Friday July 27:
Nothing like enjoying decadent dessert while watching the fittest people on the planet. |
Spectator Teal: Opening Ceremonies. I was dead set on
watching them, having fallen asleep during the famed Beijing Opening
Ceremonies, only to hear for weeks (and years!) afterwards how amazing they
were. I don’t make that mistake again. But as expected, the Opening Ceremonies are
pretty weird and not even in the British humor Monty Python kind of way. (That
comes in the Closing Ceremonies.) Worse yet, the NBC anchors can’t get over how
the Queen just parachuted into the stadium with James Bond, when that was clearly a (poor) job of camera editing. Still, I’m excited it’s the Olympics and
make festive brownies to kick them off.
Saturday July 28:
Runner Teal: I meet some of the GRC girls for a long run. We
chit-chat through a leisurely 12 miler. Nobody kicks my butt. Oh yea: long, slow running, this is
the part I’m good at.
Spectator Teal: In my excitement, I make a rookie mistake
and start too fast. I watch
fencing and archery and am glad to see Misty May and Kerri Walsh are back. It
won’t be the last I hear of them. (It will be the last I see of archery and
fencing.)
Monday July 30:
Spectator Teal: Missy Franklin, the sweetheart of the Games,
wins gold less than 15 minutes after swimming a semi. It’s unprecedented, sure,
but given how many events swimmers can compete in I start to wonder how that’s
possible. Why is the recovery so much faster than track?
Tuesday July 31:
Spectator Teal: In the afternoon, I overhear my coworker
screaming “He only lost by a stroke!!” Ingeniously, I put two and two together.
Later, I watch Michael Phelps lose by a hair. I decide I need to start wearing headphones during
key racing times. The women's gymnastics team wins gold, and my 8 year old self leaps for joy.
Wednesday August 1:
Runner Teal: My track workout is terrible. I’m exhausted and
can’t get in the rhythm. I’ve eaten all the brownies, the lure of archery and
fencing is gone, track has yet to begin. I hit a mid-race slump.
Friday August 3:
Spectator Teal: Track starts! I crawl deeper under my rock.
Runnersworld and basically every site I ever go to are now strictly forbidden.
Fortunately, the only other race that I hear about before watching is Bolt
winning the 100m. If anyone had told me the results of any longer races, I
think I would have slapped them. Fortunately, I have very kind and
understanding friends and family, who don’t like to be slapped.
Saturday August 4:
Runner Teal: I get in my long run on Saturday in
anticipation of the women’s marathon Sunday morning. I try to do some of the
final miles fast. I bomb. I’m only slightly comforted by the fact that I
do a variation of this workout every season and the first attempt is always
a disaster, but I’m still upset. I come home and bang out an entire strength
workout that I almost always skip.
Spectator Teal: Hours later, I’m tuned in to the (Live!)
men’s 10k with my aching legs propped up on the couch. Until the final laps,
when Mo and Galen put on such a thrilling race that I’m jumping up and down,
screaming, and (in my eyes) willing them to an amazing, unforgettable 1-2
finish. I celebrate with more screaming, jumping, clapping, tearing up. Somehow my
neighbors don’t call the cops. Best moment of the games, hands down.
Sunday August 5:
Spectator Teal: Apparently there are two reasons I get up
early on weekends: to run and to watch running. At 6 am, I’m glued to the TV
and the women’s marathon, the event I’m looking forward to the most. But
slowly, on the rainy and twisting streets of London, my hopes for Kara and
Shalane fade. Shalane hangs tough for a long time, but fades hard. They finish
10th and 11th, and in a touching moment Kara, the more
seasoned marathoner, picks Shalane up off the pavement and they walk arm and arm
away from the finish.
Runner Teal: After the race, I go for a short jog to shake
out yesterday’s run and spontaneous Mo-Galen-triggered plyometric workout. I
think about the American marathoners and my heart aches for them. Not only
because it’s the Olympics, which I certainly cannot relate to. But because of
all the hard work they put in, how they felt they were in the best shape of
their lives, and yet (while their performances are still impressive) they’re
unsatisfied. I can relate to that. And now all they can do is take time off,
recover, and then do it all over again.
Monday August 6:
Runner Teal: I do my full strength workout again. I’m not
sure whether I’m inspired by the Olympics or disappointed in my own progress.
Whatever it is, it’s working. I continue to do my strength workouts through the
Closing Ceremonies.
Wednesday August 8:
Runner Teal: We have a doozy of a track workout, which I’ve
been dreading since I got the email on Monday. It’s 6 x 1 mile with a shorter
recovery that usual. The paces start slow, but drop frighteningly close to my
mile PR. Also, I’m still exhausted. Somehow I make it through five of them
right with the pack. On the last, I manage to cling on until the last straightaway,
when I fall back but still hit the line in 5:41, 7 seconds faster than our
intended pace, and 4 seconds faster than my PR.
Friday August 10:
Runner Teal: I switch my workouts around and end up doing an
easy 12 miler in the morning. I haven’t gone that far before work in a while
and I enjoy it, in my weird-masochistic way. While reading about the
contenders in the women’s marathon a few days before, I saw a picture of one of them running NYC. Something about the fall colors in the background and
the famous course triggered a pang of missing the marathon. Today’s run reminds
me again.
Spectator Teal: Final lap of the women’s 1500 and Morgan
Uceny falls. Again. I can’t believe it; I am close to tears. She is filled with
very real tears, pouring them onto the track. People say she should have gotten
up and finished the lap, but I don’t think so. In her situation, I probably
would have done the exact same thing. It’s heartbreaking. When will she get her
redemption?
Saturday August 11:
Runner Teal: Tempo run. As you may recall, I’m not
great at tempo runs, but I manage this one all right. I average two seconds
slower than my goal pace, but it’s apparently one of the faster tempo runs I’ve
ever done (although it’s on the shorter side) and it was the day after a 12
miler.
Spectator Teal: In the 5k, soon-to-be Sir Mo Farah does it
again. I scream and clap but I don’t jump up and down as much. Even though it’s
an incredible double, it’s almost like it’s old news to me. Of course he would
win again. He’s freaking awesome.
Sunday August 12:
Spectator Teal: 6 am, it’s marathon time again. From the
start, it’s obvious Ryan Hall is off. He usually runs in the lead, and he’s
falling further and further back. He drops out. Not long after, Abdi is out too.
Meb is all we’ve got left. At halfway, he’s in 17th place.
Meanwhile, the three vying for medals are clear: Kirui and Kiprotich (aka
Kipsang) from Kenya and another Kiprotich from Uganda. The two Kenyans
are chatting back and forth and around mile 23 it seems they are finally
pulling away from the Ugandan Kiprotich. Ugandan Kiprotich does the sign of the
cross, and I think “oh man, he’s praying that he can hang on, at least get
bronze.” But the next thing you know, he’s caught the Kenyans and is blowing
past. He must have prayed for the strength to make his move, and his prayers
were answered. He amasses a lead that he won’t lose, and he gets Uganda gold
(its first marathon medal). Meb, somehow, claws his way through the field to
finish 4th. He’s a few minutes out of the medals, but it’s no
matter. Many people, myself included, may have counted Meb out of this one, but
once again he proves us wrong with his tough, fighting spirit. Before the race,
he was the American who seemed injured. Afterwards, he’s the only one left
standing.
Runner Teal: I take the day off. It’s been an exhausting 17 days.
Dream big,
Teal
Spectator Teal's Olympics were way more exciting than mine, and Runner Teal rulz!
ReplyDelete-Caitlin
watching the olympics alongside runnerteal this time has made them much more exciting and entertaining!
ReplyDelete