Chicago Marathon 2019







Originally I thought about using my Chicago Marathon as a training run for my upcoming NYC marathon. But I was feeling good and we were suppose to have nice weather so why not just go for it I thought? And that is just what I did. 


Race morning my friend and I woke up. She had a routine of what she does pre-race with her food and such. I do not.  Luckily they had coffee in the lobby. I had that and a cookie while I was waiting on her. I knew we had Balbo hospitality tickets so I was planning on eating there. 


By the time we got to the area, the line was super long to get in.  When we finally arrived we heard last call for wave one. Oh no, I better hurry up! I used the bathroom, checked my bag, and got in line to be escorted to my corral. So breakfast of champions, a cookie and a chocolate covered pretzel stick. I guess we will see how this goes.

It took forever to get to my corral. I felt like I was doing a warm up run to get there. I finally arrived at my corral and I thought well heck I don't need my throwaway anymore I'm quite warm after all that. I began talking to another runner in my corral. He said he was aiming to do around 3:30. I said sure I'll try that! In my mind I'm thinking 3:30-3:45. But we will see what happens. 

We ran together for quite a awhile. At every mile I would ask him how we were doing. He would either say good, or a little too fast we need to hold back.

We were over half way and I was still feeling good. I was hoping to keep up my pace. We got to around mile 17 and all of a sudden my headphones got really staticky. I guess they un-synced. This was very frustrating because they never did this before. So I tried to re-sync them but nothing was working so finally I just gave up. 

I was at mile 20 and my friend and I were still running together. He stopped to get a water at an aid station and then I lost him. At this time I was bumming a bit, I lost my running buddy and my headphones stopped working. I just told myself all I got is a 10k left I can do this!

I was trying to give it an extra push when I reached the 5k mark but I didn't have much in the tank.

I was around mile 24 and I hear "yeah go 3:25 pace." I thought to myself I didn't think I was around that time. I couldn't tell from the clock on the course because I wasn't sure when it had started but my watch was a few minutes under the clock but not enough to make a 3:25 I thought. I could see the sign out of the corner of my eye so I gave it all I could leading up to the finish line and crossed it with a smile on my face. 



When the pacer followed behind me I asked him when he came in and he said 3:24:47. But then I looked at his bib and he started in the corral behind mine. So of course I had a few more minutes on my watch. I ended with a 3:29:59. So yes, I BQ-ed by a second! I guess I'm considered a squeaker. I know that won't  be enough to get in and you know what I am perfectly fine with that!

After I crossed the finish line it took what felt like forever to get back to that hospitality tent. I got my complementary massage and ate lunch before heading back to the hotel to clean up and explore the city the rest of the day.

The other day I was looking through @Chicagomarathon IG and I saw that it says Guarantee your spot for next year with your time. It said 30-39 if you had a 3:40 or under. Is this true? Or am I missing something else?  -L





22 comments:

  1. You are really fast, Lacey! Truly amazing. Running on a cookie and a chocolate covered pretzel sounds like the perfect fuel for a BQ. Congrats!!!

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  2. Wow, congrats -- I can't believe you did that on a cookie & pretzel, LOL -- I eat more than that for a half! Although I gotta admit that sounds good, too. :)

    I didn't even know you were doing Chicago -- and somehow missed NYC too. I can't believe that you're doing those marathons almost back to back. How do you find the energy between all your flights? Youth,I guess!

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    1. It must have been all that sugar that got me through. I try to get my runs in while I travel all the time. Sometimes it can be tough.

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  3. That's an awesome finish time! Just being able to say you BQ'd is pretty incredible and brag-worthy ;-) Congrats!!

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    1. Yea I suppose I can say I did BQ bc it is technically under 3:30..haha

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  4. Awesome race. Congrats! It seems like sometimes when your expectations are low, we do better in races. Maybe that's the key to a less stressful run. Hope your headphones are working again!

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    1. Yes. I always keep my expectations low so I don't disappoint myself.

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  5. Great job! I never run with headphones in a marathon. The crowd gets me through! And I like to talk to other runners. ;)

    That's true on the sub 3:40. You're guaranteed if you want to come back. Mine is sub 3:50 and I got that in Mountains2Beach (which you should run for a fast and fun course!)

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    1. I'm debating to come back. It is a great race! I never heard of mountains2beach. I'll have to look into that.

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  6. Wow sounds like a pretty amazing day for you despite the headphones and losing your friends. Nice job out there and congrats on a BQ.

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    1. Yea I was bummed about the headphones but my friend I had just met so that was ok. I'm surprised we actually ran that far together.

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  7. You did amazing! Congrats on another BQ! That worked out well that you found someone to run with for awhile. But how frustrating that your headphones weren't working!

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    1. Yes it was! And of course it was around the same time him and I split up.

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  8. AWESOME!!! You are such a speedy runner, Lacey. And one thing I love about doing a big race is finding a stranger to run with - I had that toward the last few miles of my first half and it kept me going. Your "pacer" was probably bummed that you guys got separated.

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    1. Yea I felt bad for him because he was aiming for 3:30 and he was nowhere around me when I crossed.

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  9. Wow amazing job!! It was perfect marathon weather for sure - congrats on squeaking under 3:30. I love that you made a friend during it too - honor the sweat bond :)

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    1. Thanks Becca. I actually felt a bit chilly and could probably have gone with a long sleeve. I don't like running in the cold!

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  10. I'm interested to see if that is true with those times...
    A squeaker - that made me laugh.
    You are INCREDIBLE!!! I cant even imagine!!!!

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  11. I don't think I could ever get that time again if I tried. So weird?just under 3:30. That's why it is called a squeaker bc I did BQ but barely..haha

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  12. Ugh! So annoying about your headphone malfunction. As you know, the same thing happened to me. It sucked because I really could have used music for the last few miles!

    Nevertheless, awesome job on your race!

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  13. Congrats! Sounds like it was a great race. And that's really cool that you found someone to run with for so much of the race.

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  14. Congratulations on running such a great race! It was great to meet you at brunch :)

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Fairytales and Fitness is a personal blog authored and edited by us, Meranda and Lacey. The thoughts expressed here represent only our own and are not meant to be taken as professional advice. Please note that our thoughts and opinions change from time to time. We consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind in an ever changing society. Any thoughts and opinions expressed within our out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those we may express today. Some links may contain affiliate links. Some links are just to pages we'd like to share.