My first and last time running a full marathon

It       1     (was, is) one of the hottest days in the fall of 2019, almost as hot as a typical summer day. I     2     (had stood, was standing) among large crowds of runners, many of whom including me       3     (had been waiting, have been waiting) for this moment. This was my first time to be running in a full marathon. Before this day, I       4     (had never run, have never run) more than 35 km at one time. With the start time approaching, my heart     5     (was to start, started) pounding faster with excitement and uncertainty.       6     (Would I be, Will I be) able to finish a race that is 42.195 kilometers long?

The moment the starting gun went off, the empty road       7     (was flooding, was flooded) with runners. I started my GPS watch to record my running statistics (数 据 ): speed, length, time, heart rate, and the like. As expected, after running for nearly two hours, I     8     (had covered, would cover) half of the race’s length. Given my record in training, I was still confident of finishing the race within four hours. After all, I       9     (had been training, have trained) for the marathon since the spring of the previous year.

The sun     10     (was getting, would get) higher, and I could feel the heat of the sun’s rays. Soon I realized that my pace       11     (had been slowing, would slow) down steadily, as some runners who       12     (had been running, ran) shoulder to shoulder with me were moving ahead. There was nothing I could do but watch the distance between us getting longer. By this time, my heart was pounding faster due to a lack of oxygen. As I       13     (would struggle, was struggling) to pass the 32 km sign, more runners ran past me. It was also at this stage that I got cramp (痉挛) in my leg and had to stop running. So, I walked instead, silently drying my tears of regret. Determined to cross the finish line before the marathon       14     (was, would be) officially over, I turned down any offer of help from volunteers. By the time I finished the race, 5.5 hours       15     (had passed, was passing).

In future, I will probably not have a second chance to run a full marathon, for I had lung surgery the following year and       16     (have since been forbidden, had since been forbidden) to do any vigorous (激烈的) exercise.

3 . Recently we bought him a used Airdyne. This is a very ________ exercise bike that works the arms and legs, and he ________ to use one a lot many years ago. When we went to see if the bike would still work for him now, in his condition, he climbed up ________ , rode for five minutes, got down and told the seller, “We’ll ________ it.” And after we got it into the home the next day and he climbed up once again, the look of ________ on his face as he started to operate it just ________ my being with joy.

4 . Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi were competing in the high jump on Sunday when they reached a stalemate (僵局). Both men had managed to jump over a surprising 2.37 meters with no faults along the way. However, after three attempts neither managed the next level of 2.39 meters.

An Olympic official suggested a jump-off between the two friends and rivals (竞争对手) to determine who would get the gold medal. But Barshim had another plan to reward their efforts.

5 . People might not want to exercise because it’s never been enjoyable. Most of us probably have memories of gym class, not being picked for a team, or being in a fitness center that’s filled with in-shape people. The majority don’t feel excited. They feel that exercise isn’t for them, but it can be. Coaching people in an empowering and motivating way can work much better than ordering someone to exercise. It starts with an expanded definition of what counts as exercise, and an injection of what’s rarely used to describe exercise, but is certainly allowed: namely, fun.

6 . For the biggest stadiums in the world, we have used data supplied by the World Atlas list so far, which ranks them by their stated permanent capacity, aswell as updated information from official stadium websites.

All these stadiums are still functional , still open and still hosting the biggest events in world sport.

9 . Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact(接触) with the ground at all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg, an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.