I didn't do much this weekend except for what the title of this implies. At work on Friday I listened to the Cubs lose sorely, then watched them barely slip by to become Division Champs on Saturday. Wahoo! Go Kerry!
Sunday was my loooong run: 20 miles along LSD, from Loyola to Balboa. Felt good the first 10 miles, after 12 my knees starting aching, so my last 5 were basically walked/jogged. Along the way home, however, I passed Vince Vaughn on bike. Seriously! He sang the 7th inning stretch on Saturday at Wrigley, and was wearing a Payton jersey on Sunday when I spotted him so maybe he was at the Bears game, too.
All in all, a very interesting weekend. Gotta love Chicago for that!
6 Hours, 29 neighborhood and numerous gel packs later, Chicago Marathon 2008 is finished! The temp reached 84 degrees that day, and 33,000 runners participated.
A big thank you to all of my supporters for helping to make it happen. Adrienne and Dave made sure I was fueled at mile 9, Teri met up with me at mile 13 to run by my side through the hottest part of the race, I bumped into Rodrigo and Addy at mile 18 while grabbing more gel packs, and Rodrigo found me on the bridge and sprinted the last 200 meters with me (in his flip flops!). It was awesome!
And even more amazing is over $700 will be donated to Hope Runs, which will help its children's program in Tanzania and Kenya. Read more about it at www.hoperuns.org. And fittingly so, the male Kenyans dominated the race this year. Read the Tribune's coverage here.
Along with all the congrats and hugs and handshakes, a question I keep getting is will I do it again next year. If you asked me around mile 23, the answer would have been a exasperated, exhausted and angry " NO WAY!" But a month has passed, the pain wore off, so only more time will tell. Running is addictive so odds are, another marathon is on the horizon. :)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
The Midwest Is Under Water!
I'm spending the weekend indoors since there's a typhoon outdoors. This must be the remnants of Hurricane Ike because it's been nothing but cats and dogs outside since yesterday afternoon. Rodrigo escaped early Friday morning to Vegas where it's nice and dry and warm. Chicago is just wet.
I've had a bad head cold all week and I still can't shake this cough. So I'm hibernating, lying around and doing nothing much at all. Yep, I have a marathon to run in less than a month. Do I feel prepared, pumped, ready to go? Hahaha... no. I'm scared shitless. I need to run but the elements are against me!
I've had a bad head cold all week and I still can't shake this cough. So I'm hibernating, lying around and doing nothing much at all. Yep, I have a marathon to run in less than a month. Do I feel prepared, pumped, ready to go? Hahaha... no. I'm scared shitless. I need to run but the elements are against me!
Monday, September 8, 2008
14 miles... like, whoa
When I embarked on my first long run of 10 miles, I felt nervous but confident I could do it. I kept a positive mindset and ran all the way from the Rog to Belmont Ave and back. A good, solid run. Talk about an esteem booster.
Then I pumped it up to 14 miles. It was a busy weekend so I didn't get around to running until 8pm on Sunday. This time I ran to North Avenue beach. I love night running and this one went smooth, too. Until I hit mile 10, which I'm starting to think is my my wall. I pretty much just dragged my feet for the remaining 3 miles. Oh, was I frustrated. But it reminded me that if my runs are too comfortable, if I'm not feeling exhausted at the end, then I'm not pushing harder. Running is supposed to be a constant challenge, a struggle that leaves you fatigued and sometimes distressed when finished. Not every run is accompanied by an euphoric moment. But it's always worth the two, four, ten runs it takes to feel that runner's high.
For now, just knowing I ran 14 (and now 16!!) will suffice. I know I'll soon feel it, too.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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