It's now Friday...sorry for the lack of posts. I meant to get something up on Monday about the Chicago Marathon. Then the flu hit. Or whatever it was that resulted in me going to bed Monday afternoon and emerging 3 days later without having eaten, sleeping nearly every minute, with a pounding headache, chills, and a fever.
Not unlike the horrifying reaction my body also had to the first time I ran a marathon. Or the way it treats me after I let a dentist pull my wisdom teeth. Thankfully, I can now run 26.2, take one long nap, then usually rebound by dinner. I've never understood the people who pound beers, McDonalds, or stick around afterwards. I ran my ass off, I'm going home to sleep.
This year's Chicago Marathon was...weird. Fabulously entertaining to watch. Yet I didn't even go downtown to be an in-person spectator. I'd tried to volunteer after we got back from Door County, but I'd missed the cutoff date. So this marked the first time since 2008 that I wasn't directly involved either running or working the event. And, surprisingly, I didn't miss it. Not one bit. I definitely enjoyed watching on tv (sort of--more in a sec). But nothing beyond the normal weekend sports. There was no tingle of wanting to be there. It made me a little itchy to get back to racing. That was about it.
But for the casual viewer, it was one heck of a race! The world record nearly fell...just 22 seconds too long. Having run that distance from the Roosevelt bridge down Columbus, I can see in my head the distance that is in feet! It was a perfect weather day. It was a record number of finishers. There was a close race for first for all but the last few meters. The course record fell. A beloved female athlete won that race. No complaints on the marathon end.
Though what a sad, sad day for NBC 5. Praise for showing the race, of course. They don't have to show it, I suppose. But the broadcast was cringe-worthy. Technical problems with the video, difficulties getting decent shots, horrible interviews, announcers saying horribly dumb things...even more stupid than usual! They're not going to be winning any awards for it, first of all. But it also answers the question many triathletes have about why more races aren't broadcast other than the Hawaii Ironman. It's a lot like the Olympics being every 4 years. How many hours can you really sit and hear overcoming obstacle stories with spliced together shots from the real sporting event? I suppose it doesn't really get old or we'd give up on even those spectacles.
Maybe I'm just spoiled by a few years of being back participating in sports instead of watching it unfold on a field in front of me? I can't sit through 3 hours of baseball anymore. I'd rather be out on a 3 hour bike ride.
But for the casual viewer, it was one heck of a race! The world record nearly fell...just 22 seconds too long. Having run that distance from the Roosevelt bridge down Columbus, I can see in my head the distance that is in feet! It was a perfect weather day. It was a record number of finishers. There was a close race for first for all but the last few meters. The course record fell. A beloved female athlete won that race. No complaints on the marathon end.
Though what a sad, sad day for NBC 5. Praise for showing the race, of course. They don't have to show it, I suppose. But the broadcast was cringe-worthy. Technical problems with the video, difficulties getting decent shots, horrible interviews, announcers saying horribly dumb things...even more stupid than usual! They're not going to be winning any awards for it, first of all. But it also answers the question many triathletes have about why more races aren't broadcast other than the Hawaii Ironman. It's a lot like the Olympics being every 4 years. How many hours can you really sit and hear overcoming obstacle stories with spliced together shots from the real sporting event? I suppose it doesn't really get old or we'd give up on even those spectacles.
Maybe I'm just spoiled by a few years of being back participating in sports instead of watching it unfold on a field in front of me? I can't sit through 3 hours of baseball anymore. I'd rather be out on a 3 hour bike ride.