Latest / At Your Own Pace / The Chicago Chronicles — Real Stories from the 2026 Marathon
Transcript
- riverside edit 02 savannah & mikerunsmarathons mikerunsmarathons: Before we get into today's episode, I want to give a quick thanks to our friends at Strava, the app that I log every single run on. If you head to Strava and use the code Mike at checkout, you'll save twenty percent off your premium subscription. That's code Mike M-I-K-E for twenty percent off. All right, let's get into it. Folks, I am so excited to welcome you all back to At Your Own Pace. This is season three, episode one, baby, and I cannot express how wonderful it feels to be back sharing these stories with you all over again. For those of you that are new, this is the podcast where every single runner has a story worth telling. And I'm Mike, Mike Runs Marathons, your host, your running coach, and the guy who's going to keep you company for the next hour. Each week I sit down with runners from every corner of this sport. The fast ones, the slow ones, the first timers, the six star finishers, the moms, the sober warriors, the heart warriors, the comeback kids. Because this community is so much bigger than a finish line. It's about the miles lived. So lace up, press play, and let's run this race at your own pace. I am very excited for this episode because it's a little bit different than what I've done in the past. Usually I interview one person and I talk to them about their stories that got them into running and what keeps them running. But this episode is actually based around the Chicago Marathon, which happened roughly about a week ago. On October 11th. And I had the privilege of speaking with runners from the Marathon Expo before the race. And then I spoke to a few runners after the race. And their stories are very powerful, talking about why they ran the race in the first place, what got them into running, why they run, and seeing how so many different people converge on these races and all aim for the same goal of crossing that finish line. So I want you to lace up and get ready because we're gonna jump right in to the stories of those individuals that I spoke to before the race at the Marathon Expo. So with that, I'll let them take it away. Awesome. Yeah, sorry, your name again. Amanda. And you're from Georgia. I'm from Alaska. You're from Alaska? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Who is it? And how many marathons have you done? Too many to count. Yeah. So I don't know. Have you done all of the world majors? I have Tokyo left, but we are both doing Tokyo in March. Awesome. Yeah. So did you get into the lottery or Charity. Charity. Me too. Yeah. Yeah. Trying to figure out what questions I asked you. So what got you in the running? She did. So before we moved to Alaska from Georgia, they had a bucket list. They wanted to run a five K, so we started running together and I think our first five K was in like an hour. And Moved to Alaska and continue to love running and she's crazy fast. So I'm just trying to halfway keep up with Really? I was joking, but damn, what's your PR? damn. Okay. You're gonna where'd you get that, Boston? you're gonna break it here with the flag horse, you're gonna do incredible. So why do you run? I run because I love it. I love the way it makes me feel. I love, you know, just the escape from the world for thirty minutes, an hour, a couple of hours and You know, just the the satisfaction of having it done. And if you could give everybody one tip for the race, what would it be? Honestly, it would probably be the same as my daughter's, is just to have fun. Don't take it so serious. Enjoy it. All of the hard work is really done. This is just the party and the glory and you're here. So enjoy it. Elizabeth Pajoda, P E H O T A. And I'm at Healthy Cheers on Instagram. And where are you from? I'm from Boston, Massachusetts. And this is not your first marathon. What number marathon is this? This is marathon number eighteen for me. So I'm getting up there. Wait, me too. No way. my gosh. That's amazing. How many times have you done Chicago? This is my third time doing Chicago. I did it in twenty twenty one when it was like an eighty three degree day. Yeah. And I did it last year. And I set the Guinness World Record for the fastest female marathoner with multiple sclerosis, finishing three twelve, thirteen. Amazing. That's incredible. Wow. why do you run? I run to show that our challenges do not define us. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2022, kind of out of the blue. I've always been a really healthy individual and my life got flipped upside down the day my doctor called me and said you have MS and there's no cure. And it's really scary to figure out the rest of your life when you have such a daunting diagnosis and it really puts into perspective that your health is the most important thing. And it's really key to be taking care of it. So I ran a marathon four days later. I'll give you the cliff notes. I ran Berlin and that marathon just changed my life. I was already signed up to do it. My doctor said I was okay to run because I wasn't gonna have my treatment yet. And life, it was the moment I decided that my diagnosis was never going to define me. And now I've dedicated my life to showing other people that their challenges, diagnosis, and beyond do not define them. And even if your dreams look different, they're still possible. That is an incredible story. Now, if you could give everybody running Chicago one tip, what would it be? Start conservatively. Chicago is a fast and flat course. So you want to make sure that you're not going out too strong out of the gate because you will pay for it later on. Chicago also tends to, if it's sunny, I think we're looking at overcast now. It might it change. It can be it can be very sunny because of the buildings and just kind of like pounding down on you. So hat, making sure that you have everything that you need gear wise, fuel early and often, thirty every thirty minutes I recommend. And then that last mile and that last hill, if you haven't run Chicago, it is a killer where it's placed, even though it's just one small hill. But you're all everything you've got for that last bit. And just cross that finish line and no matter what happens while you're out there, be so proud of yourself because running Americon is truly something to celebrate. So Let's start with your name. My name's Bree. And where are you from? I'm from Georgia. And I can tell from your jacket this is not your first marathon. No, this is my third. Your third? This is your first Chicago. Yes, my first Chicago. Awesome, awesome. Are you aiming for the six stars? I am. Nine stars. What other marathons have you done? Boston. And then I did a little one in Seattle. So I feel like I'm gotten really lucky and I'm doing all the big mayor like big marathon ones right now. my god, I gotta probably humble myself pretty soon. No, you're gonna love this race. The crowds are absolutely incredible. Now, why do you run marathons? I actually run because of my mom over here. We started running together. and that was like one of the sports I actually like picked up and really liked. I ran in college and I just got out of college, so I picked up marathon running. So awesome. And if you could give anybody listening one tip, what would it be? Just have fun with it. I feel like we put a lot of stress on ourselves. Like at the end of the day we showed 'Cause it's fun. Just enjoying the process. Well, let's start with your name. Okay. I'm I'm Sam Aleger. And where are you from? I'm from Kansas City, Kansas. And is this your first marathon? It's my fifth marathon. First world major though. Awesome. That's incredible. What else have you done? So I've done I started with Eugene and then to Twin Cities, CIM, Nashville, and then this will be my fifth Chicago. Amazing. Amazing. And so what got you in the running? So I had a group of French running in college and They're all doing these long runs and I wanted to join in with them, but I didn't know how to run. So I would just do long runs all just learn how to run by myself and try to hang with them. And then eventually they had me do a half marathon. And from there I was kind of hooked. I was just like I just love feeling accomplished at the end and chasing a goal and working towards it. And here I am doing my fifth marathon. So incredible. Now why do you run? I run for various reasons. One community. The the run community in Kansas City is amazing. I help lead a run club Sunday Scaries and there's there's like ten different run clubs in Kansas City. And then also personal fitness, it's really good for health and also just trying to achieve goals. Just shooting out for a goal. I'll be going for sub three and just the past four months just working towards that goal, has been really fulfilling and seeing my times improve. So kind of just like a lot of life things. It's it brings it all together. So that's amazing. And if you could give everybody who's running Chicago one tip, what would it be? One tip. I I've never done Chicago, so I'm gonna have to take my own advice here, but just soak it all in. Like this is a victory lap all the work you put in the past four months. So just soak it all in, like look at the spectators, cheer. And if it gets hard, just think about like all your friends and all the people that got you to this point. So why don't we start with what is your name? My name is Emma Morse. And where are you from? I'm from Portland, Maine. And is this your first marathon? This is my sixth marathon. First Chicago now. Nice. What other marathons have you done? I've done D C New York, Berlin, London, Tokyo. Are you going for the six star? Yes. Yeah. So you just had Boston left, right? I have Boston after this, yeah. Are you doing Boston next year? one day trying to find a way in. no. I did it with charity the first time I did it. So it's very it's a struggle. Yeah. With the amount of money at the race. what got you in the running? I got into it during college a little bit later in later in life, but just started recreationally and really enjoyed being able to kind of go at my own pace with other running groups. So and but why do you run? Adult, you have to find avenues to s challenge yourself. And it was a way for me to continue to push the boundaries of what I felt like I was capable of. And it it was a very tangible way to see progress every day. and I also really like having a plan, follow a plan in the structure. So that works really well for me around like marathon training. but then also when things like when life gets in the way, you have to figure out how to like Still maintain marathon despite all the other stuff. And I think that's that's where like you're really challenged and I think it becomes very rewarding. Yes, absolutely. And since you've run six marathons, if you could give everyone one tip for this race, what would it be? That's probably so fast. In the moment it doesn't feel fast, but then if you look back at like sixteen weeks of training, it's really just a couple of hours of your life. So I would say like, especially in a major, just enjoy it. Like it's easy to get caught up in like my pace and how fast I'm going, but it's such a unique experience to have so many people out there, other runners, spectators, rooting you on. So just absorb all the energy through the challenging moments. So a quick break in the action before we get back to our show. I gotta give some love to our second sponsor, Shocks. The headphones that I wear on every single runs. They're open dots to headphones, my absolute favorites. The bone conduction technology means that they sit just outside your ear so you can hear your music, your podcast, this show, and the world around you. So cars, cyclists, even your running buddy, they're safe, lightweight, and they can say put for a full 26.2 miles. And believe me, I have the experience to back that up. So head over to shocks and use the code microns marathons all one word at checkout to save 5% off your purchase. That's micruns marathons, all one word to save 5%. All right. So let's get back to the conversation. Before we jump into the last portion of this podcast, where I spoke to some runners after the race. I wanted to just quickly share my own experience with the Chicago Marathon, Chicago Marathon weekend. And it was a doozy. I was busy for most of the weekend. I was involved in a couple different shakeout brands with a couple different companies. You may have seen me in a couple of different videos with different different groups at Keloton and Sprints and Shocks. And it was wonderful to see people. I got to meet some wonderful people. I got to see people that I hadn't seen in a while since Boston. And it was just fantastic to be involved in the running community. And this is my first time coming into a marathon expo, not just as a runner, but also as a content creator. So I was not just going around looking at all the cool things that were available for runners, but I was also networking with companies, which was almost a first for me. And it was it was great. I got to network with a lot of these companies and it was just a fantastic experience. And I can't wait to do it all over again in New York City in about a week and a half. But the race itself was fine. I didn't have that much of an issue with the heat, but it did hit me. after about mile twenty. And I had to slow down and then run walk the rest of the race just because I was I was really starting to feel the the heat because there was not a cloud in the sky. And it was in the high seventies at this point in time in the race. And it was actually in the high seventies for most of the race. And I thought it was gonna be hot like last year where it was it was bearable in the morning, like in the sixties and then got into the seventies. This just started in the seventies and went up from there. So By the time the race ended, actually, the race conditions went from moderate to dangerous, which I was not aware of until after I crossed the finish line. But I was not upset about needing to walk. I was not upset about needing to slow down. And why do I feel like this? Because at mile twenty two, I ran into none other than Coach Bennett. Yes, that Coach Bennett of the Nike Run Club. Those of you that don't know, Coach Bennett is the head coach of the Nike Run Club app. So if you use that app to train, you have most likely heard his voice before. And I gotta tell you, this man is the personification of a real life Ted Lasso, the sweetest man you'll ever meet, the most supportive man in the world, and he understands his support like no other. And I fell into his arms at mile twenty two. And when you are that deep into a marathon, you lose your filter and you also are just fighting for survival. So I just started crying and into his arms and asking for a hug and I said, you know, I'm I'm having a hard time. And he asked me why. And I was I just all came out at once. I'm a I'm a new dad. I feel like I'm a failure and I I'm not gonna hit the time that I want and I don't know what to do. And those of you that have seen Coach Bennett or have heard him speak, he's a very nice man, speaks very properly and professionally, was not expecting this to come out of his mouth. He said, Why the fuck are you letting a clock dictate what success looks like for you? And it was in that moment that all the cloudiness in my head just went away and I finally understood that he was right. And that I just needed to go out there and do the best that I could. And that's what I did for the rest of the race. I walked, ran the last six-ish miles. And the only thing I promised myself is that I was going to finish strong. I was going to run across the finish line. I was going to run up that damn hill at the end, Mount Roosevelt. And I was going to make sure that I left everything on the course. And I did. And I crossed the finish line. And it was my slowest race in about two years. I didn't care. You know, I was just proud that I had done this. And every single person who ran that race, regardless of what your finish time was, regardless of what your pace was, if you cross that finish line, if you got a medal, you completed something that 99% of the people in the entire world would never accomplish. So you should be proud of yourself because 26.2 miles is no easy feat. As they always say, if it was easy, everyone would do it. But I truly mean that because when you cross that finish line, and I feel like this is only something that marathon runners really understand. You cross that finish line, you were not the same person you were when you crossed the starting line. You have changed in a good way. As I would say in wicked for good. You have learned so much about yourself in those hours between the starting line and the finish line that now you have changed. And you might not feel it immediately, but you will over time. And that's one of the things that I learned during this race is just the amount of stress that I was feeling during that race because that I put on myself. Then I needed to release it and just go out there and remind myself what I was doing. Just running a damn marathon. I'm out there upset that it's hard. It's gonna be hard. It's gonna be difficult. It's gotta do the damn thing, right? Do the damn thing. And yes, I have New York in about a week and a half, followed by Philly about two-ish weeks after that. This is gonna be a very busy month for me, but the one thing that I'm looking forward to the most outside of the race is the community. And I'm so excited. To get to meet some of you, to reconnect with some of you. And most of all, I'm getting to host my very first