One of the first things that happened to me when I got home to America was my dad making me keep my word in running a half marathon. He called me about running one in Chicago in June and I had no choice but to agree. He registered us and we began training, quickly realizing that I had only running about four to five miles per run in Nepal. I added mileage here and there over the next several weeks and built my way all the way up to eleven miles before tapering down the week before the race. I didn't really look into my own training regimen and just went along with what he told me to do, as he has run probably close to a dozen full marathons over the years. Some of the training was probably 'extra' for full marathon guys but I was grateful to get any amount of additional stamina under my belt.
We set out on our trip last Thursday on a route that we have traveled numerous times going to Indiana for Thanksgivings with my dad's family. My family has driven to Indiana for Thanksgiving since we moved to North Carolina in 1996, and along with driving to and from my university, we have probably made the journey close to twenty times. We drive to Dublin, Ohio the first day, going through Virginia and West Virginia on our way to central Ohio, about seven hours. I am always amazed how nothing ever changes on these driving routes and this time was no different; certain areas of America are just constant. I insisted on going out to watch game six of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and Heat (NBA, basketball playoffs, American sports) to see how central Ohio people would react to Lebron James. The atmosphere was amazing before the game, I have never felt more hostility from a crowd in a bar. Lebron proceeded to drop thirty points in the first half and everybody pretty much left by ten, it was incredible. End of esoteric sports story for half of my audience. We spent the night at my aunt's and woke up to drive to Chicago. We took the same route we always did when going to Fort Wayne, Indiana for Thanksgiving but kept going until we hit Chicago early Friday afternoon. After getting our racing gear and numbers we decided to go for a run to loosen up our legs after all of the driving, another six to seven hours. We ran in some little park near Northwestern and Lake Michigan before running over to Navy Pier. It was nice to be able to enjoy Chicago in moderate weather. Chicago is a city of extremes; summers are really hot and winters are frigidly cold. I would always get a chuckle when people in Nepal would complain about cold temperatures in winter; Chicago gets about fifty degrees (Fahrenheit) colder. Before dinner I went all tourist with my camera and cruised the Magnificent Mile, a famed area of Chicago known for shopping and spectacular buildings. I have probably been on this street close to a hundred times but usually in extreme heat or cold where I'm more focused on getting to my destination instead of looking around. After having a beer at some place on Michigan Ave. (Goose Island 312!), we flagged a cab to take us to a Nepali restaurant that was really out of the way. I was so excited to finally get to eat Nepali food again, especially in Chicago where all food is fantastic.
Chicago Curry House looked pretty generic with Taj Mahal pictures, Buddhas etc. but boasted a pretty impressive menu of Nepali food along with Indian. They brought us papadum (fried chip things), not good but whatever. I had asked Shehrish for input as to what to get and we ordered momos (dumplings) to start. The waiter quickly wanted our main order as well, which I thought was odd as this is definitely not how Nepali/Indian reataurants operate. My dad ordered daal bhat (rice/lentils) and the waiter looked at him strangely as it wasn't called that on the menu. I explained that I had been in Nepal for over a year and we chatted a bit about Nepal, him being impressed with my ability to speak, albeit minimally. I ordered biryani and he left. The momos looked nice when they came out but I was dismayed to find they were probably close to a year old when I tried to pierce one with my fork only to send it shooting off the plate and onto the floor. The wrappers, probably my favorite part of a momo, were old and chewy like beef jerky or rawhide, FAR worse than any I had ever made. As bad as they were, we ate them as we were starving and the insides were tolerable. Then came the main courses. My biryani was horrible and unflavorful and the raita (yogurt sauce) tasted like watery, sour milk with floating carrots. The daal that my dad ordered was almost too spicy to eat; I told the waiter that I had never once had spicy, hot daal in Nepal and he argued that it was authentic. We needed to eat to have energy for the morning run and didn't want to order more horrible food and put most of it down. I had to have them bring more of the tangy raita to make the daal edible. I left completely disappointed as I had researched Nepali restaurants in Chicago for awhile and everything (customer reviews, friends telling me it was good) suggested that it was legitimate. I kicked the sign on the way out and we headed back to the hotel, having to stop for one last beer in the hotel lobby as both of our mouths were still on fire from the 'authentic' lentils. I love spicy food and have no problems with it but I was worried about screwing up poor dad for the race. Most people carbo load with pasta before a long race and we filled up on crappy garbage. It wasn't even 'Americanized', just terrible.
