As a couple, Thanh and I are pretty easy to analyze. I'm the sociable creative one, he's the quiet introspective one. But when it comes to how we spend our free time, we're actually opposites. I prefer to hole myself up in the house with a book, avoiding crowds and parties at all costs. Thanh likes to surround himself with people, either hanging out downtown or chowing down in a popular restaurant. Arguments have ensued over my hermit-like urges, so as we shuffled into the runners' corral surrounded by thousands of athletes, I looked up at him and said, "Well, you said you wanted people. I give you people."
It was 7:30 AM down in Grant Park. My adrenaline was pumping, but not because of the music blasting through the speakers or the enthusiastic unity of the crowd. I had to get to the porta-potty stat! Last Tuesday I succumbed to a nasty bout of the stomach flu which kept me incapacitated for three days. It kept me from training and from working. Though a round of acupuncture revived my energy and blessed me with a blissful night of sleep, I was still feeling queasy as we pulled up to the race. I thought carbo-loading last night was a good idea (oatmeal and spaghetti and bananas), but in retrospect, it made the walk from the parking structure to the starting-line long and tremulous.
I was also nervous that we wouldn't be able to physically handle the race. Did I mention that Thanh had the flu last week? Yup. Much to our surprise, though, we ran the whole race! With the exception of walking past the gatorade table.
A few factors contributed to our athletic success:
-Weeks of training built our stamina, so getting sick didn't really knock us back much.
- It was freezing! When we arrived it was around 35 degrees and it maybe went up to 40 by the time we started running. Even if I wanted to walk, I couldn't, because every time I slowed down my hip flexors started cramping up!
- Running with thousands of people down the lakefront slows your pace, but keeps up your spirit! It's easy to keep running when you're surrounded by determination!
Coolest moments:
The lady running with a stuffed Yoda strapped to her back.
Rounding Soldier Field and seeing the morning sun over Lake Michigan and the downtown skyline.
A guy stopped Thanh and I when we were walking back to our car and asked us, "Hey, are you guys runners? And without pausing we both answered, "Yeah."
Oh. And running on highway. I've never run on a highway before. That was cool.
Here are some pictorial highlights in no particular order:
 |
| The view at the 2 mile mark. My friend Cathy took this picture. |
 |
| Just finished! |
 | ||
Our badass bibs.
|
 | |||
| Rocky Balboa moment. |
 |
| Ghiriardelli fondue! |
 |
| I packed my cheeks with marshmellows. Just kidding. Those are just my cheeks. |
 |
| Thanh's 5th grade photo. |
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment