Finished... barely

I had an unforgettable 1st marathon. I'm not ready to provide analysis, but it involved a beautiful Chicago day, amazing crowd support, an awesome first 13.1 miles, an asthma attack (left inhaler in Michigan), paramedics checking my vital signs, about 9 miles of walking, a 40 minute break in the first aid tent, some puffs on a borrowed rescue inhaler, and a final run in relative ease. I finished and I'm VERY happy about my day, even with the total disaster that it became.

Thanks for the support of those who have ever posted/read this site. I owe huge amounts of thanks to Jim who ran with me and Melissa, Adam, and Nicole who cheered me on.

And if any of you take for granted an aspect of your pre-race ritual (inhaler, band-aids, stretching, etc.), please learn a lesson from me, it's probably more important than you think.