Half marathon. When you say it, it seems a bit intimidating. Anything with the word "marathon" seems difficult, even if it's a movie marathon (my butt gets sore from sitting so long!). I honestly never had any interest in running one. But somehow, I convinced myself to do it. I will NEVER do a marathon (at least that's what I think today), but a half marathon? I could probably do it.
A big problem with half marathons is that I don't really like running. I mean, I like running if it's playing soccer or basketball, but running straight for long periods of time? Why do people do that? I mean, the 10 km runs in the Olympic triathlons are enough. I didn't really want to run 21 km.
Another problem is that my knee always starts hurting after 10 km, and I get blisters on my toes or on my heel. Wah wah, yes, I'm whining. But I signed up anyway. Since the race was going to be in March (several months away from when I signed up), I thought I didn't really need to commit...I'll sign up in case I want to do it, but in the worst case scenario, I'd just pick up the free t-shirt and skip the run. I still wanted to half-prepare, at least to see how my knee and toes would hold up. When I was in Hawaii, I ran 4 or 5 times, but only a few km each time (it's too hot to run there!). When I got back from Hawaii, I ran a couple more times, between 10 and 15 km (with a bathroom break in the middle at the Sheraton...15 km is a long time to run without a bathroom break).
With my new Nike Free running shoes, and my heart monitor to help me pace myself (I'm getting old), the 15 km run seemed pretty easy. It was a week before the half marathon so I thought, OK let's go for it.
My last and biggest problem is that it was going to be -6 degrees C at the start of the race (around 20 F). I mean, who schedules an outdoor race in Poland in March? There was still a lot of snow and ice on the ground, but it was dry. I guess the conditions could have been worse, but it could definitely have been better. A lot better.
On the day of the race, I met with all the WITCers and headed over to the race start (next to the national stadium). I don't have Twitter, but if I did, it would have gone something like this:
9:20 am - Super hydrated from drinking water all night (#EarthHour) and energized after a good breakfast! #H20isgoodforyou
9:32 am - Drank 2 MUCH water! Gotta pee
9:34 am - Lots of toilets here, relief!
9:43 am - Gotta pee again, dammit #smallbladder
9:46 am - Where did my friends go? I lost them after going to the toilet
9:50 am - Slipped on the ice and fell on my A$$ walking to start line! Pretended I was stretching LOL
9:54 am - I guess I'm running by myself, can't find anyone
10:00 am - Starting gun! Let's go!
10:02 am - Why are we still standing here?
10:03 am - I guess the fast runners go first? #slowerrunners
10:05 am - I'm bored
10:07 am - OK, finally we're going! Starting timer on my new Garmin GPS
10:13 am - 1 km down, feeling pretty good #only20more
10:15 am - If I keep this pace I'll get under 2 hours...respectable
10:19 am - Crossing the bridge, tons of people. Must be over 10,000!
10:21 am - R u kidding me? Gotta pee again.
10:22 am - No toilets, I'll hold it
10:31 am - Glad I put MC Hammer on my iPod playlist #pleasehammerdonthurtem
10:38 am - Pace @ 5:10 per km...I can keep it up if I just ignore my heart rate monitor telling me to slow down
10:45 am - 7 km down, time to eat one of these energy gels
10:46 am - Ack! It's hard to breath when trying to swallow this stuff! #thatswhatshesaid
10:47 am - I hope this doesn't give me a stomach ache #rollingthedice
10:51 am - Saw Cristina in her WITC shirt...should have worn mine instead of this stupid green shirt that nobody else wore #rookiemistake
11:01 am - 10 km down! This isn't so bad...I could actually get under 1:50 if I tried
11:03 am - Spoke too soon...can feel a blister on my foot
11:05 am - Stopping to put vaseline on my blister (yes, I brought vaseline)
11:06 am - Crap, vaseline froze in my pocket!
