Most Challenging Physical Activity that I have done in my life - 16 Mile run
As you might know, I am currently training for the Honolulu marathon along with AIDS program Los Angeles group.
This weekend I was in San Francisco for a friends wedding. I thought I would miss my training over the weekend. I got in touch with the AIDS Marathon group and they had a training site at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. It is always great to run with a group. The group energy has carried me to completion in my previous long runs. Also, I didn’t know whether I wanted to run 16 miles by myself.
We would be running for 16 miles in some of the most scenic areas of the Golden Gate Park. I was excited to know that the last 2 miles of the run was along the coast with an awesome view of the ocean.
When I started the run, I had some doubts whether I will be able to complete it. I was sick the past week and hadn’t trained. I was going into a 16 mile run immediately after. Anyway, I convinced myself to do it. The first 3 miles was easy. I was doing real well. I bought a heart rate monitor recently and I could see that I was well within my target training range of 134 - 154 bpm.
Side note: 16 miles is the longest that I have ever run in my life.
After mile 11, I started to fall back from my group. I asked them to go ahead as I felt like I was holding them back. One guy from the group, Erick jogged slowly along with me. They didn’t want to leave me in the middle as they were concerned. Erick said that he would jog with me to the next water station at the 12 mile mark. I can wait there for the next group or ask someone to give me a ride.
I wasn’t even able to stand after reaching the 12 mile water station. I lay down on the bench had lots of water and some pretzel.
It was about 10 minutes before the next group reached mile 12 mark. I felt a lot refreshed and joined their group. This group was much more fun and lively. I wouldn’t have run for more than 4-5 minutes when I had a muscle cramp on my right quadriceps. I just wanted to get a ride back. I didn’t want to run anymore. One of the runners in the group, Annabel was such a support. She said that she would walk with me to the next mile mark, mile 13 and then I could ask the volunteer for a ride back to the starting point.
I was limping for a while and then the pain started to go way. Maybe I was getting used to it. But Annabel coached me and cheered me to jog for a little while. It was such a help. Also, I had a boost of energy from the energy bar that I ate while I was resting at mile 12.
I managed to walk / jog to the 14 mile mark.
The next two miles was physically very challenging. It was the most physically challenging activity that I had ever done during my entire life. I was walking / jogging for what felt like more than 30 minutes. We thought that we would have crossed the 15th mile and there was no marker. But we didn’t. The 15 mile mark was still about 400 feet away!
On the 16th mile, I had another muscle pull on my left quadriceps. I slowly limped / walked the last mile.
After I reached the finish line, I just dropped in exhaustion.
I had a high for the rest of the day from all the endorphins rushing through my body. On the whole, I had an awesome run. I feel so much better that I did it. My heel is a little sore, but I am recovering quickly.
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