The next morning the alarm went off at 4:45 as we had to catch a bus from Millennium Park to the South Shore Cultural Center, which I had never been to but was basically just a ride down the lakeside. We got to the start around 6:00 and it was already comfortable enough to stand around without jackets, not a good sign for optimal running weather in the coming hours. I had expected to be more fired up seeing thousands of other runners but was really still just tired and ready to start. I ate a granola bar and drank half of a Gatorade and was ready to go. We were corralled into our running groups to prevent a clustered start and I was surprised to realize that we were in the second fastest group. I knew my dad had put me on a faster pace but I thought it was still close to average. I ate some energy chews and we were off promptly at 7:02, two minutes after the first batch of runners took off. The first couple of miles were unpleasant; it always takes me around fifteen minutes to get loose and the energy chews were making my heart pound like I had just downed a Red Bull. During this time the race flags went from green to yellow, informing us that the temperature had already become a concern and to be mindful of things like heat stroke and dehydration. I was feeling good after three miles and really enjoyed the next seven or so, running through Jackson Park, past the Museum of Science and Industry and further up alongside Lake Shore Drive before looping back. I was 'in the zone' and really cruising along until about mile eleven when the nadir of the race came. I had plenty of energy but was really needing some water, despite having just drank a cup at the previous stop. The next mile was excruciating and seemed like eternity; my left calf cramped up and I was really struggling before pulling up and walking for about twenty seconds. My dad caught up to me and I just started running again despite the pain. He wasn't going to beat me! After the mile that wouldn't end we finally hit a water stop and I drank three cups and poured a fourth all over my head. I immediately regretted drinking so much (can cause cramping) but kept going and was able to grind out the final two miles and finish right on schedule at 1:42:51 with my dad right beside me (Technically I beat him by a couple of seconds.. but he claims that he let me finish first. I don't believe him. Fair and square). I had planned on doing something funny for the cameras at the end but was pretty much in autopilot and just stupidly clapped for myself. We ran about one second under pace but didn't mind as the conditions were really too hot and we both finished higher than expected. We were in the top 5%, which seemed awesome until we saw that a lot of people were still trotting along as we drove back nearly an hour later. I felt really good afterwards but was dehydrated and probably drank four bottles of water in quick succession.The race provided us with a free slice of Lou Malnati's pizza (Chicago style deep dish pizza) and a complimentary Michelob Ultra, which was the best tasting beer I have ever had in my life. Drinking before 9am is unacceptable in about any other scenario but this was an obvious exception. After relaxing a bit longer we got on a bus back to Millennium Park, hit up a Starbucks for some more energy and made our way back to our hotel on Ohio St.
I will post pictures of trip on Facebook soon, but check out (or buy!) the race photos the marathon took of me:
Last name Brown, Bib number 473 . I think I even had my tongue hanging out in a couple.
The rest of the day was fun. We were going to meet up with my uncle and his family for a Chicago White Sox game (Cubs out of town..) but had time to kill and went to get pizza near UIC campus. I was a bit worried about being too dehydrated, as I had probably drank about eight bottles of water at this point without using the bathroom but otherwise felt good. We made our way to the South Side, met up with my uncle , tailgated a bit and watched the White Sox destroy the Houston Astros 10-1 in some really good seats. Even the biggest White Sox fan would have to concede that US Cellular park is a dump. After getting back to Plainfield, IL and spending the night with my uncle, we got up early the next morning and drove to Cincinnati, Ohio for another baseball game, this time seeing the Cincinnati Reds play the Detroit Tigers. After getting to our hotel, watching some Euros and running on the treadmill (bad idea with sore legs), we showered up and went to a bar before the game started. This park was somewhat nicer and the game was much less one-sided, with Detroit mounting a big comeback for the win. 'Let's go Tigers' chants were heard throughout the game, not good for the hometown Reds. Night games are always nice under the lights and the weather cooled off making for a pleasant night in Cincinnati. We got up super early again and made our way back to North Carolina, fun times had by all. I still will not be running a full marathon, that's for crazy people.
