Finished

I made it. I really completed that thing. 26.2 miles, 4 hours and 33 minutes. And while my thighs are feeling as sore as never before, I'm not especially tired or exhausted and I don't feel particular pain besides the soreness.

My friend Tracey and I drove down to San Luis Obispo on Saturday morning. My other friend flaked last minute which was a disappointment but as I've flaked on her plenty of times I couldn't be too angry with her. At least she wasn't the one with the car. Although I knew I was going to miss her "Motivational Dance" 

Lonnie, a huge and incredibly fluffy dog that Tracey rescued a few weeks earlier came with us and made himself comfortable on the backseat. We decided that he was going to be the mascot instead. And he did a pretty good job, although he passed on the dance but after all this excitement and the long trip he's ended up to be even more exhausted than I am now.

After we got my race package which took us quite long as everyone had to admire Lonnie and pet his fluffy fur what he acknowledged with a happy wagging of his fluffy tail and a smile, we got food and drove over to the hotel in Pismo Beach.

As if this beautiful view and the lovely weather combined with great food and company had not been enough, we spotted two whales who made their way along the coast. Such beautiful and majestic creatures and such a good omen for the next day. 

While I had felt very excited and a little nervous the night before, I suddenly got very calm. We had dinner with Tracey's friends and I went to bed shortly after. And I even managed to sleep deeply for four hours and one hour more until I got up at 3.30am, well rested and ready to run! Unfortunately, I couldn't find most of my team until right before the race started, I met a handful of them at the starting line to receive and distribute good luck hugs.

And off I went. And my good luck continued. My running app didn't work first and then it went just crazy and told me I was running 20km an hour! Well, I didn't really care. My playlist was spot on, the weather was perfect, and lots of people had gotten up so early to support the runners and I ran.  

At the first hill I noticed my training. I just kept running. Didn't slow down much. Just made it up that hill. The sun was already coming up behind the mountain to the left but it took a couple more miles until we actually saw here. Throwing her warm light all over the green hills all around us. The nature was beautiful. The air fresh but the wind had slowed down compared to the day before, to just a refreshing breeze that only seemed to get a little stronger when I ran downhill. Following our coach's instructions I kept drinking and eating the disgustingly sweet energy gels and blocks. I had my camel bak refilled a few times and learned that I'm not the only person who struggles with opening the lid :-). 

Those stops caused me to loose the 4.30 pacers and after my second porta potty break I was sure that the 4.45 had passed me, too. Nevertheless, I always had 4 hours 35 minutes finish time in my head. Even though my stupid pebble watch had given up by now and my GPS hadn't even bothered to work correctly at all and was way off. 

So I stopped bothering about the time and just enjoyed everything around me. The green, the young bulls on the hills, flowers everywhere, wine fields, and lots of runners. Everyone with a different strategy. A lot of them very fast. Some of the faster ones I should pass later. And mile after mile went by. And I ran and ran and ran. Like a Volkswagen. And somehow, every time I felt like I really should be somewhere else, my playlist came up with exactly the right song. Or my coach showed up to distract me by repeating that he had utter confidence in me and wasn't worried at all. And left. Not before he told me, that I had left all significant hills behind me. And I kept running. And again, every other time I thought I couldn't do this anymore, another song came up that was perfect for this right moment (like the Run, Run, Run song at a hill at mile 22, contributed by my ex-colleague Josh :-)).

At the point I took this picture I was so sick of the energy gels they handed out at the aid stations. I knew I had to keep eating but I was sure that I would puke if I had one more mouthful of that disgustingly sweet raspberry gel. And, while I was running up that hill, another coach joined me and gave me a motivational talk to get up that hill. "See that telegraph mast up there. Focus on it and just keep running. You almost made it, you're doing great!" I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or to himself... And before he left, he said: "That was the last significant hill..." I didn't mind as I was already dancing up that hill with somebody to Whitney Houston (that one added to my playlist by my cousin Felipe).

And then I did make it to mile 25 where Tracey waited with hugs and a sip of mimosa. And, after all that sweet and sticky stuff, salty peanuts! Yum. And off on the last 1.2 miles. Not without sharing the peanuts with another, thankful runner. And then, on the last half mile, my legs started cramping (!). I gave them a quick stretch and chose to ignore the nasty pain in my thighs and feet and ran a little faster. Up another hill. At mile 26. This time, four coaches where lined up the road and all of them cheered. And the last 0.2 miles where downhill and I even managed to sprint to the finish line. 

