26.2 - chicago

sunday, i set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. i wanted to get up to eat a granola bar, drink some water, and have time to get ready to head to the city without rushing around. i woke up feeling pretty refreshed. i usually don't sleep well the night before a race, but i had gotten quite a bit of sleep (relatively speaking).

eric dropped amy and i off at amanda's hotel around 6 a.m. the lobby was full of chatty marathoners. we sat and talked to a guy from canada that was shooting for a 2:59 (or better) finish. i loved hearing about his experiences! several people asked me what my goal was and i always said, "just to finish."

we got down to the starting line around 6:30 and stood in the long line for about 30 minutes to use the porta potties. it was freezing! i was wearing several layers (including 2 pairs of gloves) and my teeth were still chattering! i think it was about 32 degrees.

40,000 runners was quite the site to see! helicopters hovering over the crowd. i started thinking about how thankful i was to be in the crowd. thankful that God gave me a healthy body to be able to run in this marathon. thankful for the opportunity to experience all of this. thankful that He gives me so many things to enjoy in this life. i started crying and quickly decided i needed to pull it together, so i could run.

the gun went off at 7:30 and 15-20 minutes later we crossed the starting line. i stayed with amanda until mile 4 and then decided it was too hard to stay together anymore. i was too busy dodging clothes that people were shedding (so many clothes - the fences and streets were lined with them!) and watching out for pot holes in the road.

we went through a tunnel during the first mile and i lost my signal to my garmin. it was acting really funny and i knew then that it wasn't going to work. i guess in some ways it was good because i wasn't preoccupied by checking my pace all the time, but i also wonder if it would have helped me to stay on track?

at mile 3, i heard someone say "this is where people started to fall apart in 2007." they were referring to the year that the marathon was canceled due to record heat and so many runners were passing out. we were definitely having a different experience - my feet and legs felt numb until around mile 5 or 6.i had to go to the bathroom (again), and kept looking for porta potties with a short line. finally at mile 13, i found one and went. my 1/2 time was right around 2:10 and i was feeling great. i felt really good until mile 18. mentally, it was hard to see so many people walking. miles 18-21 were tough and i had slowed down quite a bit, but i kept plugging along. during miles 22-25, i walked at the water stops and that helped quite a bit. mile 25 seemed to last forever.

the finish line! so awesome to see the finish line w/the backdrop of the tall buildings in chicago. i thought about the things i wished for my mom and how i wished she was there. i started to cry again. i ended up finishing in 5:04. my other marathons were within minutes of that time. so, i guess i am consistent.
in some ways, i wish i would have aimed a little higher and run a pr. i just really wanted to take it all in and enjoy running the streets of chicago. i definitely achieved that! i was overwhelmed with gratitude the whole time. i think i cried about 4 times. wow...it was way more emotional than i expected it to be. everything about the experience was amazing. it was definitely my favorite marathon and i can't wait to do another one!

thanks so much to all of you for your encouragement along the way! i thought of all of you while i ran. (*jane, i thought about you meeting your baby girl for the first time and how wonderful that must have been!)