The days leading up to the race were pretty relaxed, I was finally not stressing about injuries, the possibility of getting sick and so on. The day before we flew out I went to my acupuncturist for a last treatment: I think it was more for my peace of mind rather than for the actual injury. In any case, I left for Florida without any pain in my shins, so I was pretty confident in terms of finishing. Everything went smoothly with the travels - not so obvious in the winter around NY - and the place where we stayed was absolutely beautiful, near the ocean, surrounded by palm trees. The weather was perfect, sunny but breezy. Rachel wanted to go for a run on Saturday morning, so I also put my running shoes on and went out for a walk with occasional jogging in the sand and on the boardwalk by the ocean: AMAZING!! I love being near the ocean: the sounds and the smells and the feel of the fine sand, they create this special sense of peace inside me.
To get back to the point: we visited the marathon expo on Saturday afternoon to pick up registration packets and then Rachel and I went to the pre-race pasta party that was held at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Miami, near where the race was going to start from the next morning. We met a really nice couple from St. Louis during the dinner and the veteran marathoner husband gave me some good advice regarding the race and mostly some stuff about what I should do after the race to ease the soreness. It was also good to see the city at night and to get a glimpse of where everything will start and end the next day (the start and finish were basically at the same spot, only separated by a few hundred meters).
I was a little nervous about getting to the race in the morning since they were closing a lot of the streets around the start area, but of course, everything worked out fine. To be super safe, we called a cab to pick us up at 4 am at the hotel (yes, I am overly paranoid, but at the end, I think it was good for us to be awake for a couple of hours before the start of the race) and we were at the site by 4:30, but not the first ones to arrive. Of course it was still dark outside, which gave the whole experience a sort of mystical feeling. Rachel forced me to eat some bagels and a bit of an energy bar, again, I am very thankful to her for that as I had no problems in terms of my energy level during the run. Finally the time was approaching, I was getting a little nervous, having to go to the bathroom way too many times, but at last I made it to my corral and found the pacers I wanted to start running with.
I decided to start with the 4:45 group (meaning that they would finish in 4 hours 45 minutes) which is about a 10:50 minute/mile pace. I figured this would be somewhat slower than my comfortable pace and so would be a good place to start. About 10 minutes after the start gun was fired, we finally crossed the start line. As I crossed, I saw Rachel waving and taking pictures on the side, and gave her a thumbs up. I was absolutely elated, more awake than I had ever been before at 6 am, and just felt strong and ready to do anything. The first few miles we ran across a bridge to cross over to Miami beach. The sun was just rising on the horizon and there were many cruise ships "parked" on the side of the bridge in the harbor, all their lights turned on, it was a beautiful sight! I was running right next to the pacers for these first few miles, then had to take a pit stop and then I got somewhat panicked that I wouldn't be able to pace myself very well if I couldn't catch up with the group again. It took me until mile 6 to catch up to them and so I started to feel relaxed and I settled in to their pace for a while.
There were a lot of people on the streets near the beach, some just cheering, some putting on a show: the one I clearly remember was a transvestite or someone who looked a lot like a man in very slutty women's clothing doing a pole dance at a lamp post. Quite entertaining. There was also a guy in his pajamas complaining about all the noise so early in the morning: I guess there will always be self-absorbed idiots who just can't take a look at the world from other people's perspective. After about mile 8, I started feeling like I was running too slow. I left the pace group, still running at a very comfortable pace, still feeling great. Between miles 10 and 13, there were tons of people cheering, bands playing live music, actual cheerleaders dancing, all kinds of entertainment, which was really fun.
Most people in the race were actually running a half-marathon, which started together with the marathon and ran the same route until the very end where the road split in two. I knew that Rachel would be standing somewhere near the split point and I saw her from far away. I was really excited to see her, gave her a hug, I clearly remember wanting to tell her something but when I actually got there, no words came out of my mouth. She ran alongside to take a picture and then I was off. It was a difficult spot to see the half-marathoners run off in the opposite direction: also, some 12,000 people were running the half, while only about 3,000 did the full marathon. The crowd also got a lot sparser after the split, which I was not expecting.
For the next few miles I was doing pretty well, but I kept thinking about the magical number 18 (the most miles I had run before the marathon) and this surely created a mental wall right at the 18 mile checkpoint. Sure enough, I started feeling worse after that and by mile 20, I really hit the wall, mentally and physically. At that marker, I walked for the first time (other than to get water): I timed 1 minute and then started running again till the next mile marker or water station, whichever came first. Then I saw Rachel again at mile 22, she must have been able to tell that I wasn't doing too great because she had some encouraging words to say, which helped a lot. It's crazy how little things can push you through a low point: at some point near 16 miles I saw a guy in a Northwestern sweatshirt and he said my name (it was written on my bib) to cheer me on and I got really excited (even though I have no school spirit usually) and yelled back "Go Northwestern!" to which he seemed to get real excited. This little encounter made me quite emotional actually: it made me feel connected to people in a very special way, even though I had no idea who these people cheering for me were.
