Monday, January 21

Today I am in Chicago, back from Cabo San Lucas. It was a great trip and a truly spectacular race. I finished in 2:22:23, which is 12 minutes faster than my last half marathon and 8 minutes faster than my previous personal best! I was so happy with the results - goes to show you what proper training can do....

We arrived on Thursday afternoon. There were 138 runners from Chicago Endurance Sports entered in the race, and I think we made up about a third of the field. :) I didn't sleep at all the night before I left, so I was super exhausted on Thursday night and got a solid night's sleep. It was a good thing because I didn't sleep very well at all the night before the race. There are so many things to think about when you are doing a "destination race" (especially in a foreign country) - what will I eat for breakfast? Is it safe to drink the water on the course? Will they have bathrooms? I tried to prepare as much as I could by bringing a special energy bar for breakfast, making my own Gatorade mix in the hotel, etc. Had my CES shirt all laid out with my number pinned to it, sunscreen, lip balm, energy gel, hat, sunglasses - I had never prepared in advance like that for a race before. In the end, everything worked out great. The people on the course were so nice to us - I had so much fun yelling out "hola!" to everyone and thanking them for their support. What a friendly bunch of folks. There was a funny moment around Mile 4 when we came upon a dozen Mexican men standing very quietly at the side of the road, watching us but in a somewhat somber manner. I waved and yelled out "buenas dias!" and they all sprang to life with huge smiles and loud cheers. "Aye! Chick-ah-go!," they yelled, seeing the CES logo on our shirts. "Vamos! Muy bien!" It was funny to see them go from statues to total animation. I had so much fun on the course and really tried to make the most of the experience. I think that helped me immensely with the physical challenge, given that it was a significant one. There were about 3 miles of hills from Miles 3 to 7 that were very challenging - they just kept going up, and up, and up (as hills are known to do). The road would curve and the hills would continue. But, I just kept trudging up, one foot in front of the other. Then came the turnaround and we got 3 miles of glorious downhill, the Sea of Cortez and Cabo San Lucas spread out in front of us. I turned to JoAnne, my CES friend with whom I ran most of the race and said, "This is why we run. Downhill, running in shorts and a tank top (when it's 9 degrees Fahrenheit in Chicago that day), this gorgeous view.....this is why we run." I was almost overcome by the rush of endorphins and just reveled in how thoroughly happy I felt. I need to think about it some more before I can put into words how that feels - it's like Christmas morning, the last day of school, hitting the jackpot, being in love....all at once. An amazing feeling and, for me, the reason that I keep running. Once you've felt that rush, you just want to feel it over and over again. I have never been addicted to anything in my life except that rush.

The rest of the trip was...rest. I went whale watching, ate some great food, met some wonderful new friends. I am glad to be back home with the kitty cats (and a high of 14 degrees today!) but am so happy for the experience I had in Mexico. I would do it all over again tomorrow.

Here is a link to my official certificate. :)

http://www.marcate.com.mx/home/certificado.asp?numero=224&cve_evento=123