10-10-10

Last Sunday, I ran the Chicago Marathon!

My running friends and I have been training for what feels like forever, through the intense NC summer heat, through busy schedules, through illnesses and injuries, all while trying to fulfill our mommy duties too (we have 9 boys between the 4 of us!). Our wonderful hubbies all took over the households while we jetted off to Chicago to spend 4 days eating, playing, shopping and, oh yeah, running a bit (as one friend declared, it's a girls' weekend with a lot of exercise built in!).

The race was AWESOME, and I felt fantastic until around mile 20 - then it got SUPER tough and HOT (man up, Chicago, aren't you supposed to be chilly and, UM, WINDY in October?), with bank signs reading 96 degrees!! But, I finished. It probably wasn't a pretty finish, but I crossed that finish line and have the medal to prove it.

By the way, the best thing I did to prepare for this race (well, besides the 100s of training miles. . .) was to put my name on my shirt. A marathon veteran friend suggested I do this, and about 200 yards into the race, I understood why - THOUSANDS of people called out my name over the course of the race. It was awesome. I kept laughing to myself that it was my version of Facebook - I had lots of 'friends'. It was so inspiring to hear little kids yelling "run Sarah!" and groups of burly men in Chicago Bears gear chanting my name! It certainly got me through some tough spots!

Cheers to a great weekend in Chicago!

You can see more photos (proof!) here. I literally have a smile on my face for probably 90% of them. There is one rather intense one where I look like I am dying. That was the finish. I believe I actually thought I was dying. I looked like that for about 2 hours after the race, too.

Gee, what mommies need to do to get away for a few days.