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Rossini the Runner Archives Index
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| << December07, 2006 - Rossini the Runner - Who Shot JR? Edition |
January08, 2007 - Rossini the Runner - The Adventure Begins >> |
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------------------------------- DID YOU KNOW? ------------------------------- Divine Design is a non-profit organization that receives merchandise contributions from top designers. The merchandise is later sold to the public at a considerable discount. Proceeds from the sale benefit Project Angel Food, a non-profit organization that provides hot meals for homebound patients living with AIDS. To find out more, go to http://www.divinedesign.org ------------------------------- PROGRESS UPDATE ------------------------------- Happy Holidays, everyone! I’m back home and now, just in time for Christmas (but a little too late for Channukah), here is the exciting conclusion! It’s dramatic too and without even trying! -1 - So if you remember I flew out on Thanksgiving. The flight and arrival went very smoothly. I arrived Friday and followed all the instructions on minimizing jetlag and actually did very well. Florence is such a beautiful city, and it was so exciting too seeing the hotel filled with all of us. Apparently, the previous year there were only 50 Americans in the Florence Marathon. Our organization had totaled to a little over 400 participants. Many of us, myself included, had only a full day to get accumulated and get registered. Registration was a nightmare. I made sure to get on the first bus, only to get there and the marathon didn’t have our health forms on file. After two hours and most of the morning shot, I signed a waiver that removed all responsibility from the marathon organizers. It was okay, though, aside from getting my runner number, I got this very cool red Florence Marathon top and I got to see my name on the Starters’ List which filled up half a wall outside the convention center. - 2 - Later that night, the AIDS Marathon folks held a Pasta Dinner for all of us. It was $25 ticket and no meat, only pasta, but it did provide the opportunity to be with everyone for one last time. The organizers sang, had us laughing, and of course, reminded us that we shouldn’t change anything we’d been doing up to this point, which made us laugh even more. We all looked at each other, and simultaneously, “Please. What have we been doing that’s the same?” We laughed some more. We even took photos. We’re smiling and throwing up “Greta Waitz” signs (our pace group). We were here. We were finally doing it. Personally, I like to refer to those photos as THE SHINING photos. Banquet hall. Smiling faces. Then blood down the hallway. You know how it goes, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Well, after our lovely and quite spirited Pasta Dinner, we all did the responsible thing and returned to the hotel. “10pm. Perfect,” I thought, as I made my way to my room. I planned on taking a shower and laying out all things I needed for the following morning. When I walked in, my roommate and one of my friends from my pace group, froze and gave me a weird look. “You’re not going to bed are you?” she asked. After a moment or two, it came out that she was going to have a massage… in the room. Now her hopes were that I would leave the room, but it wasn’t happening. So while she got her massage, I got ready for bed. In the end, it all worked out perfectly and we turned off the lights a little after 11pm. I immediately fell asleep. The day had exhausted me. Perfect. - 3 - That is, until 2am, when I woke up as easily as I had fallen asleep. I was wide awake. I got up, went to the bathroom, and then some time later, I heard Rebecca, my roommate, get up and do the same. “Can’t sleep either?” I asked into the darkness. “Yeeeeessss,” she answered in a half whimper, half laugh. Then we returned to silence and quietly laid there, hoping that the other person was falling asleep. Eventually, Rebecca left the room entirely, and I felt relieved. “Good, now I can turn on the lights,” I thought to myself, because whenever I have insomnia, it’s just best to get up and go with it. When she returned, she starting laughing, “Oh you’re up! I left so you could sleep!” It was almost 4am by that point, and since we had to wake up about 6am, we just gave in and stayed up together. We wondered how many of our fellow runners were awake as well. - 4 - We found out the answer to that the following morning – quite a few. Practically everybody it seemed. We laughed as we made our way through the breakfast buffet. I grabbed cereal, runny scrambled eggs, and bacon. I had some coffee, but I wanted Diet Coke, and I really wanted my Kashi Go Lean Oatmeal with those yummy little crunchies. I thought I would get some soda when we got done with breakfast, but it dawned on me when I stepped outside, “Oh, it’s 6am on a Sunday in Florence. Everything’s closed.” “That’s alright,” I told myself. “I feel good, amazingly good.” Before we left, I did run back upstairs