Alright, I think I am back to blogging now that I am done with marathon training. I will have a lot more time in my schedule!
Thought the best way to start back up here would be to talk about the CHICAGO MARATHON. What an amazing race. If you're thinking about doing a marathon, I highly recommend you try to get to that one. You will have an amazing first-marathon-experience.
I drove up to Chicago on Saturday by myself, and met Alex and our friend there. We were able to stay in his condo, which is right in the heart of Chicago (and one convenient mile from the Start Line), and 2 more friends were flying in. 3 of us were running officially, and 2 were going to run alongside. I was lucky that I was going to have someone to meet up with halfway through to get me through the tough part.
First view of Chicago - I came right in on the lake!
Let's start at the Expo : We went on Saturday evening and it was AMAZING! Definitely the BEST Expo I've been to.
The 3 (registered) runners!
I got everything ready the night before. Laid out my outfit, made sure everything was charged, etc. I wrote myself a note for when the goings got tough.
Got some pics before the race
I started out FAST (sub-7 in the first 1/4 mile) but knew that I absolutely had to slow down because every second you over shoot in the beginning, you slow down significantly in the end). I kept thinking to myself "hold it," or "sit on this pace" because those are things we say in rowing. Usually a coxswain is saying it, but I thought of it in a coxswain voice and it was effective.
My Garmin lost satellite under a bridge before the first mile marker, but it quickly regained it. I was surprised to find that I'd started the first 5k slower than I wanted (usually adrenaline gets me right on pace at the beginning of a race!) and I actually finished the first 5k in about 25 minutes (8:19 pace). However, I realized at that point that I had to GO and I dropped down to my marathon pace, which was between 7:40 and 7:55 minute per mile pace (depending on whether you looked at my Garmin or the course clocks). I was right where I wanted to be. I took my first GU at mile 7 and was feeling great. Before I knew it, I was flying through my half marathon, and my friend met up with me at about mile 14, and I took another GU. By mile 18 I was still feeling strong and confident ("only 2 4 mile runs left!"). At mile 21, I was on pace to run a 3:26. At mile 22 I hit the wall. Ouch.
I made the conscious decision after hitting the wall to drop my mile splits by a minute per mile. Instead of running at 7:40-7:50 pace, I went to 8:30-8:50. I was totally aware of doing this, and I knew I had to do it or my body might quit. I knew I still was going to clear my goal by a long shot, and slowing down was not only fine by me, but necessary. At mile 23 we found our other friend. He had started in Wave 1, and he was actually running the race and had a bib number, so I knew we could finish together.
During the race I took GU at miles 7, 13, and 18. If I could change anything, I would also have taken my fourth GU at 22...but I kind of forgot. My thinking started to get fuzzy around 22. I took water at every aid station and Gatorade at almost every aid station. If you ever do a marathon, definitely do this too.
Miles 24, 25, and 26 (and the .2) were the most difficult thing I have ever done. I felt like death. I had hit the wall so hard, and I don't think it's a reflection on my training but was probably more due to nutrition and fueling prior to the race (I probably needed a bigger breakfast). The friend that I was running with single-handedly got me to the finish line. At a few moments, I was afraid he would have to support me across the finish. It was all I could do to keep my legs going, but I had to make the decision to pick up my legs for every step. My friend who jumped in at the half brought me water from the aid stations so I could keep running straight and not slow or stop. In the last mile, my calves started clenching and cramping so hard that my feet were forced downwards, causing me to trip every couple of steps. That was hard.
.1 of the final .2 was UP HILL. The whole course was flat except for that. Then there was a final .1, which was downhill. I heard them call my name, and I grabbed my friend's hand and we ran under the archway together. I finished with a time of 3:31:16, which allowed me to qualify for the Boston Marathon by almost 4 minutes. My buddy grabbed me when we stopped because I seemed a little wobbly but after a few moments I was totally fine (except the legs haha).
We got as much water/Gatorade/bananas/nutrition/as we could hold and slowly made our way to our meet-up spot.
We couldn't find Alex for quite awhile but I did get interviewed by NBC News Chicago.
While we waited, my friends took amazing care of me. They were really excited that I'd qualified (and so was I!). They got me coffee, water, and foil blankets.
Before we found Alex...
After we found him!
After we found him!
The girl that got me through!
We got lots of Bean pictures
Things that kept me going during this race:
-Looking down and seeing the note on my hand. There are so many reasons, people, and experiences that drove me to want to run this marathon. I dedicated this race to them.
-Seeing my shadow on the ground and feeling that my form looked strong; I tried to keep it up
-Thoughts of wearing fuzzy socks ASAP
-Remembering all the people that have done training runs with me or lent me marathon advice
-Hearing a spectator say "Now, she looks like she's a good runner" as I ran past at mile 8."
-Thinking of the friends and family that cheered me on from afar
-Thinking of all the work that I've put in; all the sacrifices I've made; and how bad I wanted to do this
-Thinking of all the people that will never have this opportunity, but might want it
Now Ryan as some deco hanging around him.
More on life and running and rowing later :) Now time to sleep!
