I have wanted to run with Team in Training for the Leukemia
Society for a few years now. My father in law was diagnosed in the mid-2000’s
with AML and I always thought it would be one way I could support him. On
October 8th of this year, I finally was able to realize that dream. Last
year when I signed on with TNT to run the Chicago marathon, I knew it was going
to be an interesting training cycle. I registered in November then had surgery
in December and promptly started training for my first half Ironman on February
1st. I had already calculated that between the weeks of recovery I
knew coach would give me post half Ironman plus the 2-3 weeks of taper that I
usually do for my marathons, it was leaving me with about 9 to 10 weeks of
actual training. This is far less than what I am used to. Yes, I did a half
Ironman in June but the amount of running required for that is nowhere near
what a marathon training cycle entails. My miles in July didn’t even total 70.
So with that being said, I trained for Chicago without any real expectations. I
wasn’t sure how race day would go and frankly, I was running this in memory of
my father in law who had passed away from leukemia two years prior. Which is
why I was running with Team in Training for the LLS. The amount of support I
received from people who had never even met me was amazing – I received
numerous donations from folks I only knew through Facebook and that included a $250
anonymous donation. I was touched that so many contributed and made Chicago
possible for me. It will be appreciated more than you know.
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| My mom passed away in 2009 and this Wonder Woman made me cry <3 |
So as training progressed and I ran a hilly 18 miler that
felt amazing, my mind started to think that I might actually be able to PR this
race. I had not been training to PR nor was it really the focus for me. But
after that run, I realized that I was in a position to PR. Unfortunately, the
Chicago weather had other ideas. As I begin my obsessive weather checking a
month out….yes, I said a month out….lol….I realized it was probably going to
warmer than I would like. I don’t tend to run well in temps over 65 degrees.
And it was going to be close to that at the START. Ugh. I’ve run Portland twice
in hot as hell temps (78 and 82 degrees) so it’s not that I couldn’t do it. I
just knew my chances for a PR would be very slim. After discussing it with the
coach, we agreed that going out at a pace that would net me a 5:10 marathon
time would be good and if need be, I could adjust to the climbing temperature
while still finishing in a decent time. My current PR is 5:08 on a cold winter
day and my Portland pace was 5:26 in 82 degrees. So…I figured that I might be somewhere
in between that.
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| The happy send off from the best spectator ever! |
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| Found Amy! |
Race morning was so much more pleasant than New York. Both
of these are big races at 45,000 and 50,000 runners approximately so fairly
comparable. But the logistics of Chicago made the entire race experience more
fun. I wasn’t really nervous which is always weird for me. I used to get so anxious
that I would feel like throwing up before big races. The last few (CIM, CDA70.3
and Chicago), there weren’t really any nerves. More like overwhelming gratitude
that my body allows me to these things. And that is the best feeling ever.
Sandra walked both Jenna and I to our starting corrals then gave us a big hug
saying she would see us in a few miles. I knew that I would have a ton of
support along the course between her, Carol and Andrea and the gang from the
From Fat to Finish Line group. Sandra was going to be at several points along
the race plus I knew I would see Carol and Andrea popping up here and there.
The FFTFL had a water station at mile 22 which was great. So with a happy, grateful
heart I hopped into my corral about 20 min prior to the start time. Ended up running
into Amy who had also had “run into” at the train station in New Jersey when we
both ran the New York City Marathon. So we hung out in the corral together
until the start. We were slated to go at 8:35 and I think they got our corral
across that start line by 8:37 or 8:38 which is pretty damn good. I wasn’t thrilled
about the late start time because I knew that meant I would be running in the
heat of the day but I couldn’t do much about it.
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| Boystown! |
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| One of the times I wasn't smiling |
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| Mile 23 |
My coach had already warned me about the Garmin thing so I
didn’t even pay attention to it and instead, put it on the screen with the
timer going. I had my splits written down and attached to my handheld so I knew
as long as I hit the mile markers at the times she gave me, I wasn’t going out
too fast or two slow. And good thing because I would later see my Garmin telling
me I had run 6, 7 and 8 minute miles in the first 10-15k….lol. I did hit my
first mile at just over 11 minutes which was too fast so I pulled back and the
next one was around 11:40, then 11:35, 11:46 and so on (my given pace was
11:46). I was doing a great job pacing and felt really good. I thought to
myself what a shame that the day was to be warm because I truly feel I would
have been able to PR this race. But I was just happy to be running! Chicago is
an amazing experience and I recommend this race to everyone! Out of all the marathons
I’ve done, this is by far my favorite. I knew right after New York that I would
never really want to run it again; I knew before I was halfway done with
Chicago that I wanted to come back and do it again.
