Last week I joined DSE Runners, a San Francisco-based running group. They hold very inexpensive (like $3), mostly short-distanced races around the City almost every weekend.

I was scheduled to run 7-miles this weekend and had originally planned to run in the Golden Gate Park 10K that they held today. That is until Courtney tweeted about a Saturday trail race at Huddart Park.

Huddart Park is a large forested area about 20 minutes from my house. It’s comprised of a bunch of trails that connect to each other; it looks rather complicated (like Rancho San Antonio), and I had been hesitant to explore it on my own. So when I heard about this race, the Crystal Springs Trail Run (hosted by CTR), I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with this area!

The race offered a 50K, Marathon, 22-mile, 11-mile and 5-mile options. I registered for the 5-miler and then had to dig out my trail running shoes. I hadn’t used them since the Coyote Hills Half-Marathon a year ago!

It was a nice drive up to Woodside, but when I got to the park, I found a long line of cars waiting to enter (there was a $6 park entrance fee).

After I parked, I walked over to the Registration area to pick up my race packet. They handed me my bib and a t-shirt. Puzzled, I asked them where my timing chip was. They laughed and explained there was no timing chip! I liked the race already!

The 50K, Marathon and 22-mile races started first at 8:30 am. I saw Aron (who ran the 22-miler) just time to give her a hug before she was off and running. The next races didn’t start until 9:00 and 9:15 am, so I met up with Alyssa and Courtney, and met Kabri all of whom ran the 11-mile race.

When the 5-mile race was ready to begin, we gathered at the Start area (there was no “Start Line”) for some instructions and tips on how to navigate the trail. It was at that point that I got a little nervous. The thought of running through the forest was a bit scary and I was glad I had my phone with me in case I got lost.

The first .75th mile of course was single trail and downhill. I was a little stressed because:

1. I didn’t want to slip and fall.
2. I was paranoid that I was holding people up behind me.

I was extra cautious after seeing a few guys trip and almost fall. I thought to myself, “If this is how it is for the entire race, I’m in trouble.”

But after the first .75th mile, the trail opened up on to a wide fire road. I moved to the side and surprisingly, only a couple of people passed me.

The next 2.5 miles were all uphill. I did pretty well for the first mile or so, and then the inclines got steep and everyone around me (including me) began walking hiking. I tried to keep walking to a minimum by running fartleks. I’d run in short bursts when it wasn’t so steep but then walk when it was.

I found myself behind a girl who seemed to be a pretty experienced trail runner. She was running about the same pace as me, so I drafted off of her and did whatever she did in terms of foot placement, passing others (I wasn’t sure what the proper etiquette was for this during trail races), etc. But around Mile 3 I lost her. I was so tired of climbing and I lost her on a walk break.

My legs were getting tired and I couldn’t believe that we were “only” at Mile 3. I called out anyone who was around me and asked, “How much more climbing do we have to do?” Turns out the lady in front of me was very familiar with Huddart Park and told me there wasn’t much more climbing left to do. We walked together, chatting with each other until we got to where the 5-mile course split from the 11-mile course.

At the split, the 5-mile course turned left, then it was all down hill from there. The lady and I ran together for about a quarter mile, then she wished me well and I broke off and ran to the finish.

Turns out the 5-mile course were actually 4.53 miles.

At the Finish Line, there were all kinds of snacks and drinks…

{gotta love trail races!}

I had about 10 mini cinnamon rolls, did some stretching, then decided to drive to Seal Point (closer to home) to finish up the rest of the 7 miles I had scheduled.

So I went from running in the forest, to running along the Bay. As you can see, these 2.5 miles were much flatter.

I had hoped to do some strength training and run a few sets of stairs afterwards. I did 1 set of stairs then decided that my legs had done enough climbing and called it a day.

Technically, this wasn’t my first trail race, but I kinda feel like it was. It was definitely the most technical trail course that I’ve run on!

Trail races are a whole lot different from road racing, but I liked it and hope it won’t be another year until I wear these trail running shoes again!

It was really fun to try something different, and a great way to start the year!

