"Rain, rain, go away.... come again another day...."
When my alarm rang at 5:45 AM on Saturday morning I looked out the window and said to myself, "No way! I'm not running in this!" It has been a few weeks since we had had rain in Chicago and it was making up for lost time. It was pouring.... just a constant stream of water flooding the outside. Wow. I'm a big wimp, but after a little encouragement from Jake, I found myself lacing up my running shoes and heading out the door with my rain coat.
"If you are crazy enough to run a marathon.... you are crazy enough to run a marathon in the rain!" ~Quote by Jack Nowicki (my TNT coach)
I met the Team at Waterfall Glen in Darien for our 8-mile run. Before each run we sign-in, listen to announcements, and have a mission moment for motivation. For some reason this particular Saturday seemed like we waited forever just to begin the run. By the time I started set foot on the path I was already drenched from head to toe.
I began running by myself and after a few miles the West Team coach, Mark ran alongside with me. We chatted as we were running through the fields of the forest preserve among the constant rain drops. At the half-way point, I met two other TNT participants - Stephanie and Kate, both girls were also from the West Team. For the remainder of the run I had the company of my two new friends. The rain was actually quite refreshing on my hot skin. We ran 8 miles in 90 minutes (roughly an 11-minute pace) - awesome!
I ignored my "bad-ittude" (as Art would say) and ran anyway - out on the running path you have your good days and your bad days, just like anything else. This day was not a bad day at all, in fact it the pouring rain made it fun! If the marathon does happen to have rainy weather - I know I'll be ready for it!
During the race, we were accompanied by Superman, the Pink Ladies, and many other crazy runners including a man with a pink tu-tu. Even crazy spectators who held up signs that said, "23 miles to beer." (For future reference, if you are a spectator do NOT count down the miles to go - it's not fun to be reminded of what is left to run). My favorite runner that we saw was a man who juggled FOUR bean bags for the entire marathon - 26.2 miles in this position (no joke):
Now, I'm sure you are all wondering how the heck I got all of these photos... well, for those of you who don't know I'm a little obsessed with taking pictures. As I do most events in my life, I documented the half-marathon. I took several pictures of the landscapes since we ran through the city and hilly areas of San Diego. I won't bore you with all of my journey, but I would like to share my favorite picture though... just look at the sea of purple - these are ALL Team In Training people who are running for a reason! Very cool!
OH! And just as Becky and I thought we were alone running the race, Emily (our other teammate for the Chicago Marathon) was totally with us. When we were leaving the city all the sudden we both look up to the apartment building and see a HUGE sign that read "EMILY" - see...she really was with us in spirit!
At mile 8, we saw Mark (the husband of an Illinois participant) who offered to take a picture of us at the mile marker - we're still feeling pretty good at this point.... (8 down 5 to go!)
...Little did we know what miles 9-11 had in store for us. Mile 9 started as a slow incline that really didn't seem to affect our pace/form at all, but this slow incline lasted for the ENTIRE mile! After a while we really started to feel it in our shins and our butts. Once we plateaued near the middle of mile 10, it seemed to curve downward on a slant through mile 11 - it was just miserable. We were literally walking with one hip higher than the other. Of course we were just ecstatic when we saw the MILE 13 marker and Kate on the other side of it!
