Chicago Marathon Recap- exactly 2 months post race

6:15am, decided to "wing it" on my transportation plan to the start line. How bad could it be, I paid the extra money to stay at the Hilton Suites Downtown Chicago rather than a hotel in Lincoln Park, so winging it was OK, right?

6:18 am, jumped in a cab with a fellow Hilton Suites Downtown Chicago guest.  He tells cabbie, “Congress Hotel, please.” We chatted, but I honestly don’t remember much of what he said. He was probably about 56 years old, tall, thin, and a 3:35 marathoner. We arrived at the closest possible place for me to enter the race in less than 7 minutes time in the cab. God placed several of his angels in front of me on race day, and this was the first one. The cab cost me a mere, $2.00 because the 3:35 marathoner insisted that was all I give him.

Me, just as I entered Grant Park, nervous as heck! 

Upon exiting the cab, it was quite a circus; I remembered reading that I should attempt to go the bathroom before entering the park, so I started walking opposite the park to find somewhere to go, then I decided, no, I don’t need to go, let me just get into the park. The port o potty lines were vicious long, and I was like why don’t I need go, I should go, what’s wrong with me? Here began the nervous jitters. I entered the park, everyone was asking people to take photos of them, so I did to.

Me and Elle 

One of my Chicago friends was running the race, we had no plans on seeing each other pre-race and then….as I was walking my jitter nervous walk, there she was, Elle! This was nice, seeing a familiar face, an old Chicago buddy- exactly what I needed as I embarked to approach my corral.She headed to the potty line, I headed to my corral. And, I was early. THIS, never happens. Perhaps I should have went to the potty like everyone else!

 I approached Corral G and was anxious. I walked to the very front of my corral, stood and observed. 30 minutes until race time.
I noticed a gentleman wearing a hat from a race I was familiar with, The Indy Mini. He was sitting down criss cross apple sauce on the asphalt, and I decided to sit next to him. We chatted about the Mini and marathons and which miles our kids would be at, compared our Garmins etc. A lady then shouted to us, "We're moving." We both stood and began the movement towards the start, I was surprised at how fast we were moving.

I started to text my husband because I was worried he was going to put too much pressure on himself and Lincoln to see me at four different mile markers! I reminded him that our son was only 3 and its not the end of the world if he didn't get to where he needed to be. His plan was to be at mile 3.5 (on my right), 8 (on my right) 11 (on my left) and 21.5 (on my right). 

I also planned to see Diane and Nick at Mile 8.5 (on my right), Sally Mile 9, not sure of location, Cindy, Mile 13 and Mile 16.5. I wrote this all down on a sheet of paper and it helped! 

At this point, the race was about to begin and  I realized my Nike app was not working, the man next to me noticed my flustered self and let me know that his Nike app was working fine. Thanks Mister, I thought! The app never turned on, I carried my phone in my hand for the first 3.5 miles and tried several times to connect, and it never did.

My Indy Mini hat friend reminded me that pace was going to be all over the place on Garmin's due to the large buildings, he said not to worry because the watch would "catch up." I was so not running a 3 minute mile, but my Garmin said I was. Oh well, thank goodness for my friend, I was able to breathe easier knowing that eventually my watch would catch up.

At race start, knowing that my entire family would be at mile 3.5 kept me at a strong 9:40 ish pace. My race plan was to go out at a quick, yet, comfortable pace and go slower on the second half. After my first full, I knew I could have went out so much quicker, and I knew my body was going to tire out in the later half no matter how fast or slow I did the first half. So I stuck with this plan. Miles 1-3 were my fastest miles of the race. 

Miles 1-3.5 proved quite entertaining... half a mile in as I approached Lower Wacker drive, the veteran Chicago marathoners did not lie, literally 50 men lined the walls to pee. It was a site and a very very dirty looking wall! 

As I approached one of the first bridges, it was covered in red carpet. How glamorous, Chicago? Well, NOT for this girl. My foot got caught and I tripped. Lucky for me, runners were still packed, so I was able to brace my fall on the arm of the closest stranger.  I apologized and he said not a problem, he was glad to help.
Though another runner was not as lucky. Another runner decided to take a diagonal twist mid runner pack and put a runner to his knees. He was up before I could help and I told him, "don't worry you will run it out."  Before the race started, my mom's advice was no matter what I did I needed to stay positive. So, this was part of my positive. 

