Running Hard

The title here refers to a the title of a beautiful piece of music by Renaissance which you can actually see here, although it isn't as good as the pre-recorded version. I've been listening to Renaissance lately, since I recently re-acquired in CD format the three albums I used to have as LPs, and this particular title seemed very appropos. So that's how it's been for the past couple of weeks - running hard.

First of all, there was a lot of intensive studying for the big "Start 1 Offiziell Prüfung" which took up blocks of time I might have used for blogging. In between studying, I was also trying to establish a routine for running to practice and get in shape for the annual international marathon held here at the end of November.

I'm sorry to say I haven't yet been able to really sit down and concentrate on drawing something, but I did end up taking up knitting needles and yarn once again, after quite a few years. So now I've got a knitting project going on, though I can't say what it is since it's going to be a surprise.

I also passed the big German exam with "Sehr Gut", which is the highest grade you can get, unless someone manages to get a perfect score. However, during all those weeks of sitting before the monitor, trying to study or work for hours on end, I chanced to look up many a time at the sight above my eyes. Samo says it's human nature to get distracted... I'm sure he's right, but sometimes I think it just might be those wood fairies!



As for the marathon, that was quite a feat. It involved getting up at 5:30 am on a Sunday morning, stealing out of the house at 6:30 so we could be downtown at 7:00 for the race which started at 8:00. We left the car in a supermarket parking lot at the edge of town, and bus-rode it to the zocalo. Seeing 6th street completely deserted in the early morning was something I couldn't resist, even if I did scare a couple of pidgeons into flight!



We were there relatively early, but all that coffee I had drunk - couldn't give up my usual two morning cups, even on such a momentous occasion as a marathon - made a trip to the bathroom necessary. Samo said we'd never find a bathroom downtown at this hour, but I knew the marathon organizers would have taken precautions so that the 35,000 runners wouldn't be forced to pee in the street!!



By 8:00 a.m. the blocks leading down to the zócalo were crammed with people. Everyone awaited the signal to begin.




Then we were off! Together, Samo and I started off on our jaunt. Of course, there was no way we were going to do the whole 42 km. race, but we were at least determined to do what we'd signed up for - 5 km.



Naturally, Samo left me almost immediately, saying that I ran slower than a turtle. Still, I have to tell you, running in a marathon is really an experience everyone should have at least once in their life. All the people, taking off together, the things that go through your mind as you run, the things you tell yourself to keep from quitting, the way other people along the way can propel you to pick up speed and get through it just by yelling, "Keep it up! You're doing great" etc. I thought it was funny how, at the last bend of the road, there was a group of mostly young people, handing out water to the runners, and shouting in unison "SÍ SE PUEDE! SÍ SE PUEDE!" Reminded me of Obama's acceptance speech. But funny or not, it really worked! Because I could, and I did finish the 5 km. (someone told me later it was really 6 km.). And it only took me 1 hour!! Samo was waiting for me at the finish line, having arrived there himself a half hour earlier! "YOU DID IT!" we congratulated each other, as we received our certificates.




Moral of the story: if you decide to run in a marathon - even if it's only for 5 measly kilometers - don't be half-assed (like me) about training for it. If you don't take the training time seriously, you won't able to run 5 km. continuously - you'll have to run-walk-run-walk for at least half of the distance (like me) and it will take you twice as long to reach the goal.