In this episode of Running on Pixie Dust, I’m debriefing my full Chicago Marathon 2025 weekend—from getting into the city early (Wednesday night) to the chaos of the expo, and then the reality check of race day. Chicago was my first standalone marathon outside of Dopey (I’ve done Dopey three times), so being at a World Major felt surreal in the best way. Traveling with my besties (and having a bigger group to meet up with) was a huge high, because that kind of in-person community really filled my cup. I also share an exciting update: I’m officially partnering with the Runna app. I’m a “more is more” runner when it comes to tracking and structure, so I’m using Runna alongside my coach—not instead of her. Over the weekend I did all the things: rope-dropping the expo like a true runDisney gal, a Bandit pop-up line that was absolutely unhinged, carb-loading deep dish via Uber Eats (because we are not waiting three hours), the Abbott Chicago 5K shakeout, and even a robot massage. Then we get into the lows: the race didn’t go how I hoped. I got sick during taper, dealt with a calf strain all summer, and you really can’t cheat running—missed workouts show up on the course. I still finished, and I’m letting myself feel the feelings while also remembering: I’m a World Major marathoner, and that’s still a win.