WELCOME TO AFRICA
WELCOME TO AFRICAWell, here's my race profile finally downloaded from my Garmin GPS.
You can see the long gradual uphill up the base of Kilimanjaro - and unfortunately, you can also see where I collapsed from leg cramps at about the 32 km mark (it's the big spike when I go from 8 minutes per kilometre uphill to off-the-chart minutes per kilometre!
03/22/07 by bryan
Well, I was tired. I think I had enough adrenaline immediately after the race to do a cool-down and walk around in the sun, but that hurt me for sure afterwards.
For a brief moment while sitting in the stands waiting for our other runners to arrive, I stood up suddenly and felt very lightheaded, slowly collapsing to the ground. I ended up recovering and hanging out in the entertainment tent, but was still taking things slowly. Later that night, while waiting for our late dinner to arrive, I ended up feeling very faint again and just went straight to bed, where I stayed until morning.
The next 2 days I was quite sore, and going down stairs was not the fastest nor most enjoyable experience. But it was still better than my first half marathon, I'm sure it was a combination of the distance, the pavement, the uphill/downhill, and the fact that I was altering my normal running stride from my calf cramps. *But* I was at least functional and able to get around, which wasn't too bad; I was however, faring worse than anyone else in the group, who all seemed to recover quite fully and extremely quickly.
Now that some time has past, I've had time to reflect on the marathon and the overall experience. I do really wish I hadn't cramped up and had finished sub 4:00, since that would have been a great accomplishment for me. Despite what everyone says about the respectable time for this marathon (especially it being my first), and how great a story it is to have completed after such severe cramps, the ego in me still wishes for that better time.
But once I put that aside, I think of the views of the mountain while running, the friendly and encouraging spectators, the raw talent and speed of the lead pack, the kids in flip-flops pulling me up the hill, the satisfaction when crossing the finish line and the look of thanks when I gave Colman and Cornell my gear.
It was all worth it.
03/15/07 by bryan
Okay, now that I've covered the boring running aspects of the race, here's a bit about the overall experience.
First of all, sleep was horrible - our "standalone" hotel room ended up sharing the same physical structure as the public toilet used by the campgrounds next door. So all night we heard people (including one sick person) using the toilet; I think all told I had 1 hour's sleep - not a great way to start the day.
But once the race began, the overall experience was incredible. Families line the streets yelling "Jambo" (hello), "polle, polle" (slowly, slowly), extending hands for high-fives, running with you for a few seconds to many minutes. I was having so much fun, I think that's what made the first half go by so quickly and feel so easy. And the views of Kilimanjaro in the morning more than outdo the diesel you're inhaling along the way!
Then on the uphill grind, kids in flip flops follow you all the way up - I had one kid go with me for 6K then wait for me on the downhill. Another kid stepped out of his house with a toothbrush in hand and ran with me for about 5 minutes. All along, they are offering words of encouragement in Swahili (or at least I assumed they were words of encouragement!), stopping when I did, picking up the pace when I did. When I fell, I had about 8 concerned kids gathered around trying to help me out. Here I am, with my technical running gear, my GPS, Gatorade mixture, Clif bars, Asics shoes - and they're running with me for many kilometres in their flip-flops, not breaking a sweat. Really amazing, they take their running and their support for outsiders very seriously.
Another big plus was that this race had markers every kilometre which was beyond what I had expected, and they matched my Garmin GPS to within a few metres. There were water points every 4-5 kilometres, sponge stations and even a shower station you passed going up and down the mountain. Definitely many more amenities and better organized than I had expected.
One of my strongest memories actually happened early on. I'm running along at a pretty good clip, passing through the 5 K mark just slightly ahead of my scheduled pace, feeling good and relaxed, passing the early sprinters, and I look up to see a pack of about 30-40 African runners just booting along the opposite side of the road. THEY HAD JUST PASSED 8 KM. Truly awe-inspiring, and I had to slow down just to watch them approach, pass and fade into the distance.
