Today I ran 20 miles… wait, I need to say that again… today I ran
20 miles…. 20 MILES… I RAN 20 MILES!!
The first 8 miles went by pretty quickly and included a loop up to
and over the Golden Gate (always offers beautiful distractions and is a nice
way to log some miles and get in some hill work at the same time). Miles 8-13 were mainly up and around in Fort Mason and were a little rocky as my toes
started to really bother me after that scary hill. Thankfully, a quick stop to re-situate my socks and retie my shoes
brought relief for a few miles (trust me, it was better than nothing!).
Miles
13-17 were a bit of a blur although it was around that time that I asked a
scary biker looking dude to please pick up the cigarette he had just thrown
into the newly landscaped area at Palace of Fine Arts (he actually did it and
said “sorry”…. Not the reaction I was thinking I might end up with but it was
so awful and I was tired and figured if he clocked me then at least I would be
able to get off my feet for a little while… regardless, I asked nicely and he
responded the same which made me smile even though I didn’t get to lay down).
So with 3 miles left, jacked up toes, aching knees and what felt
like a waning ability to keep my breathing regulated, I put my iPod on random,
turned it up and tried to focus on getting one very sore foot in front of the
other not as sore foot (something started to really hurt on the top of my right
foot but have fingers crossed that ice and Advil will fix it right up). I had been riffling through my mental library
of positive mantras and whatnot pretty much the entire time but the last few
miles had me repeating my favorites and wishing I could convince the gangs of biking tourists to ride along next to me cheering me on (I often wish I had joined one of those training groups until I remember that I prefer to run alone and would really rather have my own personal cheering section... preferably one playing loud booming music and holding signs promising that tequila and other sorts of goodies are just a few short miles away).
When I got to mile 19 I was desperately trying to keep my form
from going to hell while simultaneously trying to keep my right foot from
flinging itself off of my body and into the bay to get away
from me. Just when I thought I would
have to walk the last mile, I got one final boost from a perfectly timed song
on my iPod. The song isn’t necessarily
the kind I normally run to but it was a favorite of my significant other's
brother who died of cancer 3 years ago. He was 37 and I keep the song on my running
mix to help me keep perspective on what matters most. The challenge I've given myself of training to run this marathon is incredibly difficult in a lot of ways but the aches, the pains, the setbacks and the triumphs are blessings that I cherish and will never take for
granted.
So there you have it... the final long run of
my training. I think I’m still in shock that I actually ran 20 miles today
(although my exhausted self and sore parts are constant reminders that I did)
and even more than that, I’m amazed that I’ve come this far… not bad for a an
almost 40-year-old who thought the world of physical fitness revolved around
the bank of elliptical things at the gym and running was something done by crazy
people with very long legs. I’ll be celebrating today’s accomplishment with
obsessively icing, medicating, rolling, rubbing, elevating and hydrating with tons of water and one perfectly chilled and bubbly glass of champagne!
20miles 3hrs 38min 25sec, avg 10:55 (includes 2 shoe stops, 3 hydration walk breaks and 1 getting stuck on the bridge behind a work crew... not bad!)
Cheers,
SF runner in training
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