That's right, sports fans: We ran our 20 miler. We finished our 20 miler. And we fought through the insanity of our 20 miler.
It's not possible to be happier that it's over.
We woke before dawn, as we usually do for our long runs these days, dragging ourselves out of bed at 4:30 to eat breakfast and get ourselves ready to run. This week, instead of sticking with our Bright Pink teammates, who ran Saturday, we opted for Sunday's Newton Ready to Run 20 Miler, presented by the Chicago Area Runners Association. (Momentary aside: Whenever Ross hears "Newton," he thinks of these, or this guy, and not these, which were the actual sponsors, and not this, even though this.)
Right.... So.... We woke up. Ate. Got ready. Took this picture:
 |
| There is complete darkness outside over Joy's shoulder. |
Then we hopped into a waiting cab and trucked over to the Lakefront at Wilson for the "wave" start in which 77 groups of runners would begin the run 30 seconds apart, the runners expecting to finish quickly at the front. (Note: This wasn't a "race" in the typical sense—it was, however, a very well supported run for a few thousand people. No timing chips. No competition. Well—except the length of the run itself.)
With the temperature hovering in the mid-50s, it was a little chilly to be hanging around in short sleeves and shorts, but we managed to make it through the 45+ minutes in the parking lot until our wave—wave 76, which should tell you something about our expected finishing time—was called to the start.
The first few miles, while the sun was coming up, went fine. And it was really fun to be in a new part of our running world. We even ran into one of our wedding guests—and Ross's former training client—C.P. running with his puppy near Irving Park Road.
And then? The sun was out in full force. Though it wasn't as hot as a few weeks ago, it was hotter than it needed to be, and we really felt it on "The Broiler" from North Avenue Beach to Ohio Street Beach—where there's no shade for more than 1.5 miles. We lost some flat banana somewhere between Ohio Street and Wacker Drive, which was unsettling. And by the time we got to Grant Park at Mile 12—where we looped around the softball fields at Hutchinson Field, there was much unhappiness.
Miles 13–17 were more of the same temperature-wise, only getting hotter still, so we slowed things down a bit to save some energy for the last few miles, and this was all on very familiar territory: past the Shedd Aquarium, Soldier Field, McCormick Center, the 31st Street Beach House and the Skate Park. By the time we hit 4000 South block, we thought we had just about 15 blocks to go, even though the math wasn't adding up.
Needless to say, our math was off. And we ran through Promontory Point (where we saw a young Wheaten Terrier, which made Joy very happy) and further south to 63rd Street and UP A FREAKING HILL into Jackson Park. (The only good thing about that hill? The marathon's last three-tenths of a mile includes a hill from Michigan Avenue onto Roosevelt Road before turning toward the finishing chute on Columbus Drive. We've been running that hill just about every weekend in reverse.)
So, we had done it. Ross's first 20 mile run that was far more running than walking, and Joy's first 20 mile run. We grabbed some mini bagels, granola bars, coconut water, our new Newton Ready to Run technical shirts, hopped on a waiting bus back to Grant Park, flagged a cab, got home and took a really, really cold bath. Good times. And we met a new friend that we've named "Buster."
 |
| "Buster" is a blister. Not a marble balancing on Joy's foot. |
20 miles. We started at 4600 north, ran north to 5600 (just one block shy of the north end of the Lakefront Path), turned south and ran to 1200 south, then up to 600 south, and then to the Jackson Park Beach House at 63rd Street and back up to 6100 (the Lakefront Path ends at 67th Street). Since it's eight city blocks to mile, we'll leave the math up to you. We're too loopy to figure it out.
Interested in seeing a map of our route?
No comments:
Post a Comment