Summary

Somewhere along the course I hurt my knee. Looking back, it might have been at the second relay handoff which I think was somewhere along the halfway point. There were so many people crossing the course and I stepped on one of those road dividers. Or it could have been when the dog knocked me down last week. Maybe it was both. All I know is that after Mile 13, my knee didn’t feel right and got progressively worse.

Full Recap

I woke up at 4:30 am and felt great. I had gotten a full night of sleep, something I rarely get the night before a Full. My friend Missy and I were staying at the race hotel, so once we were ready, we headed downstairs and got in line for the bus.

On the way to the Start Line, I closed my eyes so as not to get freaked out by how far the drive was. It was a point-to-point race, meaning that we were bussed out to the Start Line and then ran back to downtown Sacramento to the Finish Line, which was not far from our hotel.

We stayed on the bus to stay warm (it was 30 degrees but felt like 25 degrees at the Start Line. We got off the bus at 6:30 am and made our way to the port-a-potties. I had never seen so many port-a-potties at a race before. It was impressive.

We walked to the Start area just a few minutes before the race started. We lined up with the 4:40 pace group. I was hoping to finish between 4:30-4:35 but there was no pace group for those times, so I had planned to start with the 4:40 group for the first 5-6 miles (to not start out too fast), then just go by how I felt from that point on.

The first mile of the race was downhill so I was really careful to temper myself from going out to fast. It was very tempting to start out at a faster pace, but I was cautious to stay conservative, at least for the first couple of miles.

Mile 1: 10:15.8
Mile 2: 10:14.6
Mile 3: 10:00.3
Mile 4: 10:09.3
Mile 5: 9:55.1

Shortly after the race started, I had to pee again. I tried not to think about and hoped that eventually the need would just go away, but it didn’t and eventually it became ALL I could think about. So on Mile 6, I pulled over to the port-a-potties and lost Missy from this point on. The bathroom line was about 10 deep and I lost 3 minutes, but I was happy to not have to think about it anymore. I also ate a gel while I waited in line.

I let myself speed up the next few miles so make up the time, but not to the point where I felt like I was overdoing it. And I tried to keep an even effort (vs. even pace) going up the hills.

Mile 6: 13:04.3 (bathroom break)
Mile 7: 9:35.8
Mile 8: 10:05.6
Mile 9: 9:55.6
Mile 10: 9:45.3

Speaking of hills, there were a lot of them. They weren’t steep, nor were they long, but there were rolling – as in the entire time. It’s a good thing I like rolling hills. On the down hills I tried to do what I had heard during Nike, “Let gravity do the work.”

Mile 11: 10:22.5 (gel mishap)
Mile 12: 10:03.6
Mile 13: 9:52.6

I was still feeling really good. I was working hard, but at an effort that I felt that I could maintain.

At some point around this area was the second relay hand-off (this race also had a marathon relay) and there were a bunch of people crossing each other. It got very crowded and confusing and I ended up stepping on a road divider, which buckled my leg but I didn’t think it was a big deal and just kept running. But gradually, my right knee started to ache a little more.

Mile 14: 10:20.9
Mile 15: 11:49.6 (started taking walk breaks)
Mile 16: 10:12.8
Mile 17: 11:07.9

By now it was quite painful and the pain was moving down to my right foot. I stopped on the side of the course to try and check things out and a runner passed by and asked me if was okay because I didn’t “look good.” I got worried and thought, “Just how bad do I look?”

I trudged along, eventually walking more than I was running.

Mile 18: 13:10.8
Mile 19: 11:59.8
Mile 20: 17:21.5 (actually at 19.62 miles)

At 19.5 miles I saw my friend Tina. I told her my knee was hurting. She looked at it and told me it was swollen so we walked over to the medical station that was close by.

They had me sit down and touched it (which hurt), then they started to ice and wrap it. I looked at Tina and said, “What are they doing? Are they telling me I’m out?” to which she said, “No, just ice it for a few minutes.” Then one of the medics came over and had me do some tests like standing on toes, heels, etc which I couldn’t do. He looked at me and said, “If you can’t do this, how do you expect to keep running?” In my head I thought, “Well, I also just ran 19 miles so it would be tough to do this with a good or bad knee.” They gave me some Tylenol and had me sit down. Then the guy asked me, “Do you really want to walk the last 6.5 miles?” I said, “No”, meaning theoretically, but realistically, yes, I would have. But before I could even say anything else, another guy came out of nowhere with clippers and cut my timing chip off.

