Zut alors!
Christian: of course you will be running the Chicago 2010 marathon as your next fall marathon. Not only are Paris and Chicago jumelée (i.e. sister cities), but the Dollar is so conveniently falling vis-à-vis the Euro that you'd get all this done for about a Euro and a half by the time the race happens. Moreover, 2010 is going to be Debian's US year anyway. I crammed my two European races into two four day trips which I won't exactly recommend, but you do not need ten days either. Lastly, I cannot promise you many interesting cheeses but there are at least a few pretty tasty beers to sample. À bientôt à Chicago!

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Chicago Marathon 2009
Earlier today the 33rd Chicago Marathon was held. I will organise my comments by pointing out three epic fails.

First, of course, was the Chicago weather. After two successive marathon in excessive heat --- the 2007 race I completed, poorly, with its thousands of runners forced to abandon when the race was cancelled due to excessive heat, and the 2008 version which I skipped as I ran Berlin that year just weeks before Chicago, this year had forecasts of temperatures in the thirties and possibly snow the night before. Well, the weather cleared up -- but with those clear skies we still got a severe weather alert for the area due to frost! So at the (now earlier by 30 minutes) race start, it was very nippy and in the higher 30s, improving steadily under sunny skies. Overall, a little chilly and hence not exactly ideal, but not too bad in the grand scheme of things. A little windy coming up Michigan Avenue. But hey, Wanjiru still finished with a course record though still well off the world record. So maybe not a fail after all.

The second fail, though, was my GPS which I had just blogged about yesterday (albeit indirectly). I had had my issues with the previous (much simpler and older) Forerunner 205 which lost satellite tracking when running downtown amidst the skyscrapers. I had high hopes that this newer model would do better. But no, not only did it loose track within the first few miles, it even managed to outdo the older model by turning its GPS tracking off in the later stages. Now that's a fail!

The third and final fail, unfortunately, concerns my run. Training had gone well enough to let me hope for another decent race. However, a latent cold during the last two weeks had left me somewhat afraid I might not do well. Things felt better yesterday, and I ended up running a decent first eighteen miles to the waterstop the rest of my household was working. And thereafter: well let's just say that the wheels came off. I ended up with a 3:25:40 (or around 7:51 min/mile and 4:53 min/km) which is not terrible but also not one of my better races.

I updated the two race data geekery charts shown here before to illustrate the fail. As I am running out of shades of blue for Chicago, I show the 2009 race in purple. A decent, flat chat indicating a reasonably steady pace throughout most of the race ... followed by one of the very worst finished. And as discussed above, I cannot really blame the weather either.

I also updated my 'performance by race type through time' chart which suggests that I may be getting slower for marathons (if we allow for a non-linear effect). Eek.

/sports/running | permanent link

Chicago Half Marathon 2009
Today it was once again time for the Chicago Half Marathon (which I have now been running in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008). Conditions were much much better than last year's very heavy rainfall---we were once again treated to a sunny and clear Chicago sky. It was however a little on the humid side and got somewhat warm; a few friends I talked to suffered on the second half of the race and I also slowed down.

As for the race itself, I didn't run it quite as evenly as I had hoped, faded a little around mile ten and eleven and came in at 1:34:54, or just under 7:15 min/mile. Not a bad time---I have done better (e.g. last year) but also worse. All in all still one my very favourite races, and this year with a once-again improved course that featured even more running along the lake. I will probably be back next year.

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JPM Chase Corporate Challenge 2009
The 28th annual JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge race took place a couple of days ago May 21. Participation was down from the record of 23,000 runners set last year at around 17,125. With splendid weather, it is always a nice way to start the Memorial day weekend.

We fielded a small but spirited team of nine runners. I finished with a decent (hand-stopped) time of 22 minutes and 27.93 seconds for the 3.5 miles -- or a 6:25 min/mile pace. That is among the fasters times but not quite the fastest compared to the other six times I have run this.

Most importantly, everybody seems to have had a blast. And we did set a record for longer post-race party which sets a nice precedent for 2010.

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Real nice Boston Marathon writeup
This article from the Boston Globe gives an excellent description of what running Boston last Monday was like, and why we keep coming back, almost regardless. The writer, for whom it was the fifth Boston and ninth total, expresses the range of emotions, expectations, frustrations, excitements, ups, downs, ... all of which form the challenge of racing a marathon in general, and on this course on a windy day in particular. And just like she concludes that the finish of one marathon leads to planning the next, I registered last night for the Chicago Marathon on October 11, apparently around twelve hours before it sold out.

And so it is with regrets that I have to decline Christian's invitation to run Cologne with him on October 4. Another time, hopefully.

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Boston Marathon 2009
Monday was the 113th Boston Marathon. Just like in 2007 (and having skipped last year as I ran London the week before), I went as part of a group of local running friends. We once again had a blast---Boston on Marathon weekend is a real spectacle. Lots of people, lots of excitement, and this time even great weather.

The race itself was challenging. Having done it once before, and having come off a really decent last marathon, I may have underestimated the impact of the famous hills. This really is a wonderful but challenging course. Combined with the poor training conditions during this last Chicago winter which forced us indoors for quite a few long runs, as well as a somewhat upset stomach which forced a two-minute break, I came up short and posted an underwhelming second half. The head wind was also a factor that was mentioned in a few reports on the comparatively slow times of the elite runners. So when all was said and done, I ended up with a time of 3:30:13 and 8:01 min/miles which is a little slower than last time.

All in all a really great marathon weekend. As my time from Berlin qualifies me for Boston 2010, I may well be back next year.

