first on a bright note, berlin was a great place to run through...it is a surprisingly beautiful city with such great architecture...probably some of the best blends of modern architecture blended in within the years old buildings...absolutely awesome...these germans know how to roll...
on an even brighter note, the support team that came with us to watch and scream and run with us were absolutely "awesome"...we'll talk about them later...
and now onto business at hand...yeah, m and i didn't do so well...we both got injured during the race...
first about my race...i was doing great for the first 18 miles...i was on pace to meet my goal of 4:30...so, through 18 miles, i was exactly where i wanted to be...then disaster struck...my right foot slipped into this small little pothole in the road...i didn't see it because we were turning a corner and its always packs up when everyone tries to cut the corner...my heel basically stayed on the road surface, but my toes went into the pothole...i'm pretty sure it was the smallest little pothole in the world...but with my luck, i hit it...so, i stumbled out of it and bumped into a runner beside me...i regained my form and started running again...but i knew something was wrong...i felt a slight twinge in my calf and hamstring...in my head i was like "oh geez...why god why!"...so, i was hoping to run it off and that it would all go away...but by mile 20, it really started to feel sore and really tight...
and at that point, i had to walk because the pain was unbearable...i wasn't going to make my goal at that point and was pretty disappointed, but i still wanted to finish the race which seemed to be in jeopardy...so, i limped my way to mile 22 where there were massage stations...basically twenty cots along the side of the road where people were getting their legs massaged...so, i ran to an empty cot and i got worked on for about 10 minutes...but it really didn't help because it wasn't a cramp because i pretty much pulled something...the two people working on my right basically told me that i shouldn't go on anymore...but i obviously wasn't having it and just got up and limped away...my left leg felt fine...so, i still had one leg to work with...so, i was off...
so, i basically limped my way through the last 4 miles...and my finishing time was the worst time i've gotten so far...it is definitely disappointing, but that's life...live and learn i guess...will there be a next time...hmmm...based on the pain i am in right now, i would probably say "are you crazy"...but my competitive side really wants to run another one as soon as possible...just to get this awful taste out of my mouth and to reach my goal of a much better time...i still set the goal, and i haven't reached it...why give up now...so, yeah, i'm running another marathon in 2010...hopefully in the spring if i can find a good one...i'm crazy...
as for m, i guess i'll let her tell you of her experience...
Here he is...on his last trip to Europe in a while...he is chilling out at the Reichstag (German Parliament) and then hanging out at Checkpoint Charlie...the Checkpoint Charlie pic had to be quick cause an orange stuffed ball on a guy's shoulder in the middle of a busy touristy intersection sure sticks out...i don't quite know if the germans have a sense of humor of these things...danke...
