I guess we can start with the expo. For the record, I LOVE expos!
The excitement of the approaching race, the nearly overwhelming volume of running exhibits, gear, shoes, food, etc. I just find the environment to have a very special feeling. I got to meet Hal Higdon for the 2nd time, but was not nearly as star struck this time around. I was, however, quite star struck when I got to meet the one and only HEFD! 
On to race day. I went to bed at 8:45
and woke up at 3:50am. The fam came to my apt at 6am, we started getting our bibs/chips on, and we were off. Caught a cab to the start line and the crowds were just enormous. Another thing I like in addition to the expo, is the giant crowds and the almost electric atmosphere in a tremendously large starting chute.I love the downtown area of Chicago where the race starts, and the crowds were 4 or 5 people deep in certain parts! The first 5 miles of the race were great. I saw several friends that I had posted at certain points on the course. I'm so grateful for their support.
However, we went out WAAAAAY too fast, Our first mile was 8:30 and the next 4 were 8:55-9:10. By mile 6 I noticed that I wasn't feeling as good as I should be that early in the race. I really started to slow down. I knew something was wrong. My sister regrettably left me, and it was all downhill from there. 
I was almost in shock that things were going so poorly. I couldn't accept the fact that I was gassing out so early. I kept saying to myself, "I can't believe this is actually happening." My thought process was so negative, that couldn't have helped. By mile 12 I had pretty much nothing left, I knew the rest of the race was going to be a disaster.
By mile 13 I started walking, I've never done that before in a race, and I hope I never have to do that again. At one point, I thought to myself, "at least I passed the bar" 
At some point I ran into my friend Sean who works at the store with me. He told me that he couldn't find his father (who he was running with) and was just looking to finish the race. Sean saw how badly I was struggling, and told me that he was going to grind it out with me and make sure I finished. I couldn't believe it, he is a very strong runner and could easily have ran the rest of the race by himself at a respectable pace. Instead he decided to stick it out with me, walk when I needed to walk, and plod along when I was ready to plod. I thanked him profusely throughout the race, and told him how much it meant to me.
Oh, you may not have heard this yet, but it was hot! People were passing out like flies. Collapsing left and right. Each and every medical tent I passed was PACKED. I must have seen at least 7 or 8 people getting loaded into stretchers.
It was actually a pretty scary scene. I thought about quitting on several occasions, but I realized at this point in the race I needed to tell myself, "I'll fucking crawl across the finish line if I have to." It got to the point where I felt like my body was falling apart at the seams.
My shoulders and back had knot after knot building in them, and every single muscle in my legs were cramping up in severe protest. For a little while I was getting heart pain/palpitations. That kinda scared me, and it was probably the point when I should have thrown in the towel, but we kept plodding along. We grinded out the last mile, After we crossed the finish line I hugged Sean and told him I'd never forget what he did for me. The lil sister finished in 3:54. I'm sure she could have finished considerably better but for the conditions.
I ended up finishing in 5:08:47. Am I disappointed with that outcome? Absolutely. But the bottom line is that my primary goal for the past 6 months was to get healthy and finish this race.... mission accomplished. The fact that I made it uninjured from August until now is an absolute miracle!
Once again, I must thank everyone (or at least most people) for the overwhelming support and encouragement you've given me. It means more than you know...
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