The marathon that wasn't, finally happened. As my second full marathon, I thought that so many things should be familiar. And yet in the weeks leading up, my emotions were flying just as bad if not worse than my first.
The first was personally a huge achievement. But my first wasn't Chicago. It wasn't another major. It wasn't the hometown race. Being able to finally run the course that I dreamt of running for so long was quite simply unbelievable. I say that for a number of reasons.
It was a personal dream fulfilled. Simply being able to retrace steps that I took the expo last year, but knowing I was going to line up on that starting line... awesome!
It was my first race where I attempted to fundraise for a charity, Team LiveSTRONG. One of my favorite parts of running a large race, is connecting to people that I would have never met otherwise. Through LiveSTRONG I met several folks from Austin, some from St Louis, some from Chicago. All with one common goal. Different people from different walks of life, united for one purpose. On race day, I wore a LiveSTRONG hat. I didn't have my name on my singlet. But I did hear so many cheers of "Go LiveSTRONG!" as I passed. That helped so much at mile 7 and was a life saver at mile 23. Thank you to my amazing donors for making that possible!
It was an experience that I was able to share with new friends in person. LiveSTRONG was one part of that. Random encounters with random people at the expo, on the course, at a random restaurant for dinner. Typical stuff for any race. Still always a joy to meet people who "have never been this far north before" and "wow, that's a lake? It looks like an ocean".
And then there's Oiselle. My Flock singlet sat in the box it arrived in. I pulled it out to try it on, but decided I'd keep it in there until the race. I actually packed that box with it in my suitcase. Being able to pull it out and wear it itself made me feel proud.
I never ran track in high school. I never did anything active in high school. So for the first time in any athletic endeavor, I was racing for a team. A team that churned out several PR's and even a few olympic trials qualifiers! A team where some of those PR's were in my 4+ hr range. A team that celebrates every athlete from the elite to the recreational.
Around mile 8, my shin started to nag me. Along the course I ran into Beth at mile 12 with an awesome sign screaming her heart out "GO OISELLE!!" What shin pain?? At 14: "oh that shin pain". By 17, I was almost keeled over when came upon Oiselle Cowbell Corner where Cindi and Kelly were cheering along. The pain didn't exactly go away, but something in that brief moment and the hug I got from Cindi made me pull it together and do a better job of putting the pain behind me. My pace was far behind what some of the other birds put together. But the love I felt was all the same.
It also happened that I ran across another one of my Flockmates somewhere around 20, Leslie. I never met her before, but she was rocking the same singlet I had. We didn't spend much time together, but we traded some stories for a half mile or so.
And when the race was over, there was an after party for hosted by a the PRS Jacksonville Running Club. One of the members of the club, runs for Oiselle and invited all the other Oiselle birds to join in. I met a good handful of people from their club, but a number of other Oiselle team runners as well. We traded stories about the day, next races, and enjoyed a few beverages. There was unity in that day, not division based on finishing time or running resumes. The team spirit of these girls is such a beautiful thing, it's a team that I'm so happy to be a part of.
It was an experience that I was able to share with old friends in person. Going into the weekend I knew that my plans would make it impossible to plan exact times to see friends that were also running. But it was so crazy to run into so many people at the expo, at the CARA gear check on race day.
Around mile 8, my shin started to nag me. Along the course I ran into Beth at mile 12 with an awesome sign screaming her heart out "GO OISELLE!!" What shin pain?? At 14: "oh that shin pain". By 17, I was almost keeled over when came upon Oiselle Cowbell Corner where Cindi and Kelly were cheering along. The pain didn't exactly go away, but something in that brief moment and the hug I got from Cindi made me pull it together and do a better job of putting the pain behind me. My pace was far behind what some of the other birds put together. But the love I felt was all the same.
It also happened that I ran across another one of my Flockmates somewhere around 20, Leslie. I never met her before, but she was rocking the same singlet I had. We didn't spend much time together, but we traded some stories for a half mile or so.
And when the race was over, there was an after party for hosted by a the PRS Jacksonville Running Club. One of the members of the club, runs for Oiselle and invited all the other Oiselle birds to join in. I met a good handful of people from their club, but a number of other Oiselle team runners as well. We traded stories about the day, next races, and enjoyed a few beverages. There was unity in that day, not division based on finishing time or running resumes. The team spirit of these girls is such a beautiful thing, it's a team that I'm so happy to be a part of.
It was an experience that I was able to share with old friends in person. Going into the weekend I knew that my plans would make it impossible to plan exact times to see friends that were also running. But it was so crazy to run into so many people at the expo, at the CARA gear check on race day.
One event that I did plan was our Cancer to 5K team joining a shakeout run Saturday with Bart Yasso and Deena Kastor. Our group wasn't huge, but it was great to share that marathon excitement with Rich and Aisha as they continue to prep for their goal race, the Hot Chocolate Chicago 5k. Rich and I even headed to the expo together where he was wow'd by the size of everything.
And on the course, I saw Crystal and a few others cheering at 13. I saw Pat and others from the Naperville Marathon team managing an aid station around 15. I know others from BFRC were there around 23, I just didn't see them. My CARA pace team also decided to mostly run together. I thought I had a faster day than that, so I ran ahead early but was able to spend a few with them --until some passed me later.
It was an experience that I was able to share old friends online. Running friends pretty much dominate my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds. So many of them I know were training for so long for this race --for many their first. Seeing so many pics of commutes in, race outfits, course pictures, and of course everyone flashing their medal was wonderful! Many of those people I didn't see in person over the weekend. But I knew they were out there, on the same course I was.
And I had a HUGE PR! The weather was absolutely perfect for a marathon. GI issues were non-existent.
And the crowd was something else. Some areas were WAY more packed than others, but there really wasn't ever a stretch without somebody cheering. I cheered this race a number of times, so I had a small idea of that. I heard stories from friends. But, in all my races, I've never seen anything like that. Especially for 26 miles.
In fact, the only thing that really worked against me was my left limb. But I managed to drag it along and finish with 4:33:15, a new PR by 22:30.
So what's next? I wanted more out out myself but still very happy with how things ended. I still feel that there's another 10 minutes that can come off that PR if everything goes right. I'm going to walk a balance of recovery and training again. Now with sights set on the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in November - 2 weeks away.
I also registered for Country Music in Nashville in April and Rockford in May.
Yeah that "don't sign up for you next until until you forgot the last" thing. Please.... Hello #3, #4, and #5!
But one thing's for certain, it's these reasons that I'll be back for Chicago 2015 and I plan to be faster!
