The Chicago Marathon!

Well Everyone! I successfully completed my first marathon. I finished in 5 hours and 3 minutes! It was very warm day nearing the mid 80s, not a cloud in the sky, which made it very difficult. My leg held in there, but all in all it was a pretty arduous feat, I was in quite a bit of pain for the entire second half.There were MANY times I thought I would have to give up, but with the support of the people there cheering me on not only at the race, but from afar, I just knew I had to do it.

I will share with you tonight the weekend in pictures, and then I will blog more about the details soon. I want to write it all down here before I forget anything about it. It was TRULY an incredible experience. Enjoy the photos.

FRIDAY NIGHT
Shanna, Megan and I met for pizza to start carbo loading and coming up with our race day strategy. We waited FOR EVER for our dinner, but ended up getting it for free! So that was pretty awesome.

SATURDAY

Nick, Finn and I headed to McCormick Place for the Health and Fitness Expo to pick up my race packet. It was BIG, and really cool. Finn loved running down the long marble hallways. They had a super cool video that they taped by strapping a camera to the hood of a car and then drove the course. It was neat to watch the route fast forwarded. As promised I did purchase some well deserved but over priced marathon gear.

I signed the big banner to show our family's support for the Chicago Olympic Host Bid!


Some hilarious t-shirts at the Expo :-)

Finn's FAVORITE part was riding the CHOO CHOO back to Hyde Park. He's such a big boy now, he even got to hold the ticket.

Saturday night brought Mom, Greta and Nate after the LONGEST epic journey from two states away. We headed out for pizza AGAIN at a Chicago Classic and FORGOT the camera...boo hiss. We had another great meal and we turned it in early to prepare for race day.

SUNDAY MORNING! RACE DAY!!!

This is my nervous "quick take my picture in case I die doing this" picture

And I was off!

The first half of the race went pretty effortlessly, but then our team suffered a major blow when around mile 14, Megan had to drop out due to her knee injury. It just crushed Shanna and I. We knew how hard Megan had trained, how badly she wanted it...she hurt her knee at the VERY last moment of her 20 miler. Losing her at that moment was the worst part of the race.

I was SO lucky to have a very lively, travel savvy and motivating crew of fans to cheer me on. My cousins Meghan and Emily who are new Chicago residents came out with skull apparel, signs and smiles. They were awesome!

Greta and Nate put their Urban Dare Champion skills to use and made it around the city like pros. Nick was always close behind on his bike, he also made it to quite a few spots to cheer. Their support, awesome cheers, and Greta's miracle motivational speech, when I was ready to give up really made me go on. I also had some awesome helpers who ran with me towards the end. Colleen, Bob and Matt....you got me through those last 6!! I owe you one :-)

And then their was the FINISH. They call the end of the Chicago Marathon tough because of the Marathon Mountain...which is really just a smallish incline up Roosevelt. but at the very end of 26 miles it DOES feel like a mountain. I can't even describe how it felt when I saw that finish line around the corner. All I know is I started crying when the woman put the medal around my neck and said, 'Congratulations."

A big shout out to my awesome sister and brother in law Nate. I know you guys did a ridiculous amount of driving to come cheer me on. It meant the world to me. Really seeing you both throughout the course kept me going. And Greta! That one moment...when only a sister, who knows me SO well, knew what I needed, which WAS a verbal "bitch slap" to knock me out of my self doubt so I could keep going. THANK you for that :-) I love you both.

My Mom also gets a very special shout out. My poor mother didn't even get to SEE me on the race course because she took the train downtown with Finn to the finish and got caught up in the mobs of people. Mom - just know you had the MOST important role and you were amazing at it....bringing my shining light, FINN to the finish! Thank you for braving the train and for taking care of him Sunday night and on Monday as I was barely MOVING and not up for chasing the little man around. It meant a lot that you made the trip too and thank you for taking such good care of all of us.

Another big thank you to all of the people that cheered me on, at the course or far far away! I could feel all or your good wishes and positive energy and it really kept me going.

More details about being "in" the race coming soon.