Marathon 7/40: Hong Kong China Coast Marathon Sunday 19, January 2020, 8AM By the first week of 2020, I had started to plan out my race and, ultimately, travel calendar for the year. I was planning to add another 12 marathons/countries to the list by the end of the calendar year and be nearly halfway to my goal of 40. It started a bit shaky from the start, before I had even heard the word “coronavirus”. I sat down to register and book travel for the Cebu marathon in the Philippines in early Jan, and the Standard Chartered marathon in Hong Kong in Feb. But Cebu registration deadline had already passed and the SC race was sold out. I had to make a quick pivot to find two new races for Jan/Feb that also worked logistically. I ended up booking a different race in Hong Kong, The China Coast Marathon, for mid-January and the Dead Sea marathon in Israel in early Feb. These races turned out to be the only two I was able to run in 2020, before the world shutdown and, if I hadn’t had some booking trouble, I wouldn’t have run any. Turns out there was a volcano eruption in the Philippines (of course there was, 2020) which would have caused many problems for travel around that intended race date and the SC race in HK was canceled (probably the first to do so!) because it was in mid-Feb, and HK was locking down by then. Since we were no longer planning a marathon + beach vacay, we decided that Erik would not come with me to Hong Kong. I had gone to grad school in HK, and still have many friends there, so I was comfortable navigating the city and was able to stay with a friend! My friend Betty, who I met whilst we both lived in San Francisco, and crossed over living in Seattle at the same time, now lives in HK. She offered up her spare room and I am very grateful. That was the easiest logistical part of the trip, and I’m still surprised I pulled the rest of it off. I flew out of Tokyo late Friday afternoon 17-Jan 2020. On my way out the door, Erik says to me: “Hey my coworker just told me about some virus that’s similar to SARS and is spreading in China. He said there is now a case in Hong Kong. So, maybe just stay away from wet markets to be safe.” And that is the first I heard about the virus that would be declared a global pandemic less than 2 months later. I took the airport express train into the city from the airport upon landing. There was a guy near me on the train that was coughing aggressively. I sprayed my hand sanitizer in the air, you know, just to be safe? (Really, no clue what was coming!) I got to Betty’s late and we chatted for a bit before heading to bed. I’d been experiencing some pain in my left leg, just above the back of my knee where my hamstring connects. I had a couple massages, did some yoga, iced, etc. But the pain was still there – and it flared up hard during my shakeout run Saturday morning. So much that I couldn’t complete a full three miles, I could barely run two and then was limping. (Unfortunately, ending my run abruptly, really close to a wet market!) I hobbled to a local grocery to pick up the food I was going to cook for dinner, hobbled to a café to grab breakfast and a latte, and hobbled back to Betty’s to sit on a foam roller and try not to cry. Essentially, I was at a point I didn’t know if I would make it to the start of the marathon the next day, let alone finish it. The sharpness in the pain did subside after an hour and I ventured out to get a facial and meet a new friend for lunch. It was a relatively easy day in terms of obligations and I did get to enjoy just being there. Betty went out Saturday night so I made my dinner for one and got ready for an early start on Sunday. My leg was in a state of dull ache at this point. But I couldn’t worry too much about the pain the next morning because getting physically to the start line required full attention and tight timelines. The race wasn’t on HK island, but actually up in the Sai Kung area. The mountains. I knew it would be brutal and I purposely did not look at the elevation profile because I didn’t train on hills and didn’t have much of a choice in races if I wanted to run a marathon in Jan. I was going to have to tough it out regardless. Being in Sai Kung, however, also meant it was a trek to get there. I took the metro a couple stops to an area the race was providing shuttle buses. With an 8AM race start, and an hour-long shuttle ride, it was an early morning. I also had to bring all my stuff with me since I needed to go straight to the airport after the race. I contacted the race director and they had agreed to take my luggage (I traveled with just a backpack) and store it in a secure location. I needed to work on the flights so had to lug along my work laptop. I couldn’t just throw that into a bag check. They were so accommodating and supported this – I wouldn’t have been able to pull this off without that gesture. (To note, I did keep my passport on my body - in a ziplock! - during the race.) After getting off the shuttle, I used the restroom, picked up my bib, and dropped off my bag with the race director. It was closely timed but not rushed and I made my way to the start with 375 others with about 10 min to spare. I was nervous. My leg was aching. I knew there were mountains ahead of me. And I had to get my way back across the country in just a few hours to catch a flight home. But the gun went off, and I immediately fell into a zone. My leg was hurting with every step, but not the sharp pain like the day before. By mile 5, it went numb. The mountains were no joke (elevation totaled ~2100ft / 700M!). But I was taking them steady and, overall, running way too fast to maintain it on that course. But the views – I did not anticipate them – and they were everything. Sweeping mountain views over the South China Sea. It was truly breathtaking. Since the course was essentially two loops of the same terrain, I got to see them twice! The second time, I really got to take them in, as I was running much, much, slower. At the halfway point, we had to climb a particularly tough mountain. The grade and duration were excruciating. That’s when I started to walk, and continued to walk every uphill for the back half of the marathon. I hammered the downhills – something that would prove to leave my quads torn up for a full four days post-race. But it was really fun and, ultimately, allowed me to still finish in exactly 4 hours. I got the FIRST PLACE age group award for the ‘senior” class, sixth place woman overall. (Seriously, 35-39 years was considered senior!). This delayed my departure because I needed to wait about 15 min to collect my award and stand on the podium. The rush was worth it because the podium is a special place! Then I started my second marathon of the day: getting to the airport. I finished running at 12PM and my flight was at 4:25PM. I collected my bag and headed for the showers. I didn’t know what to expect with this - but the race website indicated that showers were available at the finish. I was pleasantly surprised that there was actually a legit shower - albeit cold in an unheated public park type building. I couldn’t linger anyway, so after my very brief rinse, and dry off with some clothing as I had not thought to bring a towel, I headed to a shuttle bus - that unfortunately sat for 20 min before departing. The bus made a couple different stops and I was still deciding the right way to get to the airport with my current timing. I ended up getting off at the MTR at the CUHK campus - where I went for my MBA - which felt a bit surreal to be back there but again, no time for nostalgia. I hopped on the MTR for a couple stops to a transfer point where I could catch a bus to the airport. It was not an easy transfer, as I found myself in a massive mall and needed to ask several people for directions to the terminal where I could find buses. But I caught the transfer by three minutes, and made it to the airport - where I was greeted with heightened security (not yet for COVID, but due to the ongoing protests etc.) outside the building. Once actually inside, I moved quickly and made it to my terminal. I grabbed to-go food from the first place I saw with no queue (as I had not yet eaten after the race!), and got lucky with a big bowl of pasta and a caesar salad. My flight was already boarding when I got to the gate but I sat down for three minutes to inhale the pasta. Then walked on to the plane without a moment to spare. It took me several days to recover from this one due to all the circumstances. I am grateful that the pain behind my knee / lower hamstring actually had an explanation and a faster fix than my quads after turning the race into a downhill sprint. After some consultation I discovered it was nerve pain and a few stretches fixed it right up. (I continue to do those stretches several days a week and the pain has not returned!) I am also grateful I was able to visit HK one more time before moving away from Asia - and of course, that I was able to run a marathon in 2020 at all.
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AuthorA Midwest girl gone global. I choose happiness everyday: I run, eat well, travel, and love completely. Archives
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