Shortly after I noticed a familiar face, it was my friend from Norway that I ran the 3 mile Nike Store shake out run the day before race day. I said hello, and she asked me, in her cute accent, if I had a good night's rest. I honestly had not thought too much about my nights rest, but I told her the baby slept 6 hours straight so that was great. She agreed and we wished each other a great race and just like that we lost each other. Out of 40k runners leave it to me to see the one runner I had met the day before! And, another coincidence, as we were running our shake out run.

Her: I am going to visit Ft. Wayne after the race on Sunday.
Me: Why? Wait...you mean like Ft.Wayne, Indiana?
Her: Yes.
She explained that she was a exchange student at Leo High School and stayed close with the family.
Me: That is so interesting. My husband is born and raised there, he went to Dwenger.
Her: oh, my friend dated someone from that high school.
Me: oh, really?
Anyhow, another coincidence. And the list will continue. Keep reading.

I approached mile 3.5 and there they were, my lovely family: Lincoln in front holding up the sign he had worked hard on, my lovely Mom holding Wrigley, Mary Alice video taping it all, and Chris with his big positive smile. I stopped and greeted them for a total of 2 minutes. In this two minutes, I put my phone in my run pouch, removed my running sleeves and put on my lipstick. Wrigley started to cry, so I took him in my arms for a few seconds, he calmed down but I had to leave. I felt bad for leaving, but seeing his little face and being able to carry him was priceless. Lincoln asked me, "If I was done yet?" and I said no, I had just started and I would see him in 5 miles!

The next five miles came pretty easy, I was running through many familiar neighborhoods and memories, so the miles flew. I remember reading several signs, one said "I trained for 18 weeks to hold this sign." I also noticed several life size selfies of fellow runners, some cute and some not so cute. 

The familiar Gold Coast/Lincoln Park area was refreshing, many families lined the streets. I ran passed my buddy Sean's former residence and remembered escorting his girlfriend (now wife) into the front door after one too many cocktails on Lincoln Avenue.  I remembered him telling me, "Cathy, what did you do to her."  I snickered to myself and kept running.

The photo that shows me looking the strongest! 

At this point I was trying my best to follow the "blue line" which Chicago race official paint a week before the race, created for the elites to follow. They swear this is the only way not to run more than 26.2 miles. My Garmin was already a mile ahead of the mile markers so I thought following the line would help.

I ran passed Lincoln and Diversey in the Lakeview East neighborhood, and in my far peripheral saw some very familiar bars. I could smell the Lake water, and the breeze thru the buildings felt great.

My other thoughts keeping me steady at this point were Chris and Lincoln will be near mile 8, do not make your husband wait with your 3 year old for longer than 5 minutes! As I was running on inner lake shore drive nearing the left turn onto Addison Street, my cell rang, it was Chris, he was approaching mile 8 from the train and would be across the street from the Chipotle on Broadway street. I knew exactly where that was! My new focus- running to Chipotle.

In a flash, I made the turn to Broadway and just like that, I was there, deep in the heart of my old stomping grounds. Crowds were 6 people deep, Wrigley field was near, I was getting tired, but I was happy! I could feel the energy in the crowds, this was exactly what I needed! I was welcomed to Boystown by Elvis dancing high on a stage. Passed by Cornelia street and remembered celebrating the Pride parade with good friends and hubby, way before he was hubby. That was the day I realized I didn't know how to play Texas hold em and hubby had to take over my hand. But, that was also about 8 hours post parade cocktails. I had to chuckle and continued running.

Then, there was Chipotle and my Lincoln and hubby. I stopped and gave my babes a huge hug. I remember telling Chris, "it's getting hard" and he ignored me. Purposely, I'm guessing.  Lincoln and Chris were happy because they were given a chocolate milk. If they were happy, so was I.

Less than three minutes after passing Chris, I approached my next fans, Diane and her husband, and her precious baby bump.  Diana was just about to sit down, as I passed. I gave her a big hug, and I was "that" person who rubbed her belly! I greeted her hubby, asked them how they were doing and asked if they had seen other friends. They were answering my questions but looking at me a tad funny while doing so. I think it was because they were like ummm.. you need to be running not being chatty! Well little did they know, greeting my fans is what gets me thru my races. Thanks Diane and Nick for being at mile 8.23 ish with a sign that had my name on it, I needed you!

