Late 9am start. Showered/dressed, bib pinned, bags packed. Train to Malpensa post-marathon, hotel change – last night sleeps ‘cross from Milan’s Terminal 1.
Quiet walk thru Montanelli Public Gardens (city’s oldest Park), déjà vu mirror-moment. April last year: Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo. Birds spring-nesting/making their presence known, muddled sound of runner conversation. Did a dry run yesterday (walking off evening PASTA). No surprises – knew where to go/when to be there.
Bib shown, entry granted: Sector 7. Lot goes into marathoning international. Aside from registration/foreign language emails – medical certificates, applying for an Italian Federation ‘RunCard’, Visas (Brazil/Russia). They’re not all that way but Brazil, Italy, Russia, South Africa – jumped thru some Hula-sized loops. Learned to pace myself.
Little by little, bit by bit…one day, TODAY all comes together. Race day in MILAN, ITALY. Surrounded by centuries of architecture. All worth the effort 😊
Short heavy burst of water five minutes to Start. Short-sleeved natives noticeably shivered, muttered in Italian. Been a RAIN MAGNET this year. Cap, jacket, new gloves. Merino wool. Lesson learned from last Sunday’s COLD Indiana deluge. Il Duomo, Teatro alla Scala – first Half tour highlights.
Mentally plugged in. For me, that’s the battle. Easily noise distracted. Race horse requiring blinders. Inclement weather helps. Shifts focus. Day’s physical challenge? Cobblestone, SLICK & uneven. No slips, no falls welcome. Focus, take my time. Bloodied & bruised first mile in New Zealand, I can be taught.
Picked UP speed, mile 12. Third 10k my fastest (sub-9 min/pace, 30k timing mat). push, PUSH, push. Derailed the last 10k of course, hour-26 minutes. Yeah well, I’ll be ‘African’ next year. LOL>
Jonas. Runner tag-along Mile 23. Even young super heroes hit the wall, first marathon.
Shoulder tap. Walk, slow jog. Walk again, easy run. Quicker.
40k, two kilometers to go. Lost my run partner briefly (dude paced up too early). I’d see him again in 5 minutes. Bit rattled, outta breath. Gave him the universal ‘thumbs up’. Jog, canter, steady again – STRONG under the Banner. PRIMO! PRIMO! I shook my head AFFIRMATIVE. First marathon FINISH.
The look, the excitement. Any language, completely understood. CONGRATS man.
Metro to Centrale, train to Malpensa. Early start tomorrow. Goin’ HOME, Colorado HOME ❤️
Generali Milan Marathon | 07/04/2019
USA 676 – HAGA KEENAN
Arrival 42.195 4:24:32
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- Giardini Montanelli
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- COBBLESTONE slick
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- il Duomo 🕍
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- mile 23 tag
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- super hero FINISH
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- new European PR 🇮🇹
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- day/month/year
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- U-S-A ❤️
Milano Marathon
Tick, tick, tick. Last tourist stop. Marathon bib pick-up @ MiCo (Milano Convention Centre) via Metro. Easy navigation. Modern, well-marked/labelled (used both red & yellow lines).
HUGE marathon, nice-sized Expo. NYC & San Francisco bigger, but this one – soooo international, many countries represented. Like walking a row at the UN (United Nations). Runs represented from France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, UK, Poland – and host country Italy, of course.
FREE is for ME. Entered a drawing (& WON entry) to a far far-away December location but… still gotta get there. Fingers crossed I receive a lottery ‘thumbs-up’ from JAPAN, where ideally I’d tag Continent #7 over Thanksgiving break. So it’s Osaka or Abu Dhabi (no joke). Either way, all signs pointing to SEVEN CONTINENT completion in December 2019 (life goal, half-year early).
(Strangely, geographically, much the Middle East is technically Asia.)
Just 26.2 miles of cobblestone to go AND a big plate of PASTA. Pre-race carb-loading in ITALY — HIGHLY recommended. Tomorrow we run, tonite we EAT. Gracie mille, Milano. Molto bene!
