My first (and last) FOOL Marathon!

On Sunday, July 27, 2014 – yours truly completed her first and last Full Marathon!

In the title I affectionately call it my FOOL Marathon this is because to me it felt very foolish, to pay for this torture. I’m sorta kidding – sorta not kidding. This race was tough and very mental. I would say more mental than physical most of the time. This is just my opinion! I know many people who LOVE them and repeatedly race!

It was grueling, rewarding and I am not sure I understand why we do these types of things as humans…

Before the marathon I had never ran more than a half marathon (13.1 miles) but I had a friend who encouraged me to run – said I would do great. SO of course I signed up!

Leading up to the Full Marathon, a whopping 26.2 miles, I didn’t train at all. I was still exercising but doing more weight training then cardio. In addition to not training like I should have we also had to move the day before the race. Luckily I didn’t injure myself during the move and did not wake up sore the next day.

Morning of the race, I shimmied into my compression pants, laced up my sneakers, said a prayer and headed towards the bus to take MUNI to the start line!

I met up with my friend (the one who convinced me to run) and one of her friends at the start line. We ran together until about mile 6/7. At this point I fell behind and ran alone or with new stranger/friends. Runners can be so friendly! I ditched my white sweatshirt at about mile 5 and then wished I still had it going over the bridge! Once the sun came out, maybe around 10/10:30 am I began to roast. Usually I LOVE the sun, but in this case I would have preferred the overcast, fogness that can be found in SF on most days! Towards the end I was running slower than I walk but could not seem to make my legs straighten to a walk, so I kept on with my ‘granny run’ as I affectionally call my SLOW walk/jog.