{"id":4566,"date":"2020-06-30T08:45:30","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T05:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/?p=4566"},"modified":"2026-05-19T10:35:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T07:35:50","slug":"%d9%a7-%d9%8a%d9%88%d9%85-%d8%aa%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%ae%d9%8a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/%d9%a7-%d9%8a%d9%88%d9%85-%d8%aa%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%ae%d9%8a\/","title":{"rendered":"7. A Historic Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

The starting gun went off and the runners took off. If you've never participated in Race<\/a> for running, you may not realize that the way the front-runners start the race can tempt you to try to keep up with their pace\u2014and that\u2019s exactly what happened to me. Even though I knew I had to avoid a strong start, my enthusiasm pushed me to keep up with them. Still, I felt that I Run<\/a> I feel confident that I can achieve a better time than the four hours I set as my goal before the race began<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first five kilometers were easy and fast; I ran them in my personal best time and didn\u2019t feel any fatigue, so I kept up the same pace and started calculating my estimated finish time. I figured that if I could keep going like this, I\u2019d achieve a time much better than my target\u2014I might even finish the race in three and a half hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I finished the first 10 kilometers; I felt a little tired, but I was still in good shape, I kept pushing toward that legendary time that I felt I could achieve today. My legs gradually started to tighten up, but the pain was bearable. I steeled myself and kept running at the same pace, with dreams of hitting three and a half hours still dancing through my mind. \u201cMy God, how strong I am,\u201d I said to myself as I ran past the 15-kilometer mark at roughly the same pace I\u2019d started the race with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I glanced at my sports watch and noticed that my pace had slowed down a bit. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d I told myself, and went on to think that if I could keep this up, I would undoubtedly achieve a much better time than the one I had set as my goal before the race\u2014I would finish in four hours and a quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I started to feel tired, and I hadn\u2019t even reached the halfway point of the half-marathon yet\u2014I think I was at the 18th kilometer. I looked at my watch and saw that my pace had slowed even more. I began to feel that my strong start was taking a toll on my strength and endurance, and another internal dialogue began: Should I drop out? I\u2019m tired\u2014really tired. I answered myself, \u201cHow can I quit when I\u2019ve told everyone I know in Amman that I\u2019m traveling here to run my first Marathon<\/a> In my life, what can I say to my friends and relatives who have always looked up to me as a model of strength and determination because of my persistence in continuing my workouts? Should I tell them, \u201cI\u2019m tired, so I\u2019m giving up\u201d? No, I won\u2019t give up\u2014I\u2019ll keep going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I glanced at my watch again. I was very close to reaching the halfway point\u2014twenty-one kilometers. \u201cOh my God,\u201d I said again. \u201cThere\u2019s more left in the race than I\u2019ve already covered, and I might have reached my limit for today. Should I drop out?\u201d I asked myself once more. I didn\u2019t give that thought much time to talk me into quitting; I silenced it and said, \u201cI\u2019m going to keep going, and it doesn\u2019t matter if I finish the race in four hours.\u201d because that was the goal I set for myself before embarking on this experience, and here I am, moving toward achieving it if I can keep up this pace. It was slower than my average pace when I run twenty or thirty kilometers in Amman, so I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll be able to maintain it and finish the race according to plan in four hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was getting hotter on that European winter day, and it felt like a hot spring day. The sun rose, and with it, the temperature soared. I began to feel a bit exhausted, but the story of my first marathon couldn\u2019t end with such a spectacular failure. I steeled myself and kept running, checking my watch every few minutes. Were we nearing the finish line? No, not yet! The race was still long!! My pace slowed even more, and I resigned myself to finishing with a decent time\u2014four hours and ten minutes, or fifteen at most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I passed the 30-kilometer mark, and things started to get tougher. My pace dropped significantly, and I felt like I was walking even though I was trying to maintain a running form. I began eagerly awaiting every station where they handed out water bottles or sponges, as they helped alleviate my fatigue. I asked myself again, \u201cAre you happy with what you\u2019ve done to us?!