for my rain poncho. It had been overcast with a likeliness of rain, but I was really hoping it wouldn’t. “By the power of Garth’s red Nikes, no rain!” we all agreed as a pace group. We also agreed, Garth, Rochelle, Elaine, and I (only a small portion of our pace group) that we would stick together throughout the race. With the rain poncho stuffed in the side of my bra, the camera down in the front of it, and Garth, Rochelle, and Elain nearby, I was good to go. - 5 - From the Piazza Unit? (near the train station) we walked to the river, then caught (or rather, pushed our way onto) a shuttle bus that took us up the hill to Piazzale Michaelangelo. That was funny, because we got a kick out watching all the men lined with there backs to us, doing what men do. Although my favorite, was one man standing behind a bush, facing the road, and with a proud look upon his face, he had both hands resting on his waist. I think he was doing the same thing, but I’m not sure. Once we got off the bus, we made our way pace area. I didn’t know this, but they start people based on their speed. So the fast runners who will finish the marathon in an ungodly 2 hours will be at the front, while the more leisurely 6 hour finishers, like myself, will be all the way in the back. It makes sense, but it’s not something you think about. They also have Pacers or Pace Leaders. These are men with balloons tied around their waist. On one of the balloons, it says something like 4h or 5h, meaning the number of hours it’ll take for you to finish. Very handy if you are running alone. Of course, though, there wasn’t a 6h Pace Leader. Apparently, after 5 hours, you’re on your own. Anyways, we stayed huddled up there until our time came, about 5-10 minutes after the official start. There was around 6000+ participants in this race. - 6 - But when we did cross the start line, it was so exhilarating. While it was said that there aren’t many spectators in Florence for their marathon, there were plenty at the start. The announcer pointed to all us kids in yellow, said “AIDS Marathon” and then a bunch of stuff in Italian that resulted in the crowd going “ooooh” a moment later. After that, they really cheered us on, and down the hill we went. It was perfect. Any threat of rain had somehow disappeared, turning into a sunny Fall day. We running down hill, past villas, nuns (one of whom blessed us), and old men with caps yelling, “Vai! Vai!” (Go! Go!) or at times, when we were walking, to go faster, to move it along. One of them looked like my Uncle Romolo. Truth was, the faces, the expressions, and attitudes were so similar to home that I felt like I was looking at my family half the time I was in Italy. Anyways, all was going well. We liked that the markers we in kilometers, rather than miles. “That’s a lot easier. Like we’re accomplishing more,” said Rochelle. As we leveled off, we ran into town, with early risers (or those who were woken up by the commotion ahead of us) peered down from their windows, all framed with green wooden shutters. “Buon Giorno!” we yelled upwards enthusiastically. What a good day! Hello Italy, we’re doing it! - 7 - And then that’s when it happened. Like forgetting to put enough gas in the car or something, I hit mile 5 (or rather, 8 Km) and everything was gone. I was completely drained. “Uh-oh,” I thought, and kept going, not saying a word. The beauty of Florence kept me going. My little group was holding steadfast together, and there were all these wonderful people cheering us on, and as the day progressed, the children came out too, wanting high fives as you passed them. I figured at the next water stop, I would try this salt drink the Italians created to replace the salts in your body. The water stops come every 5 km, so we would be coming upon one soon. Hopefully that would work. When we got there, I shot one down. Tasty. Like lemonade. But I couldn’t tell. Keeping up with the pace was becoming grueling for me, and by the next stop, while I still took a “Sali” or salt water, things were starting to look bleak. I was dizzy. My eyes couldn’t focus on anything. I felt like I had googly eyes, that were spinning around in my head. I was just drained. My body felt heavy, and I just wanted to collapse. I wanted to put my head down and sleep a little. If only, if only. But I told myself to keep going, to stay with the group, at least make it to the half way point. That was only a few miles away at the 21 km marker. I could do it. I could make it halfway. It took everything in me, but I made it halfway. In the last km, I started walking a little more than running, but I was able to keep up with the group. We all seem to be suffering by this point. Garth was having pains in his shoulder again. Elaine was falling behind, too, at times, but like me catching up. Rochelle was struggling too, her legs were hurting, but the opposite was true for her… as long as she kept moving, she was fine. - 8 - Then Elaine fell back and eventually out of sight. Then, I had to make the decision to the same. I just couldn’t keep up with Garth and Rochelle. I couldn’t even run. I was