And just like that, I was out. Done. I was stunned. They just looked at me and said, “You should not be running on that knee.” They had a bus waiting to take me back to the Finish Line, but Tina had parked nearby so she went to get it and we drove back to the hotel, making my DNF official.

I’m a matter-of-fact person, so logically, it was probably the right thing to do and not cause more damage to the knee (although I still think I could have finished). But the emotional side of me is so disappointed. I trained for this race for months. When I think about all the Friday nights spent at home, getting ready for long runs on Saturdays…or the early morning’s of running in the dark before work, I get so upset. I was only 6.5 miles from the Finish Line and I wish I just pushed through – no matter what my time would have been. Incidentally, Tina said I was still in front of the 4:40 pace group when I found her so I was still relatively close pace for my goal, which makes this even more frustrating.

And even worse, everything that I was worried about going into the race turned out to be non-factors:
• No stomach problems (a reminder of the DNF from 3 months ago)
• No sciatica, hip or hamstring pain
• No hunger pains

Also, unlike my 19 and 20-mile training runs, I did not feel like death at this point. In fact, other than my knee, I still felt strong. What is even more frustrating for me is that after that first DNF 3 months ago, I identified the problem (my diet) and figured out a fix for this. This time there was no problem, it was just my plain carelessness of where I stepped.

I spoke with RoadBunner shortly after getting back to the hotel and she pointed out a few things. She had to convince me to try for 4:30-4:35 goal time (well actually 4:30 was the slowest time she accepted and I had to negotiate a 4:35), but as she pointed out, now I see that it is realistic for my next full. So if there are any positive takeaways, it’s me having a stronger belief in what I am capable of doing.

Speaking of my next full, it’s scheduled in mid-May (I registered for it a couple of months ago) but I’m not sure I can live with this one for that long. I am contemplating finding another one in the near future to attempt, since I’m already trained for it, but I’m not sure – it could burn me out mentally. Things to ponder.

Congratulations to all of my friends who ran CIM superbly! I am so happy for you and you continue to inspire me!

And special thanks to Tina who not only was my race support, but cheered me on at Mile 6 (in addition to Mile 19), as well as Jana, Karin and Beth, who made the trek all the way up from the Bay Area just for this. They were SO supportive and I was thrilled when I saw them at Mile 8!

Thanksgiving Day is too hectic for me to participate in a Turkey Trot, which makes the timing of the Run Wild For A Child race perfect – at the end of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It’s a 5/10K local race in Golden Gate Park that benefits the San Francisco Fire Department Toy Drive. I signed up to run it last year but the weather was bad and I never made it, so the mere fact that I showed up for it this year was progress!

I had planned to run the 10K race but after running 8 miles yesterday, my R hamstring was feeling a little tender when I woke up this morning. Being only 7 days away from Marathon #4, I decided to play things safe and downgrade to the 5K. Truth be told, the 10K course is much hillier than the 5K course and I also had no desire to run up Martin Luther King Drive today.

I got to the park about 30 minutes before it started. I made a trip to the porta potties (where there were no lines) and then wandered around the Music Concourse where all the expo vendors were. RoadBunner’s boyfriend was volunteering at a booth so I hung out there for a bit. Ten minutes before race time, we walked up the hill to the Start Line and found Alyssa, who was running the 10K.

The 5K’ers lined up on the left and the 10K’ers on the right. We saw RoadBunner just before the gun went off.

I planned to just cruise the race so I didn’t even bother to put on my timing chip, I just left it on my bib. I also wasn’t planning to use my Garmin, but made a last minute decision and turned it on just before the race started.

The 5K course looped around the Panhandle.

For the most part it’s flat with just a very, very slight decline, followed by an equally slight incline.

