I left Bielsko on Friday afternoon after a slightly emotional goodbye from my host family. The bus ride was fairly pleasant, and happened to go through the town of Wadowice, which takes its role as birthplace of Pope John Paul II rather seriously. Next time I go to Krakow I'll have to hop off the bus and explore the city a bit. My ride ended at the Krakow Station which is rather geniously not only the main bus and rail terminal for Krakow but is a big shopping mall with a food court. The best part though was the mexican restaurant. I've been craving Mexican food so badly lately that is was just wonderful having an opportunity to finally eat some. I literally started tearing up a bit at my good fortune.
After lunch, I started exploring a bit with the intention of getting to the "marathon village" to get my registration materials and race packet. I was pretty impressed with the whole operation and found it slightly humorous that the packet came with a free can of non-alcoholic beer and a coupon for a pint of the real stuff after the race. I also got my t-shirt, some muesli, some pretzel sticks, a ticket to the official pasta party, some useless adverts, and my ID chip and bib for the race. After this I walked around a bit more and waited to rendezvous with my host for the weekend.
I stayed with Kate Rak, the sister of one of my host sister's friends. I'd met her before while she was home for the weekend in Bielsko and she had extended the invitation to me to stay at her dorm. She's a Polish Language & Literature major at one of the universities in Krakow. I wasn't sure quite what kind of accommodations I was to be expecting (I even brought some extra money just in case I needed to stay at a hostel), but I was luckily enough to get a whole room to myself. She and her boyfriend have rooms right next to each other at one of the student housing blocks in Krakow, so she stayed in her boyfriend's room while I had a nice, cozy place to prepare for my run. And by cozy....I mean that. The Haggett single rooms are luxurious compared to this room. Seriously...most bathrooms are bigger...not that I was complaining; I was more than happy to have a good place to sleep. The three of us went out for a drink and some shopping, but I was pretty knackered after walking and traveling so I called it an early day and went to sleep.
I slept in fairly late on Saturday but I still had a few things that I wanted to see in Krakow, so I walked around a bit to see the sights. The place where I started was in the district of Podgórze which was the Jewish Ghetto in WWII. I took a quick glimpse at the Oskar Schindler's factory, which was fairly close but there wasn't too much there. I was actually quite hungry, so my first real stop was something that I had been dreaming about for a while: Chinese Food. As lovely as Bielsko is, it's fairly limiting for one with cosmopolitan tastes. I had searched online and found a place just a few blocks away. I have to say I was quite pleased. "A Gong" was a fairly typical looking asian restaurant and the serving staff was decidedly not anything Polish...but the food was oh so satisfying.
Next stop was the Transport Museum in Kazimierz, the former and current Jewish district. The district itself was fairly neutral. Apart from tourist shops and the occasional Synagogue there was nothing fundamentally different about it. The museum was really cool though....evidently it has only been around a few years, and they're just finishing a major revamping of it.
The museum is housed in the former roundhouses for the streetcars. There were workers running around everywhere, there were construction materials just lying around, and they didn't have any materials in English.This was the entrance to it. I had a hard time believing at first that they would even be open. But aside from that...it was cool. Poland has an interesting relationship with the automobiles they produced. They really don't like any of them, but they hold a special place in Polish identity. The coolest of them was the Star 266. This was a 6X6 military rig that is virtually indestructible. Despite being based on a 40 year old design, these trucks are still used by military all over the world, and even in some civilian applications, such as in rallies. The coolest conversion though was the Popemobile that was based on it.
After my little museum tour, I took a little walk to Wawel. This castle fortress is the historic heart of Krakow and of Poland. Built on a hill overlooking the River Vistula, Wawel was the home and final resting place of the Polish kings. Undergoing many incarnations over the years, this area is what ties Polish history together. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see all of what was there due to time constraints, but I did get to see the most important area right now: the resting place of Lech and Maria Kaczyński 
As you might have read, the decision to bury the Kaczyńskis here was a very controversial one. Lech was a politician (something most Poles are rarely fond of). Despite the universal grief at his death, many Poles don't consider him on the same level as their historic kings. He was sometimes controversial and many felt that the move to bury him here was a political one that unnecessarily brought politics into a time of mourning. Throughout the city, there were little bits of graffiti like this one saying "Wawel is for Kings":
As you might have read, the decision to bury the Kaczyńskis here was a very controversial one. Lech was a politician (something most Poles are rarely fond of). Despite the universal grief at his death, many Poles don't consider him on the same level as their historic kings. He was sometimes controversial and many felt that the move to bury him here was a political one that unnecessarily brought politics into a time of mourning. Throughout the city, there were little bits of graffiti like this one saying "Wawel is for Kings":
The only other part of the castle that I had time to see was Smok's Cave. The hill that Wawel was built on had a cave beneath it that was rumored to have had a dragon (the Polish word for dragon is Smok) inhabiting it. If you click on the link, you can see a little story on some of the legends of Smok. When the castle was restored the decision was made to include a stairway leading into the dragon's lair. I've never really had the chance to see that many caves, but I really want to see more in the future. It was really quite impressive inside the cave and I can easily see why people thought it might have been made by a mythical creature. It's really quite fantastic inside. Immediately outside the cave is a stylized statue of Smok.
After watching Smok and exploring his cave, I went to the Old Square for a coffee and bought a Polish copy of Tintin to read. On my way there, I accidently walked past the place where Pope John Paul lived while he was in Krakow.
called the Hynał Mariacki (St. Mary's Dawn) from the tallest tower of St. Mary's Church in the Old Square. Though I was seated a bit far away from the church, it was really quite cool listening to this tune that has been played so often as a part of history. While waiting, I read my new book in Polish, drank a Latte, and enjoyed a Polish specialty called Szarlotka.
The day before a marathon, many runners choose to "carbo-load" with rice or noodles. The thought is that the body stores these complex carbohydrates slightly differently than other forms of nutrition. Once the marathon actually starts, the body is supposed to have easier access to this and is able to convert the carbs more efficiently into energy. I'll let nutritionists verify whether this is true or not, but the pasta-party was certainly fun. In fact, the energy of the place was really infectious. It's really motivating to see so many people who are committed to and enthusiastic about the same thing that you are. I was also really surprised to see beer served there, as most sites I had read recommended not consuming alcohol the day before the race. Unfortunately for me, I didn't really see anyone there who obviously spoke English so I wasn't able to enjoy the party as much as I might have in another location. After my pasta, I went back to the dorm to call it an early night in preparation for the big race.
In fact, it was a little hard to sleep that night. I was kind of giddy with enthusiasm. It felt a lot like the night before Christmas as a child, when it's still really magical; you can hardly sleep because you're so busy imagining what the next day will bring.
I woke up bright and early, synchronized my playlist, and headed off to the village. The synchronization of the playlist should actually appear more important than it sounds. See...I don't like little headphones...I have my big DJ headphones and I'm really proud of them. Unfortunately, my headphones are worth a few times more than what my MP3 player is. . It wasn't big enough to last me a whole race without repeating but I was still determined to use it...until less than a week before my race it just died on me. I got this player when I was in Germany...five years ago. The screen stopped working two years ago, but the music worked ok enough so I didn't really have a good reason to buy a new one. About 1 year ago, the contacts started dying on it but as long as I put it in my pocket in a very specific way I was still able to get stereo sound. Then...just one week before the race it stopped working all together. I was lucky enough to have my co-worker Mike lend me his iPod nano, which meant no struggling with the contacts mid-run...but it also meant finding an extra hour or two of playlist...so that's what I spent Saturday night and a little of Sunday morning doing...so yeah...synchronizing was pretty important. If it hadn't been for the music, I would have had an even worse time than I did.
I got to the village right on time, got changed, attached my chip to my shoelaces and got in line for the starting gun. But first I went to the bathroom. And I mention this because I couldn't stop laughing. There were probably 25 different porta-potties but there were probably 100 people waiting in line. People were running in and then running out again. In and out. Doors opening, doors closing. The whole time I was waiting I kept thinking of the Monty Python sketch. Watch the clip and you'll see what I mean.
