Go for the Distance.
Chicago Marathon '97Oct. 19, 1997It was a chilly day. Around 6 degrees Celsius. The sky was clear and blue. I was one of 16,372 people who like to suffer for as long as 6 hours. The 20th Chicago marathon. It was my 3rd Chicago marathon and 4th marathon in total. I knew I was not ready. According to "the Runners World," the longest run of a week should have been 20 miles comfortably. My longest of a week was less than 15 miles and it was in pain. But I can稚 wait until I would be ready. I was running constantly at around a pace of 8 min. 30 seconds per mile which may be a bit too slow to finish the race in 4 hours which is my target but it may be my pace for the time being. It was amazing to me that I could keep the pace until mile 14. But my legs were more honest. Before 10 miles, they started telling me, 7quot;Today, just the same. Nothing special." After mile 14, my pace suddenly dropped to 9 min. After 17 miles the course passed a small bridge over the Chicago River. The up slope of the bridge was shallow. But it was terrible. It seemed to have absorbed of my energy. And what was worse, in that area not as many people were cheering runners as in other area. Policemen, thank you all anyway, were watching us as if we were doing something peculiar. I was exhausted already. At the aid station around 19 miles I ate a banana and it was a great banana. With a bit of stretching I was recharged. But the banana effect lasted only one mile and another banana after 20 miles was not so effective. At last I could not help walking after 21 miles. Since then my energy had never returned. I could not run a whole mile. My hope to shorten my previous record was fading. This year the course was a bit changed so that after we reached the lake shore, we did not go to the south before heading north. I hated that part where I saw many runners heading north while I was heading the opposite direction to the goal. But as long as my energy was concerned, this change did not give me anything. Ran then walked and again ran then walked. During the last mile how many runners patted my shoulder saying "Come on. Let痴 go."? Every time I smiled back. Walking trudgingly did not mean I was unhappy. I was happy. Maybe my body was not. But I was. My time was 4:26 by my watch. It was only 4seconds better than last year. I could not find the reason to stop running. The answer may be the same no matter what the result is. 10/24/97 Keiichiro (^_^)/ |
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