Well...I haven't posted since before my marathon...wow! Sorry for not writing an update about how my race went! I definitely meant to, it just kept escaping me! While out for a run the other day I decided to get back to my blog just a little bit! The first reason is because I'll be running a 1/2 marathon the end of April. Second, because I'll probably start training for another full within the next few months. And third, because lots of big accomplishments (hopefully) and changes in my life are coming up!
I'll start by going back months and telling you about the Chicago marathon weekend! I flew to Chicago the Friday morning before the race. Pruitt and her dad wouldn't be there until that afternoon/evening so one of my best friends (Amy Kasper) from high school who lives in Chicago was nice enough to pick me up at the airport and we went to a nice lunch on a patio because it was gorgeous out! We had a glass of wine and caught up! Amy dropped me off at the hotel and I just unpacked a little, did some school work, and lounged around. Pruitt & her dad's flights were delayed so unfortunately they didn't get to the hotel until like 7 or so. The 3 of us went out to a very nice dinner! I can't remember the name of the place, but it was fabulous! We had some martini's, wine, Irish coffee, and definitely drank too much for 2 nights before our race! Oh well!...we hadn't seen each other in forever, so that was our excuse! :) (that and Tom Pruitt was paying...and for 2 young 20-something's to get a great meal & drinks paid for, you take advantage!! haha). We went back to the hotel, Pruitt and I chatted more and went to bed! In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel, went to the grocery store to get a bunch of gatorade, and stuff we would want in the morning before the race. We went and checked in and got our tags, packets, and shopped around at the convention. After that we went to a sport bar to watch the OU vs. Texas football game. The Pruitt's are huge OU fans! Nancy Pruitt, Sarah's mom met us at the bar after her flight got in. And no, Sarah and I resisted the urge to drink, even though that's almost a sin during a football game! My parents got to the hotel shortly after we got back. They settled in, the parents chatted and had some drinks, then the ladies went to do a little shopping! :) Then we all reassembled for dinner! My family Pat & Adrienne met us and came with us. Also my cousin Joe popped in after her got done working. We went back to the hotel, the parents continued having a good time and Sarah and I went up to bed!
We woke up bright and early to prepare. Had some breakfast & coffee and watched some Saved by the Bell! I used to watch Saved by the Bell before school everyday when I was younger when its on at like 5am! It's still on then! We headed down to the starting corrale which was like 1 mile from the hotel. The starting corrale was CRAZY!!! Such a mess. We actually had to jump a fence to get into our starting time's area! Anyways, it was a perfect morning! Probably about 60 degrees. Pruitt and I both started with sleeves on but were down to our tanks in about 30 mins! We saw our parents outside our hotel and continued on! It is a gorgeous course and like I said the weather was beautiful!
My hip started bugging me very early on; about mile 6. My knee started hurting about mile 9...not good. I had tons of Biofreeze (my savior) on and just kept trying to ignore it. We were doing about a 10:30min/mile pace which was good for me, and maybe even a little quick. It was getting pretty warm. NOTHING like my first race which was 97 degrees, but warm for me when I'd been training in MN in Sept. It was heaven for Sarah who did her training in Dallas and San Antonio in horrible heat! Around mile 21, I was slowing and knew I had to keep at a slow pace if I wanted to finish because I was in a lot of pain. I told Sarah to go on her pace without me. Eventually she did. I stopped to put on more Biofreeze and use the bathroom. I ran till mile 24 then walked through some water stops and ran till the end. Our parents did a great job making their way around the race. We saw them like 5 or 6 times! Good job guys! I passed the finish line and the first thing they did was put my medal on, then try to take a picture. It was like "Really?? I wanna cry right now and I can't move and you want a pic?! Really??" Then...they hand you a beer. Well, it was then that I realized neither Sarah and I talked about where to meet, nor did we talk with our parents about where to meet. So that was difficult. And the people who make the course are evil. They make you walk like a mile to the "participant pick-up" area where you are supposed to find everyone! It was hell. Then we had to walk about a mile back to the hotel...hell. We ate and had a few beers in the hotel bar. Sarah and I looked ridiculous anytime we tried to get up and walk to the bathroom. Beer wasn't even helping! I was in so much pain, WAY more than my first race. We went upstairs to rest and unfortunately Tom & Nancy Pruitt had to head home. Sarah and I napped a little and expected to wake up and go out to dinner and drinks with my parents...well that didn't happen! I couldn't move. It hurt to roll over in my bed. It took me 5 mins to gimp my way to the bathroom 6 feet away! So, we got Chicago deep dish pizza room service and a bottle of wine. They rolled the little cart right in between our beds, we ate, maybe had one glass of wine each and fell asleep during Amazing Race at like 8pm! We woke up around 10:30 pm to the news just in time to hear that a woman ran the entire marathon pregnant and the last half in labor and gave birth 2 hours after finishing! Gosh...and we thought we were in pain! Back to bed! In the morning we went to breakfast and then my parents and Sarah had to leave :(
Amy picked me up at the hotel and we went to her apartment. We went to happy hour and then that evening Amy, her husband Justin and I went to a neighborhood bar to watch Monday night football. Tuesday Amy and I kind of just walked around, went to lunch and kind of hopped to some places for drinks! It was so fun! That evening I flew home. All in all a great weekend! I finish the marathon which was my only goal! And I got to spend some awesome time with some very special people in my life!
Oh...and I did reach my goal!!! In fact, I went above my goal by some! :) So thanks again to everyone who donated! I know it made a big difference!
I'll leave this post at that since it is quite long enough!!! But in the next couple days I'll post about what has been going on since and about my current training!!
