Chitown Marathon!

I DID IT!! Marathon #4 with a PR (4:29:48), not exactly what I wanted, but a PR is still a PR!

The city and race were AMAZING!  I've never been to a race where the ENTIRE city gets involved.  I had people tell me they couldn't wait to watch...and they didn't know any one racing it.  This is the reason I love the running community- people you don't even know are cheering for you and congratulating you!

Although right now I am still skating on my post-race high; that race was probably the hardest race I've ever participated in.  The course was not anything I hand't trained for, but mentally I was not in the game.  I hit my wall at mile 5!  From about mile 5-15 I was constantly making bargains with myself (if I could just make it to the next water/aid station I would stop and then once I got there I told myself okay we're just going to walk through this and wait til the next one).  It clearly showed in my mile times-  my mile times went from 9:44 (what I wanted) all the way to 11:20 (yikes!).  Then I'm not sure what happened but at mile 16 I was like, "Okay only 10 more miles I can do this, this is just a training run."  I finally got into my zone and finished my pace at 9:20.  Although, it was mentally not where I wanted to be I am SO proud of myself of pushing through that and finishing!!

Now this week I haven't done much of anything besides eating healthy and yoga, so that my body can fully repair itself, since this will be the first time in 4 years I don't have another marathon coming up.

Next week I'll be starting my new diet and new workout regime- more of that to come!

Til next time and one step closer to a hard body,
Mo

Chitown and more..

It's finally here!! Only 3 more days and I will be just a few miles from the finish line of the Chicago Marathon.  Like I've said before, those itching days before my races I find that burning passion for running I had the first time I laced up for endurance racing my freshman year of college.  It's the butterflies and knots in my stomach and knowing that 45,000 people this Sunday have the same feelings, dedication, and love I do that gets me pumped.

During my last marathon in Minnesota, the pacer I was running made the most amazing statement that I will always remember, "Only 1 in 100,000 people will ever run a marathon."  Sometimes I forgot how truly amazing we, marathoners are because we tend to surround ourselves with other marathoners, so it seems normal.  In reality though we are a rare class of crazy people who will train for 16-20 weeks piling on mile after mile, running on ice and 10 degrees to heat exhaustion and 100% humidity because that's what was on our training schedule.  We will run 26.2 miles through tears, pain, joy, and accomplishment all for a little medal on a lanyard.  If that's not true love, I don't know what is?

So, if it wasn't clear enough yet- I pretty much can only think about the Chicago Marathon and only have motivation for things involving this.  But, I had some other fun news:  after I finish Chicago I am going to take a little time off of marathons, so that my body can heal and mentally marathons and I need a break.  I have been training since my freshman year of college for endurance races (and that doesn't include cross country and soccer all through high school and freshman year of college).  Now I'm in my senior year- and have yet to take any time off of training for some sort of full-marathon or half-marathon.  So, this upcoming June I'm going to switch it up a bit and participate in a TRIATHLON!!

I'm excited to push my body in a new way (and I think my body will enjoy a little change from just running ;) ).  After Chicago, I am going to try almost only no impact cardio like, cycling, swimming, elliptical, and anything else I can try.  Also, I'll be intensifying my workouts since I do not have to worry about wearing myself out before a long run.  I'm also going to switch up my nutrition entirely (with the help of my trainer, of course) so that I can tone up a little bit and I won't need so many carbs since I won't have to worry about getting up on a Saturday morning and having to run 15 miles.

Well,  that's about all I can get out for now since I can only seem to focus on Chicago!  I'll make sure to post some updates and pictures from Chicago.

So, I will leave you with a quote from one of the running coaches for Team in Training- Nebraska.  He and his wife are truly the most giving, unselfish people I know and they helped get me through my first marathon and find my true passion in running:
    It's an interesting passion we've chosen to pursue: it scares us, it thrills us, it introduces us to feelings us accomplishment we may have never thought possible. Cherish those knots in your stomach -- they're a sign you're on the verge of doing something remarkable." -Dan McCann

One step closer to a hardbody,
Mo