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When I signed up for Chicago, it was a whim. It later turned into a
challenge. Early on I had only told Pat that I wanted to qualify for Boston
on that run. Everyone had asked me how I was running. But I did not know.
I was sidelined on the last Motorola with Emma 'cause of a stress fracture.
Then I trained hard for Pikes Peak. But how the heck can you judge yourself
by that? So Chicago was to be my first normal Marathon since seriously
training with AustinFit. Then the word got out what I was doing which made
it tough. What if I went and didn't make it?
A couple of real downers hit later. Josolyn and Shiela had to drop out of
going because of injuries. I seriously considered canceling. But Jos
persuaded me to go.
Being there with Pat was good. He knew what to say. And more importantly,
what NOT to say. I was kinda tense. The morning of I went to the line
early. Lined up at the 9:00 pace but moved up till I was with what I thought
were the faster runners. Decided to "go out strong and hang on." Not
fast...just strong. Had my "Running for Josolyn and Shiela" coat on. Hey,
it's a runners thing. To cut this short, I started the race focused and
remained focused. It became a job. At the start I said, "Dinty, you have to
focus for 3 hours and 45 minutes." Only twice did I acknowledge the
crowd....and that threw me off stride. Ran with the 3:30 pace group till
about mile 19 or so. Then the leg cramps hit me. I had passed up a few
water stops thinking I could "gut" it on in. Bad mistake. Cramps hit me 4
times. Last time was at mile 25....going up the hill. I saw my time was too
close. I had not come all that way to not do what I wanted so badly. I
thought of the balloons Josolyn sent to my room before the race. I thought
of Jos, Shiela, Pat. Emma and all my friends. My strength came from that.
Somehow these old bones got to moving. When I hit the top of the hill, I
still had about 1/5 of a mile to go to the finish line...and not much time to
get there. But...I could see it. So I started off at a dead run. Passed a
lot of people going in. Was not sure my time was good enough. It was too
close. Hobbled to the finishers tent but they did not have the results.
Hobbled back to the ChicagoFit tent and called Josolyn. Her first words
were, "You qualified. Your going to Boston". Could not believe it. What a
wonderful way to find out.
Then I started hobbling back to the finish line - even slower now - to find
Emma and Pat. Caught up with them and got a little teary eyed with Emma's
first Marathon.
Upon arriving back at our room, Pat and I were greeted with a
"Congratulations" Wine, cheese and fruit tray from Jos. So I sat there with
one of my best friends and drank, ate and laughed about the day. Life is
good.
HappyTrails......:-Dinty
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