11:08 am - Finally got it on, it helped...see the 1:55 pace guy, will try to pass him
11:20 am - Stomach seems ok...I'll have another gel #14kmdown
11:25 am - Big hill! Following a fast guy in orange socks...passing a lot of people discouraged by hill #crossfithelps
11:33 am - Only a few more to go...picking up the pace. Fun to pass people!
11:45 am - 2 more km...could get under 1:50!
11:46 am - Going fast, but why are there still so many people ahead of me? #notasfastasyouthinkyouare
11:50 am - How can people run this race 30 minutes faster than I am???
11:52 am - There's the finish line! #hallelujah
11:53 am - You mean that wasn't the finish line?? Why are we still running? Where's the finish line?
11:54 am - WTF? It's way over there still! #fakefinishlinessuck
11:55 am - Just gotta beat that old man........
11:56 am - DONE! 1:48:20. Wahoo!
It was a great feeling to finish the race, even though I could have paced myself even better. I think I was going a bit slow at the beginning because I didn't know what to expect at the end. I'd never run 21 km before, so I didn't want to go too hard at the beginning. I guess that's part of the experience, to know how your body will react. It's probably a good strategy anyway, to be able to finish strong, rather than collapse and die at the first fake finish line. I still don't understand how some of the fastest guys beat me by 40 minutes. Even fast Andy beat me by around 20 minutes, and some guys beat HIM by 20 minutes. It's like they were riding bikes or something.
Afterwards, the WITC guys went to an Indian place for lunch, but I had to go home to shower and change. I didn't bring any clothes or bag with me to the race, because I actually thought that if I got tired sometime in the first 8 km, I could easily just jog home, in shame, since the route went past my house. If I did that, I didn't want to have to go back to the stadium to pick my stuff up, and look people in the eye. But I finished, and I had to live with no warm clothes. After going home, I surprisingly had enough energy to go back out to the restaurant to meet for food. It was great to celebrate with everyone there, many people getting personal best times in the race (maybe it's easier to run in the cold?) and a few other first timers. Even though I can't say that I'd like to do it again, it was a good experience, and I'm glad I did it. And I'm glad I had WITC there to support me.
A big problem with half marathons is that I don't really like running. I mean, I like running if it's playing soccer or basketball, but running straight for long periods of time? Why do people do that? I mean, the 10 km runs in the Olympic triathlons are enough. I didn't really want to run 21 km.
Another problem is that my knee always starts hurting after 10 km, and I get blisters on my toes or on my heel. Wah wah, yes, I'm whining. But I signed up anyway. Since the race was going to be in March (several months away from when I signed up), I thought I didn't really need to commit...I'll sign up in case I want to do it, but in the worst case scenario, I'd just pick up the free t-shirt and skip the run. I still wanted to half-prepare, at least to see how my knee and toes would hold up. When I was in Hawaii, I ran 4 or 5 times, but only a few km each time (it's too hot to run there!). When I got back from Hawaii, I ran a couple more times, between 10 and 15 km (with a bathroom break in the middle at the Sheraton...15 km is a long time to run without a bathroom break).
With my new Nike Free running shoes, and my heart monitor to help me pace myself (I'm getting old), the 15 km run seemed pretty easy. It was a week before the half marathon so I thought, OK let's go for it.
My last and biggest problem is that it was going to be -6 degrees C at the start of the race (around 20 F). I mean, who schedules an outdoor race in Poland in March? There was still a lot of snow and ice on the ground, but it was dry. I guess the conditions could have been worse, but it could definitely have been better. A lot better.
On the day of the race, I met with all the WITCers and headed over to the race start (next to the national stadium). I don't have Twitter, but if I did, it would have gone something like this:
9:20 am - Super hydrated from drinking water all night (#EarthHour) and energized after a good breakfast! #H20isgoodforyou
9:32 am - Drank 2 MUCH water! Gotta pee
9:34 am - Lots of toilets here, relief!
