2008 Chicago Marathon Race Report

I signed up for the marathon this year with the thought, “I might as well do it this year since the chances are so slim that it could possibly be as hot as it was during last year’s race”. With Chicago being a candidate city for the Olympics in 2016, I knew they really needed to fix the mistakes that they made during last years race. I am very happy to report that yes, there was plenty of water, Gatorade, wet sponges and cooling water misters. I wish I could report that it wasn’t as hot but I’ve read various reports that it soared to 86 and 84. Luckily, we were blessed with low humidity.

I have been nursing a right hip flexor injury for about 4 weeks. Unfortunately, the only way to let this injury heal is with rest, which is impossible to do with the amount of running we had to do in order to train. I knew going into the race that it was going to be a painful one for me, but I didn’t train for 18 weeks to hang up my shoes without stepping up to the start line.

When we stepped off at the start at 8am, it was already 65 but with lower humidity. I wasn’t so much worried about the weather as I was about my hip flexor. There was a bridge at Mile 2 and as soon as we ran up the bridge, I could feel my hip flexor starting to say Hello. By Mile 4 or 5 it went away and I felt great. The crowds were amazing during the entire race, but they were especially amazing on the near north side of the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park and in Boystown. Man I love those dancing queens!!! I ran with a friend until about Mile 9. At that time she needed to slow her pace as she was nursing a back injury that was bothering her. I found one of my best friends, Chanthana, running a little ahead of me and I sped up to meet her. Around Mile 9, I noticed that now both of my hip flexors were hurting. I sort of laughed at the fact that here I was worried about the right one and the left one came out of no where to surprise me. Go figure. Chanthana and I continued to run together until about Mile 17. Somewhere between Mile 10 and 15 my left knee was now killing me. I had a sharp pain that went down the outside of my hip to my knee. At this point, I took some Ibuprofen at an Aid station. I noticed that when I stopped to get water and Gatorade, it was very difficult to start running again. My body was now hurting in all sorts of places and running was clearly the last thing it wanted to do! It literally took a good half mile to find a good groove; a nice painful groove, at that. Around Mile 18 I ran past a bank that had a digital sign and the temperature read 86 degrees. It was certainly warmer out at that point, but it didn’t feel like it was 86 degrees. I had to make one pit stop at a porta potty around this mark but kept going afterwards.

Around Mile 22 I was amazed at the crowd support. I tried to focus on the people around me and their smiles and cheers and not think about the pain in my body. They had already raised the running conditions to “Red Alert” and they had announcers telling us to slow down and drink more water. At one point I started saying “I feel good, I feel good, I feel good” out loud. I knew if I could just stay positive, I’d get through these last few miles. I laughed when a guy who was running by me turned to me and said, “You look good, too!” I didn’t know my mantra was loud enough that my neighbors could hear me. Ha! He and I made some small talk until the next aid station. At that point, I popped a few more Ibuprofen and I also took an Imodium AD to prevent the gastrointestinal issues I always have post-race.

I was really hoping to run my race in under 4 hours. I looked at my watch at mile 24 and I was already at a time of 3:45. Even though I felt like I was running 8:30 minute miles, my watch told me I was over 9’s. That’s how I knew it was even hotter as I couldn’t seem to run any faster than 9’s. I quickly did the math and realized that there was no way I would be able to finish in under 4 hours. So what was my next goal? It was to beat my last marathon time. This was still possible so I just kept my head down and kept moving one foot after another. I envisioned myself crossing at 4:03. The sun was blazing on my back and I could have moved over to the right side of the street that was somewhat shaded but I couldn’t even think about making the effort to do that. I just had to keep moving my feet and finish. I thought about my husband who was waiting at the finish line, and the fact that my training was over now and I could relax post-season and eat a lot of chocolate and drink a lot of wine. I just pictured all sorts of things that made me happy. J

I crossed the finish line in 4:07, beating my last time of 4:09 by a mere two minutes. At first I was very disappointed with this time, but seeing all of the people in wheelchairs and in the medical tent, I realized that I should be happy to have a PR (Personal Record) in these conditions.

My “marathon moment” was at the finish line. I was making my way to get my medal and I passed a woman who was soaking wet, crying and looked a little lost as she was walking against “traffic”. I reached out and said, “You did it! You finished!!” and she just took my hand, squeezed it and quietly sobbed. We walked to get our medals hand in hand without saying a word. I think she just needed a little support at that very emotional moment and I was happy I was there for her. We went our separate ways without saying anything but just smiled at each other. I knew the 18 weeks of training and a grueling race was worth it at that very moment.

I was very happy to reunite with my husband and my in-laws at the finish for a nice cold beer. Even though my mother-in-law is still recovering from knee surgery, she and I limped together a mile or so to their car.

Then the real fun began!

I took a few more Ibuprofen at the finish line. I didn’t realize that I basically took over 2000 mg’s of Ibuprofen between 6am and 12:30pm. Oops. That’s a bit too much. So I spent the entire afternoon and evening in my bed with severe cramping, dizziness, shivers and a fever. The only time I was able to move around was when I raced to the bathroom every 15 minutes not knowing which end was going to surprise me this time (sorry for drawing that picture). It was a horrible, horrible night. Brian noticed the bottle of Ibuprofen expired in 2003. Damn you, Costco, for making bottles impossible to finish!! Lucky for me, Brian’s best friend, Andy (who also ran the race that day) is an ER Nurse. He instructed me to drink lots of fluids and try to eat something. At 9am Monday, I finally ate some cereal and kept it down. Any runner can tell you the only way to help your muscles recover is to eat protein. Going the entire day after the marathon not eating a single thing is not going to help my recovery.

I’m still very sore, but I know the worst is over. I'll definitely lose another 2 toenails, bringing the grand total to 3 this season. Ahh, toenails are overrated!

Kudos to all of my friends who pushed through the hot and horrible conditions and finished the race!!! Thanks to everyone for your emails, calls and texts!! You are all amazing!

Summer is in Full Swing!

Hello.

It's been a while, I know. But as I sit here with a head cold and a sore throat and procrastinate working, I'd thought I'd give ya an update.

To finish my last post, an old friend from Ohio reached out and found me online! She and I were bff's up until 3rd grade when she moved away to Arizona. It wasn't until she said via email that she lived in Casa Grande that it hit me. I vividly remember writing her letters (remember when we did that? We should to talk to someone about bringing that back!) addressed to "Casa Grande, AZ" and my imagination was filled with scenes out of an old western movie complete with horses drinking out of a water trough on a dusty road as I put those letters in the mailbox. She used to ~ and still does ~ do barrel racing. So Stacey has 2 kids and has been married for 10 years. We exchanged pictures and got caught up and are throwing around the idea of a reunion. Hey, I now have 2 newly reunited old pals that live in Arizona...why not go out for a visit?

What else? Brian and I have made an offer on a lake house in Michigan. There were 2 that we liked but of course we both liked different houses. I opted for the turn-key immaculate smaller house with a two story gorgeous deck and a brand new dock that comes with no toys.....Brian opted for the the bigger house that needs a lot of work, all walls are covered in dark wood paneling with a small deck and crappy dock, choppy layout but comes with LOTS of toys. I call it the "Polygamist House" because it currently sleeps 18 or 19 ~ the place is filled with twin beds and baby bassinets. We made an offer on the Polygamist House. I agreed because I have personally witnessed magic moving from Brian's brain to his hands when it comes to home renovation. The man is a visionary in that sense so if he tells me he can make it not only nicer than the other house, but better, then I'm on board.

We went out to Michigan a few weeks ago and Mike and Carolyn, the owners of the clean house, took us out on their boat and gave us a tour of the lake and the adjoining lakes. They are GREAT people and now I know why it's never a good idea for buyers to meet the sellers ~ because emotions are involved. They bought a bigger house on the same lake and they are waiting to move in until they sell their 1st house. Mike actually called Brian and said 'What's up, buddy? I gotta get my wife out of here! Let's make a deal!" He really needs to sell. Then the realtor called Brian the next day and said "I've got something to tell you. Mike wants to make YOU and offer. He dropped his price and is throwing in the brand new dock and the bar." Ain't that some shit?? Have you EVER heard of a seller making an offer to a buyer??? Crazy. Gosh we'd LOVE to help them out but we need to do what's best for us and our situation. Mike and Carolyn will still be on the same lake so I do look forward to hanging with them more. I hope they just want to hang with us if we don't buy their house!

In other news, I'm training for the Chicago Marathon again this year. Haven't run it since 2004 as I got into the sport of Triathlon for the summers of 2005 and 2006. Last year I took a break and used wedding planning as my excuse, but that's all it was. I just needed a break. Training is going well and we're already into Week 3. Brian's best friend and Best Man is also running it this year so he'll be making the trip here from Virginia so that'll be fun. Too bad he runs a lot fast than me. He'll finish in about 3:30. I'm hoping to beat my last time of 4:09 and run the race in under 4 hours.

Well I need to stop procrastinating and get to work. I'll try not be such a stranger here this summer!

The Promotion

So I was an extra in a movie over TWO years ago and it's FINALLY coming out in June! I'm pumped!

There is even a shot of one of our scenes in the trailer. We shot in a few scenes with Seann William Scott (aka Stiffler) where we are running in his marathon training group along Lake Michigan.

Check it out!
http://movies.aol.com//movie/the-promotion/33211/video/trailer-no-1/2120893

I heard it supposed to be HIGH-larious!

If you do go see it at the movies, I’m in the very front row of the running group as we run towards the camera in the center. You can't miss me seeing as I was a good twenty pounds heavier at the time!

Happy New Year!!

Well hellooooo there, internets!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years! Brian, Coop and I had a lot of fun in Wisconsin snowboarding, snowmobiling and playing in the snow. I've come to the realization that snowmobiling is not for me. After three hours on our snowmobiles, I was asking the question, "So where ARE we going? Do we have to go ALL the way back?" I was bored. Wisconsin has over 850 miles of snowmobile trails mapped out with official stop signs, boards that give you directions and everything. It was cool, but I'd rather do something "in motion". Something active. Not pushing a button for gas or another for the brake. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I understand why so many guys do an all-guy snowmobile trip though. It's probably super fun with a big group. It probably didn't help that it was 18 degrees outside. Our snowmobiles were well-equipped with hand and feet warmers and my helmet kept my head warm, but man, my butt was brrrrrrrr-cold! We were able to jump on the trail right from our hotel which was super convenient, but unfortunately, there weren't that many bars on the trail close to us.

As for New Years, we laid low with some friends and made an amazing dinner of beef tenderloin and lobster tails and then enjoyed Rockband for 3 hours straight. If you aren't familiar with the game Rockband but have heard of Guitar Hero , Rockband kicks Guitar Hero's ass straight to the moon. You have a vocalist on the mic, a bassist on the guitar and a drummer on the drum set. Each band member sees their own set of chords on the TV that they need to play or sing on their instrument. After each song, you get ranked as a band and if you are good, you gain fans. If you suck, well, then duh...you lose fans. As you get better, the venues (which are real venues across the country), get better. You also get paid more the bigger venue, giving you the option of upgrading your digs (aka clothes). The mic and the guitar even have a motion detector so if it detects you are jumping around jammin' your ass off, then you get more points or are judged as "Top Performer" or "Most Energy" after each son. At 3:30 in the morning I was still saying, "Just one more song!!!"

Good times!!! Go get this game!

In other news, the wedding plans are coming along. I promised myself I wouldn't be one of those brides that constantly talks about her wedding, but we now have appointments for invitations and bridesmaid dresses. All ladies are getting their measurements to me and I'm hoping to have those ordered tomorrow. Brian has been busy doing research for the honeymoon. We really wanted to go to the Maldives but after 6 days in Mexico, the thought of traveling 3 days to get there is very unappealing. Not to mention its the 2-3 days back to Chicago. So we're exploring Bora Bora/Tahiti, Italy, Costa Rica and a number of other places. Hoping to get that squared away soon.

I have the name & number for our wedding planner in Mexico but I can't seem to ever get through to her....I want to get all of our activities planned. So far, I'm hoping for a day-trip to Cozumel by boat from our hotel, a day of golf for the golfers or shopping in Playa del Carmen for the shoppers, a happy hour once everyone has arrived and a dinner the night before for our "rehearsal dinner". Of course, the wedding will be an all-day party, too.

I've found all sorts of fun gifts for our gift bags. Once we have a better idea of how many people are coming (current count is 58), then I'll order those. We'll assemble them in Chicago and ship them to Mexico so they can be delivered to every one's rooms before they arrive.

All in all, we got a lot done in just a few days!