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2009 March Madness Half Marathon in Cary
This morning it was once more time for the annual March Madness Half Marathon in Cary. This race is basically the start of the running season in Chicagoland. And we could not have asked for better weather. After a really cold and long winter, and a short snapback to really cold temperatures this week, it started to warm up a little yesterday with expectations of more of the same today. So while it was still cold at the start at around 37 degrees, most runners opted for shorts and by the finish temperatures were in the high 40s. Coupled with clear blue skies and no wind, it was a really nice morning for a run.

So how did it go? Well, I had pretty low expectations. Training has been difficult with too much snow, rain and plain cold weather. So like most of my running friends, motivation ran pretty low of late. I was really only trying to set a modest pace, and to hope to hang on to it and run steadily. That worked: I didn't walk a single water stop, and while my legs were getting really tired and sore I carried through to the end. Final time was 1:36:08.57 per my stop watch. That's a tad faster than last year, a lot slower than 2007, just a tad slower than 2006, and quite a bit faster than 2005.

Next stop: my second Boston Marathon in five weeks and given the underwhelming training this winter, it will be a challenge.

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Very flattering
Good friend and fellow Oak Park / River Forest runner Paul Oppenheim used his column in the local weekly for some very flattering words about the marathon runners in our informal running group and even highlighting my personal World Marathon Majors adventure. I may just have to keep a copy for my epitaph.

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More running data visualization
A few years into this running hobby, I realized that my times were getting better. But I had no feel for by how much, or whether that was a constant rate of improvement etc pp. Long story short, I started to plot some of the data. What seemed natural was to record the date, the distance in miles as well as in a qualitative variable, and finally the average pace. Additionally, I played with groupings into just three categories 'short', 'mid' and 'long'.

This leads to a natural 'one-factor' model of pace as a function of race date grouped by race distance. And given how easy it is to do conditional plots in R, I quickly arrived at something that already resembled the following chart:

At first, some of the groups had too few data points to actually reliably construct regression lines, let alone non-parametric smoothers. But over time more and more data points were added as I kept running races. Including for example the somewhat disappointing result from last year's Chicago marathon in record heat that resulted in the outlier in the last panel. It actually made the smooth fit turn upwards! Luckily, the subsequent times in New York last fall, London in April, and of course in Berlin last month helped to dampen the effect of the one outlier, resulting in a more normal straight line for marathon performance that is comparable to the other four race lengths.

All in all I am now quite happy with the chart. The combination of the non-parametric loess smoother and the robust linear regression (using lrm from the MASS package for R) shows that most groups exhibit very little non-linearity as both regression curves are very close to each other. The curvature in the '10m' group is probably mostly a small-sample effect. And I am obviously happy with the fact that three of the five panels show their respective last race as a PR :)

The R script containing the data and code is available here but requires some familiarity with the lattice package for R (as the lattice book would provide).

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World Marathon Majors
Last Sunday's Berlin Marathon was my fifth and final piece in completing the World Marathon Majors during 2007/2008: after running Boston, Chicago and New York in 2007, and then London and now Berlin in 2008, the set is complete.

The idea was born after having run Chicago a few times, qualifying for Boston and winning a New York lottery entry. With friends to visit in New York, London and Berlin, it became feasible.

It's been a great experience to run these famous courses in front of large crowds. Conditions ranged from cold, windy and rainy in Boston to way too hot in Chicago, had mixed conditions including a solid rain shower in London and were just perfect in both New York and Berlin. The crowds were awesome in all five places. All in all, these races were a blast -- if you're into long-distance running, give each or all of them a shot.

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Berlin Marathon 2008
Last Sunday was the 35th Berlin Marathon. I had flown over to Berlin on Thursday after work, and had Friday and Saturday to 'chill'. The weather was already pretty nice before the race, and truly gorgeous on Sunday: sunny yet not too warm, blue skies, no wind. As has been widely reported, Haile Gebrselassie set a new world record breaking his own mark set the year before and becoming the first man to finish under two hours and four minutes. Truly impressive.

My race was pretty good too. I shaved over four and a half minutes off my own personal record (which was set in early 2006 at Sunburst) and finished in 3:13:09. That's a pace of 7:22 min/mile (or 4:35 min/km) which I am rather happy with. I held a fairly steady pace of under 7:30 almost all the way but but had to fight off the onset of cramps with some short walks about less than two miles to go.

Coming back in Berlin after all those years is always a charm. The city has obviously changed a lot in some very visible areas. Yet it still recalls the Berlin of those years. The course was really nice, covering numerous neighbourhoods and starting and ending in Tiergarten.

Lastly, it was also good to see old friends who have now been there since the mid- to late 1980s. And I managed to pack a quick visit to my parents in as they are just a good 80 minute ICE train ride away. All in all a very nice trip even though the travel from Chicago (without a direct flight!) is a bit of a hike.

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Chicago Half Marathon 2008
Interesting conditions today for the 2008 edition of the Chicago Half Marathon, a race I have now done in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 which is a personal record in itself.

While the weather story of the weekend is obviously the aftermath of hurricane Ike in Texas and neighbouring states were millions of people are still without power, we were also hit in a surprisingly hard way here in northwestern Illinois. According to the Tribune all of Chicago had a rain record day and the Chicago River crested causing evacuations. Not pretty.

The new race organisers (who had acquired the race since the 2007 event) were standing steadfast and guaranteeing the race 'come rain or shine'. Participation looked decent -- word was of a record turnout of sixteen thousand runners though I am sure some stayed home given yesterday's rain and the forecast for today. Given all that, it turned out to be not that bad. While we had steady rain the whole, it rarely rained that hard. Shoes and socks did get wet towards the end, but it was tolerable overall. I had been worried about the gross humidity we had yesterday --- but today was much better with temperatures in the sixties and little wind.

