The weather for Sunday is pretty much what you been experiencing lately - a lot of blue skies, light S-wind and comfortably or pleasantly warm temperature in the afternoon. NOAA's Sunday point forecast for Chicago says sunny with a high of 81F and S/SW wind 5-6 mph.
Although some in my gang fear the worst with such warm temperatures, it is not as bad as a high temperature of 81F might seem because the progression is gradual. At 0700 hrs it will be a balmy 60F with RH=75%. At 0800 hrs is is still only 61F with RH=72%, climbing only to 65F and RH=65% by 0900 hrs. So, for the first 2-hrs from that 0730 start, we should be in pretty comfortably pleasant air temperature. It will be that high humidity that you have to watch out for, expecially after the first 3-4 miles and your core temperature goes up from the running. Recall, the high humidity doesn't promote evaporation, so you sweat a lot and it clings to you, but you don't get the evaporative cooling effect.
So, what do you do to compensate? You should know the answer by now after all this training and preaching this Coach has done, but you might want to resort to dousing back-side of your neck at some of the aid stations with cool water. Heck pour it over your head and get your hair wet if necessary, but that backside of the neck and looking to cool-down those main arteries located their.
The biggest change or jump occur in that window from 0900 to 100o hrs, when at 1000 hrs it is forecast to be 71F, but the humidity starts declining to 53%. That's good because dry air will go a long way to promoting optimal evaporation of both sweat and water you douse on yourself. When dousing with water, again target back-side of neck, top of head, upper arms and chest. It's the core we are trying to cool down, but if put water on your quads and calfs, all the better because they are doing a lot of work and generating a lot of heat also, so cooling them down helps to lesson the trauma to muscle tissue.
By 1100 hrs you are in the mid-70's hitting 77F at 1200 hrs, with RH 46 and 45 %, respectively. Hits 78F by 1300 hr with RH=43%, then 80F at 1400 hrs with RH=41%. You hit the peak high on Sunday at 81F with a remarkably low RH of 39% from 15-1600 hrs. The wind turns from S/SW to S/SE at 1500 hrs, then E/SE by 1700 hrs. all light wind 5-6 mph.
So, it is not as dire as some of my run friends think it is going to be. You don't even get near or at 80F until 5-6 hours from gun time, so that means some of you who plan to run between 5 and 6 hours finish times, don't get the warmest temps until the last 1 to 1.5 hrs of your race.
If you plan for this and adjust accordingly as you run through the various phases of the race, you can finish pretty close to what you originally planned to. But, the odds are against you if you are an intermediate or an advanced marathoner that intends to try to run a PR or PB or is focusing on qualifying for Boston. It can and has been done, but the probability is low that most can run top-game performance in progressively increasing temperature.
Hopefully, all or most of you running Chicago this Sunday will recall that past and very complicated clinic on marathon physiology, and also recall the fueling and hydration clinic I did, and try to keep some of those principles in the cognizant region of your brain and make adjustments accordingly as you progress through the distance and the changing conditions.
Don't have time this evening to recap everything in terms of principles, but will offer you some insight and some things to plan for in your race this Sunday.
Rule Number 1 - take advantage of every "gift-horse" you encounter. With the warm temperatures and the 2007, 2008 and 2010 races still in the memories of both race officials and residents that live along the course, there will by opportunities to keep oneself cool as possible, especially in that 2nd half of the race as you head through Pilsen and into Bridgeport and go through China Town and close-in on that Michigan Ave stretch to the end. There is always someone that lives along the course that will be out there with a garden hose, sometimes with their little kiddies as operators, to spray the runners that want to be sprayed. You are not just encouraged to raise your arms up in victory and get sprayed, you are expected to do so by this Coach! Yes, you will watch those that refrain from it because they are worried about wet shoes and blisters. Take your choice, run the risk of some blisters on your feet or die to a "crawl" or "slog" because the heat beat you!
Usually there will be someone or some aid station latter part of the race offering ice. Yes, ice-cubes! Got to take advantage of that! But, what do you do with ice someone offers to you from a bag of ice and what do you put it in? The answer to that question is simply carry an old bandanna with you. Take the ice and roll it up inside, then tie it around your neck so the ice sits on the back-side of your neck at the lower cervical vertebrae and just start running again and let it slowly melt. It can be the one and same bandanna you have used earlier to soak in colder water and drape over your neck or tie around your forehead. You take an old one and you can always toss it at the end of the race when you know you are home-free!
