I'm alive and kicking and a marathoner!
Okay, alive and not so much kicking but slowly raising my leg in the direction of a kick. Ow. Ow. Ow.
But I did it! I should say we did it. Jennifer Fry and I. She definitely got me moving when I really couldn't move anymore. They're not kidding about the last few miles hurting! And not just hurting a little bit, but a real lot. Like, you are running and you are in major pain, but it's to the point where you know if you stop it will hurt so much worse trying to get started again...that kind of pain.
I think some of it was because it was so cold. When I stopped to stretch like I did in my training runs (in the hot sweaty SUMMER) the icy winter wind would blow through my pants and my muscles would tighten up, even while I was stretching them, so it was really hard to get going again once you stopped.
Justin's bringing Sexy back. I am bringing the Old Man Shuffle back. (I'm in the blue. Fry is in the pink.)
I did fare better than the two winners of the race who both had to be wheeled off at the end. The male winner put his hands up to show victory as he crossed the line, and he slipped on the logo they had on the ground, and cracked his head open and had a brain hemmorhage. And the women's winner bent over and puked, which they managed to catch every second of.
The weather held up, though. It was not rainy, or snowy, which had been the prediction. It was quite cold and windy, and the last mile into the wind tunnel was a cruel joke from the heavens...but we managed to do it in under 5 hours, which was our goal. 4:59:23. We cut it a little close.
The Chicago marathon is so cool. So many people are out there cheering you on! You get to see so many neat neighborhoods that you might not otherwise see. It's a really great race. I recommend it to anyone who wants to do a marathon...and it's flat. It's flatter than any of the long training runs I did.
One more thing I will add, that I really have a new appreciation for. There were points in that run where I kept moving only because I wanted to get to the next point where I would see Brendan, or my friend Amy, or my parents, or my sister, or Jen's parents and friend Gail. It made all the difference in the world having people there for us, and got me through the next mile after I saw them. Normally at races, it's not such a big deal. A 5k, 10k, the short triathlons, they are so quick, and it's just me against my legs so not a big deal. But, the marathon is such a mental race. I really needed our cheering sections yesterday, so thank you so much for coming out!
And, next time I have a friend doing one, I am definitely going out there to Mile 23. Mile 23 just plain sucks. It is WAY too far from mile 26 to even be included. Personally, I think they should cut it out completely.
But I did it! I should say we did it. Jennifer Fry and I. She definitely got me moving when I really couldn't move anymore. They're not kidding about the last few miles hurting! And not just hurting a little bit, but a real lot. Like, you are running and you are in major pain, but it's to the point where you know if you stop it will hurt so much worse trying to get started again...that kind of pain.
I think some of it was because it was so cold. When I stopped to stretch like I did in my training runs (in the hot sweaty SUMMER) the icy winter wind would blow through my pants and my muscles would tighten up, even while I was stretching them, so it was really hard to get going again once you stopped.
I did fare better than the two winners of the race who both had to be wheeled off at the end. The male winner put his hands up to show victory as he crossed the line, and he slipped on the logo they had on the ground, and cracked his head open and had a brain hemmorhage. And the women's winner bent over and puked, which they managed to catch every second of.
The weather held up, though. It was not rainy, or snowy, which had been the prediction. It was quite cold and windy, and the last mile into the wind tunnel was a cruel joke from the heavens...but we managed to do it in under 5 hours, which was our goal. 4:59:23. We cut it a little close.
The Chicago marathon is so cool. So many people are out there cheering you on! You get to see so many neat neighborhoods that you might not otherwise see. It's a really great race. I recommend it to anyone who wants to do a marathon...and it's flat. It's flatter than any of the long training runs I did.
One more thing I will add, that I really have a new appreciation for. There were points in that run where I kept moving only because I wanted to get to the next point where I would see Brendan, or my friend Amy, or my parents, or my sister, or Jen's parents and friend Gail. It made all the difference in the world having people there for us, and got me through the next mile after I saw them. Normally at races, it's not such a big deal. A 5k, 10k, the short triathlons, they are so quick, and it's just me against my legs so not a big deal. But, the marathon is such a mental race. I really needed our cheering sections yesterday, so thank you so much for coming out!
And, next time I have a friend doing one, I am definitely going out there to Mile 23. Mile 23 just plain sucks. It is WAY too far from mile 26 to even be included. Personally, I think they should cut it out completely.
posted by Heather Gately at 9:09 AM
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