Own Chicago 26.2

a free photo Nike gave us at Niketown Chicago

Mom, Me, and Dad

So I am really getting bad at this posting thing.  I wrote one about the marathon and never posted it.  So whatever this is my blog and I can do what ever I want right.  I just have to listen to my friends make fun of my grammar because I never proof read these things before clicking publish.

I wrote about this before in this post way back when.  I used to be a runner in High School and then stopped and last year I started back up.  Well this year  I tackled the Chicago Marathon.  Yes I went from being a sprinter in High School to running 26.2 miles for fun.  Yup something might be wrong with me but oh well.

My name on a wall of all the marathon participants

I can now say I have run a marathon.  I have thought about buying one of those little decals for my car that say 26.2 but then I stop and think wait I have driven 25 miles in the past month who cares!  Starting June 13^th I started officially training for the marathon.  I was fortunate to have an awesome running buddy, Brittani, to train with all summer long.  I honestly think without her I would have skipped out earlier specially on those really really hot days in July and August.  One of the most memorable training runs was a 95+ degree night where we altered our course to end in Lake Michigan.  We jumped in the lake fully clothed and I have never been so happy to live along the lake as I was that night.  Through out  the training, over 118 days, I ran 352.1 miles leading up to the actual Marathon on October 9^th. 

Mom and Dad

I had an awesome cheering section consisting of my mom and dad!  I also had some awesome friends who woke up very early to either volunteer along the course or just come out to cheer.  I also had one of the best cheering sections running next to me for the first 16-18 miles.  We each had shirts made with our names on them and had lots of fun joking over who was getting more cheers along the course.  I am pretty sure I won that one!  I am very fortunate for the people that were on the course that day because without them it would have be so easy to just quite.

View from my parents hotel room

My parents came into Chicago Friday night and came with me to the Expo.  I have run a number of races before but the sights of that expo were something I was not expecting.  I felt like I was at a trade show not a race expo.  Vendor booths were super elaborate filled with tvs, demos, equipment, merchandise, and freebies.  I am not sure what my parents had expected but I know that I was a bit shocked.  After we left the Expo I took my parents to one my favorite restaurant in Chicago, Uncommon Ground.  After dinner we went back down to my parents hotel and hung out for a bit while they told me about their trip to visit my sister in Wyoming a few weeks prior.  I wish I could have joined them out there because they got to do some really cool behind the scenes type things because of my sister and her friends who work out there.

Saturday I joined up with my parents after I finally woke up.  We didn’t really have much going on so we just wandered around Michigan Ave and looked in shops and stuff.  We ended up down along the river at a little snack stand.  It was nice to just sit still for a few moments.  Normally I am always on the go and its really nice to just stop and let the world move around me.  Later in the day we went to dinner.  Since it’s the night before the marathon that means its pasta night.  I went with my parents to a small restaurant near my house called Rose Angelis.  The service was a bit slow but the food made up for that.  I left there after an appetizer, dinner, and desert uncomfortably full.  I don’t know if I have ever felt so uncomfortably full before. 

Elites and their crazy fast pace where their
feet hardly ever touch the ground

The morning of the marathon started super early with my alarm going off at 5:15am.  I met up with Brittani at the Belmont Redline stop along with many other marathon runners.  Once we made it downtown we made our way to Grant Park with everyone else to get to gear check, and the start corrals.  The start corrals were a bit too packed and we actually had to hop the fence to get into the pace we were looking for because the entrances were blocked.

Near mile 26!  So close to the finish

Once the race actually started it sorta didn’t even feel like a race.  I felt like I was in a parade.  There were so many people cheering and watching.  So many people kept cheering us on along the course.  At mile 4 FFC, one of the gyms in Chicago, was throwing out small water bottles.  I had one thrown to me and I was more amazed that I was able to catch it because my hand eye coordination is not the best.  That little water bottle proved quite helpful along the day so thanks FFC!  I saw some friends at mile 3.5 later on I saw them again at 11.5.  I also saw my parents twice on the course and a few other scattered about.  I had a few friends volunteering at the water stations and I managed to see all of them except for 1 which turned out to be standing behind two of my other friends at the water station at mile 12.

Brittani and I right after we finished

Somewhere between mile 16 and 18 I lost Brittani and I finished the remainder of the race by myself.  I was still getting cheers along the course from strangers which helped a lot but it just wasn't the same as having Brit next to me running.  I was slowly dying along the end of the course.  The sun was getting warmer and the trees more sparse along the course which took a toll on me.  At mile 25.8 I saw my parents again and they cheered me on which was enough to get me the remaining 1/4 mile.  I finished the marathon with a time of 3:57:30 which was super amazing because I was going for anything under 4:20.

Nikki, myself and Brittani post marathon

It was an amazing experience, one that I do not want repeat anytime soon.  As much as I enjoyed the experience of the actual marathon the 18 weeks leading up to it is not something I want to repeat again.  So much of my summer was lost to training.  Too many nights I couldn't go out because I had to go run in the morning.  The joy of the marathon was wonderful and I am so fortunate that I could train with out injury and complete this once and run it in an amazing time.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience for my first (and only) marathon.

Thanks to everyone who came to cheer it meant so much to me!

Mom and Dad with their signs