Ouch. Again.

Last year, I trained and ran the Chicago Marathon on 10-10-10. It was the most intense, yet rewarding experience because I pushed myself to the finish line. It took 18 weeks of training, logging over 500 miles, countless trips to Fleet Feet, and pouring my soul into Look What I Can Do with My Feet . It wasn't pretty, but I crossed the finish line and was rewarded a medal.

If you clicked on the link to my running blog, you may have noticed that the last blog I posted was on October 8, 2010. The marathon was October 10, 2010. I never wrote a post-marathon entry, mostly because I was embarrassed. I don't usually tell people this, but I'm putting it all out on the line. 

I'm not an official Chicago Marathon finisher. Damn. 

In order to be considered an official finisher, you must cross the finish line (clock time, not chip time) in 6 hours 30 minutes. Sounds easy, right? 

Tanya Vandermoon #21695

Chicago, IL, USA

Age: 25 Gender: F

Distance	MAR
Clock Time	7:06:13
Chip Time	6:32:26
Overall Place	35001 / 36088
Gender Place	15455 / 16142
Division Place	3628 / 36088
Net 5K	0:40:37
Net 10K	1:21:22
Net 15K	2:02:28
Net 20K	2:46:15
Net Half	3:00:16
Net 25K	3:36:22
Net 30K	4:30:40
Net 35K	5:22:20
Net 40K	6:13:16

That's right, I missed the mark by 2 minutes and 26 seconds. Do you have any idea what it feels like to see the pacing vehicle with a big clock on the top of it drive past you?

I tried picking up my pace in order to beat the clock, but my knees just weren't strong enough. I literally watched 'victory' drive past me. It hurt (physically and mentally). 

The day after the marathon, the Chicago Tribune prints the names of all the official finishers. Hubster and I hobbled over to Jewel to buy a paper and searched for our names. We found hubster's name and mine should have been right after his (alpha order), except it wasn't. My name wasn't printed because I wasn't an "official finisher". Even though I did all 26.2 miles, I wasn't considered an official finisher. Damn (again). What made matters worse, one of hubster's friends told him he couldn't find my name in the paper. Hubster had to tell him why it wasn't printed. Ouch. 

It may sound dramatic, but it took me several months to put my crappy race time behind me. Like I said, I was embarrassed to call myself a "runner" and refused to tell people my time (even though they could look it up online if they were seriously curious). 

So, the "situation" was behind me and everything was just hunky dory. This past weekend I came home to find this in the mail: 

2 copies came in the mail. One for Scott and one for me. So, it was time to find our names. 

There he is. Official finish time 5 hours 8 minutes 33 seconds. Not too shabby for a rookie marathoner. I was up next. I was cringing flipping to the end of the female times because I didn't want to see my time in print. 

Hold your breath. 

The last 'official' female finisher was a woman named Karen. Again, my name was not printed. BURN!!! Once again, I felt a rush of embarrassment and felt sad...almost to the point of tears. Then I thought, why in the hell would the Chicago Marathon send me a book of "Official Results" when my GD name wasn't printed?! Spare my feelings and save the postage. 

I had to blow off some steam, so I walked to Walgreens to peruse the beauty isle. Instead of walking out with a lipstick, I walked out of the store with this: 

I bought the latest issue of Runner's Magazine and I made a commitment to two things. 

1. I will write one final post (by June 24) on Look What I Can Do with My Feet, reflecting on the actual marathon. I will then turn all my posts into a printed book from Snapfish. 

2. I will run the 2012 Chicago Marathon. I will train properly and kick serious ass.