Going into Shanghai:
I was
really ecstatic about getting into the Shanghai Diamond League meet earlier
this year. What an opportunity to race
against some of the best steeple women while getting to see Asia for the first
time! I knew it would be a tough meet to
perform well with travel being so long and the time change being so
drastic. I have a hard time racing a
three days after getting to Europe, and that’s only a 7 hour difference. But since it is a non-world championship
year, I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to practice running well
under difficult circumstances.
As the
meet approached, I was not as enthused.
Everything has been a bit off for me since moving to Seattle. I love the training, the coaching, and the
team, but my body has not clicked. My
hips ache almost every time I run, which makes it hard to enjoy running on a
daily basis, even if I’m in good company.
My workouts have not been going well, and I knew it would be difficult
to be on my ‘A’ game at Shanghai.
At Shanghai:
I left
Seattle at noon on Wednesday, and took a direct 12 hour flight into Shanghai. I landed on Thursday at 7:00 their time. I love Diamond League meets because I do not
have to be stressed out about any logistics once I land. Once I got through customs, I was led by meet
workers to customs. Once I passed through
customs, I was led by other meet workers to a car. From the car, I was driven through the city
to the hotel, which is attached to the stadium.
The driver showed me where to check in with more meet workers who
prepared me for check in with the hotel.
I was discombobulated with the huge time change, but managed to get to
my room, run on a treadmill with a Chinese soap opera playing on my personal
tv, eat a mixed Asian/Western dinner, and get a massage.
The
next day I ran through the neighborhood by the stadium. I had a difficult time comprehending the
amount of smog in the air. I couldn’t
really tell the difference between clouds and smog; the sky looked like a puffy
gray blanket. When I breathed in, it was
usually a mixture of air pollution, car exhaust, and cigarette smoke. There were high rises and swarms of people
everywhere.
High rises in the neighborhood around the stadium
Later
in the day I decided to go exploring. I
took the subway to downtown Shanghai.
The subway was clean, air-conditioned, and easy to use (especially since
all the signs were translated into English).
In the downtown area, I explored People’s Park, a quiet, relaxing green
space, and People’s Square, a small concrete area with statues celebrating the
common worker. I went to a contemporary
art museum, and looked around a couple department stores.
People's Park
View from People's Square. I thought the giant George Clooney posture was an interesting sight next to the sculptures celebrating Communist values.
Artwork from Modern Art Museum
The
rest of the weekend involved a lot of down time at the hotel, interrupted by
eating with the other athletes. The meet
did a good job of trying to provide food everyone would enjoy, a difficult task
when feeding people from around the world.
Breakfast involved pastries, congee, omelets, and a buffet of hot food
ranging from sausages (which looked like little white hot dogs) to
pancakes. Lunch and dinner always
involved a salad bar, lots of fresh fruit, a pasta bar, and a buffet of Chinese
food and a take on Western food. I
usually stuck with fried rice, steamed asparagus, salad, and some type of
Chinese-prepared protein.
The
race was a huge disappointment. I did
not feel great warming up, and I performed even worse. Granted, the conditions were not optimal. We raced at 8:45 pm, long after I started
getting sleep in the evenings. Meet
officials rounded us up half an hour early, but didn’t give us any room to
continue warming up, or any hurdles to use once inside the holding room in the
stadium. A Chinese runner who entered
the race with a 10:12 PR tried to get in the mix of the African pack, and ended
up getting in my way a couple times over a water jump and barriers. But, even with these less-than-ideal
circumstances, I was very embarrassed by the time I ran.
Returning home:
I’m
trying to get a few things figured out with my body and mind, and I’m trying to
decide if I will race at Pre. I’ve been
accepted into the field, but I don’t want to run if I’m going to be too far off
my PR.