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    Chicago Marathon FINISHER!

    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. :)

    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.
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