were checked lightly but luckily at least half the runners had none. Gate 2 and 3 are less busy.

The start area
Some 100 Dixi toilets were bordering the red start corrals A to C, but as always, this is not enough to avoid long cues. At 6:45 h there was already a line up with 15 min. waiting time, our line. At 7:00 h they were much longer, only 30 min. before the gunshot, which would make me nervous.

But, no worry, there are plenty narrow and very private dead alleys between the skyscrapers with garbage containers to replace trees to piss on along the route for the first few kms. Proper Dixie toilets are available every 4-6 miles.
Henk used them twice, a garbage container and a Dixi.

Temperature was fine at 7:30 h, around 14 C, so you needed an old sweater and pants to stay warm while waiting. The temperature will go up fast, 66 F (19 C) at 10:30 h halfway and 72 F (22 C) at 12:45 h at the finish. At 14:00 h it will be 76 F (24.4 C).

Those who dropped off all their clothing at the bag intake area and did not have an old sweater were cold as the wait is about one hour, I was told.

To stay warm, look for "body heat", a human produces 80 Joule/Sec, so move into the crowd at the head of your corral, it also shields you for the cold wind. Note that men produce twice as much body heat compared to the common small marathon girls. Look for groups of men. In Chicago 48% of runners are female.

The B corral was already full at 7:15 h and some of the Latin language runners got nervous thinking they would miss out so they climbed the 2 meter high wobbly metal fences of chicken wire to get into our Corral C. Especially the older guys climbing was a big laugh, they struggling to get up. Attendance volunteers were shouting, “don't climb the fence”. There was no need, 5 min. before the start they created plenty of space by joining the A and B area but runners can be blind fanatics.

The Start

At 7:30 h the gunshot went off and we made our way North to a tunnel and the river along a six line highway. The running route consisted mostly of two lane roads so not overly busy.

The metal run way of the first river bridge was covered by a red carpet. We would cross the river on such bridges 4 times during the first half, on a red or green carpet.

After a loop down town, the route goes North for 8 km and than South again, mostly in the shade.
Henk stopped twice for a toilet stop.

We are passed by groups of runners following pacers with 3:35, 3:40 and 3:45 tags. See many of you later!

Around 16 km TUI staff is taking pictures. We cheer for a good picture. Still fine, less at the second picture stop at 33 km.

Somewhere downtown

Half marathon
1:58 h, 3 minutes above schedule.

Our 3:59 h is now out of reach which is fine. It is all about finishing in this exceptionally warm weather.

I was aiming at a time below 1:55 h for the half marathon by running around 5:27 min. per km (11 km/h) but we lost two minutes due to two toilet stops. We normally don't drink before the half way point but given the warm weather, already 19 C at 9:30 h, you have to drink early, this took two extra minutes, explaining the delay.

Weather forecast 66 F (19 C) at 9:30 h halfway.

30 km, the wall
This is what we call "you are now half way, ... in terms of effort". Now you start dreaming you could make it in one piece.

Listening to Henk's breathing, I slow down to 10.5 km/h. Heavy breathing, a sign of a 90% run, is a no go at the marathon as it could ultimately affect your heart, the major risk.

The sun was out and bright, no shade going West and back East as we left the downtown area with high buildings, temperature was around 19 C.

Some runners are already walking, because of the heat or just cramps?

We passed a Dutch runner from our group, he slowed down feeling sick and had to threw up. Never had this before, he said. He still made it in around 4 hours and looked fine after the run. Was this the warm weather?

Around 33 km TUI staff is again taking pictures. We try to show cheerful and hide fatigue.

Somewhere past 21 km given the facial expression

35 km
This is the distance indicating you will make it, for good or for worse, only overheating and consequently fainting could stop you, but not muscle cramps or back pains as you could walk the last 7 km. I see more and more runners walking, many are covered in sweat from head to toe. I hope they start running again.

The young Dutch girl from our group fainted here. She aimed for 3:10 h, but after throwing up, feeling dizzy and stopping at a first-aid post, thinking she could finish on character, and then being talked to by first-aid staff, she went down. She woke up later with an infusion needle in her arm, and they kept her at the first-aid for a few hours but refused to go to a hospital. She was wondering if she could run the half marathon of Amsterdam a week later. Advise was a clear “no”. She did have Pfeiffer disease 10 months ago, a few months after a very strong Berlin marathon run in September 2016, also during warm weather, the same one I did and got overheated at 18 (!) km.

Until 21 km we were holding back and the young guys were all passing us slowly. Now it was the reverse, we were passing them, they were either stumbling or walking.

We were also passing slow running "dying" pacers with 3:35, 3:40 and 3:45 tags. They will finish past the sacred 4 hours.

