Cleveland Boyds: October 2011

I took the leap and decided to run the Chicago Marathon despite very little training (for a full marathon). Nonetheless I decided if I felt good after a 1/2 Marathon a couple of weeks before Chicago then I would run the Full. I had a great time during the Rocky River 1/2 Marathon and had an awesome time doing Chicago.

Joe, the girls, my parents and his parents took the "El" to Pilsen to meet me at Mile 19.5 by the Jumping Bean Cafe to cheer me on. Joe's brother and his family were also there, as were a few of my friends. A couple of other friends were to meet me at Mile 9, but we missed each other.

I had a number of senior moments leading to the actual race...I forgot my ipod (ugh!), for one, and worst I forgot my racing bib (with the number on it) at my parents' when I left that morning at 5:30AM. Luckily I had my race chip so I was able to have my run timed, but I did have to sneak into my "special" running corral and almost got kicked out into the general runner area (gasp!). So unfortunately the hour leading up to the start of the race was a little stressful. Happily it was a beautiful, sunny day and the spectators and volunteers were amazing.

Huge grin when I finally reached Mile 19.5

Had a sip of caffeine to recharge

Fun at the Expo Before the Race

Little Rock Marathon Posse

So to my surprise I beat my personal best of 4:01 and came in at 3:50:34. I missed qualifying for the Boston Marathon only because they just increased the qualifying time to 3:45:00. In any case it's probably for the best because I think I'm done running full marathons. I had a great time, but I was starting to hurt after Mile 17 and was exhausted for a couple of days.

While the family waited for me to finish, they cooled off at Millennium Park.