Frigid 26.2

I ran the Chicago Marathon. It took me 5 hours 51 minutes and 7 seconds. I got to run beside my best friend, MATE (her real name is Alison). We had fun...for the first 17 miles. Or maybe 13 miles, then we got mean. We ran to 12 miles, then we instituted a run a mile, walk a mile routine. This seems do-able, but you try it. We started bitching at each other and even at the "nice" people cheering us on. Little did we know that the winner of the marathon had suffered an injury upon crossing the finish line. Actually he slipped on the mat (that records your time) and fell backwards on his head. Click on the video on this link (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15391743/)to see his fall. He actually never crossed the ceremonial banner, BUT HE STILL WON. His time was almost 4 hours shorter than mine. Way to go, Kenya. For me, the race highlights were the following: feeling pain at mile 6, dropping my hoodie at 12K and realizing later how cold I was, my ipod dying at mile 12, almost not making it through 15-16 because of my hunger (powerbar was frozen), slurping up GU at mile 17.5 and then gagging, having to stop and walk several times to avoid pooping my pants, trying to be nice to my running partner even though I felt like I hated the world, finally making it past mile 20, seeing amazing people with injuries, disabilities, and real reasons for running keep on going, and finally realizing that I had just checked off something on my list of life goals!! After we got done, we were freezing cold, hungry, but relieved...and LAUGHING!! We hobbled to the subway, which was at least a 10 minute walk away. I honestly think that the worst part of running a marathon was how horrible I felt afterwards. After sitting on "the EL" train for an hour, I was so stiff that I almost started crying. Then I got up and walked to the hotel, went to sleep at 6:30PM and woke up the next morning at 9AM. I'm still tired. Enough for now.

To see pictures of me running, go to www.marathonfoto.com and my bib number is 36116. You know my last name.

-Faris