Chicago Marathon Weekend

Well, it's finished! I finally checked the Chicago Marathon off my bucket list! 

I honestly don't know how I can put this entire experience into words. It far exceeded my expectations and I am still riding the high from this weekend. 

It all started on Friday when I arrived in Chicago. I headed straight to my hotel from the airport to get checked in and settled. My friends were due to arrive in a few hours so I opted to go to the Expo to pick up my race packet for Sunday. It was a few miles from the hotel but it was well worth the walk. The scenery was amazing and I stumbled across the start line for Sunday. Talk about surreal.

 

My friends, Lauren and Anne, arrived around 6 and it was so awesome to see them! We were all stationed in Kansas together and we haven't seen each other since May. It was a great reunion. We went to a local make your own pizza place for dinner and it was delicious!

They surprised me with this sweatshirt and card which was pretty awesome!

We were all running the International 5k together on Saturday and we woke up to rainy weather. I honestly thought the event was going to get canceled due to lightening but thankfully the bad weather passed and we were able to run! The 3 of us loved running together in Kansas and it was so fun getting to do it again.

After the race, we showered and changed, then headed out to site see! What a fun day it was! We walked all over the city. We went to Millennium Park to see the bean, had lunch at a delicious Italian restaurant, and then went to Navy Pier. We ended the night with cupcakes at Molly's Cupcakes (they have won cupcake wars) and lots of laughs. It was so great hanging out together again, it was like no time had passed.

The time had come for the big day! I was up at 5am so I could get to my corral at a decent time. I wasn't scheduled to start until 7:30am but I wanted to get there so I could relax and get mentally ready. All of the training was finally going to be put to use and I was ready.

It was a rainy day but the temperature was around 59 degrees which is ideal running weather!

I crossed the start line at 7:44am and I knew by the 5k point I had went out too fast I did my best to pull myself back but I just went with it and knew what I was capable of. I wanted to be under 4:30 but I didn't want to kill myself for that. 

I made a promise to myself to just enjoy the entire experience. The crowds and volunteers were absolutely spectacular! I saw my friends cheering me on at mile 2 and it was so fun hearing my name being yelled from the crowd. They managed to get this photo of me.

The atmosphere was absolutely electric and I've never experienced anything like it before. It honestly felt like the miles went by quickly because there was so much to focus on. I was feeling really good until mile 23, the top of my right foot started to hurt just a bit so I stopped and adjusting my shoes laces just to be safe. I pushed through and just kept telling myself that I could do this.

I made a conscious effort to smile the entire time. Even though it was raining almost the whole time, I couldn't help but smile. The constant high fives and words of encouragement were the best. The blaring music, dancing, and cheers coming from the crowd were second to none.

I remember hearing my friends yelling for me at mile 26 as I was turning the corner for the finish line. I saw the finish line and thought to myself, "you can do this, don't look at your watch, just go!" I crossed the finish line and had absolutely no idea what my official time was. I let out a huge sigh of relief and then the emotions came.

I immediately called Kyle and he told me: 4:27:14! I was over the moon! I accomplished my goal. The last 3 months of hard work had paid off. To run this with 44,570 other spectacular athletes, to include those running on blades, blind runners, wheelchair athletes, and others with disabilities, was unforgettable. Running a world marathon major was something I never thought I would get to do.

My phone was inundated with calls, texts, and Facebook notifications from family and friends. It was amazing having so much love, support, and encouragement from everyone. It means the world to me. I headed towards the runner reunification area so I could find Lauren and Anne. It was great seeing them afterwards! I'm so thankful that they took the time to drive up from Tennessee to spend the weekend with me and enjoy this crazy adventure!

It was an absolute honor to run this race for Homes for our Troops. We exceeded our fundraising goal by a lot and I couldn't be more proud of our team. I am so grateful to all those who donated.

This weekend was made possible by so many people. To all of my friends and my SLAM family for cheering me on every step of the way! Also, for helping me train and keeping me in shape! I was far more prepared for this marathon than I was my first and SLAM had so much to do with that. 

Most of all to my family who has supported me from Day 1 when I first said I wanted to run this. To my Dad for coming up here to help Kyle with E while I was gone in case the Army called. To my sister, brother in law, niece, and nephew for the constant words of encouragement and telling me I could do it (to include the video of congratulations they sent me!). But most of all to Kyle and E for ensuring that I could get my training runs done despite his hectic work schedule and providing me with the tools (a treadmill haha) to make it happen. They motivated me so much and never doubted for a second that I could do this.

I am so proud to call myself a Chicago Marathon Finisher.

If the stars align I will be back in 2019!