Athlete's blog: Gilbert Tuhabonye

Distance runner Gilbert Tuhabonye survived the ethnic violence in his native Burundi in 1993 and rebuilt his life in the U.S. He now coaches in Austin, Texas and has been attempting to qualify for this year's Olympics. He'll be writing about his preparations and giving his views on athletics leading up to the Games.

CNN -- May 20, 2008

Athletes and non-athletes alike often have the dream of going to the Olympic Games -- it's the ultimate experience in sports.

I am no exception and this year, I decided to go for it, but first I needed a qualifying time in the marathon. I decided that the Flora London Marathon was my best shot at getting a qualifying time that might land me a spot on the team of my country -- Burundi.

I trained hard in the U.S. and was feeling very good about the upcoming race.

A few weeks before I was heading out to London, I started to experience pain in my sciatic nerve, which started to pull at my hamstring. I continued to train and hope for the best, knowing that I have pushed my body many times before and worked through injury.

When I arrived in London and tried to run, my hamstring really gave me a lot of pain, but I did not panic. I thought it was from sitting on the plane over to London from Texas for ten hours. I continued to train and to stay hydrated and hope for the best.

The marathon is a race that must always be respected. You have to have a strategy and a back up plan. So, on the day of the race, I really felt good and tried to warm up. My hamstring was not cooperating. When I hit mile two, I knew that it was going to be rough and dialed back my time per mile time from 5:15 to 5:42 thinking I could make up the time later.

By mile 3, the pain was so terrible, I knew that the Olympics were out of the question. At mile 4 and 5 I thought that I would just finish the race, I could not quit.

Things began to get worse for me from that point. The rain had started and I was looking for the medical tent. There, they wrapped me up and told me to wait, but I just couldn't. I headed back to the course and started to walk.

The rain was really coming down at that point and I became upset. My dream was washing away through my tears onto the streets of London. I had never been in this part of a marathon before, but I knew a friend who was running and I tried to find her to help her and encourage her along the way.

Finally, a taxi driver saw me and double-backed, picked me up and dropped me off at my hotel. It was time to regroup and figure this out.

This was not the worse thing that has ever happened to me. I have survived worse situations. Watch Gilbert Tuhabonye talk about his experiences ».

I started to reflect upon the fact that every time I try and train hard for a marathon, something happens. Perhaps this is just not the right time for me.

Perhaps God has something else in mind for me. I am being stubborn and pushing for something that is not supposed to be right now.

Now, I am home in Austin, Texas some weeks later. Watch Gilbert coaching his Gilbert's Gazelles ».

Thankfully, my hamstring was not torn. I have done physical therapy and massage therapy to repair the damage.

I have been working hard at strengthening my core to support the rest of my body. I know that I still have that marathon in me, but it was not meant to be for this year.

There are so many issues with these Olympics -- the humidity, the pollution and now, the terrible crisis and suffering of the Chinese people hit by the earthquake. They are the ones who need our help, our hope and our prayers.