MY LAST POST: thank you for being part of my experience

Hello everyone,

With tomorrow’s closing ceremony just around the corner, I have decided to conclude my blogging from the 2008 Olympic Games. I wanted to thank you all for your generous support and enthusiasm. I've been thinking hard about picking my most special moment during the Games and it is impossible, though the recollection of me getting up off the ground, believing that I was indeed going to finish the marathon shines through the blurred fragments of my Olympic memories. One other moment that has had a profound impact on me was a posting by a woman called Amanda whom I have never met. She said that my story inspired her to start running and living more healthfully. Reading Amanda’s words lifted me from the very bottom of self-pity and disappointment the day after the race. It is my hope that I will continue living my life in a healthy and productive manner and will inspire others to do the same.

After a short visit to Da Lian and Xi An, Aleksandar and I will head back to the good city of Salt Lake on Sunday, August 31^st. I’m looking forward to sharing the experiences about the rest of our trip when I see you all in September.

Thank you again!

Zuzana

Helping out my fellow sufferers

Feeling a little guilty about sightseeing during the Olympics, I was eager to help with the aid station for the 50k walk this morning. It ended up being a long day, frying on the sun from 6:00am untill noon, but it was very exciting at the same time. We had three guys in the race: Peter Korcok got top 16 in the World Championships and was hoping to get to top 12 here. He ended up pulling out with a strained a muscle at mile 10. I felt so bad for him, though his whole family, his parents and two siblings, was here to support him. They were all so sad—it was heartbreaking. Another guy, Milos Batovsky, walked well, I thought, only finishing over ten minutes behind his personal best, which, given the conditions, is at least at the level of his best performance. The third guy, Kazo Verkin, got last, also struggling with some health issues.

I certainly gained a lot of respect for this event. They may not get the impact that marathon runners do, but clearly they struggle with overcoming plenty other limitations.

Here are a few pictures and some brief commentary.

Early in the race, we weren’t sure if the sky would clear completely, but, unfortunately, it did. It got very clear and very hot. The temperature climbed to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (about 43 Celsius) and these strong and tough men struggled.... Some pulled out, others DQ-ed, and many others went down with injuries. Yet, the Italian was able to walk the Olympic Record. AMAZING.

I like the story of this guy. He is called Roman and is from the Czech Republic. His dad represented Czechoslovakia in the Olympics in 1968 in 50k walk. At the age of 40, Roman got a chance to walk his own Olympics for the first time. He only had one person behind him and, though he looked awfully uncomfortable at times, he had a huge smile on his last lap.

Kazo Verkin walking into the stadium... He had his moment and enjoyed every second of it, blowing kisses into the camera.

"The small world" saying came true again as the guy at the station next to ours knew my father-in-law (he was there helping/coaching a Serbian guy).

A FEW FUNNY SIGNS: A REVISED POSTING

Explanation: My original posting which included pictures of somewhat uniquely translated signs, accompanied with somewhat humorous pictures of Aleksandar, has been misunderstood. I wanted to set things straight with the upset blogger so here is my response/apology.

Thank you for your posting! I don’t think I have ever been “accused of” being demeaning toward other cultures (nor of being an American.) J After all, my mission, as a teacher of English as a Second Language and as a teacher educator in training, has been to promote appreciation of all languages and cultures. I want to thank you for your posting because it was a good reminder of how humor does not often translate across cultures and how my linguist’s fascination with translations may have led me to an act that could be viewed as inappropriate. What was meant as a joke was, clearly, taken very seriously by you and perhaps by many other people from your culture. It also made me realize that this blog has reached an audience wider than I had ever meant for it to reach and, as such, I need to be more careful about not insulting people from other cultures. I have decided to take the pictures off in order to show my respect for the Chinese culture. My experience here has been very positive and the last thing I wanted to do is to insult a Chinese person.

PS: I would disagree with your evaluation of Americans as being bad tourists. That cultural generalization can also be similarly perceived as inappropriate.

