Chicago Marthon - I DID IT!

Painful. Elated. Sore. Accomplished. Emotional. Wreck. These are all of the words, and then some, that I would use to describe yesterday's Chicago Marathon.

Of course, alot of these words probably wouldn't even be an issue if I had trained properly for this race. I signed up with good intentions, and had even began training with a running group about 2 months out, but shin splints caused both physical and mental damage and I was down for the count and unable to get back up to the amount of mileage that was being ran by the time I was able to step foot to the pavement again. And although a sprint triathlon 4 weeks out and a half-marathon with a PR 3 weeks out were possible, they just weren't enough to make this marathon any easier on me.

The night before I sat on the bed in the hotel room and really began questioning my ability to pull it off. It had also been a busy day since we landed in Chicago at around 7:00 that morning. A lot of walking, going to the expo, having lunch, walking some more, and trying to keep ourselves warm in the brisk, 40 degree, downtown weather left me a little drained in more ways than one. I even thought that I might be coming down with something as I laid in bed - feeling like the last thing in the world I wanted to do the next morning was get up and run 26.2 miles.

That night I woke up probably every hour - par for the course for me on the night before any big event. At 5:00 a.m. we got up, took a shower, put on our gear, and headed out the door. The low of the morning was to be around 30 degrees, but stepping outside it wasn't too terribly bad. We had about an hour and a half to walk to the start line (just a 1/2 mile or so away), do any last minute pottying, drop a bag of gear to change into after the race (the high was to be around 50 degrees, and standing around in wet, sweaty clothes would have been mighty uncomfortable).

Me and the rest of the crew - about 6 of us total - lined up on the corral and waited for the gun to go off at 7:30. It took about 7 minutes to get from where we stood to the start line, but after that we were off. With 45,000 people, it was hard to find a good, steady pace, but by a mile or two in my feet had thawed enough and the crowd had thinned out somewhat, which made things easier.

I was going along at a pretty good pace and doing my normal mathematical calculations in my head. At the 6 mile mark I thought, "Okay, just 20 more miles to go - or about 4 more of what you just did." At the 8 mile mark it became just 3 more of what I just did. That was totally do-able. At the halfway mark - the 13.1 miles that make up the 8 prior half marathons that I accomplished, having to do ONE MORE of what I had just done seemed a little harder. I'm pretty sure it was a mind thing rather than physical, because at mile 14 I remember distinctly thinking that this had been the furthest I had ever run. EVER.

I started off doing my 6/1 intervals, but it was around this time that I went down to 4/1. I kept thinking of how someone once told me that at mile 17 a lot of runners "hit the wall" and I was preparing myself mentally for that not to happen. At mile 16 however, I had to tell myself not to cry - although physically I was still feeling good for the most part. I got past the infamous 17 mile wall okay, and even bypassed said wall with no problem. At 18, the thoughts of wanting to cry crept up again, but I was able to push them back down somehow.

The next 5 miles are kind of a blur. This is probably a good thing, as acquiring PTSD isn't something that I really wanted to get while running this race. I do recall though having to back down the intervals to 4/2, and at some pointing having to cut back even less to running one song (I ALWAYS run with an ipod) and walking one song.

At mile 23, I lost it. Physically I was in a lot of pain, and mentally I was shot. I can't recall the exact moment it started, but for about a quarter of a mile or so after that mile I cried. I also looked down at my feet and noticed the left side of my left shoe had been saturated with blood. This had happened before, so I wasn't too concerned. Plus, ironically, this was one of the few parts of my foot (feet) that weren't in excrutiating pain, so I put it out of my mind.

After the tears dried up the last 5k was simply a whirlwind of emotion. There was no way I was quitting a marathon with only 3 miles to go. Could I finish in the 6 hours alloted to finish? Would I still get a medal if I didn't? How much more time do I have? If I walk at this pace for the last three miles, would that cut it? Why it is that walking is just as painful as running? I walked more than ran, and when I did run it was for a minute or two at the most.

At one point I passed a "ONE MILE TO GO" sign and looked at my watch to see that I had 20 minutes to reach the finish line in under the 6 hour mark. I used to do quite a bit of training on my treadmill, so I know what a 17 mile pace (a 3.5 level) feels like. I tried to make sure that at the very minimum I walked at that same pace, but didn't want to take any chances and somehow during the last mile I was able to run more than I had the 3 or 4 miles prior.

Rounding a corner just before the 26 mile marker there is a large hill. I had heard of this hill in the past, and at this point I believe I had 10 minutes or so to finish. .2 miles in 10 minutes? Gravy. I power-walked the hill because there was no way I could run up it, and at the crest near the top where you make your final turn and can actually SEE the FINISH LINE, I started to run again. From that point on, I ran through the finish line and got an official time of 5:55:04. I DID IT!

It wasn't long before I started crying again. Yes, I was in a pretty good amount of pain - probably a 6 or 7 on a scale to 10 - but mostly I was completely overwhelmed and overcome with the emotion of having had just completed a 26.2 mile race. No, I hadn't trained much for it. And yes, a lot of people gave me flack and questioned if and why I would want to do this to myself. But in the end, every pain, tear, drop of sweat, moment of anguish, grimace, and ache was totally worth it.

So... I sit here now, approximately 31 hours after crossing the finish line, and there are very few parts of my body which I can say are not sore. There are body parts that are sore that I didn't even know I HAD! Yet, the question that I have had asked of me - and that which I have asked myself - is will I ever do it again? Well... knowing that my less-than-stellar time had more to do with my lack of training rather than my abilities, I know that I can do better. So, being the overachiever that I am, I would say that, yes, I probably will do it again. And although I don't have any children of my own, I liken the pain that I am experiencing right now, and the thought of doing this again, to childbirth. I've heard it been said that by the time you're pregnant with your second (or third), that you have forgotten all about the pain of your first and that it is all worth it regardless of the physical stress. I would have to say that at this point, I'm not looking to birth another marathon - but I'm not quite ready to get my tubes tied either.

Chicago Marathon

Well, it's 3 days until the Chicago Marathon, which will hopefully be my first FULL marathon - if I can complete it. From previous posts, you can already see that I have trained very little for this event and, quite honestly, haven't ran a lick since the USAF Half Marathon nearly 3 weeks ago.

Here are a couple of things that I feel will keep me going.

1: I am a DETERMINED person. My very first half-marathon, I hurt my foot somehow around mile 7 and, in terrible pain and with tears streaming down my face, I managed to finish the last 6.1 miles. This is not the story of someone who easily gives up.

2: I have a positive mindset. My third half-marathon took place during my second year of graduate school. With a full time job, internship, a house and dog to maintain, and a full case load at school, there was little time left over to train for a 13.1 miler. However, this did not stop me and I succeeded in completing the run with absolutely no prior training that season at all.

3: I have a "plan." Since adopting the run/walk method (6 minute run, one minute walk), I have completed two half marathons and had a course PR and overall PR on each race. I feel better throughout and after the run, and get less fatigued with this method. I also think more about the minutes I have left to run rather than the miles, so taking these "baby steps/goals" seems much more feasible than thinking "26 miles." I CAN DO THIS!

4: I've already told so many people that I'm running this marathon so if I don't complete it, I will look like a total wienie.

5: If for some reason I absolutely, positively, cannot go on and I end up a DNF, then THAT is the worst case scenario. I did not finish. I'm not gonna die, humanity will not end, the wolves won't come out and eat me - I just don't finish! But hey, at least I had the courage to start.