As for the race, I went out somewhat fast but managed to hang on. The Garmin had every mile split below 7:00 min/mile, and I came in at a new personal record of 1:30:51.52. My GPS, an old Garmin 201, also showed the course long at 13.4 miles; a few other runners I talked to had it as correct or long by a lesser amount. The leaves the pace at 6:56 min/mile (or, for Christian, at 4:19 min/km :-) if the half marathon course length was in fact correct, and at 6:47 min/mile (4:13 min/km) if my Garmin had it right.

And from now on it's all tapering for the the next big one in two weeks!

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JPM Chase Corporate Challenge 2008
Just got back a little earlier from running the 2008 edition of the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge. And again a record crowd of now just over 23000 in Chicago -- announced to be bigger than those at the JP Morgan Chase races in Boston, San Francisco or New York! This year the weather wasn't quite as stunning as it has often been in the past. But at least, temparatures in the high 40s and an overcast sky make for good running conditions.

This time, two colleagues and I tried to make it close enough to the starting line to not waste too much time 'surfing' around slower runners who for whatever reason think they have to be up at the front. And that seems to have worked: despite a still crowded start, I ran even, steady and fast enough to beat the PR from 2005 by a decent margin with a (hand-stopped) time of 20 minutes and 46.65 seconds. That yields 5:5619 min/mile (or for Christian, 3:4132 min/km) which seems too fast given the splits I saw at miles two and three. Oh well -- same cours as as the other five times that I've run this, so I trust the course is USATF certified.

And as always, good to hang with folks from work for a cold one or two afterwards. Given the temperatures, I didn't last very long though.

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Quarryman Challenge 2008
This morning was the 2008 edition of Quarryman Challenge, a 5km and 10mile race in Lemont, which is southwest of Chicago along the Illinois-Michigan Canal.

Three of us ran the 10 mile race, which was nicely organised. But is it ever friggin' hilly there: the race course takes three turns from the lower levels near the canal up towards those hills. As the elevation chart (that I cut out of this pdf file with the course map) shows, it is not so much the total elevation but rather how steep the incline is.

That said, I did okay: even though the legs were really tired throughout from those inclines, I finished in 1:12:08 for a pace of 7:13. And given the reasonably small field, that yielded 34th place overall and third in my age group.

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Updated marathon pace geekery
A few months ago, I had shown a chart with per-5k-segment paces of my prior marathons runs (or at least those for which organisers had 5k splits). Since then, I ran two more: New York in November and London last Sunday. I have updated the charts to show both of these:

• New York (in orange with small squares) clearly was my steadiest run, with very little variation and that nice burst at the end where the pace dropped below 7min/mile for the finish;
• London (in yellow with open circles) was allright, but with a noticeable drop around kilometers 30, 35 and 40 -- but then the second-best finish.
• I really cannot pace myself at the start: The two most recent races had the fastest start, including the hot and humid Chicago 2007 marathon (in light blue with circles)

In case anybody is interested (C'est bien toi, Christian, non?), the R script is available and I will be taking questions by email as R may not be obvious at first if you haven't used it.

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London Marathon 2008
Sunday was the 100th anniversary of the modern marathon: It was during the London 2008 Olympics that the marathon was run for the first time for the 26 miles 385 yard, or 42.185 km, distance. And it so happens that I was there to run the 2008 edition of the London Marathon.

Pretty nice weather at the start and finish: sunny, not too hot, occassional clouds. But being London, we still managed to get drenched for about 30 minutes. Overall, the conditions were good -- or else Martin Lel would have had a hard time for a new course record.

The course is pretty nice, right from the start in Greenwhich all the way to the spectacular finish in Westminster. Crowd support was good too, if only a little uneven. But the second half of the race, and particularly the last miles in the back from Canary Whard through the City to Westminster past Parliament and Buckingham Palace were awesome. Lots of people, lots of noise.

Oh, and I even saw the leaders in a group of five, including Lel and Hall as the course had parallel 'out' and 'back' tracks around miles 13 for me and 22 for them.

I had planned to take it easy and not try to run too hard, and aimed for a time of around 3:25 and then finished at 3:24:41. A little less 'even' than I had hoped, but still a very satisfying result. And for once the legs aren't all that shot afterwards :)

And the whole weekend was nice as I got to stay with friends in the southwest of London. Staying up late on both ends of the trip suppressed the jet lag fairly well. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

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2008 March Madness Half Marathon in Cary
Yesterday was the annual March Madness Half Marathon in Cary, IL -- and this year marked the 30th anniversary of the race. The race is getting more and more popular as the start to the running season, and an early race for those in Spring marathon training. This year, and it had sold out in a matter of days.

As for the race, I wasn't running it all that well. My legs already felt heavy when I was doing a casual four-miler the day before with our local running group. Similarly, I didn't feel all that loose yesterday. By mile four or five I was getting into a decent rhythm, and I was then running fairly steady 7:15s until about mile 11 when I ran out of gas and had to slow down. Final time was 1:36:38.15 -- not only several minutes slower than last year's but also slower than two years ago.

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New York Marathon 2007
I was in New York last weekend to run the 37th New York Marathon which reportedly currently stands as the largest marathon ever run in terms of starters and finishers. And it couldn't have happened on a nicer day: sunny at the start with temperatures in the 50s, no wind, and some clouds in the second half prevented it from getting too hot.

Large crowds at most parts of the course, a decent number of bands, and a generally very excited atmosphere. And of course a nice course across the five buroughs finishing in Central Park.

