I dont know how to start this. I thought of how and what I was going to say during the whole marathon. Now that Im writing it, I dont know where to start. I told myself that I had to think positively the whole time. So I told myself, there would be no pain until Kilometer 28. I didnt feel pain until Kilometer 33. It was amazing. I was smiling the entire time, until Kilometer 34. Then it got hard, really hard.
The beginning, I woke up from a dream of my swim coach, Matt Liddy, who recently passed away, telling me how to run the race. He told me that I was prepared to do this, to not start off too fast and to finish strong. It was wierd, it was exactly what I needed to hear and it was very comforting to hear it from him. I caught the train and started talking to another marathon runner, a guy from Czech named Mark, well that was his english name for me. I stayed with Mark and met two others-a Swedish couple. I met a couple of americans yesterday named Jessi and Margaret. When we lined up, I thought I would see them but i didnt. They started us off and a bunch of balloons were let go in the air. I was in the last group to leave so it took about 8 minutes to get to the starting line. When we did, I wasnt nervous..I knew I could do this. As we approached the start line, and everyone was chearing, that is when I started to tear up and get nervous. I heard it is an emotional experience and that it was.
We took off and in no time, I found the american girls who were trying to run it in 4.30. Jessi told me I was running way too fast and I would never finish if I was going out that fast. So I slowed down. I ran the first 14 kilometers without any problems. There was plenty of bananas and lemonaide to keep me hydrated. They even had sponges which helped with the heat. It was 60 degrees with the sun shining and it went up to 65 but it was hot. There were cheerleaders and bands and lots of people screaming to keep us going. I couldnt understand anyone. My music kept me going and when I heard any english, I was super excited. I tried to make eye contact with the people cheering us on. They were sitting out there eating, drinking, and waiting like a parade. It was painful to watch sometimes. One group actually had a sign up that said BEER STOP. I read it out loud and then it caught the groups attention. Then i said that is so wrong...and I heard em laughing. Each person that gave me a high five or a nod like YES you can do this...gave me hope and inspiration. I was good to go when I caught up with Jessi who told me she ate too much and thought she was going to be sick. I knew I was behind my schedule when I reached the half. I was at 2:18 instead of 2:10. I did stop for the bathroom though which I had to wait in line for but it took five minutes or so.
I picked up my pace and only thought of the next 7K. I wouldnt allow myself to think of anything but the next 7K. It helped me alot. There were times where I pictured Camila and Mette running along side of me or Will or Cristina-the ones that ran with me while training. Then i thought of a bunch of my OHIO friends cheering me on, the ones that ran a marathon before-Ananda screaming out...You got this girl..I did it and you can too. After 33, I hadnt run more than that in practice and i knew it would get harder. The time it took between 34 and 35 was an eternity. It was only at 35 where I could allow myself to think about the finish. It is when it really hurt and the thought of beating my sister came into my head. Dawn ran a marathon in a great time. She did so awesome that i didnt think of beating her but then she wrote an emotional email to me and brought up how we were always competitive and how I never let her win. That did it. She brought the competitive edge out that has been dead and buried for years now. The last painful 7 kilometers I was hurting, aching with knee pain and hip pain and everytime i started walking, my competitive edge would yell at me for walking. You think u can achieve this with no pain...well forget it, cry after, now is the time to run. I would be sooo close that I couldnt walk at all. When I hit 40 and the people started cheering, I started to run hard, I would call it sprinting but I was running slow...harder than i had run the whole race. When I turned the last corner and was heading back into the city, I heard all the cries and screams of the people. Tears filled my eyes and I knew I had done it. I had dreampt a challenging dream that I never thought I would carry out and finish and I had done it...finished it. I had ran a marathon in the country where my ancestors had come from. Not only did i do it, but I did it by myself. I came to Prague and ran by myself. I wanted to celebrate with someone but it wasnt in the cards this time around. Maybe next time. I was sooo proud of myself.
Now the feeling of finishing this thing was amazing but I came in at 4:54 and my sisters time was 4:53. I gasped as I sprinted through the finish line but then I remembered I didnt start at 9:00. I was delayed. Dawn, hearing the news told me that she was now going to have to beat me and would be running another marathon in October. Huh. Bring it on...I never wanted to do this again but if she beats my time, I WILL compete in another, now that i know i can do this. Dawn, you did this...this competive edge, you started this. I decided to do a half in Cordoba in June...it may be more challenging than the full because it is sooooo hot there.
