I've always been quite good at distance running (in my middle school glory days I always ran the fastest mile), so I'd wanted to run a marathon for quite some time. I was quite stressed about my winter quarter finals, so I decided that if I didn't do well I'd go run a marathon.

Then I screwed up my real analysis final. Oops! Off to the races.

I had run the SF half marathon the previous summer and felt pretty good afterward, so I thought "this can't be that bad". Nothing can be worse than a real analysis final, right?Spoiler alert: it was way worse than "that bad."

Half Moon Bay is right around 26.2 miles from Stanford, so I figured I'd run there. I charted out a route that avoided the freeways and thought I was good to go. Key word: thought.

After my macroeconomics final, I changed into tennis shoes and started running. I brought nothing except my phone——no food, no water, no nada.

And for the first bit, I felt pretty good. Pictures are scarce since I didn't have much energy to muster and I was worried about its battery. But here's one picture at around mile seven:

Then at mile 11 the problems started. Google Maps (and every other map app) told me to turn left:

Here's what that left turn looks like on street view:

Private property of the Bay Area water authority or something. I ran up and down the road looking for a way through but found nothing. I could literally see the road I was supposed to take, but a barbed wire fence stood in the way.

At this point, I had three options. I could:

1. Turn around and run back to Stanford.
2. Double back and take La Honda to Half Moon Bay.
3. Run on the highway.

Option 1 was lame—I was going to get to Half Moon Bay or die trying. Option 2 meant adding an extra seven or so miles and 1000 feet of elevation gain——not doable. That left option 3——the highway it was.

I'd previously biked that highway from Half Moon Bay to Stanford, so I though running it wouldn't be much of a problem. Turns out that running it vs biking it and doing it at rush hour vs late at night are, well, night and day.

I reached the halfway point of the marathon after just over two hours, so I was making pace. The Pulgas Water Temple there is a hidden gem:

I ran past Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir, another beautiful spot:

And by now my legs started to really hurt. Turns out that 13.1 miles isn't really halfway——it's where the battle starts. Every step hurt every part of my legs——the quads, the calves, the ankles, the bones, the muscles, the tendons.

Then I reached the bad part of the highway. For refernece, here's what it looks like on Google Street View:

Not very runner friendly. The shoulder was narrow at best and non-existent at worst. Cars were zipping by at 60+ mph, and I could feel the wind from every passing truck. There were points where I had to wait until no cars were incoming and then dart over to the next available patch of shoulder. Falling over would have been pretty bad, but I tried not to think about that.

Then I hit the infamous wall. I'd heard about how runners inevitably hit a wall around the 20 mile mark, but I thought "that can't happen to everyone right?" Wrong! I'm not immune.

The wall is truly something else. After the 500 foot climb and drop, I just couldn't move. I thought that overcoming the wall was just a matter of pushing through and continuing to run, but for me it became physically impossible to run. I can't describe it, but I literally could not take both feet off the ground.

At this point, I genuinely wondered if I'd make it. But then I realized, the only reason I don't make it is if I decide I won't make it. With every step, I was tempted to make that decision. But I didn't. I kept walking one step at a time.

Past the berry vendors.

Through the Christmas tree farms.

Across the town.

By a homeless encampment.

And finally to the beach.

I missed the sunset :(.

By quite a bit. I tried jogging one more time to see if it was possible. After two steps my left quad seized up. After three my right calf gave up. After four I was kneeling.

When Strava said I hit 26.2 miles, I ordered a burrito from a Mexican restaurant and shivered my balls off (turns out that the body activates all sorts of cooling mechanisms when running a marathon. Once you stop, your body stops generating heat but the cooling continues. The more you know!). El fin.