I did it! I finished my 18th marathon and now with perspective, I can be proud of myself. There are no bad races. As long as you finish – however horrible the experience is – it’s still an experience. I would not have been without this race that – hopefully – taught me a lot!

Together with members from my running club in Sweden – IF Linnéa – I arrived in Chicago on Thursday before the race. The temperature was nice – around 18 degrees C (approx 64 F) and I felt comfortable despite the jet lag. Friday morning, we were six persons who went for a lovely morning run. Friday night, however, the temperature dropped to around 7 C (45 F).

Saturday morning, I looked out the window and it was sunny with a blue sky. The chock came when I went outside – it was so cold! I was thinking that it would hopefully be warmer on Sunday morning…

Me before the race, waiting for the start in Millennium Park – cold into my bones (but still happy and optimistic):

Even though I had extra clothes on, it was not enough. I was freezing and when finally the race began, I was glad to run to get warm. It took me around 5 k before I could feel my feet again.

My goal was to finish under 3:50. The start went okay despite the cold and I felt all right the first 15 k. But then my stomach started to trouble me and at 17 k, I had to go to the toilets. I was a little ahead of time and when I passed the half-marathon in 1:52, I was still optimistic. But at 25 k, I had to seek out the toilets again…from 28 k and the rest of the race, I felt nausea and had to visit the toilets two more times.

So, it was not a nice experience; I couldn’t enjoy the race, the surroundings and the fantastic spectators that cheered on me (I was grateful for that after all; I could appreciate that after the race). All I could think of was where to find the next toilet. At 38 k, I still had the hope of at least finishing in under 4 hours but that hope disappeared when I had to visit the toilets a fourth time. When I finally crossed the finish line, I got the time 4:04:53 (not bad, actually, considering the circumstances).

I have been analyzing the race afterwards; what went wrong? What happened to my stomach? First, maybe I ate too much the night before (but I usually eat quite a lot the day before a marathon). Second, maybe I was too cold and I do believe that the cold water at the water stations was the main factor. I’ve always been told how important it is to drink at every station but now thinking back, I should have skipped the first stations – I was cold an definitely not thirsty. And the result was that I could neither drink nor eat anything the last 14 kilometers.

Never before in a race have I had such stomach problems so this was new to me. But I’ve never run a race in such a cold temperature before and I am sensitive to the cold (even though I live in Sweden…). Now I know that stomach problems are quite common for long distance runners. Well, maybe I was just unlucky; maybe I ate something strange; maybe it was the water…Next time, I’ll skip the water at the first stations; well, hopefully, next time, it will not be this cold.

The Art Institute

The day after the marathon, I went to the Art Institute – a marvelous museum with so much beautiful art. My favorite was this Georgia O’Keeffe:

I am an art lover, a book lover, and I am a marathoner!

Right now, I am focusing on my muscles – making them stronger for the next race!