Chicago Marathon Recap!

Happy Tuesday! I totally had a post planned for yesterday and I wasn’t going to pop in with this until tomorrow but plans change and here we are! I hope you are having a lovely week so far. I’m feeling less like the tin man and more like myself. Honestly though, I wasn’t in too bad of shape after the marathon so I’m very happy about that. Now, let’s jump into my experience at the Chicago Marathon!

Okay, spoiler alert, I DID end up getting my goal time of 4:15. I wasn’t going to make you wait for that part of the story! Anyways, we left Houston mid-morning and flew into Chicago on Friday. The flight was uneventful and I was ready to just get there and get to expo. Of course, because of the time of the flight, my sister and brother-in-law and I were hangry by the time we arrived. After some  traffic issues (imagine that) we arrived at our hotel and grabbed a burger at the Shake Shack next door. In my hunger I ended up getting a spicy burger but I just sucked down water and washed it down because I was HUNGRY. Once we ate and calmed down, we were a much happier group! We took the shuttles to the expo and it was a super easy trip. Our hotel location was actually pretty perfect and I’d definitely stay there again.

The expo was massive and of course, when I went to get my bib, there was an issue with the scanner so I had to stand there and wait as crazy scenarios flashed through my mind. Once they got their supervisor over, I was assured that it was all good and yes, I was indeed signed up for the marathon and it would count, haha!  Like I said, the expo was huge and very overwhelming. I was starting to get tired again so after hitting up a few spots and the Nike store. We made our way back to the shuttles and waited.

We messed around Friday evening and walked to Trader Joe’s for a few things. My sister and brother in law had never been so it was an adventure for them. It was also nice to walk the streets of Chicago and just get a vibe of the city. I tried to sleep at a decent time but thunderstorms rolled in and I woke up a few times in the night. There was a shakeout run planned for Saturday with the BibRave peeps but the storms were really bad so it got cancelled. I also got my addresses mixed up so after a treadmill run, I wandered the streets of Chicago and found a cute breakfast place.

Side note, almost all of the Lyft drivers I had were Spanish speakers. I tried SO HARD to keep the conversation going in Spanish so I was proud of myself. It’s though sometimes to switch between the two. Anyways, Saturday started cloudy and wet but we still made what we could of it. My sister really wanted to check out SkyDeck. We purchased discounted Chicago City passes which made it easy for us to do some touristy things for a lot cheaper. After my solo breakfast, I met them at the Sears Tower and up we went! Visibility was low but I was totally fine with that because I hate heights. My brother in law and I clenched our teeth and went out on the ledge with my sister. As soon as I was done, I ran out. Like, why do humans do that? NOT. A. FAN. After that, we hopped on the Big Bus Tour and rode around Chicago. The rain stopped but the temps began to drop for sure. I was all for it. Our lovely guide told us all about the history of the city and we saw a bunch of cool sights. He also gave us ponchos which totally came in handy for race day. Our bus tour took about an hour or so. We hopped off for lunch (deep dish pizza!) and then we went back to the hotel for a break!

We took the Architecture Boat Tour that evening which I LOVED. My degree is in Construction Science but I totally appreciate architecture and Chicago has awesome buildings. The weather was chilly and I decided to wear my rain jacket over my clothes just in case. Maybe it’s bad juju to wear race stuff before the race but I did it! We sipped hot chocolate and just enjoyed the views. Afterwards, we found a neat pasta place where I had my Fettuccine Alfredo and went back to the hotel. By then I was a bit nervous so I talked with my friend Cece over the phone as I was getting ready for bed. I slept surprisingly well that night and I was up and ready to go by 4:30 on Sunday!

I tried to keep my pre-race routine the same. I would get up, eat my bagel and banana concoction as well as have my coffee. I did my dance party tradition to get out some of the nervous energy. The weather was about 57 with light rain. I cut up some socks to wear as arm sleeves and wore the poncho I received on the bus tour. I made my way down to the subway stop and took the Red Line to the park. I had tickets to the Balbo Hospitality tent and it was such a life saver. I was able to relax in a nice warm tent with food and private bathrooms. We had private gear check as well so that was amazing. I sipped on some water and made sure to the use the restroom.

