hey

Feb 17, 2008
7:46pm

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength"
-Philippians 4:13

Almost a year ago, I made the decision to run my first ever marathon. I don’t know the reason why at that time. Perhaps I wanted to see if I can do it. Perhaps I wanted to see if, at age 34, I can overcome a tough challenge. In any case I applied to run the Tokyo Marathon, won a slot to run it(done by lottery since there were too many applicants and only 25,000 people were allowed), and started preparing for it.
Here is a running diary of what happened today.

5:25 am
The alarm clock rings. I was not able to sleep well because of the excitement.  My left knee is a throbbing a bit right now from playing 4 hours of basketball the PREVIOUS day. Somebody hit me in the head please. Not a good sign.

5:52 am
I leave the house with my gear on: cycling shorts, basketball shorts, dry fit spandex top, windbreaker and my red winter jacket on. Its about 4 degrees celcius right now. The train leaves my station at 5:58 which means I only have 6 minutes to catch it. It usually takes me 10 minutes to get there by walking. I have no choice. I warm up by running to the station. I barely catch the train, and I am almost out of breath. DEFINITELY NOT a good sign.

7:02 am   
I arrive at Shinjuku station, the starting point of the race. I go look for the designated area to check in my stuff(bag and dry clothes). I will then be retrieving this later at the finish line, after the race. The place is easy to find, and although there are already a lot of people, I find no problems depositing my stuff and proceeding to my starting block. I will be starting at Block "G". I have to hand it to the Japanese people. When they hold events like this, it is like a military operation. So efficient and organized.

8:15 am
I am at my starting point at block "G". Joining me are the other runners. Our starting block is determined by the amount of time that we estimate to finish the race. For G block runners, the estimated time is 5 hours and 30 minutes. I will later find out that I, um, overestimated my abilities.

9:15 am
The marathon starts! However it is so crowded that you can barely move. I follow the speed of the crowd until after about 20 minutes, there is more space and then I start to run at my own pace. People who ran marathons have given me the same advise: Take it easy. It is a long race. DO NOT overexert yourself at the beginning. Just jog at a comfortable pace.

10:02am
I have reached the 5k mark. And have made "time" with 30 minutes to spare. The rules for the Tokyo marathon indicates that you need to finish running 42km within 7 hours. Else you will be disqualified. But the other thing is that they have placed TIME LIMITS at every 5km point in the race. For example, you need to reach 5k by 10:30 am, 10K by 11:04 am, 15k by 11:49, 20k by 12:33, and so on and so forth. However I feel great. I made time with 30 minutes to spare for the first 5k. The good news? I do not feel any discomfort at all. I am running at a comfortable pace. I feel good about myself, but I know its a long race.

12:20pm
I pass by the half way point with almost 13 minutes to spare. I still feel good, but I am terribly hungry. I pass by a convenience store and buy a snickers bar, a pocari sweat drink, and an onigiri (rice bowl). I am full and full of energy again. I am pumped up, for I am halfway there! And talk about perfect timing, my ipod player, starts playing my "power song", Bill Conti’s "Going the Distance", from the movie Rocky Balboa. Now, if that song does not get you pumped up, I dont know what will. I pick up speed and imagine myself as Rocky training for the fight against Apollo Creed. I mutter to myself "no pain" as the theme music plays at full volume. NO PAIN. NO PAIN. Within 4 minutes I am at the 21k mark. Wow.

1:56PM
I have gone to the bathroom a couple of times. The lines were’nt that bad. But I feel my feet and left calf starting to cramp up. I just pass by the 30K mark at 1:56 pm. However the cut off time for 30k was 2:00 pm. Which means I only had 4 minutes to spare and I would have been disqualified. I start to get worried. And the buildup of the pain on my calf is’nt helping.
Cut off time for 35k is at 2:42 pm. I start to question myself: "what the heck was I thinking running this race"

2:40pm
I get to the 35k mark! I am ecstatic because I only had two minutes to spare. My feet and legs feel like solid cement blocks. I drink the amino fluids at the water station. I also drank lots of water. It may have helped prevent the cramping of my calf. It feels like I survived. The good news? The cut of time for 38k is 3:33pm and for the 42k at 4:10 pm. Which means I MAY be able to finish this race after all. If I finish by 4:10pm, that would have been a FULL seven(7) hours. Sure that is way off my 5hours and 30minutes estimate, but who’s counting? he he he

3:00pm
I legs have become solid quick dry cement blocks at this point, only they seem to be attached to the road. I can barely lift my feet, and I have no option but to just walk. I can’t run anymore. But I feel comfort from the crowds who cheer me on. They high five me, and it gives me some energy. "Ganbare! Ganbare!" (translation to "do your best, don’t give up). After passing by the 36k mark, I can sense that I am almost there. However after a few minutes, I notice something behind me. The big yellow bus! Which means that I am actually in the LAST group of runners! This is the bus which carries the runners who they think will not be able to finish the race. I feel fear. I do not want to be picked up by the bus, for any reason at all. I decide that I will give it my best shot. I run. I keep on running. I close my my eyes and I run.

3:57pm
I can see the finish line. Its there. ABout 100 meters away. I slow down, and make adjustments to my ipod. I play "Going the Distance" again. It pumps me up with adrenaline instantly. I start to run, really run this time. Fast and strong. No pain. No pain. I actually feel no pain for the last 100 meters. What is that I hear? The crowd is applauding suddenly and egging me on. I ran faster and faster. I hit the finish line and I race my hand in triumph. My officical time is 6hours and 50 minutes. I later found this useful link which tracked my run:
http://tokyo42195.org/numberfile/39648.html

Wow!  Its over. Its finally over. There are no words to describe the feeling. This was easily the toughest physical challenge that I have ever faced. Wow, thank you God! I could not do it without your help, and I know that my friends and family were praying for me.
Its really over. I have run the Tokyo Marathon 2008 race.

And I went the distance.

UPDATE (3/24/2008):  Here are some pics taken by the offical photographer of Tokyo Marathon 2008:

http://tm2008eng.allsports.jp/photo/photo_list_tag_search.php?tag_code=zekken&tag=39648

 

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 17th, 2008 at 3:39 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.