shakeout run, sponsored by a company ever in my life. And I'm so excited for it. I'll be doing a shakeout run on October 29th at 10 a.m., sponsored by Shocks, Science and Sport, with a little bit of Salt Stick there. We're going to be giving away a pair of the New York City Chasing Star headphones. And everyone who comes will receive free Science and Sport gels and also free fast juice from Salt Stick. So more information on that when it it is solidified, but it probably will fill up quickly. And I hope that I get some of you here that listen to come and join the run. But yeah, the one thing that I always remind people of when it comes to marathon running, whether it's an athlete I coach or it's another runner that I'm talking to, it's that every single marathon that I run, I treat as if it were the very first one that I've ever read. I go all the way back to 2021 because once you cross that starting line. You are no longer in control. You could have your nutrition plan locked down. You could have your hydration plan locked out. Know when you're going to take your salt, when you're going to take your chews, when you're going to take your gels. It's wonderful. You could have followed your entire training plan to a T, hit all of your paces, hit all of your marks, seen your pace go up over the months that you've trained and seen it seems like you're gonna hit your time goal that you have. But once you cross that starting line, you've just gotta the only thing that you have control over is how to respond to something. And sh the Chicago Marathon was the perfect example of that. It was very hot. There was not a cloud in the sky. And everyone's time suffered because of it. I believe the average finish time for an American was just around four hours and thirty minutes. And the overall average time for the entire race was about four hours and two minutes or so. And I know that that brought everyone's time down. And that's a key example of how you are not in control, right? The weather, it could rain, it could snow, it could be. Hot as hell, like it was at Berlin in 2025. The only thing that you can do is adjust your plan to what's going on in that moment. And when you cross the starting line, you can have good things happen, you can have bad things happen. You could feel sick in the morning or feel like your body's just not in you're not in tune with your body. You don't feel like it's ready, gun goes off, and you immediately just you lock in and you book it to the finish line and you you hit a PR or something. That's a great thing on the flip side. You could cross that starting line and run into gastro issues. You can run into issues with different parts of your body, your IT band, your ankles, your knees, your quads, your glutes, your back, your hips, your groin, any part of your body could go at any moment. You could trip, hit a pothole, you could hit the wall, you could pass out, you could have another runner run into you. You could have a spectator run into you. I've seen that happen before several times. All these different things will only happen during race day. They won't happen during your training because you train for this moment. But what you need to bring with you when you cross that starting line is not necessarily the paces you worked on, the speed workouts, the zone two workouts. You need to bring with you the dedication and the motivation that got you to do those runs, to finish those runs. That motivation that got you to get up when you didn't want to run, that got you to go out when it was raining or when it was snowing or when it was really hot. And you either ran outside, you ran on your treadmill or whatnot, even though you didn't want to, right? It's that discipline. that you learn during those three, four months of training. Yeah, the ability to run faster is fantastic. The ability to keep your heart rate down is incredible, but you learn discipline during marathon training. That is the number one thing you learn. And that discipline also teaches you on how to pivot at a moment's notice. And that is what you need to bring with you when you cross the starting line because that discipline will help you when you hit something that you were not expecting. And while many of us were expecting it to be hot, I don't think some of us expected it to be this hot. And so we had to roll with it and use that discipline to adjust and adapt to what was happening around us. But that was my race. But what I want to focus on now are those individuals that I spoke to after the race. Because I know that they probably came into the Chicago marathon with a goal, an idea of a goal, a finish time, and probably an idea of what they wanted the race to look and feel like and how they had to adjust during their time out on the road because of the heat that they experienced, which by the way. was the hottest Chicago marathon on record since twenty twenty one. So that's telling you something. But I'm gonna hand it over to them so they can tell you their stories. So my name is Savannah Higgins. This was marathon number two, world major number two, and I currently live in Florida. So I've been doing all of my training down there. And your first marathon was New York last year. The best marathon in the world. By far. so with Chicago, let's go to race morning. So take me back. From the moment that you w you woke up to standing in your corral, you know, getting ready to cross that starting line, what was going through your head and your body before the gun? Yeah, I had had a lot of nerves. My training block had gone just the opposite of how I wanted it to go. The week before the race, I wasn't really feeling well and I had just thought about pulling out so many times. But the day before the race, I felt great. I figured this was gonna be the one where I was either going to have a nice PR or I was gonna come up slower after a whole year of training from my first marathon. And everything just went right. I was really lucky to be staying right across the street at the Hilton Chicago at the race headquarters. And so just as I was coming down the elevator, I was seeing all of the other athletes and all the pros really getting ready to go. So it was easy to get hype and get excited and head into the corrals. It's amazing. Now speaking of the crowds, so the Chicago is known for its crowds. I I think that it is similar. It's it's in the realm of New York in terms of the the some of the areas that you see. It's also very flat. And it's got a lot of energy. What part of the race lived up to the hype? All of it. Honestly, I thought it was underhyped. I wasted time making a playlist before Chicago, and that was just an absolute waste of time. I had the music playing for probably the first eighteen miles and I didn't hear anything. It was just so loud, I didn't realize the entire city was going to show up the way that they did. That is amazing. So so the the the crowds caught you off guard. Was there anything else that caught you off guard? So I had been told that when you got to the more residential areas, it gets a little bit quieter and you have to really dig deep in those moments. And I actually found it to be the opposite. Because when you got to the residential areas, there were so many homemade aid tables set up and people offering us pickles and s orange slices and honestly more food than I don't think anyone should even consume during a marathon and malort shots and a lot of beer, a lot of malort shots for being Malort. I was gonna say it was a lot of malort. Yeah, and I did not want that. But the energy of all of those people trying to give us things really carried me through and I I thought it was wonderful. Yeah. It's a funny story. When I when I did Chicago last year, I got was at mile twenty three and I was doing great. And then suddenly I was like, I'm one, I'm tired and two, if I have another cup of Gatorade, I'm gonna throw up. So I was like, I need a soda. And I was a I was literally about to get off the course to find a McDonald's and go get a soda. And it just so happened that at that moment there was somebody setting up a table. with all sodas. And I was like, thank you, God. I needed this so bad. And then this year I needed one again. And I happened to run by one guy who had a tray out and there's a bunch of random food and everything. One little can of Coke. I was like, thank you, Jesus. It's always perfect when you get what you need. Exactly. Exactly. Now every marathon has a moment where the race shifts in direction. Could be the wall, the a mental low, a push from a stranger, could be a song in your playlist, which I know you said you hadn't difficulties listening to because of the crowds. It could be a sign in the crowd. What was that moment for you in Chicago? Could it be good or bad? Yeah, it was actually right at the start. Like I said, I I was feeling pretty hype, but I was pretty nervous. And I got into the corral and I'm a pretty chatty nervous person. So I'm chatting with everybody around me and I've chatted with a few people looking for someone to run with because I was so nervous. And everybody was putting up times or mentioning times that they were going for that were hours off of mine, either way faster or way slower. And right as the race is about to start, A girl compliments my shoes, which are bedazzled because I bedazzle for every race. And she ended up just being like the most lovely human being I've ever known. We ran the entire marathon together from start to finish. We did the first three miles at my pace. She mentioned that she was going to be doing 30 second to three minute intervals. So running for three minutes, walking for 30. And it was so hot. You know it was so hot. And I was thinking to myself, that's probably a good idea. We've come out kind of fast. I'm like three minutes ahead of my pace. plan right now, which is never a good spot to be at the fr the 5K mark, right? And so we ran it the rest of the race together. All of our pictures are so cute. I wore all black. She wore all pink. So we looked like we planned it. And yeah, I feel like we're just best friends for life after that experience. I hope you're following her, right? Well yeah, no, we got each other's contact and we were sending over the videos that we got of each other during the race. It was just such a lovely experience and It was so lucky to find someone who was just ready to run completely in sync with me. We stopped for the bathroom at the same time. Our gel schedule was the same gel schedule. Her run walk intervals were perfectly paced for what I'd been practicing with. So it was just meant to be. Wow, that's amazing. When I ran Chicago for the first time in twenty twenty two, there was a guy that I just was I was running and I saw this it was this really tall, like he was Jack guy. And I was looking, I was watching him saying his running form is perfect. And he looked like he was just like doing what he wanted to do and was feeling good. So I just went up to and I said, Bro, do you mind if I pace with you? And so for probably like it may have been from miles eight or so until mile twenty, we just paced with each other and we talked and we were just sharing each other our stories about who we were. Then at mile twenty, my ankle went and so I just kinda like let him go and do his thing. We both wanted to break four hours. Neither of us broke four hours, but we found each other later on on on Facebook. So it was really nice to to to it's so weird doing these marathons and these races that we find people. That we just never seen in our lives. They just randomly show up and then they we just connect with them. So that mean that just I think that's the power of the marathon. It's so wonderful with that kind of when that kind of stuff happens. And it helps you get through the race 100%. It 100% helps you get through. I firmly believe that's a big reason that I didn't really hit the wall this race is just every mile there was something to look forward to, whether it was that we had a little bit of a walk break coming up or we had a gel coming up or a water station or just Coming up to a new area. We knew Chinatown was coming up around I think mile twenty-three. And we were so excited to see the dragons. And anytime we started to slow down, one of us had enough energy to go hype the crowd. So one of us would go over to the side and say, let's go to Chicago and go for some high vibes from the group. And it really kept us going. That's amazing. Now you you did speak about the heat. This was actually on my research that I the the warmest Chicago since twenty twenty one. believe it. Yeah. So we had I didn't know this until later on actually after I finished the race because I I coached and somebody t in the I coached somebody during the race to try to break a PR that they wanted, but the heat just got to them and it was a struggle for everybody. It was as it was it was a yellow flag, so it was moderate, just even going into race day. Everyone anticipated it was gonna be in the mid seventies. I think it got above eighty a little bit. And then I from what I heard, they changed it to red later on. So it was dangerous, which I didn't know about. I crossed finish line and I didn't even know. I know that you trained now primarily in Florida, so Florida's a whole different piece in itself with its heat. But did you have to adjust anything? Did the heat affect you in any way? Yeah, I definitely slowed down from my original plan pretty significantly. I was aiming for a four twenty and I knew that was out the window right out of the gate. And then I just focused on really staying on top of hydration and on top of sodium. I realized I did some math because I had picked up a couple of water bottles from the crowd as I was going through the race. I'd probably consumed an extra thirty ounces of water in water bottles picked up. On top of getting two to three cups from every single station. I've never hydrated that much during a race and I still got pretty thirsty at the end. It was a brutal day out there and I I can see why so many people struggled. Yeah, I saw a lot of people after about mile twenty one who were cramping, limping, a lot of people on the side just trying to stretch. 'Cause yeah, that heat really, really gets to you. And it that's probably the the the one thing that I recommend for all runners is if you are Just in the heat where if you sweat a lot and you need to make sure that you're not just replenishing your water. A lot of people think you just need to replenish your your hydration, but you need to make sure you you also pay attention to your electrolytes and your salt. And getting one cup or so Gatorade at an aid station is not going to be enough. I'm pretty sure you had plenty of salt stick with you. Tons of it. Yeah. And I went through a lot of it. I also use the high sodium gels from crank gel, the e Gels. They've got, I think, 320 milligrams or something like that, or 230 up there. They're pretty high in the sodium. And they help a lot in order to actually make it through those summer training runs down in Florida. I realized pretty early on in my training that I wasn't getting enough electrolytes and that I really needed to go way above and beyond what was even typically recommended for training because I'm training in 95 degree weather in 95% humidity. And I'm putting up forty to fifty miles a week in my training cycle. And it's August. It's September. It's not getting any cooler. That's amazing. Now walk me through that finish line. What were you feeling in those last couple of blocks? I we got Mount Roosevelt at the end, which I hate so much. What did that metal feel like when they put it around your neck? I felt so good. So me and my new friend, I kept telling her, I said, you know, I don't think we're allowed to feel any pain until mile twenty. So we're just gonna keep on going. And if you feel pain, it's not there. We're just gonna gaslight ourselves that we're doing great. And so we got to mile twenty and I actually realized I was feeling pretty good. I wasn't feeling too much pain. And I just got excited. I was I I knew the rest of the race was fun. I knew we were heading into Chinatown at mile twenty three. I knew that once we got past that, it was pretty much just straight downtown and all of that excitement for the rest of the race. And I I felt great going into the finish line. My number one goal was to not cry in my finish line photos. And I was so happy that I did not shed a tear on the course. Balled like a baby afterwards, but not on the course. I I I'm not sure last time I saw you if I showed you my finisher photos from New York in twenty twenty one, but they are terrible. It was my first marathon and I I was like, I'm gonna cry and the pictures are gonna look so cathartic and like, he's they've made such like progress and they're so proud of themselves. I look like I'm being shot. Like they are terrible. So whenever anybody comes up to me and I talk to them about my races, I always show them that photo because it's like, listen, I may have run a certain number of marathons, but I never forget where I came from. And this is Huge testament to it. Now you've completed New York, you've completed Chicago. What is next on your books? Are you going for the six star? Are you going for the potential nine star? I'm going for the potential nine star is the end goal. Well, it was originally aiming for six. No one asked my opinion when they changed it to eight. So I guess I'm just stuck with eight now and eventually nine. I my next race is gonna be London, which I am incredibly grateful that I was able to get a lottery spot for London. And I'll be running on Saturday. So I have about ninety days