Marathon Weekly Update

It sucked, but it was great.

I know my mom hates the word "suck" but there is no other way to describe today, except amazing. I know it seems strange to use those two words in one sentence to describe the same experience but that is just the way the day has gone. This morning when I woke up I checked my blister and it seemed healed. I celebrated by slathering my feet with vaseline and squishing my feet into my running shoes.

On my drive to Golden Gate Park, I noticed one of my fellow PGLs waiting for the bus so I stopped to pick her up. Leigh is one of the people I met at my information session in January and she rocks. This is her 3rd Aids Marathon so she is filled with tips about training, fundraising, and other good stuff. We chatted happily for the 40 blocks before we got to the starting point.

I think one of the benefits of not knowing the city well is not knowing what is in store for me. I get the route a couple of days early and I trace it on a map so I know where we will be going. What I don't know is the topography of these places. So, yesterday when I read that we would be running to the Cliff House, on to the Legion of Honor, and through the Sea Cliff neighborhood it meant nothing to me. Today I learned what "up" means! I have done a lot of hiking and have met my fair share of hills. I have never tried to run up them while keeping an 11 mile pace. We weren't on pace today, but no one was.

The first 2 miles were easy. We ran in the park to the buffalo paddock and back to our starting point. Then we started running along the ocean beach. It was about 40 degrees, the sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the waves were crashing. It was breathtaking. What I didn't notice was the HUMUNGOUS hill in front of us. Now I understood why everyone groaned when Coach Scott explained the route. So the 3rd and 4th mile were uphill, the 5th mile was downhill, the 6th mile was uphill, and the 7th and 8th were downhill. And, when I say uphill I mean a 45 degree angle at least.

At about 4 miles I realized the the blister that I thought had healed was not. By the 6th mile I could feeling it getting bigger and I think my right foot was feeling left out so it decided it needed a blister too. I guess that I will have to try to heal the blisters this week and next week resort to the old standby, duct tape. They aren't kidding when they say you can use duct tape for everything.

After stretching and cheering in the group behind us we headed in to "camp" where there were snacks waiting. PB&J never tasted so good! I sampled bits of bagel, slices of orange, pretzels, and grapes. Then I found an alternative to icing. Leigh and I walked back to the ocean, rolled up our pants, and stood in the water. The only drawback to using the ocean as my own personal ice bath is the waves. When the waves were small we would walk out to keep our legs covered in water. Inevitably as soon as we would venture farther into the water a big wave would come and soak us to our middles. After 10 minutes we turned to make sure our shoes were still on the beach. A huge wave hit us from behind, buckled my knees, and took me down. If Leigh hadn't grabbed my hands I would have gone all of the way under. That was the end of the icing for me.

I drove Leigh home and we are planning to get together for dinner sometime soon. She mentioned a Burmese restaurant near her house. Who knows what that means, but you know me I will try anything at least once.

posted by Heidi @ 12:58 PM