The Art of Running: A post about running. About running the Chicago Marathon and not finishing it. And also about eating. A post about running and eating in Chicago, and then eating in Tulum. Also an unusual post title….

This year didn’t start at all how I expected it to start. First of all, I had all this excitement about my endurance and fitness level… I wanted and envisioned trying to race one event every single month…. races ranging from 5k’s all the way to full Ironman, Ultra’s and multiday races to try PR’ing in all of them. But then, late in January I had a bicep femural injury which made me not sign up for any of the races I wanted to…..So that excitement didn’t last long.

Not only I couldn’t run for almost 3 months, but in UPS (my job) I was asked to attend some driving classes in Landover and had to be driver for 60 days…. So, in addition to not being able to run for over three months, then when I was able to run again I just didn’t have enough energy because of 10 hours of driving and delivering packages for an entire two months… So this just wasn’t in my plans…. my training and fitness levels went from being the best ever logging 10 – 14 hours a week, to training barely 5 hours a week.

Right after running the NY marathon last year for Tag Heuer, I decided to run another marathon. It wasn’t because I had a bad performance in the NYC Marathon (3:26), but it was because with no training at all for that marathon, I knew I could run a stronger marathon with some serious training. So right after running the NYC Marathon I decided to sign up for the Chicago Marathon.

I started building up my endurance and pace decently running an avg of 40k’s per week while mixing it up with some cycling, swimming and some bootcamp. I followed the program for almost a month and a half… but then Irma came with one month and a half to go for the marathon…. and Irma completely threw my motivation away. So basically it was the same story as in my NY marathon experience, but just a little bit worse. With no proper training, I didn’t manage to finish the marathon… I had to pull out of the race at km 32/ Mile 21 due to an intense pain in my knee. Stress fracture in my MCL which one month later I am still recovering from it…

Here are the details of the race…

 

Marathon Training:

As I was just mentiong; I was barely averaging 30km of running per week in the 3 months prior to the race. Although there was one month were I did average close to 40kms where I defininetly took it more seriously, that didn’t last long because of Hurricane Irma coming to Miami. (Just making excuses)…TIP: experts and runners say that you should average 60 kms in 4 to 6 runs a week when marathon training.

In comparison to my training….. I was getting in 3 runs per week equalizing anything in between 30 and 40+kms per week. During that month of serious training I had targeted a 3:10 – 3:12 time for my marathon … It seemed realistic at the time, although when time got closer and I trained less I realized that it was a unrealistic goal.

I thought that since I was able to run 35kms at a 4:35min/km pace in the “Red Bull for Wings” race without having trained at all that past March, that I was going to be able to run the marathon at 4:30min/km pace with a some training (it wasn’t like that obviously).

 

The night before racing: 

I always try carb-loading the day before raceday. Pasta and pizza usually works fine, no matter what order I eat them in. I also enjoy a cold beer or some fine wine the night before race day so I can relax and sleep well – if not I usually have problems catching some sleep. Also, I have to be super accurate in knowing what wave/start time I am a part of. It WILL screw your race day routine if you are mistaken with your start time (it happened to me in my first half iron distance race where I thought my wave started at 7:00am and it actually started at 9:00am, and it ruined my entire race – but that’s a completely different story). So I planned ahead, set my alarms three hours before start time, took a shower, and have two small breakfasts before the race. One within 3 hours of the start time and the second one within 1 hour…. usually oats will do for the first breakfast and almond butter, ezekiel bread and bananas for the second one (for races over 3 hours long). I take very seriously hydrating well the days before race day and I don’t try anything new that pre-race week (also I tried new stuff for my first half iron distance triathlon and it totally sucked – but again, another story….).

