Con Dios la Fe, con Fe, la Meta.

December 10, 2008

Con Dios la Fe, con Fe, la Meta.

I'm now a marathon-finisher! Despite a bit of confusion on the part of the city and race officials, the marathon on Sunday went even better than I had hoped. God faithfully provided the strenth and endurance I needed to finish well, and he gave us a cool, cloudy day too--perfect running weather. Although the race was originally scheduled to begin at noon, there was a misunderstanding between city officials and the race organizers, so the day before the race, the start time was changed to 11:00. Fortunately, my friend Doug read the Saturday paper, and we were prepared for this change. We (well, the taxista) found Parque Sabana without any problem on Sunday and I located my Tico running friends. Gerardo, Miguel, Doug, and I were all hoping to run a 10 minute pace throughout the race, so we decided to stick together for as long as possible.

The atmosphere before the race was energizing, with everyone excited and nervous to begin. In addition to the full marathon, there was a race for in-line skaters, individuals with handicaps, a 4 and 8K race, and a half-marathon. I'd guess that there were probably 200-250 runners in the full marathon, and of these individuals, probably 25 or less women. We started shortly after 11:00. The course went past Parque la Sabana, looped through downtown San Jose and then followed another major road to complete the circuit back to Parque la Sabana. The course was 14 K, so we had to run it 3 times. Although the course didn't include a lot of steep hills, it was also very rarely completely flat. The toughest part was a steady incline the last 3 K or so of the course. It didn't feel bad the first two laps, but was quite the challenge at the end. Probably the most enjoyable part was through the downtown, because there were a lot of people there to cheer us on. I had quite a few friends spread out along the course, and it was great to have their support and encouragement. There was also a marching band outside of Parque Central for the first hour or two. Unfortunately, they were gone by my third lap through the downtown, as were many of the spectators. We also had some cars in our running lane by this point. I didn't have any close encounters with vehicles, but the runner who won the race apparently got hit. Craziness.

I finished the race in 4 hours and 30 minutes without having to stop and walk. I was pretty satisfied with this time; I was able to sustain the 10 minute mile pace that I had planned for, and never hit a huge wall that you sometimes hear marathoners talk about. Yes, it was really difficult, especially the last 3 miles or so, but I never felt dehydrated, over-heated, or so worn down that I absolutely had to stop. I guess the training paid off. It was very satisfying to cross the finish line and then greet my friends. I was extremely sore the next two days, but it's a price that I'd pay again for the experience of running another marathon. Not that I have any plans for a second race, but we'll see what opportunities arise...