Now I can say I ran a marathon! It took 3 hours 55 minutes and 58 seconds. I beat my goal of four hours. I'm happy with the results.
So what's it like running a marathon?
More exciting and painful than I imagined. It was very pleasant for the first 23 miles or so. It's a big event with a lot of people in the street. There´s a sort of energy and excitement you get from all the commotion and the special access to the city. Especially a city as beautiful as Bilbao. I wish I took more pictures, but the majority of the city was seen as I was running. The race started in downtown and made its way down the river to the old industrial zone of the city of old worn down warehouses with broken windows. We crossed a bridge to the other side of the river and then followed it up to where I saw a historical bridge that transports people across the river in a vessel suspended by cables connected to the bridge above. Before we started heading back towards downtown we were running on the boardwalk where old mansions and homes face the ocean. Many people on the boardwalk were clapping and saying words of encouragement as you passed by.
After mile 23 it was quite dreadful. My legs were on fire and didn´t want to keep the pace. My average 8 minute and 30 second mile plummeted to a 11 minute mile by mile 25. I stopped twice to walk for about 20 seconds or so, but quickly realized I was just prolonging the inevitable. I was going to finish. Plus it made things more difficult. Once your start walking you then want to stop entirely, but then when you start running again it´s more painful than if you just kept going in the first place.
Coming around the last corner and seeing the finish line was a feeling of relief and joy. Relief that it was over and joy that I just accomplished a difficult feat. I would like the express my gratitude to everyone who has read my blog and shown their support. I hope you all find gratification in supporting charitable works such as GHA. For me this has been a very special experience. A special thanks to Rocio for making Bilbao a wonderful trip; for being my encouragement and support while I was there and throughout the whole training process.
There will be more posts soon! Don´t disconnect just yet!
