Chicago Marathon 2006 - 3rd Marathon Race Report

10/22/2006 12:00:00 AM
Competition:	La Salle Chicago Marathon(Road Race)
Event:	Marathon  @ 2:31:23.00 (5:46 / mi)   Place: 147
Warmup/Cooldown:	0 mi
Temperature:	31°F to 40°F
Wind:	Strong Wind
Conditions:	Light Rain
Intensity:	Hard
Overall Feeling:	Good
Comments:	Went out too aggressive and paid for it, I went out in 1:12 and change at the half.. and paid for it the second half... ill tell you one thing, im ready to pop this sub 2:30 just gotta run smarter the next marathon... Next stop: Houston Half Marathon in Jan 14, sub 1:10!!! excerpt from laredo morning times: among the 34,698 runners that completed the Chicago Marathon in near-freezing temperatures on Sunday.He finished in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 23 seconds – good enough for 147th place. Rodriguez, 30, beat his previous best time by 29 seconds and had a pace of 5:46 per mile. “I wanted to experience a big marathon and I did. And I loved it,” he said via telephone. Rodriguez, who said he trains specifically for marathons, plans on running competitively for the next 6 or 7 years. He hopes he can build on his Chicago Marathon success. “This ranks as one of biggest races I’ve ever ran in my entire life,” he said. “It was a great experience.” It was Rodriguez’ third marathon, and he has sliced considerable time off each run. In his first marathon, he finished in 2:39. In his second, he improved his time by nearly eight minutes (2:31:52). His goal was to break 2:30, a time that, he said, was within reach for the first 22 miles. “I completely fell apart at mile 23,” he said. I just broke down the last three minutes.” Robert Cheruiyot (2:07:35) won the race, earning him $125,000. He also won the Boston Marathon earlier this year. The temperature hovered around 40 degrees for much of the run, but Rodriguez said it didn’t impact his time. “It was freezing, though,” he said. “As soon as we were finished, we went back to the hotel to warm up.” Rodriguez, the head cross-country coach at Texas A&M International University