Finished the Half-Marathon!!!!!

Well I just got back from the half-marathon. It was great!!! So much fun and seeing the coast of Rio running along the beautiful beaches was well worth the trip here.

There was 17000+ people from all over the world at this event and getting to know some of them was a great experience.

I'll run through what happened. So yesterday Carlos and I horribly prepared for the Marathon by walking for three hours, staying up late to see the Brazil vs Argentina Game, not eating dinner since all the restaurants were closed by the time the game ended, drinking lots of water an hour before sleeping (had to pee all night like 6 times) and being bothered by a fly in our room. But in the end we still managed to exhaustedly wake up at 6 am to eat food and head to the marathon. During breakfast we noticed that 80% of the people there were also there for the marathon and we socialized till we finished eating. Then finally we were off to take the bus and get ready to run. :)

(us leaving our hotel)

so we made it just in time before the race began like. I'n my last post I am running for Marcus Gurgels brother therefore, I am a 53 year old man with an extra large shirt and an injured knee(thats why Marcus could not run).

(mob of people)

So the marathon began! and the giant mob of people slowly made there way through the gate. To begin we started at Sao Conrado one side was a beach the other a favela. Everyone from the favela was out cheering for us and dancing. It was a great way to motivate us through the first steps of our journey.

I took all the following pictures while running so apologies for the shaking. I deleted the ones that were to horrible. But I took a picture every kilometer we ran.

1 Km

The first kilometer was a piece of cake. Just enjoying the beautiful beach on my side.

2 km

Although I'm still feeling in tip top shape I come to the realization that there is still 19 to go and a km is actually pretty long. Oh well I'm already here hahaha. I then crank up my ipod and continue with our pace. Carlos and I had a goal of running this in 2.5 hours so we had to keep our pace at about 1km/6min.

3 km

Still feeling great! Its an incline but running 3 km is something I think anyone can do. we begin leaving the favela and toward the next beach. Still another 3 km until the next beach since we have to go around a mountain but so far the run has been beautiful.

4 km we start enter the city near the mountain and I realize I really need to go to the bathroom. I drank to much water right before. I start thinking of ways to go the bathroom while still maintaining my pace, dang I guess I'll just have to wait till its over. We crank up the pace a bit hopefully we can get there sooner.

Whats that! Our first water point. Thats the last thing I need to see, people drinking water and throwing it on themselves as I need to relieve myself. I then focus back on the race grab a water as I'm running (since I know I'll get thirsty) and keep going.

5 km (missed the picture of the 4th and 5th km mark came out of nowhere)

Doing good just enjoying the next beach. 5km is still nothing to difficult.

6 km

Things still doing good. I still need to relieve myself but I'm ignoring it and just pushing forward. During the first 5 km lots of people passed Carlos and I but now we begin seeing groups of those people. Seems like we are catching up.

7 km

We are now a third of the way there. Carlos and I(Marcus) are doing great. We reach another water point so I grab two waters power one down and refreshingly pour the other one over my head. The Leblon Beach air feels great and the sound of tides crashing against the shore is truly inspiring.

8 km

We start entering a city, more and more runners start falling behind us. It feels like we are cars as Carlos and I weave through the traffic of people. Still feeling 100% we pick up our pace just a bit.

9 km

Still weaving through people. But I notice a very artistic side walk made from Paraguayan rock.

We are now leaving Leblon and about to begin our run through Ipanema. Crowds are cheering, people are asking for high fives and some kids run with us for a bit on the side walk.

10 km

Another water stop. Once more looking past the fact I need to pee I grab two waters power one down and drench myself with the other.

10 km Also represents two milestones for me. One It means we are nearly half way there :) !!!! And two this is were I begin to leave my comfort zone for running. I am still feeling 100% but usually I don't run more than 10 km. I have ran/walked 50 km(was 97% dead after I did that though).

11 km

Still feeling good, just reached Ipanema. Keeping a strong pace.

13 km

This is when I begin focusing on the race. I miss a few distance markers but I'm just rocking out with my ipod and enjoying the run. Also this was a gatorade point so I got to power down two gatorades.

15 km

Now I begin to feel the race however, I am still feeling good. This really attractive girl, brunette with green eyes looks at me and cheers blowing me a kiss. Hahaha that was a great way to get energy. We then crank up the pace(thanks to the beautiful girl, can't look bad now can I?). Time to power to the finish!

16 km

Carlos and I are passing a lot of people. Although each kilometer seems longer than the last we know that there is only 7 km left. We have just finished running through Ipanema and are heading toward Copacabana. We can see the Sugar Loaf now.

18 km

We just ran past Copacabana and are headed toward Botofogo. We know we are almost done because this is were the Sugar Loaf is and we walked this yesterday only in the other direction.

20 km

We hit Flamengo beach, I am feeling the run in my calfs and I really need to pee.

We make it around the curve and Carlos and I know were are almost home free. Last km and we did it. I see the finish in the distance and begin to sprint. I am mostly a sprinter not distance runner so this felt comfortable to do(wasn't the best sprint because I was tired). I see the clock of the marathon, I can barely make out the time we are coming in. I increase my sprint and then.

FINISH!

Tiredly I look around seeing people stream in behind me. I sit down catch my breath.......Then the 53 year old man I am, took out his camera and shot a picture just as Carlos was coming in. Our time was 2:24:35 below our 2:30:00 we wanted. Our true time however, if we check our shoe sensors is around 2:10:00(took about 10 min of waiting for the crowd to move past the time sensor when we began) most likely. We will have to wait and see for our true time.

Carlos and I then grabbed a snack bag and gatorade. Returned out running time chip so we can get our true time by mail, called Ana and Valeria to tell them we finished.

Now

Carlos is asleep he is exhausted. I am working on my blog and getting ready to go watch a soccer game(If Carlos wakes up in time lol). Oh and I went to the bathroom. :)