Every day I plan to write 3 unique things I'm grateful for. I'll be posting them on Twitter and occasionally Facebook and Instagram too. It's a great exercise to train your mind to think positively! 

9/16/20
Today I am grateful for:
1. Bubble baths
2. Free Shakespeare lessons from Dr. Francis X. Connor.
3. Fuzzy heart candy cane pants.

9/15/20
Today I am grateful for:
1. A morning run with my honey
2. Coney and ⁦@realdumbrunner
⁩3. Getting pokémongo gifts from ⁦@MalindaAnnHill
⁩
9/14/20
Today I am grateful for:
1. @RaggedMountain1 home delivery
2. @CoachZoni for believing in my strength when I didn’t myself
3. My husband Fran for breaking his run streak and taking a rest day to walk

9/13/20
Today I am grateful for:
1. Amy’s Red Curry Thai
2. @Starbucks #PSL
3. Taking a morning walk with my daughter when it’s only in the 60s

A friend asked me to make a running log for her kids who are training for a Star Wars Disney race. I made three versions you can download here! 

I just applied to be a Race Ambassador for the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run. When I searched the race results, I realized that the first time I ran the race was in 2008 which means the 2018 CUCB will be the 10th anniversary of my first time running the race. Wow! When I think about all the miles I've logged, injuries I've endured, and fun I've had training and racing over the past ten years it's hard for me to remember my life before becoming a runner (sort of like recalling life before having children!).

I'm regretful that I don't have a CUCB streak and it's not because I didn't get in the lottery. When I ran the best race of any distance in my entire life at the 2012 CUCB I made a conscious decision to not return in 2013, 2014, or 2015. I knew I would never run a race as fast or as satisfying on that course again and I wanted to end on a high note. It seems sad and silly now that I denied myself the opportunity to enjoy one of the best races in the country just because I was afraid I'd feel like a loser for being slower than my 2012 performance. Finally in 2016 I gained some perspective and decided to return to my favorite race in DC. Yes, my finishing time was 7 minutes slower, but I was even happier than when I ran a PR because I appreciated my experience running the race. Each mile is a gift and I don't want to let low self-esteem, fear, or doubts keep me from running or racing again.

I'm determined to document my training for this race on this blog regardless of whether I am chosen as a Race Ambassador because I have lots of tips, stories, and insight to share! I've been volunteering for the Charlottesville Track Club for almost as long as I've been running and I've gained a lot of experience from managing our local ten miler training program to directing a marathon that I created. I'm excited to motivate others to find the joy in running (and racing!).

Leah Connor / TWINS RUN in our Family

Kelly Herron

The Accidental Marathoner

From Dancing to Running

Run 3:30

Jennifer Konikowski

Eggers: running log more or less

Sweat Equity Running

Lori's Marathon Training

Accidental Intentions

Keep it Light, And

​Penny Thoughtful

Utochspring

data_girl

Facetiously Fit

In Search of My Running Tribe

SoCal Runner Gal

Martha Ralz

The Josie Girl

Lisa Lindsey

Toronto Running Chiro

Mandi Florip

runsmartonline

TryAth

PHOTOS by...

Brian Sullivan

Kevin Lee

Time Out

WGN9

​

Are you happy?

A friend texted me the day after the Chicago Marathon asking if I was happy with my race.
I know that my time of 4:17:23 is my worst performance on this course by ten minutes (and is one of my ten slowest marathons overall), but I enjoyed my experience so much more this year than in the past and I’m grateful for having a relatively pain-free long run in a beautiful city with amazing crowd support.

Before the race I told everyone that this would be my 30th and final marathon ever. After two very disappointing races in the past year and a painful injury in April that sidelined me for 7 weeks, I had lost my love and motivation to train for the marathon. Five years have passed since my PR and the last time I achieved a time goal was when I qualified for Boston for the 4th time at the 2015 Chicago Marathon. The 2017 Boston Marathon would have been one of the most miserable races of my life if I didn’t have my twin sister by my side for the entire 26.2 miles. I don’t think I would have made it to that finish line without her.

