Mood: Runners High, but Sore
"I saw the lightI DID IT! 26.2 miles. Done. Finished. Behind Me. I ran the 2010 Austin Marathon on Sunday, February 14th. This was the most emotional race I've done and the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, both physically, mentally, and psychologically. No test, college admissions, interview, job search, anything has been has hard as the marathon I ran yesterday.
At the end of a tunnel
Believe in the pot of gold
At the end of the rainbow
And faith was right there
To pull me through, yeah
Used to be locked doors
Now I can just walk on through
Hey, uh, hey, hey, hey
It's the greatest
I'm that star up in the sky
I'm that star up in the sky
I'm that mountain peak up high
Hey, I made it
I'm the world's greatest
And I'm that little bit of hope
When my back's against the ropes
I can feel it
I'm the world's greatest"
The reason behind the marathon is extremely personal for me. For those who know me well, I set goals and do everything to achieve them. Usually, my goals are academic or career oriented, that is, getting good grades, doing well on standardized tests, getting my dream job, etc. Four years ago, I set a very different goal, a goal that I didn't think I'd ever try to accomplish. I volunteered at the Houston Marathon in January of my senior year, passing out water near mile 22 at the top of a pretty steep hill. I was extremely inspired that I said I wanted to run a marathon. I remember going out for runs my senior year and not being able to go past 1 or 2 miles. In college, I forgot about my desire to run a marathon as I focused on my grades and figuring out my career options. Sophomore year, I roomed with Trevor, who did the Austin Distance Challenge and ran in both the Austin and the Boston marathon. While inspired, I didn't have the chance to start training for the marathon because I went abroad in the fall and focused on finding a summer internship in the spring of Junior year. Then I went to Seattle for the summer and had the idea of doing the Austin Distance Challenge my senior year. The training began over the summer and I got up to 6-7 miles over the summer, running around Lake Union after work and also taking a learn-to-row class.
In August, the dates of the 6 races for the Austin Distance Challenge were announced, and two of the races did not work out for me-- one was the Sunday after OU Weekend and the other was the first week of January and I was not going to be able to make those races! Instead, I decided to run the 10 Miler in early November and then see how I felt before registering for the 3M Half Marathon and then then Austin Full Marathon. I ran the 10Miler and the 3M Half very well and I was content with my time and how I felt afterwards.
Right now, however, after running 26.2 miles, I'm am completely sore and cannot move once I sit down for more than about 20 minutes. Hence, I'm currently just loafing on the couch typing when I should be studying for my accounting test on Wednesday!
Anyways, to sum up the marathon, it was exhilarating, challenging, defeating, and moving. I set the goal to finish at least 4 hours and 30 minutes or better. Throughout the entire race, I was going at a 4:10 to 4:15 pace and stayed with the 4:15 pacer for the majority of the race until about Mile 19 to 20. After that, I could feel my calve muscles start to cramp up and I had to start stopping to stretch it out. Around Mile 22 or 23, the 4:30 pacer caught up with me, and he slowly faded into the distance as I had to continually stop to stretch out my cramping calves and stop to walk so that my calves wouldn't go crazy. It was the most defeating and most emotional part of the race, to literally see my goal slip away from me. I had to hopelessly watch as my goal changed from running in 4:30 or less to running as much as could and at least have a running finish. I ended up finishing in 4:36:22, or a 10 minute and 37 minute per mile pace. In my opinion, that's a terrible pace, but I know I lost my goal because of my calves and having to stop to walk and stretch it out sometimes, and there's nothing I could have done about it.
Mile 22 to the end at mile 26.2 was the roughest part of the race, and I thank the supporters for cheering me on. I was pleasantly surprised and motivated when Ravi, Shyam, and Vicki were on the sidelines cheering around mile 24 to 25. They saw me and ran with me for about 100 yards or so just telling me to keep running and that the end was near. Somehow, I hobbled myself across the finish line and completed my first marathon.
There are two random people I'd like to thank during the marathon. One was a lady around mile 15 or 16 who was holding a Staples Easy Button. As I ran by, I smacked it, and it shouted back to me "Now THAT was EASY!" It totally pumped me up and was very cute. The other was an elderly man who was passing out cookies and tissues around mile 19. He was just opening the box and I really need a tissue as I ran by, so he ripped open the box as fast as he could to hand me a tissue so I could blow my nose while running. The supporters are the people who really do make the marathon what it is. From the neighbors who were passing out orange slices, cookies, gatorade, water, or even beer or champagne, they do it because they enjoy it, and their kindness really do make a big difference.
Now, looking forward, I'm not sure what my next athletic goal is. I really do love running, but it's so bad on my knees what I told myself before the marathon that I'd stop running and move into biking. The problem is, running is not the same as biking. Having finished my first marathon but missed my goal by 6 minutes, I'm tempted to run another marathon just to blow this time out of the water, ie. at 4 hours flat, but we'll see what's in store. Right now, I'm just resting, recovering, and avoiding the school work I really need to start. (ie. I have an intermediate accounting test on Wednesday evening that I'm probably not ready for.)
Carb-ing Up at Milto's the night before
Dying around Mile 24!
But even Ravi, Shyam, and Vicki had strength to run with me and even take pictures while running!
Finished at Last!
And celebrating my finish with my parents!