I didn’t look at my Garmin at all during the first 2 miles and just ran comfortably by feel. While I didn’t feel like I was running an easy pace, I also didn’t feel like I was all out racing, as you typically would feel when you race a 5K.

I was entertained by the people around me, getting a kick out of some of the costumes that they were wearing (and also silently cursing all the little kids who left me in the dust). At one point I heard someone calling my name and saw Alyssa as she zoomed by on the 10K course. Unfortunately, I didn’t know Courtney was out cheering and I was so sad that I missed seeing her and this awesome sign she made for us:

{photo courtesy of Courtney}

When my Garmin beeped for a second time I thought, “Wow, there’s only 1 more mile to go then it’s over already!” I looked down at my time and was surprised to see that I wasn’t too far off of my 5K PR that I set 2 years ago. While I was tempted to go into an all out sprint, I reminded myself why I had downgraded to the 5K, however, I did pick up my pace a little, especially when I saw the Start Line in sight.

I thought the Start Line was also the Finish Line — turns out it wasn’t. When we got there it was deserted and everyone kept on running past it. I looked down at my Garmin and saw that it was only at 3 miles – we still had .1 mile to go. The Finish Line turned out to be just around the corner and I finished in 28:30, missing my PR by 12 seconds. I kinda wished I’d worked a little harder in the first 2 miles, but really, I’m not that bummed about it. It’s much better than I expected for the perceived effort that I put into it.

I think this course is a very good one for attempting a 5K PR – plus, it’s just a fun, laid back event, and I plan to run it again next year. (NOTE: while you do receive a fun cotton race t-shirt, there is no medal – repeat – there is no Finisher’s Medal.)

After the race I found Alyssa and RoadBunner and we celebrated both of their PR’s!

Then met up with Courtney, Renee and her friend for what else….ramen!

Overall, it was a great way to wrap up the holiday weekend!

I picked up Audrey a little before 5:30 am and we headed up to the City. On the drive up, I commented to her that there was quite a bit of traffic on the freeway for that early on a Sunday morning. I mean, I knew a lot of people ran Nike, but I expected that most of them came from out of town and were already staying in the City.

We had planned to park at the Ellis/O’Farrell garage, where Audrey (a multi-year veteran of NWM) always parked on race morning. There was traffic getting into the downtown area but once we got to Ellis St, we found that it was closed off! No wonder that garage wasn’t listed as a recommended parking area on the race web site. And here we thought we were being smart.

We drove around for several blocks (because you can’t make a left turn in this City!) and eventually found parking at the Fifth and Mission garage. We got there just in time because there were only 248 spots left (and a long line of cars waiting to get in). The streets were filled with runners making their way to Union Square. We ducked in a boutique hotel to use the facilities – a nice advantage to having a race start in the touristy part of town.

We made our way over to Powell & Geary St to drop our bags off at Gear Check. And so did everyone else. It was a chaotic mess. A complete mob scene. I was crushed in every direction with nowhere to go. And there was no one from the race directing traffic. Being only 5’0″ tall, I was overwhelmed and started to feel claustrophobic. We heard people saying that there were no crowds further up Geary St, but we didn’t know how to get out of the crowd. A girl to my left grabbed her friend’s arm (who was on my right) and started to plow through. Audrey and I latched on and drafted off of them to get out of there. Once we were finally out of the madness we found that just a blocked away, there were rows of buses and handfuls of volunteers waiting to help people check their bags and no one was there. Even worse, there was a whole block of porta-potties that weren’t being used.

Once we dropped off our bags at Gear Check, we used the facilities again, and then made our way up towards the starting area. We had less than 5 minutes before the first wave started and ran up to Post St. We realized that we were with the 14:00 min/mile group and didn’t have a prayer of finding the corral we were supposed to be in. Gah! We raced as far ahead as we could but somehow knew we were still in the wrong corral.

{many runners ran with bags}

{Audrey and I before the start}

Photos courtesy of Audrey

Just before we crossed the Start Line, we saw Kerry and were so excited to see a familiar face! She, Audrey and I started the race together and immediately began doing the bob and weave. Something I would do for the entire race. From the get-go, it was walkers galore. But I knew we had started behind our corral so I just patiently tried to make my way through the maze of people. Somewhere after the first mile I looked around and realized that I had lost Kerry and Audrey. I was so sad. I put on my earphones, turned on my iPod and continued darting around people.