When I saw the time I couldn't believe it: 4 hours and 33 minutes! I had made it. Forget pebble, running apps, and GPS. Just follow your heart, enjoy your run, and you'll get to wherever you want at the exact time you want to be there.

Everything is going to be alright

I can't wait for this run to be over. I'm becoming more and more paranoid. First the foot which still hurts a little and I'm not sure if it'll last the whole distance. Then the weather. Rain on the only day I could have driven to San Luis Obispo, every day another part of my body seems to start hurting and then, yesterday, I felt like I was getting a cold. At work, the lymph nodes behind my ears bugged me, I  kept feeling my forehead because I was sure it was getting hotter by the minute. I swallowed twice as many times as normal to make sure that my throat really wasn't sore and I drank enough hot water to fill a bathtub.

I'm still not certain that I won't get sick. Although I am sure I can never really relate to a condition like that but I feel like I'm having glass bones. With every step I take, everything I do, everything I eat, don't eat, everything I touch, every missing layer of clothing I could cause an injury or condition that could keep me from running. I'm obsessed! And I don't like it. I want to have my life back. I want to go outside, eat, drink run, do whatever I want without being concerned about my physical condition. I mean, of course I don't want to get injured or sick. But usually, a cold is not a big thing. But this time, getting sick or injured would mean that months and months of training and getting up early would have been in vain. 

On the plus side, I really can't wait to run. I'm so full of energy, I fell like a racehorse right before the start. Every single muscle in my body is so ready. My head is already out there, running mile after mile, taking it all in. My bag is packed, I've put the perfect playlist together, my fingernails a bright "Team in Training" purple (with a white "Go Team" painted on it). I'm waiting for my friend to pick me up to drive down to San Luis Obispo. In 24 hours I'll already be running. Hopefully, still. And a few hours later it will be over. One way or another. And I will have my life back. Or I will start training for the next one...

One more week

A week from now I will be on my way to San Luis Obispo to run the first marathon of my life. I'm not particularly excited, I don't feel very different than I did before I started my training, I'm not concerned, anxious or scared, either. Not sure if that is just due to my general relaxed attitude before significant events or thanks to the perfect training plan and coaching of the Team in Training coaches. Either way, next Sunday, April 27, at 6am you can find me at the start of the San Luis Obispo Marathon. When I get up at 2.30am my friends who want to come watch will probably come back from their night out and wish me a tipsy "good luck" before they pass out for the next several hours. While I'll be running for the next several hours.

I really don't feel very fit. In fact, when I run with my roommate, he's always a few steps ahead of me and I'm having trouble keeping the pace. However, the longer we run, the better it gets. He gets tired when I am all warmed up and ready to run more. I truly am a long distance runner. I was never particularly fast and never really liked sprints (unless in a car or on a motorcycle). But long distance works. I don't have to torture myself to keep running. I just keep running. Admittedly, the last run was really hard, 19.5 miles. I was not able to complete the 20 miles. I called my father who was waiting for me half a mile away and asked him to pick me up. There was no way that I could run the additional 0.5 miles. Unthinkable to run additional 6.5 miles!

But, someone told me that you run the last 6 miles with your heart. Well, that sounds nice. My head is usually stronger than my heart  (unfortunately not often enough) but when I think of how utterly confused and useless I was after those last long runs, due to exhaustion, I don't think that my head will be in a position to make any decision or get my body to do anything once the 20 mile line is crossed. It will shut down the more complex areas and focus on the more essential task: "Don't die!" Furthermore, I keep telling myself that the main reason for me being that exhausted was an unfortunate combination of jet lag, lack of sleep, exhaustion from work travel, and the fact that there was almost no wind, it was relatively sticky, and I drank water mixed with energy gel which eventually made my mouth very sticky. But the latter wasn't bad enough for me to actually stop and get some fresh water. All in all, enough to hope that the elimination of these factors and the added race atmosphere will be enough to get me through the last 6 miles of the race. And, of course, the reason for the run. Go Team.