On May 18
th, I ran my first half marathon.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about it, and during the week leading up to the race, I considered dropping out since I was still battling a sinus infection I picked up during my trip to China. In fact, my doctor, who advised rest as a big component to recovery in addition to the antibiotics, looked at me like I had three heads when I told him I wanted to run the race the following week. I asked him if it would kill me if I did, and so I took, "no, but I'd strongly advise against it" as a sign of approval.
Of course, here I am a few weeks later and I still have problems with my ears popping like I'm on a plane whenever I get on the elevator to and from my office. But I digress.
I was also somewhat nervous because I hadn't ever run more than 10 kilometers during my training, and even that was a few months before the race. To top it off, the Sunday before the run my coach Jacki and I did a 7km course that left me winded and pushing myself at the end
, so I was worried about my ability to complete a 21.1 km half mararthon. Jacki assured me that come race day I'd be fine, and that the adrenaline and the crowd would push me the rest of the way.
The morning of the race I got up at 5 am, made breakfast and walked to the starting line. It was a bit on the cold side as the temperature had dropped down to about 55 degrees. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest as I went over my strategy in my head. They counted down the time and then the gun went off.
Of course, when there's 7,500 people running, and you aren't considered an "elite" runner, you don't start near the front, so it took a good 4 minutes to even cross the starting line, but then it happened. I got caught up in the crowd, and it was amazing. Everyone jet off, and it looked like a sea of people flowing down the street. I was so energized that I had to remind myself to take it slow and conserve my energy.
It wasn't easy, and as slow as I was going, I did the first 5km in my quickest time ever - about 22 minutes. I slowed myself a bit, but kept on chugging. At about the 10 km mark, halfway through the race, and having just finished the first lap, I hit the wall and thought it was over. I kept moving, saying I'd do just one more kilometer, and by the 11km mark, I pushed through it. At that point I felt I could have kept going all day. Sadly that feeling wore off a few kilometers away, and from there on out, it was a series of ups and downs.
My
iPod, set to my running mix, but on random, must have known the end was near, and as I hit the 20 km mark, it switched to play "The Final Countdown." When I hit the 21 km mark, and began rounding the bend to the finish line, I sprinted it out to the end, giving it all I had left.
While my only real goal was to finish, I was thrilled with my time. I finished in 2 hours and 6 minutes. I have to say, the crowd definitely helped. Hearing people cheer for you really pushes you forward. The people who came out that morning were a great help. I had a great sense of accomplishment afterwards. I will definitely be doing this again, with the goal of running the New York City Marathon in 2009.
I was so warm after the run, and on such a high, that I walked home and didn't need my sweatshirt. Some of my friends met me for brunch in my neighborhood that afternoon to celebrate the accomplishment (which turned into drinks and then dinner). It was a great day, and one I look forward to repeating again.
Labels: Life, running
When Australia declared independence from England in 1901, they decided to name the British crown as the monarch of Australia. Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either, but they tend to do things differently here sometimes. As a result, we have Monday off in honor of the Queen's birthday (despite the fact that her birthday is actually in April...).