I went into the health tent to get my knee wrapped, it was way swollen although it didnt hurt much. After sitting down for 5 minutes, I got super dizzy and almost fainted. Its a normal thing when I run so much. Then the nurses took my blood sugar and blood pressure. My BP was a little low 100 over 60-nothing to worry about. I ate something, stayed for 25 more minutes and then left, feeling much better. It was a different experience when they were all trying to talk to me in czech. I didnt stop them till they finished then i told them i dont speak czech and they would have to find a translater. The two guys that did come to help me felt really important and proud, I could see it on thier faces. I then went over and got a free massage-I picked the wrong line. I ended up with two blind guys-not normally a problem but when they dont speak ur language and they cant read my body language, it was kind of hard to communicate. It wasnt very good. oh well. Then i went and got my metal engraved. 4 hours 45 min.
Afterwards, I was on such a high, I walked home. It was a 20 minute walk and I could have caught the trolley...it was free for all marathon runners. It wasnt worth standing around if I didnt know anyone. Its hard to celebrate too when I dont know anyone. i heard there was volcanic ash causing more havic with flights but I will be pissed if it blocks me from going home. I want my hot weather...I want to go to the beach and I miss my students. i am having an awesome time though. I spent all day today stretching, hurting, watching tv and waiting for the pain to go away. Its not as bad as after my triatholon 5years ago, i did it without preparing for it at all-duh I was sore after that one. My knees are good...I just have really sore calves and quads. I didnt take many photos, i wish i could have but i was more concerned with finishing. There were some funny things i saw on that race...a guy dressed up like a playboy bunny, a couple from Korea with a huge sign attached to their backs that said We are traveling around the country to tell u about Korea. Also, a guy with an embrella on his head, he made me smile everytime I saw him. We ran alongside each other 3 times, we made a loop so I was able to see the people that were ahead of me and behind. I even caught up with Mark who ran with me for a bit but he wanted to chat and I couldnt...had to listen to my music that kept me going. There was this english guy on the last 5kilometers that was really encouraging...never saw him again though...wish i could have thanked him. I kept walking and letting people pass and then running again, passing them. There were over 7000 runners and i came in 4126.Pretty good for my first time I think.
10K 1:03.40
20K 2:10.21
HALF 2:18.19
30K 3:18.46
40K 4:31.27
Finish of 42K 4:45.01
TRACY
The beginning, I woke up from a dream of my swim coach, Matt Liddy, who recently passed away, telling me how to run the race. He told me that I was prepared to do this, to not start off too fast and to finish strong. It was wierd, it was exactly what I needed to hear and it was very comforting to hear it from him. I caught the train and started talking to another marathon runner, a guy from Czech named Mark, well that was his english name for me. I stayed with Mark and met two others-a Swedish couple. I met a couple of americans yesterday named Jessi and Margaret. When we lined up, I thought I would see them but i didnt. They started us off and a bunch of balloons were let go in the air. I was in the last group to leave so it took about 8 minutes to get to the starting line. When we did, I wasnt nervous..I knew I could do this. As we approached the start line, and everyone was chearing, that is when I started to tear up and get nervous. I heard it is an emotional experience and that it was.
We took off and in no time, I found the american girls who were trying to run it in 4.30. Jessi told me I was running way too fast and I would never finish if I was going out that fast. So I slowed down. I ran the first 14 kilometers without any problems. There was plenty of bananas and lemonaide to keep me hydrated. They even had sponges which helped with the heat. It was 60 degrees with the sun shining and it went up to 65 but it was hot. There were cheerleaders and bands and lots of people screaming to keep us going. I couldnt understand anyone. My music kept me going and when I heard any english, I was super excited. I tried to make eye contact with the people cheering us on. They were sitting out there eating, drinking, and waiting like a parade. It was painful to watch sometimes. One group actually had a sign up that said BEER STOP. I read it out loud and then it caught the groups attention. Then i said that is so wrong...and I heard em laughing. Each person that gave me a high five or a nod like YES you can do this...gave me hope and inspiration. I was good to go when I caught up with Jessi who told me she ate too much and thought she was going to be sick. I knew I was behind my schedule when I reached the half. I was at 2:18 instead of 2:10. I did stop for the bathroom though which I had to wait in line for but it took five minutes or so.
