Marathon Weekly Update

10 miles, baby!

On Wednesday evening I joined the faculty pick up basketball game. Now, I haven't played basketball since middle school so I wasn't expecting to show off any great moves or shots. I certainly met my own low expectations. The only embarrassing part was the gaggle of boys who came to watch us play after they finished with volleyball practice. I made 1 shot, but only because no one was guarding me and they let me shoot it 3 times. Who cares, I still celebrated.

I decided to sit out the second game since I could feel the blister on my left arch coming back. I did stay and watch so I could go out for beers afterward. The next morning I had a work breakfast so I didn't get to do my maintence run. I was planning to run after school but one of my seniors convinced me to cheer the soccer team to victory over our big rival. I thought I might run after that but instead I had to put out a fire with the Foreign Language Department and then it was time to watch Hello! Dolly the spring musical. I decided that the 45 minutes of basketball on Wednesday night could substitute for my run on Thursday morning.

So, I came into my 10 mile Saturday run with a little trepidation. Not only was I jumping to a double digit run for the first time ever, but I also hadn't followed my normal training schedule. Yesterday morning my blisters seemed healed enough to handle duct tape. I wrapped my arches in duct tape and added a handful of vaseline to my toes. I figured I was ready for the day.

The run started well - we had three new people in our group so there was a lot of "getting to know you" conversation. We ran from the Marina to Ft. Mason Park and up the hill that just one month ago was daunting. I reveled in the fact that I now zipped up the hill without breaking a sweat or changing my breathing. We ran through North Beach to the Embarcadero and on to the Ferry Building - which is the starting point for the marathon. Even though Coach Scott promised us that we wouldn't be running hills this week, we did. If anyone has ever taken the California Cable Car you know the hill that I'm talking about. In 6 short blocks there is a 280 ft elevation gain - we were given permission to walk the three steepest blocks if we wanted.

We finished by running through Pacific Heights, staring at all of the mansions, and on through the Presidio. During the 7th mile I had to stop and remove the duct tape from my left foot. It started to bunch under my foot which kept it from protecting my existing blister and created another one. My group finished 10 miles in 2hrs 6 min, which if you average it out adds up to a 12.5 minute pace. When you account for a bathroom break, waiting for traffic lights, and stopping several times to refill water bottles we were right on track. After snacking on treats and stretching I was ready to ice.

This week I brought shorts, my tevas, and a towel. I had to change from my running tights to my short in the backseat of my car. I would hate to have to explain to my Head of School why I was arrested for indecent exposure over the weekend. Francisco, a COB who runs in another group, joined me in the bay for a 20 minute chill. We chatted about the city and relationships and dodged dogs chasing tennis balls in the water. When we exited the water the bottom of my left foot felt a little strange. I stopped to check it out and found that half of my blister was filled with sand.

When I got home I took a picture of it. I contemplated adding it here, but I don't think that all of you would be as fascinated with it as I was, so I refrained from grossing you out. I won't go into the details of how I cleaned it out either - also gross. I guess next week I will have to come up with a new plan for my blisters.

posted by Heidi @ 11:11 AM