In less than three weeks, I’ll be toeing the line at my first marathon ever, the Chicago Marathon on October 10th. I am giddy and nervous with anticipation.

Here are my goals for the marathon:

1. Finish the race without injury. I assume this is priority #1 for anyone running any marathon, but it still should be stated.
2. Finish the race within 5 hours, which is an average pace of 11:25/mile. Based on what I’ve been able to do during training, this goal should be pretty straightforward to meet.
3. Finish the race within 4 hours, which is an average pace of 9:09/mile. I consider this a stretch goal for sure. Based on my longer runs (17+ miles) during training, it seems within reach, but since I’ve never been over 20 miles, I’m just not sure what to expect.

UPDATE

Just went to the mailbox and found my official Chicago Marathon participant guide. My bib number is 19557. If feel like Steve Martin in The Jerk: “My bib number’s here! My bib number’s here!”