Tag Archives: Girls on the Run

Chicago Marathon Sign-up Fiasco

23 Mar

If you’re a runner, you’re probably already aware of the Chicago Marathon registration fiasco.

If not, here’s a quick recap: Registration opened for the 2013 Chicago Marathon on February 19. The technical servers at Active.com, the site hosting the registration process, couldn’t handle the HUGE amount of traffic that would have probably filled the marathon in record time, maybe just hours. Their site crashed: some people could not get to the registration form at all; some would get partially through registration but time out; some would unknowingly get all the way through and register multiple times. After a couple hours, registration was suspended. Marathon officials finally held a lottery for the remaining 15,000 open spots (hosted on their OWN site, may I point out). Those 15,000 (of about 36,000 in the lottery) who were chosen at random had a couple days to then actually sign up. If you weren’t chosen—that was it, better luck next year, unless you wanted to sign up to run [and raise a lot of money] for a charity.

Where does this leave me, Amanda, who decided to finally run my first marathon—so excited, committed and motivated that I had told pretty much EVERYone I knew?

The night before marathon registration began, Brandi attended an official event at the Chicago House of Blues and was able to pre-register. “Sign up as soon as you can tomorrow,” she had told me. She heard buzz that it would fill in record time.

So, I was one of the thousands who logged on at 12:00 on the dot when registration opened. I had one hour before I had to leave work to catch a flight to a conference. After countless page refreshes and curse words in my mind, I gave up and just figured I’d try later. I didn’t even think about it again until a few hours had passed, just minutes before we were to begin boarding the flight I had to be on. Miraculously, I got to the registration page, put in my personal & credit card info—only to then receive an error message. I gave up and boarded the flight.

It wasn’t until later that night when I realized what a mess the registration was turning out to be. Lara called me to say she couldn’t get through and registration was suspended. I wasn’t even sure if I was registered, until I checked my credit card statement online and saw there was a charge. Phew. But I was still bummed: Brandi, Lara & I had all decided we would run it together…that was one of the biggest reasons I had even decided to run the marathon in the first place. If Lara couldn’t participate, then it just wouldn’t be the same. I could feel my excitement waning.

Lara signed up for the lottery, only to receive a rejection email that she wasn’t one of those chosen to sign up. Womp. What were we to do? Lara could sign up to run through a charity—but having done that in the past, she knew how hard it was to raise the large amount of money needed for that, which could be over $1000.

“YOU HAVE TO DO IT!” I kept telling her. She had two sisters ready & willing to help her raise the money for a charity, if that’s what it took to get her in.

So, that’s what she did. She signed up through Girls on the Run to raise money & run for their cause. It’s a cause all three of us sisters believe in and have run for before, and actually, I am glad we can support them as we run this race. 26.2 miles to help young girls build confidence and self-esteem? What better reason could there be?

Don’t worry…we’ll be posting a donation link for you to help, too. ;)

So there you have it—despite the pesky interweb’s best try, all three of us RUN sisters have signed up for the Chicago Marathon. Hope you’re all ready to hear about it for the next 6 months!

Let us know: Were you able to get in? Do you know someone else who is signing up through a charity to run?

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My First Marathon: Rock ‘N’ Roll USA Marathon

24 Mar Down the final stretch!

Distance: 26.2  |  Time: 3:56.48  |  Pace: 9:02  | PR

Lara after running 26.2 miles!

Sitting never felt so good! Relaxing at the Girls on the Run tent after finishing the marathon.

I DID IT!

I timed this post to publish exactly one week from when I crossed the finish line at 12:05:18 on Saturday March 17. In the past 7 days, I have taken an ice bath, felt like I would never walk normal again, downed ibuprofen like candy, hobbled all around DC sightseeing with my family, felt sore in muscles I never knew existed, and not. run. a. single. mile. Most importantly, I’ve reflected on my experience at the Rock ‘N’ Roll USA Marathon.

I could hardly sleep the night before. I tossed and turned all night until my alarm went off at 5:30. After a couple snoozes, I forced myself out of bed and started to make my way downstairs to grab some cereal for breakfast. I ran into my dad in the hallway (what an early bird!) and he asked me to come say good morning to my mom since she was up, too. To my surprise, I walked into their hotel room and who popped out but my sister Amanda! She had talked about flying in to watch me run but never told me she actually was going to do it. It was such a surprise and I was so thrilled to have her there to cheer me on! We missed Brandi but knew she was cheering me on from Illinois!

 Breakfast done and on to the important stuff: my outfit and race fuel. After debating between my throwaway shirts (which I didn’t even end up wearing to the start; it was so warm already!) I finally laced up my shoes and started to walk/jog the mile to the start area. After dropping some things off at the Girls on the Run tent, I made my way to Corral 6 (for non-runners or those unfamiliar: many larger races will assign you a corral number based on your estimated finish time; grouping similar-paced runners helps for a smoother start) and waited patiently[ish] to start. The announcements and national anthem weren’t broadcast very well to the entire start; even as far up as I was, I didn’t even hear the national anthem being sung until it was already halfway over! The first group of runners took off a couple minutes after 8 and a few minutes later, I heard the familiar countdown for my own corral: 10, 9, 8…

Never run a marathon? Here’s an idea of how it feels, or at least how it felt for my first one:

Caught on camera (I'm in pink) around mile 2 by my official paparazzi, my sister Amanda.

Mile 1-5: Bliss! I met another 20-something first-timer at the start line and we took off together. One thing I love about running is that, unlike virtually any other sport, you can actually hold a conversation while you run which is what makes runners such a close-knit group of athletes. We chatted for the first several miles and relayed our enthusiasm to the other runners, spectators and bands by whooping and hollering our way through Capitol Hill and along the National Mall. Sighting #1 of my super-supportive fans (mom, dad, sister, boyfriend and friend!).

We ran through the legs of a giant inflatable guy with a guitar. I guess you can only do so much to try to make running exciting... I'm in the bottom right of the photo.

Mile 6-9: I knew there was a pretty steady uphill climb at this point, but I credit this pain plan for reminding me that I am not invincible and I need to take it easy on the hills if I want my IT band to survive the remaining 20 or so miles (side not: I had really bad IT band issues in the 3-4 weeks leading up to the marathon… dealing with that deserves a whole post of its own). I bid farewell to my early running partner, explaining that I had to slow from our sub-8:30 pace on these hills due to injury. Even with a slower pace and shorter stride, I still felt my IT band tightening up and the first thoughts of “Can I really do this?” crossed my mind. I shifted my focus to my running form and cheering on my fellow runners.

Around 14 miles, I am lovin' life! This was a mile after I got a mid-race smooch from my boyfriend and hug from my dad. No stopping for my mom and sister though... I was mooooving!

Mile 10-15: My strategy seemed to work! I felt great during these miles. I cheered on the half marathoners as they split from us (who kindly responded to us full marathoners, “you guys are crazy!”) and chatted with a couple other runners as we passed each other. I felt strong, my IT band pain disappeared, the crowd support was awesome and I saw my personal cheerleaders multiple times during these miles (this would also be the last time I saw them until the finish). I remember being surprised to see my friend Anna for a second time around mile 15 (she said she’d be at 5 and that’d be it); I called out “It’s starting to hurt but I’m gonna make it!” I don’t think she was the one I was trying to reassure by saying that aloud…

Mile 16-22: Whatever bubble I was floating on for the previous 6 miles gradually drifted downward and finally popped during these miles. I’ve heard that “something happens” after 18 miles that no amount of training can really prepare you for, and now I think I understand that. The crowd support died after we split from the half marathoners and the course went just got boring. I really can’t blame the spectators for not supporting us on this part; I’m not even sure how you would get there if you weren’t actually running on the marathon course. We ran a large, boring, industrial loop through the marina, trekked on freeways and exit ramps, and made another loop through the park along the Anacostia River. No one was running through water stops anymore, and it was common to see people walking up inclines or standing out of the way stretching. I was afraid to slow to get water–let alone stop to stretch–for fear that my legs wouldn’t start moving again. I forced myself to stop and fill up my water bottle as often as possible because at this point the sun was blazing and I knew I needed to stay hydrated. My IT band was bothering me again, but so was my back, my calf, my hips… Once your entire body starts to hurt, you stop noticing individual injuries so much. I started counting down the miles, trying to put them into perspective (“6 miles? That 6 mile loop back home is nothing…).

Mile 23-25: I wouldn’t say this is where I got my second (or third?) wind so to speak, but it’d be a fair assessment to say there was at least a breeze. There were some more uphills that I wasn’t expecting, but at this point my mental countdown was saying, “3 miles? That’s nothing, just a shake out run…”). The bands during the previous miles were, eh, nothing worth writing about, but the two bands along Minnesota Avenue were great! It seemed that locals from the neighborhood came out as well to listen to the music and offer some cheers. Combine that tiny boost in crowd support with the realization that I’m on the final stretch and you’ve got one happy Lara.

Down the final stretch!

