Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

I Love Running

I have a picture of me that was taken on December 8, 1996. It shows me crossing the finish line of the Honolulu Marathon, with a big smile on my face, feeling triumphant. Now, I did cross the finish line on December 8, 1996 with a big smile on my face, but that picture doesn’t tell the whole story. A group of us had gone to visit Pearl Harbor the day before the marathon. Our driver could not figure out why there were so many people at Pearl Harbor that day. Finally, someone said, “Maybe because it is December 7th, the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.” We got hung up in traffic leaving the site and by the time we were dropped off at the hotel, we had missed dinner. Before marathons, there is often a “pasta party” that allows runners to load up on carbohydrates so that they have plenty of energy for the race the next day. When I walked into the dining room, I made do with the dregs of spaghetti that were left. There was not much. I was hungry an hour later and chased down some pretzels and peanuts that constituted my big meal before a twenty-six mile marathon. I didn’t sleep much since the marathon itself began at 3 AM Honolulu time!

Even so, I wasn’t all that worried. I had been diligent in my training back home. Two weeks before I got on the plane for Hawaii, I was routinely doing twenty mile training runs and, believe it or not, really enjoying them! I had been successful in doing these long distance runs because it dawned on me that the human body is, to some extent, a machine. I had been careful to eat well and to eat a lot before these runs. I had also located water hoses along the way that I could drink, or stashed bottles of water so that I stayed hydrated. I had plenty of fuel, so every run that I did went well. When I began the Honolulu Marathon, I wasn’t worried, despite my poor dinner the night before. I was in great shape!

I was able to walk over to the start line from my hotel. It was a complete mob scene. Over 20,000 people participated that day. They broke us up into groups, based on our expected finish times. I realized that I was going to be doing this alone. The elite runners in our group headed to the front of the pack. I had made friends with walkers, and they left me alone. I found myself in the middle of a huge crowd of people, almost all of whom were Japanese. They did not seem to be taking the whole experience very seriously. I was trying to stretch and prepare myself for the race. The people around me were jabbering in a language I couldn't understand and posing for picture after picture. Some were drinking beers or eating. Finally, the race began.

I got off to a fast start, but watched in astonishment as some of my fellow runners stopped about a mile into the race to take a cigarette break! Others stopped to pose for more pictures. I got off to a fast start and set a good pace for my first fifteen miles. No worries. We rounded a turn and headed up Diamond Head, the iconic slope in Honolulu, just as the sun was rising. It was awesome to be able to look down at the ocean and to feel the cool breezes as we ran. I kept chugging along thinking that my hope of running the race in under four hours was going to be a real possibility.

After a while, I began to fade a bit . Then, came mile 18. During mile 18, I “hit the wall”. Technically, “hitting the wall” occurs when glycogen stores in muscles are depleted. I had never experienced it before, due to my good preparation. But here, I could barely keep even moving forward, much less run. I remember very distinctly wishing I could break my ankle so that I could just rest! I was able to walk for a few miles, but it was incredibly frustrating. Finally, at the 24th mile, I was able to get in gear and run the last two miles. My time was a miserable 4:45! That experience of having almost no energy and not being able to do anything about it is one I will never forget. I hope that I never “hit the wall” again. The picture of me is accurate. I finished the race, and finished it running. But the truth is a bit more complicated!
GJOFJ3 · 61-69, M
Excellent post
Capo2 · 56-60, M
@GJOFJ3 Thanks!

 
Post Comment