9:43 am - Gotta pee again, dammit #smallbladder
9:46 am - Where did my friends go? I lost them after going to the toilet
9:50 am - Slipped on the ice and fell on my A$$ walking to start line! Pretended I was stretching LOL
9:54 am - I guess I'm running by myself, can't find anyone
10:00 am - Starting gun! Let's go!
10:02 am - Why are we still standing here?
10:03 am - I guess the fast runners go first? #slowerrunners
10:05 am - I'm bored
10:07 am - OK, finally we're going! Starting timer on my new Garmin GPS
10:13 am - 1 km down, feeling pretty good #only20more
10:15 am - If I keep this pace I'll get under 2 hours...respectable
10:19 am - Crossing the bridge, tons of people. Must be over 10,000!
10:21 am - R u kidding me? Gotta pee again.
10:22 am - No toilets, I'll hold it
10:31 am - Glad I put MC Hammer on my iPod playlist #pleasehammerdonthurtem
10:38 am - Pace @ 5:10 per km...I can keep it up if I just ignore my heart rate monitor telling me to slow down
10:45 am - 7 km down, time to eat one of these energy gels
10:46 am - Ack! It's hard to breath when trying to swallow this stuff! #thatswhatshesaid
10:47 am - I hope this doesn't give me a stomach ache #rollingthedice
10:51 am - Saw Cristina in her WITC shirt...should have worn mine instead of this stupid green shirt that nobody else wore #rookiemistake
11:01 am - 10 km down! This isn't so bad...I could actually get under 1:50 if I tried
11:03 am - Spoke too soon...can feel a blister on my foot
11:05 am - Stopping to put vaseline on my blister (yes, I brought vaseline)
11:06 am - Crap, vaseline froze in my pocket!
11:08 am - Finally got it on, it helped...see the 1:55 pace guy, will try to pass him
11:20 am - Stomach seems ok...I'll have another gel #14kmdown
11:25 am - Big hill! Following a fast guy in orange socks...passing a lot of people discouraged by hill #crossfithelps
11:33 am - Only a few more to go...picking up the pace. Fun to pass people!
11:45 am - 2 more km...could get under 1:50!
11:46 am - Going fast, but why are there still so many people ahead of me? #notasfastasyouthinkyouare
11:50 am - How can people run this race 30 minutes faster than I am???
11:52 am - There's the finish line! #hallelujah
11:53 am - You mean that wasn't the finish line?? Why are we still running? Where's the finish line?
11:54 am - WTF? It's way over there still! #fakefinishlinessuck
11:55 am - Just gotta beat that old man........
11:56 am - DONE! 1:48:20. Wahoo!
It was a great feeling to finish the race, even though I could have paced myself even better. I think I was going a bit slow at the beginning because I didn't know what to expect at the end. I'd never run 21 km before, so I didn't want to go too hard at the beginning. I guess that's part of the experience, to know how your body will react. It's probably a good strategy anyway, to be able to finish strong, rather than collapse and die at the first fake finish line. I still don't understand how some of the fastest guys beat me by 40 minutes. Even fast Andy beat me by around 20 minutes, and some guys beat HIM by 20 minutes. It's like they were riding bikes or something.
Afterwards, the WITC guys went to an Indian place for lunch, but I had to go home to shower and change. I didn't bring any clothes or bag with me to the race, because I actually thought that if I got tired sometime in the first 8 km, I could easily just jog home, in shame, since the route went past my house. If I did that, I didn't want to have to go back to the stadium to pick my stuff up, and look people in the eye. But I finished, and I had to live with no warm clothes. After going home, I surprisingly had enough energy to go back out to the restaurant to meet for food. It was great to celebrate with everyone there, many people getting personal best times in the race (maybe it's easier to run in the cold?) and a few other first timers. Even though I can't say that I'd like to do it again, it was a good experience, and I'm glad I did it. And I'm glad I had WITC there to support me.
Meeting before the race...and yes, that's snow on the ground
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