On 23 May 2010, I crossed #1 off my 2010 new year's resolution list and #14 off my life things to do list. it hurt. it felt good. i wept when i crossed the finish line.
I ran, and continue to run, for many reasons. In the beginning, I found that if you run you cannot simultaneously cry; your body needs all of its energy in one place. I also discovered that running is a good distraction for loneliness, depression and rage. As time passed it became clear that running also made me feel happy and that in completing a long run every week I accomplished something bigger than the week before.
But still, in running a marathon, the elephant analogy comes to mind--you can only bite off one chunk at a time. I took good advice from several runner friends and obtained a training plan, invested in some good clothing, better shoes and fabulous mindset before I set off on the impossible task. I began training in December and completed my first 10k road race in February, running past and through London's 2012 Olympic Village. I surprised myself with my times and ability to just keep on going. Which I hoped would prepare me for the big day.
What I didn't anticipate was getting a very bad chest infection, tearing a ligament above my rib from all the coughing and getting sidelined with only a month left in my training.
Thus, on the big day I woke up a bundle of nervous energy, having completed 17.5 miles as my longest run. In the starting pens I willed myself not to vomit as the blue, cloudless, breezeless 28-degree (78F) day beat down on me. I used that energy to sprint through the first two miles and completed them in under 18 minutes, a huge no, no. At my absolute best, I run an eight an a half minute mile; why would I even try to do that in the first two miles of a loooong race?
I hit a mental wall at mile six thinking, wtf am I running a marathon? Then I remembered my friend Sara’s advice when she told me to just slow down and enjoy it. She knows what running and Edinburgh mean to me, and that was somehow enough to get me through. So I did indeed slow down a bit and started enjoying it...until mile nondescript somewhere in the middle where we ran through a field of rapeseed. with no people. And one shade spot. And no lucozade breaks for nearly seven miles.
my so very attractive mile nine NOOOOOO face
The few people on the course were amazing though. I don’t think Scotland’s ever seen a hotter day, let alone a marathon day. People began taking out hoses, sprinklers and buckets and dousing willing runnerbyers. I slow crawled through several sprinklers like an overjoyed seven-year-old.
i got to the point of taking two water bottles at every station, pouring one on my head and drinking the other sloooowly, then taking the metled jelly babies out of my mini running pocket and licking the ooze off my fingers for any and all energy.
All along the race route, people were collapsed with heat stroke. I found out later that a man had a heart attack and died on the racecourse. And at mile 23 I saw a man I’d been running behind for a while, collapsed with so little left to go. It was humbling and scary. So I’m not going to lie and pretend like I sprinted the whole thing. I walked bits of the race, I jogged most of the race, and I sprinted the last 400 meters. I didn’t reach my target time of 4:30:00, but I did reach my goal of finishing in under five hours at 4:54:13.
i did it all for the tshirt
the last time i would sit down or stand up unaided for three days
my so very attractive mile nine NOOOOOO face
The few people on the course were amazing though. I don’t think Scotland’s ever seen a hotter day, let alone a marathon day. People began taking out hoses, sprinklers and buckets and dousing willing runnerbyers. I slow crawled through several sprinklers like an overjoyed seven-year-old.
i got to the point of taking two water bottles at every station, pouring one on my head and drinking the other sloooowly, then taking the metled jelly babies out of my mini running pocket and licking the ooze off my fingers for any and all energy.
All along the race route, people were collapsed with heat stroke. I found out later that a man had a heart attack and died on the racecourse. And at mile 23 I saw a man I’d been running behind for a while, collapsed with so little left to go. It was humbling and scary. So I’m not going to lie and pretend like I sprinted the whole thing. I walked bits of the race, I jogged most of the race, and I sprinted the last 400 meters. I didn’t reach my target time of 4:30:00, but I did reach my goal of finishing in under five hours at 4:54:13.
i did it all for the tshirt
the last time i would sit down or stand up unaided for three days
the after effects of spandex and extreme sun
So I’ve got something to aim for in my next marathon. London 2011, here we go!
i remember seeing this bench and thinking about how badly i wanted to rugby tackle the man languidly sitting there watching the runners
now, onto resolutions #2 and #3, which are a hundred times scarier than #1.
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