More Lessons on Running Blind
September 27th, 2006 by janetWell, I survived my second 5km marathon race, but the stress levels were definitely up.
In this race, there were 800 people running, all setting off at once. Talk about feeling claustrophobic on the start line! My sighted guide and I only got a clear path after about 2kms, so it was pretty frustrating. The overall difficulty with these sorts of races or fun runs, as they’re called, is that the organisers can’t close the roads, so we have to run on narrow paths, do lots of twists and turns, cross railway tracks etc. I think we got to run on one straight stretch of road for about half a km, then got shunted onto a narrow path lined with poles. It was hard enough for someone who could see to navigate that course, let alone someone like me without sight. I had someone out front warning me of speed humps and changes in the terrain, as well as my guide. I think I tripped over two speed humps, and walloped one witches hat.
Now what I’ve learned from this is that I have a major fear factor to overcome. Running blind is much harder than I thought. And it’s not surprising, considering the unexpected changes in terrain, and the risk of falling down kerbs and tripping over things. But the good news is that I did a faster time, despite the number of times we had to slow down. So I guess I’m getting fitter.
My coach tells me the next race has to be longer. NO idea how I’ll run something longer than 5kms, but oh well, it’s all fun.
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