The next tab on my screen is playing the live stream coverage of the Chicago Marathon. A young lady is singing a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem...although her youth is showing on some of the stronger notes that she doesn't quite master. Whatever. It is marathon day!
The Chicago Marathon holds a dear place in my heart, as it was my first. As the wheelchair athletes prepare for launch, I cannot help but look back a decade ago now, and reminisce about how running has changed my life.
I remember training hard with my friend, James. I originally just wanted to start getting into a little better shape, as I hadn't really run much since college. I saw James (then my new neighbor on the other side of the wall at our town home) getting ready for a run and he told me sure, but he was starting to run three miles to train for the Chicago Marathon. I didn't really know much about it, but just wanted to run, so I said I'd hang for as long as I could.
We stuck to a Nike running training plan that James had found and downloaded. Each run was tracked by James' phone. We would eventually find great agony in waiting for the robotic running coach on his app to tell us that we had reached our goal for the day. We ran every possible combination route throughout and around our subdivision over those three months. Either early morning or evening running...we made almost all of our runs, with a few exceptions of bad weather and the near formation of a tornado in the cornfield next to where we were running.
At some point, I was motivated to run a marathon, and bought a bib to a small marathon being held on the same day as the Chicago Marathon. (It was too late to register for Chicago with James) This really gave us a sense of excitement and additional motivation as the mileage increased to levels neither of us ever thought possible. 10...12...14....12...14...16..18..16...20 the miles of each long run increased then backed off in a staggered schedule which attempts to let legs "recover" by dropping mileage every other week before "blocking" up. We ran our twenty miler training run along Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago. The run is called the "Ready to Run" 20-miler, and is used by CARA (Chicago Area Runners Association) as the final training run before tapering and then the marathon. The run is set-up to mimic major portions of the actual Chicago Marathon in terms of support stations and practicing pacing.
Later that week, James told me that he had a friend who injured his ankle and needed to get rid of his bib for Chicago. I had mixed emotions about buying a bib and running as someone else...but how could I pass on the opportunity to run with James and have Chicago be my first?!?!
The marathon was amazing. The people of Chicago showed-up in aces! The energy was electric and infectious. Running with 45,000 other athletes made me feel like part of a river and pushed me through to the end. James and I were almost immediately separated so we really needed to rely on our training as individual runners. It was hard but finishing really opened my mind to what I was capable of in terms of pushing my body to achieve.
Since Chicago, I have run several other marathons including New York! Running gives me purpose. Races are a reason to travel. Running allows me to think and solve problems and reflect on life. Running has changed my life expectancy. Running has brought my family together. I feel like the best version of myself when I am running.
10 years since my first marathon.
Relentless Forward Motion
-a
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