I’ve done a lot of reflecting since my sisters and I ran the Chicago Marathon last weekend.  I realized, for instance, that it was a mistake ever to call this blog “Levines Take Lakeshore.”  Sam, Amy, and I certainly did “take” many parts of Chicago on Sunday including The Loop, Lincoln Park, Chinatown, and Pilsen.  But it turns out the marathon course does not once go onto Lakeshore Drive.  Woops :-/

This whole experience, though, is one that will stick with me forever.  I say “whole experience” because years from now, when I think back to my first marathon, I know that it won’t just be memories of the race last Sunday that come to mind.  They say that at least half the battle in preparing for a marathon is just getting to the start line.  This must be true.

In the weeks since my last post multiple events happened that could have prevented me from getting to the start line last Sunday.  I had to seriously modify my training right when I was arriving at my peak mileage because of a two-week trip to Israel (I know, how tragic).  Thankfully, I was able to get in some runs in Jerusalem, which both maintained my fitness and took me to parts of the city I wouldn’t have otherwise seen! (As a side note, there’s a saying among runners in Jerusalem: “No matter where you’re going in Jerusalem, it is somehow always uphill.”  I can’t explain how, but this is completely true.)  My biggest scare though came a few weeks later when I developed tendonitis in my right foot just three weeks before the race.  My doctor advised me to do little to no running until the race, and she warned me that I may still experience pain come race day.  Fortunately the combination of rest and adrenaline rendered me pain-free during the race!

I’m trying to make the point here that running a marathon is only partly about the actual marathon part.  Still, last Sunday was an incredible experience that I feel the need to describe.  I felt so many different emotions leading up to race day.  I felt some nervousness, mainly because I was worried that my foot would be bothering me during the race.  But more than anything else I was just pumped!  Even with my injury, I knew that I would have to be experiencing pain like I had never experienced before to stop me from completing the race.  In the moments before the race, it dawned on me that I simply had never prepared for anything so much in my life.  Aside from all the training runs, leading up to the Marathon I altered my diet, my sleep schedule, etc.  I was ready for the marathon and I knew it.

Just as my sister Sam told me, everything is different on race day.  I felt like I was on top of the world as I crossed the start line, with Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” blasting in the background.  I usually don’t even like Springsteen, and definitely not that song, but it felt like my favorite song then.  The first few miles of the race are amazing because the course goes down State Street, one of the busiest streets in the heart of Chicago.  Spectators flooded the sidewalk and cheered everyone on.  In retrospect, I did exactly what so many people warned me not to do at this point: I got really excited and ran a lot faster than my training.  I didn’t realize this then, but I definitely did come mile 22.  Anyways, I was lucky to find a guy running around my pace and we wound up sticking together for most of the race.  Unfortunately I forgot his name and I lost his contact info, but if I ever see him again I’ll be sure to thank him because he definitely kept me going during the toughest parts of the race!

The first half of the race sped by.  The course went through some of my favorite parts of the city, including Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville.  Things got a little less fun around mile 17 when it was about 80 degrees and it hit me that maybe I started out too fast.  Come mile 22, I was really struggling.  When I say struggling, I mean I was experiencing a type of exhaustion that I had never come close to feeling before.  I’d be shouting in my head “don’t stop, keep running!” only to look down and see that I was almost at a standstill.  Still, I managed to keep going until the end.  I even got a little kick at the last half mile, thanks to my friends Mike and Adam cheering me on from the sidewalk!

When I crossed the finish line I was just overwhelmed with pride.  I remember seeing my running partner again (he finished a few minutes ahead of me) and we gave each other a huge hug.  Someone handed me a beer, which I immediately chugged and threw-up soon after.  The best moment was when all my friends and family who came to support me showed up at the post-race meet up.  Though I don’t think they saw, I definitely did shed a few tears when I saw them approaching.

Now that a week has gone by since the race, the soreness is almost gone.  But I am still just as proud of what my sisters and I accomplished, and I know that will never go away.  Running the marathon was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life, but there are no words to describe how rewarding it was too.  I feel so lucky that I was able to share this experience with Sam and Amy.  I feel closer to Chicago now too, the city I have grown to love these past few years.  And, personally, I feel stronger now than I’ve ever felt before.  Once the soreness fully subsides, I can’t wait to start running again!