Chicago OTCY report!!!

I went to Chicago.  My daughter did fairly well on the plane.  A few outbursts, but overall handled her first flights admirably.  We were staying with my good friend the Leak Fixer, who spends so much of his time studying and practicing the art of leak fixing that he did not have any time to train for the OTCY.  Thus,  despite having signed up, he had previously made the decision not to yog on Sunday.  Very sad.  But.  BUT.  Upon our arrival on Friday, he was having second thoughts.  He was getting pumped.  The thought of yogging can do this to a person.  He was ready to toe the line, and yog and kerplopple his way to the finish come hell or high water!  I was excited to see his excitement, and this excitement maintained itself all the way through to Saturday evening, at which point he decided again that he would in fact not yog.  Lame.  Anyway.

My friends Suffer Seeker and Shoulder Toucher made the trip from San Diego.  Shoulder Toucher's sister, Wonder Woman, and her friend Angel Face both arrived from DC eager to yog.  Both ladies carried impressive yogging resumes, and they in fact enjoy their yogging so much that they were hoping to use the Chicago OTCY to qualify for an organized, timed ,VERY competitive yog (OTVCY) in Houston in a few months.  The plan was for Suffer Seeker to pace Wonder Woman and Angel Face to their goal time, while Shoulder Toucher and I would just figure out our plan or non-plan as we went.  Both of us were certainly intent upon achieving BYs. 

There was an expo on Saturday where many things were being peddled that would help you improve your yogging, look better while yogging, or celebrate your participation in the Chicago OTCY.  It took a long time to get to the expo.  Traffic was bad.  Parking was $10.  There was still quite a walk from the parking lot to the expo, especially with my daughter in tow.  Dean Karnazes was at the expo.  He yogs.  He wants you to be impressed with his yogging.  Many people are apparently, as there was a long line of yogging enthusiasts waiting for his autograph.  I got my race packet and left. 

On race morning, the Yogger, Suffer Seeker, Shoulder Toucher, Wonder Woman and Angel Face together made the short trip from the hotel to the start area.  My girlfriend and daughter stayed at the Leak Fixer's home in Evanston, opting for a comfortable Sunday morning instead of taking great pains to see me yog for a few seconds.  That made sense.  At the start area, the ladies went off to their superstar corral, while the rest of us headed to our I-yog-a-little-and-would-like-to-be-as-close-to-the-start-as-you-will-let-me corral.  The Shoulder Toucher and I lost the Suffer Seeker somewhere in that journey.  The good people of the Chicago OTCY were kind enough to aid our warm up by setting up fences that needed to be climbed in order to get to your corral in less than 20 minutes.  Fence climbing is one of the best full body warm ups out there.  However, the Shoulder Toucher and I were tired and indifferent and opted not to participate in the warmup they had set up for us, so we waited and waited and finally made it to our corral a few minutes before the start.  The OTCY began shortly thereafter.

Yog.  Yog.  Yog.  The Shoulder Toucher and I yogged along for a while.  Definitely a comfortable yog.  There was some hope that we would see the other 3 within the first few miles, but that didn't happen and there were no discussions of changing the pace of our yog to try to catch the rest.  The effort was right.  Finally at mile 10 we saw the other 3 up about 100m ahead.  Confident that we were slowly catching them, I suggested we continue yogging at the current effort until mile 14, wratchet it up slightly until mile 20, then yog with all our might to the finish thereafter.  Shoulder Toucher agreed with the plan.  He looked forward to inspiring his sister by blowing past her a few miles down the road. 

A little after mile 13 my right calf cramped.  I was not blessed with great calves.  They are small and unsightly and cramp often.  In high school I used to wear sweat pants during rec league basketball games so no one could see my calves.  But I digress.  Last year I felt similarly comfortable and then cramped at almost the same point.  Last year I decided to stop and stretch but things quickly got worse.  The remainder of the yog was bad.  Nearly a kerplopple.  This year I decided there would be no stopping, no stretching, no kerplopping.  Just yog myself through the cramps until I fell over. 

The cramp subsided, and I continued on with my plan.  The Shoulder Toucher fell off around this time, and I did not see him again.  Soon after that my left calf cramped, but I limped through that one as well and it went away.  I continued to slowly move up on the other 3, but at some point Angel Face fell out of the group.  As I went to pass her, there was another girl wearing similar black clothing running alongside, and at a glance, neither were clearly identifiable as Angel Face.  I opted for a non-social pass.  It seemed like a relatively non-social moment.  I continued to close in on Suffer Seeker and Wonder Woman, and was excited to join them.  Wonder Woman looked strong, they were right on their goal pace, and I had no doubt that Suffer Seeker would keep them right there.  I imagined locking into a good yog with them, sharing a few jokes and excitement over Wonder Woman achieving her goal, then making a big push on my own for the last couple miles.  When almost within earshot, my left hamstring began to cramp, accompanied by a deep burning fatigue.  Suffer Seeker and Wonder Woman quickly gapped me still looking very strong, and my visions of a strong finish to my yog went up in smoke. 

No stopping.  No kerploppling.  Yog.  Yog.  Yog as well as you can.  My previous BY was quite unimpressive and I was still well ahead of that pace.  As long as I could hold on a little I could still salvage a new BY.  Some people were struggling worse than me and I yogged by.  Others were strong and flew right by.  A not insignificant number had been reduced to kerploppling.  Cramps popped up in new places every few minutes, but I continued to yog and never fell over.  I managed the new BY.  I am not impressed by it. 

I finished nearly certain that Suffer Seeker had paced Wonder Woman to a spot in the Houston OTVCY, and was right.  The Chicago OTCY awarded her money for her effort, some of which she used to buy us beer and food after the race.  Angel Face held on to a decent yog and came in a few minutes behind me.  Shoulder Toucher went through agony, did not BY, and experienced a special kind of chafing that had him describing his trips to the bathroom later that afternoon as a 'horror show'.  All in a day's yog.  I look forward to the next one.