A Run to Remember - 2005 Chicago Marathon

October 9, 2005. Up at 4:30 a.m. Bandaids, lip balm, MP3 player, chafing cream, gels, power bar, Tylenol, sunglasses, hat, socks and clothes neatly laid out with timing chip attached to shoe and bib pinned on the night before.

I started out with Tina in the 4:30 pace group, with the intention of finishing in 5 hours. The day earlier, I met Hal Higdon, Marathon guru and author of numerous running books. After I talked with him about how I had missed four weeks of training, his advice was "easy does it". Our journey began on Columbus Avenue at Grant Park. I watched as four television helecopters hovered above to capture images of 40,000 athletes eager to complete their goal. Thirteen long minutes went by after the starting gun before my wave actually moved up and crossed the start line. I started my stop watch and began to run. Each mile marker thereafter I checked my pace wristband to see If I was on target to finish in 5 hours. I surprised myself to see that I was gaining every mile. I felt like I was floating. Being a suburbanite, I caught glimpses of beautiful Chicago neighborhoods that I have never visited. We headed north through Lincoln Park neighborhoods and towards Wrigleyville on LaSalle and then back south to Adams Street where we entered Greek Town heading West.

After a while, the 4:30 pace group felt comfortable. The first 10 miles flew by. I weaved through runners and had many conversations along the way. By the mid-point (13 miles), I was in a groove, receiving congratulations from many 4:30 runners. One young gentleman said to me in a Southern accent, "ma'am, if you're shooting for five hours, you're going to smoke 'em!". (We wear pace group bibs on our back that indicate the time we intend to finish)

The weather cooperated in every possible way. 55 degrees by race start, and not much warmer throughout the run. It was slightly windy and cloudy, which helped to keep me from over-heating and dehydrating. By the time I hit Chinatown, the crowds were enormous and loud. When I hit mile 21, I began to feel the pain in my legs. While 5 miles seems a fairly short distance, it's the hardest part of the race. One t-shirt said it all: "Chicago Marathon: A 10K with a 20 miler warm-up" . We all know how hard that last 10K can be. From here on out it's purely a mental game. When I rounded the corner and saw the 26 mile marker and only .2 miles to go, I began to cry. This was it. I perservered despite an M.S. attack that wreaked havoc mid-training. Today was truly one of the best days in my life. Incidentally, I finished at 4:39:23, an unbelievable 29 minutes and 4 seconds faster than my first marathon! And Mom, you were with me every step of the way.