The Chicago Marathon was amazing. This is one of my favorite races because of all the support that the City of Chicago shows the runners. Not only are there thousands of volunteers that come out to help and support the runners, but there are hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the course cheering you on and providing support in some areas. Last year was my first attempt at a marathon and I was disappointed in my finish at 5:04:35. This year I managed to shave 20 minutes off my time and finish in 4:44:05.
I was able to finish faster this year by training harder and learning to pace myself better. While I am not where I want to be yet in terms of speed, I found that being able to pace myself better helped tremendously. I found, late in my training, that I was able to maintain a steady pace better if I ran without any music. I found that when running with music I tended to subconsciously start running to the beat of the music which would change. Without the music in my ears, I was better able to time my breathing and running so as to maintain a more steady pace. Since I only figured this out a few weeks prior to the Marathon, I wasn't able to reap the full benefits of the training but now I know for future training. Next year, I am looking for a sub-4:20 marathon.
I was able to finish faster this year by training harder and learning to pace myself better. While I am not where I want to be yet in terms of speed, I found that being able to pace myself better helped tremendously. I found, late in my training, that I was able to maintain a steady pace better if I ran without any music. I found that when running with music I tended to subconsciously start running to the beat of the music which would change. Without the music in my ears, I was better able to time my breathing and running so as to maintain a more steady pace. Since I only figured this out a few weeks prior to the Marathon, I wasn't able to reap the full benefits of the training but now I know for future training. Next year, I am looking for a sub-4:20 marathon.
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