For once, I managed to run the race steadily and yet fairly fast, ending up with a time of 3:18:47 (and thus a 7:35 pace). This is about a minute slower than my PR from Sunburst 2006, and just two seconds faster than my best Chicago Marathon result from 2006, yet much better than this year's times from Boston 2007 where it was too cold, and Chicago 2007 where it was way too hot. Given that the NY course is somewhat hillier, and that was definitely busier and more crowded than the other races, I'm quite happy with the time, and the way I ran, getting through without any walking breaks. Not quite negative splits at around 1:38 and 1:40 for the two halfes. With enough energy left at the end, I finished the remaining 2+ km after the 40 km with a sub-7:00 min/mile pace which felt great. And it is a nice feeling to have completed the Boston, Chicago and now New York marathons in the same year.

Last but not least, the weekend was a general blast as I was staying with a friend I hadn't seen in a decade which made for lots of stories, and even more beers...

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Frank Lloyd Wright Race 2007
Today was the 31th annual Frank Lloyd Wright Race in Oak Park, next door to where I live. This is a really nice small race I've run in 2006, 2004 and 2003.

Conditions today were almost ideal -- we're having unseasonally warm weather, and it was sunny and in the high 60s without any noticeable winds around the start time making it feel like a nice late summer morning, rather than the middle of fall. I wasn't aiming for something really fast as I am still in training for a longer race and had done some reasonably fast one-mile laps yesterday morning leaving me not exactly well rested. But for once, I actually managed to run a steady pace, and then ended up within seconds of last year's PR for the distance at 41:15 for a pace of around 6:39, so I'm quite pleased.

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Some marathon data analysis
A few days after the Chicago Marathon in record-heat, I was wondering just how much more I had been slowing down, and exactly when during the course of the race this occurred.

Bigger races like Chicago provide the so-called 'splits' for every five kilometer segment. Helpfully, they also keep these with the archived results which are all accessible via the web. So it was easy enough to collect a sequence of time such as '0:22:34', '0:45:30', ... and so on. And thanks to R, my data slicing and dicing and visualizing tool of choice, it was just a handful of lines to produce the chart below.

The chart covers my four Chicago marathons (2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007) as well as Boston (2007) --- the infamous '27.2 mile marathon' seems to have dropped off the net, and the smaller Sunburst does not have 5k split times.

• The first marathon (dark blue squares) shows a marked slowdown after km 25.
• The following year (medium blue circles) a similar yet more moderate slowdown appeared 5 km later.
• The next year (blue triangles) the pace was remarkably stable without noticeable slowdowsn -- yielding the 'BQ' time.
• The Boston race (smaller green circles) was more prudent due to weather conditions, and a lingering cold, and I managed to finish much stronger than I ran the middle part.
• Chicago this year (orange circles) was a different story: too fast at the beginning, a cautious middle similar to the Boston race but two fairly significant slowdowns after 25 and 35 km, followed by some acceleration right before the finish.

While it was a tough race, I clearly ran a lot slower than previously, in particular between 25 km and 40 km. So there.

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Makin' Tracks 2007
This morning was the annual Makin' Tracks 5k. As this starts three blocks from my house, supports the track at Concordia, a small college up the street from me, and runs right through my immediate neighbourhood, it's hard not to participate. This year was of course not even a week after the somewhat eventful Chicago Marathon in record-heat so I wasn't sure how well I'd do. Once again, I started way too fast and ran two miles at a 6:00 min/mile pace that I couldn't sustain just a week after a (arguably slow but still full distance) marathon, so I slowed down and finished at 19:41.7 or so for a pace of 6:23, or about eight seconds slower than my best time from last year (when we ran before the marathon). Onto the Frank Lloyd Wright 5k/10k next week, then!

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Chicago Marathon 2007
Last Sunday, the 30th Chicago Marathon took place. This was meant to be the year to make this marathon even bigger: the field had increased substantially to 45,000 registrations yet it still sold out way earlier than in previous years.

As it turns out, the weather did have its own surprises in store. Earlier in the preceding week, the forecast changed from overcast and rainy to sunny. And sunny it was. While we had a bit of cloud cover at the start at 8:00am, temperatures were already in the 70s and keep increasing. This year's marathon is now on the books as the hottest ever: the clouds dissipated and it was a scorcher.

Needless to say, it was a rather challenging race. I finished in 3:41:39, which is my slowest time by some margin for the by now seven marathons I've ran. It was not the day for running fast. Of course, I didn't quite grok that at the start and ran ten miles reasonably hard in a quick pace, but then paid for it, and then paid some more. That said, apparently around 10,000 registered entrants didn't even start, and another 10,000 did not make it to the finish. With the heat, several hundred were treated by the medical teams. Worse still, one 35-year old runner from Michigan died (though the autopsy claims he had a heart condition; other reports say that alone cannot have been lethal). The race itself was aborted, and those who had not reached the half-way point by 12:00am were diverted to the finish and urged to walk rather than run.

According to the (by now fairly extensive) news coverage, this whole experience left quite a few people mad and bewildered. As of today, a good 48 hours after the race, the City seems to be in some sort of crisis management mode to prevent damage for the oh-so-important bid for the 2016 Olympics.

For some flavour of the news coverage, see an early report, some stunning pictures and some suggestions to prevent another one like this, all from the Chicagoist blog.

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Chicago Half Marathon 2007
This morning was this year's Chicago Half Marathon, the race I often refer to as 'my favourite' after having participated in 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003. But this year I somehow managed to convince myself I had already registered, when I had not. Doh. But due to a friend's unlucky injury, I could re-use his registration and still race. Weather was once again gorgeous, but maybe a little on the hot side. I tried not to push myself too hard given the two big races coming up in the next seven weeks and ran a decent 7:12 min/mile pace for a chip time of 1:34:20.

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New York bound
On the second try I got lucky with the lottery for the New York Marathon on November 4 this year. So that may make it Boston, Chicago (on October 7) and now New York for 2007.