Luckily I had already signed up for Chicago before that race or I probably would have ended my marathon career in Boston. If I did “retire” from the marathon, I could honestly say I had a good run (pun intended!). I achieved my goal of qualifying for and running the Boston Marathon, not just once, but four times. My first marathon was 5:17:03 and I eventually took over and hour and 40 minutes off that time to run a PR of 3:36:35. Not too bad! I had a lot of disappointments and painful races, but I kept trying … running at least 1 and up to 5 marathons a year since 2007.

When I finished my first Chicago Marathon in 2011, I was hysterically crying in the hospitality tent after the race. My training had gone so well, I ran a few PRs leading up to that race, yet I finished well off my BQ goal. The following year when I ran my PR of 3:36:35 I barely enjoyed it because I was so disappointed that I hadn’t hit my goal of sub 3:35. Little did I know then that it would be my best time by far and only the second time I’d ever run under 3:40. I wish I would have appreciated that achievement and let myself experience the pure joy of running a great race without letting my perfectionist self find the flaws in my performance.

My training this year was not ideal. After taking 7 weeks off with no running, I slowly came back beginning in June. Even though I ran two 20 mile runs this cycle, I almost never ran anything under 10-11 minute pace unless it was a race and I only ran a few of those. So I’m pretty happy I ran the first half of the race in 2:02 because that’s the longest distance I’ve run anywhere near a 9:20 minute pace since April and it felt comfortable. The last 8-10 miles I slowed down quite a bit, but I made the decision to just keep running at a manageable pace without pushing myself and accepted that I’d have a huge positive split (I’ve only ever run two negative split marathons.).

I don’t know if I’ll ever qualify for Boston again, but I’m fine with that now. I used to think what’s the point of continuing to run marathons if I can’t hit my competitive goals. I felt so embarrassed, sad, and frustrated (and, to be honest, like a huge LOSER!) and I just wanted to end on a high note. I didn’t have a sub 4 hour marathon or a BQ this year, but I finished the race excited about training again and that’s a victory!

Highlights of the race:

• Being a part of Team Lemon and raising money for Alex's Lemonade Stand for Childhood Cancer. Thanks to everyone who's supported ALSF in honor of my brother-in-law Michael and Grandma (GG). My twin sister Malinda and I joined Team Lemon in March 2012. Together we've have raised over $3K in memory of Michael and GG.
• Meeting Paula Radcliffe for the 2nd time (1st time was 2012 Chicago Marathon weekend) and having her hold Flat Malinda for a photograph!
• Talking to a Norwegian runner at my table who convinced me to go ask Paula for that photo. I enjoyed talking to her all about my coach and the running community in Charlottesville.
• Getting stopped by an identical twin on the way to one last bathroom break before the race. He noticed my TWINS RUN in our family shirt. We showed each other photos of our twins. He's a marathon maniac too, so it was cool to connect with someone I had a few things in common. (Sadly that Twins Run shirt got tossed around the ten mile mark! Oh well!)
• Running into a couple of Irish runners who I had taken a group picture for the day before near the Field Museum. What are the odds of that!?! I heard someone in the crowd shout, "Go Ireland!" And I looked over and said, "Hey, did I take your picture yesterday?" I told him how my friends said it was good luck to meet Irish runners before the race so this must be an even better sign. He said now he's got a friend in  the US maybe he and his 9 kids can stay with us next time. I said, yeah, I'm not that Irish because I only have 2 kids. ha ha ha!  I got some hysterical selfies of the three of us. I hope they find the photos I posted on social media!
• Having PokemonGo Plus to help spin PokeStops and catch Pokemon with a press of a button. Wow, do I wish I had that last year! There's nothing like running for a purpose. And my goal was to get 500,000 XP during my entire Chicago trip. After that marathon, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! 
• The guy with a bowl of sour patch kids. I said, “I love you!” as I grabbed a handful and he replied, “I love you more!” :)
• Hearing “Leah” and looking over to see the husband of Charlottesville running friend (she ended up running a huge PR of 3:30!)
• Getting a laugh from some spectators when I stopped to re-apply lipstick before Chinatown and then again with a mile to go (that time I dropped the lipstick and had to turn around to pick it up. Doh!)
• The Motivational Signs! Thanks to the facebook group “Chicago Runners Unite” for having a post and comments that reminded me of my faves!
  - “Remember, you won the lottery”
  - Run like a millennial, run from commitment!!
  - This Sign is BLUE. You’re Delirious!” (on orange paper)
  - Plain white poster board that said "motivational sign " in black sharpie.
  - I do Netflix marathons!
  - A guy with HUGE pink sign with gold glitter that said “My First Marathon Sign. Yay Me!”
  - Photo of a dog and said "are you all chasing a squirrel?"
  - Guy holding baby and a sign that said "hurry up mom! I'm hungry!"
• After the race running into someone who follows Twins Run on Facebook and having a nice conversation and getting a selfie with her. :)
• Getting a photo of the male winner, Galen Rupp, with Flat Malinda.
• Sightseeing with my kids before and after the race. I don't think anyone should ever complain about the cost of race photos when I spent a small fortune on only 4 green screen novelty pictures with my kids at the tourist spots. #wortheverypenny #mykidswontposeforphotoswithmomunlessforcedbystrangers
• Being able to check-in to my hotel at 8:30am and head to the expo alone while my kids relaxed in the room. Got my bib and shirt in about 10 minutes. Spent longer on the bus getting back from the expo then I did at the expo (which saved me lots of $$!)
• Having 51 photos and counting on my MarathonFoto page. Getting all those photos for $60 makes up for the $30/photo family pix!
• When you run long run pace for a marathon and don't push yourself wow does the day after the race feel so much less painful! If it weren't for my damn blisters (see details below!) I would be completely painfree. 

Worst parts of the race:

• Struggling for 15 minutes to connect my Bluetooth headphones and then having texting issues before the race. I ended up calling my daughter a couple times while I was running to make sure she and her brother were ok.
• Squatting to pee under a bridge ... not one of my finest moments. I felt guilty, but really had no choice! :(
• Getting passed by a man in a dinosaur costume around mile 25.
• When my PokemonGo Plus came loose from the wrist strap early on in the race and I had to carefully hold it down in my hand so it wouldn’t fall out (which it did towards the end of the race and I had to turn around and hope no one stepped on it or on me when I reached down to grab it!).
• The battery in Bluetooth headphones dying exactly at 20 miles. SERIOUSLY?!?! The last 6 miles are always the hardest! Luckily the crowds were so loud and encouraging.
• Losing my shoe with an expensive custom orthotic somewhere in the Balboa Hospitality Tent or during short walk back to my hotel room. Although I was amused when I submitted a lost & found request and got an email back that linked to a “What Now?” webpage that started off with “Losing something sucks.” #TRUTH
• The blisters on my right foot … My big toenail hurt so badly I went to MedExpress at 7pm on Monday night to have them drain it because I wasn’t confident in my ability to stick a safety pin under my nail despite hearing stories of friends who successfully performed self-surgery. J After waiting two hours I was told there was nothing to drain and given an antibiotic prescription. THIS IS WHY WE HAVE SUPERBUGS PEOPLE! After frantically calling every podiatrist within walking distance, I finally got an appointment at 10:30am. “Do you want me to pop it off?” she asked after an examination. “Uh, can we try to drain it first.” Even she didn’t think there was anything to drain, but I know my toes and I was right. She poked it with a needle and immediately there was fluid flowing. I only wish I would have taken a video of the procedure to share with the dr and nurse who didn’t even try to alleviate my pain (I had told both of them that “I’m dying, it hurts so bad, you have to do something!”). I also have a blister on the sole of my foot that the podiatrist tried to shave some skin off to help, but that didn’t do anything. I’m contemplating the safety pin.