Forbidden City (+before and after)

Here is a quick update and a few pics taken yesterday and today. It was the first day after the marathon that my legs were not really sore so we did some walking around...

Yet another group of athletes left the Olympic Village yesterday morning. It's kind of sad watching people leave...

Alex being Alex on the Tiannamen Square...

Alex being Alex in the Forbidden City...

Zuzka in the Forbidden City: a stark contrast to her less than less elegant husband....

OK, I did get one decent picture out of him.

The end of the Forbidden City visit. It was interesting and cool to see despite the rain, but the guards made us walk a lot more than we wanted to... I guess you are not supposed to be in charge of your sightseeing experience in China.

The lunch in the Slovak House was nowhere ready so we went to do a bit more shopping. This is Alex's look that roughly translates to "Much as I love you, if you make me give you an opinion on one more tea box or silk scarf I will divorce you!".

I feel super important in the Slovak Representative House. The food is INCREADIBLE- I had three portions of halusky and all kinds of meants and of course, a really, really good traditional Slovak drink with foam on top :)))

I wish I could cook like this. OK, let me rephrase - I wish Aleksandar could cook like this.

Moving on....

Hello everyone!

Thank you for all your emails and posts over the last few days—they provided a well-needed balance to a few considerably less positive evaluations of my race. Don't get me wrong, there is little negativity surrounding my race, but you all know how the human brain tends to focus on the negative rather than the positive regardless of a favorable distribution. For a while, I was racking my brain over what could possibly have gone that wrong. Alex and I will, eventually, think about this again. However, I got to a point yesterday when I just felt too physically exhausted and emotionally drained to continue worrying about it. One of the possible conclusions is, for now, anyway, that it may have been a mistake to have taken Ibuprofen when the muscles started pulling initially at about 20 miles, as this may have masked the pain that could have been manageable with a few brief stretches, resulting in pain that almost wasn’t. I tried this in Houston and it worked as it has worked for many other runners in other marathons. Perhaps, given the different conditions here, it backfired…

In any case, having bought a ticket for Aleksandar to watch some track and field yesterday, I found myself enjoying things again and letting go. Here are a few pictures and a brief commentary.

Aleksandar and his big track and field meet in a while. He was quite excited though both of us kept wishing we could share the experience (yes Albert, Malaika and co.- we should totally make it to London if not as athletes at least as spectators!)

At first we were not sure about how Aleksandar’ seat will be, which was at about 150m before the finish line, right next to the pole vault competition. Little did we know it was to be the hottest seat in town that night. It was unbelievable to watch Elena Isinbaeva compete against herself and overcome not only the Olympic record, but also the World Record! The pictures show her getting one last piece of advice from her coach and then the celebrations following the event. The movie clip does little to capture the atmosphere on the stadium.

The moment was quite magical. There were no other events—it was just her and her pole. The stadium just erupted at the end in comparison to the rest of the competition. It’s like everyone was just holding back the whole night—both Alex and I were quite disappointed with the atmosphere in general, which, compared to your classic European meets, had a lot less clapping and overall excitement. Perhaps cameras should be banned… Then we, as spectators, would let ourselves to enjoy the moment and engrave it in memory rather than trying to capture it and keep it as evidence of our being there… I am guilty as charged though I at least have this blog as an excuse. J

It was increadible to see just how much better Isinbaeva is compared to everyone else.

That must have been one good piece of advice from her coach as it led to the Olympic Record.

Does one ever get tired of seeing the excitement of a fresh Olympic champion? It's like getting an instant happiness shot. Seriously, next time I'm down, I am going to watch some reruns of the finish of some Olympic finals....

Sadly, we missed the actual event, but it was still fun to see the medal ceremony for 10000meters. I was curious to see Haile all happy in the dinning room (I knew he did not get top three). Once I realized two of his countryment took first and second, I knew what the reason for his infamous big smile was.

Jelimo was DOMINANT in 800m.