\u201d \u201cIs this what you wanted?!\u201d We were exhausted, and we still had at least ten kilometers to go. I silenced that voice and kept running, but I hated every minute of it\u2014I really couldn\u2019t take all this strain anymore. I started counting down to the finish line at the 35-kilometer mark, a moment I\u2019d been eagerly anticipating. I glanced at my watch again and said to myself, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what time it is\u2014what matters is that I finish the race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally, with just two kilometers left, I encouraged myself and told her, \u201cWe\u2019ve run forty kilometers, and there are only two kilometers left. Let\u2019s finish strong and then rest.\u201d She replied, \u201cFinish strong on your own\u2014I\u2019m done, and I just want this nightmare to end.\u201d I dragged her along, and we ran toward the finish line. The fans waiting at the finish line began to appear gradually, and their numbers grew as I got closer to the finish line. Many of them were clapping and whistling to encourage the runners to keep going. I desperately needed that encouragement until I crossed the finish line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I finished the race in four hours and thirty-four minutes. I hated every single one of those 274 minutes. One of the volunteers stopped me and handed me a finisher\u2019s medal. \u201cI\u2019ve become a marathon runner,\u201d I said to myself, with a mix of pride and pain, as I looked at my medal. Alaa, one of my friends on the team, stopped me Running Amman<\/a> He took a picture of me at the finish line showing the time I finished the race. I dragged myself to the nearest place to rest; honestly, I couldn\u2019t even step up onto the curb because I was so exhausted. I lay down on the side of the road to catch my breath and stayed there for at least twenty minutes. \u201cWhat an amazing achievement!\u201d my friends from the team told me happily and joyfully. Running Amman<\/a>\u201cMaybe,\u201d I replied, \u201cbut I\u2019ll never do it again in my life.\u201d I said it without knowing whether I was joking or being serious, unsure whether I wanted to repeat the experience or not. We went to a restaurant, had lunch together, and returned to our accommodations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Did I do it again? Will I do it again? I\u2019ll tell you next time. But what about you? Can you do it? Of course you can. My story began about two years ago when I was 43 years old and had been a smoker for more than 27 of those years. I started by running just half a kilometer, and today I\u2019ve reached the marathon\u2014 The runs that started at five minutes have now reached more than four hours of continuous running, and I\u2019m 45 years old. Honestly and without flattery, I thank every member of the team Running Amman<\/a>\u060c \u0641\u0644\u0648\u0644\u0627 \u0641\u0636\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647 \u0627\u0648\u0644\u0627\u064b\u060c \u0648\u0647\u0630\u0627 \u0627\u0644\u0641\u0631\u064a\u0642 \u062b\u0627\u0646\u064a\u0627\u064b \u0644\u0645\u0627 \u0648\u0635\u0644\u062a \u0627\u0644\u0649 \u0645\u0627 \u0648\u0635\u0644\u062a \u0627\u0644\u064a\u0647\u060c \u0648\u0644\u0645\u0627 \u062a\u0639\u0644\u0645\u062a \u0643\u0644 \u0645\u0627 \u062a\u0639\u0644\u0645\u062a\u060c \u0646\u0639\u0645 \u062a\u0639\u0644\u0645\u062a \u0627\u0644\u0643\u062b\u064a\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0643\u062b\u064a\u0631 \u0648\u0633\u0627\u062d\u062f\u062b\u0643\u0645 \u0639\u0646 \u0630\u0644\u0643 \u0642\u0631\u064a\u0628\u0627<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also
8- Home Marathon<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The starting gun went off and the runners took off. If you\u2019ve never participated in a running race before, you might not realize that this initial surge by the front-runners pulls you into trying to keep up with their pace, and that\u2019s exactly what happened to me. Even though I knew I should avoid a strong start, my enthusiasm pushed me to keep up with them. Still, I felt like I was running well and that I\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-6"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4566"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5535,"href":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4566\/revisions\/5535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urkod.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}