I was going to take the metro to get to the race, but since I googled the distance to race venue and it was only a mile away from where I was staying I decided to jog to get to it…

Race Strategy:

Then on my way to the start line I met this guy from California who was starting in my same corral. He was wearing the new Nike Vaporfly shoes from the “Breaking 2” Nike project (I asked him about them and he told me he loved them. Thinking about getting them, they look super dope, but I have never liked running in Nikes…. hopefully this time they will make me change my mind). Anywho, we had the same goal in mind; running a 3:12-3:10 marathon, but his race strategy was completely different than mine. He wanted to race the entire marathon at the same pace; while I wanted to divide the race into 3 x 14k running progressive. I had to change my strategy several times during the race. The first change happened even before the race started, when I found myself in between the Nike Pacers 3:10 and 3:15. I decided that if I stayed in between those two pacers I would at least be close to my goal.

THE MARATHON

Running a marathon is just MAGICAL. I am gonna try to describe what it felt like while running Chicago….
Just imagine being surounded with 40.000 people…. 40.000 people who share the same passion as you….. 40.000 maniacs who wake up on a daily basis at around 5:00am to get their runs in and still have full time jobs, families and other hobbies. You have all shared a similar path before the race…. 4 months of intense training (to some runners more intense than to others)…. then you are there listening to the National Athem, anxious to hear that shot gun go off… Then the shot gun goes off and there it goes…. 40.000 runners start walking at a fast pace in order to get past that start line. Then there is an intense moment of dead silence when everybody is just looking ahead waiting for that sea of runners to start moving in front of you…. Keep in mind that just minutes before the National Anthem started, everybody was just talking and bragging about running, about paces and strategies, etc etc….  with huge smiles on their faces, while now just dead silence and focus faces is all you see. Everything becomes so quiet you can almost listen to those strides from the elite runners who just started running….

Those 40.000 runners start moving like in herds… each and every single runner is trying to get through the congested start line so that they can catch a free running line in order to get into their desired running pace. Once you have passed that start line, you start to listen to all those hundreds of Garmin’s going off… (some runners do it to measure their pace during the race, others do it to see their overall time along the race and others do it for the “Stravalife” and another thousand reasons I just won’t talk about)…. Then it’s your time to hit your start button and nothing else matters…. you just get into that automatic pilot mode on and the running starts.

The Art of Running:
This moment is the magical moment… its the magical moment that everything aligns…. It’s like if nothing was going through your mind, but at the same time everything is going through your mind. All those long runs…all those times I put my body, mind and legs through pain….. all those track workouts where you just wanted to throw up and give up…… not to mention those long treadmill torturous runs…..they all make sense now! They all make sense because you connect your body, legs and mind for a same purspose…. Putting your body to the limtis…. From one second to another you might even think that you are running by yourself… At least it happened to me. I honestly was so into my run that I thought for a second that it was just another Sunday long run by myself. Every serious runner has gone through that moment when you are so in harmony with your body, legs, breathing and pace that you just simply FORGET that you are actually running…. your mind simply goes to another dimension. That’s called the runners high. The runners high, even though it will sound crazy, is meditating while running. 

 

 

During the first 5k’s of the race I felt super light and ran a 22:00 minute 5k. I thought to myself that it was going to be a great race. Then at km7 I started feeling kind of weak….. I immediately had half of one of the four Huma Gels I had on my race belt and hoped to God it would work. I knew right away that I was in trouble, but then after km 8 I felt the caffeine kick in and realized that I had barely lost 20 seconds in that km. Also, the fact that I ran into my wife-girlfriend, primos Ricky – Nick and my primitos gave an extra emotional boost. At that point I decided to divide the race into three in the following way;

First 14k:                   4:30 x km
18k:                            4:45 x km
Last 10k:                   4:30 x km or better

First and second part of the race went perfectly according to plan, even though with the mid-race strategy changes. Then from one second to another my race went to amazingly surprising in a good way to an end. In a matter of seconds all the training (and not so much training) fell apart. A deep/intense pain in my left knee appeared abruptly. It made me stop right away. I walked for a couple minutes and then decided to try running again… I was to run for a few meters but then the pain came back and that was it. I had to stop my Garmin so my pace wasn’t messed up… hahahhaha #stravalife

 

 

There was a mix of feelings……. I was happy and sad at the same time. I was on route to a PR by at least 12 minutes (although you can never say something like that with certainty when racing a marathon…… they say that it is in the last five 5kms when the race really starts…. you can go from running the race of your life to adding a minute per km in a matter of one second when hitting the famous wall). Anyhow, a mix of feelings came through my mind and head. I was disappointed I didn’t manage to finish, but as controversial as it is, I don’t agree with people who finish races just for the sake of finishing. I race and finish races to push my limits and to improve as an athlete. To take my mind and body to the next level. Not to just “finish a race”.

