As many of you already know, I ran the Chicago Marathon this past Sunday. To say it was an amazing experience really does not do it justice. When I signed up for the marathon I was doing so with the intent that this would be my first and last marathon. However, I knew on the ride home yesterday that I would absolutely run Chicago again. There are so many things about it that touched me that putting it into words is difficult.
First I need to lightly touch on the training I did. I am sure this will bore some of you, but, too bad keep reading. It's a small paragraph. I did not train the traditional way for the race. Meaning I was not seen out on the roads nor on a treadmill logging countless hours/miles and beating my body to a pulp. Instead I followed the Crossfit Endurance site where Crossfit is the program (i.e Strength and Conditioning) and the endurance workouts were a supplement to that. A typical Monday for me was a Crossfit WOD in the morning followed by an endurance WOD in the p.m. Tuesday was just Crossfit and Wednesday looked the same as Monday. The Monday and Wednesday p.m. endurance workouts were varied...some long intervals, some short. Thursday was a rest day, Friday was Crossfit only. On Sundays I would do a Time Trial, which is an all out effort of either a set time or distance. Alternatively, I would do a Tempo run, which is a particular distance or time at a slightly scaled back effort..say 75-85% of your all out effort. My distances throughout my training for the tempo and time trial runs ranged from 1 mile to 10 miles. Never did I run over 10 miles while training for this race. And I only did that run once! The rest of my Sunday runs were typically 5k's, a handful of 5 milers and a few 10k's. I know, it sounds screwy, but it just proves how great the Crossfit Endurance program is. Enough said.
Now on to the good stuff...
Having never run a full marathon before I was not sure what to expect. Not only was this twice the distance I had ever run, it was Chicago. There were over 100 countries represented in the race and runners from every state in our nation. As I made my way to the start corral the enormity of the race started to sink in. As I scanned the mass of people that were huddled around me, what I saw were so many people from all walks of life. It was clear that some had run this race before and some were attempting it for the first time. Everyone had their own reason for doing it. There were literally thousands of runners running for one charity or another. Beating Cancer of every kind was clearly at the top of the list of causes that so many were running for. I felt such a sense of hope seeing all these runners out here raising money to help fight a disease that touched them in some way. Whether they had lost a loved one, or KNEW someone who had . Here they were, about to conquer a race course that would not be kind to them, but would test them both physically and mentally, every step of the way.
With my mind a little more at ease, and the start line within eyesight now, I just let the moment sink in. I would only experience this feeling once, and I wanted to cherish it and never forget it. It was at this point that I let all my fears go and just told myself that my only goal was to go out there and run. To run because I COULD, and to think about all those who could not anymore. And every time I came upon another runner and saw a picture on the back of their shirt of a loved one, who they were running for, I too wanted to run for that person. No burpees, no thrusters, no pull ups or deadlifts, I just had to run.
I won't bore you with every little detail of my experience during the race but I will share with you another part of what made this unforgettable for me: the crowd support. I had been told by many friends that Chicago was such a great first time marathon to do because the crowd support was so tremendous. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined just how awesome it was. There were strangers cheering all of us on the entire race. They had signs, words of encouragement and looks of admiration as all the runners made their way through the streets. They cheered not only for a friend or family member but for EVERYONE. Several times throughout the race I got choked up at all the encouragement the crowd was providing to us. I know that without that support my race would have been considerably harder than it was. And believe me it was hard. Which brings me to the next part...
I have some words of thanks and gratitude to express. First, to my husband Tom, and our daughter Hannah. Without them, none of what I get to do each day would be possible. I am forever thankful and very fortunate that each day I get to do what I love. They both put up with a tremendous amount of craziness from me. Most of my days are scheduled around my Crossfit workouts and sometimes that gets in the way of things they want to do, but they know how important it is to me so they make sacrifices, however big or small. They have dealt fairly well with a shift to Paleo in our household over the past two years. I know it has not been easy for them but they make an incredible effort because they know it is important to me. I love you both with all my heart and you are a huge part of the reason I was able to run and complete this marathon.
I would also like to thank everyone at Crossfit South Bend for all the support and encouragement I receive every time I walk through the door. Not only does it come from all the awesome coaches, but every member there as well. Crossfit has become a part of me that I cannot imagine living without. It has changed me in so many ways. I know to those that don't do Crossfit that this seems like a fanatical statement, but it is an accurate one. It has taught me that along with personal growth come some hard lessons. Necessary, but nonetheless, hard.
Last, but not least, Thank You to ALL my friends and family. Your words of encouragement and your belief in me was certainly a huge part of what got me through this race. Each of you (and thank goodness there are many) truly make me a better person. Without your support, friendship and love my life would not be the same.
XOXO
Tara
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