The Marathon Experience

Alright, this is going to be a long one...

My race day started at 4:30 am. Wait, back up, I guess things really started at 8:30 the night before when I went to bed and had restless sleep for about 4 and a half hours. Once I finally fell into a deep sleep, I promptly woke up from a nightmare that I had woken up and it was 9:45am, and I had missed the start of the marathon (Seinfeld anyone?). After waking up Marc to have him assure me it was really only 3:30 am, I fell back asleep for an hour.

We walked to the start line from our hotel, and it was kind of surreal because although it was still dark out and 5:45am on a Sunday, there were lots of people out doing the same thing we were. After seeing the start line, we headed to charity village, where Susan G. Komen had a tent sent up as a meeting place for all their runners. I was able to avoid long gear check lines and just leave my stuff there. Marc's parents met us there, and soon it was time to head over to the starting line.

I was antsy to get to my start area and find my pace team, but once I got there, it was a lot of waiting. There was still a half hour until start time, and then another 20+ minutes until I moved up to the start line. The energy and crowd were amazing though. Nothing like it. I'm glad I had that long wait time to soak everything in. In the process of everyone moving up to the starting line though, I got separated from my pace leaders. They ended up behind me, but I figured they might end up catching up to me with bathroom breaks and aid station stops.

Well, little did I know, it's pretty hard to reunite with another runner in a marathon (go figure, right?) So, I just started keeping track of my splits on my own, and actually was doing a pretty good job of running fairly even 11:30 min/mile splits on my own. I saw Marc and his parents at mile 2, and it was actually pretty easy to find them in the crowd. It was then time to head north on the course. There was a pretty good crowd the whole way up and back, and I also managed to find Vlade (a fellow Legends employee) along the way for a high five. On the way back downtown was when it started to get hot. I felt ok though, and just made sure that I was getting plenty to drink at each aid station and run in the shade when possible.

Once I was back downtown, I saw Marc and his parents again before heading out west. I was still feeling ok, but I could tell it was starting to get hotter and hotter. I somehow missed my parents at mile 14, but did get a good cheer from the people of Komen at the charity block party. When I started to head back east was when things started to turn less than ideal. It was about mile 15, and since I was drinking more than I normally would at each aid station to try and stay hydrated, I was starting to get that sloshing feeling in my stomach and it was making me kind of nauseous. Yuck. By mile 16, my walking at aid stations was lasting longer and longer, but I pushed on to see Marc and his parents again a little before mile 17.

After mile 18 was when things got really bad. There had been an aid station a little before that mile marker, and then we headed on a stretch down Ashland. Somewhere along this stretch, the heat and sun really got me. There was no shade at all and the temperature had climbed into the 80's. I started to walk, and as I did, I started feeling really weary and felt like I had the chills. I just remember thinking, "Great, I know there's not an aid station coming up because I just passed one." I really wasn't sure how I was going to keep going. Then, I came to what I believe (according to my blurry memory and Google maps) was the Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church. These kind folks had a little card table set up in front of their church and were handing out cups of ice water and ice. I promptly took one of each, drank the ice water, and just held the ice on my head and let it melt. I still felt horrible, but instantly felt better and knew I would at least be able to keep on walking. I walked for a while, stopped to stretch out my legs that were starting to cramp up because I wasn't running, and remembered that my fantastic sister-in-law/friend was going to be at mile 19 with a sign. :) So I slowly started to run again, and I got a small burst of energy seeing Elizabeth and Devon on the corner of 18th and Ashland.

