Sorry y'all, it's been a minute since I've written! I had planned on it over the summer, but it just slipped away from me! I've been up to a lot, but most recently I ran the Chicago Marathon!! I was very excited when I found out I got in and was even more excited to actually be there! This was my second Abbott World Marathon Major (WMM) and I wanted to crush it! Last year I ran the New York Marathon with Team Ultra, which was my first Abbott WMM, and I really enjoyed that whole experience. When a few people on that team said they were signing up for Chicago, I thought I'd give it go. To my surprise I got picked my first time!! I was so excited, especially since so many of my Team Ultra teammates were running with me! The marathon couldn't come fast enough! I was really proud of myself for training for it. I actually stuck with it and only missed one long training run, it was my 20 miler, but I still ended up running 10 the day I was supposed to do it. (Summer's here are ridiculous, so the fact that I stuck with it as long as I did was a miracle!! lol) I followed the Nike+ Training Plan for this one and really liked it. It was a good mix of cross-training, speed work, and long runs. I recommend this app for anyone needing a free plan! I was excited to run in the weather because anything was better than the heat/humidity here! It was supposed to be chilly and cloudy. It was chilly, but it ended up starting to rain as soon as our corral started! It rained off and on for about the first 2 hours, but stopped when I got to about the half mark. I surprisingly didn't mind the rain too much. It was cold and slowed me down just a little bit, but I was still happy with my time, so I can't be mad! My biggest issue with the race was that everyone kept saying how "flat" Chicago was. Um, sorry guys, but y'all aren't flat!! lol If I can look at a street and see the hill or I have to finish going uphill, you are not a flat city. Come to New Orleans, we are a flat city!! I once again traveled with my sole sister Lauren, who is a great companion to have on a runcation! She's up early with me on race days, meets me at different spots on the course, holds me gels and bananas, and has everything ready for me at the finish!! Let me know if you want to rent her out for one of your runs!! lol We took in a few sights and tried all the Chicago foods we were supposed to try. It's always an adventure with her! I did get to have a quick meetup with my Team Ultra fam, so that was a nice! It's amazing how people who barely knew each other a year ago can form the bonds that our little family has! We met up the day before the race, so it was a nice way to relax before the big day!! Overall, I was very happy with my race. I would recommend this race to anyone though who wants to do it. It's a great course and "flat" compared to other cities, and a lot of supporters out there with great signs. I was actually surprised at how much the crowd rivaled New York's. I finished in 4:02.48, which was another PR for me. I took 20 minutes off my time from New York! I still need to shave 32 minutes off to try and BQ, but one race at a time!
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AuthorRachael Archives
October 2018
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