We also saw the 400m hurdles final where the three Americans took 1, 2, 3 and the long jump final (though only from a distance). The only really magical and special moment was during the 3000m Steeple Chase final. The race was exciting with a Frenchman getting second in a fabulous finish and an injured runner running his own race, almost getting lapped. He was blowing kisses and waving to the crowd- I thought it was quite refreshing to see someone do something like that. He got huge applaud on every lap.

PS: Those of you who worry about Aleksandar-he did get his visa today and will be able to come back to the US with me. Though he is becoming quite a Beijinger as far as moving around town goes, he said he'd rather avoid living in China :))).

"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great".

These were the words from the League of Their Own that Aleksandar had for me as I poured my heart out over the phone to him about all my misfortunes during the Olympic marathon. Here is a quick re-cap:

Last night my stomach was upset, but I figured it was just nerves. I took some Pepto-Bismol and went to sleep, hoping it will sort itself out. In the morning I woke up at 4:30 and went over my pre-race routine. I caught a shuttle and got to the start at 6:30. All the great runners were there: Dena Kastor, Paula Radcliff, Catherine Ndereba, and I had a chance to say hello to Maria Portilla, who ran the Salt Lake City marathon, and Liza Hunter-Gullivan from New Zealand, whom I had met at a race in Minnesota earlier this year. The start was magical, though there were no spectators. The first kilometer I stayed with the group because, surprisingly, they ran slower than the pace I wanted to run, which was about 3:50 per kilometer. Then I ended up holding back as the group started moving faster. I ran side by side with a woman from Costa Rica—we had agreed to take turns running into the wind.

At 10k I saw Aleksandar and his dad, which was great. With the tight security in place, I did not think I was going to be able to hear or see them. The pace started to feel too slow—I was only running about 3:52s with the runner from Costa Rica—so I tried to push harder and pulled away from her. My stomach started feeling upset and I had to stop in the bushes—thanks to Sasha for the great "pit stop" tips!—at 18k and then in a road side portable toilet at 22k. I lost time and had to make up the distance on all the runners I had passed before I had to stop, which was about two minutes. However, I was feeling strong and found myself picking up the pace with each kilometer. At kilometer 29, about 18-19 miles, my calves started to cramp up. I was surprised because I drank at every station and had two gels. I remembered I had two ADVILS taped to my bottle at the 30k mark so I took them with water and gel. I was able to continue running at a good pace till the 35k mark. The walking coach, Juraj Bencik gave me my last bottle, yelling out I was in the 59^th place. I focused on the runner ahead of me and told myself I had to get to her by 36k and then to the runner ahead of her by kilometer 37. I did.

At kilometer 38 I started feeling my legs, especially my hamstrings, which were getting really tense. I was not sure what was going on. I did not feel like I ran out of glycogen or anything like that since I was really, really good about my drinks. Like my friend Carre in the trials, I hang on to my bottle longer than anyone else. Suddenly, at kilometer 39, my hamstring just seized up in the worst cramp I had in my whole life. I screamed and stopped and kept on screaming, holding on to a huge lump in the middle of my muscle. I thought I tore it; it was the most excruciating pain I had ever experienced. I thought my Olympics were over for sure, but at that time I almost did not care. My whole being was just trying to figure out what was happening. Within a few seconds the medics were there. I was so lucky that they were not far from me. One of them was holding me, the other was massaging my leg, and the third stretching my foot. After about two minutes I was able to start walking and shortly after that I started running again. The crowds cheered and I remember telling myself, “Okay, the worst is over, you have three kilometers to go, you can do this. You can finish. You don't have to fail.”

I was able to get back to an okay pace—no more running 3:45 pace. Though I think I was just too scared that the hamstring would seize up again, I was running at least a 4 minute pace. My breathing was easy and I wanted to go faster, but I just kept telling myself that the goal was only to finish at that point. Now, at 40.5 kilometers, with not even a mile to go to the finish line, the cramp came back. I went down immediately. I grabbed the big knot that I knew all too well by now. The hamstring was seizing up and cramping and I was trying to massage it out with both of my hands. Tears of pain came to my eyes, but I knew what I had to do. I just needed to massage it out. Just do what the medics did a mile ago.

