Get Strong Run Strong

Race recap #5 (final one, promise 😜): The PT journey

One of the first people I messaged after crossing the finish line was one of the most important people in getting me to the starting line feeling my best: 💯 at .

I met Dr. Brooke about 2 years ago (time has never righted itself since 2020, so don't quote me on this 🤣). After running through several pelvic floor physical therapists, I knew I struck gold 🥇.

If you've been following me for a while, you know I've struggled with pelvic floor and related issues for basically forever. I had 3 kids in 3 years, and my body did whatever the opposite of "bouncing back" is. I've had leaking and hip pain after every big race, even if during the race I felt good.

Dr. Brooke is the first PT I've worked with who never made me feel like I reached my limit with what could be fixed 💯💯💯. I warned her I would be a challenge, not because I wasn't a good PT student (I'm the best. I will follow every direction. A+ PT student 😁), but because I had tried so many things and nothing seemed to work completely or long-term. Brooke took a holistic, always open-minded approach. She always had something new I could try, or an adjustment to implement. She worked WITH me, not just on me. She's practical, advising me for short-term (right before a race) and long-term (what to work on after before the next training cycle). Even if she may have thought it, she never implied that I was crazy or asking too much of my body (running 3 marathons in 3 months 🤪 while staying pain-free). And did I mention she's so fun to talk to? 😃

My personal experience with Dr. Brooke is why I refer basically everyone to her! She's a mom who gets it in addition to being at the top of her game 🔥.

Completing my 8th marathon without peeing myself and without hip pain has been more rewarding than the time PR, and I can't thank her enough for helping me achieve my A goal of "sitting at dinner without pain" the night of the marathon. 🎆❤️🙌

Marathon #8 ✅

I knew I wanted to come back to Chicago to run the marathon again. Last year was an amazing experience, and now that I had a better idea of the course and logistics, I wanted to capitalize on that knowledge with the fitness I've built since.

And capitalize I did 💯.

This is the first race in my memory where I have no "if onlys". As runners, we're rarely satisfied. "If only I had run 10 seconds faster to be under X minutes" or "If only I had taken that other gel" or "If only I had trained a little harder" --- the "if onlys" keep us hungry for more, but they can also rob us of the joy of finishing another race.

I have only pure joy for this one. 😍🥳

Throughout the race, I kept telling myself that I was so proud of me for doing so many things right, and that I was so lucky that so many things I couldn't control (weather, not tripping, having enough space to move this year, etc) were going in my favor. When it started to get hard at the end, I reminded myself that it's rare for this much to align so well and that I should take advantage of it because you never know when that will happen (if ever!) again. No point in wasting a near perfectly executed race just because you were getting tired.

At mile 25, an announcer said, "the hardest miles are behind you, time to celebrate" and I couldn't agree more. That last 1.2 was far from easy, but at that point I knew I would finish, and with a damn good time. The hardest miles are the ones where you have to make decisions, and at mile 25, all you have to do is keep running. 

3:27:39 👊
2nd BQ 👊
2nd Chicago Marathon 👊
5-minute lifetime PR 👊

More race recap later, but for now, celebrating ❤️🎆

Big thanks to the organizers of the and the for such a beautiful course and well-organized race last Sunday! These professional photos were free to participants, and the tech premium hooded pull over was one of the nicest pieces of race swag I've ever gotten included with registration (but you have to finish the race to actually get it -- even more incentive)!

If you're looking for a race late August next year, PUT THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR!! Next year will be the 50th anniversary of this iconic race and it's sure to be good!