My wave was called and we were escorted to our corrals. The rain stopped and about 15 minutes before the race started, I took off my poncho. Right as were were walking to the start, the rain started again. It was a light drizzle but enough to be cold and wet. I just smiled and sucked it up because I knew that there was nothing I could do. There was no point to be upset about it. The race started and I took off. My legs were completely frozen and everything felt weird. I didn’t panic though because my pacing plan was to take the first two miles slow and then start to slowly pick it up.

At the beginning of the race, I took it easy and just focus on holding back and following the blue line. I wanted to run the tangents and not pick up any extra miles. I knew that my GPS was going to be off so I had a pace band and just looked at the elapsed time. I also had a mantra that I kept repeating to myself to have a positive mindset. My arm warmers stayed on until about mile 4. After that I was cruising along. My goal for this race was not to stop running. Throughout the water stops, I made sure to grab and go. While 4:15 was a wild goal in my mind, I was going to do everything I could to get it.

Early on in the race, I had to pee. I guess I didn’t go enough before the race so I had to make a judgement call. I took the risk and stopped to pee. It wasn’t too long of a wait but I was sure that I had lost two minutes and that my race would probably not hit 4:15. I was okay though because I felt strong and knew that I could keep pace.

So here is where it gets weird. The whole time I was running, I felt strong. Like it didn’t feel hard or out of control. I knew that I could do it, I just needed to get there. My right knee would twinge occasionally but I was mindful to pull back a bit when it did. I was able to keep going and eventually the pain subsided. I mentally told myself the first 20 miles were just a warm up, the last 6 were the race.

I really enjoyed the neighborhoods of Chicago and I took it all in. I waved to fans, high fived little kids, laughed at all the signs and definitely picked up Twizzlers and pretzels that the crowd was giving out. Kind of sad I missed the bowl of grapes but LOVED all the crowd support. It made it so much fun. The rain picked up again part of the race but I was honestly soaked head to toe that I just didn’t care. I had a smile plastered on my face and nothing was going to change my mood.

When I hit Chinatown, I KNEW that we were on our way back. I felt strong and just kept pushing. My legs were like a machine that was in high gear and I wasn’t going to stop. Side note, this is where I reached into my fuel belt and took out my subway card to toss. I thought I had accidentally thrown out my driver’s license as well but we later found it stuck to my credit card in my fuel belt. The crowds at this point were loud and I was all for it. People were dropping out and not looking so hot but I was in the game. I had been hitting my paces at each mile and I just knew that I had it in the bag.

That final mile was all the feels. I saw the sign, and I heard the crowd and I just started flying. I could feel like I had a bit more to give and I surged. I started to feel the tears well up and I was practically pushing people out of the way to climb up that hill to the finish. My sister and brother in law were at the finish line cheering me on and I started ugly crying. I surged across the line and stopped my watch. I thought I had made my goal but I double checked the app. Sure enough, my official time was 4:15:59! Even with the bathroom break, I had still managed to hit my time.

After crossing the finish line, I took my phone off “Do Not Disturb” and the surge of messages came through. I was so moved that so many people were cheering for me and that kept me going during the race. I got through the finisher’s corral and made my way back to the Balbo Hospitality tent to meet up with my family. I felt so good afterwards and didn’t really have any issues. I was so thankful to run such a strong race even with the crazy weather.

Side note: get the Hospitality tent tickets! We had a changing room (which was awesome to peel off all the wet clothes) and had massages! It was seriously awesome and the food alone was worth it!

Chicago was so so good for me. I called it my redemption marathon and I still can’t believe it went as well as it did. My training was hard at times but I stuck through it and made sure to take care of myself. I’ll definitely race Chicago again in the future and enjoy every second of it again!