Etes vous fatigues?!

now for the race..

believe it or not, i was not really that nervous for the marathon. i think that the fact that my brain really couldn't comprehend running 26.2 miles in a row helped. i tried to just think of it as another race in the park. except this park was paris and this was THE race.

i had been battling a cold for about a week, so i took some nyquil and fell asleep pretty quickly. i consider myself lucky for this because many of my teammates were tossing and turning all night.

race day was a bit more hectic. the race was set to start at 8:45am, so we had to be up at 6 in order to eat.. rules are to eat 90 minutes before and hydrate a bit. i still wasn't too nervous, had my clothes all laid out and was ready. once i got to the lobby and felt everyone elses nerves, and heard all the second-guessing of the clothing etc it got in my head a little. suddenly i wasn't satisfied with what i was wearing.. not sure if i had everyhting i needed.. UGH.

there were about 30,000 runners with only 18% of them women. pretty unusual. it also made for a crazy crowded start and i felt very very small in the crowd. i started the race with roxy, she's an old pro when it comes to marathons so having her there helped alot with the nerves.

i was hoping to run somewhere close to a 4:15 race.. kind of funny since i really had no idea how my leg would feel, how running 26 miles would feel etc. but i know my general pace is somewhere around 9:30/mile. this race (being europe and all) was counted in kilometers so i figured if i could run each 5k in 30ish minutes i'd end up close to 4:15 and more likely 4:30. the route took us from the arch d'triamphe down the champs elysees past the louvre, past tuileries, around the bastille and out through a beautiful park. lots to look at, and many distractions.

from the start i knew my leg was not going to be a problem. it felt great actually. i was running strong and pretty close to my goal pace. the crowd of spectators were not thick, but their cheers of "ALLEZ, ALLEZ!" were more than encouraging! it was an overcast morning and a bit chilly, so i had a jacket over my oh so lovely purple TNT tanktop. (it is hard to look cute when running 26 miles, but this tanktop made it IMPOSSIBLE). at about the 10k mark i started to warm up, and took off my jacket.. at that moment i heard 'GO BECK, YOU LOOK GREAT!' my coach ramon was there at that moment with all the support i could possibly need. as you read further, he will appear a few times.. not quiet sure how he managed to always be there when i needed him most!

the run through the park was a bit harder because the crowd all but disappeared, and there was not much to look at. i fell in behind a pacer (they had arranged for pacing runners to be scattered throughout helping us reach our goals) which was running a 4:15, and this gave me a good bit of momentum. i quickly realized though that i was being pulled along faster than i should be running at this point. if i kept up this pace i'd surly be in trouble later. it's hard to break that momentum, so when i passed a row of port'o potties i decided to make a pitstop and then it would be easier to resume my normal pace.

due to the large percentage of men in this race, there were not very many port'o potties.. and honestly i was amazed by how the men would just stop anywhere and everywhere and pee!

we came through the park and re-entered the city.. this portion of the race took us along the river.. the sun came in and out of the clouds keeping us warm. i still felt strong. not focusing too much on my watch, i was still not too far off my goal. i was looking forward to seeing the coaches though.. they told us they would be spread out from 20k- the end of the race.

somewhere around 1/2 way, i stopped for some water.. i passed 2 other TNT'ers walking and enjoying their water when i heard that oh so familiar spanish voice cutting through the crowd.. 'ARE YOU FREAKING WALKING?!' ramon.. i found him and ran over for a high-five. he ran along with me with encouraging words of how great i looked and gave me a run down of what i could expect in the upcoming miles.. 'a few rolling hills, small incline.. just let these middle miles fall away.. distract yourself.. play a game with yourself.. just keep running, you look amazing!'

as i ran on i thought 'play a game.. hmm.. a game.. i don't know any games.. damnit ramon, i don't KNOW ANY GAMES!' laughing at myself i decided to just read the signs on the stores, the signs on the street.. just keep reading the signs..

i felt good until about mile 20 which i guess is pretty normal. this is when the wheels usually come off. and when i say 'good' it is very relative.. at this point i had been running for over 3 hours.. RUNNING for OVER 3 HOURS.. i started passing the coaches which helped alot. a little distraction, a little chit chat and then off again.

things were getting more difficult with only 10k to go.. at one point i was taking a walking/water break and told myself 'when i get to that orange balloon i will start running again' only to realize that the orange balloon was running also. so i picked a new landmark. just as i was approaching my running mark (and about to pick a new landmark and walk a bit further) i heard a voice from behind me 'way to go New York!' our tanktops had i *heart* NY on them, and i guess there was a fellow new yorker running up behind me. she was not with our team, but it was jsut what i needed to get going again. i thanked her for kicking my ass at the right moment. we chatted for a bit and she was quite encouraging 'we're almost done!' and i ran ahead.

at around the 5K (to go) mark i was really tired and taking another walking break. NY ran up again and said 'ok new york, lets finish this!' forcing me once again to run! GOD LOVE THIS GIRL! i saw a water table and ran over to grab what i thought was a cup of powerade. took a big gulp and WAHGHAHA!!! it was NOT powerade.. it tasted like sparkling vinegar.. or what i later accounted as 'sparkling ass water!' it was exactly what i didn't want at that moment (or any other moment for that matter) i had run away from the water table, so i was now stuck with this in my mouth and burning my stomach. i looked around desperately for water.. there were half drunk bottles littering the ground and i struggled with the idea of picking one up! then i finally saw a fellow TNT member (thank god also for the distinctive purple tanktops that i cursed so much)

i ran over and begged for a sip of their water which they gladly shared. then i saw a smiling friendly face.. Eissa! she is one of our coaches this season, and was handing out bottles of water!!! seeing her also meant that ramon was not far behind.. and that meant the end!

about 250 yards from the finish ramon came cruising up behind me. i love this man. he knows all of us runners and everything we have gone through to get to this moment. he has worked so hard to get us here and genuinely feels the power we are feeling at this moment. it sounds corney, but if you haven't run a marathon you can't understand how accomplished you feel at the end. he points you to the finish and reminds you to relish the feeling cause there is only one 'first' time. i turned the last corner to the finish.. when i thought it couldn't get any better i heard peter shouting from the sidelines.. "GO BECK!!! NUMBER 3!!" and i sprinted (as much as i could muster) to the finish.

here are a few of my favorite parts.. i forgot to mention and now can't remember where they fit in!

** along the route they had tables with buckets of water and sponges so you could squeeze water on your head. i stopped at one to dip my hands in which were sticky from a goo. there were no other people at the table.. (our names are printed on our numbers) and all the french guys working the table started chanting my name "BECK! BECK! BECK! BECK!...." amazing.

** there was a chant happening during the race. i am not really sure what they were saying, but i think it roughly translates to "are you tired?" with a return of "NO!" then "something, something .. GET UP" so in french it goes like this:
"Etes vous FATIGUES?"
"NON!"
"something something RELEVES!"
if anyone can clear this up for me i'll give you a prize.. it's been driving me crazy!

** constant chants of "ALLEZ! ALLEZ!"

** the general love and support of the TNT team and coaches. i am not sure i could run a marathon on my own after this!

bienvenue

this is going to be a loooong one, so i may break it down into some more digestible installments. first, the trip to paris.

roxy and i were traveling together on a redeye to paris on wednesday night. our budget was tight so we booked our flights on air india. i have just recently seen the wes anderson movie 'darjeeling express', so i had visions of what i might be walking into at the end of that jetway. i was not far off.. the plane was a 747 from 1979.. there were stairs leading upstairs to what i imagined to be a bollywood disco lounge! the seats were orange and red, the flight attendants dressed in traditional sari. jokes of curry dishes as inflight food soon came true, and there was an offering of both hollywood and bollywood movies for our viewing pleasure. the good thing was the flight was empty, so i had my own row to stretch out in.

we arrived in paris and headed to our hotel. it was just off the champs elysees near l'arc de triamphe... which is WAY bigger than the one in washington square park. roxy has never studied french, so she quickly put me in charge of communicating with the locals. i was nervous but plenty of HS french came rushing back to me, and we got by just fine.

we were exhausted from the flight, so we decided to head over to the expo and pick up our numbers and race information. i couldn't believe i was actually there, in paris, picking up my offical marathon RACE number!! then we chilled out for a while, grabbed dinner and crashed.

friday we set out to see the town. it was a gorgeous sunny spring day. we took the metro across town because we were instructed to keep the walking to a minimum.. saving our legs for sunday. on the suggestion of a co-worker, we visited saint chapel which is on the same island as notre dame. saint chapel was one of the first buildings when the figured out how to support cielings without breaking up the room with interior walls. it is so beautiful. the walls are completely made of stained glass, and we were there on a sunny day so the entire room was like being inside a jewel. really awe inspiring.

notre dame is like walking into the pages of my art history books. so surreal that i was standing in front of this building i had seen so many times before. after vising this we walked across the bridge to isle st. louis, and had some lunch at an outdoor cafe (paris is overrun with charming outdoor cafes!) the island is a great place to wander. narrow streets with old buildings and shops. on the recommendation of roxy's friend, we found a shop that sells delicious ice cream and got some for our walk. we are running a marathon, so luckily carbs are high on our list of 'must haves'!!!

afer all this walking, we took a nap and then headed over to see the tour eiffel (eiffel tower) all lit up at night. it's a bit of a scene there.. tons of tourists, and then people in your face trying to sell you mini-eiffel towers that light up, and key chains and other assorted crap. we wandered back and grabbed some late night dinner before going to bed.

saturday there was a morning run which i skipped.. saving my legs for sunday.. and truthfully, i didn't want to know before the actual race if it was going to hurt. so i skipped it and slept in while roxy met up with the group for a quick 20 minute run to the siene.

our plan was to head down to monparnasse and visit the catacombs. it's a macabre place. old mines where the had stored bones when overcrowded graves had to be dug up. it was a confusing trip.. we were walking in circles trying to find the right streets and really looking like lost tourists! when we finally found it, it turns out the catacombs are closed due to renovations!!

roxy was tired, and i really wanted to visit the picasso museum, so we parted ways. at the museum i ran into some of the runners from TNT, and our head coach so we walked the museum together. it is a great collection of picasso's work, and all exhibited in an old mansion in the marais neighborhood of paris. after this we walked over to the pompadu center which is a big modern art museum. we didn't have time to go inside, but the outside of the building is a sight in itself. it was raining and the impending race was starting to set in..

saturday night we had a group pasta dinner. to kick off the dinner, people told their stories of why they got involved in team in training, who they are running for.. how leukemia has touched their lives. it's a moving night.

M is for MRI

so i'm back from France now, but i am going to catch you up a bit since i last posted...

after a few trips to the PT i decided to take a complete break and just rest my leg and see what happened.. after some rest it was slowly getting better, but i figured i'd be the responsible girl my parents always hoped i'd be, and have dr. metzl check it out before i ran on it. he examined me, and said that considering my history of bone injury i should have an MRI to rule out another stress fracture.

after a few nerve wracking days, i went back to the good doctor and we checked out the MRI. (which is very cool by the way) it turns out i had some swelling in my left fibia (the fracture was in the same leg, but in the tibia last time) but no cracks. this was a very good sign. dr. metzl said that considering everything i went through in the past, and how hard i've worked to get here.. that if he were me he would just rest until the race and then go for it! which is exactly what i wanted to hear!!

so april 2 i'm off to paris!!! vive la france!