Anyway. The race started and there was a great air of anxiety, I could hardly believe that I was going to do this. The gun went off. It took me about 3 minutes to actually get to the starting line. Luckily, this wouldn't have an impact on my time. Modern races are all equipped with computer systems that individually track each runner via low power RFID chips. Each runner ties his chip into his shoelaces and then at the start/finish and at periodic intervals throughout the race there are big sensors laid onto the road. When someone steps onto the sensor, it turns on a radio that reads the chips in the vicinity, lets out a beep in recognition, and relays the signal back to a central computer. Not only does this allow better tracking of individual times throughout the race but it also prevents cheating via shortcuts and allows runners to have a precise time of when they actually left the starting line versus when the gun went off.
The race started with a lap and a half around the Błonia, which was an old meadow but is now a pleasant open field and park. This equaled about 4 kilometers. From there we went into old Crakow, up through the Old Square, a bit on the Green Belt and then back through the opposite side of the old square. This was all quite pleasant and there was a lot of enthusiasm from the onlookers. It was really quite encouraging to get so much support from the crowd. I was feeling right on-track here, if not a little bit sluggish in pace compared to everyone else. From there we ran along a street to Wawel. This path was the former coronation route of the Polish kings, so it was simultaneously gorgeous and quite symbolic. We then ran several kilometers along the river Vistula. I was still feeling fairly on-top of things at this point. I was really encouraged when I found out that the volunteers along the river were all members of Scouts Poland. It was fun reflecting on some of my own volunteer experiences in the Scouting movement and made me proud of the time I had spent in the program.
From the river, we spent a lot of time running along one of the arterial streets. One entire side of the boulevard was shut down for the race. I was really quite impressed with the amount of effort that the city put into supporting the marathon committee. On top of easily fifty to seventy volunteers at each of the hydration stations, there were a few hundred police, city watch, and firemen to guide traffic, monitor the parade route, and ensure the overall health and safety of the participants. Additionally, there were easily a hundred different people cleaning up along different parts of the route. There were even two military marching bands belting out tunes while we ran past! And this was on a Sunday morning, when most Poles prefer to be at Church with their family. Plus all the roads closed... Like I said...I was really impressed with the City of Krakow for all that they put into the event.
Towards the end of the loop, we ran into Nova Huta. This is a city-in-a-city that was very much based on Soviet ideology rather than social-interaction patterns. It has long been infamous in Poland for being the height of Soviet insensitivity to Polish life and the wastefulness of Soviet production. Several factories were built near this area. This meant that what was supposed to have been a workers paradise was noisy and quite dirty from all the pollution. It was also miles away from any resources or other infrastructure, which meant that after communism, not only was it dirty but it rapidly lost jobs as factories moved to more efficient areas of production closer to their sources. It's kind of like some of our "projects" in New York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore. Luckily though, Nova Huta is making a strong comeback and was quite a pleasant and shady place to run through. It was here that I hit the Half-Marathon Mark. It was also here that I hit my wall...a whole lot sooner than I had hoped or anticipated.
From here, it was a long, hard slog back to the river and along the river back to the Błonia. Upon reflection, I'm thinking that I had started getting dehydrated by this point and that led to a big drop in energy and speed. I was also getting de-motivated as there were fewer and fewer runners around and fewer and fewer people cheering as well...I was surprised but they really do make a big difference. Most of the remaining 20 Kilometers were a disheartened half-run/half speed-walk to the end. I felt quiet tired and guessed a bit that I was running short on water. I decided to keep going, making sure to drink extra water and decided that at the first sign of increased danger I would stop and get medical help. Luckily this wasn't a problem and I was able to drag my way to the end. At three miles from the end of the race, I got a huge cramp in my left leg. It was charlie-horse painful. This had me limping a bit for a good while until the last 3/4 mile in which I simply jogged through the pain to get to the end.
My friend and co-worker, Rachel, met me at the end and helped me get myself in order and out of there. I was really stiff but I finished. After all of this, I had a bit to eat (finally!!! It was 3 and I didn't have any breakfast!!), went back to the dorm, took a nap, called my parents, packed up, said my goodbyes, met up with Rachel, Mike, and his awesome girlfriend Sara, had some dinner and went back to Bielsko.That wraps up my general story of the marathon but I have quite a few reflections on it. I'll put out what I can in the next day or two...I'm already getting quite long-winded in this post. I will leave with a parting picture of me (and my race tan), my finishers shirt, and my finishers medal.
No comments:
Post a Comment