So there I was, completely pathetic, massaging my hamstring, looking jealously at the runners I had worked so hard to pass now zoom by me. They were paying back the words of encouragement I had for them when I had passed them, but it did not make me feel any better. I looked to the stadium. It was right there. I was next to it. I saw the Olympic flame, only I did not know if I was going to make it inside the stadium. I pushed back the tears and thought to myself, “If I have to sit here for half an hour until I massage this knot out, I will.” After about three minutes, I tried to get up and... SUCCESS! I was able to walk, wait… and to run again! I even tried to catch up with the last of the girls that passed me, but, within half a mile, my muscles, especially the left hamstring, was acting out again, so I just let go of everything and everyone and just let the crowd in the stadium carry me to the finish line. At least that's how it felt.

I challenge anyone to provide a less flattering picture of themselves. Not exactly the typical finish line photo that media love. But I guess that's what cramps do to you.... I do hope I will have at least one other, less painful-looking photo from the race to keep…

At the finish line, I went down again with pain. But medics were available again to help me one last time. And then, I walked off the race of my life. The day was perfect. The course was perfect. My race strategy was perfect. My body gave up on me, but, upset as I am right now, I think that I will, with time, look back at this experience as perfect, too. I have never had to overcome obstacles like this before. The time might not have reflected my fitness and capability, but it is an official Olympic experience and my name will not be mentioned in the Olympic statistics with a “DQ” next to it.

Thank you all for sitting by your TV screens, watching me, cheering on me, praying for me, wishing me success. I thought of you at different times throughout the race—okay, not between 11-22k when all I thought about was finding a toilet. J I cannot believe how lucky I am to have so many good people behind me. Thank you!
Now, I’m off to have some rest and I will write after Aleksandar and my evening at the track and field events tomorrow.

Note 1:

Official results: http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/AT/C73K/ATW099101.shtml

P.S.: Novinari zo sportu spravu celkom dobre zhrnuli v Slovencine:

http://sport.aktuality.sk/oh-peking-2008/slovaci-v-pekingu/olympijsky-maraton-vyhrala-tomescuova-tomasova-bojovala-az-do-konca

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone!

I printed all your comments and went to my room thinking I was just going to read and not respond. But I found myself so overwhelmed by gratefulness that I thought I would write a quick note back to let you know that, with what little time I’ve had to reflect and Aleskandar by my side for a few hours, and with all your heart-felt support, I have been able to get to a point where I am truly looking forward to the race. It will be hard to stay cool and collected enough to get adequate sleep, but with or without it I will enjoy every step of the marathon, regardless of how painful it is. So many of you—some I did not even think were following the blog—have said things that mean so much and so right on point so, again, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

A rychlo v Slovencine-vdaka za vsetky krasne slova na ktore ste si nasli cas-dostala som sa do bodu, ze sa na ten maraton uz neviem dockat. Drzte palce. Este raz vdaka!

Zuzana

Searching for meaning and believing in the midst of glorious moments

With the Slovak Cycling team-Matej Jurco, Roman Bronis, and Jan Valach before their departure for Slovakia today (ok, their moments here were not so so glorious perhaps, but I enjoyed chatting with them. Palmer would have had a blast).

I slept well, but woke up to a warm morning, so I did not feel like running right away. I said goodbye to some of the Slovak athletes leaving today and headed off one more time to the Olympic pool to see three more world records broken, one of which was by Michael Phelps. It may sound like it's getting old for me, but there is no such thing as getting tired of witnessing a world record being smashed in a packed swimming pool stadium. The closest experience to this one is being at the Tour de France, waiting for the first rider to ride by the spot where you are standing. A big time athletics high.

200m backstroke world record smashed...

At the Slovak office, it was not much more calming with Lucia Klocova easily moving on to the 800m semifinals with the third fastest time and with the brothers Rizdorfer and Eva Kaliska winning Gold Medals in the kayak/slalom competitions.

