Chicago Marathon Madness

Today is bittersweet. I am officially marking the end of the racing season for this year. I happy to not have to train for a while, and just work out for the fun of it, but I will definitely miss the thrill of the race. On Sunday, I went to the Chicago Marathon with hopes of simply finishing. I have been suffering from Morton's Neuroma, a painful nerve condition, in my left foot. I had all but given up on even running the marathon because of the amount of pain I have been suffering during this last month of training. I missed 2 long runs, and several weekly training runs. But, I knew I had to at least lace up, and show up in that starting corral that I worked so hard to earn. So, on Sunday, October 12, 2008, I made my way to starting corral C, and started running. The thrill of the spectators made the first 4 miles fly by. I got to five, my heart rate was still a little higher than it should be, but I started to settle into a nice rhythm. At mile six, my foot began to ache. Not a lot, just a little. All I could think was, "Please just let me get through at least half". Oddly, by 7, the pain had started to go away, and I was thrilled!! I stayed pain-free for the next 14 miles! The heat began to rise, and my legs began to tighted around 18, but I was still running! I made it to 20, and my foot began to ache again. I assumed it would do the same thing it had before, and go away. By mile 23, I was in full inflammation, almost in tears. I had to talk myself through the next 5K of the marathon, doing a walk-run sequence to get me to the end. Although my pace was slow, I was making my way to the end. Joe was on his bike, riding next to me, encouraging me all the way. At mile 25 I made up my mind, that no matter how bad I was hurting, or how slow I had to run, I would run the last mile. I stayed strong, listened to the cheering crowd, thought about my brother, my kids, my husband, and my impending victory for finishing the marathon. Just as I was about to round the last corner on Roosevelt up to the Mile 26 marker, I saw MJ. She ran out, ran a few steps with me, cheered me on, then sent me up my final stretch to finish. I completed the marathon in 4 hours, 19 minutes and 3 seconds, in a lot of pain, but with a smile from ear to ear.