I’ve had the opportunity to profile Sandie Nathan on this website before, but wanted to share her own thoughts after finishing the Chicago Marathon in a PR time of 3:09:07…running nearly even splits as she came through the half marathon in 1:34:10.
It’s been a pleasure to coach Sandie and I can’t wait to see what’s next for her!!!
Here is what she sent me after collecting her thoughts from the race on Sunday.
Hey Coach!
I’ve finally had a few minutes to sit down and put my thoughts together. I came to Chicago with a friend who hasn’t been here before, and since I grew up here we had a whirlwind weekend seeing (and after the marathon eating) all the highlights!
The race was interesting. We kept the walking to a minimum the day before. Did a 2 mile shakeout, then a boat tour and saw Hamilton so I felt my legs should be pretty well rested. However as the race started I found it hard to get into a comfortable rhythm until mile 7 or so. It was raining on and off the whole race, which was fine but the footing was slippery so I had to watch the road a lot. I felt ok until mile 18, then I had a tough couple miles, finally feeling better around 21 again. My pace didn’t slow, but I was working harder for it. I had hoped to pick it up a bit at 20 but I was spent so I kept the same pace pretty much the whole race – about 7:10, the pace I trained around all summer. I finished 3:09:07, a 3:31 PR for me so I am super happy with that. Always happy with a PR and happy to finally get in under 3:10! Also happy to report that I’m really not sore at all, that’s pretty awesome.
When I felt spent, it wasn’t cardio – my breathing and heart rate were pretty steady the whole race and didn’t feel strained. My legs felt super heavy when I wanted to pick it up around 20, and I was kind of hoping for a Hill or something so I could change up my stride and use some different muscles for a bit. I’m not sure how to train for that better, maybe some intervals during long runs, or longer progression runs?
But overall I’m happy with how the race went. This summer was rough for training, but hitting 7:10 in the heat definitely gave me some confidence that I could do it during the marathon. Maybe even with a cooler marathon day I could have gone a bit faster.
Looking forward to a week or 2 of easy running, that’s for sure!
Thanks
Phillips Running 