Chicago Marathon Race Recap

Marathon #2 is officially under my belt! And everything below my belt really hurts. Come to think of it, stuff above my belt hurts too. Who knew that your delts, shoulders and abs were used so much in running!?

Here's the official story of the 2008 Chicago Marathon....

Since Chelsea and her mom were heading out for a relaxing Florida vacation, we carpooled to KCI Saturday morning, and the fashion of perfect timing, I walk through security long enough to say hello to a couple fellow KCM and CHI runners and get on the plane. I slept almost the whole way there.

I hopped on the blue line to head downtown, chatting with a fellow marathoner along the way. I was trying to coordinate with Team Madison the best place to meet up, since I was having a bit of trouble finding the hotel. Next thing I know, I look over my shoulder to see IPOD, Sean-O and Uncle Timmy! Surprise! Tim came to cheer us on! (By the way, I think there are still some pants on fire - and you know who you are!!)

We headed down to McCormick Place for packet pick up and the expo. There was tons to see, and lots to shop for! It seemed like any and every bigtime marathon had a booth. I felt compelled to sign up for Dublin, Paris, Barcelona, Rome - and many more! My brother Ryan got a chance to meet Brian Sell - and Ry even finished before him in the race! :-)

Needless to say, an event like this isn't meant for 3 young boys - but we made the best of it. And eventually, a tired and hungry crew headed back to the Hyatt. Tim and I got to handle the munchkins during dinner as Ry and Tash went to the Team in Training pasta party. And, needless to say, they made a mess - but thats what boys were made for right!? That, and birth control for their aunt. :-) I love 'em, but I also love to give 'em back! When we met Ryan and Tash after their dinner, I ran into a sorority sister in the hotel lobby. Talk about small world! Good to see you Shelly!

The night in the over-crowded hotel room was interesting - but luckily I've got a great family and we can all handle each other, even in close quarters. I stayed patient for the most part, until I woke up for the 4th time with a heel in my ribs. Apparently Ian doesn't understand you need a good night's sleep before a race!

5 am quickly rolled around, and Ryan and I were taking care of our pre-race rituals. All the boys (especially Sean) wanted to do was go to the Z.O.O. instead of the race. Luckily I just had to run, and not take care of them. I'm pretty sure that's more exhausting! We headed downstairs to meet the Cheesey TNT crew to walk/warm up to the start line. En route, I run into an old friend from college - who I didn't even know was a runner! Turns out we were planning on running the same pace, so I had someone to hang out with until the starting gun.

So Kim and I (and her friend from high school, Jessie) head to the 4:45 Nike Pace Group in the start corral. We befriend Emily and all start out the race together. They said that 45,000 people were entered in the race. I had no idea the vastness of that amount of people, until I saw the lines at the portapotties. Wow. And seriously, how fair is it that all the guys were able to stop under the first bridge to relieve themselves!? That could be the one time I really wish I was a man. Sheesh.

The first couple miles were really tight. Eventually the crowd thinned a bit, but I still had to bob and weave around people the entire race. I tried to concentrate on starting slow, and keeping my pace so I could hit my goal time. Luckily I had the girls there to keep me occupied. At about mile .3, I realized I had forgotten my inhalor! I always do this!!! At one point, I even stopped at the med tent, only to learn that they didn't have any albuterol. Bummer. Luckily my heart rate stayed low and there were no hills to really challenge my breathing.

I think I saw Team Madison and Tim about Mile 3, and not again the entire race. Bummer. Luckily, we ran into Emily's family a couple times, so that was a nice pick me up. Its so great how you can befriend someone totally random in a race, and learn their life story in a few hours. It sure makes the time pass!

I hit the first wall right at about the half mark. My lungs and head were still in it, but my feet were really hurting. I think I hit about 3 more walls before the end of the race. The 80-degree day definitely didn't help, but thank goodness I'm used to the heat. 80 is nothing when you're used to a KC summer! With the heat, a cold cup of water poured on my head felt great!! I enjoyed that several times on the second half of the race. I wasn't happy though, when some of the aid station kids threw water on a guy requesting it, missed him and hit me - right in the shoe! Soggy shoe in a marathon is not fun people! Let me warn you right now!

It was really neat to run through all the different Chicago neighborhoods. Ethnicity really comes to life in a big city. Major props to Pilsen for being the most memorable. At about mile 22, I could tell I still had more juice left than Emily. She had to use her energy to fight off the Bowel Monster. Poor girl. (Ah, runners conversation...funny how it usually revolves around poop.) So I took off, hoping to see her at the finish.

I must say, I'm very proud of my performance! Until the last couple miles, I only walked through the aid stations. Hooray for me! I struggled a bit more at the end, but I was able to pick up my pace a decent amount. At just past mile 25, I saw that I need to run a 9:00 mile to make my goal time, so I tried to pick it up as much as I could. But I had nothing left to give. Right at the 26 mile mark, I fought this stupid hill - and it almost won! But my mental toughness won out! As soon as I turned the corner and saw the finish line, all the pain went away. (Temporarily.) I felt great, ecstatic and so proud of myself as I trotted down the chute. Way to go Marathon Girl!!!

As a side note - thanks to my motivation during the rough parts: abscesses and abusers. Couldn't have gotten through it without giving you all the pain in my legs and letting you know I was way better than you!

After I crossed the finish line, and drank some more (ugh) yellow gatorade, I started stumbling a little bit. I'm surprised I didn't lose my balance! Luckily I stood my ground! I made it through the finishing area to meet Team Madison - a very welcome sight for sore legs. I just wish I could have fit in the stroller! The one part that sucks about being the slow one in the family... when you finish, everyone else has had plenty of recovery time and is ready to get on the road. So I only had a couple minutes to change my shoes before we starting walking the 85 miles back to the Hyatt. Ok, so it was a couple blocks, but it felt like FOREVER! (Like the For.Ev.Ver. from the Sandlot. Mmm. Now I want s'more. Smore what you ask!?)

Beers, burgers and fries definitely were necessary post-race. Until we made it back to Schaumburg - my Sunday night celebration spot - for pizza and ice cream. Who knew you needed to eat so much after running 26.2 miles and burning 4,050 calories?!

Here's the numbers...

(From the official email...) Congratulations from Bank of America for finishing the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon! Your recorded finish time was 5:02:43 and you placed 20018 out of 31,401 finishers.

Bib#: 42971
TIME
5K: 0:34:39
10K: 1:09:07
15K: 1:44:03
20K: 2:18:47
HALF: 2:26:13
25K: 2:55:54
30K: 3:32:41
35K: 4:10:39
40K: 4:48:15
FINISH: 5:02:43

Clock: 5:19:16
Pace / mile: 11:32
Placement Overall: 20029
Gender: 7490
Division: 1978