Illinois Marathon race report (long)

[withm]

Anticipation

. The Navy ROTC (seriously? Navy, in Champaign, IL? Anchors aweigh, my boys – really, really far away) ringing a huge ship’s bell around mile 12, resonating through the streets, audible long before and long after I reached them. .

The Naval Great Lakes Training Center is located just outside Chicago.

From Wikipedia:
Naval Station Great Lakes is the home of the United States Navy's only boot camp, located near the city of North Chicago, Illinois, in Lake County. Important tenant commands include the Recruit Training Command, Training Support Center and Navy Recruiting District Chicago. Naval Station Great Lakes is the second largest military installation in Illinois and the largest training station in the Navy. The base has 1,153 buildings situated on 1,628 acres (6.59 km2) and has 50 miles (80 km) of roadway to provide access to the base's facilities.

[OakLeaf]

That's still 150 miles away over land.

I know there are colleges with Navy ROTC programs even more landlocked than the U of I, it just struck me sort of funny.

[7rider]

Wow. That was awesome. Thanks. And congratulations!

[Bike Chick]

Great job, Oak! Congratulations on your race and your BQ! I can't wait to read your race report on that one. You had me sniffling reading this one.

The Illinois Marathon is a great race. It's where I ran my first hm and DH ran his first marathon. One thing that sticks in my mind is how difficult it was to walk DOWN those steps leaving the stadium

[Pax]

Great job, Oak! Congratulations on your race and your BQ! I can't wait to read your race report on that one. You had me sniffling reading this one.

The Illinois Marathon is a great race. It's where I ran my first hm and DH ran his first marathon. One thing that sticks in my mind is how difficult it was to walk DOWN those steps leaving the stadium

Funny! When I played rugby ay UI our cardio training was to run all the steps in the stadium, it was BRUTAL.

[OakLeaf]

Heh. I actually don't even remember walking down the steps. They'd run out of space blankets and I was going into hypothermia ... even with the wool jacket my husband had brought me, my teeth were chattering by the time we got back to our hotel. No ice bath for my legs!

Years ago I sometimes ran the stairs at a dam, but only uphill - half a mile down the embankment and back around to the bottom. Brutal is right. A friend of mine used to say, "102 steps and every one has a name."

Thanks for all the good wishes folks. Now back to my regularly scheduled life (until it's time to start training for the next one).

[goldfinch]

Great job and your write up is inspiring. I love your ways of finding energy. I want to suck those Prius batteries dry and empty those gas station tanks!