back up to twelve

i'm running the first half of the San Francisco marathon in two weeks, and today i did my 12-mile training run, which is roughly 8 1/2 1.4-mile laps around Cesar Chavez park at the Berkeley Marina.

one of my reasons for doing this is to determine whether this is something my body can still do. only 1.1 miles short of the length of the race, i'd say, yes, it is. but i recall this being easier when i was 23. around lap 6 i really started to really notice the ache in my hamstrings. and my hips, heels, knees, and neck. it got me thinking about the nature of ignoring things. there are lots of things that are unpleasant that we ignore every day, some of which we probably shouldn't, so surely i could choose to ignore my aches instead of focusing on them as i ran. it actually worked. i just pretended they were a nagging minor personal conflict that i didn't have a solution for.

around lap 7 i had to switch from NPR to music to keep going, and i made it through the last half-lap by composing this blog post in my head. i would have quit half-way through if i hadn't had Gu gel and chomps to keep my energy up (thanks, Brooke!). on the track you can see where i swung by my car once; that was to get a couple more chomps.

i really am excited to go do it all over again on the 25th, though instead of looking across the bay at the Golden Gate bridge, i'll get to see it from the bridge deck, in both directions, and and i'll have Genevieve with me (in spirit if not in proximity, i don't know if i'll keep up with her). and i'm already committed to doing half the Big Sur marathon in November. between now and then i'd love to drop a minute off my mile. not because i want to finish the half-marathon faster but because it's taking me so frickin long to do the training runs at my speed.