I ran my 1st marathon!

I ran the Chicago Marathon on Sunday(10/9/11) and finished! I still can't believe I actually went through with this and of all places to end up going through with it, I went with Chicago. I had never been to Chicago before, so that and the fact that this was my 1st marathon made it very exciting.

I was worried that waiting to get across the start line would take forever since there were so many people running, but it actually wasn't as bad as I thought. Here's a picture of the scene of waiting to actually start:


Now a marathon is 26.2 miles but I'm going to be honest, I think I may have totally walked 3 or 4 of those miles. I had heard stories of people collapsing and dying while or after running a marathon so I decided to take it easy when I felt like it was hot out(I don't run well in the heat). I had also heard a story of someone dying in a marathon from over hydrating. I felt like I had been drinking too much water once I hit the 20 mile mark so I got paranoid and walked again. Sadly, someone did collapse and die in this marathon which is horrible, sad and scary. Then on another note, a pregnant woman apparently ran and finished then gave birth to a baby after(crazy!).

Here's a pic of me crossing the finish line(I'm the one with the yellow tank top and white visor):



After crossing the finish line we were all given a medal:


a silver shimmery cape to wear as well as a beer(it's a great recovery drink, no joke). Sometimes dreams come true! I loved that I walked down Michigan Ave(which seems to be a pretty central street in Chicago) wearing my silver cape and drinking my beer and no one questioned it! :D


Overall, I had a wonderful experience and am glad I did it! It gave me an excuse to not only complete a marathon, but to also catch up with friends, meet new people and check out a city I had never been to before.

My finishing time was 5:17(and something seconds). Maybe I'll have to do another marathon and be sure to run the whole thing to see if I finish a bit quicker ;-)

Thanks, Chicago!