Wednesday, October 13, 2010

the chicago marathon | 10.10.10.

Redemption is sweet. No. Redemption is badass. I know, because I finally got it on Sunday at the Chicago marathon. All the hard work, the tears, the past failures, the mind numbing fear, the emotional and physical exhaustion of it all... it paid off. Finally. The third time really is the charm. I could go on and on with that stuff, but I won't. So here's the goods.

Official Chicago Marathon Finishing Time:
4:22:08

It was hot, really hot. At mile 20 we saw a Bank sign that said 86 degrees, at the finish line we heard 91 degrees. All the stupid hot and humid runs paid off for the Kansas girls. Our saving grace was that there was little humidity, so the heat was bearable. I have so much to say, so many pictures coming, and just so many thoughts that I don't know where to start.

I had the pleasure of running this race with a lot of friends, in all (with friends of friends and dad's) there were eight of us who all knew each other there running together. We even started together which was so much fun. It really helped calm my nerves honestly. Out of the eight, four of us had PRs, those are pretty great odds in my opinion. The fantastic news was that everyone had a great race, despite the heat. It was pretty incredible really.

So instead of blathering on and on, I'm just going to highlight it in a list, of course. Would I do it any other way? Later I'll try and post pictures and write stories, or maybe not. I'm still holding this race pretty close to my heart (which is the biggest reason I haven't posted on it yet), some things I just like to keep inside (believe it or not) and cherish.

So let's get listy.

10 Things From Chicago 10.10.10:
1. I ran that marathon with so much hope and work invested, and it paid off. I never once felt like I was pushing myself, I kept an easy pace and I had a blast. I wouldn't change a thing about how I ran it, or the time I got. I am beyond thrilled.

2. Snagging a 41 minute marathon PR. I'm still sort of in disbelief I did that, in all honestly I was expecting my time to be around 4:45.

3. Sharing this experience with remarkable women who I love dearly. This marathon will always mean a lot to me, it was a truly priceless experience.

4. Mile 10.3 or so, I had the chance to run over to my family who were there cheering us all on and stop (sort of) to say hi and smile at them. It was fantastic getting to really see them! I had called the Edder a few miles beforehand to see where they were going to be, so we could be prepared for a photo op of course, he assumed something went horribly wrong. I was thrilled to tell him all I wanted to know is where they were going to be. Then he was all... WHO CALLS SOMEONE DURING A MARATHON... um. Me. Because uh, just keep reading.

5. Like I mentioned, and as I'm sure a lot of you heard, Chicago was HOT. There were a lot of runners suffering that day, I heard a lot of ambulances, saw a lot of runners on the side of the road, saw some vomiting, limping and saw some tears. The looks on the faces alone were heart breaking for me. I can honestly say I wanted to run over to each and every one of those runners and give them a hug and tell them I know exactly how they felt... and that it would be okay, eventually. That the physical pain and bruised ego fade and it will be okay. Every time I heard an ambulance I cringed... I think that was the most difficult part of the marathon for me, seeing the carnage, knowing exactly what those runners were feeling. It was rough out there on Sunday.

6. Running through Boy's Town. Whooo do those boy's have some spirit, they can sure entertain some runners, hands down my favorite spot on the course! From their shortie shorts, to sparkly jazz hands, boas and batons, to the cheer routines. Just spectacularly hilarious and fun.

7. Calling my lovely and badass running buddy Hannah at mile 7.5 while she and the Wichita running group were around mile 5 in the Prairie Fire Marathon at home (that race started later than Chicago). Good stuff.

8. Seeing some great signs along the way, including a huge banner and stick heads of one guy asking a girl to marry him. Precious and heart melting. My other favorite sign was one that read "you are all very good at exercising." I laughed over that one for a good mile.

9. Calling The Lawyer a few minutes after finishing to tell her my time and just plain talk to her. Hearing her voice, her excitement for me, the squealing, it was all I needed to complete my finish. Period.

10. Crossing the finish line with a huge smile on my face.

29 comments:

Aron said...

this post makes me feel all warm inside <3 love love love it! there is nothing like all your hard work FINALLY paying off. so so so glad you had your day, you so deserved it. cant wait for the rest of the details and pics!

abbi said...

Awesomeness!! Congratulations! I loved your report. The signs you saw were great, would've loved to have seen the one with the guy proposing...oh, back to you...awesome!

Unknown said...

congratulations. i'm glad it was a great experience overall for you. :-)

misszippy said...

Awesome! What a great race report. And way to handle that heat--I would have melted!

Katie said...

CONGRATULATIONS!! I have been stalking your blog since before OKC and I am so glad you finally got that marathon you wanted! Awesome time inthe heat.

And I would totally want a guy to have that sign for me at a marathon... I actually envision being proposed to in front of Cinderella's castle during the Disney marathon. Yes I am a romantic why do you ask? LOL

Michel said...

I'm glad you had a great Chicago race experience! Congrats on your time!

2 Slow 4 Boston said...

Congratulations! I heard the Chicago Marathon got that hot several years ago and they actually stopped the race several hours into it cause everyone was dropping like flies. To PR like that in the heat is a testament to your training and perseverance.

teacherwoman said...

WOW! Congrats, girl, on your AWESOME-PR-REDEMPTION! Wahoo! What a great race report!

Q said...

Congrats, it sounds like you had a perfect race!

tiffany said...

i am just so proud of you.

p.s. i miss you.

J said...

Congrats on the awesome PR! That is great! I heard Chicago was hot but you got through it and did really well!

Lindsay said...

Whoo hoo way to go girl! Congrats on a huge PR and for running well in the heat. #4-lol. I don't know if I could muster the energy to use my phone! I would be in conservation/survival mode haha.

You are very good at exercising! Congrats again.

Laura said...

Great report and congrats!

Indi said...

So thrilled that you got such a great time and had such an awesome race!! Third time and Chi-town was the charm!! oh and tons of hard work :)

Marlene said...

GOOSEBUMPS! You did it!!! Celebrate for a very long time. Congrats!!! Sounds like a memorable day out there.

Jen Feeny said...

Awesome, awesome, awesome! Congrats on redemption girl!!!! I was looking for you, but never saw you. :(

Mark said...

Those are 10 pretty great things. Hopefully you're celebrating 10 times over as well :) Congrats again on a job well done. I knew you'd get that good marathon at some point. Really impressive in those temps too. Usually the only things you get from running a marathon in that kind of heat is heat stroke and a case of jungle ass. So kudos!

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

Wow you made lots of CALLS.. Crazy chick. I am a firm believer that RELAXING does amazing things for the mind and body. COngrats!! Redemption 333%

Lacy said...

Nothing better than a smile at the finish line. So happy for you bask in it as long as possible!

Hannah said...

Freaking love you. And, talking to you in a race (even if we couldn't be running together) was awesome. Many happy congrats, my sexy little badass!

Anonymous said...

I am sooooo happy for you!!! I followed your journey through heartbreak and I was so sure THIS would be your day, YOUR race...and it was! I am stoked for you. Hope you carry this feeling with you for a long time!!!

Questionably Texan said...

How did I miss this report? Guess I'm falling behind in blog-stalking.

Ace said...

Score more. Huge congrats. You've come a long way....amazing!

Irene said...

Holy cow, a 41 minute PR? Did I read that right? Fantastic!

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