The real low point came between miles 22 and 25. We had to run out on to a bridge at Key Biscayne and there were no trees or any shade on there. It was already near 11 by the time I made it there, so the sun was pretty strong and it was getting hot. I had to walk several time during those 2 or 3 miles. The only thing that helped was sort of joining these 2 guys who were running at about the same pace as I was. I found that it was helpful to just alongside someone, even if I had no idea who they were and we never talked. Their presence there made a big difference. After a while I stopped to get water and they didn't and I lost them. Around that time I saw someone holding a sign that said "It's all a state of mind, forget about the body." I was trying to repeat this mantra along with the one I read in Murakami's "What I talk about when I talk about running" which goes something like this: "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." and I found that it really helped to try to focus on something like these short sentences and really try not to dwell on the pain, which by then was pretty bad in my upper legs.
Then something very interesting happened. The 4:45 pace group leader, with 3 or 4 people with her, caught up with me. This was right before the 40 km sign, so with nearly 1.5 miles left. As she was passing me, without making a conscious decision about it, I just went with her. This doesn't sound so amazing except that by this point I was barely moving. Her near 11 minute/mile pace seemed like a sprint to me. Somehow I managed to pull out that last bit of strength that was hidden somewhere deep inside me, something I didn't even realize until I pushed through to grab it. She was still running what looked like comfortably, and she was pushing people with her encouraging words, but I wasn't even listening to her (I had my iPod play "Eye of the Tiger" on repeat) but simply her presence there next to me gave me strength to continue. Then right before the finish, there was a ramp up a bridge. CRAZY! I still can't believe I made it up there, but after that the downhill seemed like a someone was pulling me down and I gathered up some final strength to leave the pacer behind once more. Right then I saw another friend of mine who had run the half marathon, and he said something like "Just one more turn, and you're at the finish", which was like music to my ears, and there was Rachel with her camera right before the finish, and I somehow forced a smile on my face and actually ran across the finish line. Yes, ran, not walked, or crawled, but RAN!! With a final time of 4:41:39.
At this point was my mind was a blank so it's difficult to recall exactly what I was feeling. I think that at first it was just intense relief that I didn't have to keep on running. Then I think I was about to cry, but no tears would come and then I was handed a medal and ushered to the side and found myself sitting on the curb for a few seconds, gathering enough strength to make it to the bagel tent. I was absolutely not hungry (the whole time during the run I was eating: energy gels, jelly beans, things that people passed to the runners from the side of the road) but then I saw the bagels and cream cheese and I felt ravenous all of a sudden and squeezed a whole package of delicious cream cheese on a huge bagel and inhaled it in a few seconds. I had no idea one could eat so fast after just having run a marathon! I found our little group under a handsome palm tree and just collapsed. Sitting down felt so amazing. So did taking my shoes off. Oh my, the blisters! That is something very unpleasant and I guess almost inevitable about long distance running (I have tried so many different socks and so far nothing has really worked). Even after putting sandals on I could barely walk.
On the way to catch a cab back to the hotel, a woman who passed us commented that "it'll just get worse": I am assuming she was talking about the pain. I am not sure why someone has to make a comment like that. In any case, I didn't care, I was so happy! Following the advice of the man we had met the night before while eating pasta, I took an ice bath for about 10 minutes once we got back to the hotel. I just emptied a couple of bags of ice into some cold water in the bathtub and sat in it waist deep: it was really not pleasant at first, but after a few minutes I stopped feeling my legs, which was a much welcomed feeling. I think this ice bath can be thanked for the fact that I am walking so well just 3 days after the race. Then it was lunch time: a cheeseburger and french fries never tasted so good! After wobbling to the nearby beach I lay down and took the nicest nap ever. After waking up, I took this picture with my coach/manager/dietician/cheerleader/friend Rachel. She looks fresh and ready to celebrate, while I look half-dead.
Wow, just recounting the events of that day now is making me feel excited all over again. After all this worrying and the injuries and thinking that I would not be able to do it, I had done it! I finished my first marathon. I hate to brag about things, but I am proud. I feel like I have really achieved something. And, most importantly, I want to do it again, and want to do it better and faster the next time, I am hooked!
For the next two days in Miami, we did absolutely nothing. We did, however, take many more pictures:
 |
| Miami |
Enjoy!
2 comments:
Congratulations, great achievement! Now that you know how it is, you'll do 4:20 easily next time, in NYC :)
Thanks! :) Let's hope for NYC this year, I'd be happy just to be in the race, no matter what my time is.
Post a Comment