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I learned a few things in this year's Hong Kong Marathon. And I shall remember them.

When I was thinking about arranging a trip to Bangkok this spring I realized if I timed it right I could fly first to Hong Kong, run this year's marathon, then head down to Thailand. That's exactly what I did, and it worked out great! Well, the flying around part did, anyway.

I ran this race last year, when I was living in Singapore, and at the time I thought "when am I ever going to have this chance again?" Little did I know it would be the following year.

But things were different this time. Last year I had been training in Singapore, so going to Hong Kong meant going to cooler temperatures and less humidity (especially since it was 3 weeks earlier than this year's race was). Not the case this time; not only was it much hotter in Hong Kong (about 75 degrees, 10 degrees hotter than last year), I had also been training in Washington DC, which meant freezing temperatures and running through snow. So as it turned out, my body wasn't ready for it. And that became a problem.

Having run a new personal record of 4:20:11 in last October's Marine Corps Marathon I decided to speed it up just a little bit and finish by 4:15:00 in this race. Through the first half of the race I was always between 30 seconds - 2 minutes of the pace I needed, so I felt good about my chances of at least setting a new record, and maybe even beating my goal.

Things went downhill after that. (figuratively, not literally...so much of this race is actually uphill)

A few kilometers after the halfway point I started getting cramps in my legs, which I have never gotten before. Fortunately, they're prepared for this: medical volunteers along the side of the road with muscle pain-relieving lotion (not Ben Gay, but something close to that). I started hitting those every now and then, though near the end of the race I was searching for them like a junkie looking for a dealer, and I would have married one of those people for just a little bit of the stuff.

As the race continued I also started feeling the effects of the heat. I was drinking water at every station, but I was really starting to feel it.

By this point I wasn't worried about setting a personal record; I was worried about finishing the race. Not only was I starting to have trouble putting one foot in front of the other, I was also fighting the clock. The Hong Kong Marathon has a 5 1/2 time limit, shorter than any other race I know. I was seeing the buses go past me with all the people who had dropped out, or who were too slow and were being swept off the course, and I was thinking "I did NOT fly 10,000 miles to finish the race on a bus!!!"

I also started thinking something else: "OK, I've done this race twice, I don't think I need to do it again." The promoters are not kidding when they describe this as one of the hardest marathons in the world. The hills are killers.

But I pressed on. Through heat, pain, and increasing dizziness, I made it. When I reached the final couple of kilometers through the shopping district near Victoria Park, I remembered how last year I sped up at this point; this time, it was all I could do to keep running rather than walking.

I saw the finish line and stumbled across it (no, really; I've seen the video). A volunteer put a medal around my neck and I knew I had really, truly earned this one, which was a great feeling. That was the last great feeling for a while.

I collected my bag, called Tony and Max and told them where to find me, and sat down. And then lay down. And this was probably not a good idea.

By the time they arrived I was feeling the beginning of heat stroke (dizziness, tingling in my fingers, thick tongue) and cramps in my legs so bad that I couldn't get up. After a few minutes Max went to fetch paramedics, and before I knew it, 4 cute Chinese guys were rubbing my legs and trying to lift me into a wheelchair. Something of a fantasy, yet not really.

They took me to the medical tent, where I saw people with IVs in them, and others being loaded into ambulances. "I don't have time for the hospital," I thought, "I have a flight to Bangkok in 6 hours." So my goal was to convince them I was OK, once the pain subsided and I got some fluids in me. A nurse took my blood pressure and I told her not to worry if it seemed low, that mine is typically pretty low. She accepted that, and when she was done I said "out of curiosity, what was it?" She replied "90 over 60." Whoa. It's low, but it doesn't get THAT low. Yeah, I was actually not in good shape at all.

But Tony and Max got me back to the hotel, and I got cleaned up, and they got some food in me, and by the time I was at the Airport Express Station I felt pretty much fine (though when I got to Bangkok that night I went right to sleep, which is NOT normal for me upon arriving in Bangkok!). I just felt bad being so much trouble for my guys.

The most important lesson I learned was to train in a climate similar to what I'll be running in. My preparation was not what it needed to be.

Actually, the MOST important lesson was the importance of support from your friends. If it wasn't for Tony and Max, I might still be lying there in Victoria Park, waiting for someone to get the paramedics. Running is tough enough without doing it on your own.