off before before I start training again. And then it's gonna be back at it. Awesome. Well, you'll have to tell me where you want me to stand because I'll be running Sunday. Yes, perfect. I'll cheer you on. Would love to I've never I'll be perfectly honest, I've never spectated the marathon before. Like just been a spectator. So it's gonna be wonderful to be able to be at the, you know, some wherever anybody needs me. I'll tell everybody, have big signs. I'll make sure that I have everybody's names that I I that tell me that they're running so that I can make sure I find them. And yeah, I'll I'll make sure that I'm out there for you. And I I will We'll have a big sign up. I'll have one of your crank gels. I'll have some salt stick for you. Whatever whatever kind of drink you need. If you want some malort, I'll give you some malort. But no, I'll make I'll make sure that I'm there to celebrate you and and no, it's awesome. I've seen there's so many people that I know now that are running London. But I'm really excited for that 'cause I've it I don't know how they're gonna be able to manage two marathons, but I'm excited to be able to go to one and then run another. Was there anything that Chicago taught you or anything that changed how you see yourself as a runner? Learned this is gonna sound very dumb, but I really learned the the true power of properly carbing for the race. In the past, I had come up a little bit short on my carbs. I'd been doing kind of like two low carb gels per hour. And then at one point I upped it to Doing it every 25 minutes instead of, one every twenty-five instead of one every thirty. And I thought to myself that that was enough. And then for this race, I did one cis gel, one crank gel, which is a lot. Those cystgels are really heavy. I think those are coming in with 40 milligrams. Yeah, the beta fuel, love those. Highly, highly recommend them. So those come in forty milligrams or whatever, or forty grams of carbs. And I did that on top of all of the Gatorade. I was probably hitting close to a hundred carbs per hour. I w felt So good on this run. The difference proper fueling really truly does make was astounding. People don't understand how much fueling impacts you. I tell people all the time that running is is a math game more than it is just running, because you have to figure out how much you need to replenish with everything in your body. Cars, electrolytes, sodium, you name it, you're losing it while you run. So you gotta make sure that you have everything you need with you. So I'm really glad that you had a great race. That is That is amazing. And especially your second marathon and the fact that you were able to carve properly leading up to the race and then in the race itself, that is that is awesome. If you could give everybody listening one tip, whether they're a new runner or an experienced runner for the Chicago Marathon or just running in general, what do you what would it be? Your goal is to have fun. You're not running these races to win. Well, maybe you are, but very few of you are. Most of you are going out there to have fun. It should be fun. If it's getting to the point where it's not fun, take a moment, reset, and make it fun again. It's funny, when I was interviewing people before the race at the expo, I want to say the n the number one thing that people said to me and when I asked them what their tip was before the race was to remind yourself where you are, what you're doing, have fun with it, don't take it too seriously, and to just enjoy the moment instead of focusing on time or or pace because you know, a lot of people this is their one and only marathon. And those of us that continue to run marathons, it's important that we remember where we are. Because we can sometimes get lost in our head, especially as we get a little bit more experience, we start to try to focus on time and pace. And that can take away from the enjoyment of actually being able to run these marathons. Yeah. These are once in a lifetime events. We gotta enjoy them. Yeah. Completely agree. I'm actually gonna split So my first question though is introduce yourself. So who you are, where you're from, and if this was your first marathon. Thank you. So funny real quick. I never knew your Instagram, but I've watched your episode with my coach Jay. Coach Jay is amazing. Yes, yes. Earlier this year. And I I didn't like know where your Insta like how I just saw it like from YouTube or something. But it was such a good it was such a good interview. And that was right when I started becoming coached by him. So so cool. As soon as you hit me up, I put two and two I'm like, my gosh, that's that guy who Yeah, amazing. Like that's Fun fact, I had at least two people say your name. And one of them was Coach Jay. So I I love him. He is he was such a nice guy when I was talking to him. He's got such a great personality and such a great story. And I love just his passion for wanting to give back to the community with running and the fact that he just genuinely cares about those people in his run clubs, all while pushing himself to be a better runner. So I, you know, shout out to Coach Jay. Amazing, amazing guy. And I really hope I get to meet him. I'm coming up from New York, so I'm hoping that I get to see him up in New York. But yeah, sorry, I I interrupted you. Go ahead and introduce. No, I I interrupted. so my name is Joy. I live in Queens. Chicago was not my first marathon. It was my first major, but I ran my first marathon August twenty-fourth. It's the Shri Chamoy Marathon at Rockland Lake. I my first marathon was three eighteen. So that got me officially accepted into Boston. Yeah. Yeah. So I I'm so excited about that. And then Coach Jay maybe a week after that, Coach Jay hat pulled some strings with Nike and gets me a Chicago bib. And I'm like, I gotta get in contact with him. I gotta talk to him about how he does this. Well you guys saw I think I saw your video. You got the ch to did you try it or did you just get to see the Alpha Fly Four? I had they're mine and I wore them at the at Chicago Marathon. How were they? I'm gonna make a video on that. I'm an Adidas Pro for like girl. Right. And I just I I got sent them like I think on it it had to be Monday before the race. And there was just not enough time for my little ligaments to get used to the shoe to wear them. But nonetheless, I wanted to wear them. Chicago was a Nike race. Nike sent me the shoes. I'm here with a Nike bib, I have to wear them. And my GFTC singlet says Nikes and it's I can't wear my Vita. You know what I mean? so I wore them. I do I do regret wearing them. I'm gonna be honest with you. it's race rule number one one. no no new shoes on race day. And I by mile twenty one, I was missing my April fours. yeah, I feel you on that. It the actually the day before I traveled to Chicago, I was deciding between so I've run my last my goodness, at least Four maybe marathon, four or five marathons in the ASICs, MetaSpeed Edge, Tokyo. Before that I ran in the Paris and phenomenal. I love them. I'm an A I'm an ASICs person. But I did buy the Adios Pro five when they first came out. So I went for a run the day before I left for Chicago on Wednesday, wearing one of each shoe to figure out which one I wanted to run with. And ultimately the MetaSpeed One, the Adios Pro Five was Close. And since you're in since you're an Adidas girl, check them out 'cause they're they're very odd. They're very odd because of the carbon ring instead of the plate. But I think the upper is much better. I've had issues with Adidas because the threes rip the top of my foot and the fours, there's no breathability, so they get really hot. And the fives I feel like they fixed the upper. The issue is that I've only run two runs in the Adidas shoe and it's already showing like slight rips in the bottom. Yeah, the That is going viral right now. so I tried the Pro, the Adidas Pro Five at the Expo. And I I wanted to just get my hands on them so bad. if you scroll down my page, I'm like all my every I'm like in all the Pro Fours. So I was so excited to try them on, but I was underwhelmed. I think the Pro Four is just a little bit more aggressive, how it gets your fork front on, and I like that. But they're also stiff, but I felt like the Pro Four, sorry, the Pro Five just really felt like they didn't feel as as aggressive, but they also felt like they felt like a sponge, which was nice, the upper, like you said. But yeah, that that whole that whole p outer plate thing is is not weird to me. So I was un I was unamused and I'm I think I'm fully committed. Like I will gather up money to buy the rest of the Pro 4s that Adidas has before they stop selling them. I think that that will be my shoe no matter what comes out. I do want to try the MetaSpeed Tokyo though. That I love the MetaSpeed edge because I'm a cadence runner. So the the edge is for cadence and the sky is for people who have longer strides or who focus on strides. One thing I'm sorry, one thing I'm looking up right now for you. Is since you're running Boston next year, they do have a Boston themed Audios Pro Four. So I it's not I don't know if they still have it on their website, but I am fine I am seeing it on other websites that sell shoes. So you might be able to get it and you could rock that for the for Boston next for Boston in twenty twenty eight, right? You qualify for twenty eight. No, I'll I'll be doing it twenty seven. Okay. A April of that's right. You you qualified in August. You qu okay, okay. I was thinking of Chicago. Okay. No, that makes sense. Sorry. I get confused with the qualifying periods because it's like you're already qualifying now for twenty twenty eight, even though twenty twenty seven hasn't happened yet. It's so weird. Yeah, it's so weird. And then the the marathon that I ran, a lot of people do run that 'cause it's like right before the cutoff. So for a lot of people it's like their second like option in case they, you know, like flunked out the first one. Yeah. I feel you. I flunked out of Boston for this year so far with Chicago, but we'll talk about that in a second. Now technically I did too. Yeah, it was it was a rough race. But I want you I want you to take me back to race morning, right? From the moment you woke up to standing in your corral, can you tell me what was going through your head and even your body before you before that gun went off? Yeah. So race morning, actually my cousin my cousin lives in Chicago. And when I called him to and told him I was running the marathon, he also told me, Hey, I got a new condo in ch downtown. So I was like, Okay, perfect. And it literally took us five minutes to get to the start line. I ate a bunch. I think I ate I ate two pieces of sourdough with cinnamon sugar. I ate like rice pudding. I ate I ate so much, but I was content. I was pretty full. So that was cool. And I had like no nerves. Like I was feeling a little like overly confident. I I just I felt so good. Like nothing, there's there was no like ligaments, no soreness. I knew my legs were fresh. So that was great. My outfit was really cool. I said, I was wearing the brand new, unreleased Alpha Flies. I'm gonna be the coolest girl here. Nobody has these, everybody's still in the threes or whatever, whatever. And then I have my black GFTC. So another GFTC member also ran it. His name is Trudell. And we I my cousin pretty much dropped me off. I walked down to meet Trudell and like It was so good. we got it, we back checked online for bathroom. It was very, very smooth, very packed, but like it, you know, it was nothing out of the out of the norm because I ran I I haven't ran New York, but I ran United half and RBC half. And I I feel like just the chaos is kind of just similar. It's like organized chaos. And so yeah, me and me and Trudell, we walked straight to I I was in D. We were both in D, but I was like, I'm gonna stick with the Three fifteen pacer. That was my plan. And Trudell was gonna go further back because he's usually we usually run about the same, but he had an injury, so he's like, I might stick with the three thirty. Yeah. And I was just like chatting at the pacer, like I really felt so good. Like I just I did I like put my phone away. I didn't even like wanna just take a photo. I just like wanted to take it all in and stand there. I felt so good. It got really crowded around the three fifteen person, obviously. Pacers, obviously, but the pacers energy, they were so funny and uplifting. And and there there was three of them, and they're all talking, and you could tell that they're really good friends. So just like the vibe was just so good. And yeah. And then that gun went off. The gun went off. And so the gun goes off. And we know that Chicago is known for its crowds, right? Especially I there's a video going around on Instagram where it's like, it says like, Make sure you pace yourself in the beginning miles of a marathon. Don't go out too hard. And then it shows like this is a quarter mile into the Chicago marathon, and you're in the tunnel and it's like the whole party going on with all the lights. It's crazy. So we got the flat course, right? There's a lot of energy. What part of the race lived up to the hype for you? What and it was there anything that caught you off guard? Okay. From I was that race was way beyond past what anybody has said. yeah, Chicago has crowds, the crowds are great. Okay, first let's get to that rave part. I didn't know that was happening. I think the pacer is like mentioned, there's gonna they they said that there's gonna be a divide because around the DJ there was a divide. I did not know we were going down into a rave tunnel. And online is so funny because everybody's like, this is the infamous heart rate spike. Like my heart rate never recovered from this. Like, y'all should have put that at like mile twenty-one. But yeah, so that was crazy. I'm wearing these like black oakly shades. So just my shades didn't get I didn't know what happened. And we it was very congested toe-to-toe. A few elbows, nothing too crazy. And yeah, so like the first like three months, like we were just getting at it. The screams were insane. And I had the perfect playlist, like all the Chicago artists, Chief Keefe, Kanye West. I couldn't hear a thing. I could not hear a thing. Trying to stay as close to the pacer as possible, just like for my comfortability, because I tend to either go out way too hot or I don't want to get overwhelmed with everyone around. So I was just trying to stick on them. But I do remember coming through and I remember at mile eight, I actually cried. There was some type of, I don't know if it was a bend or a turn, but I started crying because the way the crowds were going out of their way and like like almost standing over the barricade. And just yelling for us. And also because I stuck with the the pace the pacer thinned out right there, but people were they didn't know even what to say. So the crowds were like, the 315 grill. they were losing their voice at us. And I just I started crying. I was like, my gosh, this is like the coolest thing ever. I'm a Leo, and like my personality with anything is usually just like I love attention. I love attention, attention. It's my biggest downfall. my it's like I will people will treat me like shit. If they're giving me attention, it's okay. You know what I mean? Also why I I've loved running so much is just like the just attention that I get off of this performance, right? Like I don't have to be singing on the stage. I'm running with people. I'm getting this attention. So yeah, I just remember crying at mile eight and just honestly. throughout the whole entire race was the crowds it really carried in it what lived over my expectations of what people told me about Chicago. It was amazing. No, it's I still remember Chicago was my third marathon and I just come from Berlin and I could not I could not express how much polar opposite they are. And it really reminded me of New York. So I was really happy when I saw those crowds. But yeah, it the it's so funny with that little rave at the beginning 'cause that's also the part where like Your GPS gets knocked out of sync and you're just like, I don't even know how fast I'm going anymore. So and where my distances. So you just keep running and you just see what's going on. But yeah, it's it's so much fun to see that. And then coming out and seeing so many people, it's it's absolutely wonderful. And I cannot wait for you to do New York because I always tell everybody, whatever you think about a marathon in terms of Chicago, even Boston, in my opinion. New York is next level. There is nothing like it and it And I've done it five times. This is my sixth time on going back now. I look forward to it every single year because it is like the race I wanna do. strictly because of those crowds. It's it's really wonderful. Now, every marathon has a moment where the race shifts. You either hit a wall, you have a mantle low, you get a push from a stranger, you might have a song that comes up on your playlist, might be a sign in the crowd. Was there a moment for you in Chicago could be good or bad that just like, you know? cause the race to shift in some direction for you. Yes. It definitely got real, I think. So so about at the halfway mark, the first half was very free. Like I was not even really checking for the mile markers. Like I was still on the pacer. But the f when I remember hitting mile thirteen and my like I I started feeling my Achilles, which was a bit scary. But I was like, I can if it stays like this, I can just push I'm like riding on this energy. I'll push through it. So that was something. And then at some point I see this one of the runners