I suspect the Chicago Fire Department will have those huge "misting" fans somewhere along Michigan Ave in the last few miles of the race. Take advantage of that and get misted! You just run through it - loose not time - gain cooling effect. I doubt it will be that hot that the Fire Dept opens up fire hydrants (like they did in 2007), but if you see one open, or any form of cool, running water, you take the opportunity to cool yourself down for a few seconds, then keep it moving forward down the course.
Other tips. Recall from physiology that increasing core temperature leads to shunting of blood from the internal to the sub-cutaneous tissue to get rid of internal heat. That shunt leads to less blood volume getting to working leg muscles (and core muscles too), so they get less oxygen. Those muscles work harder and may start accumulating lactate, even at the same pace you have trained oh so hard for. Bottom line is you are expending more calories and doing more work trying to run the same speed you planned to, so you are going to "bust" and hit the "wall" with glycogen depletion. That's why you have to slow-down a bit in advance when you recognize the heat is having its effects. Heart Rate is great way to monitor that effect, but you got to have a HR monitor and you have to have been using it all along in the training to know how to interpret it. If you have, then by all means use it. Lactate threshold is somewhere around 80-85% HRmax, so if you see your HR hitting and staying in 85% or more HR zone, then there's your signal to slow down until you see HR back to where it normally is when you run marathon pace. If you don't have or haven't trained with your HR monitor, then you are at the mercy of trying to work off of perceived feel in effort, something which I haven't pushed a lot in this training program, but maybe I should have elaborated more on.
You all know your hydration and fueling strategy. Stick with that, but maybe you toss in a bit more carb in to your intake in that 2nd half of the marathon to compensate for inefficiency in metabolism that results from running in warmer temperatures. Take in more. But, don't forget to refrain from the carbohydrate according to that 30-min/3-mile principle so you maximize conditions to utilize fat for energy and make sure the insulin response is suppressed. Then it's take in carb and take it in as much as possible in the 2nd half in the forms that you have trained to.
Ultimately, if you get to the late stages to 18 through 22 miles and you feel a wall approaching or you know the wheels are ready to fall off, well, then you abandon anything I have taught you in terms of principles and/or fueling-hydration strategy and go into "triage." That means you just try something to stave-off breaking-down to a crawl or walk. So, if they are handing out gels, take more than one and hold on to it. In last ditch efforts you take two gels and wash it down with 2-cups of Gatorade, then take more Gatorade the next aid station. Don't worry about whether you are getting "optimal" absorption" in the gut, but at this point just try to get as much carb in to revive you and keep you going.
OK, that's all I can spend time on with this subject. Most of all, just enjoy the final journey, the race being simply the end of a longer journey training for it. Have fun with it as best as you can. Enjoy running with your comrades, enjoy the scenery and the diversity the City of Chicago is comprised of, and just run, one mile at a time, one foot in front of the other, and you will remarkably find yourself running up Roosevelt Road past the 26-mile marker (ca 1/2 way up on L-side of road), and making the turn down the last 0.2 stretch to the finish line!
When you get there climbing that bridge-hill at Roosevelt Road, make sure you make some connection with the people that line the N-side of the street at the 26-mile marker and around the turn. Let them know you made it and let them know you earned the right to smile, to shout and to be proud. The final stretch down Columbus (I think) is your time to reflect on your journey. You will probably be pretty fatigued, but find the energy to persist and keep it up. The hardest part for novices or first-timers is to keep you head up high, and in fact look upwards towards the cameras as you get close and run into and across the line. Don't worry about the damn watch or the split time on the watch. It will only be a few seconds off what the chip records. And, if you can remember, hold both your arms up high over your head and flash the "V" sign. It can stand for Victory, just like the elites do, and it can signify peace also. A fine statement for you to make.
Enjoy your Chicago Marathon. I will be in Bar Louie on Polk Street somewhere between 1 and 2 pm with my rowdy, non-running friends. Come on by if you can. I still have about 5 or 6 of those "Woo-Hoo I'm a Marathoner" Bondi-Bands and I will have them along, first come, first served!
Ride Tiger!
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