Chicago Marathon

I registered for the Chicago marathon back in February just a few weeks before it sold out.  At that point, I had only had the clearance to start running again for about a month.  When I registered, I still wasn't even able to do my "typical" weekday runs of 2 loops around the neighborhood (about 4 miles).  Since January, I had started off walking and had been adding the running in a bit at a time following a run/walk program to ensure I took it easy and didn't injure myself.

But having running taken away from me for so long after the accident had been really hard and I felt like I was physically ready to go back to it as long as I took it easy and didn't over train.  The Chicago marathon was certainly on my marathon bucket list and was at a good time of year for me, so I went for it.

Once we landed and got settled in, the first thing we did was make our way over to the convention center where the race expo was being held.  The expo was HUGE.  The only big race expos I've ever been to are the Houston and Austin marathon/half marathons.  This one blew them out of the water.  We spent several hours walking up and down the aisles, looking at all the new stuff from the top running vendors, trying on shoes, making a very impromptu purchase of a pair of Newtons, tasting new flavors of energy bars and gels, and just taking it all in. 

First stop: getting my race bib, time chip, shirt, and bag full o' goodies.  The first thing I did was step away from the counter, pop a squat, and filter out all the race crap that comes with your packet.

10-10-10: the date to motivate; these numbers were everywhere you looked

Let's be honest.  I was drawn in by the neon colors.  BUT, these seriously are one of the coolest pair of shoes I've put on my feet since like 8 years ago when I tried my first pair of Brooks (a style they unfortunately don't make anymore).  Unfortunately, I got these right before I got a plantar fasciitis injury which requires me to have a shoe with a bit more support than these offer because their whole thing is that the shoes mimic barefoot running.

Checking out a really cool tent that connects to the back of any type of back hatch-type vehicle.  This is right by where we saw Dean Karnazes.  I walked by and said, "Hey, is that Dean Karnazes?" and then realized we were at the The North Face's booth.  We later saw him again at Volkswagon which is where I was trying out this little tent thing.  His legs were crazy muscular.  I had coincidentally just read one of his books, so it was cool to see him in real life.

Pointing out my name on the huge wall shown below

Nike had a really cool slogan for the marathon: "We're all marathoners."  It is written across this wall and each person's name is printed on it.  It was pretty cool to think about how from the elite runners, to the veterans, to the first timers, we were all going to be out there doing the same 26.2.  (I don't know who Ryan McMurtrey is by the way.)

These were some cool shots I took at Mizouno's booth.  I especially liked them since we were from out of town and didn't really know what to expect for the race.

 

Running this marathon was one of the most surreal experiences of my life.  I've got many distance training runs, trail runs, and races under my belt to come to expect some kind of discomfort, fatigue, mental weariness, and/or pain at some point.  I didn't experience any of these during this marathon.  Seriously.  Not one.  Each and every step of the way was exciting, pain-free, energizing, peaceful, and just all around wonderful.  I loved every second of it.  I started my watch at the beginning of the race, but was barely cognizant of the time let alone splits (I stopped taking them at some point even).  I even lost count of what mile we were on.  I found myself having to ask people around me.  I don't know if a marathon experience like this can ever be duplicated again, but I will treasure it always because it was so wonderful.  Throw in the fact that I did it after overcoming so much physical adversity, it was truly euphoric.

Chicago is a great marathon to run, and I hope to be able to do it again sometime with Adam as well (and anyone else who wants to join!)

AND NOW ... a few pics from the day of the race! 

As we arrived to Grant Park where the race would begin.  We got there pretty early because I had read stuff about the trains being busy race day morning and I wanted to avoid that.  It didn't remain quiet and dark like this for long.

Waiting for the start!

On the left side of the light poles, you see onlookers and supporters.  On the right side of the poles, you see runners lined up ready to begin.  This is 3 blocks away from the starting line.

Adam was on the upper street level to get this shot.  It was just before mile 2.

I am the blurry runner in pink with my hands up.  (You know, the one that the big pink arrow is pointing to.)  Adam and I somehow miraculously locked in to see each other for the first time during the race here.  He was up on the upper level of the street where he was when he took the previous picture.  I was down on the lower level of the street on the opposite side of the road.  It was really exciting to see him way up there while I was down below.

A cool shot Adam got of runners crossing a bridge.  The bridges were not solid concrete.  They had a cattle guard kind of a feel to them.  You can see a picture of them back in the mile 4.5 picture above.

I had to get the camera and turn it on Adam, my number one supporter.  :)  We were lucky to see each other 5-6 times over the course of the race.  The trains make it really easy for family members and friends supporting runners to be able to see them many times over the course.  Adam began to become familiar with the pack of runners I was around and their matching family members and knew when I was getting close.

See!  Really, I'm smiling!  This is last time I saw Adam during the run.  The last marathon I ran I was sooo cranky by this mile in the marathon.  My brother can testify!  Sorry Chris!

After another quick chat and kiss from Adam, I'm off to finish!

Not the greatest quality pic because I nabbed it from the race photography site.  I'm all wet across my shoulders because they were handing out iced-down towels.  Everyone was talking about the heat that day.  It topped out somewhere in the 80s, but didn't get as hot as the record setting 88 degree high in 2007.  Seriously, after training all summer in Houston's heat and humidity, it felt like awesome running temps to me.

After the race, relaxing at Grant Park.  We enjoyed post race snackies, Gatorade, free beer, warm sunshine, and laying the grass.  The sign I'm holding back is one that Adam made for me stemming from an inside joke that my sisters-in-law, Melanie and Lisa, had developed.  We used these words over the course of the summer to keep each motivated towards our running goals.  You might recognize them from the movie Galaxy Quest.  Which if you've never seen it, 1) you should and 2) upon seeing it, you will understand why it is spelled that way.

This is how good I felt after finishing the marathon.  I could do this pain-free.  I actually did it lots of times in fact because, as you probably know, it often takes several tries to get the "just right" jumping in the air photo. :)  

This blog post has seriously taken me weeks to finish and I know it's really long, so I know if you got through it all, you must 1) really love to run or 2) think I'm the coolest, most interesting person ever.  Or maybe a bit of both ;)

So, Chicago is officially crossed off my marathon bucket list, but I would love to do it again some day.  2011 won't be that year however because the month is already kind of booked if you can believe it.