well, many people were telling me to let them know how the race went. i figured this would be a place to tell my brief story with out doing it on the facebook because not everyone has facebook.
so, i arrived in hong kong a day before the race. i needed to be there on that day mainly to pick up my race information. the race early in the morning as well. so, regardless i had to be there on saturday. plus, i was able to get a chance to figure out the best way to get to the starting line since i was staying near the finish line. i'm glad i was staying very close.
after checking in to my hotel room, i snuck in my last short run to stay loose or it would have been 3 days without a run before the race. so, i was glad to do that. i was feeling really good. i felt loose and relaxed. i wasn't tired or feeling any unusual aches or pains. the jitters and nervousness started to fade away. afterwards, i went to the starting line which had yet to be set up with the all the equipment. there was nothing there the night before the race. when i went back in the morning, the inflatable arch was set up, and the long line of porta-potties were standing side by side like in a military formation. they were the squatting style toilets too (that's for all my peeps who have experienced such facilities in general here in asia). i'm just glad i only had to pee.
after dropping off my bag, i started my usual stretch. it's nothing long or spectacular. it's just the same routine i did for the past few months. i stuck with something i was familiar with. i didn't see the point in changing it up. i had to stay in my comfort zone. besides, i don't think any amount of stretching could have prepared me for what i was about to find out 3.5 hours into the run. i'm getting ahead of myself. i would say about 10 minutes before the start i made my way over to the starting area. i was surprised that there wasn't a lot of pushing and shoving to get in the place. while, i was waiting i kept moving around a bit in what little space i had to myself. i was initially concerned that it was going to be cold. that was not the case. in fact, i had dressed a lot warmer when i left the hotel. that suddenly changed once i got off the subway. the weather was perfect. the skies were relatively clear. it was a rare moment that i could actually see blue skies over hong kong.
i start the race again surprised that there was not a lot of pushing and shoving. any small bumps that i got, were quickly followed by apologies. i knew what this course had in store for me. it's just that i never ran it before. i knew that there was going to be hill after hill and running across bridges. i was happy that the toughest one, the stone cutters bridge, was first and that would be put out of the way early. i think it was about 4-5 miles in to the race. knowing this and knowing there would be many hills to climb, which would later seem like mountains, i started out conservatively. for me, that's hard to do. i had to think being over conservative and it work. worked really well. i would say i was clipping along quite nicely. that was my plan and i stuck to it.
i couldn't begin to tell you how many people were running. there was an ocean of people in front of me and in back. i saw a couple of sharks too. no really, there were a couple of people with shark costumes on. they were running in protest of shark fin soup. there was also a rhinoceros. at about the 29k mark the turnaround for half-marathon merged those runners in with the marathoners. so, the sheer amount of people i could see ahead of me at that point we just incredible. i decided to not run with my phone so there are no pictures of the actual race. in hindsight it would have been cool to have it. scores of people were stopping and taking pictures on the bridges, at the mileage markers, etc.
oh, back to the run. as i have said i was sticking to plan. it was a good plan. i was maintaining a very steady pace for quite a while. i was feeling good. my pace didn't slow down going up and down the hills. when, i saw one coming up, i eased up a little to conserve a little energy before going up the next hill. once i got to the top, i would let gravity do the work. my speed gradually picked up, and i cruised down the hills. all a part of the plan.
i can go back and dissect this race. i did everything right except for one key element that probably led to how i finished. that would be the eating and taking in of fluids on the run. i had that planned out too. i didn't follow it from the start. i missed my first scheduled feeding. i was to consume a gel every 45 minutes. when i did this on my 20 mile workout, i could have continued the last six miles easy. back then i was running a 30-60/ mile slower though. i believe i took in too much fluids too. my gut felt full of liquid and was a bit uncomfortable. so, next time i won't make that mistake. when you look at a race that you're about to do, they say these watering tables are "x" amount of miles or km apart. then when you're out on the course you seem to pass one every mile or 1.6 km. i didn't follow the rule to drink when your thirsty and not every time you pass a watering spot. then again you don't want to wait until it's too late. you can over hydrate though, people have died from over hydration. i felt at times i was drinking too much. i had passed on a bunch of water stops. i carried my own water bottles too just in case i was in a spot where i needed to drink and there was no watering spot.