Following some seriously glorious moments in the lives of athletes, I came up to my room feeling quite insignificant. I mean, my best time in the tables is 81^st out of 85 competitors, which means only four women have entered the Games with a slower personal best than mine. Some of you may have been following this blog, thinking I had a chance at a medal. I mean, Steven Krashen and Lyle Bachman, two gurus in my field of study, have been posting on my blog. Or, should I say they were posting on my blog since now they know just how slow I am and probably won't bother. J No, seriously, I was quite disappointed to find out just how far back I was.

Don't get me wrong—I am not immersing myself in self-pity or lacking of perspective. I know there are people who, as Alex reminds me often, have difficulty just breathing or deal with cancer or other major health issues. So worrying about only being able to run a subpar marathon may sound rather pathetic. I guess I just don't want them to close the gate to the National Stadium before I get there—one of the coaches said they are closing it at 10:15... I hope he was joking. J

The thing is that my friend Abby, a former Winter Olympian, warned me about this: when people hear that you've participated in the Olympics, they immediately ask if you have won a medal. It's kind of like in linguistics, when people ask how many languages you speak, you cheat and count the ones you were once able to complete tests in back in high school. I mean, for the rest of my life, I may have to say, "No, actually, I was last.” Or, “No, actually, I was 82nd out of 85 competitors.”

I know I need to do two things right now. First, I need to look inside rather than outside to find meaning in this race. I must find a way to block off all the possible negativity of any coaches or media and find a way to ignore any disappointment on the side of my friends and family. Second, I know I have to somehow get myself into an even-headed and more optimistic mode. I think, up until now, it's all been figuring out what the worst possible disasters may be and how I will be dealing with them. Not for once have I thought that maybe, just maybe, I may actually have a pretty good race. How I wish I was as positive and optimistic as one of my running partners who never writes herself off! Though, needless to say, she indeed often ended up beating folks who were a lot faster than her on paper.

Well, this may not have been the most exciting entry, but I guess it reflects the turmoil I am feeling inside. Please, pray for me over this last day that I might find meaning within; so that I can, even just a little bit, believe that I am going to have a positive experience. I doubt I will have time to post anything more before the race. Aleksandar is coming tomorrow so I will get to spend some time with him and perhaps with his dad too. Then, I need to get my water bottles ready and just get all my things ready for the race. While I may not find time to post, I will check any comments you might post, so, please, feel free to do so. I am sure you will find a way to follow me during the race and you will hear from me soon after, though I worry my fan club will have shrunk significantly by then. J

Thanks. This has, indeed, provided some clarity in what's ahead.

Zuzana

A busy day at two different venues

Today was a good day. I ran my last workout (more like a tune-up than a workout). I did 3x1000m in 3:23, 3:19, and 3:20. I felt a little stiff, which is perhaps not surprising after a day off. After the workout I went to the gymnastics venue and saw the US women lose to the Chinese women. The event was pretty fun to watch-the Chinese audience went CRAZY. I will try to post some short videos though I have not had much luck with posting those…

After I had lunch I was determined to go to the road cycling time trial to show support for one of the Slovak riders. Also, the race took place close by the infamous Great Wall so I was eager to get out of now a muggy, smoggy Beijing again and check out the Great Wall area. However, I missed the morning shuttle due to gymnastics so I hoped on a cab-a big mistake-it took two hours instead of one to get there. But in the end it was worth it. I saw about one third of the riders finish the race and then I sneaked in for the medal ceremony, catching some glorious glimpses of the top three. I yelled out “Awesome job Levi” for Naomi and Don and he yelled back “Thank you Butte, especially the Kronenberg Ranch!”. OK, not quite, but he smiled big. In fact, they were all so happy…. It just makes you know that they are clean. Then again…

Here is a few pics from the day. Most are self-explanatory. The one with all the kids was kind of interesting. All these boys and girls were just hanging out, supervised by their strict looking teachers cheering like they had been paid for it when the riders went by. I guess they were allowed to miss a day of school provided they would cheer. Hang on, there is no school in August…. The whole situation reminded my of the communist charade (the marches, etc). when I was little... But the kids were worth it! One boy was really cute in particular- your typical class clown- the only kid brave enough to try to use his English on me. This was our exchange:

