20 Miles of Doom

It's been waiting there all season.

"The Longest Run of the Training"

"Once you hit 20, your body is ready to do 26"

"If you make it through 20 without an injury, you're good"

Note that it is still pitch black out :)

I remember when I was first starting this training and I saw that "20 miler" date down the road, and, having never run more than 13 miles, it was extremely difficult to envision little ol' me completing it. But guess what....I did it. At 4am on a Saturday morning. By myself the week before the training group did it because a certain special Kevinito friend of mine chose to get married on the official 20 miler weekend. AND I (perhaps idiotically) still had enough energy in me that day to throw some beers back and attend Musky Fest! Yes, I ran slower than petrified molasses, and yes I passed out around 10pm that night which I don't think I've done since grade school, but I got it done.

Chicago Endurance Sports does a really great job of hyping up the 20 miler. You have to register as if it was a real race, you have to pick up a bib, and they have full water and gatorade stations along the course. I was so pumped at the beginning of training to get to that point. Then I realized Kevin's wedding was that weekend, and there was no way I was going to sacrifice my dancing legs at the wedding and wake up early for 20 miles out in Vermont! Then I also got injured and I transformed into an emo middle schooler who hated the world and didn't know if I'd actually be able to do the race anyway. Everything worked out though, and with some planning, 4 weeks off of running, physical therapy, swimming for cardio, and a little determination, I found myself the morning of September 8th, lacing up my shoes and strapping on my hydration belt before dawn.

I'm very fortunate that it was one of those weird days of summer that are uncomfortably cool. I set out from my house at 5am, heading out in the darkness south to Blue Island Ave, then turning west toward Western. I went north on Western to 18th St, and headed all the way east until I hit the lakefront path. My parents might be slightly enraged to hear that I passed many a suspect character during this route. Some were early morning workers, and some very clearly were not. Sorry Juan and Irma! Hopefully they will forgive me when I tell them I clutched onto my pepper spray that whole first 5 miles! :D

As soon as I crossed from 18th street to the lakefront path, I felt much more at ease. It's a stark difference. Going from the 18th street, a desolate ghost-town sort of quietness, to crossing the bridge and entering the bustling lakefront path territory, already filled with runners. It is amazing the number of people who are awake and active at crack of dawn. Once on the lakefront path and surrounded by people, I was able to put my pepper spray away, and relax into my run. I crossed over through Soldier Field, 5 miles down and 15 to go.

I decided to head north on a whim, instead of south which I typically prefer to do. I was hoping for a brilliant sunrise to greet me on the horizon over the lake...but it was a pretty overcast day so all I really got was grey clouds! There was a lot of construction and veering paths once I approached the Chicago river, and after a bunch of detours I found myself running down Navy Pier. I highly dislike the walk down Navy Pier, it takes forever. But at that point I was committed and did not want to look like a fool by pulling a 180!!

On my way back toward Soldier Field I was trying desperately to do some math to figure out if I should do any extra mileage before crossing back to 18th street. Math is really hard after 12 miles so I just kept going past Soldier Field and hoped I'd figure it out eventually.

I did figure it out, and made my way back through Soldier Field, through South Loop and China Town, onto 18th, and back towards home! The last two miles were the most difficult but also the most rewarding. My IT band soreness felt bone-deep, but my previously injured heel was surprisingly holding up. I did notice that during this time, my cardio felt great! If I could have borrowed someone else's legs, I'm sure I had another half marathon in me. But alas, that is not how things work :)

So, I was on Western, coming around the final mile. I was moments away from turning onto Blue Island when I realized, holy shit, I am going to finish this. I am going to finish 20 miles. By myself. Through my training efforts and discipline. I am getting this shit done. It is not fast and it is not easy but I am going to complete 20 effing miles. I got very excited and decided to pick it up and finish hard. This whole time I had been holding back and running at 10 min miles....truly, the slowest I've run in my life. I picked it up and ended up doing the last mile in 8:18.

And just as I was passing up my apartment, my watch beeped to indicate 20 miles, and this surreal sense of elation fell upon me. I immediately started tearing up as I slowed into my cool down. Three weeks ago, I wasn't even certain I'd be able to get healed up in time to run the marathon. But here I am today, waking up at 4am, running 20 miles, all on my own, with still enough in the tank to sprint out the last mile. Unfortunately some random dudes were walking by and I had to pull myself together and stifle my sniffs, but as soon as I entered the comfort of my apartment, you'd better believe that I was full on, ugly crying. It was a mixture of relief that I was finally done, pride that I'd completed it, and disorientation of how little I'd slept and how much longer of a day still lied before me.

It was only after this run that I truly believed this little body of mine had it in her to complete a marathon. It's a great feeling. So great that I took the rest of the day to celebrate, with a couple of mimosas (or 6....?) in support of Lauren Horn's run for Musky Queen :)

7 DAYS TIL MARATHON DAY!

More BOMF Events!

Well I believe I'm now in what people call "the final stretch" of marathon training. Two weeks from this moment, I will probably be laying down, whimpering at the pain my whole body is in. But I will have completed 26.2 miles!

I have been trying to compile into one blog post all the different fun events I've been able to participate in with Back on My Feet over the course of the past year. I was taking part in the weekly 5:45am runs (YES I didn't miss a week at all while the Pilsen chapter was open [if I did, someone from BOMF please call out my lie]), which were a joy on their own. Between those events though, there were other ways to get involved, which I took full advantage of.


Treadmill Challenge (April 2017)

This was the first event I jumped into after officially joining as a volunteer. The task for the day: raise awareness for BOMF by having two people simultaneously running on a treadmill at all times for a 12 hour period at a busy intersection in Old Town. Also: see how many marathons the BOMF volunteers could collectively run in one day! The individual task: take to the treadmill at Fleet Feet in Old Town for an hour and log as many miles as possible in your one hour time slot. Seems pretty straightforward, and a good challenge!

My time slot started at 5pm, so I had to book it from work in order to make sure I had time to change and warm up before going all out on a treadmill for an hour. I arrived with my treadmill game plan in mind, and was confused to see only one treadmill going at the time. I was informed that the other treadmill had pooped out, and so the Treadmill Challenge had changed into the run-around-the-block challenge. Get ready for lots of loops, Cynthia!

It was a cooler day in May, so the run itself felt great! The .4 loops were killer though... in total I ran around that loop 20 times for a total of 8 miles in 60 minutes. The only reason I was able to make it all the way through that mentally monotonous run was because each time I passed by Fleet Feet...EVERY TIME... there was a group of other BOMF volunteers and member cheering me on. Great experience, and very indicative of the type support BOMF provides for all runners, both members and volunteers alike.

In total that day we ran 138.76 miles, which is the equivalent of 5.3 marathons! The next treadmill challenge is coming up next month, where hopefully we'll surpass this goal.

National Running Day (June 2017)

The first Wednesday in June is considered national running day, and the BOMF advisory board likes to host an annual event called “Why I Run”. It’s pretty much a small scale track meet for BOMF members, volunteers, and friends. The meet consisted of some pretty tough runs (1 mile, 100 M relay) and some less serious runs (racing with an egg on a spoon!). I was pretty pumped that with my Pilsen boys we came out on top for the relay (not that anyone besides me was noticing) and that for the mile run Vicente really pushed himself and we finished in under 8 minutes!


BOMF Annual Gala (November 2017)

This was the only non-running event I participated in, but it was still super fun! (Sorry, no pictures

of myself from this event, but I did find this other one here of some other wonderful BOMF volunteers!). This is the biggest fundraising event of the year for BOMF. It is a seated dinner + silent auction, and this past year I volunteered to help coordinate the silent auction. With experience I had at Urban Initiatives' own fundraisers, I felt very comfortable lending my knowledge, talking up the different prize packages, answering questions, and overseeing the other auction volunteers. The dress code of the event is AMAZING. Everyone dresses up in cocktail attire, but then wears their favorite sneakers. Some people wore running shoes, others had fun sparkly sneakers, but everyone collectively was comfortable for the majority of the night! I think that more cocktail parties should take note of this...

Country Sole 10k (October 2017)

This was the first 10k that Vicente and I ran together! I will share more about Vicente in hopefully my next blog, but all you need to know is that this race was a struggle for us, but it was an important stepping stone for him to eventually run a half marathon. Note that we are all smiles because we were in pretty tip top shape, running regularly all summer together. Our next 10K together was not as glamorous! 

Vicente's First Half Marathon! (January 2018)

Vicente completed his first half marathon in January! I was bummed to miss competing in it because I was training for a triathlon at the time, but I did go cheer Vicente on race day. When he was coming down the final mile, I started screeching his name, in typical Cynthia fashion. I could see he was struggling, and as he passed me up he let me know his calves were totally cramped and he didn't think he could finish. I let him know he was so close and there was no way he was going to give up now! Like the trooper he is, he completed the half marathon, and in a pretty dang good time also. In true Vicente fashion, about 15 minutes after the end of the race, he said "yeah, that wasn't too bad. I could probably go run a couple more miles now!". One of these days I am going to take him up on it.

Mardi Gras Chaser 10K (February 2018)

Our second 10K together! This was shortly after Vicente's half marathon, so I had pretty high expectations for him. In this particular photo, we are steps away from the finish line and are sprinting it in. Vicente, being the gentleman he is, is probably holding back a ton of swears he'd like to send in my direction. I, being the demanding "running coach/partner" of his, was telling him "THIS IS OUR LAST MINUTE OF RUNNING, YOU GIVE YOUR ALL! IF YOU ARE STILL ABLE TO TALK TO SAY HOW TIRED YOU ARE THAT MEANS YOU AREN'T WORKING HARD ENOUGH" (only slightly exaggerated). He always hates me in the moment but thanks me profusely afterwards for pushing him!! We know each other well enough that I feel comfortable pushing him in this way. 

Full Team Runs (once a month!)

BOMF had three locations in Chicago: one in Pilsen, one in West Side, and one in Uptown. (The Pilsen partner shelter shut down a few months ago, so unfortunately that group that I ran with is no longer meeting). Once a month though, BOMF organizes a full team run somewhere around the city. Sometimes we'd meet in the Loop, sometimes we'd meet by the BOMF office, or other spots around the city! It's been a great opportunity to get to know members and volunteers from other groups.

I think about this point in time is where I'm finally ready to formally introduce you all to a very good friend I made during all these events: Vicente! I have shared bits and pieces about him already, but there is a lot more I'd like to share (and he has given my permission to do so). It will obviously be a post that is near and dear to my heart, so you will have to wait a bit longer for that. (And for the many people who have been asking, no, he is not my dad!!)

13 DAYS TIL MARATHON DAY!!