Running

Cleveland Marathon / 05.22.22 / 03:09:39

Nights beforehand, spiritually-jockeying, not believing in my own inexperience, the 7:30 training runs, the lightnessness.

I pulled up an Ali on the Run podcast. Matt Wilpers was saying, “Run arrogant.” I fell asleep listening, awoke believing.

Anxiety at the start line. The skies were grey and threatening, and I longed to beat the rain. A handful of miles in, the cap I bought at the expo flew off and I chased back to catch it, running into the 3:10 pacer. It frustrated me. I ran through him, with him, around him, through an endless shoot of suburban streets. It was a lonely race, though I had nothing to compare it to.

Crossing the finish line, the bottoms of my feet hurt. I was too shocked to cry. Sub 3:10, age 37, attempt number 1. I couldn’t believe I did that.