Go for the Distance.
Chicago Marathon '98Oct. 11, '98 | |
 La Salle Street, Mile 2.5 |
It was my 4th Chicago marathon and 6th marathon in total. I was one of 20,063 who started from Grant Park and one of 17,093 finishers. This year again I didn’t think I had prepared well. My longest run in a week became only 15 miles on Sunday, two weeks before the race. I didn’t expect anything special. I just wanted to confirm that I was able to finish a marathon. I had given up the idea that I would finish the marathon without walking before I started the race. Maybe that was why I tried Galloway run. That is to run a marathon with walking breaks from the beginning. But I did not walk before the second aid station. Then I started walking for a minute every mile. My time was 1:55 after the first half. Of course no miracle happened. This was almost same as last year’s time. But I found a benefit of having the walking breaks from the beginning. It was mentally good. Because I had started walking much earlier, I didn’t need to be disappointed when I couldn’t help walking. Every time I had ran other marathons I was disappointed when I started walking, even though I knew I would walk sooner or later. This year I couldn’t tell which walk was intentional and which walk was unwilling. But by the time I passed Comiskey Park, Mile 21, it was obvious that there was “the wall.” I felt I wanted walk longer and longer. I was afraid that my energy was all gone and I had to walk most of the rest, as I used to do. But this time my energy had not drained yet. Amazingly much better than ever. After I did stretch around mile 23, I didn’t walk at all. I didn’t need to walk. What a pleasant experience it was to finish the race feeling strong. Last three miles makes this race special to me. I found my record was 4:21, five minutes faster than ever!! When I checked my watch later, I found that I ran one minute slower per mile than last year but I could keep the pace longer. Compared to last year, as a result, I ran much faster after Mile 19. I might have prepared better. Or having walking breaks might be a really good idea. I don’t know. Whatever the reason might be, my smile in the photo at the finish is real. I was really happy. |
 This smile is a fake. This photo was taken at the half-point, mile 12.1, not at the finish. | |
 At the mile 20. Is there "the Wall"? |
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 At the finish. This smile is a real one although I look much weeker. | |
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