The Chinese boy (CB): Hello
ZT: Hi-how are you?
CB: Fine.
ZT: Very fine or only a little bit fine? (smile)
CB: Very, very fine. Where are you from? (kids start gathering looking curious and excited)
ZT: Slovakia and you?
CB: China.
ZT: (Looking really surprised): no way! (All kids laugh. I give the boy a Slovak Olympic pin- it pains me for a second to not use it for trading, but then I see a smile on the boy’s face bigger than any pin in the world. I think to myself: "That was one pin well spent!"

The one picture with the soldier was taken on the course-I got to chat with them a bit through the interpreter. He wanted to take one with me using his camera so I thought I should take one too…

Tomorrow is going to be more quiet day as I am going to start focusing on getting ready for the race-probably no more major distractions from now on. I think I will watch events on TV and try to stay off my feet.

A Blue(ish) Sky and Two World Records!

Today was a good day though I slept poorly (I have roomates now-oh, well). First, I saw some blue sky, not much and not for long, but blue sky nonetheless. Then, I made it to the Cube to witness two world and one Olympic records. Here is a few pics.


I really should have been sitting on the other side, but my brave, ok, ruthless, Slovakian teammate who did not have a ticket made her (our) way into this, cool area for swimming athletes and coaches. I did not complain... if anyone lives by the Slovak proverb: Kto sa hambi ma prazdne gamby, Mirka Bobkova does :))). We are totally going to try into the gymnastics gym tomorrow (sorry to rub it in Albert and Malaika :)

NOTE: Notice the growing number of pins on my pass/badge. I have a whole lot of cool countries now including Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, Samoa, and others. Our deputy chief made a big mistake yesterday when he congratulated me on my nameday. I was quick enough to say: "No, dakujem. A ked uz mam tie meniny nedate mi este nejake extra odznaky?" He could not say no and I ended up with 5 extra pins to trade!!!



You can see the Olympic maskots dancing around the pool as athletes finish their warm up....



With a teamate (notice the difference in our biceps-her race is about 26.1 miles shorter than mine :) She is a 110m. hurdler.



Swimmers waiting to start 200m Freestyle. Mike Phelps is in lane 6...



It was increadible to see the lead Phelps had with one last turn to go...



One of the two world records I saw today....



During the men's 200m Freestyle medal ceremony (see the bottom middle of the picture and the big screen on top of it). I wish I had taken a photo two minutes before I took this one. Mike Phelps was actually stretching his hamstrings on the medal podium as they were starting to announce the results. I completely understand he had to focus on keeping lose for the upcoming semifinal, but can you imagine to be so good that you could even think about stretching before receiving your Olympic gold medal???



Before the start of another race...



During the medal ceremony for 100m backstroke in which yet another world record was broken. One also does not see two swimmers finishing in the exact same time to take the third place... (hence the four flags being raised).

A long line for tickets crushes the Olympic Spirit

I witnessed something quite sad yesterdat afternoon, but let me give you the background before I share my biggest human-generated dissapointment during the Olympics so far.

I noticed the ticket office finally opened so I stood in the line waiting for the tickets. The office was a small space with four tables, staffed by volunteers who were being guided by American supervisors standing behind their backs (on the scale of 1-10, the capability of the volunteers seemed to be at level 2 and the capability of the supervisors at 10, however, for some reason, it all had to go through the volunteers first). The line quickly started growing-it took me about 45 minutes to get inside the office where I was able to sit while I was waiting for another hour and then 20 minutes buying the tickets (some coaches took as long as 45-50 minutes buying theirs).

Just before it was my turn, two guys, one a tall, African guy, the oher a Swedish guy got into a heated conversation as to who should have gotten help first. Their exchange started to culminate very quickly and had it not been for a quick move on the side of one of the supervisors who asked one of the guys to move to another table, I am sure they would have gotten into a fight. I was so taken aback and saddened by all this (the Swede was right by the way-but who cares...). I wish I did not have to witness that. I guess, even athletes on their Olympic highs are prone to the unpleasant behaviors if you have them wait in a long line at a high temperature for long enough...