I picked up my pace and only thought of the next 7K. I wouldnt allow myself to think of anything but the next 7K. It helped me alot. There were times where I pictured Camila and Mette running along side of me or Will or Cristina-the ones that ran with me while training. Then i thought of a bunch of my OHIO friends cheering me on, the ones that ran a marathon before-Ananda screaming out...You got this girl..I did it and you can too. After 33, I hadnt run more than that in practice and i knew it would get harder. The time it took between 34 and 35 was an eternity. It was only at 35 where I could allow myself to think about the finish. It is when it really hurt and the thought of beating my sister came into my head. Dawn ran a marathon in a great time. She did so awesome that i didnt think of beating her but then she wrote an emotional email to me and brought up how we were always competitive and how I never let her win. That did it. She brought the competitive edge out that has been dead and buried for years now. The last painful 7 kilometers I was hurting, aching with knee pain and hip pain and everytime i started walking, my competitive edge would yell at me for walking. You think u can achieve this with no pain...well forget it, cry after, now is the time to run. I would be sooo close that I couldnt walk at all. When I hit 40 and the people started cheering, I started to run hard, I would call it sprinting but I was running slow...harder than i had run the whole race. When I turned the last corner and was heading back into the city, I heard all the cries and screams of the people. Tears filled my eyes and I knew I had done it. I had dreampt a challenging dream that I never thought I would carry out and finish and I had done it...finished it. I had ran a marathon in the country where my ancestors had come from. Not only did i do it, but I did it by myself. I came to Prague and ran by myself. I wanted to celebrate with someone but it wasnt in the cards this time around. Maybe next time. I was sooo proud of myself.
Now the feeling of finishing this thing was amazing but I came in at 4:54 and my sisters time was 4:53. I gasped as I sprinted through the finish line but then I remembered I didnt start at 9:00. I was delayed. Dawn, hearing the news told me that she was now going to have to beat me and would be running another marathon in October. Huh. Bring it on...I never wanted to do this again but if she beats my time, I WILL compete in another, now that i know i can do this. Dawn, you did this...this competive edge, you started this. I decided to do a half in Cordoba in June...it may be more challenging than the full because it is sooooo hot there.
I went into the health tent to get my knee wrapped, it was way swollen although it didnt hurt much. After sitting down for 5 minutes, I got super dizzy and almost fainted. Its a normal thing when I run so much. Then the nurses took my blood sugar and blood pressure. My BP was a little low 100 over 60-nothing to worry about. I ate something, stayed for 25 more minutes and then left, feeling much better. It was a different experience when they were all trying to talk to me in czech. I didnt stop them till they finished then i told them i dont speak czech and they would have to find a translater. The two guys that did come to help me felt really important and proud, I could see it on thier faces. I then went over and got a free massage-I picked the wrong line. I ended up with two blind guys-not normally a problem but when they dont speak ur language and they cant read my body language, it was kind of hard to communicate. It wasnt very good. oh well. Then i went and got my metal engraved. 4 hours 45 min.
Afterwards, I was on such a high, I walked home. It was a 20 minute walk and I could have caught the trolley...it was free for all marathon runners. It wasnt worth standing around if I didnt know anyone. Its hard to celebrate too when I dont know anyone. i heard there was volcanic ash causing more havic with flights but I will be pissed if it blocks me from going home. I want my hot weather...I want to go to the beach and I miss my students. i am having an awesome time though. I spent all day today stretching, hurting, watching tv and waiting for the pain to go away. Its not as bad as after my triatholon 5years ago, i did it without preparing for it at all-duh I was sore after that one. My knees are good...I just have really sore calves and quads. I didnt take many photos, i wish i could have but i was more concerned with finishing. There were some funny things i saw on that race...a guy dressed up like a playboy bunny, a couple from Korea with a huge sign attached to their backs that said We are traveling around the country to tell u about Korea. Also, a guy with an embrella on his head, he made me smile everytime I saw him. We ran alongside each other 3 times, we made a loop so I was able to see the people that were ahead of me and behind. I even caught up with Mark who ran with me for a bit but he wanted to chat and I couldnt...had to listen to my music that kept me going. There was this english guy on the last 5kilometers that was really encouraging...never saw him again though...wish i could have thanked him. I kept walking and letting people pass and then running again, passing them. There were over 7000 runners and i came in 4126.Pretty good for my first time I think.
10K 1:03.40
20K 2:10.21
HALF 2:18.19
30K 3:18.46
40K 4:31.27
Finish of 42K 4:45.01
TRACY
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