Survivor Central Blog

I had never thought that I would be a person on track to run a marathon. It was something other people did but not me. But in March I knew I was ready for a significant personal challenge.

When I decided to make the commitment to run the San Francisco half marathon scheduled for July 25, 2010, I had never run more than 4 miles in my life. How was I ever going to run 13.1 miles in only a few months? But this nagging doubt didn't stop me from trying. My desire to overcome this challenge and complete the race trumped my inner voice that said, "You can't do it." I wanted to run on the Golden Gate Bridge. I wanted to run more than I have ever run before. I trusted that if I started training early, I could prepare my mind and body for the race.

To prepare I acquired a marathon training guide that could keep my training runs organized. The guide spanning 19 weeks built up my running distances gradually. This strategy gave my body enough time to adjust to the long distances in order to remain healthy and injury free.

I kept disciplined to my training schedule. Running at least four times a week. I did my longer runs on Sunday mornings and throughout the rest of the week, I hit the pavement after work. In the last month of training I added a short run in on Saturday. It is important to go running often and slowly build up mileage throughout the week if you want to compete in a long run. Even if some commitment came up, and I had to skip a scheduled run, I would at least try to run a shortened version or run extra the next day to make sure my legs were still moving.

I remember week 11 of my training when I first ran ten miles. This accomplishment felt great. I was becoming a long distance runner, and finishing a double digit run made my dream seem closer. I was almost there. I was amazed by my progress, and I was on the right track. I decided to up the ante and shoot for a 2 hour finish time in San Francisco.

After I restated my goal, I kicked my training into a higher gear. Since the race was in San Francisco, I figured that I had better start training for the legendary hills. The San Francisco Marathon is known as one of the toughest for runners in the United States.

The race day came faster than expected, and at 6 A.M. on July 25^th, I was in a huge crowd of runners wearing my new blue San Francisco Half Marathon jersey. The energy was palatable and despite the early hour and dark sky, the energy of the event electrified the Embarcadero.

After an enthusiastic announcer wished us luck and sounded the start, I found myself corralled with thousands of runners. This congestion soon spread out as our road unfolded. I felt great. I had made it here with my own hard work and dedication.

I remember as the route lead me onto the Golden Gate Bridge. Two lanes of traffic were blocked off for the runners. There was a dense fog resting on the bridge, and this murky cloud closed off the panoramic view. Instead of on the scenery, my attention grasped onto each stride I took. I began to feel a joy rising inside me, as I realized that I had dreamt of this moment.

Once the grade of the bridge shifted downwards, I began to see the green hills of Marin County emerging from the morning fog. On the shore there was a rest area with electrolyte drinks, food packets and restrooms. I quickly indulged, then continued back across the bridge. I kept my eyes open for my friends running the race with me, Alicia and Danielle.

When I saw them on my way across the bridge, I was so proud that we all were doing this. Seeing their hard work painted on their faces, kept my spirits up.

There were only a few more miles left in the run after I got back into San Francisco. The run continued through some hills. When I ran, I made sure to lift my knees up high. This allowed for me to “fall” up the hill. It didn't feel like I was pushing myself up against gravity. On the way down I took longer strides and landed my foot in the middle rather than on the heel because I found that this was easiest on my body. Leaning into the hill is easier on the body. When a runner's weight is leaning back, their muscles and skeleton are working against gravity slowing the body down. This puts more wear on the joints which is no good. Also, when taking longer strides downhill, I found that I could manage my speed better and not get overwhelmed by a hill's slope.

When the buildings started to fall away and more greenery came into view, I knew that the race was coming to an end. My first half marathon took me from the wharfs on Embarcadero over the Golden Gate Bridge and into Golden Gate Park.

I saw the finish line in sight! I ran across at full speed and then slowly trailed my pace down to a walk. My legs still felt like they were running.

I was given a SF Marathon safety blanket to wrap around my body, some food to re-energize myself, and I stretched. My time was 2 hours 3 minutes, and I was ecstatic. Although I didn't quite meet my 2 hour goal, I still came close enough to feel proud of my accomplishment.

Over the course of my training I ran 223 miles. Now that I have completed this, I plan to run a full marathon. As of yet, the location and time have not been determined, but I have the intention. I've still been running and plan to keep it as part of my exercise routine.