We ran through the Financial District, then along the Embarcadero, through Fisherman’s Wharf. We ran up 2 mini hills at Hyde and Polk Streets, which was a pleasant surprise. I thought we were going to run through the Aquatic Park, which is very narrow. With 22,000 runners, I was afraid of what the congestion would be like.

What I found was the congestion was saved for the aide stations. I’ve run big races before, but I had never seen such a massive wave of people clamor for Gatorade and water! It was kinda unreal. I tried to stop and get a cup of water, but it was such madness that I just continued on. I was so glad that I had decided to run with my fuel belt.

When we got to the Fort Mason Hill, I was determined, once and for all, to run up the entire thing. It is a short, but steep hill that kicks my butt every time. I trudged along, but the walls of walkers made it impossible to run. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and yelled, “If you’re walking, please move to the side.” As soon as I yelled it there was a huge cheer from everyone else also trying to run up the hill.

Disclaimer: I walk during races. I walked during this race. But when I walk, I look over my shoulder and when it’s clear, I move to the far side, and then start walking. I don’t stop in the middle of the course, or travel in packs making it impossible for others to pass by.

Eventually I felt that I was expending way too much energy trying to bob ‘n weave and realized that it wasn’t going to let up. I finally decided to just go with the flow and enjoy the rest of the experience as much as I could. From here on out I walked, ran easy, and pushed the pace whenever I felt like it and when the crowds would allow for it.

I knew the course was tough, but I had no idea just how tough it was.

This was probably the toughest half-marathon I’ve run. It is harder than the San Francisco 1st Half Marathon. Although we didn’t run across the Golden Gate Bridge, we ran up the hill to it, then turned left and continued up the hill that you hit coming off the GGB. I started to have bad flashbacks to my SFM 1st Half Marathon race where that hill was the death of me. I told myself to just make it to Mile 8 where Katie and the gang would be cheering.

When I hit the downhill, I wanted to take it easy. I heard someone yell, “Just let gravity do the work.” I tried to just coast along and not push myself because I didn’t want to shred my quads like I did after this year’s SFM 2nd Half Marathon (it took me days to recover from that).

As I approached Mile 8, I spanned the crowds looking for my spectating friends. I was on the far left of the road and wasn’t recognizing anyone. Then I heard the cowbell. You see, Katie had a huge cowbell at the Half Moon Bay race a few weeks ago, and I knew she’d have it with her again. I still didn’t see them, but I heard the sound of the cowbell and gravitated towards it. First I saw Page in her Boston Marathon jacket. Then I saw Dennis, Jessica and Katie with her! I was so excited that I ran over and gave them hugs!

{photo courtesy of Page, probably the only race photo there will be of me}

They picked the perfect spot to cheer – in the middle of a soul-crushing hill.

{the sign they made to cheer us on!}

Seeing them was just the pick-me-up I needed to continue along. I think people underestimate the power of spectating – there is nothing more uplifting than seeing familiar faces during a race! I truly appreciated them being there.

The bobbing ‘n weaving and hills continued (what else was new at this point), but the miles still seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, I found myself running down a huge hill (where a girl came to a dead stop right in front of me – she’s lucky I didn’t run her over!) towards the Cliff House. We turned left at the Cliff House and hit the Great Highway and I knew I was closing in on the final miles. The crowds were bigger and louder and I loved it.

When we turned up JFK Drive into Golden Gate Park I told myself, “You have this. You’ve been running this route all summer. It’s a piece of cake.” It was the easiest time I’ve ever had running up this hill. Then the course split – half marathoners turned right, full marathoners kept going straight. At that very moment I felt so sad for the full marathoners. The temptation to turn right would have been too much for me to handle. Kudos to every single full marathon finisher!

