franklyrunning
Follow my journey in running, hiking, biking, and the outdoors!
My thoughts on not running Chicago in 2018
I’ll have to be honest that I sat around most of the day waiting to hear if I got into the 2018 Chicago Marathon. After finishing 2017, I told everyone that I was retiring from marathons. It’s been hard on the body, the mind, and the training was timely. I could barely walk after the race and my knees were just fed up. Crossing the finish line was a lot of work and the way I trained was just not right for me. Don’t even get me started on what happened in 2016! The support I had was immense as is common in the running community. I needed to prove something to myself to do better than I did. That’s primarily why I opted in to the 2018 lottery.
I woke up to many friends excited about getting in and as I watched the social media posts throughout the day, I was optimistic that I’d be toeing the line with them. Then around 2:30pm, I got this…
At first, I felt like I got punched in the stomach and talked to a few friends and then immediately posted my disappointment on social media. Taking a step back, I looked at the big picture . I never thought I’d attempt to be a runner, let alone a marathon and was fortunate enough to run the Chicago Marathon twice. I made some incredible running friends and felt like I was taking away their joy of getting in. Reality and what is important should be my main focus.
So, where am I going with all of this? 2018 will be my year of taking my training seriously. My goals:
- Hire a running coach
- PR my 5K
- PR my half marathon
- Run a 50 miler trail race
- Travel a little more to destination races
- Meet more running friends
- Volunteer and/or support my friends at next years marathon
6 Comments on “My thoughts on not running Chicago in 2018”
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Orange Mud Ambassador
Aftershokz #shokzsquad
franklyrunning 
Well put. Volunteering and cheering on friends is the next best thing to running it, some would even argue it’s better. I ran Chicago the past 2 years as well, but I chose not to in 2018. I’m shooting for NYC. Maybe I will be one of the runners you meet in 2018 🙌
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That would be great! I’m trying for NYC as well.
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Hugs! and a 50 miler, wahoo!!
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Thank you Angie! Thankfully it’s all in the trails and woods!
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Man that sucks. But you’ve got some great goals and monster landmarks to hit for 2018! I have a feeling 2018 is going to be a wonderful running year for you!
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Thank you so much Dane!
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