There is a lot that I want to say, considering this is my last blog post. My goal of finishing a half marathon is now complete - I finished the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in about 2 hours and 45 minutes, and am extremely proud, relieved, and of course - ridiculously sore (and the worst pain hasn't even hit me yet).
I set out on this marathon with two goals - to complete it, and to take in my surroundings. I accomplished both the goals fully, so huzzah! I had my phone and my headphones, but I never used my headphones because there were bands upon bands and people upon people cheering you and rooting for you. Why would I listen to recorded music when there was live music playing? (An intriguing video about the loneliness that comes with technology: http://blog.petflow.com/this-is-a-video-everyone-needs-to-see-for-the-first-time-in-my-life-im-speechless/) It was an incredible feeling to have so many strangers out there egging you on to finish, just because. The amount of support you could feel in the air was incomparable to anything I've experienced before. Kids, dogs, families, individuals - everyone out early on a Sunday morning, some outside their house, others far away - yelling their hearts out telling the 32,000 people to keep going. I felt lucky to be one of the people being cheered on. They didn't know me, and yet they believed in me.
My two good friends that ran with me, and stayed with me the entire way even though they could've gone ahead, way ahead, were the sole reason I finished in the time that I did. I had to keep going for them. It was simple - they didn't attempt their personal best to give me company and I just couldn't give up.
As for the running and what went through my head - the first two miles were warmup pains, the next four miles was just coasting through and taking in the beautiful scenery and the amazing people around, and laughing at all the incredible (and hilarious) signs that people made ("You better run fast - I just farted!", "Keep running - Ryan Gosling is waiting for you at the end of the line.", "Run like you just stole something!") and feeling awesome! Two ladies had this message at the back of their shirts: "Slow runners make fast runners look good. You are welcome!" and I really wanted that shirt. There were people of all ages and builds and paces (well I only really saw people that were running at a comparable pace to mine) - when you see a 70+ year old man limping along faster than you, there is automatic motivation. Miles 7-9 was pushing myself a little bit - that was officially farther than my longest training run.
The last 4 miles were the worst of the lot (duh!). Pittsburgh course has a few hills but they hit you with an incline at the tail end which really pushes your mental strength. There was a point when I was in enough pain that I couldn't walk, but I was tired enough that I couldn't run - so deciding what to do was a dilemma. I dedicated each mile to a person I loved (after I saw a sign in Mile 1 that asked me to do so) and this was especially inspiring in my last few miles when my legs turned into jelly and the pain was radiating everywhere. A close friend of mine came to the water station to cheer us on and just seeing her there gave me a world of encouragement. I had passed by thousands of people holding signs for their loved ones, and I secretly wished there was someone rooting for me in the crowd - and seeing her there just made me feel oh-so-special.
Reaching the finish line was anti-climactic in some way - I expected exhilaration and I felt relief, and pain. I enjoyed the journey a lot more. I was definitely happy and proud (and the feeling kept growing through the day - I still can't believe I ran 13 miles at almost my regular pace), but came away from this experience humbled. Humbled by the unconditional support from the people of Pittsburgh, from my classmates, friends and family, and humbled by the grit and strength of the thousands of runners out there that ran faster than me.
To close out, this was reminiscent of my MBA time at Tepper - support is key. Always. Always. I can only hope that I can give out as much support as I have received through Tepper - educationally, emotionally, and socially. I have come out a different person - maybe not the smartest Tepper grad (there are way too many smart people here), but definitely among the happiest.
Bottom Line: Enjoy the journey to any destination and you will get there somehow.
I set out on this marathon with two goals - to complete it, and to take in my surroundings. I accomplished both the goals fully, so huzzah! I had my phone and my headphones, but I never used my headphones because there were bands upon bands and people upon people cheering you and rooting for you. Why would I listen to recorded music when there was live music playing? (An intriguing video about the loneliness that comes with technology: http://blog.petflow.com/this-is-a-video-everyone-needs-to-see-for-the-first-time-in-my-life-im-speechless/) It was an incredible feeling to have so many strangers out there egging you on to finish, just because. The amount of support you could feel in the air was incomparable to anything I've experienced before. Kids, dogs, families, individuals - everyone out early on a Sunday morning, some outside their house, others far away - yelling their hearts out telling the 32,000 people to keep going. I felt lucky to be one of the people being cheered on. They didn't know me, and yet they believed in me.
My two good friends that ran with me, and stayed with me the entire way even though they could've gone ahead, way ahead, were the sole reason I finished in the time that I did. I had to keep going for them. It was simple - they didn't attempt their personal best to give me company and I just couldn't give up.
As for the running and what went through my head - the first two miles were warmup pains, the next four miles was just coasting through and taking in the beautiful scenery and the amazing people around, and laughing at all the incredible (and hilarious) signs that people made ("You better run fast - I just farted!", "Keep running - Ryan Gosling is waiting for you at the end of the line.", "Run like you just stole something!") and feeling awesome! Two ladies had this message at the back of their shirts: "Slow runners make fast runners look good. You are welcome!" and I really wanted that shirt. There were people of all ages and builds and paces (well I only really saw people that were running at a comparable pace to mine) - when you see a 70+ year old man limping along faster than you, there is automatic motivation. Miles 7-9 was pushing myself a little bit - that was officially farther than my longest training run.
The last 4 miles were the worst of the lot (duh!). Pittsburgh course has a few hills but they hit you with an incline at the tail end which really pushes your mental strength. There was a point when I was in enough pain that I couldn't walk, but I was tired enough that I couldn't run - so deciding what to do was a dilemma. I dedicated each mile to a person I loved (after I saw a sign in Mile 1 that asked me to do so) and this was especially inspiring in my last few miles when my legs turned into jelly and the pain was radiating everywhere. A close friend of mine came to the water station to cheer us on and just seeing her there gave me a world of encouragement. I had passed by thousands of people holding signs for their loved ones, and I secretly wished there was someone rooting for me in the crowd - and seeing her there just made me feel oh-so-special.
Reaching the finish line was anti-climactic in some way - I expected exhilaration and I felt relief, and pain. I enjoyed the journey a lot more. I was definitely happy and proud (and the feeling kept growing through the day - I still can't believe I ran 13 miles at almost my regular pace), but came away from this experience humbled. Humbled by the unconditional support from the people of Pittsburgh, from my classmates, friends and family, and humbled by the grit and strength of the thousands of runners out there that ran faster than me.
To close out, this was reminiscent of my MBA time at Tepper - support is key. Always. Always. I can only hope that I can give out as much support as I have received through Tepper - educationally, emotionally, and socially. I have come out a different person - maybe not the smartest Tepper grad (there are way too many smart people here), but definitely among the happiest.
Bottom Line: Enjoy the journey to any destination and you will get there somehow.