I glanced down at my Garmin and it read 12.56 miles and I thought, “I’m almost done!” Except when I looked up, I saw the 12-mile marker and realized that my Garmin was off by over half a mile, thanks to all the bobbing and weaving. This was the only point during the race that I felt defeated. I still had a whole mile left to go. Sigh.

But it was the “Chocolate Mile” where they handed out Ghirardelli squares. I grabbed one thinking it would be a boost, but then I got scared because I was super sweaty and didn’t want it to melt all over me, so I ended up throwing it in a trash bin. There were a couple of people running along next to me as we ran down the final stretch on MLK Drive. We looked at each other and said, “Let’s do this.” We turned right, back on to the Great Highway and finally saw Finish Line. We sprinted towards the Finish and congratulated each other as we crossed it.

Official Time: 2:24:57 – not my best, not my worst, but good enough for the day.

As promised, firemen in tuxes greeted us. Personally, I think it would have been better if they were in actual uniform, but that’s just my opinion. I thankfully accepted my Tiffany’s box and made my way through the Finisher’s chute collecting my food, shirt, etc. All of a sudden my feet hurt and all I wanted to do was sit down. I found a curb, plopped down and just sat there for a while drinking water and congratulating the ladies around me. I tried to text my friends to see where they were at, but the phone service was horrible and nothing was getting through.

As chaotic as the Start Line was, they did the Finish Line right. There was space to move around, and it was very well-organized. There was a tent for yoga and stretching (I stopped in for a few minutes), another one for massages, and the bag check buses were so easy to locate.

I collected my gear, then once again found Kerry. We sat on a curb for a good 45-minutes recovering and recapping our races. Somehow we managed to find the rest of our friends and we had a fun time sharing our stories from the day. For me, this was the highlight of the race – being able to share this experience with my amazing friends.

{Cate and I}

{Kerry, Jana, Cate and I}

Photos courtesy of Jana

I’m glad I got to experience the Nike Women’s Marathon at least once in my life, but it’s a “one and done” race for me. Believe it or not, as soul crushing (my new favorite phrase) as this course is, I didn’t really mind it.

It’s a good course for a training run, but it is too congested for the participants that this race attracts. That being said, kudos to everyone who finished. Both distances are accomplishments to be proud of – wear your Tiffany necklaces proudly!

{Finisher’s “Medals”}

Half-Marathon #15 is in the books!

{Half Marathon Race Shirt}

In one sentence: Everything went well – zero stomach issues!

As I mentioned in Saturday’s post, I downgraded from the half to the 10K. Unlike some races, the downgrading process was such an easy, pain-free process. I simply emailed the race director to ask if it was possible, and within the hour, he emailed me back and said, “No problem, you can take care of it at the expo.” The advantages of a small race!

Expo

I drove out to Half Moon Bay on Saturday morning, which is only about a half hour away from me. The expo was small, functional and well organized. Just how I like it.

There were a number of local vendors (I scored a free long-sleeved T-shirt from the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company), but I had one mission – downgrade my race. I picked up my half-marathon bib, then walked over to the Solutions table where they exchanged it for a 10K one. The 10K bib was yellow – that made me happy! And since the bibs were all personalized (which I love), they even hand wrote my name on my new bib for me.

Next I walked over to pick up my goody bag and had a nice conversation with one of the ladies working the booth. I was so amazed at how genuinely interested she was in my story. This would be the theme for the entire race – supportive people who really wanted to put on a good event.

{You gotta love a goody bag that has salt water taffy, right?!}

Pre-Race Morning

Although the 10K didn’t start till 7:45 am, I wanted to be there early to get parking and see my friends who were running the full and half-marathon races. I got there shortly after 6 am, got really close parking, then napped in my car for about a half hour until Roadbunner came to get me (they were napping in their car a few spaces away).

We walked to the port-a-potty area (minimal lines), then over to the Start (across the parking lot) just in time for the full marathoners to get on their way. Once they were off, I walked back to my car to drop off my jacket. I was worried that the weather would be cold and windy in Half Moon Bay, but the temperature was cool (albeit slightly humid) and there wasn’t any wind. I was very comfortable in a tank top.