My next fans would be at mile 11,  hubby and Lincoln!!  I sucked it up, and kept moving. I remember getting tired again and went into deep thought about my training, and all the blogs I read on what to do when you get tired. One said to evaluate your posture, make sure you were not arching your back and your shoulders were wide. Sure enough, I was arching my back and my shoulders were slouchy. I fixed my posture and carried on. 

I approached the end of Lincoln Park on the way into downtown, this was my old stomping grounds. It was like yesterday  I lived there, walked to the grocery stores, drove the streets on my commute to work, held hands with my boyfriend Chris as we walked to dinner, etc. How ironic, indeed.
I passed mile 9 and the memories came back and brought chills to my spine. This is where I stood almost 12 years prior watching the marathoners, and thinking, never in a million years will I be able to run a race like this. I remember feeling proud and envious of the runners that were stomping before my eyes.  But now I was one of them, ME, running 26.2 miles in the City of Chicago, the race of my dreams! I think Mile 9 was one of my faster miles. Thank you Jesus for memory lane!

I said goodbye to Lincoln Park and approached Old Town. I passed the famous "gates" of Old Town and glanced down North Avenue remembering all the times we trekked our way to North Avenue Beach.

I was feeling a little lonely and then my cell phone rang. It was Chris, he asked what mile I was at, and honestly I had confused myself by that point. I told him I was thought I was at mile 11 and some change, and he said, me and Lincoln are near, but we may miss you. I apparently was going to fast. I was like, no, please I really need to see you all!  The crowds were about 10 people deep at this point as the race was now in the heart of the Loop, big huge buildings surrounded me and spectators at every glance. I ran towards the left of the street and there they were, Chris and Lincoln. Chris was

carrying Lincoln in his arms and said they had just got to that spot less than a minute before I reached them. I said, keep doing what your doing, because I have needed you at these points, this race is really tough. I hugged them and moved along. I would not see them again until Mile 22.5!  
Next fan was at Mile 13, so not to far. I made it to Cindy and was prepared to stop and chat. Instead she took a quick photo of me, and said, "Go, go, go!" Well, I guess I wasn't stopping to chat. It was great to see her though, made me realize I was half way there and getting closer to meeting her at mile 16, where she was maybe going to join in and help me get thru the hardest miles of the marathon.

Miles 13-16 were a big big blur. I remember passing thru the "Charity Block Party" and seeing all the charities cheering us on. I thought it would push me, but, unfortunately it did not. Right after Charity Row I approached the nice quaint picturesque neighborhoods of the West Loop. The streets had trees draped over and the fall colored leaves were falling as I ran thru. This is what I needed, the look and feel of Fall in Chicago was one of my favorite parts of the City!  Thank you Chicago fall weather for pushing me thru some of the hardest miles. 

Cindy was waiting for me on my left at the Greek Statue, I made it there, and no Cindy. The crowds were 15 people deep and no Cindy. I tried not to let this bother me and continued on. At about mile 16.5, my cell phone rang. I answered, it was Cindy asking my cross streets. I told her and she said she was near. Music to my ears. I saw her in the crowd and looked at her in angst, hoping that she had decided to be at my side thru the next 5 miles. She jumped in, my heart smiled!
It didn't matter what the next 5 miles would bring, I had my best friend by my side. I had a great 5 miles, we passed thru Little Italy, made it to Pilsen, and saw large dancing Mariachis and spectators yelling in Spanish. One of my many requests to Cindy was to call Chris once we approached mile 20 so he knew where we were and he could take his time with Lincoln, as, at  this point they had both been on the streets for over 3 hours!  We ran, and we chatted. I tried not to be to chatty as I didn't want to lose my pace. I really cannot remember all that we talked about, but I know she was a trooper. She is a fast runner, and I know I wasn't running her pace, but it didn't seem to bother her one bit. I think we both knew this was a once in a lifetime moment, running with your best friend thru the hardest miles of a marathon does not happen every day. And, like that, it was over.

Me looking defeated in Chinatown.

I made it to mile 22.5 and my darling husband and Lincoln were there with open arms. I was now in Chinatown.I stopped, and Lincoln was looking up at me, and said, "Mommy, Mommy I want to give you one of my candies, don't leave yet." It felt like it took him four minutes to get the last couple of candies out from the very bottom of the box, but you better believe I waited for that bottle cap. I wanted to stay with them forever, but I knew I was on the downhill slope and needed to get this marathon DONE!!!! I said goodbye, wanted to cry, but didn't, and went on my way. 

