What an awesome race!  So much fun!

Before the race, I met up with two MFP buddies.  They were calm, cool and collected.  I, however, was a basket case.  A freezing basket case to be specific.  It was cold out there this morning!

I found my corral and my pace group without any trouble.  I told you I had signed up for the 5:25 pace group.  Once I got there, however, I found out that it was a walk/run group.  Folks, my legs are short and in real life, I have to run anyway to keep up with people so I ditched that idea real fast~especially when they started out running a 10:30 pace and then stopping to walk.

Forget that noise.

I took off on my own and didn’t look back.

I was relieved actually, they don’t carry the pace signs during the race and I couldn’t see the group leaders over all the people around me anyway. Oh well, it was a nice idea, right?

I started out with a 3 min PR on my 10K pace. I was happy with that.  After that, though, I had absolutely no idea of my pace at all. The buildings messed up my Garmin so I ran the race “naked.”  I just decided to belt it out the whole way and keep my fingers crossed.

I saw MFH (My Favorite Husband) around mile 10.  He waved and I waved back.  That was nice to see him!  Around mile 14.5 and again at 15.5, I met up with another MFP/FB friend and we ran together for a few minutes.  That was fun!

There was a real tough spot for me around mile 17-19.  It was warming up (you’d think I’d be used to that) and the crowds were thinning out in that area.  The crowds really make that race.

At mile 16, a toenail popped off of my right foot.  I felt it.  It went *Pop! and I went *____!  So, like a dummy, I tried to compensate for it.  Every step from mile 16 through the remainder of the race, my toenail went Flap, Flap, Flap.  That wasn’t much fun.

By compensating for the toenail, I gave myself a beauty of a blister on that same foot.  Brilliant, huh?  That actually ended up working to my advantage because after the race, when MFH saw it (he was impressed, it is quite the blister) he hailed us a cab and we rode back to the hotel instead of walking.  *Thanks again, Dear!

I ran well, for me.  I am content with the race.  I will never be accused of being fast, don’t get me wrong, but I ran this race in 5:19 and change.  This was a 39 minute PR over last year’s Marathon (my first).  Needless to say, I am thrilled with this!!!

Would I run Chicago again!?!  You’d better believe it, I would!  Too much fun!  Now, all I have to do it remember to put my name in the hat next year.  🙂