Running a marathon

It started as a tiny voice in my head, after talking to a friend who finished the Chicago marathon: "You really don't have much going on this year, you got time". I had bought a spot for the San Francisco marathon in 2016, but ended up going to China instead.

This year, when I bought my spot in January, I didn't really believe I would do it until I saw the receipt. I guess this was actually happening.

My goal was just to finish. I followed Hal Higdon's Novice 1 training program, about 5 months of training. In the beginning, 4 or 5 miles looked daunting. 3 months in, a half marathon was the easy long run!

I loved the routine the training brought to my life. Every Saturday, long run. Only two days off per week. I usually ran in the afternoons, but in the summer I had to move to morning runs. I think all this running made my overall outlook and attitude of the first half of this year more optimistic.

Training was strenuous at times. I injured my right ankle on a 5 mile run in Quebec city, making me have to cut the 20 mile run in half a week later, which was the peak of the training program.

I had to wake up at 4:45am to run on a two lane road in Arizona and avoid large trucks, while the moon was still shining (I'm really not a morning person).

The day of the race snuck up on me. I could hardly sleep the night before in the hotel.

Surprisingly, the most emotional moment for me was the starting line. All these months of solitary training, morning/afternoon runs, and injuries, was worth it, just to make it to the starting line.

I had so much fun. Within the first mile, I had a double take when I saw a lady next to me running in flip-flops.

Made a minor mistake by drinking too much water before the race, I had to use the restroom 4 miles in, but I felt great after.

The Golden Gate Bridge was absolutely brutal. It was cold, windy, and foggy, so I couldn't see a thing most of the time. The hill on the Marin County side of the bridge was so steep, almost everyone around (including me) walked it. They didn't block off the lanes on the bridge this year so it got a little tight on the sidewalk at certain points.

Running through Golden Gate park and Haight street as the sun rose was amazing. At this point around 20 miles in, I knew I could finish, and I soaked it all in.

There is something so freeing about running a race like this without any expectation of time or pacing. I was around the 4:35 pacer group for a good chunk of the race, but only because it felt so good to run at that pace.

I stopped at pretty much every water/electrolyte station, and had caffeinated GU gel at mile 13 and 20.

My knees started to really hurt the last 3 miles, and I ended up walking a couple minutes.

I always sprint at the end of all my races, this time was no different, but I only had enough in me to sprint the last .2 miles.

Before the race, I didn't really think I would want to do this again. It took up so much of life this year, and my injury the last couple weeks was super stressful.

Three days later, I'm ready to sign up for another marathon next year.