26.2... I DID IT!

Sooo, I haven't blogged since COMPLETING the Chicago Marathon!! It was fun, hard, and sooo worth every mile.

We got to Chicago Saturday afternoon, day before the race for the Expo! Me and dad walked our feet off because I wanted to take it all in... Mistake! All Marathons from this point forward I'll be arriving 2 days pre-race! That night we went to dinner at Chili's, I started noticing a lot of pain in my arches, I was wearing my non racing Nike's all day, so I really was freaking out. I thought I'd go to bed, wake up and my feet would be rested....

Sunday morning the alarm clock goes off at 4! Race day baby! We got the car packed and headed from our hotel in Hoffman Estates to Chicago! Dad had me drinking coconut water, next thing you know we are realizing Chicago has NO public bathrooms, but plenty of Dunkin Donuts!

We finally park at soldier field, I have less than an hour to find the start line, get everything prepped and ready to go and find  my friend Kristin. This is what we come up too...

Then I finally hear my family shouting my name...I had forgot to grab my salt pills! Thank God I found them and Kristin!!

There is no turning back...here we go!

And the rest is a blur...just kidding...! While I was out on the course I was lucky to have a great support team behind me. My hubby and daughter of course, and my parents and sister, I appreciated them all taking their weekend to come cheer me on and support me in this journey.

So to give you a little idea of what I was feeling during the race...miles 1-5 which are normally the easiest were somewhat uncomfortable for me. I was having arch problems from the day before on my left foot and my right knee was starting to have some discomfort. My headphones quit working around mile 6 on my phone. I stopped (for the first time ever in a race) and went to the bathroom at mile 9...which was about a 7 minute stop in my time, with the lines for the bathrooms...yuck! I text my hubby and asked if they would have the Ibuprofin ready for me! Mile 13 comes around and there are my family! Oh I was sooo happy! There are almost 2 million spectators on the course and when you are looking for your loved ones, it means a lot that they are there.

It was exciting to see my family, yet hard knowing the next time I'd see them was 13 miles later at the finish. Miles 13-20 I had some rough spots but knew I was going to finish this race. It takes a lot to keep your head positive during certain points in your miles, when you're still far enough from the finish to get discouraged yet close enough to know you'll make it. I just knew I needed to get to mile 20 then I'd just have a 10K left (6.2 miles)....another great aspect of this race is you meet some very inspiring, cool people. I passed a guy with one leg, the other was a prosthetic, very motivating. I talked to a guy who served on the State Police Force back in 1984 when my grandpa was shot and killed in Terre Haute, IN. I also was running with a guy that would normally be at at 6:45 pace, he was a cross country coach and got an injury 3 weeks prior to Chicago and decided to still run the race. All of these things make you thankful for your health and I felt so privileged to be able to run this race.

Fact: Only between .1% and 2% of the world's population have ran a marathon.

That's a statistic I can deal with!

Mile 23 was coming up and I had in my head if I get to mile 23 I'll have a 5K left. To me that was a breeze. My time started picking back up, I was feeling great and then the emotion started hitting me. I was doing this and I was going to finish! Full blown tears at mile 24, just from the happiness and pride I felt in my heart. You never know how you're going to react, it was my first marathon...I hadn't ran past 20 miles in my training and I was accomplishing this.

So the last mile was counting down and I see this sign up ahead that had 26! It was counting down the yards to the finish...the croud was going crazy, Tens of thousands of peole cheering for you, telling you you're at the finish, you've done it. The largest hill on the course was within the last .2 miles, you go up that hill, around a bend then there it is...the FINISH! I have never been so happy to see a finish line in my life.

I crossed, I cried, and they put my medal on me I felt pride. I was already getting texts from my family because they were tracking my progress via text...there were entirely too many people at the finish line for them to see me finish. I went through the whole 27th mile, grabbed my celebretory beer I earned, took pictures, the whole experience was so worth it.

I finally met back up with my family and was greeted by my hubby who bought me a dozen roses and a balloon from my daughter, I'm so blessed : ) I should make a side note that my daughter lasted the whole day without a nap until 30 minutes before my finish.

Chicago Marathon is definately a race I will repeat. The volunteers/spectators made it all worth it. From the every mile water/gatorade stands, banana stands, gel stands, and my favorite...ice cold sponge stations!

I told myself before doing this race that it was a lot of work, a lot of training and I'd probably do another in 2013 or so...now I'm finding myself pondering which 2 that I can sign up in 2012. My life time fitness goal is  to do marathons in all 50 states, as I've met a lot of people with that same goal.

I want to thank my family and friends who have all supported me in this fun First Marathon journey. I've made some great friends along the way. Can't wait to continue this journey...

Now I get to cheer on my dad Nov 5th at the Monumental Full Marathon! Good luck dad...See you at mile 25!