And the final highlight has to be the kids. The night before the race is registration time, and Elizabeth and I "sponsored" a few kids who hung out the night before pleading for $1 USD to run the 5K fun run, which Elizabeth decided to run. The next morning, they found her on the starting line, and a couple of them ran along with her (in loafers and flip flops, which is all they have), then hung around with her for the rest of the day. Colman and Cornell were great kids to meet, and we really enjoyed their company. At the end of the afternoon, I ended up giving Cornell my shoes and Colman my water belt.
03/05/07 by bryan
Okay, where to begin? What a day - I think I'll break it into a few different parts - the race from a running perspective, the race from an experience/cultural perspective, and post-race dealings and thoughts.
So first of all, the race. If I had been asked to take my finishing time beforehand, I would have. My original goal was to complete in under 4:30, which would correspond to about a 3:30 normal marathon - and my finishing time was 4:10, so I'm pretty satisfied.
The Kilimanjaro Marathon course is tough, and even starting at 6:30am it was *very* warm after only 10 minutes. And while the organizers describe the first half as "flat" with rolling hills, I actually found the rolling hills to be quite frequent and moderately long and steep at some points. About halfway through you start the long 10k climb uphill, and then finish with the 10k back down.
For the first 75% of the race, I was actually doing much better than I had anticipated; I had planned all my breaks, food/drinks, and pacing really well. I had a bag of powdered Gatorade that I used to refill at the water stops, ate bits of my Clif Bar, and felt very comfortable.
I Passed the half at 1:43 feeling very easy and relaxed, then did a lot of walk/jog uphill as planned for the 10K uphill portion. Then I made the rookie mistake - I started clock-watching and adjusted my goals. I was well on pace for a sub 4:00 when I started downhill, and that got me so excited and pumped up, I was feeling strong, so I decided not to do my planned 2-minute rest/stretch at the turnaround. About 200m into the downhill, both calf muscles cramped and I went down hard. A fellow runner saw me and called the emergency vehicle. At that point I was so bummed since there was no way I could continue another 10K.
Fortunately, after about 3-4 minutes, I was finally able to work a leg around and grab my laces to stretch, then the other leg, then staggered to my feet. The remainder of the downhill was a combination run, pull up in pain, walk, run, etc. And I used the Ibuprofen I had put in my running pack. But I did finish strong the last kilometer, navigating the dusty roads and traffic at the end. In the end, the downhill ended up taking almost the same amount of time as the uphill.
So overall, I'm pleased with my fitness level and my effort - but just disappointed (ego talking here) that my time didn't reflect either. As my first marathon, and the Kilimanjaro Marathon to boot, I would have loved to have broken that psychological barrier of 4:00, which would translate approximately to a 3:15 flat marathon.
But I did have a great time overall (separate post to follow), and learned a lot about the marathon - don't adjust your goals too much during the race, and check your ego at the starting line. Oh, and 42.2 km is a long way to run!
03/05/07 by bryan
Today officially marks the end of our Safari journey - what a rush! I'll be posting photos later at http://www.travelphotos.in and http://www.travelphotos.cn.
After a pretty long and dusty day of transiting by bus, we arrived in Moshi late afternoon. We had a standalone unit/hut at Key's Hotel, which bodes well for a good night of sleep! Although I had a good night's sleep last night, which IMO is the most important rest night before a race.
This morning before loading into the jeep, I did about 5 minutes of running up and down around our camp site at the top of Ngorogoro Crater. It was pleasant but I could really feel the altitude; but I just wanted to get some blood flowing. So when we arrived at our hotel, I decided I'd do another 5-minute run, and like this morning, just stayed in my hiking shoes.
After time spent unpacking tomorrow's race gear, we met up for dinner, which ironically was completely vegan! So I had a couple plates of pasta, some Sprite and now I'm all set for the big day tomorrow...
03/03/07 by bryan
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