I’m going to start from the beginning. Saturday night I lost track of time while downloading music for my ipod and went to bed at ! Not only did I go to sleep veerrrry late, I also had a hard time sleeping. Every time I sleep in the same bed as Xenia she always ends up wrapping all the blankets around herself:P She always tells me to wake her up and get some blankets back, but I couldn’t wake her up…she looked too comfortable so I slept with a little corner of the blanket:P We woke up a 5am, so I only got 4 hours of sleepL I was so tired and was not in the mood for anything, but then I went on my facebook and saw all the good lucks from friends and it got me pumped and ready to go. Once we finished getting ready we headed to LA:) The traffic was INSANE! We were completely stopped on the freeway. We had to get off and walk the remaining 2 miles to the starting line. It was funny because we were almost to Dodgers Stadium and my parents ended up catching up to us:P So we hopped back into the car and drove to it. When they blew the horn and announced the LA Marathon 2011; we were excitedJ As soon as we crossed the starting line it began to sprinkle so we put on our raincoats. When we reached mile 4 it began POURING! We were running the flat course and were walking the up hills for my knee. We got a good laugh at one point because I almost slipped on a banana peel:P When we reached mile 10 I couldn’t run anymore. My knee was hurting so bad so I told her to go on without me. I was by myself for a while and would walk and run a little. She ended up waiting in line for the restroom and because the line was so long I caught up to herJ At that point the rain and wind was so HARDCORE. Our hands were so cold that the slightest touch hurt like crazy. I got a banana from one of the volunteers there and I couldn’t even peal it because my hands were so numb! I had to ask a random guy cheering people on if he could peal it for me. He laughed, but said he would be glad to peal my banana:P We continued running/walking, but I couldn’t keep up with her because I was hurting so bad… so I fell behind. It was around mile 18 when I saw a booth giving coffee to the runners. I got in line and noticed his old man wiggling around. He ended up falling down. I guess the intense weather was too much for him. I really wanted to help him, but no one had ever passed out in front of me in a race so I was in shock and just stood there. Some guys lifted him up and took him away. I felt so bad, but there was nothing I could do so I kept going. As the race went on, the weather got WORSE. Everyone was walking as far as my eyes could see. I would hunch my back and tilt my head forward a lot because the wind was so strong. Some streets were flooded!The water would go over my shoe! That’s how deep it was. Finally I’m at mile 25.. I only needed 1.2 miles left! I was hurting but wanted to get it over with. So I ran to the finish line like a champ. The only bad thing was that there were hardly any people there cheering because of the rain and wind. I crossed the finish line cryingL It took me 30 minutes to find my parents. And when I found them, my mom started crying because she knew how horrible I felt. I was walking with my legs WIDE open and couldn’t bend my knees.I looked like a dying penguinL I ended up having mild hypothermia. So my dad went for the car so i wouldn't get any more sick, my mom took off all my clothes in the public! And put dry clothes on me because I couldn’t move from being cold. We had to wait a long time for my dad to bring the car because all the traffic. My mom and I found a dry spot and waited there. She kept telling me jokes and told me I was so tough for completing that. She made me feel a lot better:) but it was still cold:P Finally we got into the car and went home. I slept all day Monday and I’m still hurting a little but I feel a lot better. I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT RACE. It was pure torture! I am happy and proud to say that I was one of the 70% of 23,542 entrants that finished the Los Angeles Marathon 2011.
I now have 6 full and 1 half marathon medals
I got 7 blisters on my poor feet:( This one was the biggest.
That is pretty crazy how only seventy percent of the people who joined that marathon had finished. I am impressed that you finishing this marathon even though your knees were messed up and that other thirty percent of people were unable to finish just because it was pouring rain. But it must have felt really good to have finished even though you got a mild case of hypothermia. Also I am impressed with everyone who had finished even when the weather got really bad and a lot of people got sick from it. A marathon itself is not easy to finish, add on that type of weather and it sounds impossible to finish.
Good for you for soldiering one is such weather and with a bad knee. Hopefully, the decision to run with an injury won't come back to haunt you. Those medals are impressive and, so too I must admit, the size of that blister!
That is pretty crazy how only seventy percent of the people who joined that marathon had finished. I am impressed that you finishing this marathon even though your knees were messed up and that other thirty percent of people were unable to finish just because it was pouring rain. But it must have felt really good to have finished even though you got a mild case of hypothermia. Also I am impressed with everyone who had finished even when the weather got really bad and a lot of people got sick from it. A marathon itself is not easy to finish, add on that type of weather and it sounds impossible to finish.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for soldiering one is such weather and with a bad knee. Hopefully, the decision to run with an injury won't come back to haunt you. Those medals are impressive and, so too I must admit, the size of that blister!
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