nadine bacher - my gigathlon adventure

For my English readers, here is my marathon story:

I started among the last 100 of 13'700 runners, to make certain that I would have a slow, steady pace for the first few kms. It worked, I was steadily between 5.50 and 6.10 for the first 10 km, already passing people from the very beginning. The first 20km literally flew by. It was so amazing with such an energetic crowd, my legs felt strong and after all the trouble I have had for two weeks with my right calf, there was nothing to be sensed yesterday!!! As usual, I had a real down between KM 26 and 32, where I considered hopping on a train and giving up. Only for about 5 seconds, though ;-)

At KM 32, I saw a girl puke over a railing and I said to myself - you feel so great and have weak thoughts, what kind of figher are you??? At KM 34, things started to work much better again, I had improved my pace again closer to my 6 minutes from the 7 minutes I had been running before, and I was on a streak by KM 36. Nina, a girl whose name I had heard the spectators shout for the past 20 km, and I ran the last few together, and she made sure I wouldn't let my sorry ass get dropped behind!!! By km 38, I was at a low again. Her statement: "now the fun begins, cobble stone!" It was murderous for some, brilliant for me. My feet were still strong and the legs didn't seem to mind the additional work. Those who had weak foot muscles complained a lot after the run about those few kilometers.

Mystical, running through the screaming crowds, towards the huge dome and onto the bridge, where all realistic sensation seems to have vanished and I was only in a spirit of racing, leaving all pain behind to complete the race with the strongest emotion I have ever experienced in sports! D., this one is for you. May all the strenght I feld be yours for your fight for health!!! You were with me at least 30 km of the race, which adds up to a lot of energy transcending out of my body and into yours!

The season is over. I am so pleased with the last 14 months, and I look forward to new goals and challenges in 2007. For now, it is time to rest for a few weeks, let my body recover and my mind enjoy other things, before it will all start again in November.... Thanks to all of you for your dedication in reading my blog, commenting and e-mailing me.