I’ve always confessed to being a morning person, kicking off the duvet and facing the day come rain or shine. The San Francisco Marathon tested that theory and many of the long held beliefs I had in myself.
The marathon started at 5:30am but my bus was due to leave Oakland an hour before and with my getting ready for a race taking about as long as a Kardashian for a selfie, 3:30 was my wake up call. Luckily I had managed to fool my body clock into letting me sleep early by essentially acting like it’s Halloween and you’ve run out of sweets: turn off all the lights, close all the curtains and pray that you don’t get a fright in the night. My usual routine done and with my knees and new injury of Achilles tendentious taped up I wandered towards my bus. The traditional yellow school buses loaded us all to our classes in pain and perseverance. Unsettling silence echoed as we pulled away.
My wave wasn’t due to actually start until 6:20 (the slower you are in races the later you start) so once I’d arrived I had a lot of time for over-thinking and over-peeing. Luckily this time I wasn’t alone, which eases the mind through distractions. I was joined by the other amazing ambassadors, a crew of people of all ages and walks of life with a strong and uniting love of running. We chatted, laughed, took a selfie or two and before I knew it my wave was called. I lined up, touched the ground as I always do and felt ready. Ready for the harrowing hills and the unending miles. Ready despite over running in the build up (a trail run through Muir Woods and a 5K shake out run), the lack of sleep and eating all the tasty treats San Francisco had to offer.
All that aside this race felt different for one clear reason; I felt like a marathon runner. I now knew what my body would go through, what roadblocks my mind would throw up and what to drink and eat when my energy level felt lacking. I felt confident. However, as I was to learn, fools often believe in that which is wonderfully unknown. I was about to feel pain unlike anything I had ever felt. The horn sounded and my foot pushed off against the unmoving road. My San Fransisco Marathon had begun…
Miles Left to Run: 444
NEXT RACE: Slaughters 10K 17th August
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Excited to read the rest! 🙂