2014 Chicago Marathon

I completed my 4th full marathon about 10 days ago...it was my 3rd time running the Chicago Marathon. My experience was full of many ups and downs. First of all, I was shocked that I even made it through the lottery to be able to even run the marathon (many of the spaces go to people that qualify and I am not quite there yet). I was lucky enough to train with my friend Michelle but then things got very unlucky when she got a pretty major injury which forced her to not be able to continue training and run the marathon. She was devastated and so was I. I tried not to let it get me too down and I got through the rest of my training which went pretty well.

 

I have to admit it though, I was pretty sad to have to drive up to Chicago alone and go to the expo alone. I have experienced it before so I knew it wasn't a big deal in the long run. Bob had to travel out of town for work and he made it to Chicago bright and early on race day to cheer me on. It meant the world to me that he was there!!!

 

A few pics from the expo....

 

The weather on race day was pretty perfect....low to mid 50s and sunny. The rain that was in the forecast didn't happen...yay!!! The first 13 miles went really well except for feeling very crowded and packed in the first few miles. I was setting myself a very good pace and was remaining nice and consistent. Things changed after that when I started to feel the start of some major blisters on my one foot. It was pretty painful but I was not about to let blisters affect my race!!!!

 

Here I am at mile 16 after seeing Bob and my best friend Marina!



 

 

I kind of felt like I was on auto pilot for the last 6 miles. It was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. I slowed down a bit but not too much. I only walked for a bit during some of the water stations near the end and took one quick stretch at one water station. Bob ran with me for a quick minute around mile 25 and gave me the last bit of encouragement I needed. I kept my pace but I had no extra energy to make my last mile a great one...no great sprint across the finish line like I normally try to do.

 

I crossed the finish line in 4:05:41 which was a PR and 4 minutes faster than last year.

 

My stats in case you are interested:

9:23 per mile pace

Finished 14,072 out of 40,567 runners

Finished 4,224 out of 18,389 women

Finished 715 out of 2,953 women 35-39.

 

I am not one to normally share stats but it is nice to get a little perspective and plus...I honestly have no idea if and when I will run another marathon. It was a LOT of work. It is worth it of course but I am anxious to run for fun!!!