is like throwing up in the middle of like people are like dodging him. So I'm having to go like left, hit someone and he's like puking in the middle. And I'm I'm one of those people who cannot stand throw up at all. I I I'm not I have a strong stomach so I'm not gonna throw up but I'm traumatized. So that happened and then I I think maybe a mile later, this older guy, he was he looked like very fit. He was running with us and he just fell on his back in the middle of crowds. And it was just still so many people. I think it was right before a turn. And I just could not look back. Cause I know if I look back, I'm about I could fall too. And I just saw that. And I'm like, my like my gosh. And so yeah, it it's around like I I feel like after 13, it didn't. Physically it was still fine, but my minus the little Achilles scare, it was it was still fine, but I started to see real stuff happening like with the runners and stuff. So I remember mile eleven, we made this turn and like this giant like corn guy, like dressed in a corn, he he's like running with us and I'm just like w like this is like this is so cool. I mean you see it all the time. Like you get past, you get smoked by pieces of corn and hot dogs, things like that. But it just it was just at the per perfect moment. It just made me so happy. Like I was, yes, Cory. I had somebody finish with me. They were wearing on the back of their shirt. They wanted to break the world record for running the fastest marathon dress as a monarch. So they were wearing this purple cape. They had a big purple crown on and they had a big, a big cane. This I honestly they look like a pimp to me. It was it was really funny. But they they finished the the marathon and I saw them after and I went up to them I said, Did you break the record? And they're like, No, I didn't break the record. And I was like, well there's always next time. So it was but it was it was funny seeing them dressed like that and and running this that race. It I mean honestly anybody who runs a marathon in the costume, like, God bless you, because the chafing and everything I almost I was supposed to run the Philly marathon last year and I was gonna wear an Eagle outfit, like an Eagle onesie. I put it on and I was like, This is not gonna work at all. Like it's gonna and it's not gonna end well for anybody. So I gotta stop. I did have also I had a couple people fall too when I was running, just right in the middle, just like like trip. And then mile twenty one on. I think I saw a lot of people who were cramping and stopping and stretching because they the heat got to them. Yeah. I feel I I left off, but let's let's have a moment for mile twenty one. Mile twenty one come to the front. Mile, okay. First of all, for me personally, so within my race, I was like on track to do between three fourteen, three eighteen, at mile twenty, I faded. And it wasn't because I don't I don't necessarily think I hit a wall. I think like my lect like my Achilles, it really flared up and then it caused like the right side of me to just like overcom do overcompensate. Like I knew if I stop I cramp and then but I still wasn't going my pace. I was like going a lot slower. But at that point in the race, when I tell you it was like I was like the only one running. And then if I was if I did finally find someone to run next to, they drew immediately like drop. Yeah. And I'm just like, what is going on? I I don't it it looked like an apocalypse. It was like every other person. A lot of people were doing that calf stretch on the side. Like that calf, so many people doing that. So many people doing that. I seen this guy laid out and they were like taking off his shoes. They were like pumping his chest. That was very scary. more like medics were like running to him. That's so scary. And I'm just over here trying to finish, trying to how am I supposed to lock in when everyone's going down around me. Yeah. And then like I'm also, like I said, like I saw that that guy throwing up in the middle. So now like When people are like slowing down next to me and my god, they're about to throw up on me. I'm just so paranoid. Like so many people like puking on the side. Like it's so it was just it was really, really crazy. Yeah. Those last like five miles, like they got real. And then you know, when you pass by the other, I think that's like mile twenty two, when that long stretch where you see the other runners on the other side. They already did a turn. So they were still going. They were like, those were the three ten kids. they like flying. Yeah. They looked so good. And and it wasn't even a roundabout. You you you went down and then you made a whole nother turn and did some more before you even get to that point. So that was funny. But yeah, the amount of people I seen going down was actually. Crazy. And I think from what I heard, it was compare obviously it wasn't running then, but it was comparable to Chicago 2021, apparently. It's actually really funny because I have that here. It was the hottest Chicago marathon since then, which was absolutely crazy because I think the last time that they had to end the race early was I think twenty eighteen. Because it was in the high eighties or something, and people were going down even worse. And I did Berlin last year and that was eighty-five degrees in the bright sun, no clouds, and I was I was dying. It was awful. And so I this this marathon just brought back a little bit of PTSD. But I I'm sure you know this and you probably got the email and you saw it at the expo. We were a yellow flag, right? Moderate up until race day. And I didn't know this until after, but then they changed it from yellow to red to dangerous, which like I literally didn't know until there was an athlete that I was coaching for the race. They told me afterwards because I I think once they all of the waves p crossed, then they changed it to red. But I didn't even see any flags during the race, which was surprising to me. Now I I'm asking everybody about this, the heat. How did that heat affect you in some way? Did it cause you to slow down? Did it cause you to have to rethink your hydration, your nutrition plan, anything like that? So yeah, the heat for me, it wasn't I feel like I was definitely the first 20 before my leg. Like I was fine. I think the last five miles were more like bare faced to the sun. But I wasn't too strung out about the heat. I mean, my fueling game is so strong. Like, and I'm I'm saying that confidently. This is only my second marathon. But I had so many gels and then I was like adamant about taking specifically the Gatorade, not the water. I feel like the water would just half the people that We're throwing up, I'm like, I don't know, maybe you drink too much water. but I was taking the Gatorade, drinking the Gatorade, and then I'd take a sip of water just because that that also that Gatorade is just a little too heavy on your stomach. I take a sip of water and then I'd take another water and like dump it on me. Okay. And thankfully they had they had the aid stations like every about mile, mile and a half. So I you I generally was would be good. Right until like I almost feel like, my gosh, I'm about to be dehydrated. There was another there was another station. So that was cool. And and I really did like how they had the Gatorade first. In some moments I'm like, okay, where's the water? Because if if the water was a little bit so I so at some points I'm like just dumping Gatorade. It's like you won a championship and you're just trying to celebrate. Yeah, exactly. No, I thought the same thing. We would get the Gatorade and I'd be like, the water is not right next then I would see the sign up ahead of like, thank you. Yeah. Water. Thank god. actually f funny story. So last year when I ran Chicago, I got I was doing great. Right. I was on track for PR. I got the mile twenty three and I was like, I cannot have another cup of Gatorade or I'm gonna throw up. Like I just can't do this. So I literally was looking around for a spectator or a McDonald's where I could get a a soda. I was like, I was good about to get off the course to get a soda and then come back. But luckily at this one turn I remember there was a family that had begun to set up a table of just soda. And I was like, can I they were putting out little cups. I Can I please take a can? for the love of God. Please. So I drank that and then I took a picture of it this year. Some guy I ran past, he had a little platter thing. He had some food on it. He had one little can of Coke. I ran past him. I actually turned around and came back and grabbed it and took a picture of it. Because I was like, I need this. So I feel you on that. Like it it I was like, I can't have any more gainer. I'm gonna be so sick. Yeah. I will also recommend Do not drink a soda and then have a cup of Gatorade. They don't mix very well. It tastes terrible. I realize I learned that this year. Believe you. I believe you. And it's so funny because people say that Coke is very good because it's like carbonated and it has a little bit of caffeine, but the bubbles at that point, like I was burping the for the next two miles. It was crazy. I was like, I hope nobody can hear this around me. It's awful. And if I was running next to you, I would be like, my god, this guy's gonna throw up. my god. I'm the same way. If somebody throws up, I'm I'm done. Like Yeah. Yeah, I'm out of there. We have a we have a a baby girl now and like even when she throws I'm like, God and my wife's like, Can you just grow up? I'm like, No, it's throw up. Right. No, seriously. Seriously, yeah. No, I I totally feel you on the course and that and that that's so funny too, 'cause I think it was the Mexican community that was like after mile twenty one, around that time and I seen I I started just seeing so many different options of food, tequila, this, that, and third. And it's so funny that you say you were about to stop because rewind a little bit. I don't know if you saw, but McDonald's had made an ad for pickle juice. Yes. Right. Yes. So it was I remember I was coming up and I see like a giant billboard, McDonald's, and a giant billboard of Donkey Donuts, and I'm like, gosh, like, what if I just stop really quickly to like get Yeah, get McDonald's like a a sweet tea or a coke or something. And there was a McD out of nowhere, this McDonald's like lady had the bottle pickle juice that they'd been advertising. And I'm like, my gosh, I I grabbed it and I immediately took it. That's amazing. pickle juice. And then I actually grabbed some more pickle juice from another lady. But I had to I was like double checking this is pickle juice. Cause if this is tequila if this is accidental tequila, it's over. I don't know how people do that. Yeah. I saw I saw so many people handing out shots of malure, tequila, whiskey, beer, and I was like, listen, I'm good. Especially the malure. Please, please keep that away from me. Like that I haven't even I've never had it, but just from the reaction videos I've seen of people taking it, I'm good. Like it's it sounds like it tastes awful. Yeah. I'm good. I don't even want to smell it. It's I don't even want to see anybody like I don't even want to be around anybody who Who takes that? Yes, yes. Because they're gonna throw up. Yes, yes, they're gonna throw up because they're gonna be like, my god, what is this? This tastes terrible. And they're gonna throw up. Now can you walk me through the finish line? Right. So what were you feeling those last couple of blocks? I know we had Mount Roosevelt at the end, which is a bitch. And then what was it it what and then what did the middle feel like going around your neck? Yes. The finish line, I I made it around Some like I I made it miraculously by the grace of God to mile twenty five. I had a mile left, whatever. I I I really can't remember the course at this point. I think it was some type of long straightaway. But then I remember seeing the eight hundred meter sign. Yes. I remember the eight hundred meter sign and that the eight hundred meter sign was before the hill, right? Yes. Yeah. So I seen that sign and I'm just like trying to give what I got. The only thing I'm thinking when I see the eight hundred meter, like that's two laps on the track. I do that all the time. I'm going so fucking slow. I'm like, I've done this without like how I'm like I'm trying to like put gas in the car and like wrap it up or something. But I'm like, my gosh, like this is just two this is two laps around the longest eight hundred meters of my life. I mean you know, like just like I feel any marathon is the Last Andrews the longest. But then we make it up the hill. And I told myself, because everybody we hear Chicago Marathon, it's flat except the twenty mile twenty-six hill. And I'm I was like, at this point, at that point in the race, I just was not looking at my watch, right? Because I had dropped the well, the three fifteen pacer had dropped me. And at that point, and I I was slowly fading from them and I just I really did not know what time I was going at that point. And another pace group had passed me. I think it might have been the 320 or or the 315 from the corral E, because D and E both had 315 pacers. So I was like, and I don't even know how long. it this time is not gonna add up. Even the people around me, their times might be different depending on the time they cross the mat. So it's just like there's no sense of time. And if I look at my watch and my watch tells me I'm going like a nine minute pace and I'm trying hard. I'm I'm cooked. Or if I see that it's already been three hours and 20 minutes and I've been like I I'm just cooked and I don't even want to see. So I was like, if I get to that hill and I have to like walk, cause and also my my Achilles is hollering. I'm like, I'm not gonna beat myself up. I'm not gonna beat myself up if I have to walk up that hill. But thankfully I had whatever in me to just like Heat my pace up the hill. I think at that point I'm going like 820. And I'm like, heat my pace up the hill. But it wasn't that bad. And then when you made the left, that finish line, it was really that finish line was so beautiful. it it it was so, so great to see that finish line. Like it it was gorgeous. And I mean, this it was my second marathon, but the first one, the finish line wasn't like that. So To see that finish line and just the red, it it was great. It was great. And then the announcer is like calling out people's bib who he sees coming. I think I threw my arms up. I'm like, Prank, he calls my name. My prank, he calls me. But no, it it was so beautiful. So I crossed the line and at that point I knew that either when I if I I knew it Further back in the race, if I stop, my legs were gonna lock up. both my legs were just it was just gonna be Charlie Horse lock up. So they had a line of volunteers, I guess waiting to grab people. They had wheelchairs. I looked at the wheelchair and I'm like, nope, my I would love to sit in a wheelchair right now, but my legs might lock up in the wheelchair. So I grabbed one of the well, one of the volunteers, before I could even grab her, she steps out of the line to like grab me, she puts my arm around her shoulder. And so she like Carrie limps me on down and I get my medal and she's like, Are you okay? Like she's so worried about me. At that point I was fine. I I did I just like that she was I I still needed her right there, but I was fine. And then I knew she thought I was like Weird because for a second I didn't want her to leave me. I didn't know how long she was allowed to stay with me. I'm thinking this is my new personal person. So then I see like they had the beer. And I'm like, wait, wait a minute, like I'm I'm faking. I I'm sick, but I'm like, wait, can I grab a beer? I need to I need to recarve. I need to recarve. so we grab a beer, but it w it was truly beautiful. After pr shortly after that, I'm like I I thank you. I'm fine. thank you so much. what's your name? I appreciate you. But that was really cool. I didn't end up pulling out my phone, so I didn't get the cool video of me recording them putting the metal around me. But it it was just also it was just such a great moment in memory to have without me pulling out my phone. Yeah. So Yeah. Yeah. I I think I I don't I never recorded myself crossing a finish line for a marathon. It's it's it's too important to me to be able to feel it in the moment and I want a good photo. So I want a photo of me like this. That's that's just not gonna work out. Exactly. But no, I'm I'm so glad that you were okay at you quest that finish line. Listen, I was trying to get around when you had I ended up running with the three thirties and then they passed me and then the three thirty five passed me and I was like, This is embarrassing. But we finished, we did it, we got the medal. Now, with Chicago and the books, this is your first major. Have you been bitten by the bug to finish the majors? I am bitten by the bug because all so I'll rewind. The in the beginning of this year, I was planning, like me and Jerry were like, yeah, I don't I don't want to run a marathon. I think the mindset was like I wanted my debut to be like humongous and like just solo. So I think what happened was I decided to run the one that I did in August just to like see how I was. It was one of those things where I'm like, if I do well, I'll tell the world. If I don't do well, who cares? It's just another long I'll I'll treat it like a long run. I went into it wanting to do well and I ended up qualifying me for Boston. I got the bid for Chicago. So now I'm like, I have Chicago. Now I'm gonna do Boston and now I'm like, wow, that's two. And like I have to do New York. Absolutely. So it's like I'll I'll attempt to time and qualify on New York by the half, by either United half or RBC half. this twenty twenty-seventh. So I'll do that. But after that, I feel like if it comes to me, it comes to me, there is no rush. this all happened in a short yeah amount of time. and I I I'm really loving the journey. when I first this again, at the beginning of this year, I was running the mile and five K's and I was completely content. I was still like the neighborhood here. I think my times are better across the shorter distances. So I was fully content with being a 5K star. But now that I would am going into two and potentially three, I would, but again, I I love the journey. I have so much respect for people who run with no race on the calendar who just run because they love it. and I I love that and I I I want to always cherish that because there's no pressure then there's no, And that's how it was and that's how I fell in love with running. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's true. we always especially as marathon runners, we always feel like we need to have something on the calendar calendar in order to push ourselves to continue to run. And when I started running, I started running 'cause I just wanted to run for twenty minutes without stopping. That was my goal. I didn't have I didn't want to run a run a race. I didn't even want to run outside. I ran on a treadmill. Like, 'cause I was too self conscious about my body. And somehow that's become what it is now. But It's it's always a reminder, and you brought I love that you said that, that we get to do this. We don't have to do this. We don't have to run. We don't have to sign up for a race if we want to run. We can just go outside and run. Or we can go in the treadmill and run. There's nothing stopping us. We don't need to have something set up in the future in order for us to get out there and go pound pound the payment or or hit the trail. So I really I really love that you said that. And yeah, definitely take your time. 'Cause I I did it My first six star journey, I did it really quickly. Now I'm about to finish my second one and I wish that I had spread it out because it just makes it more impactful and emotional as you go through and you look back on all the amount of time that's passed. But I can't wait for you to do New York. It's gonna be absolutely incredible. And I'll be in Boston. I'm running Boston next year too. So I hope we get the meetup. I'm gonna probably do a shake out run of some sort with with shops or science and sport and we'll get that set up and be able to to hopefully meet. But besides Boston, do you have anything else lined up in the future? So yeah, and it's also funny that you say this because I'm having some type of come down after Chicago. I'm like Yeah, I got the I got the blues and that was just so iconic. I got the blues and I'm like I was like good thing I have Boston coming up to look forward to, but I'm like also it's a little far away. So I'm like I I might do something, I might do some shorter dis distance stuff. For sure, but nothing nothing big, nothing too crazy in between that time. If I get a free bid to something, I'll run it. But yeah. Yeah. No, it it's it the marathon blues are no joke. I didn't think that they were real. And then I did my first marathon and I was like, What do I do now? Yeah. I train for I was supposed to run in twenty twenty and then it got canceled. It's like I had two years to train for this, two years to look forward to this and now it's over. I feel lost and I'm so sad. And you'll talk to any marathon runner and they're Number one suggestion, you sign up for another one. And that is unfortunately the answer to the marathon blues or some other race. But yeah, it people don't realize that when you finish, like you get sad. Like 'cause all of the endorphins, all the hormones, all of the feelings are gone. And you're like, I everybody said to look forward to this and now it's it's past me. Yeah. But no, definitely be proud of yourself because you you ran your first major in the boiling heat and you finished in a really great time. And you are healthy, not injured, and you feel good, which is the number one thing that I always tell people that I coach is if you feel good after a marathon, you're not injured, you're not nothing is broken, nothing's torn. Yeah, you're gonna have soreness. That's a win right there. Because there's so many people that you see in the med tent who are really suffering. And you could be one of those people, but you are not. So we should be grateful for that. Now, you are an experienced marathon runner now. You have done two. And now that Chicago's in the books. Now if I wanna know, did this race teach you anything new? And if so, how did that kind of change how you see yourself as a runner? And then as somebody who's run two marathons, if you could give anybody who's either thinking about running one or is tr currently training for one one tip, what would Okay. So I'll answer your first one first. If if there is anything new. Or is there is there anything I I learned about myself? Having those two back to back, I feel like helped me so much because by the time Chicago came around, there was zero stress of Am I in shape? Am I in shape? Am I in shape? Because before I ran my first one, there was whole thing like, What should my marathon pace be? it w am I in shape to do this? I remember at the beginning of the summer I couldn't hold my marathon pace for three miles and the heat, I was like, What is this? I'm screwed. How's this? And then that after that second one I knew I was in shape and that was the best feeling ever. That was also probably why I was so calm p p at the start line. But and then me wearing I I'm I am bumped out about wearing the new shoes on race day. And there was some science about that. But what I learned, I think I don't think I learned anything about myself, which kinda sounds crazy. But I just now I I just I know that I am strong and It just it verified me that certain parts of my legs are strong enough. I can finish this. Yeah. And that just gives me so many confiden so much confidence. I think it's the coolest thing in the world. Even if you look at it on w without it being a race, I know that I can run twenty six miles in this amount of time if needed. You know what I mean? Like spows trap somewhere. I was gonna say if you were chased for twenty six miles, you could do it without stopping. A lot of people can't do that. So that will come in handy in case you're ever chased for twenty-six miles down the street. Exactly. Exactly. So that's what that's what I learned. But you know, and there's so many little things in in between that. And also I just it just gave me a lot more a lot of validation of like things like, you know, consistency and and dedication, more so than anything. And and that could be like apply like wow, if I apply. how consistent I I was to get across both those finish lines with whatever it is in my life, I will be very successful. Exactly. That's what I always tell everybody about marathon running is it's not just about the running. You learn so much more about yourself and how much stronger you are in every asset facet of your life. It it it's crazy how running permeates into so many different pieces of our lives. So is that your tip or is and then my tip for somebody who is thinking about Running a marathon. I just feel like build your base. build your base build your base solo. Don't worry about what time you're running. Run comfortably. Who cares about the, the the new latest shoes? literally run comfortably. Don't worry. Stop and walk if you need to. that's for more for a newer runner, but for somebody just also thinking of getting it into a marathon. Have your why and Just lock in the mo well for me it's very different because I when I started there you meet people today in twenty twenty six and it's like I started running because I want to run the marathon. So now I'm I like got this sixteen week training block. It's like very robotic, like sixteen week training block 'cause I want to. Whereas me I had no idea anything about the only thing I knew about the marathon was one day they close the streets, they close the roads and you can't like the Uber is gonna have to go around. That's all I knew about the marathon. Even when I started running, I was there was no interest there. I just really ran to try to very similarly to you actually, try to see if I could run for ten minutes straight without stopping. And that was it for a long time. And I think that's what led to me being able to only be so like little in my run journey, but be able to run this time is because I I I build my base and I did not care there was no ego with my base. Yeah, absolutely. No, that's that's perfect. I'm actually gonna stop breaking running. Awesome. Yeah. So Kayla Arnot, I'm from Portland, Oregon. Chicago was my second marathon. So my first marathon was a couple of years ago in Honolulu. So this was my first major and for me growing up like I played basketball and so I always had a very negative relationship with running because like in practices Running was always used as a form of punishment, right? So for a very long time, I was like, I hate running, I hate running. And then as I got into my adult life, once a year I would do this relay called Hood to Coast. It's like a two hundred mile relay. Yeah, I've thought about that. Yeah. Yeah. So I do that. Like I would do that every year and it happens in August. And so that would be kind of the one time a year I ran. And I've always had it in the back of my mind in my adult life. at some point I want to run at least one marathon, just because why not? And so did that a couple years ago and was okay, I think I might do this again. And so got the opportunity to run Chicago. and that's kind of I think in training for my first marathon a couple of years ago, like I knew this might be the only marathon I ever run. And so I wanted to give it my best effort in terms of just how I trained and like making sure I was as prepared as I could be when I got to that start line. And I think through four and a half months of training is really when I found the joy in running. and really meant mentality wise tried to get to a place to where when I ran, I wasn't too focused on pace and I was more so just focused on how I felt. So that by the time I got to the end of my runs, I was feeling good. I wasn't miserable. And I think through that is really how I found the enjoyment in running. Yeah. Absolutely. I feel like There's been so much emphasis today now on pace and finish time with with especially marathons that it puts a wall up against people who feel like they can't I mean, I can't run a marathon at six minutes pace per mile. Yeah. Yeah. It seems like everybody you see who's an influencer running a marathon is like running that fast and it's like, well, I guess I just can't do this. So it's really nice to talk to someone who focuses on the feeling rather than pace and and what that finish time is gonna be. And what a first Marathon to pick Honolulu. I've always wanted to do that. It looks beautiful. I heard it's really hilly and really hot. Is that true? So, okay. It's so funny because like people, their first reaction whenever I talk about the Honolulu marathon is like, my gosh, it's so hilly. I think it's actually a really flat marathon. It's a little hillier than Chicago. But like you go, there's a point where you go up Diamond Head, which is kind of this hilly area, and then down the other side. And then it's super flat for a long time and then you come back up and over and basically finish. But the length of the distance you're going uphill is really not that bad. And I'm somebody who hates running hills. So I anytime I talk to somebody about the Honolulu marathon, I try to debunk the myth of it. Like it's a pretty flat marathon. It's not hilly. so that and then in terms of the weather, so it's in December. You start at five AM. So the first couple hours of the marathon, it's pretty much dark and the sun's not out yet. And so I'd say temperature wise, it was honestly pretty similar to what Chicago was this past weekend. And so I don't I'm also somebody that likes running in warmer weather, but I feel like it's not too the weather is not too crazy for it. I know last year it was actually like flash flooding not flash flooding, but there were flash flood warnings during the the Honolulu marathon. And so it was really rainy last year, but it's usually mid seventies. and that's usually a couple hours into the marathon when it gets gets there. Okay. Wow. Yeah, it's been that's been a dream of mine because I just one, I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, but two, I've heard I I have a friend of mine who runs it. He lives in in Hawaii and he runs it consistently. And every time he runs it, I'm just like, This is I c I can only imagine just how beautiful it is to run on the ocean and see just how beautiful the island is because I I know that Hawaii is just beautiful in general. You work at Nike, right? Separately? Yeah. Yeah, I do. What do you do with Nike? Yeah. So I work in finance there. Nice, nice. Yeah. So do you do you live you live on the West Coast? Yeah. So in in Oregon, which is where their world headquarters is. so it's just right out of Portland, right outside of Portland. That's awesome. That is awesome. Yeah. did you get the option to run w Chicago with Nike? Yeah, through work avenues, not like as an wasn't necessarily as a sponsored. I guess affiliation with Nike. But yeah, basically through work I was able to get a bib. That's so cool. Yeah. did you get to try out the new Alpha Fly Fours? I didn't. So I ran in I ran in Vapor Fly Fours, but yeah, so I didn't r run in any of the new running innovations. I know they had pop ups throughout the week, trialing out like the Apex. Yeah. but yeah, didn't run in any of the newer shoes. Yeah. Last person I spoke to, she got to she she shouldn't have, she said, but she ran in the Alpha Fly floors because Nike offered her a bib and she usually runs in Adidas shoes, but she got the Alpha Flies like a week, not even a week before the marathon, and she decided to run in them. She was like, I should not have done that. But I want to talk about the race itself because Chicago's known for its crowds. You know, it's it I was talking about the very beginning part where you run under the in the tunnel and it's like a rave. It's it's really flat for the most part. And then obviously the crowds have all that energy. Is there a part of the race that lived up to its hype? And is there anything that caught you off guard with it? Yeah. So I would say 'cause at the very beginning I try to be really disciplined about going slower than I feel like I should, not going too fast, and that rave under the bridge. I was like, my gosh, this is epic. So it was like hard to control that energy. And I've always heard about just how great the energy is in Chicago for the marathons. So Going into it, I was like, I'm gonna start not wearing headphones and then, at some point I'll throw them on and start listening to music. I ended up running the entire marathon not listening to any music because I feel like from start to finish the energy was just incredible. I think going there were so many spots where there was music playing really loud. And so that just brought energy within itself. I think towards the end. I don't know necessarily what part of town it was, but there was some traditional Mexican dancing going on. And then once you got into Chinatown, there was a lot of fun stuff going on. And so I think I my goal with running Chicago was to I didn't have a time goal. It was really just to enjoy soak up the experience. And, you know, so I really tried to like be present as I went through the neighborhoods and like just looking around at everything that was happening. I think two, it was my first time in the city of Chicago and the marathon was day two of me being in in town. I think the neighborhood that we ran in where you see some of the brownstone homes, just the the architecture of the homes in Chicago is incredible. And so that was really cool to see too. Yeah. It's so cool to run through so many different neighborhoods that look and feel so different but are all part of the same city. It's yeah. I I I lived in New York City for seventeen years. So it's It's n I I'm used to that avenue where I'll be walking downtown and I'll be on the lower east side and it's all bars and dingy and then I'll go a couple more blocks and it's Little Italy and a couple more blocks and it's China. It's so cool that those areas just exist and they're all part of this one big one big area. Now, during the race, or just a marathon in general, every marathon you've done two now, there's always a moment where the race shifts in some way. It could be a wall, it could be A mental low could be a push from a stranger, it could be a song that's on your playlist. I know you didn't listen to music, or it could be even a sign in the crowd. Was there a moment for you where that happened in Chicago? Could be good or bad. Yeah, I would say pretty early on, like my legs were in a lot of pain. And so I was like, Man, this is gonna be rough. And it was probably somewhere between like mile 10 and 14. I'd stopped to go to the bathroom and there was like a short line for the porta potties. And so the lady behind me, I was like, How are things going for you? how are you feeling? And she's like, Not so great. And I was like, Yeah, I'm in a lot of pain. And so it was just nice to get that validation of like and obviously there's a lot of people out there who are probably all not feeling great. But just to know like people are hurting too. And I just I was a little disappointed I was in so much pain so early on. And so knowing that others were too, I think that was validating. I think too for me I I started to I don't know if it's necessarily hitting the wall, but miles seventeen through twenty were a little were if anything, that wall point where I was just like I remember hitting actually mile sixteen and I was like, Man, we have ten more miles to go. I was like, I don't know how this is gonna end. But then like once I got to twenty, I was like, Okay, like we're getting close and and was able to kind of ramp back up and get a second wind. I think too, just and this is part of the energy of Chicago too, but Just reading all of the different signs. There were so many, just so many creative signs. And so that was one thing I also looked forward to as I was running throughout the city is like seeing the different signs people had. That's one of my favorite things. I love how there's always some trend that's going on that that is that becomes a big thing with the races. my favorite section, I can't believe I'm saying this, was between miles six and seven. Cause six, seven size. I was like, this is ridiculous. And I also didn't know that Malort was a was an Illinois Chicago thing. there were so many signs about it. There were so many people offering shots of it. But I never had it. But I've heard it tastes absolutely awful. Yeah. So I'm just like, please, absolutely not. Yeah. I had some colleagues before I left for the race, like being like, Hey, you gotta do a shot while you run. It's just it's a passage of entry, right? And I s yeah, I saw so many signs for yeah, shots of Malort and I thought about it, but I was like, I c I can't do it. 