The first thing that I learned is you do NOT need to be there 3 hours beforehand. Being there an hour and a half is a good amount of time. Even if you have to pick up your number...
you will not need to be there 3 hours before. Here is a picture that I took of myself on my way to pick up my racing number.
I was pretty skeptical about how fast the process of getting my number would go. I thought I was going to get stuck in line for like an hour. I literally took three minutes. I was definitely not ready for it to go so fast.
The next thing that I learned is that: My name stands out. A lot. It is clearly not a Swedish name. They had a poster that had over 7,000 names on it (everyone who was running that day) and I was able to pick out my name in under 2 minutes.
The next thing that I learned is that: My name stands out. A lot. It is clearly not a Swedish name. They had a poster that had over 7,000 names on it (everyone who was running that day) and I was able to pick out my name in under 2 minutes.
This is about 1/4 of the entire poster. All the lines are actually made up of peoples' names.
And there you have it! I have proof that I officially participated in a sporting event! I was also surprised that my name was spelled correctly. People here have a tendency to spell it in the Swedish way "RICHARDSSON" With two "S"s which is not how I spell it. Usually I just go along with it. At this point I have actually spelled it wrong once. Don't even get me started about pronouncing my name. I have actually started pronouncing it on the phone in a Swedish way "Rik-ard-son" Then I have to go back and correct myself, because I don't want them to spell it like that.
I also learned that running may not be my sport. I jogged as much as I could. I felt like I couldn't breathe most of the time, but I pushed through. Finally I gave in and walked after the first km, because I just absolutely could not keep going like I was. Even walking became a chore after a while, but I didn't give up. I made it all the way to the 4 km mark walking then decided to jog a bit again, shortly before the 6 km mark we entered a construction zone, where the ground was all torn up. I stepped on a rock wrong, and felt my ankle scream in pain. I held it together until I saw someone who was working the race, to see if I could get some help. I could still walk, although after a while it was tough, because my hip started hurting from not being able to walk properly. They helped me, and I sincerely thank them for that because I definitely could not have made it another 4 km.
That is pretty much all the new things I have learned. I really enjoyed my experience, and am already registered for another race in September, which I WILL finish! I am so excited to start training for it!
Feel free to use the comment section and ask any questions that you want to know about my experiences, or my life here. I would be glad to write a blog post on any topic you want to know more about.
Here is the picture of me in the car on the way to the medic tent.
I absolutely know without a doubt that if I had not injured myself that I would have finished the race. I would not have finished it in the goal that I had set for myself, but I would have been close. If I am being completely honest with myself, and you all as readers, my real goal was just to finish. I would have been happy with just finishing, no matter how long it took.
BUT this is the next lesson that I learned: I need to be proud of how far I have come. I started my journey in January of 2012 and had no idea how terribly out of shape I was. I learned pretty quickly. I couldn't even walk to the grocery store without running out of breath and complaining. That was only 3/4 of a km one way. It was terrible. By the end of my journey here last summer, I was able to walk that without problem. Now I can easily walk 10+ km without feeling any kind of pain or problems(with the exception of my injury yesterday). Its a lovely thing.
I realize that I have a LONG way to go before I am in top condition, but to see how far I have come makes me VERY proud. I never set out to run in a race to be the winner. I set out to finish, and even though I wasn't able to do that due to an unfortunate injury... I have still come SO far and improved SO MUCH, so I refuse to not be proud, just because I didn't finish. In fact I may be the proudest I have ever been.
BUT this is the next lesson that I learned: I need to be proud of how far I have come. I started my journey in January of 2012 and had no idea how terribly out of shape I was. I learned pretty quickly. I couldn't even walk to the grocery store without running out of breath and complaining. That was only 3/4 of a km one way. It was terrible. By the end of my journey here last summer, I was able to walk that without problem. Now I can easily walk 10+ km without feeling any kind of pain or problems(with the exception of my injury yesterday). Its a lovely thing.
I realize that I have a LONG way to go before I am in top condition, but to see how far I have come makes me VERY proud. I never set out to run in a race to be the winner. I set out to finish, and even though I wasn't able to do that due to an unfortunate injury... I have still come SO far and improved SO MUCH, so I refuse to not be proud, just because I didn't finish. In fact I may be the proudest I have ever been.
That is pretty much all the new things I have learned. I really enjoyed my experience, and am already registered for another race in September, which I WILL finish! I am so excited to start training for it!
Feel free to use the comment section and ask any questions that you want to know about my experiences, or my life here. I would be glad to write a blog post on any topic you want to know more about.
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