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| Early in race - first 10 miles? |
The spectators were amazing, the neighborhoods flowed into
one another and the course just had an atmosphere of fun about it. My face hurt
after the race from smiling so much even though I was miserably hot. I was
diligent about my nutrition just as I always am but I knew with the heat, it
would be important to stay on top of the electrolytes and pay attention to how
much extra fluid I was taking in. I was drinking one handheld per hour which
had my Infinit in it plus taking 2 SaltSticks every hour on the hour. The last
hour of the race, I added an extra SaltStick because of the extra water I had
taken in after mile 20. This resulted in feeling pretty darn good for the
entire race, no GI issues, no cramping and no bonking. I hit the 13.1 mile mark
right on pace (I might have been about a minute faster than planned) but then
it started to get warm. So for the next 5k, I slowed my pace down to around 12
min/miles to see if that would help. But it was still too fast for the temperature,
which by this time was easily mid 70’s. By the end of the race, it would hit
nearly 80 degrees.
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| Still smiling at mile 23 |
So I slowed it down to 12:15 minutes miles on the next 5k
and that felt okay. I decided if I made it to the 20 mile mark at or under 4
hours, I was going to just enjoy the last 10k. I knew this would allow to still
have a faster time than Portland and also give me to chance to soak in the last
moments of Chicago. I was so happy with this decision – that last 10k was
actually a lot of fun even though it was hot as hell out. There was minimal
shade and I couldn’t find ice to save my life. But I still was enjoying myself,
dancing around on the course and made time to stop at the FFTFL water station
to get some hugs, a Happy Birthday and chat for a moment.
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| Best surprise ever from the FFTL crew! |
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| Getting a big hug from Patty - sorry for the sweat! |
I also hung out with a T-Rex and high fived more little kids
than I can count. And I loved seeing Carol and Andrea around Chinatown although
their offer of an eggroll made me grimace….lol. I had also caught Sandra around
miles 3, 14 and knew she was up ahead at around mile 25 ½. That was enough to
keep me going. I was sweating like crazy and just looking forward to getting my
shoes off. My clothes were sopping wet as I had been dumping water all over
myself and in that humidity, the moisture just didn’t evaporate. I love my dry
climate; that humidity is for the birds! So I was hot, sweaty, wet and sticky.
Gross.
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| One of my favorite sections of the course! Mile 21 |
But grinning from ear to ear. After I saw Sandra and knew I had under a
mile to go, I started to get teary eyed. All the cheers of “GO TEAM” from the
TNT folks resonated in my head. I hadn’t thrown in the towel just as Pops had
taught me. I had made the most of my day despite the unfavorable weather and
done my best with what I could. I’m learning it’s about the entire journey, not
just what that clock says at the finish. I cry at every race finish and this
one was no different. I got a hold of myself as I headed up that stupid “hill” –
Roosevelt isn’t really a hill but it feels like Mt. Everest at the end of a
marathon. As you come down the other side and make a left, there it is….the
finisher’s chute. I was a bit confused at first because I hadn’t expected it to
be so close…lol. But then I started to run and crossed the finish line with a
time of 5:23:34. I was more than happy with this. It was my second fastest
marathon and given the limited training time along with the heat, I was very
proud of this accomplishment. Not every race needs to be a PR to feel amazing
or go down in the books as the best race ever. It’s been two years since I’ve
had a day of magic like that in a marathon. Portland in 2015 was the last time
I felt like this - where the entire day was just everything I could ever have
hoped for and then some. Chicago was a repeat of that day and I’m so very
grateful. I was honored to race with Team in Training and for my father-in-law.
It means a lot to me as that is how I got started running in the first place,
with a charity in remembrance of somebody. I am looking forward to coming back
and doing it again next year.
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| Yeah, it's early and I'm grinning like an idiot ;-) |
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| Not nearly as impressive as the NYCM sponges but watch your step! |
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| Showing off the bling with Karla |
It’s also great to finish a race feeling quite beat up, go
to bed and wake up feeling pretty damn good the next day. I always marvel at
how I’m ready to run again within a few days of a marathon. Our bodies are
amazing machines – if we train right, run a smart race and recover right, our
bodies reward us by feeling good. As always, I owe a huge thanks to my coach.
Without her guidance and coaching, I would have wrecked myself by now. She is
so great at what she does and I’ve learned a real joy of running in working
with her. And I am very thankful to my family – without their support and
patience, there is no way I could put in the training necessary to run
marathons as well as I do. Marathon #6 is in the books! Time to recover and
enjoy a few weeks of easy paced running J
