So its been awhile since I last posted, I thought I was going to be really good at blogging--really committed--mmmm...no didn't happen. I think I might put too much pressure on the kinds of blogs I think I want to do, and how simple they really could be.
I finished the Chicago Marathon and it was one of the best/weirdest experiences of my life. I say weird because a lot happened prior to the race that I just wasn't prepared for. Dusty and I and my sister and Brett were all staying at my cousin Lora and her husband Pier's--we'll get to him in a minute--place in Chicago. It wasn't right downtown, but they have a beautiful home just outside of Wrigleyville, very modern. So their upstairs neighbor had ran the race 10 times, yes-I said 10! So she said the night before that I could ride with her down and get dropped off that way not everyone had to get up so early. So we get downtown with only 20 minutes to spare, I was FREAKING out. I still needed to check out the bathroom situation, find my coral/pace group and this lady wasn't at all concerned, and let me add that there were thousands of people. CRAZY!
So we go to porta-pot city, seriously the most johns I have ever seen in my life. I get through that, with ten minutes to spare. I also stood behind this guy that I would later see around mile 24 getting wheeled away on a stretcher, very surreal. I get to my proposed coral and the gates were closed. I had signed up for a 4 hour ace group, so by this time they were only letting people in at the 5 hour mark coral. I was silently freaking out, and trying to attach myself to people who were moving up the corals inside to try and reach where they are supposed to be. With the minutes counting down I only got to the 4:30 pace group. So in my mind i was stressing out so bad, that I tricked myself into thinking that I needed to sprint to catch up to the 4's. I sprinted the first 6 miles. I'm sure people were thinking..."wow what an idiot!" Rightfully so. By the time I caught up with the fours I was exhausted and knew that my family was going to be thrown off by timing.
I had to settle in and get back in my comfort zone and calm down. I found my sister, Brett, Lora and Pier three times and Dusty only once. I felt so bad because of my stressful mind and antics I threw him off his plan to ride around on his bike to find me. It was getting so hot during the race, that I valued my strides under the overpasses and bridges savoring the shade. I slowly got to my 26--it was one of the most challenging experiences of my life, you want to quit because you honestly can't physically move your legs but want to keep going because you've trained so hard. Its all mental--and obviously my mentality was shot by mile 7. I rounded the corner for the last .2 miles and heard Pier screaming in his french accent! It was in turn one of the best moments of my life as challenging as it was. I'm not sure if I will complete another one, but I think I might have caught the bug because now I am itching to find another one. sigghhh.
Okay so I know your dyyying to hear about Pier. He has a full mullet--business in the front and party in the back. He has a french accent and smokes dubies all the time. He also chants dooouubiedoubiedoo which really makes me laugh. Him and Lora (my cousin) used to be vegetarian, then he started hunting and recently just shot a black bear--he also showed us the bear's peepee bone when we were there. Awesome. He's great, and him and Lora have a successful makeup line, Medussa's makeup. They made my Marathon stay full of good memories.
Until next time...
