We got to Chicago on Friday afternoon so that we could hit the expo, and not have to do anything on Saturday. Spoiler alert - that plan failed. We went to the expo, got our bibs, looked the official gear, and bought things. We probably spent about an hour or so there, went to Giordano's for dinner, and headed for bed.
On Saturday we did a 2 mile shakeout run, went to Nike town, ate, and tried to get to bed at a decent time. I didn't actually make it to bed until almost 10:30. We were up at 5:30 and out of our hotel room at 6:20. We stayed at the hotel connected to expo location, and they had shuttles running every 15 minutes so getting to the start was easy.
We spent 20 minutes getting into Grant park before we were able get to the line for people with no bags. We hit the portajohns, and lined up in our corral. We took off a little bit after 8:00 am.
The first 10k felt great. The plan was to take it easy for the first half then try to pick up the pace up in the second half. Around mile 7 I saw a runner getting CPR, and I couldn't stop thinking about him for the rest of the race. According to news reports, he was talking when they took him to the hospital.
After mile 11 I adjusted my fueling plans from drinking Tailwind and water every 3 miles to drinking water & TW at every aid station. At mile 14 my nerves started to get the best of me. I thought about how I still had 12 miles to go. I wouldn't say I hit the wall, but I had a real appreciation of what was ahead. So i channeled clseale's words(more on that later), took my earbuds off every so often to take in the crowd. Next thing I knew we (my friends A&B) were at mile 18, and I was anticipating The Wall. The thing is the wall never came. I had moments when I was tired, but I never felt that I couldn't take another step.
A had dropped back, and B was starting to struggle. So I asked her if she wanted to do what I was doing and get water or Gatorade at every aid station, and she said yes. We hit mile 20 and I told her that all we needed to do was another 10k and we were done. She nodded and kept moving. When we hit Chinatown I had a burst of energy and told B "We are in Chinatown goddamn it. We have only have 5 miles left, and since when have you not had 5 miles left in you?" She said never, and I told her that's right, now let's finish this. We stopped at another aid station, and we would do a 5 second countdown to start running again.
I was trying to keep her going, but all of the encouragement was helping me too. I thought of you all, the ladies on April 2012, and all of my family and friends who were getting texts updates, and just kept moving. We expected to see B's family around mile 24, so I reminded her that her family was waiting on her and we had to run 2 miles to go see them. She nodded, and picked up her pace. I scanned the left side of the course and she scanned the right. We saw them between mile 24 & 25 and B was sooo happy. She told me that was the boost she needed. We had less than 2 miles to go.
I picked up the pace a bit, but B's knee was bugging her so she asked if would slow down. Before I knew it, we were coming up Roosevelt, and I could see the finish line. I didn't say anything else, I focused all of my energy on that banner.
As soon as we crossed the finish line B broke down in sobs and I reminded her to keep walking. I turned on my phone, checked GBCN, saw the thread here and on April, and started crying. We were the first of our group to finish, so we walked over to our predetermine meeting area, changed, and waited for everyone else. And I proceeded to read each thread 5000 times. I'm still hurting but I know another marathon is in my future. I was way off any time goals I had set, but I'm not disappointed at all. I'll have other races to chip away at my time. I can say I'm a marathoner, and I had a damn good time getting there.
Thank you ladies for the support, advice, encouragement, and camaraderie over the last 2 years. You took me when I was doing bridge to 10k and never made me feel less than because I was new to running. A special thank you to lb2006 and clseale for the encouraging email and PM that you sent in the days leading up to the race. Clseale I repeated your words more times than you know.
Eta - my one regret is that I didn't get to see @vtcupcake this weekend.
Aw, I love this post! You are so strong, physically and mentally, and it shined through again yesterday. It has been great to watch your journey over the last year and I'm continually amazed at how far you've come in such a relatively short period of time. I'm excited to see what you do the next time around!
Your journey is so amazing. Strong, inspiring, gutsy, and awesome. I'm sure it meant even more to have your friends on the run with you. Sometimes I'm kind of jealous that I'm no where near a running group.
I'm glad you could experience such a great race, city, crowd support, (and nice weather!) for your first 26.2. So proud of you! Recover well and be good to yourself for awhile.
I love everything about this recap! I'm so happy to have been able to watch your journey & cheer you on along the way. I'm glad my words were able to provide you with a bit of support along the course. I'm so proud of you. You are one amazing & strong person, and you did such an awesome job.
I legit LOL'd at "We're in Chinatown, goddamn it!" So awesome. I had a similar conversation with myself during Chicago, when I was getting all frustrated & pouty with my hamstring trouble in the final miles. "You're running the fucking Chicago marathon! Time to suck it up, buttercup!! You better smile!"
That was one helluva performance. You have so much to be proud of.
OMG I love every word of this recap. I'm seriously tearing up thinking about it. Congratulations, you are so amazing - look at you not only powering through your marathon , but also being that wind in your friend's sail! Truly amazing.
Love of my life baby boy born 11/11. One and done not by choice; 3 years of TTC yielded 4 MMC and 2 CPs, through 4 IUIs and 2 IVFs. Focusing on making the world a better place instead...and running.
I LOVE this recap. What an amazing job on your first marathon. You ran an incredibly smart, solid race and you have every reason to be proud of yourself! Congrats, marathoner!
Post by creamsiclechica on Oct 13, 2014 14:52:32 GMT -5
I love every single minute of this recap. You are incredible, I cannot say it or stress it enough. You have done beautifully in propelling yourself forward on this journey, and at the same time, inspiring and encouraging so many others to do the same. You are such a strong, beautiful, and determined role model. This race report is awesome.
We (the April ladies and H&F, hey girls!) are so lucky to have you!!
So awesome- I am so happy for you! I got so emotional reading this. And holy crap re. the CPR runner- that would have totally shaken me. Way to pull it together, stay mentally strong and be encouraging to your friend. Congrats, and a happy, swift recovery to you!