So what else?? Oh I know, CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!!! You have finally opened your minds to the possibility of having someone in the White House who is not a white male. Whether or not I am an Obama supporter, I think yesterday's decision was a HUGE MILESTONE in American history. This will change things FOREVER. We are finally moving in the right direction. It's 2008 and it's sure as hell about time!! GO IOWA!!!

Holiday Fun

I gathered up 8 of my closest girlfriends last night and headed to Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba for a fun night of tapas (yum!) and our 2nd (yes, that's right) Yankee Swap (also known as a White Elephant, Chinese Gift Exchange or Thieving Secret Santa). We had a lot of laughs as the gifts were swiped out of hands faster than they could be unwrapped.

Good times.

Tonight I'm headed to my company Holiday Party at Maggiano's, one of the best Italian joints in the city. Brian is at his company holiday party right now and unfortunately, we're both attending our company gigs stag. He's probably two sheets to the wind as I type this at 1:35pm and getting closer to the third sheet. (I've never really understood that phrase - oh wait - I just looked it up - check it out here.)

Next week is sure to be a ton of fun.......we're grabbing our snowboards, our pooch and jumping in the SUV to head up north. We're leaving on Christmas Day and plan to snowboard a few days and snowmobile another. I can't wait. Cooper loves the snow so it'll be a good time all around. Wisconsin is definitely not Whistler, but it'll give me a good chance to fine tune my 'boarding skills.

We're hoping to head back to our fine city to ring in the new year. If I don't post in the next few days, you'll know why.

Happy Holidays to all!!

I love the heat. Just not while I'm running

So yesterday I ran the Chicago Distance Classic for the 2nd time. This is a great 1/2 marathon for those of you who haven't run it before. I've been training for this race for the past 10 weeks and I've felt really good throughout most of my training. I even got my pace down from 9 min per mile (for marathon training) to about 8:15, seeing as it's half the distance. Going into the race I felt good. I had rested all day Saturday and stayed off my feet, for the most part. I made sure I was well-hydrated and I had a nice whole wheat pasta dinner the night before.

I was sick earlier this week and even stayed home from work for a day and a half on Tue/Wed. I had a sore throat, the sniffles and just felt crappy overall. I wasn't able to run much at all, but since I was supposed to be tapering this week anyway, I wasn't overly concerned. To make up for it, I went out on Thursday night and ran a quick 4 miles (under an 8 min pace) and then on Friday I did a 2.5 mile sprint on the treadmill.

I was faced with high temperatures and even higher humidity on race morning, but I've been no stranger to the heat lately during my training runs, so I wasn't too worried. I could tell from the moment we crossed the Start Line that I wasn't going to have a good race. You either have a good race or you don't.

I ran with my friend, CT, who had told me earlier that she wasn't going to run at my pace (she trains at 9:30) but luckily for me, she was having an amazing race and running much faster than her training pace. We ran together the whole time at a pace about 8:30-8:45 the whole race. Around mile 6 I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. My heart rate was an elevated 182, when it's normally 160-166 during long runs. We walked for a minute after we got some water and I tried to take a few deep breaths in hopes of lowering my heart rate. We continued on. Around Mile 10, I had some serious stomach issues and CT and I walked for a few minutes. There weren't many port-a-potties in sight and by the time I found one, my stomach had calmed down a bit so we started running again. Soon into the race, I noticed that my GPS and the mileage markers were not in sync. At mile marker 1, my GPS said 1.1 miles. At mile marker 6, my GPS was at 6.3. At mile 10, my watch read 10.6. This was a bit disheartening and I kept thinking that the mile markers were probably off, not the course. Well, we finished at 2:07, which is officially my slowest half marathon, to date. When we crossed the finish line, I stopped my watch and the total distance we ran was 13.95. That's right. A full .85 miles LONGER than the official 13.1 miles that is the half marathon distance.

The PR (Personal Record) I was shooting for was 1:50.....so coming in at 2:07 was disappointing, to say the least. It's hard to go for a PR in that heat, coupled with the fact that I was under the weather all week AND had stomach issues, to boot.

Well, I'll chalk this up to a Loss for me but a huge WIN for CT who kicked serious ass and kept me motivated during the whole race. This was her longest race yet. We even ran over the finish line together.....I'm so proud of her!

Here is a picture of us after the race.
I love my distended belly as I still hadn't found a port-a-potty yet!