Florence Marathon

Another marathon is in the books!  

Nick and I were the first to arrive in Florence on Saturday morning, so we were responsible for picking up everyone's race packets.  We easily found each other at the main station, dropped off our luggage, and made our way to the expo.  As I started seeing signs for the marathon, it finally hit me: I will be running 26.2 miles tomorrow morning.  My "training" for the past seven months has consisted of 8-10km on a treadmill most mornings, with only a couple half-marathons thrown in for good measure.  I feel completely underprepared.      

The expo was arranged in a way that required us all to weave through the maze of booths before we could pick up our numbers.  There's no better way to psych myself up for a race than to pass countless booths for all the other marathons in Europe that I would like to run (the idea of running marathons is a lot more exciting than the actual process of running them).  In true Italian style, the maze hit a dead end and required everyone to do a u-turn and push through the crowds in order to go out the same way we came in.   
  
We decided that carb-loading was in order, so we stopped for pizza near the city center.  Wine was so inexpensive that we had no choice but to "hydrate" with a half-liter each.  I was nervous about food in Italy since I don't eat tomato sauce, but the waitress was completely unfazed by my request for a white pizza.   

By around 6pm, everyone else had arrived and we were en route to our villa in the countryside that we had rented for the week from Brian's aunt, who also generously offered to cook us all dinner.  The food was great and the wine was relaxing.  Yes, that's right - both meals on the day before the race involved wine. 

Pre-race dinner (with wine!)

The remaining hours before the race felt like a whirlwind:

...Sleep.  

...Wake up.  

...Shower (strike that. No hot water.  It's ok, I'm going to smell gross in a few hours anyhow).  

...Back in the car for our journey to Florence.  

...No parking near the starting line, so Brian's aunt took us up a giant hill, which had great views of the city but the impending hike after the race scared me a little.  

...Group picture time!  Yay, T-45 minutes until the race (getting a little nervous).  

Less than 1 hour before the start!

On our way to the gear check (or "cloakroom", as the Italians would say), the crowds started getting crazy and we were literally stuck in a crowd of people.  The minutes were counting down and everyone was just pushing each other to get anywhere.  Eventually, I broke through and rushed to get rid of my bag.   

What's with all the people?!? I need my space!!

I managed to squeeze my way into the starting corral with a few minutes to spare, but it was so crowded that I couldn't even stretch at all.  This was by far the most hectic race start I have ever experienced and the first few miles would have to be my stretch/warm-up period.  

Once the starting gun went off, I instantly felt more calm.  The crowd thinned out, the weather was ideal for running (we got lucky), and my legs were feeling fresh.  Around the 10k mark, I remember seeing some pacers in front of me, with their balloons bopping around in the air.  I had to look twice for it to register that I was running with the 3-hour pace group.  This was much faster than I was planning and I knew that it wouldn't be sustainable considering my lack of training.  Unfortunately, it's not so easy to just slow down in the middle of a race, so I reluctantly decided to keep going until my body decides that it has run long enough.  

We crossed the half-marathon point at exactly 90 minutes and I still felt good, but I knew that my body would break down at some point as I venture into the 18+ mile mark.  Sure enough, I started getting side cramps around the 30km point, which forced me to walk for a bit.  

For me, walking during a marathon is like breaking the seal at a bar.  Once you start, it becomes a lot more frequent.  Sure enough, my pace became a lot slower and random parts of my body started hurting.  I wish I was better at training for long-distance races but it's just so boring - especially since I am usually bound to treadmill running in most of my hotels.  

After the 30km mark, I started looking forward to each water stop for some much needed refreshment.  Florence offered some unique alternatives to the standard options, including tea (sometimes hot, sometimes luke-warm), salt water (which I never tried but was told tasted like a flavorless gatorade), wet sponge (common in European races, but not in the US), and italian biscotti.  That's right, Biscotti.  Nick snapped a picture of a well-dressed volunteer, offering some Italian pastries to the runners.  Between the biscotti and the high heels, this woman enlivens the best Italian stereotypes!

I'm obsessed with this woman. 

By the end of the race, my body was literally falling apart.  I had stopped to walk multiple times and everything was starting to hurt.  Somehow, I still managed to pull out a respectable 3:11 finish time but it was not easy.  After the race, I shuffled my way back to the cloak room and returned to the finish line to watch more runners come in.  The finish line was in front of the Basilica of Santa Croce, which was such a picturesque setting.  

Finish line of the Firenze Marathon

Once everyone in our group had finished, we meandered our way back up to the cars (very slowly) and shared our favorite moments from the morning.  Mine was running past the duomo because it just appeared out of nowhere and is always such an awe-inspiring sight.  I love running in Europe because the courses are always so scenic and this race certainly was no exception.  

I often wonder why I voluntarily put my body through the torture of running full marathons, but the feeling of achievement always seems to last longer than the soreness in my muscles.  The Florence marathon will remain particularly memorable because I got to experience it with five of my friends.  Now that the hard work is over, we can celebrate with a week in Tuscany.  

Florence Marathon medal 2013