Mile 26-Finish: This was probably the dullest part in terms of scenery (running on a highway over a smelly river?) but at this point, I didn’t care. Sure, it was slightly uphill to the finish. Sure, the sun was beating down on me. But I knew the finish was just up ahead. I turned the final corner and saw the finish line (up farther in the distance than I had hoped–darn!) and from there it’s pretty much a blur. I just remember pushing myself as quick as my legs would take me because in the back of my mind I knew how much I slowed near the end and was hoping I hadn’t ruined my chance of breaking 4 hours. I can’t describe the feeling of crossing the finish line… after thinking about it nonstop for the last several hours, I had finally reached it. After months of training, after several weeks of recovering from injury and thinking I might not be able to race at all… I wish I could bottle that sense of accomplishment and use it for motivation on those really crummy days when lacing up your running shoes is the last thing on your mind.

Post-marathon back at the Girls on the Run tent... so grateful for all the support I received!

I’ve said it and I’ll say it again: this may sound stupid, but I didn’t realize how much it was going to hurt. Whether it was a mix of poor training at the end (my longest run had been 18 miles the weekend before our half marathon; my IT band injury made me drastically back off the miles), going out fast in the beginning or just the race itself, I just wasn’t expecting my body to hurt all over like it did. Fortunately, I had my cheering squad waiting at the finish line to share in my joy and help me re-master the art of walking. This accomplishment would not have been the same without having them there to cheer me on and support me–not just on race day, but the weeks and months leading up to it. That sentiment is true for all my friends and family who supported me in this crazy goal of mine!

So now the question is…

Will I run another marathon? Probably, but not in 2012. I think I want to spend this year focusing on getting healthy, training smarter and do some 10Ks, 10-milers and race a half marathon.

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Running for Charity | How to Ask for Money

15 Mar

For my first marathon, I decided to raise money for Girls on the Run – DC. I had months to collect money so I didn’t expect it to be a problem. I still haven’t reached my goal, but I do think I am getting the hang of how to ask for donations.

Here are some simple tips based on what I learned during my fundraising experience:

  • Believe in your cause, plain and simple. Whether you outright plan to run for a charity that supports research for an illness that took the life of a loved one or you registered late and your only way to run an event is to do it for charity, take some time to sit down and think about how your fundraising will help change lives. Watch videos of real people impacted by your charity. It will be easier to ask for donations and much more genuine.
  • Ask early but don’t expect much. I started mentioning my marathon training and donating to GOTR 3 months ago. Did many people donate? No. But as you get closer to race day, chances are good that a little light bulb will go off in your friends’ and family’s minds when you post it to Facebook and they think, “Oh yeah, I meant to do that back in January.”
  • Make it easy to donate. While most people will happily donate online with a credit card, make sure you know how to handle cash donations and who donors need to make checks to.
  • Think outside the box or computer monitor or wherever. Some other Solemates running for GOTR-DC organized special happy hours at local restaurants with a “suggested donation” in lieu of a cover charge. Another idea: Consider baking a tray of cookies to bring into work and leave a donation jar with a note about the cause.
  • Prepare a canned speech without it sounding canned. I found myself on multiple occasions stumbling for words in my company’s lunchroom when someone asked me about my marathon. After enough times of feeling foolish, I finally sat down and physically wrote answers to simple questions like why I’m running the marathon, why I chose to do it for GOTR, the challenges of training, and a “plug” for donating. Taking the time to compose the sentences and read them a few times a week kept the information fresh so I could speak easily when the topic came up unexpectedly.
  • Ask more than once and then again for good measure. Seriously, don’t give up right away and do not take silence as a no. Whether they’re in between paychecks or busy thinking about other responsiblities, people may not react right away because you simply caught them at a bad time. Don’t be afraid to casually bring it up again with a final appeal right before your race; the urgency may get them to finally act or their sitution may have changed.
  • Be appropriate, especially at work. Check with HR before sending a mass email to your coworkers or posting flyers around the office to make sure you’re not violating rules or ruffling feathers.
  • Make it personal in more ways than one. Posting the link on Facebook may be quick and easy but I received much better responses when I took the time to send individual emails or messages to friends and family. Take the time to write personal messages about your cause relating your cause directly to the potential donor. “This charity helps young girls your daughter’s age” is more impactful than “This charity helps 8-13 year old girls.”
  • Thank people for donations more than once. After receiving donations, I followed up with a personal email or phone call. After my marathon, I plan on sitting down to write thank you notes to let them know how race day went. For me, nothing beats a handwritten note.

Do you have any other tips or success stories? I would love to hear them!

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