too dizzy. I kept waiting to faint. So I walked. I tried not to beat myself up, but I couldn’t believe it, after all this time, I might not even make it. When I made it to the next stop, I took down 2 sali waters and kept walking. People on the sidelines would cheer, and I just had my head hung low. I looked back every now again for Elaine, but I never saw her. It’s just me now. It’s just me now. - 9 - I even ran into Jared at one point, and when he asked me how I was doing, I was on the verge of tears. “It doesn’t look good. I have nothing to give. I don’t know if I’m going to make it.” He smiled. “Well, you’re doing good. Just keep going like that. Take your time. Take a rest. You have plenty of time.” Then I thought (and I swear to god, it’s true), I thought of everyone and everything said to me over the past six months. And I realized I just couldn’t go home saying I didn’t finish it, not while I had something in me. I figured I would run until I collapsed. I figured, worse comes to worse, I could walk the rest of the way back. Sure, they would open up the city again, and I wasn’t sure of the course without the other runners around me, but I could always walk the last 12 miles or whatever back. If that’s one thing I know I can do is walk. I can walk forever, if need be. Hell, my great-grandma would walk a couple miles from her house to church or to the grocery store well into her 70s. We Rossini’s can walk. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll just keep on going. My head started to lift a little. “Hey,” I said to myself. “Let me see if can run.” And I did. I ran. I felt okay. The sali water must be helping. I better keep with 2 shots every stop. Until my muscles started locking up. Okay, and maybe a shot of water. - 10 - So, I gave up any idea of a pace. I ran when I could. I walked when I needed to. I just kept moving forward. Eventually, the trucks, clean-up crews, and other such vehicles marking the end of the race passed me. “That’s okay,” I thought. “There are still plenty of people around me.” And there were. It was not until I was in the never-ending park, which every Florence marathoner will easily tell you was the worst part (“When will this end already?!”), I really looked around at the runners around me. There was one gal from my group with horribly bad knees. We ran around each other for a while, until eventually she passed me up for good. There was another gal that hobbled as she ran, because she had to keep one leg straight. It seemed like everyone around me was hurting, and hurting bad. And yet, they kept going. I thought that these people in the back are just important, just as noteworthy, if not more so, than the ones in the front. Yeah, it’s an amazing accomplishment to finish in a little over 2 hours, but try hobbling for six! That’s endurance, if you ask me. When we finally got of the never-ending park, I ran into Jared again, who asked me how I was doing. I was doing good. The 2 sali-1 water combo was making it possible for me to keep going. At every stop I would take this combo, walk a little bit, waiting for it to kick in, and then brrrr, like a horse, I would take off. Eventually after 4 km, it would start to taper off, and I would get dizzy again. I would walk, more than ran, that last kilometer until the next stop, until I could get my power combo back. Yeah, I felt good. I was starting to feel hopeful I would make it to the finish line. And then Jared gave me even better news, I was only about 7 miles from the finish line, and if that wasn’t amazing enough, it looked like I would still be making it around the 6 hours mark! Who would have ever guessed? - 11 - The only downside was that it was around 1pm and the streets were wide open. When I made my way down the road running parallel with the river, heading towards the Ponte Vecchio, I had to fight cars and people, none of whom wanted to stop, and they definitely didn’t get out of your way. Eh, it’s alright, though, I’m used to it. And besides, there were plenty of folks along the way still cheering us on. After awhile, I could feel the finish line. I was close. When I saw the last stop, at 40 km, I zoomed by it. Only 2 km to go, and I feel great! People were even telling me. “You’re almost there. Just around the bend.” Until I was told that three times. And then put-put-put… I lost my gas again. “Where is the finish line?” At one point, I came upon this long stretch with barricades, and I thought “Here it is!” until I saw runners doubling back. “You’re not done?! You’re still running?!” I yelled out to one of them, who looked just as bewildered as I did. I was damn near spitting by this point. “Damn, Florence, and their parks, and their stupid course.” Truth was, I was in really bad shape. I should of stopped, I told myself. I couldn’t even run. I tried at one point, but had to stop after 30 seconds. It was just too much. Luckily, Gretchen saw me. Having already finished, she was on the other side of the barricades with her husband and a few other folks from my pace group. She also told me I was almost there, to which I snapped, “That’s