Topics I'll be writing back in the new few weeks ...

• My obsession with PokemonGo and how it saved my marriage! 
• Why I canceled this year's Rivanna Greenbelt Marathon and why I'm already thinking about offering two dates in 2018 for BQ hopefuls!
• My struggles with recovering from an injury and two disappointing marathon performances during the past year.
• Being the parent of two teenagers (as of September 1st!)
• Race Recap for the Charlottesville Women's Four Miler 
• Race Recap for the Pepsi 10K
• My goals for the 2017 Chicago Marathon 

I ran my 5th Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 9th and it was my slowest in that city by 13 seconds.

A Goal = 3:55:00 or under
B Goal = 3:59:59
C Goal = finish and still be excited to train for Boston 2017 w/ @malindaannhill

I've qualified three times for the Boston Marathon on this course, but due to a less than ideal training cycle this summer plus a September filled with a serious sickness, extreme stress, and frighteningly low mileage, I knew hitting my A or B goals would be a stretch. However, my coach encouraged me to try because I did have a decent time at the Women's Four Miler in early September.

My plan was to go out with the 4 hour pace group and try to run a negative split. The only time I've done that was in 2008 when I ran the 1st half of the National Marathon in 2:00 and 2nd half in 1:54. I was hoping I could pull that off again, but unfortunately I just didn't have the energy. Should I have started even slower so that I could have at least run a negative split even if my finish time might have been over 4;10? I'll probably obsess & regret that when the ruminating and race dissection phase starts!

The only good thing about this year's race is I didn't feel any serious pain like I did in 2011 when I ran my first Chicago Marathon. After finishing in 2011, I wrote a post about needing a medal for dropping out because I really should have stopped running that year. So even if I felt tired and could barely life my feet off the ground at times, nothing really hurt (except MY PRIDE!)

I started more slowly than I have ever in any marathon in the past 6-8 years, but I just got slower. Sometimes sh-t happens. When you have a bad race it makes you appreciate the good ones even more. Last year I hit my goal of under 3:50 by 4 secs (3:49:56 which got me into the 2017 Boston Marathon!) and I was happy for about one hour, then I started criticizing myself because I didn't run a negative split and I didn't run even faster. This is how my mind works. Even when I achieve something, I dissect it and tear it apart. So I guess it's a little comforting to feel badly about doing badly because that actually makes sense! :)

When I was getting my post-race massage in the Balboa Tent (that experience is worth every penny!), I decided I wasn't going to end Chicago on a disappointing note. Now that I'm a "legacy" I've got guaranteed entry into the 40th running of the Chicago Marathon in 2017 and I plan to be there for my 30th and final marathon. Yes, I mean it. I've been running marathons since 2007 and it seems fitting to end my marathon "career" 10 years later with my two favorite marathons - Boston with my twin sister in April and Chicago with 40,000+ fellow runners.

One final note: When I realized I wasn't going to run under 4 hours I saw a man pushing a running stroller. He had a memorial on his back for his wife who died of ALS in July 2016 and in the stroller was a framed photo of her. I couldn't hold back the tears when I saw that. It put my "failure" into perspective. I had submitted a motivational text for my friend Nicole before the race, "Each mile's a gift! Negative split!" and seeing this man persevere through this race without his wife reminded me that indeed each mile is a gift. I'm so grateful to have been able to run so many miles with so many people I care about and who are important to me. Thanks so much to my coach and friend, Mark Lorenzoni, my twin sister, Malinda, and all my family and friends for supporting me all these years!