Cindy left at mile 22, my last fans were at mile 22, and my Garmin stopped during mile 22. Mile 22 was a sad mile. But, my mom said to stay positive. When every ounce in my body was trying to stay positive, IT happened, the mile changing SONG. Here is where I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. One of the best things I did pre Chicago Marathon was ask my facebook friends to post a memory associated with a song that reminded them of us. So, on race day I could hear the song and the memories would push me thru the race.

My good friend Roland sent me a FB private message a few days after my post and asked me to add a song in honor of his late wife, Lisa. He said this was "Lisa's Song."

No matter how many spectators lined the streets and how many runners were at my side, I felt alone. All I wanted to do was stop. Then I listened closer to my music as a song I had not heard started to play. "One more day, one more night, one more hour...just to be with you......" It was Lisa's Song, "One More Day" by Diamond Rio. The song was about a husband asking to have just one more day with his wife before she passed.

As the lyrics continued I became stronger and this awesome breeze started to blow in. I am a believer, yes, but this moment felt so real. She was there watching from above, pushing me. I was no longer alone.

I thanked Roland for sharing the song with me and he said, "Lisa could have never run a marathon, but that day she did."
This inspired me, I pulled thru one of the toughest miles of my race because of Lisa. 

I needed every motivator I could get, because it was getting tougher and tougher as the end was near, yet not near enough. I wanted to stop and go to sleep on the grass. I had nothing left in me, no watch telling me how fast I was going, no more familiar faces to greet me. And, then there it was, the beer stop! Who puts a beer stop at mile 23.5? Chicago spectators do, that is why they are known to be the best in the world!!! And, you better believe I took and drank that beer! And the marathonfoto people

took a good shot of me and my beer. How happy do I look! Also, at this point I decided to take out my earphones, my thought process was to use the sounds of my fellow runners and what was left of the crowds to get me thru the last miles of the race. I didn't want to miss this! 

Approached mile 24 ish and there was the White Sox stadium, I pretended it was Wrigley Field and continued running. At this point, the crowd was thinning out, there were people stopping on the sides of the road to stretch, throw up, gather thoughts and not sure what others were doing The L train passed us all on our left and honked. This was uplifting, actually. I remember watching others trying hard to lift their arms to wave at the train but instead did a head nod due to fatigue. It was getting really hot at this point and I remembered trying thinking, you got this, its only 2 miles. This was not helping me get to the finish. These last two miles were tough. I was exhausted and wished the end was NOW. 

Fast forward to mile 25.5. Chicago race officials apparently decided that it was smart to countdown the last 1/2 mile by number of yards. This just made me more tired.  I did not want to know that I had 800 yards to go, that meant two entire laps around a track, that was too long. Lets fast forward. 

At mile 26.. with literally .2 left to go, a father (probably 63) and daughter (probably my age 34) were in front of me, their shirts said, Father/Daughter and it was the dad’s 50th marathon. The last .2 is a hill and I could hear the daughter telling her father, “come on dad, you got this, this is what you trained for, we are almost there, we can’t stop now, I believe in you dad…” The dad was obviously struggling. It reminded me of what it would be like to have my dad by my side at this point of the race, and I bolted to the finish! If it wasn’t for them I would not have made my goal time. I made my goal time of 4:45 by 14 seconds!!!!

This was very close to the end of the race. 

And that my friends is a wrap, my second marathon in the books, and I could not have completed it without all the support.  And, most importantly the support of mu husband. Sorry this took so many months to write. But, it takes a lot to recover mentally from a marathon, And, honestly I just could not sit down and write for the longest time.

 After reading all the aftermaths of the marathon, I am so glad I completed the race and have my own story to tell. I may not be the women who finished at 8pm with no finish line and no medal or the finisher who stopped and walked miles 19-26 with a stranger because he didn't want her to walk alone.  But, I finished and meet my goal and that is what matters! And, I felt like zero muscle pain, spasms, foot cramps etc throughout the race. Which was another one of my goals!

To all my fellow marathoners, have a plan and try to stick to it. Make sure you prepare yourself for the end of the race, meaning the last four miles. Figure out a way to get you thru those miles, because for me, they were crucial miles, and if I didnt hear that song or hear that daughter have a conversation with her father, I probably would not have met my goal time. So, figure out what your "song" will be on race day!!!  Until next time!