Sunday, April 15, 2012

In the club (of those who made it)

Under a torrential (and freezing) rain, on roads that looked like mountain streams in flood, and puddles as big as lakes, I run today my first (and as of today last) marathon, in Milan. Probably not the ideal day for my baptism in this discipline, but, with hindsight, I can say that the fury of the elements made this race epic.

And as the epic poems, I could write pages and pages on today's adventure.

But my first words are words of thanks instead. When I first started preparing for the marathon, an experienced marathon runner told me ‘Mindful: preparing a marathon does certainly require a lot of commitment on your side, but it requires even more commitment from the people that surround you, and that do not necessarily share or understand your motivation’.

True, and for this reason I would like to thank Mathilde for having presented me with the time for training.

Thanks Mathilde, when I faced ‘the wall’, the stretch between the 30th and the 35th kilometer, I thought that if I had given up, I would have wasted your present. And I clenched my teeth and continued...

(And now, what will the next challenge be?)

18 comments:

  1. Congratulations Matteo! A truly unique (and wet, in your case ;-) experience, isn't it?!

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  2. tx sandra!

    luckily i used to be a good swimmer...

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  3. Congrat Matteo! I had no idea you were finally doing the big one, after the knee problems you experienced earlier. Actually, double congrat considering the weather conditions! I watched the Paris marathon yesterday and except for a nasty wind there were no such natural challenges. I could suggest the "Marathon des Sables" in Morocco as a next challenge (no, please, just kidding, it's a crazy one). Otherwise the GR20, but the normal way is probably too easy for you, so either 1) carrying the backpack plus Leo, 2) doing it running as I saw people doing...

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  4. Grazie ;-) I am also quite proud of my husband... The other M

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  5. Bravissimo! Now you can go back to Senegal and swim the Dakar-Gorée race, anesofietta

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  6. @ ingrid: in fact i have a rough idea of what the next challenge could be (ref. http://www.matteoandmathilde.org/2010/08/next-challenge.html) - this was an old project that i had to postpone because of leo's birth. but it can be reporposed, perhaps carrying leo in the backpack to make the challenge more... challenging... (ps: you are of course welcome to join ;)

    @ the other m: only 'quite'??? ;)

    @ annesofietta: dakar-gore by swim? i have never thought about that, it could actually be an interesting challenge. there are sharks if i am not mistaken... ;)

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    1. No sharks! It's a real race, taking place every year since for ever, I did it (totally unconsciously, and after a 4 hours night sleep) and Mathieu as well several years later. If I did it you could easily !

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  7. Bravo bravo! Very proud of you! Ciao. e

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  8. @ m2 and emanuele: grazie, grazie...

    @ emanuele: thanks for the 'very' ;)

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  9. @ annesofietta: if there are no sharks, where is the challenge??

    ;)

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  10. Quasi mi dimenticavo: tempo?!?
    Ciao.
    E.

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  11. Bravissimo, particolarmente sotto quella pioggia!!!

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  12. e con un ginocchio (una bandelletta ileo-tibiale) ballerino ;)

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  13. Congrats! I completed Vienna marathon too. See you in Vienna or Rome in 2013! Toshi

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  14. or in Beirut in November 2012...

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