In fact, the race called Half Moon Bay “Running Heaven” and it really is. It was cool and overcast the entire time. The sun never came out once during the race – which if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know that it’s my favorite kind of running weather! Note to self: run here more often!

Back at the Start area, I ran into my friend Nanhi, who was running the half marathon – her very first race ever.

The 10K

After eating a bland diet all week, I heeded the advice of Danielle (my nutritionist) and ate low-fat, low fiber the day before the race. I had asked Danielle, “How do I eat low-fat the night before a race at a restaurant?” She responded with, “How about cooking dinner at home?” I honestly cannot remember the last time I cooked dinner at home on a Saturday night. This was a first for me.

I made plain fusili pasta (as in no olive oil, no nothing) and grilled prawns (no salt, no pepper, but did add mushrooms). I was actually okay with it; it didn’t bother me at all. On Sunday morning I ate a toasted plain bagel at 4:30 am, more than 2 hours before the race started and drank lots of water.

It worked. Zero stomach problems. None whatsoever. I was thrilled! It was my one goal for the race, to get a handle on this nutrition thing and I think I’m making progress.

The race itself was so much fun, but confusing. I have no idea how to run a 10K so I was kind of all over the place. The 10K course was mostly on road, but there were a few dirt/trail patches, which I didn’t mind at all. And really, when you run along the Pacific Ocean and see surfer boys and sights like this, how can you complain?

The one thing I will say about this race was that although it was small in size, it was big in spirit. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was so supportive of the runners. We’re talking the cheer stations, the aid stations and the other runners themselves. This includes the leaders of the races, the middle-of-the-pack runners and the walkers. Everyone cheered each other on. This doesn’t happen in most races, and is one of the things I loved about this one.

I also loved the fact that I saw everyone I knew racing out on the course, including some friends who came out to do some mobile spectating and cheering:

{photo courtesy of Courtney}

I ran into Alyssa, Courtney and Katie on the way back in and was beyond thrilled to see them! Katie even stopped along the side of the course to ring her cowbell for me! (BTW, she ran double digit miles ringing that cowbell – she is awesome!).

As I came up to the Finish Line, the spectators were cheering loudly and I thought, “Wow, this is awesome, they’re cheering for me!” I saw Scott Jurek waiting with a medal in his hand and I thought, “Oh cool, I’m going to get my medal from Scott Jurek!” But as soon as I crossed the Finished Line I was literally yanked to the side. I thought, “Hey, what’s going on?” Then I realized the guy who won the half-marathon finished right behind me. Darn, I thought all the hoopla was for me. LOL!

This was only my 3rd 10K but it was in fact the fastest one I’ve run, so I guess that’s a PR! Yay! (I tend to only run 10K’s when something is wrong and I downgrade from a half…).

I hung around the Finish line for about 20 minutes or so, chatting with other runners, then headed out for an additional 3 miles. When I got back I hung out with Roadbunner’s boyfriend and we cheered on the rest of the Finishers. Our friends who ran the full rocked it! For Roadbunner, it was her 29th marathon (!!!) and Dennis had a 2-minute PR and wasn’t even gunning for it!

{I have the best runner friends!}

Being that the 10K was so short, I didn’t eat anything during the race, other than to drink water at the aid stations. This is one area that I still have to experiment with, but overall, I was very pleased with how the day went!

For being an inaugural event, the Half Moon Bay International Marathon was so well-done. I could definitely tell that the organizers genuinely wanted to put on a great event, and they did! I also loved how much they involved the community. I’m looking forward to participating again in it next year! It’s Running Heaven!

This is not the race report I expected to write. I expected to write about how I finished Half Marathon #15. Instead, this race report is about my first DNF (Did Not Finish).

All week I had complained about this race because the course was so hilly. And it was. But earlier in the week, during last Thursday’s run, I thought to myself, “So this is what it’s like to run without any aches and pains.” Because for the first time, I haven’t felt any. Nothing. The yoga craze that I’ve been on has paid off and I’ve felt so good lately. And that’s how the first part of this race was for me.

But let’s back up to last night.