so, that's one plan i didn't follow very well. despite that i was still cruising until...
you see, there is this term called "hitting the wall". runners are familiar with this term or some other words that have the same effect. they say that the human adult body contains enough glycogen to run more or less 20 miles before it is completely depleted. this is where the body starts to struggle and can shut down. "the wall". this is where my not following my eating and drinking plan may have come in to play. the energy gel i used contains carbs which the body convert in to glycogen... blah blah blah... a bunch of scientific stuff... blah blah blah. the stuff keeps you stored with what you need to keep going.
anyways, i was cruising. at the half way point i was feeling excellent. excellent to the point where i knew i could run a negative split. i had no doubts in my mind at the time. so, i picked up the pace a little. i still felt good. then about 6-7 miles later. i met the aforementioned "wall". it didn't happen all at once though. i checked my time. i was at about 3.5 hours coming up with about 6-7 miles to go. i had in my mind that i was going to get his thing done in between 4:30-4:40. my quads just out of the blue started cramping up. there was no lead up to it. i could not feel it coming on. if it did, i must have been ignoring it. it just started to get harder and harder to maintain a run for very long. i had to stop and stretch my quads out quite a bit. it kept me moving though. i refused to give up. i have trained too long and too hard for this moment. i was going to finish if i had to crawl across that line. i had moments where i could go for a while but had to stop and stretch. at times i walked to keep moving. the weird thing was that the entire race i had never felt like my breath was labored. i was breathing very easy the entire time. my conditioning was great. i just cramped up.
at this point, they say it's where running a marathon becomes a mind game. very true. i had all the reasons to quit, but that was not going to happen. no way! i think the entire race is a mind game. your constantly thinking. i can't imagine what it's like for the elite runners who do this to compete. when you're struggling with something this hard to do and in a lot pain, you either continue or call it a day. the latter is the easy way out.
i decided to push through the pain and now i can say i am a marathoner. will i do again? most likely. this was my first. i've been asked how long will it take. all i said is that i want to finish, which is what i just did. i enjoyed it a lot. even the last 6 miles of hell taught me something. i didn't care what time i would get. if i run another or when i run another, maybe i'll worry about time them. at least i know i'll run the next one faster so i'll be setting a PR. hel, i just set a PR on this race. i would like to get the time i was on pace to get until i hit the wall. i at least finished. no one can take it away from me. would i recommend hong kong a first marathon? if that's the only choice, then okay. otherwise, hell no. that course was not easy. i thought i handled the hills just fine but when i cramped they became near impossible to climb. i know for sure if i run a flat course, i'll have a pretty good time to boast about. i think the only flat part of this course was the last half kilometer. all pain aside, running a marathon has its share of aches and pains. it's a challenge. this course made the challenge even harder and worth completing.
so, thank you for all the support i've received. i'd especially like to thank annie for putting up with all my training for the past 4 months. i'm going to enjoy this for at least a few days then make my way back to the gym for some weight lifting and some light running. just because i reached a huge goal doesn't mean i slack on my fitness. i still have other goals to reach. so watch out. major things in the works.
peace.
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| runner pack collection |
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| finish line being set up |
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| this is where the starting line would eventually be |
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| year of the dragon themed souvenir medallion. pretty cool |
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| free t-shirt |
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| all the stuff i had to pick up. |
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| gear ready to go the night before |
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| ready to go. it was warm woud eventually take of the long sleeves |
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| where else was annie supposed wait for me? |
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| some participants taking a well deserved break |
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| boy do i look tired. what a day! |
