Maurilio Amorim

Month: April 2008

  • Lessons from My First Marathon

    Between worrying about the thunderstorms and getting up on time for the race, I was a restless man Friday night. But as 4:00 AM came on Saturday, I was up and getting ready for the longest, biggest race of my life. After all, the longest race I’d run before yesterday was the Boulevard Bolt–a five-mile run on Belle Meade Boulevard every Thanksgiving morning. To make things more interesting, six weeks ago, I had developed Achilles Tendonitis on my left foot and was told I might not be able to run at all. But after physical therapy, a slower training pace, I felt ready to go.

    My running team, Innerstrength, met under the pavilion at Centennial Park at 6 am for stretching, tattoos, group pictures and a pep talk from head coach Matt Royka. Lining up at West End Avenue with 30 thousand people was an awesome sight to see. It’s funny how your heart rate goes up before a race due to the anticipation and excitement of “doing it for real” this time. All of the hours of training, the long runs in rainy and cold weather were coming to bear in this one race. How exciting.

    As the gun went off and my corral was let go, (ok, can we come up with a better term than “corral?” come on, where are the marketing people?) I was prepared to have a great time. And boy, I did. I’ve never seen so many people lining up the streets of Nashville before encouraging and cheering us on. The performing stages were such a treat, and as I ran by Belmont Church, their Praise Band and Singers were kicking it into high gear with “Shout to the Lord.” It was awesome.

    And so I went. Enjoying the bands, the volunteers who offered us drinks and the well wishers everywhere. I thought I could run like that forever. That was until mile 21. I’ve heard about hitting the proverbial wall, but until yesterday, I had never experienced it personally. It was the strangest feeling: I was moving along fine and suddenly my legs, feet and even forearms decided they just had enough. No warning, just plain rebellion. Cramps all around.

    My friend Chantel Hobbs, had said to me the day before, “run the first half with your mind and the second with your heart.” Now I know what she meant by “heart.” The last five miles were an eternity. My pace dropped. I had to walk/run in order to stop my legs from cramping, but all I could think about was finishing the race. I got through the gates at 4 hours 31 seconds according to my watch and 4:34 according to the official chip time. I was hoping for 4:05, but I had made it. Somehow the race announcer managed to say my name as I crossed the finishing line. How cool was that? I got my photo finish, my honking medal, my 26.2 mile-run, Yeah.

    As my running partner and I were headed to pick up our bags, I started feeling terribly. And once I sat down, and eventually laid down, I could not sit up again. My blood pressure would drop and my heart rate would spike when I tried sitting up again. My running partner, Tammy, our training coach, Anita, and a friendly young paramedic tried to help me out. All things considered, I did have three beautiful women doting on me–it could’ve been worse.

    The paramedics decided that I was dehydrated and needed to be on an IV. A perilous trip to Centennial Hospital in the hands of a mad ambulance driver, three liters of fluid–that’s almost a gallon if you’re metric impaired–two blood tests and several hours later, I’m driving home in time to get ready for a final celebration with my team.

    It was a long day, but one I’ll never forget. It was a rich experience for me. Here’s some of my lessons:

    • I learned commitment pays off through the long hours of training.
    • I learned the importance of pacing to carry me for the whole race.
    • I experienced the power of the human spirit to overcome what the human mind can’t as my body wanted to shut down and quit but my heart would not let it.
    • I was reminded again of the importance of a good friend, as my running partner stuck with me for the better part of a day unselfishly, without food or a bath, as she waited for me to get out of the hospital. Thank you Tammy!
    • I experienced the joy of celebrating for doing something most people will never do in their whole lifetime.

    All of that in one day. What a day it was.

  • My Tapering Week

    I like tapering. No, I love tapering. A few years ago I didn’t even know what that meant, but today, I’m officially tapering my training for the Country Music Marathon this coming Saturday. The whole thing is pretty simple: you only do a very short run early in the week and then you eat like a cow. Now, how can you not love tapering?

    Instead of getting up at 4 AM every morning and spending 2 to 3 hours exercising, I’m going to sleep in this week and then eat tons of food I’ve avoided for long time. Thinking about it, I believe a lot of people live on “tapering” without the training. But, however great this sounds, I’m having a difficult time not running in the morning. My running partner and I just text back and forth about “tomorrow’s plan” and reluctantly committed to take the day off. Well, my left Achilles’ tendon is sore and I don’t want to push my luck at this stage.

    Three weeks ago I ran over 50 miles during the course of 7 days. This week I’ll do 3 and then on Saturday, Lord willing, I’ll run 26.2 and live to blog again. Meanwhile, you can find me bellying up to the pasta bar all week.

  • Team Work During Emergency at a Southwest Flight

    Last week I was flying to Orlando to speak at a conference. The flight was full with not a vacant seat in the whole plane. Half-way to our destination a lady two rows to the front right of me started having an attack. First she vomited and then her body began to convulse. Things weren’t looking good. What follows next was a lesson in team work and how being prepared for an emergency makes all the difference.

    The Southwest crew jumped into action right away. They moved the two passengers in that row out and began dealing with the sick woman. At one point, one of the flight attendants plugged a microphone/headset combo into a jack on one of the overhead bins near the lady and began communicating with ground EMTs in order to diagnose the issue. They identified family members who were on the plane and probed on medical conditions as well as drugs in her system.
    At the same time they enlisted the help of a couple of passengers who were near by to help them make the patient more comfortable. They found a physician on the plane and asked for his help.

    I was sitting next to the window on the exit row and watched in amazement as their training and readiness helped them save a life.

    This experience made me think of a lot of churches and organizations that have never trained their staff and volunteers on how to deal with a medical emergency or an act of violence–as we have seen happen more often lately. Being proactive is not in our nature. It’s much easier react to our circumstances, but that might be the difference between life and death.