sometime in early april i decided to sign up for a bunch of running races during may..i ended up signing up for 4 half marathons, and one full marathon...i don't know what i was thinking, but it sounded like a good idea at the time..i thought it was going to be one half marathon each of the first two weekends of the month, then two half marathons the third weekend, then a weekend off, then a full marathon the last weekend...cheryl and i planned to do the first one together..
midway through the week before the first half marathon, i got a text saying that the location of the race had been moved..judy (my director) looked it up on the website, and she got a little worried..she said that finding the location would be a little confusing..lucky for me, it was the pitch where we have rugby practice most of the time!! in other words, it was easy for me to find..
the first sunday rolled around, and cheryl sent a text saying she couldn't make it because her knee hurt..she's had knee pain off and on the entire time she's been here..so i followed all the people to the pitch and started killing time by watching people..they always want you there about an hour before the race, but that seems like way too much time for me, especially because i don't do any sort of warmup..in korea it seems to be the norm for a stage to be set up, and someone always leads a mini aerobic session for a few minutes before the race starts..
now why on earth would i want to do aerobics at all when i am about to run a race? anywho, around 15 minutes before i was supposed to start, i checked my bag, remembering to use chapstick, and grabbing my ipod and inhaler..i can't imagine running a race w/out either of those, even though i haven't used my inhaler in ages and ages..i'm always terrified something is going to happen, even though i don't generally push myself hard enough for that to happen..the race didn't go very well for me..it was one of my slowest times ever, but that wasn't what bothered me..i ended up walking quite a few times, and not feeling very in control of what i was doing..my mind just wasn't in the right place..and later in the day, i was really really sore..i guess that's what i get for not training at all, other than a few rugby practices..after crossing the finish line, it was easy for me to figure out where to go to turn in my timing chip, collect my medal and bag of food..i don't speak the language, but it's never difficult to figure out what i need to do at these races..there were aid stations every 3-5K, a few of them had pocari sweat, and a few had bananas..nifty..the next weekend, i did it all over again..only this time the race started and ended in the main olympic stadium from the 1988 olympics..nifty!! again, the race was easy to figure out..there were aid stations and such, plenty of volunteers, and nice koreans cheering me on at various points during the race..the guys who were doing bag check wanted to practice their english, so i spoke with them for a little while..fun, and entertaining for me..my time was slower than the previous week, but i was a lot happier with the race mentally..hard to explain, but...
the third week i received the race packets for both races, and was somewhat dismayed to realize that both races were the same day, instead of saturday and sunday..the race souvenirs for one of the races were the same as the two previous races this month..that is, a shirt and shorts..but the souvenirs for the other race (the one i ended up not running) were totally different..a wok and a fry pan!!!!! crazy, eh? the race that weekend was my fastest of the month, even though it was still nowhere near my best ever..but i was really happy with it overall..there weren't enough aid stations, and a few of them closed down before the time limit, which was frustrating..i ended up finishing ahead of the time limit, but the pacers who were supposed to be running at the time limit were a few minutes ahead of me..that's annoying..pacers are supposed to finish within a minute of the specific time!!! NOT 5-6 minutes ahead of the time!! one of the nicest things on the course though were the tables filled with sponges that had been in cool water..each time i passed one of those tables i put a sponge on my head under my hat, and tucked one into my sports bra..a great way to keep cool..
while i was running that third half marathon, i made the decision that i would try to change my scheduled full marathon to a half marathon..that third race was so hot, and i didn't think i could complete a full marathon if i had to deal with that kind of heat for longer than a half marathon..but when i got to school the next day, and asked my director to call the race people, she said they said i couldn't change races..eeeeeek..so i decided i'd make the decision of what race to run (the half or the full) the morning of the race, based on how i was feeling, the weather, and whether there was a time limit..
the morning of my scheduled marathon dawned cloudy and cool, and there was no time limit on the full, so i decided to go for it..i knew i'd finish, and i wasn't worried about my time at all..the race started at 0800, so i was up early in order to be there by 0720 or so..it was the same sort of set up as the other races..the area has been fixed up in the past couple years, i like it..i ran into a few friends who were running the half, and wished them good luck..they were a whole lot more nervous than i was, as they all had goal times, whereas i just wanted to finish..the race started on time (complete with the normal aerobic style warmup/stretching) and stayed cloudy and cool for the first half or more..as i was running, i realized i've gotten to know the han river rather well..i think every race ive run has gone along the same area of the river, even though they've all started at different spots..i ran past the rugby pitch, and realized i'd be running back by there as the rugby girls would be showing up..i ran by the olympic stadium...i ran by a professional volleyball tournament..i ran by a whole lot of koreans out for a sunday run...i ran by a whole lot of people on bikes, some of whom looked like they had no idea what they were doing..at some point during the first half, i ended up running with a korean guy..we passed each other a few times, then just stayed together for most of the rest of the race..he definitely adjusted his pace to meet mine..amazing..my time overall was a lot better than it would've been because of this total stranger..there were a few times i thought about walking, but he was still going, so i figured i should as well..we split for a little while during the last 10K, but we ran the last 2K together, and finished together..we even got the official race photographer to take a photo of us together:)
i ended up having to speed walk most of the last 10K, because my feet hurt so badly..that's what i get for not training..my muscles were fine, but my feet didn't handle well the pounding from all those miles..ooops..running the last 2K was definitely an exercise in mind over body..the race was incredibly well supported..there were aid stations every 3K or so, all of which had water..a great many also had gatorade, cherry tomatoes, bananas and choco pies..i wanted the choco pies, but i am not capable of chewing while running..as much as i love the choco pies, they're kinda dry to be eating while running..cherry tomatoes and bananas are great, as they can sorta be mushed around in my mouth..i never felt thirsty, and i never felt low on energy..like i said, the race was incredibly well supported..there were km markers every km through the entire race, which was nice..(it was the same in each of the half marathons earlier in the month)..for people who keep track of such things, it would've been easy to keep track of all my splits all month long..howeva, the only time i took a split was during the full marathon, when i split the half..
anywho, in my lifetime i've now run 6 half marathons, and 5 full marathons..the half marathons i've completed on three continents, and the full marathons on four continents..only three continents to go for the full!!
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