And again, when my alarm clock rang at 5am I did not feel like getting up and running for a couple of hours. I'd rather turned to the other side and slept for at least 5 more hours. But, but because it "hilft ja nix", is what we say in German, I got up and made myself a bowl of oatmeal. It was a particularly sad day which did not make getting up early any easier. My roommate had decided to euthanize his cat, Boris, who had been sick for a while and got recently diagnosed with cancer. I thought I had seen him for the last time the night before, because he tends to sleep in my roommate's room and his door was closed (because, as any reasonable person at that time on a Saturday he was still asleep). But when I looked up I saw Boris come into the kitchen and looking at me. So I gave him his last meal and said good bye forever. Which is such a hard thing to do. But that's another story.
And off I went to the meeting point, looking forward to running two and a half hours along San Francisco's waterfront. At first, though, I ran half a mile in the wrong direction. I'm really not good at following a marked trail. But then, we were supposed to add a one mile loop at the end of the run in order to get to 16 miles. Why not do it at the beginning. I noticed that I had not set my running app back to "miles" before I took off and now it was counting in kilometers. Which is so much more satisfying! By the time I got back to the start for the first water stop I was at 3.5km already. And when I started the ascend into Presidio Park, I had run 5km which used to be when I was done running. But now I was barely warmed up. The first hill is usually when I think that it was not a good idea to do this marathon thing. Your breath becomes faster, your legs remember their last workout and make sure you do, too, and you start repeating your mantra "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it" and keep running. But don't forget to look up and around you. Presidio Park received the first warmth of the recently risen sun. The sun beams were crawling through the branches and stems of the big Reds, keen on drying the morning mist and removing the pre sun rise cold to make room for a very lovely early spring day. The trees seem to look at you with a slightly amused raised eyebrow, not fully understanding why anyone would do this to themselves instead of just remain in the same place for all their lives, only moving vertically, never horizontally.
On the other side of the hill, the ocean appeared. Similar to last time, the pink-blue surface got more foggy towards the horizon but you could tell that it was just a matter of time until the sun would chase away the mist and clear up the sky to a perfect blue. Thinking these thoughts, and taking in those views, I didn't even realize that I had reached the peak and highest elevation of today's run and I happily descended back down, resting a little bit before the long flat part along the waterfront.
Back at the water stop I had reached the 10km mark. And it still felt great. It's amazing what happens to your body with the right amount of training. A previously daunting run like 10km feels like warm up, nothing hurts (yet) and your body wants more. And it got more. 16.2 kilometers more. Although, when I reached the Aquatic Park, I was tempted to ask one of the swimmers if they wanted to run my remaining miles while I'd swim for them. I did not feel like doing this when I returned the same way.
Further I ran along Fisherman's Wharf. I usually avoid that area but at that time of day, there were only a few tourists and Alcatraz visitors so it was less of an obstacle course than usual. The turning point was right under the Bay Bridge. You can see the bridge relatively early when you run along the Embarcardero. The fact that it is so huge makes it seem very close. But it's not. It was quite a lot of running until I spotted the arrow that told me to turn around. At that point, 18km, my legs, hips, and my lower back were hurting a little bit. My toes and feet, too. Breathing was fine and I felt like running for many more hours. But at this point, you notice how strong you really are. How strong the muscles are that lift your legs and support the areas of your body that feel most of the impact.
And, on top of everything, you notice how much your mind is able to convince your body that running such long distance is a good idea. You can practically hear them arguing...
Body: "Dude, can you explain to me again why I'm not in bed right now, sleeping in, relaxing from last night's party that I should have gone to?"
Mind: "We're here for a good cause. And look at this amazing view across the Bay and the Ocean. It's so much more beautiful at this time of day."
Body: "Nah, I can't see it. Feet, Hips, Lower Back, and Thighs would like to stop this nonsense right now and go for a beer and breakfast at that diner over there."
Mind: "Bud, it's only 8 more kilometers and it's for a good cause. And you will feel amazing once you're done. Think of everything you've accomplished so far! And remember how good you look in the mirror!"
