Chicago is a massive marathon, one of the marathon majors and my first international marathon. My previous marathons had been in the UK, London and Brighton, and had been well trained for. Chicago marathon 2022 for me was my least prepared marathon.
I was on the precipice of moving from South England to North England and moving jobs. Dedicating more time to picking up extra shifts and less time to training was one of my biggest mistakes. I’ve also found from now completing 2 autumn marathons that training in summer is not my forte. My English and Scottish blood don’t deal well with heat. Realising I needed to fit in my 20 mile training run I did it the Sunday before the marathon.
So I wasn’t starting on the right foot already. I travelled the nine hour journey from London to Chicago and was ready to go. I was there in good time and close in location in my hostel. I’ve been lucky with my race days for marathons and Chicago was no different. The day was beautiful, calm and not too sunny(though I was happy for my hat). The famous Windy City was not windy that day and I was glad.
We started off and everything was going smoothly and it continued that way until Mile 14. At mile 14 my body decided the lack of training I’d done would kick in and my glute decided to ache. I continued on hoping it was my posture getting lazy but it persisted. With my head not in it, I was not willing to get injured. As an average runner who won’t be breaking any records I decided I just wanted to finish. I just had to be a fast enough walker to beat the finish time where they would pack up the course. After all I hadn’t come all this way not to complete this marathon. I walked as fast as I could whilst every so often trying a jog and finding my glute still not cooperating. I made it and got that iconic medal.
After half arsing the training for multiple factors the marathon repaid me by allowing me to complete it half arsed(with a minor stress injury to my glute which resolved with rest). I knew I should never underestimate the marathon but it certainly put me in my place in Chicago.
Iona the Midwife runs 