It has been a minute since the high of early fall marathon training and the race days of Chicago. The weather has officially turned cooler, and when I woke this morning - the ground was white. That’s right. You heard me. There was snow on the grass. It is the first of the season. I know it won’t last, but this is just the beginning of what I call the dark ages. It’s the time of the year that everyone has moved their clocks back, the evenings are cold and it is dark by 4:30pm. If you are anything like me, it makes you want to hibernate along with a bear in a cave. However much I enjoy running in cooler temps, I equally loathe getting myself up when it’s still dark or making myself move my body to train in the evenings after the day is done. When it’s dark, my mind wants to rest. When it is dark, my body wants to sleep. At this time of year, I am like most - counting down the days to the holiday break. That appears to be what we all need - a much welcomed break. With these thoughts, I have feelings of sadness, discomfort, and restlessness. These are familiar feelings. I have had them time and time again. And thank goodness I recognize it as such. Just feelings. Nonetheless, these are the dark ages. And all I can do is keep showing up. I can show up for my workouts. For my training. I can keep showing up for my students at the school I teach in. I can keep showing up for my family and continue to maintain our busy schedules. I doesn’t have to be perfect. It is not always pretty. But showing up is half the battle. And here I am. Doing the work. And where there is darkness, later there comes a glimmer of light. And I will be waiting…

The morning was warmer than expected (for running) and fairly windy. My friend Audra and I met up at 5:30am to walk to our charity tent. The streets were already crowded. A total of 51,000 runners this year.

RMHC puts on a HUGE spread for their runners. Heated tent, foam rolling spot, private gear check, private toilets, a DJ playing music and lots and lots of food (breakfast and after event meal). After event drinks and champagne after you walk the red carpet back into the tent and massages if you want one. We are spoiled.

We ate, got ourselves ready, peed a trillion times (ahem…nerves kick in), visited with friends, met new friends and took our team photo. We successfully, as a whole, hit the $2.5 million mark! Thank you all who supported me along the way. Your donation matters. And I am grateful.

We were escorted to the race corrals. I was in Wave 2 letter J. The corrals are packed. In fact, most the race I felt like it was quite crowded even while running. I know it’s Chicago and all, but I have run this 5 times and this year seemed to be more crowded than years past.

It was go time, and I started my Garmin. I was shooting for the 8:35-8:45 pace range with a goal of hitting a sub-4. I started fast and quickly slowed myself down, because I knew I would not be able to sustain it over time. Matt and the kids tracked me around the city. I saw them at mile 2, between 6-7, and mile 17. It was awesome to see them. I also saw my coworker John spectating! So great!

I felt pretty good up to the halfway mark. Then at about mile 18 I felt fatigue set in. The sun came in and out throughout the day, and I was so hot. I was just so overheated. I began dumping water on my head. They even had cold water-filled sponges on the course if you needed them.

The crowds were awesome. From Grant Park through downtown, the Loop, Boystown, Charity row, Pilsen, Chinatown, it was just so great! By far the loudest and most fun was the Hispanic neighborhood of Pilsen this year.

From mile 18-23, I only could focus on finishing. The sub-4 was fading, and I was working hard. At mile 23, I thought okay, 3 more. Once I hit Roosevelt, the slight uphill at the very end was doable. I ran it in at 4:05:51. A personal record! My previous record was a whopping difference of…..4:05:54! 3 seconds faster made me chuckle, but it was a solid run and I will take it. Hey, at least I am consistent.

After the race. I found Matt and the kids, walked the red carpet back into our tent and filled our tummies. We gabbed with friends, and we enjoyed the afternoon. What an awesome day!

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Some highlights - many runners running with a prosthetic limb, several blind runners with guides, a world record broken by the 1st female, kids saw a man running high heels raising awareness for domestic violence, a man running barefoot, a man running in flip flops, people peeing openly in the streets, people wearing lots of costumes, a man running in a tux, and some amazingly funny support signs (including Matt’s who wrote “my wife is faster than your wife”.) Love it.

Did you ever have the nagging feeling that what you were doing (in life) was not exactly where you were supposed to be? I mean, life is good, right? On the outside you have the career, the family, the house, the stuff…..life going just as planned. But yet, there is something missing? Like you are not fulfilling life’s purpose? I kept telling myself that everything is fine.