Last week I volunteered at the Nike Womens marathon. I spent roughly 6 hours being one part of a two-man team answering questions at the Info tent. One sad question that I kept getting asked in one way or another was, “Where is my sister?” or “How do I find my mom? She just finished.” Nowadays, most big races set up family/friends meeting areas that are broken down via the alphabet.
If you are running a race (or have a family member or friend running a race), make sure to decide beforehand EXACTLY where to meet. ALSO, I know some people have issues with putting their phones in their bag that they check in the morning but, IMHO, it really is a good idea to have your phone when you finish in case the text alerts that are supposed to track an athlete aren’t working. Unfortunately, this is what happened at both the Chicago marathon and Nike Womens marathon this year.
Sadly, out of all those questions, none of them were “Hello Mr. Info man, what’s your number?”…at which point I could have replied, “Sub 3 ”

I’m so proud of my friends Derek and Kerrie who finished their first marathon.

I started running at 7:30 and it was cold. Like in the 30’s cold. Even though I was in the 3 hour pace group, it was crowded for the first 15 miles. Chicago is a flat course but there are lot of turns which means lots of slowing down and speeding up. I felt great until mile 24 when my left hammy and calf started tightening up. I thought I could run through it but with less than a mile to go the hamstring cramped and I was forced to stop and stretch. I managed to start running, kept the 3:00 pace guy in my sights and caught up with him with about 100 yards to go. I finished running at 10:29.

As the days pass by and I get closer to running the Chicago marathon, I find inspiration where ever it pops its little head out. In the weeks leading up, it will take the form of watching documentaries, talking to friends, or something as simple as a pre-race ritual such as a haircut. All these things get me in the right mental state to push myself but it also helps me to focus on the fact that I do my hobbies because I enjoy them. Yes, I have a time goal and hope to PR but in the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter if I achieve a PR at every race. Those goals aren’t going to go away

I’ve been racing for about 4 years now doing various distances from sprint triathlons to marathons to ironman and soon ultramarathons. Friends and family are very much aware of the dedication I put in and it’s really motivating and awesome when I hear that one of them decides that they want to give a new distance a try. My goal every race is to smile and thank those cheering me on during the race. If I’m not smiling, feel free to call me out because then I’ve lost sight of the big picture.

Yesterday I saw Deena Kastor walking down the street and just seeing her got me excited to run. Last week I watched ‘Spirit of the Marathon’ in which she’s one of the main runners and so seeing her was like seeing a movie star… As Intel put it so well in their commercial, “Our rock stars aren’t like your rock stars.”

I’ve now been in Chicago for a day and look forward to checking out the expo later. It’s awesome going to big events with lots of booths and athletes as the excitement and nervousness can be quite tangible. Be sure to take it all in but don’t get too caught up in the excitement. We all have our own ways of dealing with the emotions leading up to big events. I’m glad that I stay pretty relaxed and hopefully this weekend will be no different.

This morning has started off on the right foot as I just finished reading an article about streakers which are those who have done a race a consecutive number of times. Now that’s dedication and I hope to be participating in marathons and triathlons in 20-30 years.

To follow runners in the Chicago Marathon, sign up here: http://bit.ly/3AzXCz