San Francisco Marathon

It is the single most difficult thing, physically, that I have ever done in my life:

Miles 1-5 good. I peed in the bushes.
Miles 5-13 good. Ate about 3 GU packs.
Miles 13-17 OK.
Miles 17-26.2...sheer hell.

It happened at mile 17. My legs, they just...died. At that moment my mission began - to force myself, no matter the pain, to endure and see myself to the finish line. It became a classic case of mind over matter, no pain no gain, whatever you like to call it. To me though only one phrase came to mind, "keep...moving..."

So the mind games started. It was my mind vs. my legs, and at this point in the race my legs were kicking my mind's ass.  At every turn my legs told me, "You're an idiot! Why would you put us through this!" My mind then rebutted with an incoherent ramble that went something like, "ShittttttmothereffinSTFUlegsYOUSUCK."

The schism between mind and legs went on like that for the next 5 miles. Finally around mile 20 my mind put my legs and place by saying, "STOP YOUR BITCHING AND STOP ASKING ME "ARE WE THERE YET?!"" From then on, as painfully annoying as the legs were, they simply became just noise in the backseat of a long roadtrip.

By mile 21 I came to the realization that I had now travelled further than any of my previous runs, ever. For a second I thought, "Maybe this will be my second wind. Maybe this will motivate me to the finish." Nope, the second wind never arrived and every mile became more difficult than the last. By mile 22 my running became more of an electric slide, "Slide to the left, slide to the right," my legs only lifting up enough to barely slide them across the pavement. The mind was still winning though - cheering me on no matter how slow my progress.

Everything changed at Mile 23. My legs were now screaming to me at the top of their lugs asking repeatedly, "ARE WE THERE YET!?" They were so hungry and pained they were threatening to jump into the front seat to force the mind to pull over - they've had enough. Mind stronghanded those little wankers and put them back in their place. Onto mile 24.

At 24 was the last aid station and the mind thought, "Hey, why don't we walk through this station?" Probably the dumbest idea of the day, the second the run/shuffle digressed to a walk, the legs became as stiff as a tree trunk. I thought it was over. The legs were locking up...this was it... death to the marathon! It was now do or die, I either finish up, legs moving in a full running motion, or die a painful runners death with instant rigamortis. I ran.

It was now down to the last 1.2 miles. The legs had now leapt into the front seat of the car and were attempting to wrestle the wheel away from the mind, weaving all over the road and nearly causing an accident. This was it, the face-off between mind and body that would determine the fate of the marathon. The legs were now holding a cloth of chloroform up to the mind's face, and mind was beginning to feel very, very, very woozy...

Through blurred vision, the banner over the finish line became visible. At this point something beautiful happened - the legs released their stranglehold on the mind and settled back into the passenger seat and waited patiently. Then they became antsy! Rooting on the mind to go faster and faster and faster! It was no longer a battle.

As I sprinted to the finish line I was one with my body and mind.  I literally cried passing the finish line. Something profound had happened, I had willed my way to the finish through some of the most grueling pain I had ever experienced. I had a realization: mind over matter is not only a proverb, but a Truth. We are capable of accomplishing more than imaginable if we can set our mind to it.

Photo Credits to Scoot and Delsheen! They surprised me with a cake and lots of water. Much appreciated.
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In case any of you didn't know I am, in fact, a type 1 diabetic. So I'd like to add a blurb down here about how I prepared for my run and what I ate during the run to ensure that I had safe blood sugar levels throughout. Hopefully this information will be helpful to other diabetics hoping to run a marathon.

My Carb Intake and Blood Glucose on Race Day:
3:30 am Woke up (BG 180 mg/dL)
4:00 am Drank 1 Cup of Coffee, Ate 80 carb bagel (2 unit of insulin)
5:00 am Ran 0.5 miles for warm up
5:30 am Getting ready for race. (BG 340 mg/dL) (1 unit of insulin)
5:42 am Race Starts!
7 miles - GU 1 (BG 240 mg/dL)
10 miles - GU 2 (BG 180 mg/dL)
13 miles - GU 3 (BG 140 mg/dL)
17 miles - GU 4 (BG 128 mg/dL)
20 miles - GU 5 (BG 134 mg/dL)
26.2 miles - (BG 128 mg/dL)

There you have it. If anyone has any questions about my diet or my training regimen, please e-mail me at spencerfrank24"At"gmaildotcom.