Illinois 26.2 in the quest for 50 states

Several years ago, I set a goal of running a marathon in each of the 50 states. At the time, I could count all of my 26.2 accomplishments on one hand, but that didn't deter me! Dream big, go all in, shoot for the stars, all of that... as part of writing my bucket list down, I gathered a list of goals audacious and modest, outlandish and realistic. After several years of ticking state after state off the list, I think this goal is somewhere in between the extremes. It's been fun and miserable, depending on the day and the race, but each one has brought its own sense of accomplishment, which ultimately is why I keep doing it!

Mr. Lincoln at the Expo!

This past spring I completed the first of my endurance events for the year, laid out in my New Year's resolutions for 2018. Shauna and I had chosen the Illinois Marathon on April 28th as a somewhat in-between spot, and trained through the winter to be ready to go. Mary joined us, too, and Whitney came in from St. Louis to the lovely little town or Champaign-Urbana. It was a Java Joggers ladies' reunion!

My training had been a little bit challenging through the Wisconsin winter, but I had gotten most of the mileage in and was feeling better prepared than the last couple of races I'd done. I also decided to have a little fun with my race number; crowd support can make a big difference, and as the world's most devoted Gray Hog, I went all in to get others in on my devotion to the Army team while I ran!

Beat Navy - every day, in every way!

It was chilly on race morning, but certainly nothing like the sub-zero temperatures I'd faced in the months leading up to the race! We shivered a little bit at the start line, but certainly it's better to be just a bit chilly at the start vs. blazing hot by the end.

with Shauna and Whitney at the start

Shauna and I managed to stay together for several miles, but she was having an absolutely terrific day, so at about the halfway point she went on ahead while I continued my steady pace. We had also lost Whitney and Mary, but the mantra has always been to run your own race! There are so many variables on race day, most of which you can't control, I learned long ago to let go and just go with how you feel on race day.

 

I have long preferred smaller races, and while Illinois certainly wasn't a "local" race like Hogeye, it was a good sized group of runners without being overwhelming. It was really well organized, and the aid stations and crowd support were terrific. Of course, my appreciation of a course and my attitude are always helped by how I feel, and on that day, I felt great! I had a vague goal of a 10:00/mile average for the race, but I managed to do quite a bit better than that, running a 9:42/mile for a total time of 4:14:45! Not only was this the fastest marathon I'd run in a couple of years, it was also the best I'd felt at the end of one in a long time. That much is obvious by my big smile at the finish line!

 

 

As good as I had felt, though, Shauna had a phenomenal day - she ran a personal best!!

The nature of the marathon is that on a day when one person performs at their peak, someone else struggles a bit, and Mary had one of those tough days. We did see her at the end of the race, though, and even on a bad day, it is a gift to be strong enough both physically and mentally to complete a 26.2 mile run.

We run to be healthy, but as the years go by, the social aspect has become more important to me than the time on my watch or the medal around my neck. Especially being so far away from my best friend, using our mutual love of running to put a date on the calendar to get together gives us a way to stay connected. The time together with friends who make my life richer is the real victory in this pursuit of all 50 states, and I use that as my motivation to keep going. Illinois is state #12, marathon #15 - a long way to go, but I'm making progress!

with Crystal, our lovely host for the weekend and Shauna's long-time friend who I'd always wanted to meet!