Even at our slow pace of 5:43 min. per km (10.5 km/h), I get very warm and thirsty drinking a beaker of Gatorade every mile. I now taste the salt inside the drink due to lack of internal body salt. Going South between 34 and 37 km, the sun is again bright and warm, no shade.

Henk drinks Gatorade and water every time, two full beakers, and is sweating all over loosing a lot of fluids.

My shirt is dry, but my arm pits and neck are damp, no deodorant this morning of course. The singlet works well. My face is nearly dry but later on, I find out, the evaporation is faster than the sweating. Salt crystals the size inside a salt shaker are slowly crystalizing and form a crust.

Salt crystals

Around 38-40 km.

Almost at the finish

We skip the last drinking post at 26 miles to make sure we stay close to 4 hours and way below 4:07 h, to beat a colleague's time on the Boston marathon.

The last two curves are somewhere in the distance, another 3-4 km. Luckily this street has trees for shade. Lots of runners are walking and totally wet. We pass them. A girl is sitting on the side-walk attended by first-aid staff, she nearly fainted. She is the only one I see passed out over the last 5 km.

Finally the second-last curve to the right appears after the 800 m sign, still an awful long distance, then up going a 200 m long bridge across the railroad, heavy, out of breath, a left curve stumbling down, and after 200 m the finish, passing a Chinese runner on bare feet. He is tiptoeing, seems his feet hurt.

Henk stops dead right on the finish line, I move on. He is one second faster and beats his pacer, as it should be.

Time 4:03:04 for me, 4:03:03 for Henk.

Henk and the Chinese barefeet runner, both in pain.

The finish, finally

Forecast 72 F (22 C) at 12:45 h at the finish, weather man seems worried.

After the finish

Henk stopped dead at the finish because of a groin injury. When wrapping the aluminum foil blanket, he nearly got a cramp in his neck but luckily we get bags with ice to treat this. A bag of ice in an overheated neck feels good.

We walk slowly to the exit, getting all kind of goodies. Henk gets a beer and we sit down at the exit of Gate 5 for 15 minutes. I treat two small toe blisters. No nail blisters and only small blisters this time, the thin Asics socks and the Asics Metarun running shoes work well.

We skip the TUI assembling area at the North East corner near Gate 1 for a picture as it is too far, at least 500 m distance, and walk straight out of the park to find a taxi. A first generation Italian picks us up. He knowns the town and keeps the conversation lively about all kind of crooked mayors of Chicago. We barely understand him, a heavy American/Italian slang but he is in a good mood and funny. He gets a 100% tip.

At the hotel we go for a pasta lunch, to fill up part of the lost 2500 Calories and to drink. We will be thirsty and hungry for another 2 days.
In the bath room I discover a layer of crystals of salt around my eyes, it looks like table salt, some 3 grams, half a tea spoon. Evaporation was faster then dripping.

Epiloque
This was a good run, relatively easy until 35 km, always tough after 35 km. 42.2 km is simply too long, even when running slowly, but my recovery after the finish was remarkably quick. Could easily run the 2 km home. Feels good.

Henk did fine as well, a very even run, better than Tokyo, with sufficient drinking. This was key as it was an exceptionally warm day.

A balanced run, for both.

Results

Results Jean

Results Henk

The World Marathon Series medal, one more to go, NY.

Marathon flowers, from the boss. (When do you get flowers from the boss? 1. 25 year's of service; 2. When you are kicked out; 3. When you die; and 4. ...... When you survive 10 marathons.)

Marathon flowers, from the boss. After 2 weeks.

Marathon flowers, on returning home.

Marathon flowers, on returning home, after two weeks.

Marathon flowers, on returning home, after three weeks. Bit tired.

Marathon flowers, on returning home, after four weeks. Very tired.

STATS

Average results based on my Garmin watch

Speed: 5:39 min/km (10.62 km/h, includes stops)
Energy: 2452 Cal
Distance: 42.98 km

Moving time: 4:01:47

Moving speed: 10.67 km/h
Heart rate: 154 beat/min.
Cadence: 173 paces per min.

Rank:

• Jean: 123 (17%) of 719 age group 60-64 (median time is 5 h 0 min); overall 11795 of 44203 (27%)

• Henk: 332 (18%) of 1819 age group 55-59 (median time is 5 h 8 min); overall 11794 of 44203 (27%)

4:03:10 instead of 4:04:04 as I accidently paused the recording for 54 sec. during a toilet stop.

Some literature

Hart en knieen krijgen de klappen tijdens de marathon (The heart suffers the most)
Lopen of laten lopen (toilet stops)

Equipment

Metarun shoe, the flagship marathon shoe of Asics. Light but still sturdy.

Asics speed sock quarter, bit thin and very dry so few blisters but you may need to get used to it.