What Goes Up Doesn’t Always Come Down

Anyone who has been to San Francisco knows that the city itself is very hilly. What goes up doesn’t always come down. Sometimes it just keeps going up.

We climbed hill after hill after hill. From one stoplight it was uphill to the next. And from there, uphill again. We’d climb 3 or 4 hills like that. It was easier not to look ahead too far but to focus on each hill one at a time. Just about the time you got to the next corner and you saw yet another hill, and an even steeper one, you would thankfully see an arrow pointing right or left and thank whatever Supreme Being you might believe in that you didn’t have to climb that next monster of a hill.

One hill at a time, one pit stop at a time. Unlike the day before, on Sunday I really never doubted that I would complete the miles. I become more confident with each step. Sure, my shin still hurt some, my blisters were getting worse, my quads hated me more with each hill but I knew I would do it, I knew I had it in me to overcome all that and the fatigue and the heat. Somehow I just knew.

I sent texts at each stop, telling Dave and Aaron how I was doing. At the lunch stop, I told them I was feeling great and that I was going to rock this walk.

The security people were at a lot of the major intersections. They were as cheerful and upbeat as ever. Each one would tell us how far we’d gone and how far we had to go. Six miles? Just six miles? Hell, that’s nothing! No problem!

And it truly felt like nothing. I know that was the adrenaline kicking in but whatever it takes, baby!