CHICAGO MARATHON: from 0 to 26.2

Completing a marathon was not on my radar last year. My first running experience was while I was overseas in South Africa. The heat, on top of the high elevation and my previous battle with asthma, only further branded running to me as “traumatic”. No access to a gym, running circles around the property to keep my waistline from showing the jar of Nutella I ate weekly. (Um, no seriously, I have a chocolate problem.)

So when a man on stage said, “If you’re not a runner, this is for you.” I rolled my eyes. I thought, “Marathons are for serious runners. People who like running, heck, maybe just tolerate it. But I HATED running. Everything about it seemed painful: the rapid breathing, the tired feet, the sweaty aftermath.” And yet, here I was, signing up for a marathon because it could make a difference. I wasn’t sure how many people I could really bring change to, but at $50 making clean water for a lifetime possible; it was something I wasn’t going to turn down.

They handed me a print out of a training schedule and I just stared at it. You’re telling me, that mid-August I will be running 20 miles?! I can’t even run 3 minutes without feeling like I’m gonna die?! So this planner did the only thing that made her feel in control: I began to “practice” the training schedule. I didn’t have to start for another 3 weeks but I began to get in the habit of walk/running on the treadmill and building a consistent routine. What a dork, I know. But it was easy and exciting in the moment. The fundraising was daunting. How was I going to spend 6 months running (which I didn’t like) and talking to people about giving towards clean water in Africa?

(A cause I was deeply passionate for but unsure if others would feel the same.)

C O M M U N I T Y: you’re not alone

If you train for a marathon with a team, most meet up every weekend morning to get those big miles of the week under your belt. Base training started in April and we were running maybe 30 minutes in 40 degrees against the wind and rain. I woke up every Saturday thinking, “I could just skip..” But I knew I couldn’t do it alone. Also, there’s not just running in this training. We’re talking cross-training (when I first read this I thought I had to join a cross-fit gym. Essentially, they are exercises you do to stretch out the muscles you use for running. Biking, yoga, swimming, etc. are all great.) and abs every week, speed training if you’re serious about keeping the pace, and one precious rest day where you get to do nothing. Except ya know, cook healthy meals and maybe SLEEP since that’s all I wanted to do towards the end. Some of my friends really helped support me: doing abs together, keeping running pace with me on those awful runs, and ya know what? I started liking this thing a little more. And Hello Fresh. Thank GOD for Hello Fresh, you gave me the nutrition to keep going. Shout out to you, too, Amazon Prime.

N U T R I T I O N: I wasn’t prepared to buy all this stuff

Base training passed and I was eating the same meals I had before because I had no idea what I needed to be doing. A coworker caught me in the hallway on lunch, “Aren’t you training for a marathon? You need more than just that chicken breast!” So I sought out “experienced” runners and they shrugged, “You’ll find what works for you.” All I wanted to know was the veggie to carb to protein ratio I needed per meal. Okay, maybe that was expecting a lot from someone who wasn’t a nutritionist.

So I experimented. I found out coffee before a run was a no-no. Maybe the peanut butter toast before and banana after were just right. What really started spending the big bucks were the nutrition supplies (and clothing) needed for those long runs. Cliff blocks, sport beans, salt tabs, body glide (to keep from chaffing) all ran up a monthly tab – and these were necessary tools I needed to keep electrolytes in my body and my legs running.

D E D I C A T I O N: step by step

I’d say the sweet spot for training was June. We were at a comfortable 6/8 miles per run and the weather was pleasant. I had gotten in a good groove and was only mildly inconvenienced. Butttt then August came. I was running 40 miles a week at one point, 6 miles on my bike a day and I had little energy to go out when the friendly invites came. I was really sad to see my personal life take a backseat but I stayed motivated by keeping the vision in front of me and began to count the lives that were being changed due to the fundraising page. People were really excited to give and my motivation began to kick back into gear.

Every group meet, the team rallied together as we focused on a new step in our journey. “Don’t do the math, you’ll get there!” They’d say, keeping the vision in front of us: the kids and needs. “Get a mantra!” The marathon mantra rang true, mine challenging the competitive streak in me: “Your pace is your pace.” (i.e. You’ll get there when you get there stop thinking you can outrun long legs over there, he’s pulling a 7:30 minute mile on your 10:30.) My most memorable training moment was mile 16 of my 20 miler when I realized, “I am marathon strong. I can do this.” And that’s what I’ve come to tell myself when other challenges present themselves.

See here where I talk about the struggles of running and marathon day. Next week I’ll further delve into post marathon recovery - which was it's own beast!

CHEERS FROM C H I C A G O,