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Self Transcendence Marathon 2005
Rockland State Park, New York
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| After about three hours sleep, I got up, meditated and headed down to the buses waiting to take us the 90 minute drive to Rockland State Park in New Jersey. The buses pulled away at 4:30; the marathon was scheduled to start at seven so the runners might escape the heat of the day. We arrived as the sun rose over a beautiful lakeside scene; the calm before the storm. After a bit of preparation, some light stretching and massage and a bit of olive oil on the feet to avoid the blisters, I lined up with everyone else for a short meditation before the race started. Everyone would have their own unique story to tell at the end of the race. |
At the very beginning, I found it quite hard to judge my pace. I
thought I was fine, as I was surrounded by people who I thought might
be running the same pace as me. It was a bit of a shock when after two
miles the runner beside me confirmed we were running at seven minute
pace. I realised I was being pulled out of my own natural rhythm by
those around me, and I was glad when I emerged from a quick toilet
break with no-one in sight; I could now concentrate on running at a
pace that suited me.
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I got a little worried when my legs started showing the first sign of tiredness at 10 miles. I just had to assert myself and tell my body that I had trained for the distance, that the fatigue wasn't as bad as the body made it out to be, and there was no way I was not going to finish. In any case, I said, let's just get to the half-marathon mark and see how we get on. I was making great use of the Chi Running method to transfer the strain from my legs to my abdominal muscles and keep some semblance of posture. I reached the half-marathon stage to great relief, tacked on another few miles and suddenly the end was in sight, albeit distantly...
I think the highlight of the race for me was the inner aspect:
instead of complaining and counting the miles to the finish as I have
done in previous years, I stayed cheerful throughout, just grateful for
the fact that this time injury hadn't kept me back from getting out
there and soaking it all in. I passed by Sri Chinmoy three
or four times; he was out around the track, silently encouraging all
the runners. It felt less like a race and more like the long training
runs I did in Dublin, where I could roam the city exploring all the
nooks and crannies.
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| That's not to say the last five or six miles weren't hard. I broke a pre-race vow not to take any energy or electrolyte drinks (I was suspicious that they might have given me the major stitch that plagued me last year) and tried to ignore the impending malfunction signals my mind was sending me. In the last three-mile lap however, as the realisation dawned that I was going to finish very soon, I found a burst of energy from somewhere and those three miles were possibly among my fastest. |
I crossed the finish like in a time of 3:21 and headed immediately
for some stretching and massage; I was anxious to learn the lessons of
last year where I couldn't walk for the next four days. All in all I
was very happy with the race, and it gave me a great incentive to put
together a proper training programme to do better next year.
Shane, Dublin Sri Chinmoy Centre
