A look back at the Chicago Marathon through the lens of Jessica Foley who documented the weekend. During the lead up I kept a bit of a diary. This is a mix of both those thoughts in the immediate moment while giving it additional context with present day reflections. Marathon race weekends are always a bit intense. The travel. Mental prep. Self doubt. I also had to work while I was there, leading + taking part in a few events on behalf of Westin and Hyperice.

Below is the recap with a few little nuggets.

- Speak at Expo on Panel
- Lead shakeout run
- Link with friends
- Host a recovery workout for Hyperice
- Try to sleep well
- Get physical therapy
- LOCK IN
- Get Supplements
- Go Food Shopping
- Time Caffeine Correctly
- Eat Good Breakfast
- Put on Chains
- Don’t Be Late
- Hit My Splits
- Have Fun
- Celebrate

October 5th, 2023 T-3 Days Until Marathon

Flying into races really isn’t talked about much. The change in time zones. Being cramped, especially if you’re tall. Trying to be responsible and take public transportation into the city instead of an overpriced Uber. It takes a toll on your body!

Whenever I land the most important thing for me is to get a workout in. It calms me down, clears the cobwebs out, and helps shake me out of taper mode. The routine for me is pretty simple — 20 minute light jog, some strides, a good stretch, and a few strength exercises.

At this point though I remember thinking there’s no way I can get a marathon done. I feel like shit. But! I remember I always feel like this leading up to a marathon so I don’t worry about it too much.

October 6th, 2023. T-2 Days Until Marathon

I’m a kid of the “jet stream.” I don’t say this to gloat, but in my 20s I traveled so much for work that a lot of my core friends ended up being people that didn’t actually live in NYC. We just always saw each other on the road and stayed in touch between trips. One of those friends is Ben Edgar. We met in 2017(?) through Virgil Abloh at a dinner he hosted for his iconic Hypebeast Mag cover. Whenever i'm in Chicago I always hit Ben up. I enjoy our catch ups. He’s a super smart cat. He founded Boxed Water and currently runs his brand of the same name where he makes beautiful objects among his other responsibilities.

Later in the day I head to the Expo to pick up my bib and take part in a panel on how to balance training and travel. My buddy Chris who hosted the panel tells the crowd my goal time of a sub 2:55. Pressure is on.

I remember thinking at this point how tired I was. But I got a jolt. After the panel, someone came up to me and thanked me for how big of an impact I had on her life. She told me how she had suffered a medical incident a couple of years ago and couldn’t move much. Exercise Snacks reminded her that every little bit counts. She gave me a hug and told me because of Snacks she didn’t give up and now she’s running the marathon on Sunday.

That was all the energy I needed. Full circle moment.

I run into some more friends, we chat as we grab our bibs for the race and discuss how we are feeling. Race is getting closer! We all are excited.

I have a super sensitive nervous system. One thing about being an athlete your whole life: your sense of interoception (awareness of the messages your body is giving you) is likely heightened. This can make you at best super intuitive but at worst sensitive to pain. I think I got the latter.

Luckily I have a brother who is a doctor of physical therapy so I bring him on these trips with me (I pay him for his time, don't worry!) so he can help me out. I have so many old injuries from football that like to flare up. Don’t know what I would do without this guy. Everyone should have a good physical therapy practice if possible, even though sometimes it hurts like hell.

October 7th, 2023. T-1 Day Until Marathon

Chicago is a beautiful city and one of the best parts of the weekend is the shakeout run near Lake Michigan, one of the 5 Great Lakes. My body felt awful during the shakeout run. But again I knew that was because of nerves + the work my brother did the day before. One of the keys as a runner, or just a human, is knowing the difference between when something is actually wrong (real) vs just how you’re feeling in a particular moment (perception). If you give it enough time, the perception will shift and you’ll lock in. This is the whole point of peaking at the right time for a race.

Westin + Hyperice hosted me for the weekend so part of the weekend was leading a recovery workout for media members and a few friends of the brand. Last thing to do before I could completely shut it down and just worry about the race.

Night before the race the jitters are always heavy but this one, I feel pretty good. I do my routine, get the chains ready, meditate, and head to bed. Tomorrow we race.

October 8th. marathon DAY

Up early. I check in with my body. All those jitters and aches? Gone. I thank my body for being ready cause three days ago I thought there’s no chance I'm going to be able to get this done.

I immediately make a cup of coffee because the thing about caffeine, if you want to use it as an actual legal performance enhancer you’ve got to get a lot of it in you and try to time it right based on its half life + your body weight. I’m a bigger guy, so I need a bit more. In room coffee machine coming in clutch.

One good thing about Chicago vs a marathon like NYC is that the start line is right in the city so you don’t have to get there super early. I take my time getting ready. I still ended up almost being late for the race.

I put on my chains. I was inspired by the hurdler Edwin Moses who always styled when he competed and of course Michael Jordan. Both the singlet and the chains are a nod to his iconic 1985 dunk contest performance where he wore two gaudy gold chains. They also allow me to catch a rhythm when I run due to the way they bounce when my stride is right.

I’m worried though they might unlatch while I run. Not only do I not have time to spare in case they fall but I don’t have 75k to pay the jeweler who loaned them in case I damage them. They look too good to worry about that though. We decide we are going to run with them.

The race is going well. Went out at the pace I wanted but suddenly my watch stopped tracking right. I had no idea until about 7 miles through the race. Apparently Chicago is notorious for the GPS being wonky in the first half of the race. Luckily, I had my phone on me. I didn’t want to run with my phone but my friends convinced me so they could track me. I use these marathons as a time to just learn to cope with difficulty so I try not to run with music so I didn’t think I would need the phone.

I text my brother frantically telling him my watch isn’t working. I need him to text me my splits. It now becomes a totally different race as I have to pick up the pace in the middle instead of waiting until the end like I usually do, due to my watch telling me I was going faster than I actually was. I remember letting out an audible groan and my mind wanted to make excuses already for why we wouldn’t meet the sub 2:55 goal.

Nah we off that.

F*ck it. We race.

I typically race as a “20 mile jog and a 10k race” where I kick toward the end. I like to negative split. As a bigger guy and former football player this works a bit better for me. This run was totally different though as I had to pick up the pace early in the race and then just do my best to not “bonk” and hold on.

This is hard. And my chain unlatched with about 4 miles to go. Luckily I caught it, stuffed it in my pocket, and kept running.