The Bianco Family: Race Report!

As most of you know, Anthony and I have been training since June for the Chicago Marathon. Well, this last Sunday was marathon day and we did it! We had some doubts, injuries, GI issues, and many tears, but together, we overcame them all. Running a marathon is such an empowering thing. It breaks you down just enough to make you feel like the strongest person in the world at the end. I'll do my best to recap, but to be honest, it's almost like a flash in my mind!

The highlight of our race probably... we were sitting at the start, right with all the 4:00 pace groups and Anthony grabs my arm, scanning the crowd of THOUSANDS, he says to me "Hey, it's Bernie from the biggest loser!!!" We were devout watchers last year and huge fans of Bernie. Turns out it was him, I got a huge hug and we ended up running the first mile with him. What a fantastic way to start off the race!!! Of course we had to admit to him that we were eating cheesecake at home watching him slave away in the gym for 8 hours a day! =/ He just laughed and said he's heard that from tons of people!

So the race started and the first few miles went by just fine, a warm up of sorts. Anthony and I were feeling out this "marathon" thing, just trying to find our way at the crazy water stops while keeping our pace. After about 5 miles my stomach started to churn! My nerves had been acting up all week and I knew I needed to find a bathroom asap! I went and Anthony diligently waited outside for me to finish. I felt renewed, my bathroom stop was out of the way and we hardly lost any time! As we ran on, we were overwhelmed at the sheer mass of people! Family, friends, spectators, volunteers, and runners! My stomach acted up again a few miles later, and then again, and again, and again. We ended up having to take 5 potty breaks! =/ All of which, Anthony waited for me. He refused to keep on going and insisted that we would cross the finish line together! Somewhere in the middle, my memory seems to get blurry. We were just running, and running. I remember the people on the sidelines, tons of people and the bands/music playing everywhere. All I could think about was getting to mile 20. We both had no idea what to expect after that. When we hit mile 20, Anthony's parents were at the water stop as well as the some of the Glen Ellyn Runners (GER). It was exactly the pick-me-up that we needed as well as some bananas to calm down my stomach! With the help of the bananas, I managed to avoid the bathroom from mile 20 to the finish. We both hit the wall at mile 22. We stopped to walk through the water stop, as we had been doing, and had a really rough time starting back up. I looked at Anthony and said "Did you just hit the wall?" and he just nodded. I think we felt our lowest at that point in time. The crowd was great, we were just done. I knew we'd finish at that point, but I also knew it was going to take everything we had to get us there. We dug our heals in and started to run after we drank up. It was like running on 2X4s. It was hard to make the legs move, someone said it perfectly... "It's like you're simply running with your brain." At that point it was mind over matter. One foot in front of the other, just because I knew that my brain was giving the command. The last 4 miles seemed like forever. All I could think of was that Anthony would have been done a while ago if he hadn't spent so much time waiting for me to go to the bathroom. I kept apologizing to him, near tears, until he finally yelled back at me to stop. I realized that I was wasting too much energy and that I wouldn't make it if I let myself cry. Everyone says to look out for the bridge because there is only .2 miles left after you cross it. We crossed the bridge and eagerly looked over the thousands of people to see the finish. The idea of this pain being over with was so wonderful. Just being able to stop running was an amazing idea. I remember crossing the finish line and trying to hold back the tears. Just thinking of all the people along the way who helped us get to the end! The gratefulness I felt for these people, our families, the volunteers, the spectators and the runners was so overwhelming, so much so that I couldn't even speak. Words couldn't describe what I was feeling or thinking. We made it through the line to get our metals and a cold wash cloth and our foil wraps (to keep warm) and found some space on the side lines to sit. We were totally unaware of where we were, what we were going to do next or even what we should be doing! I've never been so physically and emotionally drained! After we gathered ourselves up a little bit we made it back to the Hotel, took showers and ate some food. The GER had a banquet room at the hotel and they had brought massage therapists as well so we had a good rub down and then came home.

Here are some pictures...

The entrance at the expo