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JPM Chase Corporate Challenge 2007
Last Thursday was the 2007 edition of the JP Morgan Chase Corp. Challenge. Record crowd of almost 23000 in Chicago's Grant Park. Just like last year, I didn't try hard enough to be closer to the starting line. Which means that one ends up running more or less zig-zag for some time. Oh well, my hand-stopped 22:17 is still pretty close to the PR from two years ago. Overall once again a really nice event, and we managed to have more folks from work show up, both to run, and to have a cold one or two afterwards.

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Boston Marathon 2007
So this Monday was the 111th running, as they call it, of the venerable Boston Marathon, and my first time there. After the fairly serious storm warnings -- and the corresponding health warnings, delivered through two emails from the race organizers and a handout at registration, we got very, very lucky as the rain more or less stopped shortly after the start. And there was relatively little wind, and mostly laterally, rather than the 'in your face' gusts at the projected 30 to 50 mph.

There were actually six of us running from our little informal group in River Forest / Oak Park, and fellow rookie Russ and I decided to 'take it easy' and just 'go for a long run'. I ended up with a fairly even pace between 7:45 and 8:10, averaging 7:57 for a total of 3:28:24, or a few seconds faster than my very first marathon in Chicago. Which is quite pleasant, given the conditions, and the hillier course. The race went pretty well for all six us, which is nice too. Given how we trained together, it is neat how we all ended up within seven minutes of each other.

The race itself is quite stunning. With the required qualifying time comes a 'seeding' system for the start, so one tends to run most of the course with runners of fairly similar speed. That made for nice cameraderie on the course -- and for beautiful sights of nothing but runners rolling through the hills of Massachusetts. I think I'll be back next year.

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2007 March Madness Half Marathon in Cary
Ran the annual March Madness Half Marathon in Cary, IL, today. Really nice morning with temperatures just above freezing, but gloriously sunny and no winds which made for excellent running conditions.

As I somehow managed to leave my Garmin GPS at home, I had to run with little information about pacing and relative speed -- all I got were times announced at about two thirds of the mile markers. So I ended going out somewhat fast, and then working hard not to completely crumble. The end result was rather nice: 1:31:30.4 -- or a pace of 6:59.11 per mile -- and over a minute faster than my previous PR at this distance from last summer, and over four minutes faster than last year's March Madness. Needless to say, I am tired now :)

But I guess it shows that the ongoing training for Boston in four weeks is doing some good. Kudos to Greg for a nice training schedule.

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And another New Year's Day 5k run in Lincoln Park
For the fifth time in a row, I started yet another year with 5k race by participating in the 22th New Year's Day 5k at the lakefront.

The race had decent conditions. Chicago is currently having unusually mild weather, which is an extra bonus. It was well over 50 degrees yesterday, but a little cooler around fourty this morning, and unfortunately overcast. And luckily fairly little wind as it can be unplesant at the lake. Following some mild training runs both Saturday and Sunday, I took it relatively easy and finished around 20:15 or 20:20 -- I forgot to stop the Garmin at the finish, and the official results are not yet published. Not a bad time given that I haven't really trained since the last marathon.

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Golden Apple 2006
Ran the Golden Apple 5k this morning in neighbouring Forest Park. Local race, a few hundred runners, glorious weather -- what more can you ask for?

I didn't feel too pumped and meant to take it easy, but still managed to beat 20 minutes at 19:44 minutes for a 6:22 min/mile pace.

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Boston bound
This just in this morning:

Dear Dirk Eddelbuettel,

This is to notify you that your entry into the 111th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 16, 2007 has been accepted, provided that the information you submitted is accurate.

[...]

Yay! This was using the time from Sunburst in June but given Sunday's time I even get to run in 2008 too.

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Chicago Marathon 2006
Today was the 29th Chicago Marathon in what the papers describe as challenging conditions: mist, some winds, and generally colder than usual. While that didn't seem to affect the elite runners and the winner (2:07:35, but a fall at the end), a lot of folks in my running group reported results that were only `fine', or worse. I run fairly steady for 20 miles, then slowed a bit but did fine with a course PR of 3:18:49. That is around 7:36 min/mile and about a minute slower than the earlier Sunburst Marathon, but faster than last year or the previous year.

Oh, and this also marks the end of four consecutive weeks with races.

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Makin' Tracks 2006
Ran the annual Makin' Tracks 5k this morning in support of the athletic tracks at Concordia, a collegue two blocks up from my house. As I actually train there once a week, and as the race goes straight through my neihbourhood, it's a really nice one to do.

Somehow it had gotten cold the last few days, and this morning at 8:00am it was only a few degrees above freezing--yet sunny and pleasant. Pretty decent conditions after all. I managed to run pretty fast for a new PR of around 19:2159 handstopped, or just under a 6:15 min/mile pace.

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Frank Lloyd Wright Race 2006
The 30th annual Frank Lloyd Wright Race was today in neighbouring Oak Park. Really nice weather, once more. The race went quite well: I finished with a hand-stopped time of 41:02 (or a 6:37 min/mile pace) which is quite a bit faster than my times here in 2004 and 2003.

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Chicago Half Marathon 2006
Ran what may be my favourite race this morning: the Chicago Half Marathon in its tenth anniversary (having run the three previous ones too).

Once again gorgeous weather, sunny, no wind, low 50s at the start. The race itself went rather well. I wasn't sure how I had weathered a bout of the flu with some light fever last weekend, but resting most of this week seems to have helped as I was able to push my PR by about 1 min 45 secs to 92:33, or a 7:039 min/mile pace.

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Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon 2006
This morning, under what can only be described as unwordly gorgeous conditions, was the this year's edition of the Chicago Distance Classic. I had done this before in 2003 and 2004 but skipped it last year.

In its thirtiest edition, the race has moved under the umbrella of the LaSalle Bank organisation that also produces the Shamrock Shuffle and the Chicago Marathon. In fact, it is now part of a `challenge' series of three teams runs. Not sure yet how we did as a team.

