After coaxing, arm twisting, and several of my best "please, please" faces didn't have the right impact on anyone, I headed out alone on Saturday morning to "train" for my first half marathon. My first time on the concrete trail since Bay to Breakers, which was not kind on my hips and knees. It also didn't help that for the first 10 minutes, all I could think of was that the only thing that would take me past the finish line was faith, not training, as the half marathon was only a week away. As is often the case with me, the forced solitude helped me catch up on things that are otherwise neglected. Two episodes of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me", one TED talk, and a few songs from my playlist helped me mentally write my next blog, although at the time I did not realize it was so close to the end of the month, my deadline!!
Stephany and I signed up for our first Bay to Breakers in 2011. She was a little excited about dressing up in a costume, a hope that was quickly turned down by me. I was only excited about one thing - it was the 100th year, and there would be a special medal to commemorate the event. Yes, extrinsic rewards matter. A lot! The reputation of the race is always a huge attraction to many, and discourages many, but all I cared about was walking the 12K with Steph. Leading up to the race, we walked 3 evenings a week in the hills of Belmont, and hiked on weekends. We strengthened an already strong friendship, and impressed ourselves by walking 12K in 2 hours and 20 minutes. And the 2 hours and 20 minutes were not just spent on walking. There was plenty of sight-seeing - costumes, nudists, drunk people drinking more from their camouflaged coffee cups, potheads, and we had no idea if the police were real or people dressed up as cops. We huffed and puffed, and laughed and joked, and got across the finish line. My first ever race completed, and a special anniversary medal to show for it!
Steph and I decided that we would do the Bay to Breakers again in two years, and every two years in the future. And we did. The second time with more training, more running, and still lots of sight seeing. In those two years, I did a few more races, which surprised many of my friends, but mostly me, since I was known to shirk races.
A year ago, we did our third Bay to Breakers. Training for this one was hard with work schedules and stress. It was, however, the training and focus on the goal of getting to the race that kept us going, especially since we were accountable to each other. We made our usual trip to the expo the day before, picked up freebies we didn't use, bought stuff we didn't need, and pretended to eat the right things in order to prep for the race.
We also got to see the race through the eyes of our two new team mates, Jeni and Mark. We forgot all the daily stress and enjoyed every minute of the "un"reality of the costumes, the nudists, the drunks, the potheads, and took enough pictures to use up all the memory on our phones (at least, mine). We limped out way to the streets where we could finally get an Uber. And my friendship with Jeni and Mark grew stronger.
Instead of waiting two years, I decided to do the Bay to Breakers again this year. Maybe because Jeni and Mark agreed to go with me, and perhaps because I liked this year's t-shirt design (yes, the extrinsic reward). They trained for it while I went on a three week vacation to India (where I did train when I could). I skipped the usual expo, and went it only to pick up our bibs and t-shirts. Unlike the past years when I took the first train in, we collectively decided to get there as close to the start time as possible. Instead of carrying snacks, water, layers of clothes, and an external phone charger just in case, I showed up with the official t-shirt, a think shirt over it, and my phone and wallet. And somehow, the race was different, too. We took a lot of pictures as always, but it was more about us and less about the costumes, the nudists, the drunks, and the potheads - although I swear I smelt enough pot to give me a second hand high! We didn't notice the naked people as much, the people in costumes didn't overwhelm or amuse us that much, and we barely stopped for anything other than water. We talked, we laughed, we had some good and many bad jokes to share. Unlike the year before, we walked in the opposite direction to get our Lyft ride back. And since the streets were still closed for the race, we used it as our runway, and I taught Mark how to walk on the catwalk.
My first Bay to Breakers with Steph inspired me to do other races in the future. None of them were about competing, as I only compete with myself, and many times, I am slower than my previous time. It has lowered my inhibitions for trying something new, and it has also encouraged me to push myself, not just physically, but mentally, too. And in a strange way, it has made me more tolerant. I think that explains how I described this last race - we were no longer tourists at the race, but veterans. I did notice the costumes, the nudists, the drunks and the potheads, and I chose to smile and keep walking (or running) instead of staring and judging. There was a costume that even made me wonder how I would look in it, and of course, I decided that a tutu would continue to be my upper limit in th near future.
If not the only thing, the one thing that will help me cross the finish line in less than a week is faith in myself, Fabiana and Jeni - I hope one or both of them will volunteer to carry me. And the picture that Jeni sent me.
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