Guy Cohen summarizes the Houston Aramco Half Marathon, the
first half marathon in his life, "a gift from me to me for my 40
th
birthday", he writes.
Date: 01/21/15, by: Guy Cohen
It is 7 a.m., 50 degrees, sunrise in downtown Houston. More
than 37,000 men and women are starting to run. For me, it is my first half
marathon. A gift from me to me for my 40th birthday.
Sidenote - I do not like to run... I’ve always had a hard
time running, from elementary school through high school and then in the Israeli
army. I used to see stars in my eyes,
difficulty breathing, stress fractures.
The problem is that, like many others, I also reached the
age when I started to feel uncomfortable with the continued neglect of this
thing called "body." Something
needed to be done. So, I decided to walk. It's a great sport, and indeed, I
walked three times a week with a friend. We were talking while walking about
this and that, arguing Israeli politics.
One day, I came across an article "How to get from
walking to running straight 3 miles." I never ran more than 1.5 miles
without stopping, so the challenge was interesting. After six months of very
short running combined with walking, I got to the point that I can run half an
hour straight -- slowly, but continuously. Still running three miles seemed
like an impossible task. I cannot explain how, but sometime during January 2014,
I decided that I was ready and wanted to try to run 3 miles. I tried ... and succeeded.
The satisfaction was immense. I decided
that the next stage is 4 miles, and if sometime in the future, I will be able to
run 6.4 miles, then I did my duty in this life.
The security officer at the Consulate General of Israel to
the Southwest, where I work, recommended the participation in races regularly
and that I go with him to cheer for the Houston Marathon runners. It seems so
obvious and logical - the guy runs marathons, he is my source for every
question/problem that I have, and of course, a role model.
But what is there
to me and to competitions?!? Oh well ... I went anyways. Much to my surprise, I
saw runners that are not taken from sport and fashion magazines who didn’t look
like male and female models. They were like me and like you. It was a serious
disturbance in my perception - until now it was clear that runners are made
with zero fat percentage, between the ages of 18-25 and have eternal smile on their
face. When a man who was at least 70 years old ran in front of me, I realized
that something was not quite accurate with my worldview. Moderate physical
pressure from my running training partner, a dear friend who ran for years and
appliances with the gears in a room with air-conditioning and decided to go and
join me in open air runs, convinced me to sign up for my first race - 5 km (3.1
miles) race.
When I completed 10 km for the first time, I decided it was
time to move forward in life and I bought a water belt & a GPS watch with
heart rate monitor. I found out that, according to online professionals, anyone
who runs more than 1.5 miles regularly more than three times a week is a
"long-distance runner." Nice to meet you - Guy.
At this point, I was opened to the world of runners' gadgets
like Alice in Wonderland, I followed the White Rabbit to a world full of
wonders and surprises, from special socks that keep the calf muscles tight
(cool !!!), through reflective glow and shimmer stripe for the night runs (my mother
worries I run at night), running shirts, running shorts, running socks, running
hat, running underwear (my wife calls it - "the stinking clothes" and
I do not blame her ...), to water proof patches to protect places prone to
rubbing... To quote one of my running friends - "The most important
challenge before a long run is to choose the right underwear!”. There is no
doubt - the woman knows what she's talking about. Indeed, a world of colors,
scents and shapes and I didn’t even mentioned the running shoes ... Ohhhh ....
shoes .... mmmmm .... it is hard to explain. I think there is no one single
shoe in Houston (the fourth largest city in the United States) that I didn’t try
on. Pure Pleasure.
Three days ago, a year after I was able to run my first 5
km, I finished the Houston half marathon, 21 km of running. Charming
atmosphere, thousands of cheerers around, young runners, young in-their-mind
runners, my GPS watch, which I've learned to love so much, Hebrew song called
"comes from love" in my headphones
immediately followed by Simon and Garfunkel with "Mrs. Robinson", legs
muscles aching, formation of vesicles between the toes of the right foot,
tendon pain in my left foot that I already carry with me for a week, I mutter
to myself the phrase from “unbroken” I had seen the week before - "You
take it, You make it! ", sucking the disgusting / tasty mixture of salts
and sugars goo that I have already got used to and continue running while
trying to suppress and dismiss the desire to stop, a desire that appeared with
the first step I took – to stop. What will happen if I do?! ...
Just at that moment, my father, who passed away in January
thirty-one years ago when I was nine, came to my thoughts with the immortal
phrase that ways seems so archaic to me - "There is no cannot, there is
only will not…"
"Well ... So, what do you say,” I replied to him in my
mind, "Can you run a half marathon? ... "
"Me?!" I imagined he would reply, "I prefer
to sit here, way up, and smoke my cigarette ... you just keep on running, and
do me a favor, stay down there a bit more than I did ..." he said, adding
playful wink that was reserved only for me.
So, I kept on running. Not too fast and not too slow, like
in training, reading the signs held by the cheerers "Run Fast, the
Nigerians are finishing your beer !!", and all sorts of phrases and jokes
that help not to think about the pain. Read and continue to run.
At the 16th km, I saw them. In their small coats,
their eyes looking for me among the runners, and the smile on their face when
they saw me - my two children and my wife, with signs mixed Hebrew and English
- "Go Daddy Go!!" And at that moment, I realized that a great deal of
time, (far too much) and certainly since they were born, I was not proud of
something I did as I was proud of myself at that moment.
Two hours, eight minutes and twenty-three seconds after my
first step, I have completed my first half marathon. Sore, tired, panting,
sweating and ... proud. Very proud.
So, it turns out that really, there is no cannot. There is
only will not.