In any case, I was hardly able to get all the ticket I wanted for (I had more, but the computer crashed the first time I tried to pay....meanwhile the coaches on the tables next to me were buying hundreds of tickets for their teams...). However, I was able to get Aleksandar tickets for Monday and Tuesday night athletics which has some pretty awsome finals, including 1500m, 3000m steeple chase, and many others). I got myself a ticket to see a few swimming events tomorrow morning. I tried for gymnastics, but, not suprisingly, everything was sold out. In any case, I am to see some swimming and will post some pictures later this afternoon.

A Cool Morning in Bejing-could this really be?

I woke up to a cool morning in Beijing (it had rained the whole night). I could not believe that there is such a thing as not being too uncomfortable running here in August. I did 14k (about 9miles) running loops around the village at about 4:10km/6:35mile pace. Then I went to a mondo (tartan) surface loop and did six laps maraton pace. I have asked four different coaches how long the loop was and I got the following answers: Coach 1: 1000m, Coach 2: 900m, Coach 3: 950m, Coach 4: 925m). Whatever it was, I ran 3:27 per lap and I am guessing it was 5.4k worth of 3:45km/6:00 mile pace. Overall, I ran 22k (about 13.5miles). It was my last longer workout and I am glad I waited a day. I certainly felt a lot better both physically and mentally (I could actually see a mountain in the distance - that's how clear the air was!)

How I so wish it would rain the night before the marathon too. Aleksandar has been looking into the effects of heat on the marathon times. Here is what the prognosis is. Supposing I am at 2:38 shape in conditions comparable to those I had in Houston, Texas, where I qualified (60F/16C or below). That projects the following times at the following temperatures and their marathon time equivalents (based on http://www.runworks.com/):

65F/18C: 2:39:01 marathon (3:46.3 per kilometer, 6:04.2 per mile)
70F/21C: 2:40:08.3 marathon (3:47.9 per kilometer, 6:06.7 per mile)
75F/24C: 2:41:21.5 marathon (3:49.6 per kilometer, 6:09.5 per mile)
80F/27C: 2:42:40.8 marathon (3:51.5 per kilometer, 6:12.5 per mile)
85F/29C: 2:44:06.0 marathon (3:53.5 per kilometer, 6:15.8 per mile)
90F/32C: 2:45:37.3 marathon (3:55.7 per kilometer, 6:19.3 per mile)

I refuse to even look at the temperatues and time equivalents of anything warmer than that. Obviously, other factors such as wind, humidity, course will play a role on the day....

Anyway, this post is probably only interesting to you runners, if at all, so off I go to live some experiences so I can write about them :)))).

With an untypical Dane

Now, I think Albert will be jealous...then again, you may be too young to remember the great Wilson Kipketer? He is running for a position representing athletes at the International Olympic Committee so he hang out in front of the dining room yesterday. I got a picture and a free Danish pin! (You can see the dining room in the background)

A Gloomy Day in Beijing

Today was a bit of a gloomy day, outside and in. I got up at 5:30am. My hope was to do a pre-race rehearsal as far as the morning routine goes, then drive the course on the way to the start and then back up until mile 15 or so and then do my last longer run. However, things did not quite go that way….

First, it took a lot longer than it should have to find the right car/driver that was supposed to take me. Then I found out that the driver had no idea about the area and since my map was not exactly too great, he had to stop and do all kinds of driving gymnastics about every 5 miles. It was pouring down too and believe it or not, the speed limit, even on freeways, in Beijing seems to be 80 KILOMETERS/hour. Needless to say, after about two hours of sitting and stiffing up in the car, driving by enormous buildings with names like “China Glory Center”, I was ready to call it a day. I briefly saw the Tiananmen square where the marathon will start and the first two kilometers and then the blue line (which the marathon will follow all the way to the National Stadium) disappeared in the park. I just told the driver (or rather signaled since he had NO English) to turn and take the fastest way home.