Making it count…

If I see that I am not going to finish strong, I prefer to pull out from a race. I have talked a lot about this subject with my training partners, and I believe that the main difference in between people who finish races just for the sake of racing and people who only finish races when being a 100% is the fact of being a former elite athlete. See, now a days you see that most runners and/or triathletes never practiced sports before…. So by just finishing a race they feel like true athletes. While on the other hand, I had the opportunity to participate in a couple Hockey World Championship tournaments that gives me a different mindset than most other nowadays called athletes.

But well… in this case it was somehow different from pushing your limits, if I would have continued I would have f*ck#($* up my knee real bad. While walking to the nearest medic tent, I felt like one of those famous college “walk of shame” girls made….. well….. ….. Actually I don’t know if you can compare it, but any who, it was a weird feeling……having all kind of runners run by pass you….. at all type of different paces…. then the 3:15 Nike Pacer ran passed me and that’s when I realized that was it…… Then I just thought about #jessilaneeveryday waiting for me at the finish line. I then reached the medic tent and ask for a phone to call her. Had some ice on my knee and then I was transported to the finish line in a race bus.

Post Race and Chicago Dinning

I usually bring some BCAA and protein powder to all my races to recover. If you can have an ice bath and do some foam rolling even better, personally I try to avoid the foam rolling because of how sore I usually end. After that, #jessilaneeveryday’s part of the trip began, the eating. Right after the race, we went to Fig and Olive and had amazing tapas… I definitely recommend it for some tapas and drinks. Then we rented some city bicycles and rode around the city (also it felt great to let my legs loose).  Later that night we had dinner at my cousins place, but would recommend the purple pig also for some casual tapas.

The next day we had brunch at the Restoration Hardware cafe “3 Arts Cafe”. One of the best brunches I’ve ever been to, not to mention the decor, you feel like in a movie. Later that day we had lunch at this authentic Vietnamese place called “Le Colonial” which was AMAZING!… If you like Vietnamese food, then this is a must. Finally we had dinner at this gastro pub place called “AVEC” also super good.

Tulum

This post is already long enough…. so I’m just going to be brief with Tulum. It has honestly been one of the trips I’ve enjoyed the most…. I wasn’t expecting that at all, since there was not too many adventurous activities to do….. But honestly the whole “Wellness” concept of the hotel which jessilane chose was just so chill and relaxing, that I doubt it could’ve gotten any better. The Nomade Hotel just takes that wellness experience to a complete different level…. giving tantric sex and love making energy lectures, meditation and yoga classes just to mention a few of their activities….

Some recommendations based on our stay:

for HOTELS, based on what we saw, we would definitely stay again in Nomade, although “Be Tulum” because of the swimming pool would be amazing as well (downside, is that it does not have that wellness concept). Also Casa Blanca (Pablo’s Escobar past mansion) looks amazing. And finally, Azulik is just out of this world, but so are its prices….

Now…. for dining….. BREAKFASTS, I doubt you will find a better place than the Nomade to have breakfast… everything is just so natural!! But I also heard that mur mur and sanara hotel had very good breakfasts as well.

For LUNCH there is this authentic local taqueria called “La Eufemia” which was cheap and delicious. At Be Tulum and at Nomade you can eat by the beach, sunsets there along the food will not disappoint. Lastly for DINNER you have several options…. Posada Margarita (italian), Casa Jaguar, Casa Banana, Gitano and one everyone recommended but wasn’t open was Hartwood (supposedly is the best one in town)…. PICTURES DO NOT DO IT JUSTICE TO THE TASTE OF THE FOOD.

 

Hope you enjoy the post and send me a message if you have any questions!!!