Jess, thank you! I personally think that your outfit in your most recent race was way cuter than mine! :-)
Oski, thank you, lady. I really appreciate. :-)
Pink, thank you for being so sweet to me! I always love your cheery pink attitude! :-)
Beth, LOL... ok, you beat me at long RRs (not always though!), but yours are more fun and your pictures are always out of this world. Thank you!
T.O, (again :-)), yes, they still give beer. I did grab one, it tasted great for about 3 or 4 sips, then I'm ashamed to say that I had to throw the rest of it in the grass. My stomach could not have handled the whole thing! And old man McMillan has always been right in my case, by 2 or 3 minutes at most. I would probably fail him in the 5k distance, though.
Blue, thank you!
Dave, so kind of you to comment, thank you for your kind words. :-) You are right, what I do should not be tried by newbies. Heck, it should not be done even by myself! :-)
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
Dad on the run.
Enjoyed the RR, great job with such little training and coming back from a set-back. You will rock your Dec Marathon.
Chasing the sub 20 5K.
Great report and nice race. I am glad you had fun in Chicago. You brought back some great pictures. I enjoyed reading about your comeback half and now your comeback marathon. It seems like your body was used to a much faster pace and tried to get you to go much faster than you intended. You did a good job of easing off and finishing at a solid pace. And I have to agree with you, whether we are talking about BQ - 18 or BQ - 9, I would love to be able to do either, but I am years away from being able to do something like that. What you did was a huge accomplishment, especially after the long injury layoff you had. Congratulations.
2013 goals: 800m: 2:20 | mile: 4:59 | 5k: 18:59 | 10k: 39:59 | HM: 1:32 | Marathon: 3:20
KillJoyFuckStick
I'll admit to only looking at the pictures and the finish time. Excellent job on both accounts.
You people have issues
Wonderful report, Lily.
You always seem to maximize your mini-vacations that revolve around marathons -- the history surrounding Niagara on the Lake, the architectural and metropolitan offerings of Chicago.
Excellent job on the "no sweat" BQ, I know you will be back with a vengeance for your next race. Also, I love the maple leaf sleeves .
jblackjr, thank you for reading!
TakeAHike, you are too kind, thank you! And good luck to you! You will do great, I know it.
FSocks, no need to read the RR. Essentially, what I was saying is that you live in a great country. But I'm sure you knew that already. :-) Thanks for dropping by and for the kind word!
Thank you, Jay!
Thanks again, guys!
Barking Mad To Run
Congrats, lily! You are an amazing runner! I wish I had just HALF of your stamina and energy, lol.
Great report, I read it all - and of course the photos of you and your very Great Legs are always enjoyable - and felt I was right there with you for the whole trip. Which, of course, at my slow running pace, would have been impossible on the course, lol. You tell a good story and take some good photos, lady! Brought some memories back for me, I used to visit my Grandfather in Chicago when he lived there and we'd go to the Cubs games together. And after I was a runner, there were several conferences there I attended. Always loved running near the lake and at Navy Pier area, and by the museums. Chicago has some really nice running. A very nice city, but I sure would not want to live there in winter!
So when are you going to move into that house that you liked in Chicago?
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
Congrats, lily! You are an amazing runner! I wish I had just HALF of your stamina and energy, lol. Great report, I read it all - and of course the photos of you and your very Great Legs are always enjoyable - and felt I was right there with you for the whole trip. Which, of course, at my slow running pace, would have been impossible on the course, lol. You tell a good story and take some good photos, lady! Brought some memories back for me, I used to visit my Grandfather in Chicago when he lived there and we'd go to the Cubs games together. And after I was a runner, there were several conferences there I attended. Always loved running near the lake and at Navy Pier area, and by the museums. Chicago has some really nice running. A very nice city, but I sure would not want to live there in winter! So when are you going to move into that house that you liked in Chicago?
As soon as you give me that small loan I asked for. I knew I could count on you, Scotty, thanks! (seriously, thank you for always having a way to make me smile. You're the best. )
Slow and steady never wins anything.
I need to take a day off to read all that, but I'll read it and will report back. (Could not post smilies from the damn phone). For now great pics and another well ran marathon.
LOL... Thanks, Goo! (though I know you're lying about the well run part )
OK that was long.
Now, I invite all my male friends here to find their BQ time, subtract 9 minutes off of it and go run that finish time on 9 weeks of training, after a two month lay off. Then, come back here and tell me how you liked it.
When I "ran" my PW last summer in Maui, HI, it was just for fun and I didn't train for it at all due to an injury (3 month of no running). It was PITA as far as running a marathon goes, but it was a fun, because it was in Maui. (I still did beat my BQ by 16 minutes 57 seconds, even it was 32 minutes 54 second slower than the spring marathon time I used to BQ  
Suddenly, spontaneously, I heard the sound of a hundred voices all around me joining in harmony to sing the Star Spangled Banner. It gave me shivers. It was a thousand time better than hearing it on loud speakers
That is fantastic. I love stuff like that. I love your description of Chicago as a city.
Your pictures are great too. Laughed at the pets blessing.
I like dirty racing .
It is hard to run a marathon at a much slower pace than what you are used to. Even without training, the pace seems reasonable, but it's not and you'll pay for it latter because the endurance is not there. I've been there too and I should know better. And don't worry about that Brian guy. He most likely trained for this.
It was really good read and I was surprised when I got to the end and it was suddenly over, like your marathon.
I used to hate my marathons where I didn't performed to my high expectations, but I learned lately to love them all.
It's always good, when you finish a marathon.
Thank you so much, Goo. That was a very generous comment, I feel honored.
I think I'm giving up trying to talk you into going out at the correct pace. And I'm not about to take you up on your offer because I'm already bitchy after missing three days.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
LOL...
Yeah! I'm off the LTH hook! I can run however stupidly I want!
I seriously hope you're back to your tough self next week. One week without running won't make a difference in your case. Fingers crossed for you.