By the time we got to the Olympic village I had been sitting in the car for over three hours. I certainly did not have the last longer run in me. I ran around the village for five miles and felt completely drained. I tried not to dwell on feeling so bad too much-one can’t feel great running every day and I’d rather feel like this now than in a week. Insecurity in us running creatures is a state we can easily slip into though.

In the afternoon, for the first time since I came here, I took a nap. I did not fall asleep, but I just lay there energyless for 50 minutes too tired to move. But, because I knew I would not fall asleep at night if I kept napping, I made myself get up. The only thing I had energy for was to watch a movie. My friends Albert and Malajka were kind enough to send some movies with me to China so I picked one called “Hillary and Jackie”. If you thought Thelma and Luise was depressing, watch this one. (Albert, I thought I requested “cheerful, souless, unRussian types of films”?). Now, completely down in the dumps, I figured I needed to be around people to snap out of the gloominess so I walked down to the Slovak Olympic office and watched the women’s road cycling race. Two of the Slovak cyclists who did that same race (only longer) yesterday were there and served as commentators, which was kind of fun. I wish Alex could have been there-he would have enjoyed chatting with them about their bikes and biky things. A gutsy British girl won the race so it was inspiring (it was pouring down there whole race and she got back to the front pack with two kilometers to go-which is VERY unusual in cycling and had it in the end). Now is the evening and I feel a lot better about life again. I went for a dinner, saw Jeremy Warriner on my way (!). I so need to bring my camera with me at all times. Now, I am considering even going for another short run and then it’s off to prepare for the last hard workout tomorrow early in the morning.

It was pouring down so this Estonian rider chose to workout in the hallway. I have never seen those rolls...

NOTE: Some of you have asked me about the air in the email. I think I may have mentioned it at one point in the blog, but the air does not seem to affect me too badly during the actual workout. I feel like coughing afterwards. Today, after it rained, it felt so much better! Funny, how a few days in the 90s makes a high 70s (Farenheit) day feel pleasant. I wish it would rain before the marathon….

The day of the Opening Ceremony

I keep getting emails about how cool the Opening Ceremony was. Geat to know! Now seriously, you'd think that being here and all I should know the best, but I really did not get to experience any of it until our team walked into the stadium. In other words, we missed the whole show (we were at the indoor gymnastics venue waiting and though they had screens there, they were showing flags of different countries instead.... Every now and then they would show a little bit of the show just to interupt it by the flag display, which was always followed by the intense booing).

However, just as I was starting to feel like I missed out, we were in the tunnel leading up to the Olympic Stadium and I could feel the excitement building and culminating. When we finally walked from the dark tunnel into the stadium, the waiting seemed all worth it. I just tried to soak in the atmoshphere so I could remember the feeling forever....

The night was long, I did not make it back to my room until 1:15 am so I am feeling quite tired today. I am off to recover and will try to post something again tomorrow.



Slaven (a decathlete) with two great Slovakian swimmers... (Martina Moravcova on the left is a two time Olympic silver medalist)



Before leaving the Olympic village - with Slaven who qualified in the decathlon-he got his qualifier to the point. One point less (could be as little as a few centimeters in one of the jumping events or a few seconds in the last 1500m race....)

In the shuttle, on the way to the Opening Ceremony

With others on the Slovak team and a volunteer

While waiting I came acroos Rubin McRae (the New Zealand team)-a friend from the Western State College....




The back of Coby Bryant's head....




Outside of the gymnastic venue, waiting in line for marching toward the stadium




And just before the most magical moment of the night: walking into the Olympic stadium




Branca's photo of the march taken in Vancouver




Was he sweating or what?




These outfits looked really warm....

Athletes from Somalia, Netherlands...






Inside the stadium waiting for all the countries to march in....






The Fire Lighting Part.... I mean, seriously, is this the best one ever or what?






And it's time to go home....