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- MiCo bib pick-up
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- International Expo
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- tomorrow we RUN 🏃
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- tonite we EAT 🍴
Milan Running Festival
RAIN. Not a question of if & when, question of how much & how heavy. Weather app check’d & recheck’d & recheck’d. Thunderstorm cringe. Let it only be rain, they cancel runs for thunder – even just the potential of lightning (Minneapolis 2014).
March 30th. Crazy late in the month to assure ‘the streak’ continues. Wednesday/Thursday researched Plan B options. Only 2 races NATIONWIDE where I could physically travel from Indianapolis to an alternate Sunday 31st Start line (with race day registration & same day bib pickup). Would spend $1k on last-minute airfare & not get home ‘til Monday the 1st. No April foolin’. Notta option.
Conservative in politics & life, always show with a back-up plan. Live alone, survivalist mentality. Extra credit card. Food/water in the backpack, names of restaurants near my hotel. I come prepared. Maybe too much so. This time no Plan B, it’s a Plan A only weekend.
It’s gonna rain; I’m gonna get wet. BUT I’m also gonna run the Carmel Marathon AND finish. Positive energy, all in. Streak maintained, 50 State count reduced to 4. Worry isn’t gonna change the situation. “Cast all your cares upon him, for he careth for you.”
The 9th annual Carmel Marathon on Saturday, March 30, 2019. Photo by Tony Vasquez.
Friday a.m. flight. 3pm touchdown, Indiana. Rental car, bib pickup, hotel digs in nearby Carmel (Carmel like the candy, not the posh California town). Early dinner, early to bed. Heaviest precip expected at 7am. Fingers crossed. Plan A only weekend.
Marathon alarm. Outta bed, drapes pulled, eyes at the window. Sometimes weather folks are right. Ho hum. Quick Internet search. No word on cancellation. Just rain. Lotta rain. Cold rain. Raining ALL day, rain. But just rain. 3 choices on jackets, pair of throw-away shoes. Focused, layered. Dressed for SUCCESS – large black trash bag, neck to knees. Dude’s styling. Hoosier Day.
Heaviest of the downpour, walk to the Start. Way/way/way in the back. Car-waited 8 minutes to kick off. Combined FULL, Half Start (car-waited wee too long). THOUSANDS of runners. Corral starts cancelled. Free-for-all first 2 miles. Ok by me. I generally go out too fast anyway.
Comfortable easy course, few inclines – wouldn’t call anything a hill. Shed my ‘Oscar the Grouch’ outerwear before mile 3. Steady even pace ‘til sideways rain blew mile 9. Two separate loops intersecting at the Half finish. Thanks Indiana, notta fan of laps – appreciate seeing 26 unique miles.
Sideways rain again at marker 22, finished the day in drizzle. FINISHED. Monthly streak continues. First 50 State progress of 2019. Hands apex-cramped like claws, all dexterity gone. Hadn’t felt this cold since Antarctica. Mile walk to the car. Rain soaked my core.
Hypothermic, stripped down in a random mall parking lot in Carmel Indiana (one of those proud moments only another marathoner can appreciate). Discarded jacket, shirt, shoes, socks, hat – dorm room style in the back seat. HEAT set to HIGH. Duct in my dashboard hovered, FULL 20 minutes.
North Indy YMCA. Wore my bib & my medal – and asked for a hot shower. THANKS! Me & the 200 people on my Southwest flight HOME very very much appreciate your generosity 😊
Airport dinner. HOUR-half wait on the runway, unexpected season change. Indiana SNOW ❄️
Carmel Marathon
March 30, 2019 in Carmel, IN
1747 K R Haga 2:06:46 4:43:21
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- touchdown Indiana
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- state’s 2nd largest
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- Indiana RAIN ☂️
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- Indiana SNOW ❄️
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- ‘Plan A’ SUCCESS
