being ridiculous in Dubai

As you can see, I wouldn't say that I was ABSOLUTELY ridiculous for running the 10k in Dubai...just a little ridiculous.  Absolutely ridiculous would have been to run the 42.2km marathon.

And after watching 80+ year-old men finishing the marathon, our measly 10k just didn't seem impressive anymore!  But my medal is still in my wallet. Reminding me to keep practicing.  NEXT year's goal is to run in the marathon.

Yet it was still a feat, and it was still an amazing experience.

Let's recap.

In November, a couple of the other teachers noticed my love of running, and invited me to join them in the 10K race in Dubai.  After a little bit of thinking, I graciously accepted and signed up. 

That was November.  By December, I wasn't sure if I could do it, but I kept half-heartedly training.

  

We left school at noon on Thursday, heading straight for the airport.  Our flight to Dubai was just on time and we arrived with no problems.  There was so much excitement in the air.  I could hardly keep from jumping up and down (and may have done so a few times). 

The Dubai airport is laid out in such a way that we were well warmed up for our run (which wasn’t until the next morning).  We must have walked 3K just from the gate to the visa desk.  Although I might be exaggerating.  Just a little bit.

After receiving our visa stamps, we went to the Westin Hotel on the other side of the city, to pick up our race packs.  The closer we got, the more excited we got.  The Westin Hotel is where the race started, and it felt like the Excitement Epicentre.  I may have even signed up for another race in October.  Then it was off to the Holiday Inn in Safa Park for a good night's sleep.

The alarm clocks went at 4:30am.  I say clocks, because we set 3 of them so that we wouldn't oversleep!!

Did I mention that Dubai is an hour ahead of Kuwait? The reality of waking up at 3:30am hadn't crossed our minds when we signed up for the race in November.

But we did it. We dressed.  We pinned on our race numbers.  We had a snack.  And we were off to the races...at 5:30am...in the dark.

Our friend Liz started her race at 6:30am.  Our race started at 6:45am. 

And then it was me and 6,000 of my closest running friends.  6,000 people racing towards the end of the track.  At first, it was kind of like bouncing up and down, trying get anywhere.  Finally, we spread out a little bit...but there were people around for the entire race.

I had my music, the same music I’d been training with for weeks…of course I didn’t realize this until I’d already started running.  Why hadn’t I created a special race playlist on my iPod? Who knows.  At least I knew which songs were coming!

At about 8kms, I was feeling like a boost, so I hit the PowerSong button on my iPod.

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
And the voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

And I ran with all that I had in me…

And then I tripped and fell on one of those.

But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again "boy, you'll never win!
"You'll never win"

But someone behind me stopped and helped me up, made sure I was okay, and we were off again running.

Very slowly.

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them looking down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

But, nearing the final corners, I started running with all I had in me.

There wasn’t much left.  But…I made it.

1:00:58.

10 kilometres in 1 hour and 58 seconds.

I had 2 goals: the first was to finish in an hour, and the second was to run the entire thing without stopping.

58 seconds over, I will accept.  And I ran the entire time, even after getting up from falling.

 
We all made it, and we all made it in good time! We ran 10kms before 8am…what did you do today?

This is Liz completing her marathon!  We couldn’t believe it. Injured knee and all.  But she did it, and she did it with gusto.

Some after race fun: 

I did some hula-hooping for a free iced tea.

They also gave me a mini hula-hoop!

The Burj Khalifa – the tallest building in the world

An ice rink inside the Dubai Mall (not to be confused with the Mall of the Emirates which contains a ski-hill).

We went on an abra ride! Abra-cadabra, it only cost 1 dirham (about 40 cents). Totally worth at least 50 cents.

A walk in Safa park before returning to Kuwait.

And the Palm Jumeira from the sky, on the way home.

God willing, I will be participating in the race again next January – with many new goals in mind!

Who knew that running could be so much fun?