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Before I get to my race recap, I've got to show you what delightful surprise arrived in the mail Friday.
Sarah Marie Design Studio has outdone herself! Look at this ingenious letter man's jacket. And the best part? You add patches for your achievements! PR? Distance? Specific Races? The possibilities are endless. Use
VARSITYTEAM at checkout to receive 15% off.
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Coolest idea ever! |
On to the recap...
Wow -- Chicago! The one I worked so hard for last year, but didn't make it to the starting line. My redemption race. By now, you may know I fell. I don't want that to overshadow my experience. Yet, I'm having a hard time remembering details after that occurred.
I remember a lot of pavement and a lot of people. Let me start at the beginning...
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My only expo picture! |
I arrived early Friday afternoon and sat in that awful traffic mayhem like everyone else. I finally made it to the expo dragging my luggage behind. I had just enough time to quickly find a headband and meet up with
Marcia to attend the
Generation UCAN live webinar event with Meb Keflezighi and Sarah Crouch. I'm so grateful to Marcia for including me. Fellow bloggers
Sherry,
Wendy and
Sharon were also there. Meb and Sarah were down to earth, very inspirational and so generous with their time. I'm also excited to try the UCAN family of products we were given.
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Meb, Me, Sherry, Marcia, Sarah, Wendy and Sharon |
Wendy was very gracious to have a late dinner with me. It truly felt like we were lifelong friends simply catching up. I think we could have relaxed and chatted all night but it was getting late and I still hadn't even checked into my hotel. She was kind enough to drop me at the door. I look forward to spending more time with both her and Marcia later this year. (Hey Wendy, I owe you that sticker!)
Saturday was purposefully low key. I did some sightseeing and ran into
Pam while walking along Michigan Avenue. We were so surprised to meet that way that it slipped our minds to take a picture [#bloggerfail]. Sherry, Sharon and I took the Wendella architectural boat tour that afternoon. It was crowded and we were somewhat disappointed there were no seats on the top deck.
I enjoyed seeing the different buildings and learning about their history. I can certainly report that Chicago is beautiful from the water! I got drowsy sitting in the warm sunshine. {Ladies, I'm usually perkier!} After more sightseeing, I went back to the hotel and fell asleep. And I never nap! After a spaghetti dinner and a little college football, I called it a day.
Upon waking race morning, I ate a banana and Clif Bar and drank half a bottle of water. I stuffed my skirt pockets with 4 peanut butter GU and 6 Saltstick capsules and was ready to go. My hotel was a half mile from the start and I was soon in
back-of-the-pack Corral J (read about that
HERE). It didn't occur to me to stop at a porta-potty nor check the weather one last time. [And I call myself a runner!]
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My view from Corral J |
Soon enough, we were off. All 40,000 plus. Immediately, there were piles of discarded clothing to avoid getting tangled in. I was amazed at the number of men and women that stopped right away under the first overpass to umm ... urinate. Sans.Porta.Potty. No thanks. I intentionally started slow. Oddly, and a little concerning, my heart rate was high. I didn't feel nervous, but I kept at my slower pace hoping to settle it down.
Usually in a race, a mental picture gets seared into my brain. This imprint occurred early on. We must have been running slightly downhill because I could see way ahead in the distance and watched as an el train crossed between the tall skyscrapers lining the street -- all against a beautiful, clear blue sky. *Snap* The crowd support was unbelievable and at times the noise almost deafening.
It was difficult getting to and keeping my desired pace. Part of the
problem were the water stops. It seemed they were in every mile. Let
me say, the sheer number of volunteers at each one was amazing! But,
these stops were long, crowded, covered in cups and slick with liquid.
First we'd run through the Gatorade section, long enough in itself, but
then we'd run through the water section. It killed my pace every time.
I've got to work on this. I did wonder if it was better in the earlier
corrals??
Back in mile three, I had stumbled hard and thought "Whew! It would have been horrible to fall in this race!" {Cue ominous music} I've always taken pride for not falling in over 150 races now and being an eyes-on-the-payment runner. I vowed to pay extra attention, although it was difficult at times with so many people. I rocked along trying to keep a decent pace until somewhere late 12 or early 13 ... Splat. Suddenly, I'm on the ground and I see the rounded hump of pavement that grabbed my shoe. I landed hard on my hands, knees and one elbow. The nice people around me stopped but I got up quickly and continued. I was very relieved nothing was broken but can see the blood running down my shins. The medical aid station was just ahead.
I won't go into detail (read about that
HERE) but after an eternity in first aid, I'm free to go. I'm badly shaken. I'm trying not to cry from pure old lady frustration. I'm holding it together because I know Marcia and Wendy are spectating just ahead. I originally planned to give them a shout and slow long enough for a picture, but I stopped completely. Truth be known, I needed to gather myself momentarily. I've never been so happy to see two familiar smiling faces!
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... Just put on a happy face ... |
There are few memories after this. I hit the half marathon mark at 2:18 and thought that wasn't too shabby because it included my lengthy stop. Maybe I could negative split the race {I didn't}. I smelled something horrid and noticed the man in front of me. A massive amount of baby-golden diarrhea was clinging to the back of his black shorts. I chuckled to myself thinking "things could be worse". I had a brief WHY ME pity party in mile 15. But once I got down to 10 miles left, I decided "I can do THIS $#*+". I continued running...gingerly.
I caught up to the young fellow carrying the American flag and was immediately covered in goose bumps. The cheering from the crowds as he passed with Old Glory was truly magnificent. I briefly contemplated staying near the flag, but decided to pass by and keep running my own race.
The sun was relentless later in the race and I got warm. I remember nothing more until miles 23-24 when I came close to panicking because I.could.not.breathe. An acute pain had developed under my rib cage, right at the bra line. I was forced to walk off and on in those two miles to get air and control the rising panic. My knee wraps had also come loose so I'm carrying bloody bandages and gasping. I'm sure I was a sight. Whatever spasm I had finally released and I continued on. I thought the throngs of spectators in the last mile or two were the most enthusiastic and I was touched by their support.
As someone who runs in a hilly 'hood, I appreciated every little hill in this super flat race, especially that last one! I also loved seeing the final blue 1 mile and subsequent meter signs. I wanted to scream --
I can do 800 meters!! The 100 meters sign was a beautiful sight. I crossed the finish line in 4:44:30. Although I expected better, all things considered -- I'm OK with that time. In fact, I battled pretty hard for it. It is also technically a PR. [The first post-fractured-foot marathon was 23 minutes slower as I was unable to run much prior to that race.]
My left knee was bleeding so I stopped at the medical tent for more bandages. The nicest young woman helped me. She went the extra mile to get me the post race food bag (that I somehow missed) and a Gatorade. I almost passed out when she touched my bruised knees to clean them. As I sat there light headed, a man crawled in vomiting profusely.
Every.Where. Oh yeah, things could be so much worse. But I believe the most pleasing thing of all was when I awoke Monday morning (and other than my busted knees) could not tell I had run a marathon.
YES!
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It was a gorgeous day and a gorgeous city to run my 2nd marathon! |
Chicago was exciting. Chicago was humbling.
Chicago was challenging. Chicago was rewarding.
Chicago was everything I expected it to be.
And that's a wrap!