It's not the 21 km of the actual half-marathon that takes the courage and perseverance, it's the 400 and something kilometers you rack up in training for it. It's getting out of bed at 5 in the middle of winter when your family are still sleeping. It's the long Saturday morning run along the industrial banks of the Cooks River ** that lasts for more than two hours. It's hours doing interval sprints or rolling intervals in the treadmill. It's doing it, just doing it, knowing in the end there's no prize, no stadium no gold medal. ***
Was it worth it. Well, I rang my husband and blubbered like a baby at the end. I was so proud of myself and this achievement that marked three months of intensive focus on my health and fitness. I felt transformed, from the girl with all the consolation stickers in her little athletics book to ... well ... an athlete.
They offer a service now where you can view yourself, from a couple of angles crossing the finish line. I've watched mine a couple of times, examined my face intensely. There was no joy, no punch struck into the air. Maybe it was because I was exhausted, but maybe it was because I knew ... a real athlete would complete a marathon.
Bring on the next challenge: The months of muscle.
** River is a euphemism, in many parts it is more correctly titled the Cooks Drain.
*** There was however a silver medal I refused to take off for 24 hours. It's still hanging in our bedroom where I can see it from bed.
You *are* a real athlete! You don't need to have done a full marathon to be that :) At least, that would mean I'm not an athlete either!
ReplyDeleteRunning your first half marathon is a fantastic achievement - doing something you never thought possible.
Well done Ade! And great blog. You have always been an impressive inspiration to me since I started my casual job as a student adviser 10 years ago!
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