Mile 17

I started to panic and anticipate mile 17. See, at mile 17 Powerbar has a station and they offer gels. They are situated here because you need to fuel at this point to make it through the Newton Hills (the last of which is Heartbreak Hill). I knew when I saw their station I would have to take a gel and to grin and bear what was to come.

And I did.

I knew it would be somewhat bad. It was a bit of mixed blessing. I knew the hills ascended and then levelled out and then ascended again (and then levelled and ascended a final time) and I knew how much we would be climbing and it wasn't entirely horrible, except that these hills were situated exactly where runners hit the proverbial wall.

I tried not to think about the wall. I tried to draw on all the hill training we'd done. Christ. I run the North Shore. Hills? Yes. I can do hills. I took my gel and resolved to grind through it, and grind I did. Up and up and up and it was arduous and taxing and I said to myself "this is where you allow yourself to walk" and I decided not to walk because my first goal for this marathon was to simply complete it. At mile 17 I knew I would complete it so I revised my goal to say that I would not walk up Heartbreak Hill and I did not walk it. I ran the entire facking thing and I got to the top and I was, again, amazed at what my watch was telling me.