After a year of training and getting back into shape (kind of), I will be running the Chicago Marathon this coming Sunday. It will have been more than fifteen years since my last marathon. My last marathon was in Columbus, OH in 1995. Once my second son arrived, childcare became my obsession rather than training.
To recap, exactly one year ago, I started running again. I had to start from scratch. Erasing fifteen years of business lunches and rubber chicken dinners is more difficult than one can imagine. But, over the course of 2011, I have fought off injury (hamstrings, calf and Achilles) to get to this point.
Let's be clear, I'm not running for time - I'm running to finish. Very different from before. If my failing memory is accurate, my PB is 3 hours and 3 minutes. It was in the Cleveland Marathon. This Sunday, assuming nice cool weather, I'm hoping to finish somewhere around 4 hours and 30 minutes.
Time has taken its toll. From seven of my friends who started out training, four will be in Chicago at the start line. The three who won't be there, have been hampered by injury. Three of us have had Achilles injuries. This has been a sobering reminder that our bodies can't handle what we used to take for granted in the past.
Rob and Jim will be there from Vancouver, joining Graydon and myself from London, ON.
So, if you want to cheer me on, say a prayer for me sometime around 10:00 am on Sunday, when I expect the pain and exhaustion will be rising (the start is at 7:30 am Chicago time). Barring injury, around 12 noon, I hope that I'll crossing the finish line in Grant Park (pictured above). Delirious, but hopefully in one piece.
What a long journey back.
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