Just Don't Stop!

Today I find I can do little more than hobble from my bed to the bathroom and back, and apparently to my computer. My knees, you see, are a tad sore as I got it into my head a few weeks back to run the Toronto half marathon. Yesterday was THE big day.

I didn’t tell anyone, aside from IronMan, that I was going to it in case I backed out. But at 7:30 I found myself mixed in with 14 000 other masochists at the corner of Bay and Queen. Iron Man had a few friends join the run as well and we all started off as a little band. Soon however, I found myself with Karen and Karen alone. Iron Man had to stop at 6 km due to a bad knee. He bid us a farewell and away we went.

Things went swimmingly until about the 13 km point. Actually, it was actually quite enjoyable. When I looked again at the marker however, I realized the wind had blown it in half and what I thought was a 13 was in fact at 12. Feeling like I had just added another kilometer played havoc with my mind. None-the-less, Karen kept my pace and spirits up and all was good until about marker 17.

I waved Karen on and put my head down. I tried singing in my head, planning my yoga class for that afternoon, anything to keep my mind off the pain. My breath was fine, I could speak (a measure apparently of whether you are working too hard or not), no stitch in the belly but my knees were saying “No”.

Knowing full well that if I stopped to take a walk ‘break’ I wouldn’t start again, I just kept going. “Put one foot in front of the other….” So to speak. As I rounded the corner and headed up Bay Street I cursed the incline. No matter how slight, I hated it. And then those five signs that taunt you at the end 500 meters to go, 400….. they were the longest of the race.

Iron Man joined me at the 500 meter mark and said “okay, let’s pick it up”. “You go any faster and you are going to be picking me up off the ground” I said. I crossed the line and was shocked by the crowd of people standing there. How can you run 21 km and then just stop? I had to push my way through just so I could keep moving.

After things settled, we waited by the finish line for the others (I somehow managed 2:02) and I ran into Iron Girl and her running group. I was instantly labeled a poser and am now committed to two things, first, never mock their Iron Man efforts and two, if I am doing Iron Man 2010, I better get my ass in gear!