I was running with a friend who needed to finish in 1:35 to get a competitive start for the Marathon. And we did it -- very steady 7:15 min/mile paces made for a pretty well run race. We ran together for 4 miles, then he pulled ahead. I caught him once more, only to loose him again, but overtook him around mile 12. My chip time was 94:18 for a 7:12 pace; he came in a few seconds later. I was quite pleased how steady I ran the race; I didn't even walk a single water stop. I just checked, and this is in fact a PR for the distance. Nice.

On the unpleasant side, I have the meanest blister I ever had. I had ordered new shoes from this place only to learn two weeks later that my order was lost but that I was free to issue a new order at their (higher-priced) mothership store Road Runner Sports (you know, the guys with the unstoppable supply of mail-order catalogues...). Thanks, but I didn't feel like falling for that. New order from Running Warehouse should arrive tomorrow. But I guess I need a few days to let the darn blister heal.

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Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10m
Ran in the third annual Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10mile race this morning. Beautiful scenery in the forest preserve around the Argonne labs southwest of Chicago, and gorgeous weather now that the heat wave has broken. This race starts and ends in cross-country fashion on an open field and begins with a wide 'parallel' start -- something I'd never done but quite enjoyed. The course is fairly hilly by Illinois standards and thus a bit of challenge. As with some other race, started too fast and faded somewhat. The final time of 71:54.5 is still fine with a 7:11 pace/mile and minimally faster than the previous personal best from two years ago on a flat course. I think I'll be back for the race next year.

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Sunburst Races Marathon 2006
Went to South Bend, Indiana, on Friday for the 2006 Sunburst Marathon yesterday morning. This is a smallish marathon with 600 runners, embedded in a half-marathon, 10k and 5k all of which start at the College Football Hall of Fame and end in the Notre Dame football stadium. Early 6:00am start, made worse by the fact that it is one time zone earlier too so I got up at 3:30am 'my time. Ouch.

The race almost didn't start as a hazardous materials spill was announced right at start time. Luckily, that got taken care of and we were off and running at 6:15am. The first ten to twelve miles went pretty well and fast, and I slowed down a little afterwards. I started to pay for the fast first half with some oncoming cramps starting around mile 18. Somehow I managed to suppress the cramps with a combination of walking water stops, gatorade, gu (handed out by the race organisers a four or five water stops -- nice!) and sheer stubbornness and some more walking when needed. I had aimed to beat my Boston qualifying time of 3:20 -- and I did with a chip time of 3:17:48, which is also another PR and a nice improvement over the previous three marathons.

So on to Boston for the one hundred eleventh Boston Marathon next April!

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JPM Chase Corporate Challenge 2006
Yesterday was the 2006 edition of the JP Morgan Chase Corp. Challenge -- in its 30th year overall, and for the 25th time in Chicago. 19000 runners, and I didn't pay attention to securing a good starting spot, so I spend one mile running around slower runners and walkers. Hand-stopped finishing time of 23:09 (about 6:37 min/mile), a minute slower than last year's rather decent time, but still better than 2004, 2003, and 2002.

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Race That' Good For Life 2006
Participated in the 25th annual Race That's Good for Life 5k race in Oak Park this morning, just as I had in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Near ideal conditions: sunny, no wind, temperatures in the 40s. I was afraid my legs were a little too tired: I had some rest after the Shamrock Shuffle last weekend but did a 12 miler after work on Thursday and 9 miles with two Boston-bound friends at Waterfall Glen -- 'hilly' territory for around here in Chicagoland -- yesterday morning.

So while I didn't feel all that fresh, I also managed to run a pretty silly race of a way-too-fast first mile at 5:50 followed by 6:44 and 6:40 to average a pace of 6:19 minutes/mile with which I broke 20 minutes for the first time ever: 19:36. That's 50 seconds faster than last year, which was already a PR. Now I'm ready for a nap ;-)

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Shamrock Shuffle 2006
Today was the Shamrock Shuffle, reportedly the world's largest eight kilometer, or (approximately) five mile, race with an estimated field of 25,000 runners. Having skipped it last years due to some traveling, my (reported chip) time of 33:24 (6:40 min/mile pace) is a nice improvement over the previous 37:06 from two years ago.

Our little informal 'Owies' running group fielded a group of ten runners that were registered for the 'Chicago Challenge'. This a new competition where aggregated team results from today, the Distance Classic Half Marathon in August and the full Chicago Marathon in October count. Results are in (pdf), and we did well with a sixth place -- so let's see where can take it from here.

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Another March Madness Half Marathon in Cary
As spring is near, it was time today for the season's first race -- the March Madness Half Marathon in Cary, some 40 miles northwest of Chicago. Beautiful, sunny, no wind -- pretty good conditions. Shooting for a 7:30 pace, I went out fairly fast for the first few miles and tried not to crumble coming in a pretty decent 1:35:51 -- almost three minutes faster than last year.

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Another New Year's Day 5k run in Lincoln Park
For the fourth time in a row now, and thanks for some friendly prodding by a local runner and friend via a 8:30am phone call, I started the new year with a race at the New Year's Day 5k in Lincoln Park. Nice conditions, temperature in 30s and little wind. Just like last year, I went out rather fast and was not maintaining the initial pace. However, the final time of 20:3968 is quite allright and almost a minute faster than last year.

