"If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon" once said Katherine Switzer, women's marathon pioneer. Or, she also could have said: "Let your faith in human nature be renewed, by letting humanity cheer for you while you run a marathon".

I like to renew my faith in human nature and humanity once in a while. That is what brought me to Chicago on October 13th, 2013.

MY GOAL

I had registered for this race back in March of 2013. At the time, I had hopes of a PR on the flat course. But I was sidelined by injury for two months, in the summer, and had only about 9 weeks of training to work with before the race. No speedwork. My goal became simply to build my endurance back to a level acceptable for running a marathon.

Instead of making Chicago a goal race, I decided to make it part of a training cycle for a goal marathon in December. I had done the same thing for Boston, when I ran another marathon in January, as a training race. I liked how it prepared me for my bigger race in April.

After running a time trial in Ottawa, a HM, the McMillan's calculator pointed to a 3:36:04 marathon finish time. My SO asked me how I would feel if I finished in a time 8.5 minutes slower than my previous PR of 3:27:45. Would I be disappointed? I had to think about it carefully. For Boston, I had trained 20 weeks, on an average of 65 mpw, with a lot of speedwork and hill work as well. For Chicago, my training was going to be 9 week long, on a little less than 50 mpw, with no speedwork and no hill work, in order to avoid a re-appearance of my plantar fasciitis. So, based on this, I decided that I could live with a potential 3:36 finish time. I had to work with the circumstances.

But anyway, what exactly is a 3:36 time for someone like myself? It's a BQ-18. I know that many gentlemen here feel that women are given an unfair advantage over men when it comes to BQ standards, and I tend to agree with them. So, for the sake of fairness, let's cut the 18 in half and let's make it 9. 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.  That was the task I decided to set for myself.

FIVE AMAZING DAYS IN AN AMAZING CITY

To me, Chicago is the pulse of America. It's at the crossroads of a fascinating country. A young city (compared to Montreal), big, powerful, innovative, fresh, elegant, cultured, hungry. But also, a city in turmoil, with problems that need to be addressed now. It is a reflection of the rest of the nation. As I was standing in my corral, the morning of the race, the national anthem was being sung by a lady. Silence. Unfortunately, the loud speakers were having problems and the anthem was being interrupted incessantly. I became irritated. 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. People coming to the rescue of their national hymn. It was one of the most touching moments of the day for me. I heard the voice of America and it was beautiful.

During my 5 days there, I walked an average of 10 miles per day, going from neighborhood to neighborhood. We saw the gorgeous, and also the less gorgeous. Actually, I was relieved to see the less than gorgeous. Cracked sidewalks and graffitis, regular looking folks dressed in non-Macy's clothes. A breath of humanity. There is life outside of the Loop and the North Side, both lined everywhere with incredibly perfect flower pots. And that life outside of the perfection is just as fascinating.

We never had to take a taxi, and used the train only twice, on our way from the airport and to get to Oak Park to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright home and see the houses that this very avant-garde architect built there. I made an offer on this one, one of my favorites. It is not as ostentatious as the others and it is just perfect for my needs, not too big and not too small for my family of 3.  Btw, can anyone give me a small loan of a million?  

Heather (my sister-in-law) and I toured the Art Institute and the Chicago History Museum. We also went to the premiere of Madama Butterfly at the Lyric Opera (which was beautiful. But do not go to an opera after running a marathon, or you might miss an act or two if you are as tired as I was. sigh...)

Cuddled by Lake Michigan and divided by the branches of the Chicago River, Chicago is a city of water. As a symbol of that, beautiful fountains can be seen all around the parks of the city. Truly a magnificent sight...

Heather, my chaperone, best friend and the best travelling companion ever, here in Grant Park. Oh! And she can also literally "shop til you drop." (that's how I felt after the race on Sunday, when she dragged me up and down Michigan Ave. for about 5 hours ).

Chicago is also a garden of skyscrapers. All beautiful and all different. We got to learn the history of about 30 of them. Ask me anything about any of them and I'll give you an answer (but I'll spare you this time, lucky you).

This was a special ceremony on Saturday morning. A blessing of pets by some church leader. SAY WHAT? You people are CRAZY.  I just had to take a picture of this.

Beautiful beaches run along the lake front.

I got my bib on Friday, after leaving my luggage at the hotel. The hotel navigator, Suzie, warned us that we shouldn't walk from Wacker Dr. to the expo, but rather take one of the shuttles offered to runners. She said it was too far for us to walk, a big 3.5 miles away. Suzie, honey, I eat 3 milers for breakfast.  We walked the 3.5 miles, IN HIGH HEELS!, toured the expo (I left with two sweet Nike shirts), then went to Chinatown, where I had the worst meal of my life. It was great!  Then we continued on to Little Italy and back to our hotel, where we stuffed ourselves with crackers and cheese that we had brought from Canada, and we washed the whole thing down with red wine bought somewhere on State (or was it Wabash?). Life was awesome.

Sunday morning, I woke up at 5 am. Heather went to get me my bagel with PB and a coffee, while I was preparing. I was nervous, but in a happy way. The day was going to be beautiful, I could feel it in my bones. And the weather was ideal too. We walked to the first runners-only entry point, and Heather hugged me, before she turned around. I was on my own from that point on, lost in a sea of humanity. But I wasn't scared. I was with 40,000 friends. 

Now is the part I've been delaying. Hopefully by now you have all stopped reading, so you won't know what a dirty race I ran. Yes, it was UGLY. Yes, I deserve a stern "Are you even able to follow a plan?" from LTH...  I guess the answer to this is: yes, I am able, when I really want to... But I don't want to often.  I am spontaneous when it comes to running and I race with pleasure, without attention to strategy. I call it dirty racing.