'Cause I haven't heard good thing. So No. My God. Yeah. When I ran last year, I got I was I was doing great and then I got to mile twenty three and I was like, if I have another cup of Gatorade, I'm gonna throw up. Like I just can't do I need a soda. I was like yeah, I was like begging the universe for one. I like, Do I get off the course and find a McDonald's and grab one and come back? And luckily this family started to set up a table with with cups of soda and I just like, Can I just have a can? And so I downed it and thankfully it just like re energized me. But I was it was like this whole disconnect with my my mind, I was like, I cannot take any more Gatorade. Yeah. And luckily I was able to get another one this year at like mile twenty two. So fantastic. Yeah. So but I I saw, especially when you run through I think it's past Chinatown. It might be miles twenty three, twenty four. So when you go out do the out and back and you can see the people on the other side. So many people offering shots of of tequila, whiskey, all the like beer. I was like, my God. I can't even imagine taking all those different things. it's it but it it was you're great. You're you're absolutely right. The the crowds are great, crowds are fantastic, the signs they come up with are are hysterical, and it's it's why Chicago consistently remains one of the the best marathons when you talk to anybody who's run any of the majors, primarily because of the crowds. But we do have to talk about the elephant through with Chicago this year, which is the weather. Because it was the warmest Chicago apparently since twenty twenty one. And I know that we started with a yellow flag for the day. And we we had known that for a while, a couple of days beforehand. I didn't know this and I'm not sure if you know this. Apparently they changed it to red later on in the race. I did see red flags. I was not aware of that. I didn't know at all. Okay. I there was an athlete that I was coaching who was running the marathon and he told me afterwards. He was like, Yeah, they changed it to red. once all of the the corrals left, they changed it to red and it was dangerous. And I was like, I had no idea. So I was like, I feel I guess I feel a little bit better about, running in this heat because it was a I guess it was dangerous now. How did the heat affect you? And did you have to adjust your plan, whether it was your pace, your nutrition, your hydration in any way, shape, or form during that? Yeah. So I think going into it a c the week before the race, right? I was checking the weather a lot and I had seen a post of like the record low starting temperature and the record high starting temperature for like Chicago the history of Chicago marathons, right? And I saw the low one year was like twenty one degrees. And then The high, I think, yeah, was in 2021 and I think was 81 maybe. And so I was like, for me, I feel like I've heard more so of it being really cold at the start. And so I was really worried about being cold at the start because I didn't want to be cold. And so I was going into it. I was a little happy that like it was gonna be pretty decent weather at the start. I think throughout the marathon, I I mentioned it earlier, but like I like running in warmer weather. So I don't necessarily feel like the heat got to me, but I think what I did change or just really make sure I emphasized throughout the run was that I was like staying hydrated. And so for I would pretty much stop at every water sta water or Gatorade station because they were so frequent. And essentially I would just alternate it like I would do water one station and the next mile I would do Gatorade and just alternate to make sure I was staying hydrated. I would also stop Well, I would walk while I drank. And so that I think also gave me time to cool down. So for me, I didn't feel like the heat was a big was a big factor for me. I think also though, the only other marathon I've done is also one that's a pretty similar temperature for part of it. And so so yeah, for me I was like a bit okay with the weather. and also I feel like when I did Honolulu, I saw a lot of people getting like stretchered out, heat stroke, that kind of thing. Whereas I didn't feel like I saw that as much during Chicago. And so I think hopefully that meant people were doing a good job of staying hydrated. Yeah, the most that I saw was a lot of people who were stretching or limping. That was the the main thing that I saw. I think I only saw one person on a stretcher and that was after the race. So Yes, yes. I luckily I didn't really see anything bad happen. Well, I did Berlin last year. It was eighty five degrees. It was The worst race of my life. And I hated it so much. I got the mile seventeen and I called my wife. I was like, I want I hate this. I want to quit. Yeah. I don't know why I'm doing this. This is awful. Then I had to remember that I paid to be there and I flew over there. So I had to finish. But yeah, I saw some people go down. on I think some people passed away. it was it was Yeah, that's scary. So I'm glad that Chicago's very organized. They had enough water, enough cups, enough Gatorade. I was really happy with that because I've had issues with New York. I've had issues with Tokyo. Where they didn't run out of cups or they run out of water and it's awful. So I'm really glad that they were able to keep on top of that. And I'm glad that you were able to maintain your hydration throughout the race of alternating between the the water and the gator, because that's that's paramount. That's the number one thing that most people don't realize is is I tell people all the time as a coach, marathon running is not just about running, it's a math game. Because you have to know when do I take my gels? When do I take my salt? When do I drink water? When do I drink electrolytes? You have to be able to manage all these things. While somehow running twenty six point two miles and it's huge. Yeah. What was your what was your finish time? Did you hit the time that you wanted? So time wise was from a goal perspective, I would say time was at the bottom. I had told myself going into it, if I got four thirty, I'd be happy. I definitely did watch at four thirty. I finished in five hours and twenty-three minutes. Okay. Including bathroom breaks and such. I think on my watch it was closer to like five five. But and so like I've kind of been I think the rest of the day on Saturday and then a little bit or Sunday and then a little bit on Monday, I was like trying to tell myself, hey, your goal was to finish and vibe and enjoy that energy. you finish that. 26.2 is 26.2 regardless. And so yeah, I've come to terms and I'm like, Yeah, I am happy with just the fact that I finished and I was able to run Chicago. And so yeah. Yeah. I think the average finish time for I was looking at them for Americans was almost four thirty. It was like four twenty three or something, which is which is insane. And then the average overall was like four two. So everyone suffered because of the heat and everyone's time went down. I I didn't finish on time I wanted either and I I would I beat myself up a little bit 'cause I like Yeah, you could do better. I don't understand. And then I had to remind myself, you know, the heat. I had a baby in January, so I can try and deal with that. all ball training, working, you know. Unfortunately, this is not our professional jobs. This is just a hobby. So we have to find a way to get it to work in our lives. so yeah, I mean, absolutely. Just being able to say I ran a marathon, twenty six point two miles is the same if you run it in two hours or I guess an hour and fifty nine minutes and thirty seconds or or six hours and thirty minutes. Like it doesn't matter. You're still running the same amount of distance, you still get the same metal. Totally. So I I really appreciate you saying that 'cause it's so important for a lot of people here. Yeah. now I want you to walk me through the finish line. What were you feeling? you got those last couple of blocks, you got Mount Roosevelt, which is that awful hill at the end. And then after that you make that left and you hit the finish line. What did that nettle feel like going around your neck? And how did you feel coming into the finish? Yeah. I mean, I had heard a lot about the hill at the end and so like mentally I was prepared for the worst. But once I got to mile twenty five, I was also like, Kayla, you've walked a lot. Like, let's try to f run this last one point two miles without walking. So I was very determined to just run it out till the finish and I did. And so just being able to yeah, battle through that, I think when I crossed the finish line, deaf I f if I was standing next to somebody that I knew and I would have been talking, I feel like tears would have come down my face. But since it was just like me in that moment, I could feel myself get emotional for a sec. But it's just like it was just a big relief of like you did that, And getting that medal and just seeing everyone else who had finished. It was just yeah, I I think crossing the finish line of a marathon is like a one of a kind feeling and it's like nothing compares to it. Yeah. I I I tell everybody it there's just no way to describe how it feels until you do it. Because every you did you said you did you say you trained for four and a half months for Chicago or for Honolulu? For Honolulu, I trained four and a half months for Chicago. I actually only trained eight weeks because I found out in August I was gonna have the opportunity to run Chicago. So I yeah. Eight weeks is still working out for then doing all your runs within eight weeks, especially, you know, got that short amount of time. You st you gotta figure out when they run those long distances. The amount of just the feeling of everything paying off. Yeah. All of the time you put in there, the mental toughness that you had to deal with, the days you didn't want to run. The days of where was terrible outside and you either had to run inside or run outside when it was terrible. It's just everything collides at once. And I've only cried twice at my marathons. The was the for me was the first one where you you gotta message me. I gotta send you my picture because it's awful. It is the ugliest photo of me ever taken in the entire world. And then in Tokyo in 2024, I don't know what happened. I just burst into tears. The guy next to me, who I didn't know, just turned the next mean, just gave me a big bear hug. It was like it was incredible. Yeah. but yeah, those moments are just are just fantastic. And and until until unfortunately you you achieve it, it's it's something that you just it you can't describe how it feels. It just feels wonderful. 'Cause it's like it's so much I think when you cross that finish line, it's not even the aspect of being happy you're done physically, but it's like the mental accomplishment of like what you just went through and the mental battle. It's like, yeah. Yeah. I also tell everybody, when you cross a starting line of a marathon, you're no longer in control because anything can happen. The stories that I've heard so far, the things that I've seen during my marathons, so much random stuff can happen. You can trip, you can I had someone run head first into a into a runner pedestrian. Like I'm talking like head into head, a tenth of a mile into the into a race. It was awful. And then people trip, people throwing up. Yeah I've seen people shit their pants. Like it's all over the place. You can only respond to it. You can't control them. And so we have to learn how to deal with that. And it's it's a big mental game. And so being able to say that you did this after everything you went through, and you were able to somehow like you I don't know about you, but I've run I've run 18 marathons. It doesn't matter how many times I run one. Every single one I'm scared when I start because like, did I train enough? Do have my is my nutrition good enough? Did I eat enough beforehand? All this stuff goes through my head. And I get scared. Can I run twenty six point two miles? And when you cross that finish line you realize, my God, I can. Yeah. Someone that I spoke to earlier said, like, how what else can I do? Like what can I like how can I turn this now into like my work, like my personal life, my professional life? Like it can like running these things can permeate into so many different portions of our lives. So it's it's just it's wonderful when I talk to people and they and they they talk about that feeling once they cross that finish line. Yeah. gives me goosebumps whenever I hear it because it's just a wonderful feeling. Now, Chicago's done. It's your first major. I gotta ask about what's next. Yeah. Are you interested in the other majors? And if so, have you signed up for anything next? Major or not. It doesn't matter. Yeah. and at the same time, did this race teach you anything new, help you learn more about yourself as a runner, you know, as went through the entire course? Yeah. So in terms of in terms of what what's next, I'm actually running Honolulu Honolulu again this year in December. So in two months. So part of me is like, how am I I'd say during the race, I was like, how the heck am I gonna do this again in two months? But now, being like a few days post marathon, I'm like, okay, you can do that again. And in terms of like the majors, now that I've ran a major, I don't know I say this now, I don't know if I have it in me to go for the six star. I wouldn't say it's like an ambition right now. But I know for sure Tokyo is one that I wanna run. So it's like once I do two, then I think I could see the snowball effect happening where I then end up trying to get the six star medal. So we'll see in terms of that. But yeah, Honolulu is next on my radar in terms of a marathon. Mm-hmm. And then I think in terms of what Chicago taught me and what the experience taught me is just like how much energy brings to people, whether it's like the crowd giving energy to the runners, how much that feeds into you, like I mentioned earlier. I didn't need music the entire time because of the energy that the people brought. but then I think it's also like the the energy just that you have in one on one or day-to-day interactions, like can change a person's day. It could change how the marathon is going for them or or how a person's run is going for them. And so I think just that intentionality of of bringing energy into spaces. really makes a huge difference for people. Absolutely. About the majors thing, it's I my first marathon was in New York City in twenty twenty one. And I swore to myself, like, I just wanted to do it just to prove that I could do it, and that was kind of it. Then I kind of learned about the marathon majors around the time that I was running it and I was like, What is this? And I learned that Berlin was doing a lottery at that time. So I was like, Let me enter. Yeah. I got in. And that's when I had to well, I guess now I gotta do all of them. Yeah. Yeah. That's kind of become what it is now. So and never say never. Yeah. and Tokyo is a wonderful marathon. A lot of people say it's it's it is very different. It's not gonna be the same as Chicago in terms of the crowds, but you genuinely feel like they they want to be there and they really support you. So I that's the one thing that I feel from Tokyo. And I just the Japanese culture in Tokyo in general is just a beautiful city and the people are so nice and and so I really hope you get the rhyme one day. yeah, for sure. No, one of the interesting things too about the Honolulu marathon is there's like I forget the exact percentage of the year that I ran it, but I think it's pretty consistent every year. But I think it's thirty to forty percent of the marathon runners are from Japan. And so even within the crowd for Honolulu, you have a lot of Japanese culture and representation and