The sloshing stomach and heat were still getting the best of me though, so I did a lot of walking between there and about mile 20.5 where I knew my friends Natalie and Jenny were waiting to jump in and run with me. Although I still felt terrible, it was SOOO good to see some more familiar faces and know that they were going to be with me for awhile. We ran slowly for a bit, and then walked for, well, awhile. I just couldn't run. It wasn't even my legs that were bothering me, it was just the heat draining everything out of me. We got close to mile 23 where Natalie and Jenny had planned to jump back out, but they offered to stay in with me until mile 25 where Marc, Elizabeth, & Devon were waiting. I was so incredibly thankful for that. Although we did a lot of walking in those miles, it definitely helped to have people with me to talk to. Otherwise I would have spent those miles beating myself up mentally for walking and just getting down about how things were going.

Once we hit mile 24, I knew we were going to be seeing Marc, Elizabeth, & Devon soon, and after that it was only one more mile, so I decided to start running again. That mile was pretty eventful as we had a wonderful Chicago rat run in front of us! I wouldn't even call it scurrying across. He literally came out onto the street, was kind of looking around, and then slowly started making his way back to the curb. We had to jump over him to avoid stepping on him! Definitely gave me a slight adrenaline rush to keep running!

As we made our way to mile 25, I found my friend Anne along Michigan Ave. who had borrowed a pair of running shoes from her aunt that lived there and jumped in to run a few blocks too! Her excitment for me gave me another push to keep going!

Natalie, Jenny, & Anne jumped out when we got to Marc, Elizabeth, & Devon, and I knew I only had a mile to go. There was a HUGE crowd at the turn onto Roosevelt, which little did I know, my parents were in. For those that aren't familiar with the Chicago Marathon course, the very end of the course turns east onto Roosevelt, where there is a "hill" where the road crosses the railroad tracks below. Once you get over this hill, you turn left onto Columbus, and are within 200 feet of the finish line. It's right there. So this "hill" is the like the final obstacle. It doesn't seem like that big of a hill just looking at it, but when you're running, and have 25 miles behind you, it's a bit obstacle.

I had decided months ago that I wanted "3 to 10" by Lucky Boys Confusion to be playing on my iPod when I crossed the finish line. Many of you know I am a huge LBC fan and have been to many, many of their shows. This song is the song they always end with, and it has a lot of energy. So as I was about to turn onto Roosevelt, I skipped to that song in my playlist.

The next part was really surreal for me. As I went up the hill I remember thinking, "Just get to the top and you're pretty much done." I also remember hearing "Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash playing in the crowd, and the trees along Roosevelt had little yellow leaves that were falling like snow. I know it sounds cheesy, but it felt like something from a movie.

I made it to the top, and as I turned the corner and saw the finish line, I definitely got choked up. There was no problem finding the energy to keep going then. The crowd was screaming, and I was about to finish a marathon. After my finish line photo experience in the Shamrock Shuffle, I made sure that no one was directly in front of me so the finish line camera could see my bib number (that's how you find your picture). I crossed that finish line, and couldn't believe it was over. I had finished the Chicago Marathon.

After getting my medal and collecting my free food and water, I headed to the designated meet-up spot. My in-laws were the only ones there at first, and although I was feeling a little bit down about my time, their excitement to see me finish made me feel better. My parents came over next, and then everyone who was at mile 25 came over. We took lots of pictures, and then everyone headed home or back to their hotel. Marc and I headed back to the Komen tent, where a few other Komen runners were hanging out. I got some Gatorade and snacks, we took some pictures together, and then headed back to the hotel. (I must share that I was willing to walk back to the hotel, but it was my husband who insisted we take a cab because his legs were beat from walking all over the city...) :)

After showering up, I headed down to one of the conference rooms where I was able to get a 1/2 hour massage, compliments of Susan G. Komen (Yep, that's it, now you all know my true motivation for fund raising! Just kidding of course!). It was the greatest thing ever. I was still definitely sore, but felt a lot better. We then headed out for dinner with my parents to celebrate the marathon, and my mom's belated birthday. And then it was time for bed. At 7:45. Yes, you read that right. :)

Stay tuned for one more post tomorrow (if you made it to the end of this one). I feel like there's a lot of stuff I still have to say about the experience, but I think you've read enough for now. :)