1, 2, 3. We're off!

I was running a little behind those guys. 

Like everyone who has run Chicago has mentioned before me, the garmin is not very dependable in the first miles. So, even though my goal pace was 8:15, I ran the first 5k too fast (and the next 5k also, and the one after that too...lol...).

First 5k: 7:54 pace

Second 5k: 7:47 pace (still unable to read my garmin)

Here's my famous impression of an ostrich.

Third 5k: 7:55 pace (I started realizing that I was running way too fast when I noticed that the 3:30 pacer was far behind me. )

Fourth 5k: 7:57 pace (okay, this was NOT my fault, really. It was the fault of the damn 3:30 group that was not passing me. They were running too slowly! LOL...)

That's me looking like a drunk has-been star walking down the blue carpet, flanked by two strong body guards, and chased by adoring fans. 

Half point: 7:59 pace (I had just covered 13.1 miles in 1:43:21. Exactly 41 seconds slower than my HM three weeks earlier. My thought at that moment? "OH, SHIT!"

Fifth 5k: 8:12 pace (finally on pace for my goal. But more because I was reduced to it, not because I wanted it.)

Somewhere along this powerful and dynamic course.

Sixth 5k, here comes the dirty: 8:25 pace (there, I started thinking that there really is value in the "pace yourself" tip )

Seventh 5k: 8:44 pace (To continue to enjoy the race, I had to tell myself that it was only a training run. So what if I had run my December goal pace in the first miles and now I was finishing with only easy miles? It was my race and I could run it however I wanted, damn it)

Here, Brian (I have no idea who this guy is, but for the hell of it, let's call him Brian. He looks like a Brian to me) passed me. Brian crossed the 21k mark in 1:45:something, 2 minutes slower than me, but he finished 55 seconds ahead of me. Brian is smarter than Lily. 

Eighth 5k: 8:57 pace (Oh please dear God don't make me run a slower than recovery pace in my 12th marathon, right after Boston. Strike me with lightning instead).

Last bit: 8:49 pace (ouf... I managed not to fall in the 9:00 range. I was happy again. It was over!) I actually ran 26.54 miles total. Either due garmin error, or to all the turns on this amazingly twisty course.

I crossed the finish line like a business woman.

Finish time: 3:36:16, 12 seconds off McMillan's predicted time for me. hehehe...

A few stats:

12th marathon in 3 years, 12th BQ.

Top 4% AG

Top 5% gender

Top 13% overall

Was I happy? You bet I was. Dorkily happy, as always. (Notice how my sunglasses are not even sitting on the bridge of my nose. The corners of my mouth have this white sticky goo on them. My face is caked with salt. My hair bun is down and sweaty. And my top is covered with yellow gatorade. But I'm feeling like a million bucks! 

THE HIGHLIGHTS OF MY RACE

1) I raced with a lot of Americans and that is always special to me.

2) I was cheered on by thousands and thousands of Americans and that is even more special to me.

3) I was high-fived by an American man! (I've been high-fived by kids in the past, but never by an adult. There is a first to everything.)

4) Apparently, I saw 28 districts of Chicago. I can't say that I remember everything, but I can attest to the beauty of the city.

5) The slower I got near the end, the happier I became. There must be something wrong in my brain. 

6) I savoured that last 1.2 mile like maple syrup on waffles. The last mile alone is worth the pain of the 25 miles before. Often, as I run my last mile in a marathon, I catch myself thinking "I don't want this to end ever". But of course, I DO want it to end. 

7) Many times during the race, I looked at the smiling faces of the crowd and it made me realize that my posse and I really were 40,000 stars.

8) My plantar fasciitis stayed quiet and enjoyed the ride with me. Yeah!

9) I got a tan in October! Woohoo!

10) I saw runners from Denmark, France, Germany, El Salvador, Mexico, Canada and many, many other countries all over the world. I saw humanity at its best. Katherine was right, "If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon" . My faith has been renewed, thank you Chicago.

Thank you for making it this far with me!  (Do I win the prize of the longest RR ever? )

Sorry, I think Katrina has you beat for longest RR.

 

It's hard to run a slower pace when it's a race and you're used to a much faster pace. Since you had fun and are happy, we'll forgive you for that little faux pas.  I'm glad the Art Museum was one of your stops there. It's one of my favorite museums, but then I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, actually not far from Oak Park. FLW designed a number of houses in Oak Park and River Forest. I'm surprised I've never seen a Frank Lloyd Wright Run with a course designed to go past all of them.

I forgot about Katrina. Yes, she is the Queen of ultras, in more than one sense. 

A race built on a course that follows FLW homes is a fantastic idea!

Good job lady.

Thanks for sharing a great trip and race report Lily. It sounds like you had a fun and amazing race, despite not being trained to your potential due to your setback. Where were you staying that something was open at 5 am?

Congrats. Now enjoy a shory break before starting to attack the streets/mill in preparation for the next one.

Man, I am jealous!! That looks and sounds like a great week! As far as your race, I think I am most impressed by the fact you only had nine weeks to train. Great race, Lily, and a great RR as well. Thanks for keeping me motivated.  

Nice - even a floater crossing the finish line.

also, did they give away beer at the finish line?

HUGE Congrats, Lily!  You're always a Pink-mazing runner, but to turn in a time like this on only 9 weeks is phenomenal!  Loved your pics and I'm super happy that you had a great time before, during, and after the race!  Thanks for sharing!