Heading into the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, I felt as well prepared as I could possibly be.  My marathon simulation runs had gone well, no little injuries had popped up, and my legs had felt strong during my taper (sometimes I feel sluggish when I start to cut my mileage back in preparation for a big race, but luckily that did not happen this time).  The only thing that was missing was the experience of actually having done a marathon.  I had no idea what those last few miles would feel like.  Before races, I usually try to visualize my race plan and imagine how I will feel as I execute it.  When I tried to do that as Chicago drew nearer, I kept meeting a mental block around mile 20.  Too many questions kept popping into my head and I couldn’t fully concentrate on imagining the last six miles.

In the last few days leading up to the marathon, we kept hearing weather forecasts saying that temperatures would be in the 80s with high humidity.  I figured the heat might affect my pace, but assumed it would not be too bad as long as I drank all my fluids at the fluid stations.  Looking back on it, that assumption was probably a little too naïve. 

I felt awesome for the first half.  The crowds were five deep in some places and full of encouragement (I still cannot get over how many people woke up early on a Sunday morning to cheer on the competitors).  I kept finding myself smiling (not something that I expected to ever do in a marathon).  I was hitting my splits and thoroughly enjoying myself.  After reaching the halfway point, I started to notice the heat a little bit more.  This was partly because the temperatures were rising, but the second half of the course also did not have as much shade from tall buildings as the first half.  My mile splits started slowing down a little bit, but somewhere around the 25 kilometer mark, I heard my coach Terrence and teammate Jen Rhines yelling that I was in seventh place and that the sixth and fifth place women were within striking distance.  Hearing that distracted me from my splits as I just concentrated on moving up in places.   After I caught the next two women, I heard Terrence again and my boyfriend Adam.  This time they both said to forget about times and just go after placing high.  That was all the encouragement I needed to stop looking at my watch!  (The splits I was seeing on my watch were rather depressing.)  I don’t really remember the rest of the race, but I guess that I moved into third place somewhere around the 35 kilometer point.  The last seven kilometers probably made up the most challenging half hour of my life.  The idea of running seven more kilometers seemed impossible.  I could not imagine how I could run that much farther and instead just had to take one corner or streetlight at a time.

I knew that I was in third place for those seven kilometers, but I didn’t really think about what that meant until after I had finished.  As soon as I crossed the line and realized my place, I was in shock.  Placing in the top three at a major marathon was a goal for later years, not something I thought would happen on my first try.  The feeling of elation was quickly replaced by feelings of sickness….My body was full of contradictions for the new few hours.  First I was hot and wanted to dump water on myself, but then I got the chills and asked someone for a hot pack.  I felt hungry and depleted, but the thought of most foods made me sick.  I was very dehydrated, but didn’t want any water either. While that was all going on, I decided that I never wanted to do another marathon again. 

Luckily that feeling was very short-lived.   As soon as I had taken a shower, gotten my appetite back, and eaten a few pieces of deep dish Chicago pizza, I started to feel better.  I have taken the last week off so that I can recover from the race. I know my body needs the rest, but I’m already getting excited to start training again and preparing for the Olympic Trials in Boston in April!