A great time was had by all!

Thank you Cathy for a fabulous Halloween party. I miss you all SOOOO much! Here are some pics... (click on my blog name or "A great time was had by all" to view.)

(I can't believe the marathon is over and I STILL don't know how to attach pictures right! Duh!)

Pictures

Okay, I think we finally got it! (Thanks Kayra!)

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=2ux1cag7.5w6ay7zr&Uy=-9brg9q&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=297151332742_252611645111

Trying again...

to post pics....

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?&mode=fromsite&collid=224029435111.461859045111.1192824503091&conn_speed=1

This probably won't work....

My marathon pics

Hi all,

Here is a link to my pictures from Chicago:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?&mode=fromsite&collid=224029435111.461859045111.1192824503091&conn_speed=1

Note that it was Kayra's husband Claude and not me who was playing with my camera and took all the crazy pictures outside at the group photo. haha

I'll have more coming soon from my disposable camera that I had with me during the run. Enjoy all!

Christa

Marathon Makeover Annonymous?

Does it exist? I need it! I cannot stop! Even thought the Chicago Marathon is over and I'm not signing up to do the MS Blues (more on that below), the thought of being done with MM just kills me!!!! I was so looking forward to having NOTHING to do this weekend and to staying up late Friday night and sleeping in Saturday morning, and I did both of those things. But let me just say that it was AWFUL and I missed my Saturday morning routine and my friends SO much!!!! I swear I'm think I'm having withdrawal!!! So, Mark, Robin, Scotty, and Matt: do you have a need for more curb crew? I'm serious! If you can think of a regular, recurring, occasional, or one-time task (paid or volunteer) that I can do for and with MM, please let me know!

About MS Blues, I just can't do it right now. I've changed my mind a million times about whether or not I was going to do it and I even had a check and the registration form in a sealed envelope at one point, but I've finally decided that I am not going to for several reasons: 1) my darn feet and shoe problem. I STILL don't have the right shoes and my feet were killing me soon after the marathon started, 2) my previous goal for after the marathon was to buy a house and move, which I am gearing up to do and will be very time consuming, 3) I don't really like running, except for Saturdays. In fact I HATED training during the week, absolutely HATED it! But, I did it because I knew I had to. But I absolutely LOVED running on Saturdays. (It was seeing my MM friends on Saturdays that I loved!) Basically, I'm not very good at running and I don't really enjoy doing things that I'm not good at. 4) I REALLY want/need to lose the 50 pounds that I gained in three years after I moved to Mississippi and in fact that was my goal for this year and during the marathon training. It just didn't happen because I was so drained after the runs that ALL I wanted to do and did do was eat. 5) My goal for after I buy the house and move is to go back to school to finish my degree, which again will be very time consuming.

So, those are my reasons. I had these goals planned out in January and I really want to stick to them. But I am in no way done with MM or with running even. I will be at the MS Blues Marathon cheering on my MM friends, and I am shooting to be a MM participant in 2009. After all, my other goal of completing a marathon still has not been met. I just feel that my other goals are a little more important at this point in time. So I'll still be checking in with MM regularly and Mark, Robin, Matt and Scotty, I'm serious when I say I want a job. So all, that's my plan and unless something major changes, I'm sticking to it.

Let me say one more time that my MM experience and my MM friends are the best I could have ever asked for. I love each and every one of you!

Christa

My marathon experience was....

except for their absolute disaster, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!! The marathon experience was so much more incredible than I ever could have imagined. The start, the first couple miles with all the spectators and the marathoners cheering and hooting was absolutely awesome! I started out with Heather, my running buddy, and I was dehydrated by the time I got to the first dry water stop so I had to slow way down, reduce my intervals a lot, and send Heather on her way ahead of of me. My pace suffered tremendously because of the dehydration. Somewhere between mile 2 and 5 another marathoner told me there was water in a diner that we had just passed. I turned around and went in and the lady behind the counter had a huge box of chilled bottled waters that she was handing out hand over fist. I told her thank you so much and that she doesn't know how much she saved us and she told me not to thank her but to thank the lady sitting in a booth by herself eating a stack of pancakes. Obviously the lady knew the trouble we were in and was generous enough to buy a box of bottled water. She saved me and many others. I didn't get any water again until mile 6 at the water stop. People were getting really mad. Heather kept calling me every couple miles to give me leads on where I could get water. It was so sweet; thank you Heather. The spectators and businesses though stepped in time after time, buying jugs of water, bottled water and letting us use their hoses. They also saved me and many others. I don't think I got Gatorade until mile 10 or 12.

It was awesome for me to run close to the edge of the road like I did and to hear my name cheered constantly. That was the best part of the whole entire experience. The crowd was just wonderful. It was so fun to see Robin, Matt, Sheila and the other MM spouse curb crew. The balls of my feet were hurting really badly and I was rubbing raw blisters on the inside and back of each foot. My feet were in agony but I was determined to continue. Kayra caught up to me and was a sight for sore eyes. I was glad to have her with me for the rest of the way. The "end of the race" pace vehicle passed me sometime after I crossed the halfway point (I think) and they were broadcasting that the race was over, but we didn't understand. I thought they meant that if I didn't hurry and catch the vehicle and get well ahead of it, then I wouldn't officially finish the race. I tried to speed up but everything just got chaotic and blurry. The police were saying the race was over and others were saying that too, but we were confused. I angrily asked one police officer why it was over and he said, "We ran out of supplies, love." We were mad. Finally the helicopters and emergency vehicles told us the race had been canceled and that we would be diverted at mile 16. That's exactly what happened. We merged with what looked like another whole marathon coming up a cross street and we all headed, walking, back to Grant Park. They told us not to run, to walk only since the race had been canceled. They told us to get on a bus we refused. They told us that we would get our medals but that is was for a fun run only, not a marathon. We walked the ~3 miles back to the park as they turned the fire hydrants on us forcing us to get drenched. We walked to the corner of Jackson and Michigan and they sent us east on Jackson to an intersection where about 25 to 30 race volunteers were passing out medals as if they were nothing. I never saw the finish line.

I am disappointed, mad, sad, angry, devastated, in shock, etc. on how the race was handled by the officials but I am thrilled with the experience of what a marathon can be. The trip to Chicago and the experience with MM really was a life changing experience and I will remember it for as long as I live. I will forever be indebted to Mark, Robin, Matt, Scotty and Wayne. And I will be back again, no doubt!!!

Can't sleep

Those of you who know me well know that sleep is one of the things I do best. Last night it took me FOREVER to wind down when usually I'm falling asleep on the couch at 8:00 p.m. Then, once I finally went to bed I just couldn't stay asleep. I tossed and turned and was up and down several times. That is the first time I can remember that I've had this problem. So this morning when I got to work I was complaining to my doctor boss who has run over 20 marathons and he said that this is VERY normal and he said to expect it to continue all week. He said to be prepared to have WILD dreams every night too. He said this is happening because our adrenalin is already starting to kick in. I told him if this keeps us that I'll be exhausted before the race even starts and he said "yep" and started laughing. So all, know that our restlessness is normal and it's our body's way of getting us ready to run our race. Go you marathoners! See ya'll in Chicago!

Christa