Dreams come true. I
couldn’t think of just the right eye catching, snappy title for this entry
until I tweeted those very words to someone else. Dreams come true. I have always believed it for others, and I
have watched many of my friends demonstrate it in the past year—these folks
blow my mind with their accomplishments.
I never quite thought of it for myself, preferring to assume the
unassuming “I’m just your average runner/person/music therapist over here doing
the best I can…” role. That all changed
on the morning of Oct 7, 2012.
Training for the Chicago Marathon started back in mid-June
and I attacked it with all of the strength and energy that I had to give. My first marathon was a great experience, and
I approached it with a “finish the distance” goal. However, those days are gone and I was going
for it this time—nothing less than an aggressive training plan and a lofty time
goal for me. I trained and I trained
hard, during the heat of the Texas summer, none the less. I would read the speed workouts in the training
plan and think “no way, I can’t do that—but I will try my best” and most of the
time I would hit the goal for the workout.
There was no talk of how hot it was, no excuses for me….just a goal to
go out and do the work. I made a few
sacrifices along the way, missing some long bike rides, social runs, and races
because I needed the recovery time for my running. Focus was the name of the game and I had
it. I didn’t realize that I had my own
“dream” in progress; I just knew that I was working hard for something that I
was deeply invested in.
Summer turned to fall and I could see myself growing and
improving as a runner. I have never done
such focused speed work and I was really enjoying the experience—it can be so
humbling and so rewarding (and sometimes all at once). I completed my last 20 miler of the plan on a
cool (for September) and rainy morning at White Rock Lake. It made for the perfect backdrop to reflect
upon where my journey had taken me thus far.
The lake was calm and still and I felt much the same way on the inside. A few days later I had an awesome tempo run
at Arbor Hills—the kind of run that reminds you why you love running. It was dark by the time we finished and I
felt as if I was flying up and down the hills and around the bends on the
narrow path—like a roller coaster ride.
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| Mr K's Fortune Friday Night in Chicago |
The stage was so perfectly set for a huge day at the Chicago
Marathon. My allergies hit me HARD the
day before we left, and I tried my best not to panic. It had to get better once I left the awful
North Texas pollens behind, that was my plan anyway. I tried every known remedy at dinner in
Chicago that Friday (ginger tea, chicken soup, drugs, lots of water…you name
it) and I came out feeling okay for race day.
Not my best, but certainly not as bad as it could have been. Mr. K and I had flown out Friday morning and
enjoyed the afternoon in Chicago—what a beautiful and bustling city! On Saturday we walked from our hotel to the
race start and Millennium Park and tried to stay off our feet, although we
probably could have done a little better.
It is hard to be still when you want to explore a new city. It was a beautiful day in Chicago—sunny,
cold, and runners EVERYWHERE. I loved
the energy!
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| Meatballs anyone? |
A delicious pasta dinner was consumed (including the largest
meatballs in the city!), race gear was prepared, and an early bedtime was
set. I slept fairly well, minus waking
up around 1:00 to worry about how I was feeling. Soon enough it was time to meet That Pink Girl and make our way to Grant Park to prepare for the start of the race. I gotta admit, TPG and I looked pretty
ridiculous in our throw away clothes—the ruffles on my skirt made my hips look
super-wide under my ugly baby blue pants.
We were setting some fashion don’ts right there, people.
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| Fashion DON'T...thanks for the pic, TPG |
The race weather gods smiled upon us and gave us some of the
most perfect running weather ever. There
aren’t any running conditions much better than 38 degrees, partial sun, and a
light breeze. As we stood in the
starting corrals I knew that this had to be a “no excuses” race. When else do you get to run one of the top 5
marathons in the world, on a perfect day, with solid training under your
belt? It may never be any better than
this, and I was aware of and grateful for that.
Chicago Marathon does a great job organizing the start line and even
though 45,000 people ran the race—it took me only 11 minutes to reach the start. I can think of some other races who could
learn a thing or two from the folks in Chicago (not to name any names….).
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| Hanging in Corral K...must have been a sign! |
It was so exciting to get moving and I tried to settle into
my planned race pace. Mr. K and I
usually run with a plan to stay near each other…until we weren’t…and that plan
worked well for us again. He surged
ahead of me early on and then I caught up with him around mile 6 and we ran
together for a while. The crowds,
buildings, and a tunnel threw my Garmin for a loop so I started watching for
the mile markers on the course and timing my mile splits with them. Thankfully my goal pace was an easy number
that made the addition very simple. I
saw music therapy frunner Becky at mile 3 where she was volunteering at the
water stop, but other than that I didn’t have any friendly faces to look for
along the course. This was never a huge
issue as an estimated 1.5 million people came out to cheer for the marathoners. There were people everywhere!! And they were loud and raucous and I can
honestly say that I drew on their energy at times. I later learned that Elsa
Maria was on the course and caught a glimpse of me in my “visible from space” yellow
calf sleeves.
I was faintly aware that my pace did not feel quite as easy
as I would like and soon became aware that I was having trouble drawing a deep
breath. My typically dormant asthma had
been triggered by that allergy issue I had before leaving home. However, this is a no excuses day and there
was nothing left to do but carry on. I
crossed the half way mark around 2 hours, which still had me perfectly on
target to meet my goal. Sometime after
this point I lost sight of Mr. K—he had been slightly ahead of me since mile
7—and I never saw him again. Allow me a
brag….he went on to run a beautiful 3:57 complete with a perfect negative
split. So proud!
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| Visible from space |
I keep on going, making it a goal to reach each mile marker
in my targeted amount of time. I told myself it was my job to get to the next
marker—that it was all I had to do in the moment…focused like never
before. I held on to the low 9:00s as long as I could
before having to compromise and move back to a 9:15. Somewhere before 17 couldn’t wait any longer….had
to make a restroom stop. I was hoping
that there would not be lines at this point in the race, but I still had to
wait and likely lost a couple of minutes.
I remember feeling so thirsty and was walking through most of the water
stops so that I could get a good drink.
Looking back on it, the dry air must have caused some of that
thirst…remember, I was coming from a humid and moist training climate.
Somewhere near mile 20 (the race is all a blur to me) I
heard another runner call my name.
TPG! She was my marathon angel
from above, I swear, because I really needed a familiar face at the time. We might have said 3 words to each other
before running on, but just the sight of her gave me some necessary strength. I had no idea that she was fighting her own
battles at that moment. The race was getting harder by the second and
I could feel my pace fall off a bit, but I was determined to hang on and finish
what I started. No excuses, remember?
I should note that I don’t remember much about the scenery
around me, those mile markers were my focus and my job that day! I do remember the Gangnam dancers in China
Town, the rifle twirlers in Boys Town, seeing White Sox Stadium up on the
right, and running under a human tunnel in the Nike Zone just to name a
few. I also remember a volunteer at mile
22 looking me in the eye and saying “mile 22, you’ve got this!” I looked so forward to the timing mats, odd
right? Not really, see I knew that my
close friends and family were tracking my progress at home. Each time I crossed a mat I sent a message
their way and I let their (long distance) energy give me a boost. It was a pretty amazing feeling and I realize
that I am a ridiculously fortunate person to have such incredible support—so
great I could feel it all the way in Chicago.
Those later mile markers seemed so far apart, but I kept my
focus and tried to keep my pace up as well.
I had been thinking of my main mantras for most of the
race—smart/consistent/smart/consistent, dig deep, and you are stronger than you
think….but the later miles is when one of my new favorites really came into
play. I owe Mark L a huge debt of
gratitude for sharing with me his favorite “Show me how great you are” The
later miles were so challenging, but I didn’t sweat through all that Texas heat
training for nothing. Now was the time
to draw upon the mental toughness I had worked hard to strengthen. I knew that I was not going to make my “oh my
gosh best race ever…wow” goal, but I knew that my “oh my gosh, I can’t believe
I did THAT goal” was very much in reach.
The end of the race was drawing near, all I had to do was dig in and get
it done.
I had been warned of the slightest hill in the last 400
meters or so of the race—and it was there, just as promised. It was a glorious sight, not that I was
looking forward to running up it…but it told me that the end was very
near. I had no concept of my time at
this point; I just dug in and tried to run strong to the finish line. I crossed the finish line and stopped my
watch and stared in disbelief….4:10….32 minutes faster than my first marathon
attempt. I always assumed that I would
be a fairly average 4:30 marathoner, and I was quite satisfied with the
thought. When I set my time goal for the
race (as close to 4:00 as I can get) I don’t think that I really, truly
believed that it would happen. It really
was a dream…one of those “that would be amazing and I will work hard to get
there, but I don’t know if it will ever be possible” types of dreams. But
now…now I am sold….dreams do come true.
I collected my medal and by heat sheet and began to look
ahead for Mr. K, not sure how far ahead of me he finished. Soon enough his smiling face emerged from the
crowd and he delivered his good news to me.
I was a pathetic mix of crying and laughing all while lurching forward
as my whole body HURT in that moment.
After getting our free beer, we walked with stiff bodies over to the bag
drop and wondered how we would make the mile walk back to our hotel. I took a minute to read my text messages and
was overwhelmed from the responses. I
had been cheered on the entire way by my friends who were tracking at
home. I could not stop the tears from
flowing (me, yes! The non-crier!) as I felt like the most fortunate person who
had ever laced up a pair of running shoes. While I ran most of the race alone,
I was never really alone. An amazing
thing happened, the famous Frunner Bubble of Love had made it all the way to
Chicago. Those friends and family who
were supporting me were in my heart and in my mind the entire way. See….I’m the luckiest…there is no doubting
it.
Mr. K and I headed
back to the hotel, feeling relieved that our bodies began to loosen with each
step of our walk. We spent the rest of
the afternoon talking to family, answering supportive Facebook/Twitter
messages, recapping our excitement, and enjoying a celebratory drink with
TPG. Later we enjoyed a very fine dinner
as we shared our race tales with the rest of our running group from North
Texas. The city was quiet and peaceful
as we made the short walk back to our hotel.
The calm waters of the river provided a fitting backdrop to end quite an
exceptional day.
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| Beautiful Chicago By Night |
I ran across this quote as I was contemplating my first
marathon…You should run your first marathon for the right reasons,
because you'll never be the same person again. You must want to do it, not do
it because your boss did it or your spouse did it.
~~Bill
Wenmark, running coach
I believe the first
sentence of this quote to be true, minus one word….first….because I believe
that any marathon you run is going to change you. In fact, I believe that my second marathon
changed me even more than my first.
I learned so many things about myself during the training and especially
on race day. My eyes and mind have been
opened to endless possibilities…dreams, if you will….that go far beyond race
day and running.
Dreams come true.