and energy as well. So I'm sure it's somewhat similar. That's so cool. Now, for anybody who is either thinking about running a marathon or they might be training for one right now, New York's in like two and a half weeks. If you could give them just one tip To help them on their journey, what would it be? Yeah, I think one of the things that's helped me the most is like when you get to that starting line of your marathon, like trust the training that you've put in and treat the marathon as like the celebration of all your hard work because it's like training for a marathon is the hard part, right? It's like months and months of running consistently multiple times a week. It's challenging. You have to fit it in your busy life. And so like treat the treat the marathon is not like another part of the hard part of the work, but just a celebration of all the hard work that you've done to get there. And then I think that helps kind of create some enjoyment and take some pressure off too. Yeah. Absolutely. It I it's so difficult, I think, now in today's day and age with social media and influencers because it just seems like everybody runs really fast. that you feel like you need to be like that in order to run a marathon. When in reality, I think the average finish time for a male is like four thirty. And the average finish side for a female is four forty five, something like that. Yeah. which is nowhere close to what you're seeing on social media. And I love I love telling people exactly what you said. Like the hard part is the training. Like you're training for three, four months. You're going out there, you're running, you're running fifteen, eighteen, twenty, sometimes twenty two miles in a training run. You got no crowds. Like there's nobody cheering you on. You have to go out there and just have the fortitude to do it. The marathon is just is just the celebration for what you've done. And it's just another long run. I had my an athlete that I was coaching for Chicago who was like getting nervous and I said, It's this is just another long run. This is the tone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The tone is you've done the hard work. This is just you get a medal at the end. This is just you saying, Hey, all that training you did, here's a medal for it. so I I completely agree with you. And I think that that's a fantastic that thing that people need to take away with it because the it becomes a massive issue when you think about running, it's like I have to do this rather than I get to do this. Yep. Exactly. And if you if you think I have to do this, then it's not gonna be fun anymore. And you pointed out too at the beginning, we most of us, myself included, we learn running through like you're now you have to suffer. This is a punishment for you. Yeah. I used to be marching band when I was in high school. Yeah. And we would teacher would get mad at us, go run three laps and be like, my God. Like that's all that's all we knew it as, right? And then now somehow we've all become these people that are like, I go out and I do that for fun and it's other people just don't understand it. So It's it's nice to to hear from somebody that that the important thing is just to enjoy what you're doing. But why don't we start first with introducing yourself, so who you are, where you're from, and if this was your first marathon. I'm Joanna Gregg. I live in Franklin, Tennessee, and this was my second marathon. I ran I ran the Nashville Marathon in spring of twenty twenty four. And I do I do not recommend that one over. I say go with Chicago if you can get it. The the Nashville one is incredibly hilly, like beyond hilly. So being my first one, that was troublesome and I just kind of just really fell apart at the end of that. But yeah, so this is my second second marathon. Nice. Was that is that the one that's put on by Saint Jude? Yeah, it's the Saint Jude and it's a rock and roll too. Okay, yeah. All right. So like yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, awesome. And it's fun for the first thirteen miles where the half is. And I had done the half several times. And then you are on your own and and the rock and roll aspect is not really a a It's not really it's not really a rock and roll after that. Correct. Awesome. Well that that's great that Chicago is your second marathon. So Chicago, your second marathon, your first major. So you had those incredible crowds. You had I'm assuming probably a much larger crowd than you were than you saw in Tennessee. Take me back to race morning. Talk about from the moment you woke up to getting to the starting line, what was going with your head and your body up until that gun. I do feel like I prepared mentally and physically a little bit better for this one. Obviously, just having two more years of running under my belt as well. But we stayed at an Airbnb north. Jack, I'm on sorry. This is like my okay, I'm on a call, so I don't know, find something to do. My kids are on fall break right now. So I can st I can start that over. They usually I try to get them to Jack, go away for a minute so I can talk. Thank you. You're good. You're good. I do feel like I prepared mentally and physically better this time. We stayed at an Airbnb up I don't even it was like between Grant Park and like Lincoln Park, I guess, sort of area. So it was a quick train ride and we had it all planned out. the night before we went and got our pasta and just, got got my sleep. Everyone else w we we went with a big group and everyone else was up and doing stuff and I went to bed at nine o'clock and had my plan, had all my stuff laid out. You know, it's the mental preparation to me is like almost half the battle. Just having a plan where like when you wake up in the morning you don't have to think you don't have to make any decisions, right? You just like you're ready to go. So yeah, so got up, had my my coffee and everything and you start eating the carbs that you don't want to eat right then and just 'cause you're still full from the last forty eight hours of eating. But and then yeah, so I took the train down and I mean, I thought the whole experience was like just overwhelmingly incredible. I c I had zero complaints. You know, I I'm on a lot of the Facebook groups where people Everyone can find something to complain about, I feel like. And I just was like, my goodness, it was just such a great experience. I'll be thankful you have two legs that can take you, can can do these things. but yeah, so I took the train down. I had no issues, you know. I was in the first corral or the first wave. I was in the last corral of the first wave. But so that was also helpful, I think, because we the porta potties and everything weren't super full yet when I got there. I got down there at about I wanna say six or a little after six. So I just kept getting back in line for the bathroom. You just go to the bathroom and you get but but yeah, so I thought overwhelmingly great experience that morning. You've already done the hard work, so you're like just ready to go, I feel like. It's just it's time to it's time to like start. But but yeah. I I tell everybody as a coach that the marathon is just a celebration of all the miles you've done leading up to this. And it it's to try to alleve the nerves because we know that running twenty six point two miles is very daunting, but we've done twenty miles, we've done seventeen, maybe twenty two miles by ourselves, no crowds. Now we've got tens of thousands, maybe I think there's a million people or something along the lines that watch and spectate the the the marathon. But I want to talk about those crowds, right? We've got Massive crowds. The majors always bring massive amounts of people. We've got a flat course, which is known to be flat and fast. And we've got this massive energy from all of the different groups that come out, whether it's run clubs or organizations or musicians, artists, things like that. What part of the race lived up to the hype? and was there anything that caught you off guard? I thought the cr honestly, the crowds, I was trying to even this morning I was thinking about what to compare it to. it was a parade for twenty six miles. And my husband was like, Where's there cheering every every mile? I was like, literally every mile. There is not one time that I and I was smiling the whole time. I thought all the signs were funny and just like the fact that people just go out there to watch people run. Obviously, like we're runners, so we're like, my gosh, people think it's cool to watch. Usually you're right. Like you run in the dark and in the heat, and you're just like it's miserable. And you know, or it can be. And and just seeing like the excitement. come to life and just I I don't know. I thought the under the bridge was so fun when you first come out of the gates. I was that I was not expecting that where they have a DJ and I'm big into I love the I love music and I just thought that was so fun. The drag show at mile, what was it, nine where I saw Dolly Parton from Tennessee. So Dolly Parton's a big thing down here, but that was funny. I don't know, I blacked out the last three or four miles. I'm sure that that part is fun. But I honest I do not remember it at all. I just remember being like, okay, those people are going the other way. When do I get to turn? it's just miserable until you get there. But yeah. So but I I don't know. I think all of it lived up to the hype for me. I had no complaints. I was kind of worried about because I've never run a major or a race this big. I mean, the rock and roll's kind of big, but it's not it's twenty thousand or whatever. And so I was worried a little bit about like Was getting water gonna be a deal? you just don't know with that many people running. And I had my plan and I was like, maybe I should carry a handheld and I decided not to. And I didn't have an issue with anything. Legitimately nothing. I did not have an issue with anything. So it's awesome. Yeah. No, they did a fantastic job with hydration. I've run several of the majors that have had major issues. And so it's it's it was very refreshing to have, you know, fifty five thousand people running and then not run out of cups, not run out of water, not run out of Gatorade. So I was really grateful for that. So you talked about blacking out the last three or four miles, and every marathon usually has some sort of moment where the race shifts. It's either you have a wall, you have a mental it a mental low, you you get a push from a stranger, it could be even a sign, could be a song on your playlist. Was there a moment for you like this in Chicago? So I don't there's I I had downloaded like the day before one of those apps where that your your people can talk to you, like record messages. Yes. Yes. Okay. I didn't know if I was allowed to say you know, what it was. So my and my family recorded some messages for me. And unfortunately they were two miles off. So when they were like, You're at mile nineteen, I was like, I'm only at mile seventeen. But my son recorded one and his our charity is called Live Like Jack. And he recorded one and he was like, Do it for Live Like Jack. And it was honestly it was mile six, but it just gave me like this just It resets you where you're like, okay, remember what you're doing this for. I also ran with Achilles. So I ran behind some blade runners and I was videoing them and I was just like, every time that you think to complain about something or my legs hurt or whatever, just think about all of the other people who can who would love to be in your position running this race. And so to me, it was just like. Every time I got one of those messages from my family, it just reset me, be like, Okay, you can do it and you can do hard things. It is mentally like your body's is ready for the most part. Mentally you have to get through many, many hurdles in a marathon. And so just having like my family kind of chime in and tell me, like, Thank you're amazing. Good job. Thanks for doing that. It just like it just it just kind of gets you over over those humps. So I love rally. I've used Rally for a number of marathons and I know I met several times with the founder of it. And so it's it's an app that I recommend for everybody who runs any race. they do marathons, they do half marathons, they you just basically put in your race or your distance and you can have anybody leave messages for you. So it's and I agree with you. They need my first mile was my wife and my daughter. And my we had our daughter in January. And so I texted her actually after I got the message. I said, Thank you so much for making me cry in my first time. I know. Like I'm so happy that I'm crying now. And now I can't breathe. I was like, Yeah. I and I was off I was off too. I was off by like a half mile, maybe like point six. So it'd be like I remember I was like, You're mile twenty six, you're almost done. I'm like, I'm still in mile twenty five. Like I'm dying. But no, it's it's a fantastic app and it does really, really great things for anybody that needs that extra boost of energy or confidence. That's that's fantastic. Speaking of signs though, there were some great signs. There were a lot of really good signs. I was laughing, just I don't know. The guy there was a guy that just had a sign that said, This is my cat, Todd. Did you see that one? And he was just sitting in the chair with his cat. And I was like, I don't know why that's so entertaining and funny, but it was just like so weird that I was like, Okay. My favorite was I I didn't expect I didn't even think about this until I started running through miles six and seven. So many people had six, seven signs. I was like I literally the entire mile is just like this, running past people. It was so fun. It was funny. Yeah. And it that's the one thing I love about these races is is the signs. You see so many people come up with these unique signs and it's it's wonderful. It makes you laugh and I just I love seeing them because they give you so much extra extra energy. And and it th it takes you back back to the moment that you're in because you are struggling running twenty six miles. Doesn't matter how many you've done, how experienced you are, there's something that's gonna come up. And to to be able to have your mind get escape that moment and that feeling and be able to be like, this is why I'm doing what I'm doing. And I like that you pointed out that it getting those messages and things and seeing those those acts that were going on and those signs remind you why and and working with Achilles reminds you that you get to do this. You don't have to. And and it it gives it it gives you a sense of of gratitude for for being able to s get to that starting line and be able to do this. But we have to talk about the elephant in the room. Which is the heat. This was the hottest Chicago marathon since twenty twenty one. And we all know that we started with a yellow flag for the day. It was on on on the Instagram. It was in the booklet. It was at the expo. We were in kind of like a moderate position with the heat. And then I didn't know this. But once like all of the corrals got released, they raced it to red, which was dangerous. And I was unaware. until after I finished, which meant that at any time they could have stopped the race. Really? yeah. And they did that I think in mile tw in twenty twenty one. I think they also they may have done it. It was either twenty twenty one or twenty twenty eighteen. I don't remember which one it was. They ended the race early because of how hot it was. Okay, so meaning that if you hadn't finished by a certain time, okay. Yeah, they could be we're gonna end it at mile twenty three or twenty one. You would still get a medal and you would be shown as being of completing the Chicago marathon. But if you were trying the boss and qualify, couldn't use networks. Right. And I know that a lot of people would have been super upset. Mm-hmm. so we were in the mid seventies for most of the run. I believe it got up to eighty by the end, like in the afternoon. Was there a moment did the heat affect you? Did you have to adjust your plan on the fly, whether it was your pace, your nutrition plan, your hydration plan, anything like that? Are where are low? Are you in New York? Yeah, New Jersey. Okay. Well, I'm in Tennessee. So I I understand complaining about the heat because it's not like PR conditions. But I'm telling you that I ran all of my all of my long runs. And I'm not some I don't wake up, I don't like running in the dark. It's just I don't know. I don't do it. So I was running it was a hundred degrees, legitimately at one hundred degrees and one hundred percent humidity. So like I think for me it was still cooler than I was used to. And it's still even until today was the first day it broke. And it's less than ninety degrees here. So it's just we yeah, it's been a it's been a historically hot year here too. So I think for me, I was like, it's flat. We have the hills here are crazy and the heat here is crazy. So I think I think that that matters. Obviously in your training, the last the last marathon I ran, I trained in the cold and then the race is the end of April and it's can get very it was this the same type of weather. The high I think that day was eighty. Now the low was lower. We didn't even like this year Chicago, we didn't even get a low start. sometimes it'll be fifty and then it'll warm up to eighty. But it was sixty-five when I was like starting or woke up or whatever. So I think, yes, the heat is not ideal. Who knows? I got a huge PR just because my first marathon was a total train wreck. But for me, I was just trying to go sub four and I was I was