​- leah

Random Notes:

• Thrilled to see Joan Benoit Samuelson in the 15th floor lobby at the Hilton Chicago on Friday.. My coach told me to tell her he and Cynthia said hi next time I saw her, but alas that didn't happen. :(
• Excited to see Deena Kastor sitting in the lobby of the Hilton on Saturday. (really should have had made a bingo card for celebrity runner sightings!)
• Disappointed and annoyed at myself for not having a question prepared to ask Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski at the Balboa Tent before the race. ACK!!!!!!! (also regretting not getting a photo of the huge platter of meat at Belly Up before I devoured it on Friday!)
• Ecstatic to get to shake hands and get photographed with Florence Kiplagat the winner of the Chicago Marathon (and realized I also saw her at the hotel like 3 times the previous two days)
• Happy that Rock City Skirts saw me on the course and took some pictures of me wearing the custom skirt they made per my request! :)
• Loved the view from the ladies bathroom at the Signature Room. Wow!
• Enjoyed the Wendella Original Architectural Tour the day before the race.
• Overjoyed I caught a new Pokemon on the course!

Here are more resources on dealing with bad races:

http://www.runnersworld.com/sports-psychology/three-ways-to-cope-with-a-bad-race

http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/how-to-let-go-of-a-bad-race-experience

http://running.competitor.com/2014/05/training/moving-on-after-a-race-goes-wrong_47839

http://running.competitor.com/2014/04/training/how-you-can-benefit-from-a-bad-race_20530

http://www.runnersgoal.com/should-i-quit-running-mentally-dealing-with-a-bad-race-result/

http://asklaurenfleshman.com/questions/how-to-bounce-back-from-a-bad-race-like-a-badass/

I was recently interviewed for a local PBS program, Charlottesville Inside-Out, to discuss running and my volunteer involvement with the Charlottesville Track Club. You can watch the amazing segment online!
http://ideastations.org/watch/charlottesville-inside-out

"I was thrilled to be approached by Terri to talk about my volunteer involvement with the Charlottesville Track Club and my passion for running. From the first contact she had with me to watching the piece air for the first time on tv, the entire experience was one of the highlights of my time in Charlottesville. Being interviewed by Terri was like talking with an old friend. She helped make me feel comfortable and valued and it showed in the piece. Terri was thorough and accommodating in finding the resources she needed, including photos and interviews, for a piece which I feel is an amazing and touching tribute to the running community in Charlottesville. I've watched the segment three times already and it brings a huge smile and sense of pride to me every time!"

Read more about my experience with c-ville-athon!

So I've been procrastinating on writing up my race recap for the 2015 Chicago Marathon because I've been in a bit of a funk with the post-marathon blues. Many runners get a little antsy in the taper phase, but I find recovery is even worse. Taking time off from running gives me more time to over-analyze my race performance and find ways to criticize myself despite having achieved my goal of sub 3;50. Ugh!

I pretty much lost all confidence in my ability to ever BQ again after running my slowest of 3 Boston Marathons in April (4:08, previously ran 3:53 in 2013 and 3:53 in 2014), And when the news came out that entry into the 2016 Boston Marathon required a -2:28 BQ, I really started to panic. I had been hoping that a 3:53 would be good enough to get into 2017. Since I've run that time or better three times since 2013, I thought I could probably do it again, but trying to run in the 3:40s seemed daunting. However, once I accepted that the only way to BQ without extreme squeaker anxiety for the next year was to get a -5 minute time, I decided it was sub 3:50 or BUST!

I met with my coach twice in the the two weeks before the race because I needed a serious pep talk and reality check. My last twenty miler three weeks before the marathon totally sucked and I barely finished. It probably wasn't a wise idea to do that crucial long run the day after a 10K race, whoops! But I thought since my 10K wasn't as fast as I wanted, that meant I could still do the 20 miler. Yeah, I could do it, as my coach said, but I shouldn't have expected it to go well! #truth

He told me that my last long run should be 12 miles at marathon pace and if I couldn't do that then I needed to come back and talk to him and re-evaluate my goal. The next day I ran 12 miles at 8:15 pace and felt more capable of achieving the 3:50 time.

