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Chicago Marathon

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Location:

South Weber,UT,

Member Since:

May 09, 2012

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Personal Records:

800 Meters 1:50.14 (Track-BYU)

1500 Meters 3:42.07 (Track-Stanford) Likely the best race of my life; converts to a 3:59.85 Mile

5000 Meters 14:20 (Track-Stanford)

8000 Meters 23:53 (Cross Country-Pre Nationals Iowa)

10000 Meters 29:57 (Track-Stanford)

Half Marathon (Mesa-Phoenix Half) 1:05:11

Marathon (St George) 2:16:09

Short-Term Running Goals:

2017 Races:

Mesa-Phoenix Half - 3rd Place 1:05:11 PR

Ogden WRC 10-Miler - 1st Place 55:46

Provo City Half - 1st Place 1:06:33

Ogden Marathon - 2nd Place 2:25:46

Long-Term Running Goals:

My main goal is just to stay healthy.  I was injured every year in my college career except for one.  I would like to reverse that trend and always stay injury-free.

 

Personal:

I am a family man.  I am married to my beautiful wife Amy (who also ran at Weber and is quite the runner).  We have four beautiful daughters named Evelyn (6 years old), Hannah (4 year old), Nora (2 year old), and Iris (5 months).

Twitter handle: @RunnerRiley7

Instagram RunnerRiley7

I am supported by Brooks

I am a Generation Ucan elite athlete

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Salomon Pro Wings 2 Lifetime Miles: 161.10
Brooks PureCadence 5 Lifetime Miles: 101.85
Brooks Adrenaline 17 Lifetime Miles: 161.85
Brooks Transcend 4 Lifetime Miles: 219.45
Brooks Ravenna 8 Lifetime Miles: 225.10
Brooks PureCadence 6 Lifetime Miles: 188.10
Brooks Launch 4 Lifetime Miles: 107.50
Brooks Glycerin 14 Lifetime Miles: 101.47
Brooks Hyperion Lifetime Miles: 92.13
Brooks Caldera Lifetime Miles: 31.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
26.8026.200.000.0053.00
Brooks Adrenaline 15 (Orange) Miles: 8.20Brooks Pure Cadence 4 Blue Miles: 26.70Brooks Transcend 2 Miles: 8.10Brooks Ravenna 5 Miles: 10.00
Weight: 150.80
Race: Chicago Marathon (26.219 Miles) 02:26:25, Place overall: 50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.5026.200.000.0027.70

CHICAGO MARATHON

I really felt prepared for this race. I wasn't very nervous and just knew that I had done enough work to get a favorable result. I wasn't sure if I'd hit my A goal of 2:17:59, but I was certain I could give it a run for its money, and if not I would still wind up with a PR. But the marathon has a mind of its own and had other ideas in store for me.

I met Ken, Janae, Emily, Jasmine, and Kathryn (the Utah representation) at the corner of Michigan and Wacker and we headed down to the race. It was probably 3/4 of mile and we jogged about a half mile of it. We got through the gates and checked into the American Development Tent. They told us that they were taking us out at 7:00 to the start line (15 minutes before what we were told before the race via email traffic). This was a bit frustrating; as we had to rush to use the bathrooms and warmup, plus we had to strip down our warm clothing and be in our racing attire for a half hour. Luckily it wasn't too cold and staying warm wasn't as big of a problem as I thought. But they didn't take us to the start line, instead they lined us up and we just waiting until two minutes before the race started to get to the starting line. So there was never any point to making us leave the tent a half hour early and stand on our feet in a line for 28 minutes.

I forced my way up to the front and started just behind 1-2 guys. The race was off and a lot of guys went out pretty fast. I stay controlled and by mile 3 found a guy that looked like I could use to draft off of. Another guy joined us and they were running side by side and I filled in behind. It was quite windy out there and I was going to draft as much as possible. Within a few miles we had a pack of four and then it grew to about six. We briefly discussed and everyone was shooting for an OTQ, so this was the group.

The guy leading was going a bit fast though in the early miles, but I decided a few seconds per mile too fast was better than running alone. Plus with the drafting off him the effort was likely going to be similar either way. This pack stayed together with 1-2 guys dropping back around 10 miles. We slowly picked guys off and kept moving up. Going South had the strongest winds and I just tried to stay behind someone the whole time. I really didn't do my fair share of leading with this pack, but no one seemed to mind so I just kept back.

A little before the half I had a mucous buildup that I started gagging on and I concentrated really hard to hack it up without starting my gag reflex.  I managed it successfully and felt good again. By the half the pack was stringing out and mile 13 was slow, so I moved up with one of the leaders in the pack and we got back on pace, but it was only four of us left. We came through the half in 1:08:49, right on pace and I felt I could manage another sub 1:09.

I took a gel for the first time right after the half. I felt decent for the next few miles, then I started to get nauseous and I also had another mucous buildup (not a good combo). I pulled over and threw up during mile 19. I lost the two guys remaining that I was working with and I couldn't catch back up. This was a bad time to run solo as we were headed South again and the wind was quite strong and temps had risen into the 60s. I ran another two miles or so at a decent pace and then threw up again. A PR was theoretically still possible with just 6:00-flat miles, but I just couldn't do it. I had lost too much fluid and my legs just wouldn't go. I was quite miserable.

I finished the race in 2:26:25 (1:17:36 second half). When I finished I got really light-headed and my face and arms were tingling. I got dizzy and started wobbling pretty badly. A volunteer grabbed me and held me up/helped me walk about a quarter of a mile down to the medical tent. There they kept me for over an hour. I kept trying to get discharged, but I was shaking from being cold and I couldn't walk at all. So they wouldn't let me leave. They finally laid me down and covered me with 5-6 blankets. After almost an hour and a half they finally let me leave the medical tent and I went to get my gear. I also saw Janae in the medical tent, they had brought her in on a wheelchair. I saw Emily and Jasmine at the American Development Tent after and they hadn't raced the way they had hoped either and we just kind of shook our heads and wondered why everyone of us had a pretty bad day. I found Amy shortly after that and we walked back to our hotel.

So, it was a frustrating day. I felt pretty dang good minus the stomach issues, which are really big issues. I had problems in the past with runner's trots in marathon, but I seem to have that solved and traded it in for this even worse problem. I threw up after both Morgan and Top of Utah marathons in similar fashion and I threw up during one of my 25 mile long runs in training. I don't know what it is. I didn't take gel in Top of Utah, only water and still threw up right after I finished. I need to go see some kind of specialist that can help me figure out what's going on. Any suggestions?

Splits (these are based on mile markers and are about 5-6 seconds per mile slower than what gps would've given):

1st Half: 5:12, 5:14, 5:08, 5:09, 5:14, 5:11, 5:17, 5:13, 5:15, 5:19, 5:16, 5:18, 5:23

2nd Half: 5:15, 5:14, 5:14, 5:20, 5:22, 5:41, 5:36, 5:54, 13:35 (missed split this is 2 miles), 6:31, 6:33, 6:29, 1:22

Brooks Adrenaline 15 (Orange) Miles: 1.00Brooks Pure Cadence 4 Blue Miles: 26.70
Weight: 0.00
Comments(24)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

No run, rest/travel day. Hamstrings are crazy sore, calf muscles slightly sore, and everything else feels fine.

Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

No run, hamstrings still pretty dang sore. Calf muscles feel better.

I've been thinking a lot about my race (not surprisingly). I really feel my fitness is at a high level. But with further thought and analysis, I don't think sub-2:18 was happening even if I had not gotten stomach issues. The weather just wasn't very conducive to fast running, wind and unseasonably warm temps. I looked at every guy in my pack aiming for 2:18 and looked at their finish times. No one made it. In fact the closest anyone came was 2:21. So I don't think my stomach issues cost me an OTQ, even with how good I was feeling, maybe a PR. But my confidence that the fitness is there if I can get good conditions and keep my stomach in check, is still high. I can do this. I need a flat, sea level half in late November or early December...open to suggestions. The 5:10-5:15 pace even in the wind felt very easy, I really feel I can cut 15 seconds per mile for a half at sea level.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

30 minutes cross-training on the Arc Trainer.

Weight: 152.20
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.200.000.000.007.20

7.2 miles easy with Denver, avg pace 7:41/mile. I also did some core exercises after.

Brooks Adrenaline 15 (Orange) Miles: 7.20
Weight: 151.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.100.000.000.008.10

8.1 miles easy with  Denver in South Ogden, avg pace 7:34/mile. My legs still have some deep fatigue in them, but the soreness is gone. The weather was perfect this morning at 8:00 AM, and it was nice to sleep in and actually run in daylight for a change.

Brooks Transcend 2 Miles: 8.10
Weight: 150.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles easy on the Parkway with Ken and Tip, avg pace 6:32/mile. Legs are still tired, but coming around. Taking tomorrow off should help freshen them back up to resume some training next week.

Brooks Ravenna 5 Miles: 10.00
Weight: 150.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
26.8026.200.000.0053.00
Brooks Adrenaline 15 (Orange) Miles: 8.20Brooks Pure Cadence 4 Blue Miles: 26.70Brooks Transcend 2 Miles: 8.10Brooks Ravenna 5 Miles: 10.00
Weight: 150.80
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