on track the whole time until the last to do even better than that. And the last two miles, I think it all hit me because I think In those moments, you're so tired, and then your body is also trying to cool itself down, keep your core temperature lower. So obviously you have more stress on your body. That's just it's science. But yeah, I think for me, and I think it definitely would depend on where you trained. I was on the train with some people that were coming from upstate New York, and they were saying they were really scared about the humidity. And I think it's a very valid point. In general, who knows what I might have accomplished if it wasn't as hot. But I think for me it was not. That was not something I was worried about only because I had trained so much in it. Yeah. I didn't really adjust my the only r thing I adjusted in my plan. I was planning to take a gel every like 40 minutes, but I didn't know exactly when I would start the race because I was in the back of that corral. So I ended up starting, I think I crossed it like seven fifty. So then I hadn't eaten anything for longer than I thought. So I started taking my gels. earlier and I usually do fuel a little bit more frequently when it's hot. And so I just kind of kept on that. It was more like every thirty to thirty five minutes I took a gel instead of my original plan of orty. But and I just took a Gatorade and a water at every literally at every station was what I did. So 'cause the Gatorade I felt like was making me really thirsty. So I would just take a Gatorade and then I would take a water. So but yeah. So for me the heat wasn't a huge deal. But awesome. No, that's great. It was We had a brutal summer up here too. It was in the nineties for most of the summer, very high humidity. And I am not a morning runner. So I would run the middle of the day, like peak heat, or I would run after work and it would still be hot and humid. So I was prepared for it, but at the same time, you never know what's gonna happen on recently. But you got through the marathon, you finished with a PR, yeah, walk across that finish line. Can you can you walk me through crossing that finish line? What was the feelings? What were the feelings that you had those last few miles? What did it feel like when you crossed it? When you got that metal around your neck. What was going through your head? And how would you feel? I felt amazing to be done, to be honest. I was very proud. I was I hit my goal. I knew that I was like I I knew that once I got to sit down, I was gonna be celebrating. But it was like I love how they, you know, you have to walk, I don't know, half a mile or whatever it is. So I'm like trying to, you know, I'm hobbling. It was it's amazing. The feeling of crossing that and just knowing that your hard work has paid off. is the most incredible feeling. And I think one of the Nike signs was like, No one would be upset if you stopped except you. I'm summarizing that. I don't know if you know the one I'm talking about. Yeah, I know what I'm saying. And that was exactly my the whole time. I was like, I told so many people that I was going for sub four. I'd have to do it, I've told everyone that. And I think it is like you they wouldn't care. They don't even know what it means. They work at my kids' school or whatever. It's just p random people. But I'm like, but I know that all of those runs, like if I don't hit it, now I'm gonna have to do another one like really soon. And I'm gonna have to hit that, you know, because you've done all the training. So crossing and knowing that you finished in like and and got your goal is like Amazing. Then you go like I was like, okay, now my entire b I can't feel anything from my neck down and I just want to sit down. And they're like, Hey guys, we gotta keep the corral move. I had to make they they give me the water and I was like, Can you open that? I couldn't move my hands. I don't know. I lost control of my body. But yeah, it was amazing though. That's awesome. Yeah, I I couldn't lift my left arm. I from going like this for twenty six miles, this whole area locked up. So I I went to go like go like yay, and I was like, nope. Nope, can't do that. Okay, that's so funny that you say that because I also had on my left side and I sat down somewhere near the muscle milk or whatever, and this physical therapist came over and she was like, Are you okay? And I was like, I'm fine, except my left side is come and she was like, I feel that and she started giving me a massage and I was like, This is amazing. But that is funny. It was the same area for me. I could not move my left arm. Yeah, I've only had this is the second time I've had that happen with my with my arms. It's really weird. Everything else for me was fine, but that I was like, this is very sore. You're tinting your entire body for for how for four hours or three hours and it's just it's not Yeah. It's not ideal. It is not fun. But so you have Chicago in the books. Yeah. I ask everybody who runs their first major, have you been bitten by the major bug? Are you thinking about renting the other majors? I would love to. I do have small kids and a husband that w has a busy travels for work and stuff. So I usually don't they all came with me. I take my family with me everywhere I go. So I would love to. It will be, it'll it'll just depend on plans. We have just a lot going on, kids wise and schedule wise. And so I would love to I also would love at some point to work on getting our charity into some of them. Obviously I would start with the small there's smaller races you can not the majors, you know. but bigger marathons where you can do charity stuff to get our actual name in there and see if we're still very early we'll we've only been a charity for two years. So you have to be a charity for three years. But yeah, but yeah, I'm I've been bit by the bug, yes. I've heard that all of them are amazing, all the majors. So Yeah. They are fantastic. Especially so if you like the crowds in Chicago, the crowds in New York, I try to explain it to people. It and it it might sound biased 'cause I lived in New York City for seventeen years and it was my first marathon, but I've done it five times. New York City brings the energy. Yeah. it is like Chicago and steroids. It's absolutely insane. Especially when you get to mile fifteen, you cross over from Queens into Manhattan. Everyone has told me before, it feels like I'm the main character in a movie because of just how many people are celebrating you. Yeah. and it's so hard to describe just that moment because of what like you run across a bridge silently, no one's there, and then you come into Manhattan and it's like the biggest roar of your life. Yeah. and it's No, and I love New York. It's my dad lived there in Manhattan in Manhattan for several years. So awesome. Yeah. I I hope one day that you get new Chicago or not Chicago, New York. Yeah. And for your charity, check out the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. Yeah. I've heard that. In the Philly one. I've heard you some stuff. Yes, I'm running I'm running Philly in this year too. but I know Indie Monumental, I have a friend who runs a charity and it's been around just for a few years and he was able to get bibs. So that definitely could be a possibility for you. But with Chicago in the books, what did the race either give you or teach you or did it change how you see yourself as a runner in any way? I was like so I told my brother in law wrote my my programming or whatever. So I'm a very recreational runner. I'm not, you know, I'm a mom. I just kind of go out there and do my and he had told me, I mean, my last marathon was like four and a half hours. And he was like, You're gonna run this sub four. And I was like, Okay, just whatever. I was like, There's no way. And he's like, I wrote your planning, so you're gonna run it sub four. And he had told me afterward that he thought I would run 355. And which I ended up doing, but I was like, I I think I just wanted low expectations for myself so that I didn't not hit I didn't want to make myself feel bad. Yes, I didn't want to make myself feel bad if I didn't do it, but I was so So proud of myself. honestly, that's really all I could say about it. And I still am. Just like it is, it's like that's it makes me emotional. The training and stuff people do not see. And and then you get and you do that. And it's like it is, you can post your time and you can but like no one understands. No one understands except you and maybe other runners, but like what you what you went through, what you what you're thinking during that time, the things your body has has gone through to get there. Just overwhelmingly so proud of myself. Yeah, I absolutely would too, especially self four that it in the heat is fantastic. Yeah. Other people, especially nonrunners, they don't see the late night of the early morning runs. They don't see the heat that you're running in. They don't see the bad runs that you have where you feel like a failure. The runs that you want to skip but you don't. The crying that you go through. the just all of the range of emotions that you feel. while you're trading for a marathon and the amount of doubt that you feel. You went in trying to underpromise to yourself because you just didn't want to let yourself down. and I've done that so many times. People who, aren't actively engaged in this sport just they don't really comprehend it. They just think, this person all they see is you running a marathon. And that's kind of it. But behind that, there's just so many layers. And I I really appreciate talking about that because it's so important for non runners or people thinking about getting into running or thinking about running a marathon should understand. It is you only you understand what to what it took for you to get to that starting line. Yeah. And you could talk about your story, which is one of the reasons I have this podcast. But you can talk about your story, but until somebody decides to do it themselves, they're they're not gonna fully understand. But we do the best we can to explain it. Yeah. yeah. Yeah. Check out my Instagram for more of a me complaining about running all the time and thinking Believe me Same same thing for me. Same thing for me. we ran through the heat. We ran through the forest fires that we had in Canada that came over to the East Coast. yeah. We had a terrible winter where we got so much snow, so much more snow than Yeah, see, I didn't. I feel like three-fourths of this year was just like weather. Incre like inclement weather in some way. I would rather go run 18 miles at 100 degrees than the zero where people are wearing See these people running in Minnesota and stuff with the spikes on their shoes and I'm like, not for me. I I have Raynauts, so it's really difficult for me to run in the coal because my hands just and then my feet go numb as well. My nose goes numb. Like it's just bad. Yeah. But so you have Chicago down. What's next for you? I actually have a couple ha I so I'm trying to run a half marathon in every state. Okay. Little so I'm that was a this was eleven for me. And I started this two years ago. So it's I just take my family on a I pick vacations now based on where I'll just look up a race and be like, Hey, we're going to Wisconsin because there's a race that weekend or whatever. But it's also helping us see the fifty states is what I say. Yeah. We get my husband like a golf thing going on. Everyone it's mutually beneficial for everyone. But anyway, so I run a ton of half marathons because I just love that distance and I think it's fun and it's doesn't require a lot of tr you're already trained up most of the time for a half and So actually have a half marathon next weekend, the Nashville half. And then I someone who lives here and she did not hit her goal. She said the heat hit her pretty hard. She I'm potentially running sh the one in Alabama a marathon with her in Alabama if she wants me to in December. So just we run about the same pace. So she was like, I would love to run with you and pace with you or whatever. So I don't know. That seems like a lot since I've only run two marathons, but now I feel like I'm then you're like you're trained up. I don't know. I'm just kinda one of those people I can be convinced to do pretty much anything all the time. So Yeah, I'm I'm the same way too. If I since you're interested in running on all fifty states, are you part of the fifty states half marathon club? I'm not. I've seen that, but I haven't joined it because I don't really even know what it is. I don't I don't really know how it works or anything, but I have definitely seen that. I think I follow it on Instagram. Yeah, so I think it gives you discounts on some races. It also allows you to connect with people that are trying to do the same thing. and it since it's a club, they do their own events and stuff like that. And I think that they also have like different sponsors as well. So you might be able to get discounts with them. Like they work with running warehouse. I'm looking at it right now. Running warehouse. Yeah, so you might be able to get like different discounts on different challenges for 'cause they they do everything they do fifty states, they do half marathons. They do seven continents. That one is insane to me. The seven isn't it seven continents in seven days? That special one, yeah. I don't know how anybody can do that. It's absolutely wild. It's and surely you can't sleep 'cause you're going on a plane somewhere. I don't I would not thrive in that situation. Yeah. I I I've always like one of my like dreams would be to run a a marathon in Antarctica. Okay. But I know that that's Isn't it really cold there? I think that the pl the place that they run it on is not the coldest because obviously they want to make sure everybody's safe. Yeah. But it's so expensive. Yeah. One to do that just that. And then also if you want to do this at Congress, that's expensive too. Yeah. for sure. But no, that's that's great. I'm I'm excited for you with, what you have lined up. I always tell people I was talking to somebody They'd be like, I finished and I feel sad. for sure. You get those post marathon blues and I told them every marathon runner's is going to tell you the same thing. In order to cure your marathon blues, you just sign up for them. Correct. Yeah. I made sure I had a couple of halves on the schedule just 'cause I love a race environment. I just I just like doing it. But I do I don't know, it is that what's next because you're so focused on the runs and the training and just like that I was getting my plan released to me every two weeks and I would just be like, okay, this is my next two weeks. And I planned my entire schedule around it. And now it's like, okay, now I'm bored. What And obviously your body needs to recover a little bit. But I mean it is an on to the next type situation. Yeah. No, absolutely. Now for anybody who either is thinking about running a marathon or is currently training one because we have several major marathons coming up for the rest of the year. And then obviously next year, if you can give them one tip. What would that be? I am a big of find your why. Find why you are doing this. And that just helps you to stick to your training and your just every just for me, finding figuring out like why am I running this? Am I running it because I want fitness? Is it because I'm proving something to myself? Is it all all of these things? You know, you can have several reasons why. Is it because you want to show your kids that moms can do can work and be on the PTO and run a marathon? Find why you're doing this and then and and that to me is just something that keeps you grounded. It keeps you even if you don't hit the the goal that you want or whatever. Yeah. Remember that you're doing it for those reasons. Hmm. That that is incredibly important. That's why rally is so important too. Because it helps remind you of your why. Yeah. that that's fantastic. Now do it do it because you can do it. Do it because it's just something Do it because you want to tell people that you did it. That's like I'm all these things. I'm like, yeah, I like telling people I ran a marathon. I don't know. Listen, did you even run a marathon if you didn't tell anybody about a marathon? You can absolut yeah, and remember that you can do you can have selfish reasons for doing it. It's okay. Some some of them are are, you know, because you wanna do good great things and raise money. And some of it is to prove to yourself that you're still a badass. Just Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I'm actually gonna and that is a wrap on this week's episode of At Your Own Pace. I want to give a huge thank you to every single person that I spoke to at the Marathon Expo before the race, at the Marathon Expo before the Chicago Marathon, and the people that I spoke to after the race for sharing for showing up and for sharing their stories because this show would not exist without them. And it does not exist without you either. So if this episode moved you, if it pushed you, if it made you want to lace up and get out the door, just do me one favor. Share it with a runner in your life. Leave a quick review. Hit that follow button so you never miss a story. And come find me on Instagram, threads, TikTok, Facebook, where have wherever, what have you. And come find me on Instagram, threads, TikTok, Facebook, what have you, at Mike Runs Marathons, where the conversation keeps going all week long. Until next time, keep showing up. Keep chasing the miles that matter. And remember that this is your race and to run it at your own pace. I'll see you next week. Bye.