Since September I had been obsessively putting my race times into race prediction calculators to see if I could still run a decent marathon and also comparing my performances in the same races the other years I ran Chicago (2011, 2012, and 2013). My Women's Four Miler time 5 weeks before the marathon predicted a 3:33 in the Runner's Ally app (yeah right!), but my Pepsi 10K time 3 weeks beforehand predicted a range of 3:42 - 3:51 based on my coach's chart. When I met with my coach the second time I questioned whether I wasn't being aggressive enough with my goal, but he pointed out that even though I did have a couple decent races this summer, I also had some bad ones so it seemed right to go out with a conservative goal and if the weather was ok, maybe I'd surprise myself and run faster in the second half.

I've only run a negative split once in my life - my 2nd marathon when I finished in 3:54 and ran the first half in about 2 hours. I really wanted to get as close to a negative split as possible in Chicago. I knew the only way to do this was to go out with the 3:50 pace group.

I've had problems with my Garmin in Chicago before, and this year it was no different.
I knew the displayed pace would be almost useless when it beeped before 1st mile marker and progressively got worse as I made it through the race. I stayed with the 3:50 group for about 10K and then I turned around to look for them and couldn't find them. Another woman asked which group I was looking for and said they were definitely behind me. She said she was hoping to get a couple minutes ahead of her pace group.... as if that was a good plan of action. There's no such thing time in the bank in the marathon people! For ever minute you go too fast in the the first half it'll come back to slow you 2x or 3x as much in the 2nd half. #beentheredonethat

"I’m not sure where the “time in the bank” theory came from, but the strategy has lead to the demise of more marathon runners than any other source."

Since I definitely didn't go out too fast for the first 6 miles, I decided to listen to all those friends who told me "run by feel" and I hoped for the best as I ran without the aid of the pace group. I looked down at my watch a few times over the next couple miles and saw my overall pace go down by about 5 seconds per mile and thought, uh oh. I tried to keep it more consistent and knew that once I saw my half split I'd be able to better gauge how things were going. I hit the 1/2 way point just under 1:54 which is the slowest I have run the first half of my 3 Chicago Marathons and 3 Boston Marathons since 2011. However, I also knew this was a minute too fast for my 3:50 goal  and worried that I would be slowing down in the second half, but hoped I wouldn't hit the wall.

I still felt pretty good through mile 18, but soon after that the sun and heat started getting to me. I couldn't bear another cup of Gatorade so I switched to water. I kept checking my fingers to see if they were puffing up, but I seemed to be handling the switch ok. I struggled with opening and eating the Clif Blocks and Gels, but I knew I had to consume some calories along the course.

Once I hit mile 20 I noticed my overall pace was slowing down and I tried my best to keep it from creeping up more than 1 second every mile. I knew the 3:50 pace group would be coming for me and I was trying my best to not let them pass me until there were less than 2 miles to go. And that's about when I saw the 3:50 flag that I started the marathon with. It looked like there was only once other woman with him. I talked with the pacer at the expo  a couple days  before so I knew he planned on finishing the race around 3:49;47. I figured that even if he was ahead of me, as long as I could see him I would still be able to achieve my goal.

At mile 25 started thinking about how I was going to explain on social media and to my friends how I let everything slip away in the final mile of this race. I already started to accept that I wasn't going to get get sub 3:50, and rationalized that maybe 3:51 or 3:52 wouldn't be so bad. I still had a shot of getting into 2017 with a -3 minute time.

I was thrilled to see the 1 mile to go sign and 800M to go signs, but somewhere before the 400M sign I had an intense wave of nausea which has never happened to me before. I started to panic, thinking OMG it' s ALL OVER with the equivalent of a lap to go! NOOOO!!!!! I was seriously worried that I might not even finish. I think I briefly stopped and dry-heaved a couple times and then realized I just had to push through it and puke once I got to the finish line. I remember wanting something to hurt so I could push through the pain and just get this damn thing over with. I'm not sure how, but somehow I made it... I crossed the finish line! And then I went to the side and threw up. Well,, I tried, but not much came out. And almost immediately a volunteer came to help me and make sure I was ok. I kept apologizing to her and she said it was ok, I just ran a marathon and I could lean on her. I walked with her a bit and stopped a couple more times to try throwing up. Then we saw some guy about to fall over and I told her go take care of him, because I was fine.

