Chicago Marathon Recap

[lilypad1126]

What an amazing weekend and an even more amazing race. I’m not really sure where to even start. Everything about it far exceeded my expectations!

This got long - oops. TL;DR I had a great time and got a 9 minute PR.

We arrived in Chicago on Friday. We got the expo done (it was a madhouse on Friday) and then had dinner with a good friend. Saturday I had lunch plans with another friend, then we walked around Millenium Park, took pictures of the start line area, strolled through the Cultural Center, and had an early dinner. For the first time ever, I managed to eat all the right pre-race foods. I didn’t overdo the carbs, I ate at the right times, didn’t eat too much volume-wise, etc. My neurotic planning ahead was worth it 🤣

Sunday I woke up about 15 minutes before my alarm (so 4:45am). I managed to get some good sleep and was ready to pop out of bed and get moving. I got my coffee, had half a bagel with peanut butter, then got dressed and took the obligatory 500 pre-race photos. I met a new friend that I met through a running facebook group and walked to the start corrals with her. I was in corral G, wave 2, so I had plenty of time. We got there around 7 and I got in the worlds slowest port-a-potty line. 40 minutes later it was finally my turn. For whatever reason, my anxiety did not flare up and I was able to chat with the people standing in line with me. I finally got to my corral and made friends with a female cancer surgeon who used to live in Chicago (ironically the same time I lived there, in the building next to mine!). We were shivering with the cold, but we both trained in 95* weather, so we tried to embrace it.

Finally, we were off. I’m not fast enough to time qualify for anything, so while I had a goal - to beat Oprah 😂😂, I really just wanted to enjoy the race. Now that I don’t live in Chicago, it’s a hassle to get there, so I may never run this race again. I was determined to take it all in.

My husband was at mile 2, and I managed to find him. He took 100 pictures and I got a kiss, which was awesome. It kept me going for quite awhile. I was trucking along, right on my pace, until mile 5-ish when I had to take a quick port-a-potty break. Once I was back on the course, it was time for my first set of gummies. I am bad at running and fueling, but on Sunday, it was like the stars aligned and it worked out well throughout the entire race. I was hoping to see a friend at mile 8, but the crowds were large, and the amount of people walking made it so I couldn’t get to the side to see her and get a high 5. Bummer.

From there until mile 13, I just took in the sights. Read the signs, watched the crowds, and really enjoyed it. At mile 13, I was hoping to see my H again, but we missed each other. By the time I really paid much attention to anything besides running, I was at mile 15. It was so windy through those miles, and my Garmin decided mile 14 was going to be my fastest every (no, I didn’t really run mile 14 in 6 minutes), I couldn’t focus on much else. At one point the wind was so gusty, I was blown from one side of the road to the other. What the heck!?

My longest run in training was 18 miles. So when I hit 18 miles, I heard my coach’s voice in my head telling me this is when the race starts and that I trained to run these last 8 miles on tired legs. I also heard my own voice tell me, don’t stop. DO NOT WALK. KEEP RUNNING. I knew if I stopped to either drink water or eat fuel, no matter how hungry/thirsty I felt, I’d never start running again. So when I finally made the turn onto Michigan, I thought, hey, i can finally speed up a little. I can do ANYTHING for 2 miles. That’s less than 20 minutes.

The last turn onto the hill on Roosevelt was kinda awesome. I trained all summer on hills steeper and longer than that, so I gave it ALL I had. I managed to pass a bunch of people, and the crowd cheering really helped. When I got to the finish and I saw the time, I was pretty sure I had gotten a PR. I had to do some math, since I left 45 minutes after the timer started, but I was pretty sure my math was right. And It was better than I thought.

I finished in 4:24:03. That’s a 9 minute (only a few seconds from a 10 minute) PR!! If I’m honest, I really wanted to finish in 4:20. But I’m not even upset that I didn’t. I finished, happy and healthy, and with a pretty hefty PR. AND, I’ve officially run the Chicago Marathon faster than Oprah 😂  #goals 

[moreace01]

Congratulations! I'm glad you had a great time - and a great PR!! Awesome job!

I swear the games we play with ourselves to get through it. Pretty sure I was doing exactly the same "do not walk, keep running" game at probably the exact same time.

Yay for beating Oprah! (sorry Oprah!)

[vcubergirl]

Congratulations! It sounds like you had a good race too and wow 9 minutes!

[sadlebred]

Congratulations! It sounds like you had a great time...and beat Oprah!!

[Wines Not Whines]

Congratulations!

[hurricanedrunk]

Congrats on a great race! I love that your goal was to beat Oprah.

[brooke77]

Congrats on your PR!

[sassystace]

Congrats on the PR! Sounds like a great day!

[starburst604]

Congrats on a great race!! I had a friend running with the same Oprah goal and she beat her as well, for her 8th and fastest marathon. I hope I'll get to run it someday!

[Mushe]

Amazing job! I’m so glad everything aligned for you. That’s a sign of some smart training. 😄

[melmel48]

Congrats!!!! 9, almost 10 minute PR. That is incredible!

[melmel48]

Congrats!!!! 9, almost 10 minute PR. That is incredible!

[wambam]

So what was Oprah's time lol?

Congrats on a well run race!

[lilypad1126]

Oct 17, 2019 13:24:32 GMT -5 wambam said:

So what was Oprah's time lol?

Congrats on a well run race!

Oprah ran it in 4:29:15. LOL. Very respectable, but I feel like I've "made it" in marathon running now that I've beat her time. Ha! It's the small things in life.

[wambam]

Oct 17, 2019 13:30:40 GMT -5 lilypad1126 said:

Oct 17, 2019 13:24:32 GMT -5 wambam said:

So what was Oprah's time lol?

Congrats on a well run race!

Oprah ran it in 4:29:15. LOL. Very respectable, but I feel like I've "made it" in marathon running now that I've beat her time. Ha! It's the small things in life.

That's awesome. Oprah kicked my marathon time's ass by a solid 7 minutes so maybe I need to run another and up my game haha.

[katyintx]

Wow, congratulations on the awesome PR! AND on beating Oprah! I may need to find a celebrity’s time to beat if I ever do another full... seems kinda fun! 😂

[thom]

Congrats on your marathon and the PR!! Yay!! And what an epic day all around in Chicago.

[wawa]

Huge congratulations on a stellar race and an awesome PR!

Also I love seeing recaps here. They've been too few and far between!

[labbie]

Congrats on the PR and on beating Oprah!

[keweenawlove]

Congratulations!!! That's a huge PR.