Nǐ hǎo! Part 1

Hello!  The only word in Chinese I was good at saying.

Friday, May 13
My first morning in Beijing and the clock says 6:45 AM, that's 5:45 PM back in Minneapolis.  Over the course of the last 48 hours I felt I slept 10, which may sound like a lot except a few of those hours I slept uncomfortably in the upright position on the arrival trip to China.  Exhausted, the only word to describe how I was feeling that particular morning.  Upon arrival to Beijing, Max and I were greeted by Kevin, the man who round up all the Great Wall Marathon participants at the airport.  We were shuttled to our hotel, the Renaissance Beijing Capitol Marriott Hotel.  The traffic in Beijing was wild!  It reminded me of the ride Bumper Cars at any fair grounds or festivals.  Immediately upon arrival at the hotel, we checked in to our room and picked up the race packet info.

After getting settled in, we made our way to the hotel bar to meet other marathon participants, enjoyed a beer, learned of the marathon course change and headed back to the room to sleep the lousiest seven hours of "sleep."

Saturday, May 14
The first full day in Beijing, China started at 6 AM thanks to jet lag.  Breakfast was a variety of Western and Eastern cuisine, Western meaning food I'm used to eating on the daily i.e. eggs!  Today was a day trip to the Silk Market.  Let it be known, not only silk is sold at this market.  Thank goodess it is an indoor market as we walked 1.5 miles in the rain to get there.  The hotel provided the room with a decent sized umbrella, winning!  No rain stopped us from touring the city.  The Silk Market has a variety of goodies such as knockoff designer brands including Jimmy Choo, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Nike, Under Armor, etc. and the items vary from shoes, handbags, brief cases, suits, artwork, knickknacks and the like.  Four hours slipped by so we ventured into the Beijing Subway since the rain hadn't let up.  Out of the subway system (which was pretty easy to use) we popped into the mall next door to the hotel for lunch and were back to the hotel by 3 PM.  Silly me, I napped from 4 - 8 PM.  Waking up from this nap I felt groggy but I wanted to get everything ready for the marathon the following day.  Eventually I was in and out of consciousness the rest of the evening until 2:30 AM rolled around and it was time to be up and at 'em!

Sunday, May 15
RACE DAY!
3 AM and the hotel lobby was packed with runners from all over the world.  Everyone was herded to the buses for the long ride to Badaling.  Upon arrival, there was limited time to use the restroom and drop off bags before the whistle blew.

They started with the 5K and 10K races which were headed straight up to the wall.  The full and half marathons followed and started in the village before heading up to the wall.  The marathon was split into three sections, the first section was on a paved road through a small village, the second section was climbing the mountain to run on a small portion of wall ruins and mainly a restored section and the third section was wall ruins and a little trail down to yet another village.  Hitting each section once was considered the half marathon and twice was considered the full marathon.

The first section of the marathon was on a paved road that gradually inclined.

The first section was a paved road with a slight incline, it was by far the easiest part of the day.  Once you went half way, you then turned around and went back to the start line.  This portion was downhill so it was a nice relaxing turn around.  Once I got back to the start line there was a trail to take us up the mountain to get to the wall.  The trail up the mountain was an elevation change of approximately 1500 ft and was muddy/slippery due to rain from the night before.  I finally arrived at the wall and it was a glorious moment.  I couldn't believe I had finally made it in terms of ever seeing the Great Wall of China.  I was a tad overcome by emotions taking my first steps onto something so magnificent.  I quickly snapped out of my trance and looked up to see the first encounter was an un-restored staircase that was vertical and the path was only wide enough for one person.  It was an out and back course and by this point there were lots of people going in both directions.  It was an adventure but also frightening, trying to make room for people coming from the other direction and avoiding falling rocks.  Once at the top of the un-restored stairs I was finally at the restored section of the wall.  This is where I felt the safest.  The only issues I faced on this portion of the wall was my head battling thoughts of actually being able to finish 26.2 miles.  The stairs were so steep and ranging from 4 inches to 2 feet in height.  I was keeping fueled by GU and electrolyte pills.

I reached the Wall! 

A restored section of the Wall. So steep.

I figured I was through the hard part and I was ready to make my way down to complete this a second time until I realized there was another section I forgot about, the hardest section.

The third section of the wall was in really poor condition.  Still battling thoughts as to if I can finish this race in one piece or not, I was emotionally drained.  It was nice to see familiar faces who offered words of encouragement, they kept me going.  The third section was mostly descending the mountain, leaving the wall to take a trail down to another village where Subway sandwiches, bottles of water and light snacks were waiting.  I took a short break to devour all I could before ascending back to the wall.  Going back up was brutal but knowing that I had a downhill trail coming to take me back to the beginning of the race to start the second loop kept me going.  Once I was off the mountain I picked up my pace again to complete the first section (paved road).  I could tell my legs were not as lively as when I started the race 6 hours before.  Once I made it back to the start line (which was also the finish line) I knew I could not risk going back up the mountain.  My mind was in the right place to keep going but my body was telling me "Na uh!  Nope!  No!"  So I crossed the finish line without completing the entire full marathon.

The hardest and most draining section of the marathon, by far.

There were moments on the wall where I thought, "Why the hell am I doing this?"  "Am I crazy?"  "Who in there right mind would ever do this to themselves?"  I also became an emotional wreck.  I was so happy and grateful one moment and then I was tearing up because I worked so hard to train for the marathon and it didn't seem like it was enough.  My training definitely didn't prepare me to dominate this full marathon.  Yes, I am in great shape physically but the course took its toll on me.

I had so much time to think during the race and I came to my senses and settled on that I did not fail.  Not completing the 26.2 mile adventure doesn't make me incapable.  I overcame so many obstacles that I now feel like I can accomplish anything.  This adventure sure was the hardest thing I have ever done but I'm proud and all the people I care about are proud of me too.  That is all I could ask for.