Message posted by: Rita G.

Two weeks prior to the Chicago Marathon, I did the Knoxville Double Century to get my first Triple Crown. One gets a Triple Crown if they complete three 200 mile bike ride, a double century, in a year. Double Centuries are unique to California, and I would recommend to anyone who likes to bike ride A LOT to do this. I wasn’t going to do Knoxville, but I DNF’ed Mt. Tam Double Century the month before and so had to do this one.

Let me say something about Double Centuries here. I decided to do the Double Centuries this year to help with my Ironman. I ride with a lot cyclists that do Doubles and they have no problems doing 100 miles. My

After one does as Double Century, you feel like you completed an Ironman. Your body hurts all over, you can’t sleep and you are out there just as long, maybe even longer. Knoxville was really hard because it was really hot, about 95-100 degrees, and 12,500 ft of climbing. I was out there for almost 16 hours. I feel like it took my body a week to recover from Knoxville.

My last long run was three weeks before the Chicago. I did a 20miler and didn’t run a lot because of Knoxville. I think my longest run between the 20 miler and Chicago was 4 miles. All my runs were very blah and had to pep in my step.

I flew in Friday morning and immediately checked in. I have done the Berlin marathon before and checking in there was a nightmare. Long lines, lots of people, chaos. I thought all big marathons were similar. Not Chicago. I had no problems and was registered in about 5 minutes. I walked around the expo and ate lunch on the free Luna samples. I don’t know if the Cookie Dough flavor is out yet, but I highly recommend it.

A friend from Wisconsin came down to visit. We went to an improv comedy show on Friday (highly recommend if you are in Chicago) and USA v Poland Soccer game on Saturday.

I also thought the start of the race would be crazy, like Berlin, but I managed to get there, go to the bathroom, check my bag and get into the open corral in less than 45 mins. I never felt rushed.

The race was pretty warm. At the start, I didn’t have any layers and felt comfortable. I knew it was going to be a hot race. I did the half in 1:58 and felt pretty good. I was enjoying the sites and took it all in. I saw my friend at miles 3 and 11. I wasn’t pushing the pace because I didn’t know how I would feel during the last half.

At around 16 is where my legs started to have minds of their own. I kept looking at my Garmin and seeing the pace slow. I felt fine, but my legs didn’t want to move. I heard a guy behind me say, “Why am I slowing down?” I started seeing people fall out of the race starting at mile 8.

I wanted to get close to sub-4 hours, but around mile 17 I knew I wasn’t going to make that. I decided to just enjoy the race. I never hit a wall, but I also couldn’t force myself to go faster. I took water and Gatorade at every aid station starting at mile 15.

I crossed the finish line in 4:13. I wasn’t in any pain and the next day I was walking fine. During the race I only ate gels and had two bananas, one at 19 and the other at 22. I grabbed as many gels as I could at mile 18 and downed 2 right away. Never had any GI problems.

Looking back, I think my problem was my body was tired. Knoxville took a lot out of me and felt sluggish ever since. I am disappointed in my time, but I am happy that I was able to enjoy every moment of the race.

Race season is over for me and plan on taking the next two months off before IM Texas training begins. Looking forward to biking, swimming, and running like a normal person.

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