For a moment the crowd went silent. There was no music, no cheering, not even the sound of other runners' footsteps pounding the streets around me. Only the pain in my left knee rang out like a shrill, high-pitched scream. And for an instant, time froze.
I was floating in the air, bouncing up from what could be a race-ending injury...
'That felt like my knee just twisted slightly the wrong way; and after 17 km running a certain way, any change is an unwelcome one. It could be a fluke; or, maybe I just need to stop and stretch 'em out. It might be something worse. I hope this doesn't give me troubles later on. I'm not even halfway yet, and I'm having knee pain?'
My right foot landed, pressed, and pushed off. I was in the air again.
'I need to finish. Okay, no matter the time, I said I would finish. I'll limp across the finish line if I need to. This is no Salt Lake. This is no Paris. Third time's the charm, I need to finish. This step seals it; I'll keep going, even if this damn thing stings again.'
My left foot struck the ground again, pressed down heel-to-toe, and pushed off. Time returned, as did the cheers from the crowd and the sound of other runners. The knee pain was gone. I slowed down and gave my legs a quick stretch anyway, just to make sure it wouldn't return. And it never did.
I kept running, focusing a bit more on my stride. I got back into my groove by 21 km, the halfway point. "Only 13 miles left," I thought out loud, "that's nothin'."
My watch read 2:00:00 as I slowed to munch on a pre-peeled banana, and chug some Amino-Value sports drink. If I kept an even pace, I'd be able to finish around 4 hours. But that wasn't factoring in how hard I would hit the wall, if and when it came around.
I was floating in the air, bouncing up from what could be a race-ending injury...
'That felt like my knee just twisted slightly the wrong way; and after 17 km running a certain way, any change is an unwelcome one. It could be a fluke; or, maybe I just need to stop and stretch 'em out. It might be something worse. I hope this doesn't give me troubles later on. I'm not even halfway yet, and I'm having knee pain?'
My right foot landed, pressed, and pushed off. I was in the air again.
'I need to finish. Okay, no matter the time, I said I would finish. I'll limp across the finish line if I need to. This is no Salt Lake. This is no Paris. Third time's the charm, I need to finish. This step seals it; I'll keep going, even if this damn thing stings again.'
My left foot struck the ground again, pressed down heel-to-toe, and pushed off. Time returned, as did the cheers from the crowd and the sound of other runners. The knee pain was gone. I slowed down and gave my legs a quick stretch anyway, just to make sure it wouldn't return. And it never did.
I kept running, focusing a bit more on my stride. I got back into my groove by 21 km, the halfway point. "Only 13 miles left," I thought out loud, "that's nothin'."
My watch read 2:00:00 as I slowed to munch on a pre-peeled banana, and chug some Amino-Value sports drink. If I kept an even pace, I'd be able to finish around 4 hours. But that wasn't factoring in how hard I would hit the wall, if and when it came around.
1 comment:
I'm glad your marathon went faster than your recounting of it--man, you have left us all hanging! I assume you finished in 3:59 since that's your best marathon time and this was your first completed one. Congrats, it took me a baker's dozen to break four hours.
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