Body: "True that, but right now I really don't want to do this anymore. Who cares if there are love handles and the pants are too tight. I can live with that. Can we stop running now and do what normal people do on Saturday mornings?"
Mind: "Shut up and keep running or I make you do Bar Method 7 times a week."
Body: "Okay, okay. No need for violence. Just 8 kilometers, I can do that. I can do that faster!"
And it does. It keeps running. Despite the pain. Somehow it finds some more resources, taps into them and actually begins to run faster. Until the next hill. Hills should be banned from the last 5 miles before the finish line. Or let's say 10. At last year's half marathon, there even was an overpass, read: STAIRS! on the last mile of the race. That's when Body says: "I don't care how many miles we've run so far. I'm done. Finish. Over and out. Mind, why don't you do the last mile?"
But this time, it was just 26.2 kilometers (16.3 miles), not miles. So Mind didn't have to do too much convicing work to get body to run the last few. I actually managed to run a little faster and decrease my minutes/mile ratio. And, finally, I was done! 9.34am on a Saturday and done with working out until Monday evening! Time to start crying about Boris, who had passed a way 4 minutes earlier.
On the other side of the hill, the ocean appeared. Similar to last time, the pink-blue surface got more foggy towards the horizon but you could tell that it was just a matter of time until the sun would chase away the mist and clear up the sky to a perfect blue. Thinking these thoughts, and taking in those views, I didn't even realize that I had reached the peak and highest elevation of today's run and I happily descended back down, resting a little bit before the long flat part along the waterfront.
Back at the water stop I had reached the 10km mark. And it still felt great. It's amazing what happens to your body with the right amount of training. A previously daunting run like 10km feels like warm up, nothing hurts (yet) and your body wants more. And it got more. 16.2 kilometers more. Although, when I reached the Aquatic Park, I was tempted to ask one of the swimmers if they wanted to run my remaining miles while I'd swim for them. I did not feel like doing this when I returned the same way.
Further I ran along Fisherman's Wharf. I usually avoid that area but at that time of day, there were only a few tourists and Alcatraz visitors so it was less of an obstacle course than usual. The turning point was right under the Bay Bridge. You can see the bridge relatively early when you run along the Embarcardero. The fact that it is so huge makes it seem very close. But it's not. It was quite a lot of running until I spotted the arrow that told me to turn around. At that point, 18km, my legs, hips, and my lower back were hurting a little bit. My toes and feet, too. Breathing was fine and I felt like running for many more hours. But at this point, you notice how strong you really are. How strong the muscles are that lift your legs and support the areas of your body that feel most of the impact.
And, on top of everything, you notice how much your mind is able to convince your body that running such long distance is a good idea. You can practically hear them arguing...
Body: "Dude, can you explain to me again why I'm not in bed right now, sleeping in, relaxing from last night's party that I should have gone to?"
Mind: "We're here for a good cause. And look at this amazing view across the Bay and the Ocean. It's so much more beautiful at this time of day."
Body: "Nah, I can't see it. Feet, Hips, Lower Back, and Thighs would like to stop this nonsense right now and go for a beer and breakfast at that diner over there."
Mind: "Bud, it's only 8 more kilometers and it's for a good cause. And you will feel amazing once you're done. Think of everything you've accomplished so far! And remember how good you look in the mirror!"
Body: "True that, but right now I really don't want to do this anymore. Who cares if there are love handles and the pants are too tight. I can live with that. Can we stop running now and do what normal people do on Saturday mornings?"
Mind: "Shut up and keep running or I make you do Bar Method 7 times a week."
Body: "Okay, okay. No need for violence. Just 8 kilometers, I can do that. I can do that faster!"
But this time, it was just 26.2 kilometers (16.3 miles), not miles. So Mind didn't have to do too much convicing work to get body to run the last few. I actually managed to run a little faster and decrease my minutes/mile ratio. And, finally, I was done! 9.34am on a Saturday and done with working out until Monday evening! Time to start crying about Boris, who had passed a way 4 minutes earlier.
1 comment:
Great post, inspirational and touching. Way to go Eva.
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