Going into Chicago, I really wasn't feeling ready to run a marathon. About a month and a half before, I fell on my back and was in physical therapy for a month to not just get full use of my back and lessen the pain, but to be able to get through a full day with use of both of my arms. There were days that I couldn't lift either arm above shoulder level and others that it just hurt to move. However, I kept running and kept training because my legs still worked.
The other thing was that I have not run a good marathon this year. The Disney Marathon in January is when I injured my leg, and I trained for Boston to get through Boston. So in a lot of ways, training for Chicago was starting over again. There was a big gap between Chicago and Boston, so for me, it's been a while. I was panicked for a few weeks that I just didn't remember how to run a marathon. I had a half a few weeks before that certainly wasn't my best. My only real goal was under four hours.
The day before the marathon, I was freaking out, badly. Every single range of emotions possible. I'm very happy though that I was able to meet-up with some great people to calm my nerves down. It was very hard to sleep Saturday night, but I woke up ready to run. Once I was walking from the hotel to the start area and seeing all the other runners doing the same, it was getting very real.
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| Gate 1 |
I was really hoping to see my friends Lisa and Peter, and their friends Leigh and Lauren before going to the corrals, but I got nervous waiting and just went to my spot in Corral B to do some warm ups and get my legs ready. I was watching and did see Leigh come in the corral, so glad I was able to see them before we started. Leigh's focus for the day was to BQ (and to cut to the end, she did!). This marathon was all about running for Lisa who is a serious runner and awesome person, but had to pull out of the marathon for health reasons. But, I know she will be back and will 'Own Chicago' in 2015.
Being in Corral B, we had a walk up to the start line that took a few minutes. It was so exciting to get to the start line and get going. The first mile was the very best mile. The roads were so open and so wide. All I knew was that Lisa was going to be on the left, somewhere, cheering us on. Going down to mile 2, I kept thinking run for Lisa, just run for Lisa...and then, damn, Lisa should be right here with me now. About 10 seconds later, there she was cheering - seriously, one of the best moments.
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| Mile 2 |
All I remember about running down State Street was that I didn't like it. It was dark, mainly overshadowed by the tall buildings, I almost slipped at a water stop, and I had too many slow men in front of me that kept going slower and slower and slower. It was just a matter of getting through it and getting to the turn. My next focus was the turn onto LaSalle Street because I knew my dad was going to be there and I could ditch my running mittens - always happy when I just see him on the course.
I was really looking forward to the run up to the Lake Shore. But first, the bridges. The holes in the bridges scared me. They were bigger than what I was used to and my feet fit in them. When I was in grade school and in Girl Scouts, we had to march in parades over our local bridges, with the holes. I have always been afraid of them. When I was running over these bridges, I was very concerned that I was going to fall, my foot would get stuck, just the worst things. It was a relief to make it over them.
The northern part of the course was one of my favorite parts. I really liked running through the park and running through the neighborhoods. A few of the streets were lined with fall trees and it was just the perfect setting. Then came running back into the city. I knew Lisa would be near mile 12 and my dad would be at one of the corners. My focus throughout was the points where I knew there would be people I knew - it would get me through the marathon.
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| Mile 12 |
Going down back into the city, I was becoming more aware of the mile markers and it became a countdown. The 9 mile mark meant 3 to go, 10 then 2 more, and 11...almost there. I saw Lisa somewhere after the 12 mile mark and FINALLY got my Lisa hug. I was looking for my dad on the corner, he saw me but I didn't see him. I was a little sad, but still have to keep going.
During this whole time, my watch was going crazy. When I crossed the 6 mile mark, my watch said 5.5, so I thought two things - it was having trouble with the GPS in a big city or two, it just sucked. So since my miles were off, I thought it was lying about my pace - it wasn't. I didn't know at the 6.2 mark that I was at a 7:37 pace, I thought I was at about an 8:00 pace because it felt like I was going slow. When I got to the half point, the clock said 1:44. I knew I crossed about two minutes after the official start, so I thought I was at a 1:42, not the 1:41:15 that I was really doing. I just kept going by feel. Yet, on a normal marathon day, I should be between 1:40 to 1:42 to be on pace, so nothing was really off.
I started to lose my focus at about mile 15. I needed a bathroom and couldn't find one. I think I went about a mile and a half before the off course bathrooms showed up. I didn't like that we had to leave the course to use the port-a-potties, but it is what it is. I was able to get focus back again after that and my second half of the marathon was mentally stronger than the first. The goal was to try to maintain either a 7:50 something to a 8:30 pace the rest of the way. All I knew was I needed to get to mile 20 to see my next person.
I don't remember when I started walking through water stops, maybe mile 18 or so, but then I would get enough to make it to the next one since my legs were starting to hurt. Once I got to mile 20, I started looking for Drew and Rachel. I knew they had Oreos and I didn't care. When I saw Rachel, I just really needed a hug to get through the rest. It was working. I ran the next two miles at a pretty good pace and had to maintain just a 9 minute mile to finish under 3:40.
Then, it happened. The same knee that acted up a few weeks ago during my half, really started hurting. I was afraid to push it because I thought it would just fall apart and I wouldn't be able to finish. I had stopped to stretch a bit, even at one point asking a lady to use her arm so I could balance to do a hamstring stretch, but nothing was working. So there was quite a bit of walking and shuffling and running the last 4 miles. I tried to find other people that were hurting to run with. I did find one guy who said his calves were cramping. We made a deal to run to the mile 24 water stop, then he told me to just keep going when he stopped. I was able to run about .25 miles and walk .10-.15. I wanted to run the last mile, and I did run most of it. I ran until 25.35, then walked to 25.5, then tried to run and shuffle the rest of the way. My quads were really in pain, but that I could deal with.
Seeing the finish line area was the absolute best. Anytime I run a marathon, my focus is always on the finish, and the fan support at the end was great. The song that came on ipod right at mile 26 and to the finish was Shake It Out by Taylor Swift. Lots of things going through my mind at that point. I was so happy to finish in under 4 hours. My goal times in all of 2013 were to get BQ times, but I'm not in that place anymore. I always just want to run the best race that I can on any given day. I never know what is going to happen. 26.2 miles is very unforgiving and injuries and pain, well, it happens.
At some point, I want to challenge myself to get the 3:30 time I was chasing last year, but for now, I am very content to be in the 3:40's. It has been a very difficult year for marathons with so many injuries and setbacks, but I am very thankful that I was able to run Boston and Chicago. In the end, the times don't matter, it's the family and friends that supported me to those finishes.
That wraps up the 2014 year. Time to get ready for Disney in early January.
