Tuesday, October 9, 2012

CM 2012 - Mini Recap

The weekend has come and gone and that means only one thing...the 2012 Chicago Marathon is over!  I'm anxious to read some of your recaps on running it or spectating it.  Some of you have been wondering how my marathon went and I want to tell you but unfortunately, do not have time to write a full recap at the moment.  So here is my mini recap and later this week, I hope to provide you with a full one.

I finished  - YAY!!
I PR'd - YAY!!
I had fun "most" of the time - YAY!!
My friends did awesome - YAY!!
I ran all the way up Roosevelt Hill - YAY!!
I have some awesome memories that will last a lifetime - YAY!!

My PR was by about 8 mins.  I had hoped for a little better but overall, I'm happy with my time.  My marathon times for all three are as follows:

Chicago Marathon 2011     4:53:06
IL Marathon 2012              5:02:46
Chicago Marathon 2012     4:44:54

As you can see (and from my past posts) my Illinois Marathon was a rough one.  My time goals for this marathon were first of all, to beat my PR time of 4:53.  Secondly to get as close to 4:35 as possible.  I knew the 4:35 time would be challenging for me but I'm always up for a challenge.  What are goals if they are too easy to achieve, right? 

However, in my mind, I said I'd be thrilled with anything under 4:45 and by 6 seconds...I beat that!  I guess when I decided to "sprint" to the finish (I mean...if you can call what I did a sprint)...I guess that sprint was a good idea!  I'm normally one that feels..."The distance is so long, what does a few seconds really matter?"  And it's true...except this time it made a difference of beating 4:45 and not beating it.  Although I really had no idea how close I was to that time.

My goals (not based on time) were to have fun and run up Roosevelt Hill.  I did both and I'm happy about that.  In fact, I had a smile on my face for the first 7 miles straight!  So much that my cheeks were hurting!  I was running with some great training friends and fellow marathon buddies for the first 20.5 miles and that's why I had such a good time.  More on that to follow in my next post.

But I'll leave you with a few good signs/shirts I saw:

"If marathons were easy, it'd be your mother!"
"Kenyans are lazy! They only run for 2 hours!"
"I thought you said 2.62 miles!"  ---Always one of my favorites!

On a shirt:
"Drinking club with a running problem"

Did you see any good signs while you were running?  I know I saw more but memory fails me.  And some signs I just plain don't like... 

"This is a sign"
"Do you know how early I got up to make this sign"
"(Name Here) run faster!  My arms are hurting!"  ---Ok, that's a little funny.

10 comments:

  1. Congrats on the new PR! LOL - I love those signs! The lazy Kenyans one cracks me up. So clever!

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  2. Congrats on the p.r. and the sub 4:45 finish! It's funny your cheeks were hurting from smiling so much! Looking forward to the full recap.

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  3. Congrats!!
    I loved the "this is a sign" sign, haha. And if marathon's were easy they'd be your mother. I was cracking up the whole time, i really wish i would have brought my camera.....so much to see - too much to remember!

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  4. I'm so happy for you! I can't wait for the full recap either... :)

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  5. Hooray on the PR!! The weather was perfect, wasn't it?!

    I saw some of these signs on t.v. - my favorite was "worst parade ever!"

    •"Don't stop -- people are watching."


    •"Worst Parade Ever"


    •"Chafe now...brag forever."


    •"That's not sweat, it's your fat cells crying."


    •"Ice baths and cookies at the finish!"


    •"Take a cab. It's faster!"

    Congrats!!

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    1. There was one ..."that's not sweat, it's liquid awesome!" Which i liked too!

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  6. Congrats on the PR and meeting your goals!! I saw a sign that said something like "Maggie Do It for the Milkshake" so ... clearly I liked that sign. I also liked my husband's sign - "Ya Mule" which is what we say to each other when we want the other person to hurry up and get moving, and my dad printed up an "I <3 Fast Women" sign from my shirt shop ... apparently that sign had quite a few fans! Maybe even more so because it was being held by a 65 year old man ... haha. He's a good sport.

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    1. Ha Maggie! That's hilarious about ur dads sign! I wish I would have seen that! I wonder if I would have known it was your sign??

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  7. Anonymous10/11/2012

    That's how I was during the first 7 miles of my first half, a smile that hurt to good. Congrats on your PR.

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    1. Gotta love runs where you smile from ear to ear!! I told myself I wanted to have fun this year.

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