The Big Sur International Marathon was my first marathon. Woke up at 3:30 am to meet the school buses and one of my best friends, Jenny, at a nearby middle school by 4:15. Jenny and I sat on the bus and talked about life, in basically the middle of the night, driving down the 1 from Carmel to Big Sur. We started to run not long after the sun came up. We stayed with our pacer for about half the race. The drummers at the bottom of Hurricane Point got us pumped up before we had to climb the infamous 2 mile hill. After hurricane point, we descended to Bixby Bridge and from a mile away, we could hear the piano wafting down the coast. The few miles before and after Bixby were emotional ones and I'm so glad to have gotten to share them with Jenny. After mile 14, I struggled and struggled which was such a surprise to me because I could run 20 miles down at school without issue. We stopped so many times because I was in so much pain toward the end, went through so many gels, chafed a good bit, laughed and complained about the girl who kept saying "on your left" like she was on a bike or some Olympic marathoner passing us mere mortals and the guy who wouldn't shut up...ever. It was the hardest thing I've ever done but I would do it again in a heart beat. Because like good old Ben Franklin said "those things that hurt, instruct."
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