what everyone keeps telling me!” And then in a helpless whisper, “but it never comes.” I kept walking. Slowly, like I was dragging myself. “Okay, honey,” she said and started to walk along side, explaining the remaining part of the course in detail. I was already doubling back by this point, and she told her husband she would be back. “Okay, I’m going to walk with you to the end. See, the end of the road there.” I nodded, if you want to call it that. My head bobbled. “Okay, at the end there, the road will curve to your right. That’s when people will start cheering. Then the road will immediately curve to the left. You’ll run on the red carpet and you’ll be done. It’s really close.” “Okay.” We talked about how her run went. Very well and smooth. I wish I knew how I would have done if I was in top form, but that’s okay. I’m almost there. And sure enough, just like she said, the road curved to the right and there was everybody, cheering like wildfire. Gretchen said softly, “Now, go.” And I started to run again. I turned to the left and there was Jared at the end of the red carpet, on the other side of the finish line. “I knew you could do it! Kaw! Kaw!” he yelled out. The “kaw, kaw” was a reference to Galaxy Quest. He never saw the movie, but he liked my description of that particular scene. It made me laugh, and when I crossed it, I just remembering holding onto his hands, being half hunched over, stabling myself. “I did it. I did it. Okay. It’s done.” - 12 - I didn’t cry, although afterwards, I saw some did. I did, however, wobble over, like a drunken Harry Carey, to a Tobacco shop (Italy’s equivalent of a 7-Eleven) and got a Diet Coke (ahhh) and peanut M&M’s (mmmm). I met up with Rochelle, Garth and Elaine, who were all sitting on the steps of some church, perhaps Santa Croce, who knows. I was just too happy to sit. I was happy that I had made it. After awhile, I decided to head back with Rebecca and Michele. We had to walk back, which was about 30 minutes through the crowded streets of shoppers. On the way, we saw fellow AIDS Marathoners, lost, unsure of the route, unsure of the destination. We would give them directions, and they would continue onward. I thought how that was almost me. How I had made up my mind to do the same thing, if need be. Later, I found out, Elaine didn’t make it. She fainted, and afterwards, she tried to go back in the race, but the medics wouldn’t let her. That was almost me, too. So all in all, I am saying this is best run ever, because it was certainly my worst run ever. After the marathon, I hobbled around for two days with very sore legs. A week later, the nail on my right pinky toe fell off. And I cut up my belly due the friction from carrying all that stuff in my bra, ha! So, I feel fortunate to say that I made it across the finish line, much less to say that after all that I went through, I finished in 6:19.46. I feel fortunate for the past year, but much like the marathon, it has been filled with difficult moments too. And I just feel grateful that I’m still standing here today and that I have all of you. Thank you so much! Merry Christmas! P.S. If you want to see some photos, go to my blog at http://runnerla4119.blogspot.com… and don’t worry, in my next update, I will tell you how the rest of the trip went. Think of it as a good New Year’s hangover read. See ya :) ------------------------------- SPECIAL THANKS ------------------------------- I would like to specially thank Agape International Spiritual Center for their generous contribution of $500. http://www.agapelive.com Thank you, Reverend Michael! Also, I would like add the following people for helping me through the rough spots, and there were many... Tania, Stannie, Christian, Sonia, and Patricia Thank you, everyone, for your support, your donations, and for actually wanting to read these updates! I kept going because of you. ----------------------------------------- RUNNER OF THE WEEK ----------------------------------------- SANTA That’s right. Santa Claus. Every year in Philly since 1998. Seems like even he can’t avoid the fitness craze of our era. Poor fella. To find out more, go to http://runningofthesantas.com ----------------------------------------- LINKS ----------------------------------------- Visit my blog – http://runnerla4119.blogspot.com Find out more about APLA – http://www.apla.org/ Make an online donation – http://www.aidsmarathon.com/participant.asp?runner=LA-4119&Year=2006&EventCode=FL06 Download the flyer and spread the word – http://www.geocities.com/jrossini@sbcglobal.net/RossiniAIDSFlyer.pdf Visit me at MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/oldladyrossini ------------------------------------------------------ CONTACT ME / SUBSCRIPTION INFO ------------------------------------------------------ Jennifer Rossini runnerla4119@sbcglobal.net http://runnerla4119.blogspot.com |
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| << December07, 2006 - Rossini the Runner - Who Shot JR? Edition |
January08, 2007 - Rossini the Runner - The Adventure Begins >> |
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