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Chicago Marathon 2005
Ran the Chicago Marathon earlier today. Near ideal conditions: temperatures on the cooler side (around 50F) at the start, overcast for maybe half the race and then nice sunshine and temperatures near 60F for the rest. For about 18 miles, I managed to hang with a pretty decent 7:30 min/mile pace before I slowed down somewhat. I ended with a pretty nice time of 3:21:36 (i.e. a 7:41 pace) -- or about 7.5 minutes faster than last year and around 7 minutes faster than the 26.2 time of that odd 27.2 mile Lakeshore marathon. Nice day, and a pretty good race with fantastic crowds and peerlessly efficient race organisation. Don't ask how I'll walk for the next day or two though...

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Chicago Half Marathon 2005
Today was the annual Chicago Half Marathon. Weather wasn't unfortunately as gorgeous as during the two previous ones I had done: cloudy, somewhat muggy, and it even started pouring. Not that it was that much of a deterrent.

Notwithstanding my worries about the aforementioned injury, I ended up running well, finishing with a new PR of 1:34:47 which corresponds to a 7:15 min/mile pace, or an improvement of about 5 secs/miles. Now with some rest and tapering everything should fall into place for the big one in two weeks.

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RunHitWonder 10k
Did the RunHitWonder 10k race on Tuesday. This is a Nike event that takes in LA, Portland, NY and here in Chicago -- a bunch of 'one hit wonder' live bands along the race course, and lots of runners doing a 5k or 10k. And for kicks, everybody is wearing the same kind of Nike running shirt, which, Nike being the organiser, are all printed with individual race-entry bib numbers.

It was kinda neat to see an estimated 15,000 people on a warm summer night, and everybody is wearing canary yellow :) Also neat how the BSBC building has its facade lit up displaying the 'Run Loud' slogan of the race. Nice touch.

My run was sub-par. Being in training for the half and full marathons in one and three weeks, respectively, I somehow don't manage to let a slight muscle strain heal, and it really did get worse trying to run that 10k somewhat fast. Ended up with steadily increasing splits, and a total of 45:28.

Oh, and for the record, I really do feel old as I didn't really know any of the bands. Last year's race, which I missed, had Devo ...

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Media coverage of the 27.2 miles marathon
As mentioned here on Monday, I took part in the 'extra mile marathon' on the Lakeshore. At the time of my fairly immediate post-race blog entry, I was speculating if and how the organisers would respond to the fact that most of us with GPS devices found the distance to be wrong: we ran 27.2 instead of 26.2 miles.

By Monday afternoon when the chip time results were first posted, it was indirectly acknowledged: the average pace for the total time had been calculated with the augemented distance of 27.2. But nothing else yet...

By Thursday we received the usual email telling us about the availability of results as well as this brief admission: There were however some operational mistakes and shortcomings that tarnished the experience for many. In that regard, additional feedback and a post event survey will be forthcoming.

Well, it got more interesting yesterday. The Chicago Tribune had both a cover page story, and an entry by blogger/journalist Eric Zorn, with quotes and links. Apparently, national print and TV media had short coverage too as Google News shows. The race founder and organiser made symbolic amends by resigning as race director. He may have to relinquish more -- we'll see. Those who ran trying to qualify for Boston are probably the maddest.

I'm still more bemused than outraged about the whole thing. I ran my 'just under' 8 min/mile pace for 26.2, then slowed a little and ran the final 1/2 mile with my older daughter. Courtesy of the professional photographers, we even have some nice pictures of us crossing the finishing line after 27.2 and 0.5 miles, respectively:

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Now I can use the plural marathons...
Ran my second marathon today at the 2005 Lakeshore Marathon. In fact, I probably ended up running more than a marathon as there was consensus among GPS-sporting runners that the course was a full mile long at 27.2 miles. We'll see how that unfolds, and what, if anything, the organizers have to say.

Personal time was fine: I had aimed for a pace similar to my previous marathon -- i.e. 3:29 -- and I managed to beat that time by around 41 seconds (according to the GPS). Hand-stopped at the finish was 3:36:32, we'll see what the official chip time will be.

Overall, the race was fine. Today is a gorgeous day here in Chicagoland: sunny, no wind, no clouds. If anything, it got too warm. Beats the forecast of early morning showers by a wide margin. The race itself was on the Lakeshore walk / cycle / roller blade path, and after about 8:00am that turned into a bit of a nuisance will all the cyclists. Most were well-behaved, but some should really get ticketed for whisking through runners and pedestrians at 20+ mph... In sum, not too sure if I'll run this particular race again. The end-of-May date is nice, though.

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JP Chase Corporate Challenge 2005
Did this year's JP Morgan Chase Corp. Challenge 3.5 mile race in Grant Park earlier this evening. Now it's been moved from August via June to May. Nice night, and its always neat to hang out at the work-sponsored tent for a cold one afterwards.

The race itself was good too. I've started this 3 1/2 mile race with 25:53 minutes in 2002, improved to 24:24 in 2003, then to 23:24 in 2004 and now an even nicer 22:11 (i.e. a 6:19/mile pace) in 2005. I just hope I won't have to pay for that time at the upcoming much longer race on Monday.

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Decent 5k race on a gorgeous summer-like day
Just got back from the Race That's Good for Life 5k race in Oak Park. Improving on both the previous two races as well as other 5k races, I finally broke 21 minutes for a PR of 20:27. Conditions were ideal if not almost too warm and sunny at an unusually (heck, it's Chicagoland in April!!) high low 70s and sunshine.

Running with the Garmin Forerunner is a nice little cheat with its specific modes: you set the desired time and distance, and it keeps you abreast of how you're doing relative to the target pace. However, it lost tracking after just over two miles but by then I knew I was on track and just needed to carry on at that pace.

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March Madness Half Marathon in Cary
Just back and showered from the March Madness Half Marathon organised by the Hillstriders in Cary, northwest of Chicago and closing in on the Wisconsin border.

