A Marathon Experience!

Truly Humbled!  I am not sure I can give you a word that is better to describe my feelings about yesterday's Chicago Marathon.  I would love to tell you all that it was easy and fun and truly awesome but I can't.  Why?  Because I have never done anything in my life that was this tough. 

The day began at 5:00 AM when I got up to get ready for the event.  I spent the first hour up with stomach issues.  I think I must have been nervous about the day's happenings.  At 6:30 AM we took off for the starting line which was about a mile from the hotel.  We walked over, only to find mass confusion in the Grant Park area.  After a bit of scrambling we found our way to the start corrals just before they closed the gate behind us.  The National Anthem played and off we went!

As we were all lucky enough to have qualified for a starting corral, we started the race in front of 30,000 unseeded runners.  With that being said, it still took us 4 minutes to get across the starting line.  When we first started out all was going great.  We (Dale, my two brothers-in-law, and I) were moving right along at our expected race pace.  The energy from the crowd was amazing, as 1.7 million spectators lined the course all the way throughout the race.  In some places they over took the runners and were even on the course. 

By about mile 5 everything started to settle down and we were able to find some room to get into a rhythm and enjoy a bit of the course.  At this point we were heading north toward Wrigleyville.  With people everywhere cheering us on, I told Dale that at that point I felt like I was floating.  I could start to detect at this time that Dale was not feeling that well and his day would be a tough one.  However, we continued on.

Leaving Wrigleyville we head back south toward the downtown area and toward the half-way point.  Around mile 12 I was expecting to see my awesome wife and two wonderful daughters.  This was my motivation at that point - to make it to see them and feed off their energy.  At about the 12.5 mile mark I was running with my brother-in-law Greg when off to the right I heard them yell for me and I was renewed!  Greg went off to slap hands and I continued on, thinking he would catch up to me.

It was at the mid-point that it all began to go astray.  I was confused because I had lost all of the guys that were running with me; I was running alone and therefore I began to over-think things a bit.  I wondered if I had fallen off the pace or if I had been pushing too hard too soon.  I continued on my own through mile 14,15,16,17,18, and 19.  At mile 19 I began to feel the gorilla on my back.  At this point I began to walk through a couple of water stops, and around mile 20 they caught up to me.  Only I lost them once again, which at that point was a big blow to my mental state of mind.

Around mile 22 Greg caught up to me and asked me if I needed someone to run with me.  Boy did I ever!  At that point I was spent and needed someone to help get me through the last 4.2 miles.  Greg is an experienced marathoner who had run a 3:19 marathon last year to qualify for Boston; he was exactly what I needed at that point. 

The games I played in my head and the emotions I felt are not truly describable.  It is something you need to go through to understand, but let's just say that I wanted to cry and smile at the same time.  The pain was intense and the thought of finishing was intoxicating.  I told Greg at that point I wanted to make it to the last 5K and then see what I could do. 

We hit the 23 mile mark and entered into the Nike finishing zone.  This is where the TV cameras were, as well as the race photographers.  (I can't wait to see a picture of me at that point as I was pretty close to out of it).  Greg commented that it was a dumb place to take pictures and I concur!  At that point Greg told me that we were in the last 5K and asked if I was ready, to which I replied NO!  He talked me off the ledge and convinced me to give him 3 good 10 minute segments to finish.  I just looked straight forward and began to push to the finish line. 

At the 24 mile mark my right calf and my left hamstring were taking turns pulsating to almost cramping status.  I mentioned it to Greg and he encouraged me to take different running positions, which I did to little relief, but I was determined to finish the race.  I had worked way too many hours and run far too many miles to quit.

The heat in the second half was taking its toll on everyone, including me.  By the time I hit mile 24 I would say the heat was 82 degrees and people were dropping like flies.  It was at this point that I was truly humbled and began to fully appreciate all those that had gone 26.2 before me.  People were falling over, being held up, and being carted off in wheelchairs.  It was chaos!

At this point I saw a girl in front of me with a shirt on that said "All things are possible with Christ Jesus."  This is where I began to realize that God gave me Greg and the crowd to get me through to the finish.  Mile 25 came and went and we came to the last 800 meters. 

I began to think of my training at this point and I remembered all of the 800's I had done in training and how I hated them.  I kept my head focused on the finish and listened to Greg as he called out the remaining distance.  Mile 26 came and just beyond it I heard my wife and kids rooting me on to the finish.  This was the only point in the last 13.1 miles my head was thinking clearly as I pointed to the sky and was revived  with their energy.

As I turned the corner to head to the finish I was greeted by a hill which was small, but after the previous 26 miles it seemed like Mount Everest.  I put my head down and went up the hill, made the left hand turn, and I could clearly see the finish line.  Greg was working the crowd to get them to cheer for the finishers and I tried to feed off them.  As I crossed the finish line I wanted to collapse. 

My immediate thought as I finished was that I would never do this again!  I was spent and I was mentally beaten.  As I worked my way to the water, Gatorade, and food I began to rebound a bit, but my feeling was still that I had to be nuts to do this!  I was also disappointed that I missed my goal of finishing in 4 hours or less.

As I begin now to reflect, I can truly see that I gave all that I had yesterday.  I am not sure I could have pushed much harder if at all.  I was cramping, it was hot, and I was a first time marathoner.  My finishing time of 4:06:49 was in the top 1/3rd of the finishers which proves to me that the weather was an issue to all involved. 

Today I have already determined that I will do another marathon.  I am not sure where or when, but I will come back more experienced and determined to do better.  I am proud of the accomplishment as only 1% of all Americans run a marathon.  I am part of the 1% by the grace of God!