We set out on our trip last Thursday on a route that we have traveled numerous times going to Indiana for Thanksgivings with my dad's family. My family has driven to Indiana for Thanksgiving since we moved to North Carolina in 1996, and along with driving to and from my university, we have probably made the journey close to twenty times. We drive to Dublin, Ohio the first day, going through Virginia and West Virginia on our way to central Ohio, about seven hours. I am always amazed how nothing ever changes on these driving routes and this time was no different; certain areas of America are just constant. I insisted on going out to watch game six of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and Heat (NBA, basketball playoffs, American sports) to see how central Ohio people would react to Lebron James. The atmosphere was amazing before the game, I have never felt more hostility from a crowd in a bar. Lebron proceeded to drop thirty points in the first half and everybody pretty much left by ten, it was incredible. End of esoteric sports story for half of my audience. We spent the night at my aunt's and woke up to drive to Chicago. We took the same route we always did when going to Fort Wayne, Indiana for Thanksgiving but kept going until we hit Chicago early Friday afternoon. After getting our racing gear and numbers we decided to go for a run to loosen up our legs after all of the driving, another six to seven hours. We ran in some little park near Northwestern and Lake Michigan before running over to Navy Pier. It was nice to be able to enjoy Chicago in moderate weather. Chicago is a city of extremes; summers are really hot and winters are frigidly cold. I would always get a chuckle when people in Nepal would complain about cold temperatures in winter; Chicago gets about fifty degrees (Fahrenheit) colder. Before dinner I went all tourist with my camera and cruised the Magnificent Mile, a famed area of Chicago known for shopping and spectacular buildings. I have probably been on this street close to a hundred times but usually in extreme heat or cold where I'm more focused on getting to my destination instead of looking around. After having a beer at some place on Michigan Ave. (Goose Island 312!), we flagged a cab to take us to a Nepali restaurant that was really out of the way. I was so excited to finally get to eat Nepali food again, especially in Chicago where all food is fantastic.
Chicago Curry House looked pretty generic with Taj Mahal pictures, Buddhas etc. but boasted a pretty impressive menu of Nepali food along with Indian. They brought us papadum (fried chip things), not good but whatever. I had asked Shehrish for input as to what to get and we ordered momos (dumplings) to start. The waiter quickly wanted our main order as well, which I thought was odd as this is definitely not how Nepali/Indian reataurants operate. My dad ordered daal bhat (rice/lentils) and the waiter looked at him strangely as it wasn't called that on the menu. I explained that I had been in Nepal for over a year and we chatted a bit about Nepal, him being impressed with my ability to speak, albeit minimally. I ordered biryani and he left. The momos looked nice when they came out but I was dismayed to find they were probably close to a year old when I tried to pierce one with my fork only to send it shooting off the plate and onto the floor. The wrappers, probably my favorite part of a momo, were old and chewy like beef jerky or rawhide, FAR worse than any I had ever made. As bad as they were, we ate them as we were starving and the insides were tolerable. Then came the main courses. My biryani was horrible and unflavorful and the raita (yogurt sauce) tasted like watery, sour milk with floating carrots. The daal that my dad ordered was almost too spicy to eat; I told the waiter that I had never once had spicy, hot daal in Nepal and he argued that it was authentic. We needed to eat to have energy for the morning run and didn't want to order more horrible food and put most of it down. I had to have them bring more of the tangy raita to make the daal edible. I left completely disappointed as I had researched Nepali restaurants in Chicago for awhile and everything (customer reviews, friends telling me it was good) suggested that it was legitimate. I kicked the sign on the way out and we headed back to the hotel, having to stop for one last beer in the hotel lobby as both of our mouths were still on fire from the 'authentic' lentils. I love spicy food and have no problems with it but I was worried about screwing up poor dad for the race. Most people carbo load with pasta before a long race and we filled up on crappy garbage. It wasn't even 'Americanized', just terrible.