This race marks the the inofficial start of the running season in Greater Chicago and is pretty well attended. Weather was fair, not great, at 31 to 32 degrees and overcast, but no wind. It's quite hilly up there, and a decent race. Finished with a nice time of 1h 38m 42s for a pace of 7:32, and ran pretty steadily. Having the Garmin compute "relative" positioning for a desired pace really helps -- I set it to 1h 40m and ended up beating that by a good minute.

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New Year's run in Lincoln Park
For the third year in a row, I managed to start the new year with the friendly and low-key 5k race in Lincoln Park -- today was the 20th edition of that race. Went out somewhat fast and was struggling to maintain pace, but the result of 21:3624 for the 3.18 miles (as measured by the Garmin) was quite allright. Now I'm back to feeling the effects of last night ...

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Frank Lloyd Wright Race 2004
Gorgeous morning here in Chicagoland, and a perfect setting for the 2004 Frank Lloyd Wright Race in Oak Park.

The race switched back to a 5k and 10k. Lisa did the 5k, and was quite happy with herself. I tried to run the 10k rather aggressively which didn't go to well overall. My mile splits increased quite a bit after mile 2, but the total of 44:35 is still not too shabby with a 7:11 min/mile pace.

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Chicago Marathon 2004
So today was the day -- after some four month of an ever-increasing training program, I attempted my very first marathon. Fantastic day: sunny, warm, no clouds. And a *lot* of spectators which makes it a lot of fun. I fell into an all too common trap and started faster than I should have. I'll blame my three buddies from the running group who were shooting for 3:20. I "paid" for this just as you're supposed too on the last six or seven miles: heavy legs, and more and more walking at the water stops. But I got where wanted to get to and crossed the finish line below my target of 3:30h and a hand-stopped 3:28:58.

This picture is from mile 11 and marked the first meeting with Lisa and our girls. I was obviously still in pretty good spirits

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Chicago Half Marathon 2004
Another gorgeous day here in Chicago, especially at the Lakefront, and around U of C where the Chicago Half Marathon takes place. This may be my favourite race as the course is set on such a nice combination of running along the parks near campus, and the (beautiful especially when car-free as for the race) Lakeshore Drive along the water.

The race went well, and I ended up running considerably faster than during the previous half-marathons with a pace just under 7:20 min/miles for a total of 1:36:01.

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Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon
Ran this years's Chicago Distance Classic this morning. The format switched from a 20 km race to a slightly longer half marathon, with a new and improved route with lots of lake front running to boot.

The run was interesting: I was going pretty steadily at 7:20 min/mile until about mile 10 when I really needed to, um, go to the bathroom. I didn't quite get back to the same regular pace, unfortunately. Finish time was 1:38:43, for a pace of about 7:32, which is once again a little bit faster than the previous two half marathons this year.

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Downers Grove 5 miles
Had learned late last night from my running group buddies that there was a 5 miles race to be had to start Father's Day in style, so off we went on a sunny and surprisingly cool morning. The course is somewhat tricky with a few hills thrown in for good measure. Finished at 32:21, or about 6.52 min/mile which is fine given the nice barbecue dinner we had been treated to at friends the night before.

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Fifth Third Half Marathon 2004
Got up real early and drove out west to St Charles (for about 45 minutes) for the 2004 Fifth Third Bank Half Marathon.

The race was, um, shall we say, different? I guess after living for more than a decade somewhere along the great lakes, I don't get much exposure to elevation. Real moutaineers will laugh themselves silly about this chart

Anyway, I was hoping to finally break 1h 40min, and trying to stick to 7:30 min/miles which worked so-so until I got really tired after mile 10 and more or less gave up on the idea. Only to then find that the last turn gave rise to short stretch straight downhill, and with the clock in sight, and the chance to make it, I finished as if I was chased by the devil himself. The announcer saw me coming, looked up the bib number and tried to announce 'Dirk Eddelbrrrrrgggh'. Not sure if then swallowed his tongue . Anyway, I made it by about six second to finish at a hand-stopped 99 min 54 secs. We'll see what the chiptime says. I'm pumped, though.

And I didn't mean to gripe (other than about the useless mile markers). It is a beautiful course all through the subdivision, starting with the starter castles, and eventually settling down along the Fox river to finish in 'downtown' St. Charles. I think I'll be back next year.

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JP Chase Corporate Challenge 2004
Just got back from this year's JP Morgan Chase Corp. Challenge 3.5 mile race in Grant Park at the lakefront -- which was moved from August to June. Great weather, great run, and I managed to beat last year's time by about a minute for a total of 23:24.

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Soldier Field 10 Miles
Ran the inaugural Soldier Field 10 Miles race this morning. Soldier Field is the newly renovated (and somewhat controversial looking) home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League, and the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.

The race started outside Soldier Field, went down the Lakefront towards Hyde Park, and back to finish inside the stadium -- which was neat. Running conditions were pretty ideal---coldish and cloudy---which helped with yet another personal best of 71:59 or more than four minutes faster than the Lakefront 10 Miles race last month.

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Indianapolis Mini Marathon 2004
Ran the Indy Mini Marathon this morning on a gorgeous sunny May day. Eighty plus degrees, and not a cloud in the sky. For once I managed to pace myself well, and I ran a pretty steady race averaging 7:38 min/mile with a decent kick at the end of a fast last mile. My hand-stopped time was 1:40:11, and the results page, which surprisingly is up a few hours after the race is over, has me at 1:40:12. Quite happy with that.

I should stress that this race is really well organised. Tons of bands along the route, lots of spectators, lots of water stations, and supposedly 30,000 runners registered. The lap on the Indy 500 tracks was somewhat silly -- no wind at all, and hot. Incidentally, that was my slowest mile split. Overall, it was bit excessive to drive 190 miles each way just to run 13.1 miles, but heck, with the weather that nice, it was a fine day off.

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