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| my victory ! |
After months of training and fundraising I finally ran in the 2013 Chicago Marathon. With the help of many supporters I was able to raise over $3600 to help fund research in the fight against blood cancers. I am extremely proud of myself for these two accomplishments and wouldn't have passed up the opportunity to join in the cause I so dearly care about.
Next let me tell you how the race went. first of all traveling with a baby and a hubby is an adventure in it self. I had never traveled by airplane with a baby and it was not easy. There is so much stuff to carry and bring. Its enough to stress you out and it DID! anyhow we made it to the hotel in one piece and settled in. We then got to the race expo which was well organized and huge! I was in race over load and bought what I could and left with a tired hungry hubby and baby. Once we left the expo of course we had Chicago style pizza and wish we ordered more. after the pizza we went to bed and had another day to go before race day, since we arrived on Friday and the race wasn't until Sunday. Anyhow Sunday came and went and we enjoyed the day and sight seen and I rested for most of it.
The evening before the race we attended an inspiration dinner where all the participants in Sunday's race who fundraised for the leukemia and lymphoma society attended. We were reminded why we were there and are purpose for running. To raise funds for research and now that we did our part it was time to enjoy our race on Sunday. After dinner I prepared my gear I was to wear for race day and set out my food I would eat. my daughter continued to be a curious little thing and was grabbing all my stuff and eating my food and I started to panic . I freaked out a bit but in the end nothing was really non replaceable before the race. all the while restrictions of what we can and can not bring into the race was running in my mind and I was going nuts on what ifs. I needed to just go to bed.
Ok race day arrives and me and two of my buddies set out to race a great race. we meet up in the lobby and I pray with my buddies because I needed Jesus to be with me. we then got to the race entry and waited in the super long lines for the bathrooms. we made it to our corral and said if ether of us has to stop we wont wait but it was up to ourselves to catch up. this was each others individual race. I had a feeling we wouldn't be together for very long and I was right.
At the beginning of the race we three (Leah Ledesma, me and Jennifer Ibarra) were running great. we saw our loved ones at the 1 mile marker and were moving well. but at 3 miles we started to spread out and by 6 miles we all were on our own. I knew this was going to happen so I was mentally prepared. I was on par to finish at 4hrs and 40min if I stuck to my pace. come mile 12-15 I was feeling a little tired and needed a friendly face and that's when I saw my team manager Simone who cheered me on and gave me hug. that was enough to get me to keep going.
At mile 18 I saw my coach (Tim) I was feeling awful and really was hating life. Tim reminded me what I had on my shirt and why I was running this distance. those words kept me going for a few more miles until the wheels came off at mile 22! I thought I'm going to finish this under 5 hours and get a PR (personal record) then a major debilitating cramp hit on my right side and I had to sit on the side walk. BAD IDEA apparently every runner passing me shouted "get up" patting me on the back and telling me to get up. another coach from a different organization even said "its all mental now get up!" I was in pain but forced my self up. I saw the 4:40 pacer in eye sight and pushed forward. I kept up the pace and pushed through the wall. I ate a small banana on the course that was offered along with a few pretzels. one coach came up to me and asked how I was and I said I need another gu, I ran out . The coach finishing up a gu in his hand says "oh I am all out" I was ready to punch him in the face. this is now when I had a few emotional out bursts too. so much so I cried out so loud with sobs I scared a few people and some older men came over and hugged me and said "you can do this!"another man shoved gu in my face and I took it. I thought this marathon would never end.
By mile 24 I still was on par for a 4:40ish finish even with all the sobbing and cramping. but then boom another cramp and I was done!!! I cried out and sobbed and prayed for this to be over. so I dug deep down and ran and stopped, walked , ran walked and so on I kept pushing myself to finish. the crowds never ended on this race, so they saw all of me crying and sobbing and yelling in pain. the crowds saw my name on my shirt and shouted " Victoria your so close" Victoria you can do this" Victoria we are so proud of you" each time they shouted out I denied it all. I was so angry but the crowd cheered louder. at mile 26 I had meters to go and I could barely run let alone walk and this was on a hill! my PR gone. passed the 5 hour mark for sure so I ripped off the picture I had of my sister on my shoulder and I said " Alex this is all for you baby sister. I need to finish this. lets do this. I gave the picture a kiss and cried as I pushed forward to the finish line. I knew I needed something a little more. As I turned the 2nd to last corner I hear "Victoria, over here!" it was scott and my baby ALEX!! I cried out wanting so badly to hug them but there was police blocking the crowd and I couldn't get too close. but I saw them and scott said " Victoria I love you, you can do this" I said " I dont know how but I will" (or something its all a daze now" then as I turned away from them a police officer looks me in the eye and says "victoria your doing great your almost there" I finally got to the final turn and see the finish . I lift my arms and with a shout " Alex this is for you" I kiss her picture once more and move to the finish. I didn't care what the clock said I finished and that's more then many could do.
The race was big and filled with so many people and expectations. I had an expectation to finish with a faster time but didn't . What I did finish with was a spirit of accomplishment and a victory no one could take away. Someday these stories will be told to my daughter and I don't want to have regrets or tell her I want to forget that race ever happened because it wasn't my best, when in reality it was my best at that time. I left all I had out there on that race course and I tried and I won because I did what I said I would do. Raise money for cancer and run the Chicago marathon and I did.
thank you for cheering me on ! until the next one which probably wont be for a while.
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| race buddies |
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| mile 13 |
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| so happy to be done! |
