I’m officially a marathoner ❤️🏅 Collective effervescence is the feeling of emotional energy and connection that arises when a group of people gather to share a common purpose or ritual. That’s one of the big reasons for why I signed up for Chicago Marathon. I wanted to know what it felt like to be a part of something full of so much human emotion 🥹 And boy, did I go through all of those emotions myself. This is officially one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. It was so painful. I hit the pain cave early on at mile 10. But what matters is that I didn’t give up. Even when I was sitting at the aid station at around mile 17 because of vision problems, all that went through my mind is that I had no other option but to finish. I kept thinking of the messages I received and all the voice notes. I felt like I’d let all of you down if I didn’t keep going. Stopping wasn’t an option, no matter how often I questioned how I was going to do it. I know it sounds silly, but this was my race. Grateful to have had my friend @bot_ramirez running by my side and my family and boyfriend’s support throughout (and right at the end). They pushed me to the very end (and also the pacer vehicle cause I was determined to finish it before it got to me). Thank you Chicago and thank you to all of you who reached out during my race (also thank you @coachbennett at mile 24). I have saved your voice notes for a later video I will post. You helped me through it all. Each mile dedicated to all of you. And the last mile dedicated to God (Firm Foundation played in my headphones as I crossed the finish line). Anyways, I’m sticking to hiking from here on out 😅❤️