I Can Haz Marathon?! Part I

Marathon number 2 is officially in the bag! The 2008 Chicago Marathon is over and all I can think about is doing my next one, which is a good sign I suppose. I'll try and break this blog into two parts, since I haven't blogged since Thursday ( I know, I'm terribly, but I was a bit preoccupied). Suffice it to say, for now, that the weather was not so good...not as bad as last year, but bad enough. Yet I managed to have a good race for ME.

Friday night was our pre-race dinner. Since I've been carb-loading all week, we decided to do a dinner Friday night, that way we could relax and gather our thoughts alone before the race. I liked this idea because my mother was coming in from Cleveland to cheer me on and I'd like to spend Saturday night with her.

A few of us, Kristen, Jennifer, Leslee, and I, were going to meet at Leslee's condo in the South Loop and then go to the Expo together, since it was within walking distance of Leslee's place. I was amazed at how massive it was! We met some lost runners from England on our way to McCormick Place, and had a nice chat with them about Chicago, and uhhh, last year's Chicago marathon. And you know, other things about the course, as in how there's a hill (or what qualifies as a hill in Midwestern terms) at mile 26. I was also lucky enough to run in Lou at the Expo!!! She looked amazing as usual, and ready to run, with Meg who was unfortunately sidelined by an injury. I still have yet to meet Lou's paramour, MM, but was told he was there. Maybe next time!!!

We went to dinner at Gioco's in the South Loop. The food was amazing...I ordered the gnocchi, which seems like the perfect carb-loading meal to me. Pasta made out of potatoes, what could be better?! We chatted about, what else, the predicted weather for Sunday's race. Even the veterans of a few marathons seemed to be unsure of what to expect regarding the weather. If it was going to be anything like last year, there would be a few of us who would not be able to finish, and I knew I'd be one of them. What if they decided to cancel the race again? It was conceivable, as the temperature was expected to break 80 degrees at that point. Once again, this isn't something that any of us could control, so we changed the subject to other running-related items. Like chafing. Because who doesn't want to talk about that?!?!






Saturday rolled around and all that was really on my schedule was as follows:

1. Pick up mom
2. Eat
3. Hydrate adequately
4. Church

I did all of those things! It was so great to have my mom there to see me run. I know that she appreciates the hard work that I put into training for races, but I think experiencing it first-hand helped her to appreciate it even more so than before. When we got home from the airport, we made plans to go downtown and have lunch, go shopping, and go to mass before heading back to my apartment for dinner and to watch Spirit of the Marathon, which FINALLY arrived on DVD that evening. We had lunch at Rosebud and then went shopping on Michigan Ave. Thanks, Mom :)

We went to mass at Holy Name Cathedral, which ended up being quite fortuitous because the priest saying mass had a special blessing for all of the marathoners in attendance. We numbered quite a few, so it was interesting standing up for the blessing at the end of mass when everyone else was sitting down. You felt like part of a proud minority. I also found the cute priest after mass, and asked him to bless my St. Sebastian's medal that I was planning to wear during the race. Hey, I needed all the help that I could get! I was also planning on having my chaplet of Divine Mercy pinned to the inside of my shirt during the race as well. I'm no fool...I know who's carrying me through these things, like most things in life. My mother also happened to chance upon a prayer in the hymnal, which seemed more than appropriate for the race I was facing the next day.

Lorica of Saint Patrick
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation
St. Patrick (ca. 377)

Yup. That sums it up, the strength that I need.

So we went home, fixed dinner, and watched Spirit of the Marathon, which furthered my mom's appreciation for what we as runners go through during all those long months of training, and the drama of race day. We also tried to figure out a race day plan for my mom. As of that night, she was going to be picked up by my cousin's and they were going to try and see me at the half-marathon mark, and then at the finish. There was still the trouble of getting my mom from the half-marathon point to the finish area, but we did come up with some semblance of what you might call a "plan".

And then it was off to bed! Stay tuned for Part II.