Monday, August 21, 2006
Guess what I did last weekend!!!
On the spur of the moment, I signed up for a half-marathon (that's 22km folks) here in Bremen, thinking that it would be a good warm-up for the big one in Basel. I figured if I didn't finish, it was not the end of the world, since I just saw it as prep. Not only did I finish, but I finished 27 minutes faster than I thought I would! I gave myself 3 hours (the time limit) to run, walk or crawl to the finish, and I finished in 2 hours and 33 minutes. I probably would have finished in an even 2h30, but I took a couple of wrong turns along the way. Beginner's luck.
Thanks to Lucie for being there to support me. Thanks to Linda for the tips about Vaseline on the feet. And thanks to my feet for not failing me. I've never run that long in my life, and I only had to walk about 10 minutes of the entire ordeal. After the first lap (8.5 km), I was still going strong. It was about half way through the second lap that I "hit the wall" so to speak, and the legs started to burn a bit. But I pressed through, and after the second lap, I discovered the joys of carbohydrate gels. I downed one of those puppies, and within 5 minutes, my legs were pumping once again! I felt tingling sensations all over my body, and could even feel the blood flowing in and out of my hands as I was getting close to the end.
Running is meditation. You find a rhythm, and it hypnotizes you. The steady beat of the breath in unison with the sound of the feet hitting the ground. It's music for the soul, and the circulation. I think I added 3 years to my life span last weekend. My legs still hurt, but I've never been so happy to be in so much pain. I didn't walk far the next day, but why walk when you can recover?
I must tip my hat to those who kept pushing on for 2 more laps to finish the whole marathon. I wouldn't have made it (yet), and I sure wouldn't have made 3 marathons in ONE DAY, like some of the crazies who were running with me. Imagine, they got up at 4 AM, and within 20 hours had run 3 marathons in a row! This is not just a hobby, or even a sport, but a passion for these people. Some of them do nothing but run 1-4 marathons PER WEEK! I think it will take me a week to get my legs back in working order. And that gives me one week to prepare for the Basel marathon on September 3rd. Keep posted here, and I'll tell you how it went. Pics and video are to come.
On the spur of the moment, I signed up for a half-marathon (that's 22km folks) here in Bremen, thinking that it would be a good warm-up for the big one in Basel. I figured if I didn't finish, it was not the end of the world, since I just saw it as prep. Not only did I finish, but I finished 27 minutes faster than I thought I would! I gave myself 3 hours (the time limit) to run, walk or crawl to the finish, and I finished in 2 hours and 33 minutes. I probably would have finished in an even 2h30, but I took a couple of wrong turns along the way. Beginner's luck.
Thanks to Lucie for being there to support me. Thanks to Linda for the tips about Vaseline on the feet. And thanks to my feet for not failing me. I've never run that long in my life, and I only had to walk about 10 minutes of the entire ordeal. After the first lap (8.5 km), I was still going strong. It was about half way through the second lap that I "hit the wall" so to speak, and the legs started to burn a bit. But I pressed through, and after the second lap, I discovered the joys of carbohydrate gels. I downed one of those puppies, and within 5 minutes, my legs were pumping once again! I felt tingling sensations all over my body, and could even feel the blood flowing in and out of my hands as I was getting close to the end.
Running is meditation. You find a rhythm, and it hypnotizes you. The steady beat of the breath in unison with the sound of the feet hitting the ground. It's music for the soul, and the circulation. I think I added 3 years to my life span last weekend. My legs still hurt, but I've never been so happy to be in so much pain. I didn't walk far the next day, but why walk when you can recover?
I must tip my hat to those who kept pushing on for 2 more laps to finish the whole marathon. I wouldn't have made it (yet), and I sure wouldn't have made 3 marathons in ONE DAY, like some of the crazies who were running with me. Imagine, they got up at 4 AM, and within 20 hours had run 3 marathons in a row! This is not just a hobby, or even a sport, but a passion for these people. Some of them do nothing but run 1-4 marathons PER WEEK! I think it will take me a week to get my legs back in working order. And that gives me one week to prepare for the Basel marathon on September 3rd. Keep posted here, and I'll tell you how it went. Pics and video are to come.
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