Saturday, January 26, 2013

My First Full Marathon: a Little Drama and a Picture with a Paramedic

Dubai Marathon 2013 was just over. Another milestone in life was accomplished. Words can't describe how happy I was upon crossing the finish line. Seconds after, a flashback rolled inside my mind. I recalled everything that I had been through: the grueling pains during the practices, early morning runs in the cold, dark winter days whilst everyone else was still enjoying their pillows, my diet restrictions and so forth.

Above all, what I remembered the most was a little drama that occurred just before the start of the marathon. I was crossing the grass barrier that separated the crowd from the warm-up area. Intending not to step on the nicely planted flowers, I hopped over and landed my right foot in a completely wrong way and sprained my ankle. I couldn’t get up and thought this was the end. My dream to run my first marathon was all over.

The day was still dark. I was sitting alone on the black top in pain. It was only 20 minutes before the start. Two fellow marathoners apparently saw what had happened and offered some help, but I said I'd be fine. Would I? I didn’t know if I’d be okay. I didn’t know if I’d be able to make it. I was deeply sad, regretting what had just happened. I thought I was stupid enough to do such a thing while I had previously been very cautious about my preparations, making sure I would not get injured or do something silly. I thought,"This is not happening now. It can't be true."
My swollen ankle after the run

I closed my eyes, calmed myself and prayed. I comforted myself by saying that it was perhaps part of His masterplans. I composed myself and collected my strength. Slowly got up and made small walking steps. I felt it was not as bad as I had thought before. After applying cold spray, I weathered the storm by starting to attempt a little jog for a minute or two. I prayed again,"God, please don’t give up on me now."

The consoling part is that I hardly felt any pain anymore, so I carefully walked to the start line, which was about 200 meters away. At this point, I still had a mixed feeling about my feet as to whether I would be able to make hours of running. Then just five minutes before the start, I felt something weird on my right shoe. I touched my ankle and found a pretty bad swelling. I scanned around and spotted two paramedics in their bikes nearby. I quickly explained to them about what had just happened and asked for an ice pack for a cold compression. One of the paramedics examined my ankle and frowned,”This doesn't look good. Are you sure you still want to run?" I swiftly responded,” Yes, I do!" He did not say anything further nor argue, but I could see he scowled even more. Obviously, he was very concerned.

While I was pressing the ice pack on my right ankle, the paramedic asked me if he could take a picture of me. I wondered why. He said,"It’s a proof for our office that we are useful during this event." His response put a smile on my face. I nodded in approval and muttered,"Indeed, you have been very helpful!" So, he asked his colleague to take a shot of us using his smartphone. Cheers to the first injured of the day!

When he was wrapping my ankle with a cold compress bandage, we both heard the marathon had just started. I was about 100 meters behind the start line and obviously late for the start. A few minutes later I found myself chasing a pack of 2,000+ marathon enthusiasts.

We were engulfed with dense winter fog at seven in the morning. Cool and dry weather at 15 degC. The atmosphere was fantastic. Off I ran my first marathon, leaving Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest tower - behind us and leaving that little ankle drama with a single purpose in mind: to finish my first marathon in one piece no matter how long it would take.

For the first few kilometers, I kept doing my routine mental check on my right foot. Everything seemed fine. I hardly felt any pain, perhaps thanks to the bandage. So, my self-confidence slowly returned, running at my comfortable pace. The crowds by the streets who were cheering for us helped boost our spirits. Along the way, I saw a marathoner bare-footed, a couple in cool green jumpsuits and many people in grey hair (my hat off to them!).

The first 10k... smooth...
The track of Dubai marathon was mostly flat, but the unique challenge came when we all started to hit Jumeirah Beach Road after km10. It was long and straight 12 kms on one side and the same distance on the way back. So, mentally we had to be prepared for this seemingly endless route.

At km30 my right ankle began to act up. I didn’t know whether it was the swelling or the fatigue or the combination of both. I then decided to stop for a pee while stretching my legs. The pit stop, however, didn’t help much. I started to feel a slight pain. So, I decided to ease my pace, combining fast walk and run to prevent the pain from getting worse. In a normal condition, the last 10 kms were perhaps the toughest part, mentally and physically. Now with my little handicap, another burden was added to the challenge.

This was a critical moment where I subconsciously heard an angel and a demon fighting over my head, each telling me to carry on or to give up. I knew no one could help me to beat the demon, other than myself. On a positive note, seeing other marathoners, particularly much older fellows, and the cheers of the spectators made me feel I was not fighting alone. The thought of the arduous training in the last few weeks made my efforts worthwhile. Why giving up now, while I was only 10 kms away to finish it?

Needless to say, that was the longest 10 kms in my life….

When I saw the finish line, I felt energized again. I thought,”Whatever happened, I’m going to finish this in style.” It was a defining moment when I finally reached the line. My wife had patiently been waiting there for me in the heat, although her 10k race was concluded hours before. I saw her in tears (at this point she still didn't know the ankle 'drama' as yet). Then I started getting teary eyes too. We hugged. We both were happy that I had made it. The challenge was now over and I won! I am proud of myself. I am even prouder to say that I did it at the age of 40!

A happy camp after all was over
I completed my first marathon in just one second shy from five hours (4h59m59s net), but seriously the timing was not as important as the lessons I learned from the whole experience, from the severe training until that finish line. Never before had I pushed myself to the same limit - mentally and physically. If anyone thought marathon is only about running and endurance, it is simply an understatement. Marathon is more than that. It is about self-discipline and self-determination. It is about how you set a challenge and a goal for yourself and push the limit to achieve it. It is about knowing your strengths and limitations. It is about defeating your demon. It is about not giving up easily. It is about commitment and perseverance. It is about doing a crazy idea once in a lifetime. It is about planning and execution. It is about a mental game....

Marathon is also about paying forward. Just over two weeks before the M-Day, I had decided to fund raise for the Foundation for Mother and Child Health (FMCH). I thought it would be wonderful to make a meaning to all my efforts by helping people at the same time. While writing this blog, I was blown away by the generosity of 46 family members and friends who have collectively donated USD 2,300+ to FMCH through my fundraising page http://www.justgiving.com/novel4kidz. I intend to open the page until February 3, 2013, to give an opportunity for those who are still willing to participate.

Seeing how people supported my efforts was incredibly uplifting. Above all, when some people said to me sincerely that I had inspired them with what I had done… that’s simply humbling. I do hope my efforts would inspire people to live a healthy life and do something for others.

At the finish line, I ran into the same paramedic. He was stunned upon seeing me. “You are the same person who got the swollen ankle, right?” I smiled and nodded. “Did you finish the marathon?”He continued. “Yes!” I replied whilst showing him my medal. He shook his head in disbelief. Too bad, I forgot to ask him to take a picture together with me, yet I didn’t forget to say to him,”Thank you very much for your help!”

2 comments:

Unknown said...

nice to read your blog about your first marathon experience ever. i was right at one thing: your ironic determination! see whether the same one can beat me in tennis :) congrats to you, man!

Novel Tjahyadi said...

Thanks, Arman. Can't wait to represent the red and white team in the tennis tournament and kick some a**.

Thanks, Sony. After what I've done with my marathon, you still think you can beat me in tennis? C'mon :-)