I was so focused on trying to stop feeling sick that I never even looked at the time on my Garmin. I took out my iPhone and saw I had a bunch of texts congratulating me which made me feel good. I still didn't know my official time, but I had to text my coach first, before anyone else. And at 12;32 I wrote "Holy f--k." And then typed a riddle: "What takes less time... Me finishing marathon or de licing Annaliviai's hair. I win".  Yeah, i forgot to mention that during the marathon I was expecting a text from my husband to tell me if the Lice Doctors came and found anything on my daughter's head. And when he texted me "Oh yeah, she's got a full-blown case" all I could think of was the show "Life's Too Short" when Liam Neeson was trying to do improv and said he had full-blown AIDS. I laughed to myself and tried to text my husband back but the damn autocorrect was screwing everything up. At 10am my husband wrote back "How was yr race?" And my reply was "Dull inning" which I think was supposed to be "Still running" - HA! and "Only 1/2 way."  At 11:11am he replied she was "only halfway through alps hair." That's when I realized that I was probably going to beat the lice lady and be done first. I was right. by A LOT. :(

So what cost more? Two nights in a Chicago hotel during marathon weekend or the Lice Doctors? Yeah, that was a tie. YIKES!

A few random thoughts:

• I was so excited to get my photo taken with Deena Kastor holding my Flat Twin on Saturday morning. I had met her before in Boston 2014, but I had forgotten how small she is! I'm pretty sure my calf is bigger than her thigh. I couldn't help myself but say, "You're so tiny!" And she replied, "Don't let that fool you! I'm fierce!" I wished her luck with her race on Sunday. She's soooo amazing! Every time I looked at the blue line on the course (and I was on top of that line from about mile 3 on), I kept thinking Deena just ran these streets and I'm so lucky to be following in her footsteps!
  
  
• There's only one post-race photo of me which shows you jst how sick I was feeling that I didn't even stop for congratulatory photos. On the other hand, I got like 5 pre-race pictures! :)
  
  
• I loved splurging on a ticket to the Balboa Hospitality Tent. I was the first person to use one of the portapotties and never had to wait in line before or after the race. The post-race massage was heavenly and even though I had absolutely no appetite after the race, there was great food.
  ​
• I had the best time taking an architectural boat tour after the race, although it might have been a good idea to do that the day before the race instead. 
  
  
• I woke up in the middle of the night before the race with my foot hurting. I'm not sure how I did it, but I got a cut under my little toe on my right foot and it was painful. I was panicking wondering if I should go to the 24 hour Walgreens for a liquid bandaid, but I ended up running through it. Boy did it hurt for days after the race though!
  
  
• I ended up walking for 4 hours on Friday because I thought it would be nice to walk to the Expo from my hotel on the Magnificent Mile, but then I couldn't find the shuttle to take me back. Whoops!
  
  
• I'm probably the only person at the Balboa Tent who wanted a photo with race director Carey Pinkowski, but was too afraid to ask. As a marathon race director myself, I really admire the job he does!
  
  
• I was happy with my race performance for about 24 hours before the negative thoughts started creeping in. I wish I could be satisfied and content with achieving my goals instead of second guessing and criticizing myself for shortcomings. This is something I'm working on, but it's hard to not expect more from myself.
  
  
• When I finished the race I told myself I would never run another marathon until April 2017 when hopefully my twin will be running her first Boston Marathon and I just might be running my last. I really want Malinda to qualify this fall and for both our times to be good enough to get into the race. I've dreamed of running Boston with my sister since 2013 and want it to become reality.
  
  
• Even though I said I'm done with marathons, within 48 hours after the race, I started thinking that if I got into the lottery for Chicago in 2016, then I will have run my 5th Chicago Marathon and will be considered a legacy and get guaranteed entry in the future. Help me! :)