The next morning the alarm went off at 4:45 as we had to catch a bus from Millennium Park to the South Shore Cultural Center, which I had never been to but was basically just a ride down the lakeside. We got to the start around 6:00 and it was already comfortable enough to stand around without jackets, not a good sign for optimal running weather in the coming hours. I had expected to be more fired up seeing thousands of other runners but was really still just tired and ready to start. I ate a granola bar and drank half of a Gatorade and was ready to go. We were corralled into our running groups to prevent a clustered start and I was surprised to realize that we were in the second fastest group. I knew my dad had put me on a faster pace but I thought it was still close to average. I ate some energy chews and we were off promptly at 7:02, two minutes after the first batch of runners took off. The first couple of miles were unpleasant; it always takes me around fifteen minutes to get loose and the energy chews were making my heart pound like I had just downed a Red Bull. During this time the race flags went from green to yellow, informing us that the temperature had already become a concern and to be mindful of things like heat stroke and dehydration. I was feeling good after three miles and really enjoyed the next seven or so, running through Jackson Park, past the Museum of Science and Industry and further up alongside Lake Shore Drive before looping back. I was 'in the zone' and really cruising along until about mile eleven when the nadir of the race came. I had plenty of energy but was really needing some water, despite having just drank a cup at the previous stop. The next mile was excruciating and seemed like eternity; my left calf cramped up and I was really struggling before pulling up and walking for about twenty seconds. My dad caught up to me and I just started running again despite the pain. He wasn't going to beat me! After the mile that wouldn't end we finally hit a water stop and I drank three cups and poured a fourth all over my head. I immediately regretted drinking so much (can cause cramping) but kept going and was able to grind out the final two miles and finish right on schedule at 1:42:51 with my dad right beside me (Technically I beat him by a couple of seconds.. but he claims that he let me finish first. I don't believe him. Fair and square). I had planned on doing something funny for the cameras at the end but was pretty much in autopilot and just stupidly clapped for myself. We ran about one second under pace but didn't mind as the conditions were really too hot and we both finished higher than expected. We were in the top 5%, which seemed awesome until we saw that a lot of people were still trotting along as we drove back nearly an hour later. I felt really good afterwards but was dehydrated and probably drank four bottles of water in quick succession.The race provided us with a free slice of Lou Malnati's pizza (Chicago style deep dish pizza) and a complimentary Michelob Ultra, which was the best tasting beer I have ever had in my life. Drinking before 9am is unacceptable in about any other scenario but this was an obvious exception. After relaxing a bit longer we got on a bus back to Millennium Park, hit up a Starbucks for some more energy and made our way back to our hotel on Ohio St.
I will post pictures of trip on Facebook soon, but check out (or buy!) the race photos the marathon took of me:
Last name Brown, Bib number 473 . I think I even had my tongue hanging out in a couple.
The rest of the day was fun. We were going to meet up with my uncle and his family for a Chicago White Sox game (Cubs out of town..) but had time to kill and went to get pizza near UIC campus. I was a bit worried about being too dehydrated, as I had probably drank about eight bottles of water at this point without using the bathroom but otherwise felt good. We made our way to the South Side, met up with my uncle , tailgated a bit and watched the White Sox destroy the Houston Astros 10-1 in some really good seats. Even the biggest White Sox fan would have to concede that US Cellular park is a dump. After getting back to Plainfield, IL and spending the night with my uncle, we got up early the next morning and drove to Cincinnati, Ohio for another baseball game, this time seeing the Cincinnati Reds play the Detroit Tigers. After getting to our hotel, watching some Euros and running on the treadmill (bad idea with sore legs), we showered up and went to a bar before the game started. This park was somewhat nicer and the game was much less one-sided, with Detroit mounting a big comeback for the win. 'Let's go Tigers' chants were heard throughout the game, not good for the hometown Reds. Night games are always nice under the lights and the weather cooled off making for a pleasant night in Cincinnati. We got up super early again and made our way back to North Carolina, fun times had by all. I still will not be running a full marathon, that's for crazy people.