Saturday Night

My family commemorated the 10-year anniversary of my Uncle Jerry’s passing. We went to the cemetery to lay flowers on his grave, and then went to dinner at Red Lobster, his favorite restaurant (seriously, it was). For the most part, I was mindful of the race, and ordered a Caesar salad (no dressing), the broiled seafood platter (scallops and shrimp – didn’t eat the sole) with a dry baked potato. But I also had a cup of clam chowder and 2 cheddar biscuits. I figured that I was planning to burn 1200+ calories the next day, so I indulged. For the record, I do not think anything from this meal played a hand in today’s race.

However, I didn’t get home until after 9 pm and had to be on the road by 4:45 am this morning in order to get to the race in time to pick up my bib, timing chip and race packet. I hurriedly threw all my gear together, answered a few emails, and then went straight to bed. I had gotten 8.5 hours of sleep on Friday night and knew I’d be lucky to get 6 hrs on Saturday night (I need at least 7 to feel functional).

Sunday

Morning came too soon and I pressed snooze a few times. Too many times where I didn’t get out of bed until 4:30 am. I quickly got dressed, threw my gear in the car and was on the road by 4:48 am. So essentially, I didn’t eat breakfast and had nothing in the car with me except for GU. No biggie, right? I decided that since I usually eat a pack of GU right before a race starts, I’d be fine. Mistake #1

I also was excited to try out my new iFitness belt. It has the toggles to hold a race bib (no safety pins needed!), but also did not have the water bottles. I figured I’d just drink whatever they were serving on the course (had no idea what it was). Mistake #2

You can see where this is going.

The race was in Petaluma, which is a whole county north of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a 60+ mile and 1+ hour drive for me. The roads were super dark and windy and at times I wasn’t sure where I was. But my GPS led the way and I arrived shortly after 6 am. I parked 1 block from the Start and had no problems getting my stuff. I met up with RoadBunner and her BF, and then met up with Jessica, then Kerry just before the Start of the race. This race was small and so low key that we were chatting away until we heard the gun go off signaling the Start.

{Me, Jessica and RoadBunner)

{Kerry, me and RoadBunner}

The 5K and half-marathoners started at the same time. The police also kept us to half of the road, so there was a limited amount of weaving. I think this worked well for me because the hills started right away and it forced me to stick to a pace where I didn’t exert myself so early in the race.

The hills were no joke – up or down. There was one lady who kept yelling, “I love down hills!” and I kept thinking, “She does know that this is out and back and she’ll have to climb it on the way back, right?”

I felt so good during the first 4 miles – like REALLY good. We actually saw cows (quite a bit of them), along with dogs, sheep, goats and a blondie horse that kept running around in his corral. There were also a lot of folks who set up chairs on their lawns to spectate and cheer us on as we ran by. It was rather quite enjoyable and made the crazy hills more bearable.

But then my stomach started to churn. Then turn. There were port potties at the aid station along the 4th mile so I stopped. I thought to myself, “Well this is a first, using a porta potty during a race.” But when I got in the porta potty, I ended up puking. Puking Espresso GU and whatever PowerBar sports drink they served on the course in a porta potty is the grossest thing ever. Like EVER.

I got back on the course and tried to pick up the pace again, but I just couldn’t. I’d run a few yards and then felt like heaving again. Except, there wasn’t much of anything to heave.

Along the 5th mile I saw Jessica heading back and knew she’d place. I yelled out that my stomach was killing me and she yelled back, “Bad hill!” And yes, it was. Most brutal one ever.

I tried to run/walk it but just didn’t have much energy in me. There was an aid station just before the turnaround but at that point I couldn’t even stomach drinking water so I decided to end the misery. I have another half scheduled next Sunday and there was no point in prolonging the suffering. So I asked them if this was also a medical station. The look of panic came upon their faces and they said, “Uhhh, we have a first aid kit, what’s going on?” When I told them that I was done, they told me to go to the turn around and there were volunteers there who could help me.

I walked up to the volunteers and asked them if they were with the race. They said yes and when I uttered the words, “I can’t finish”, I unexpectedly started to get choked up. I was a little surprised because I had made the decision so matter-of-factly. They were so supportive and understanding, and called for someone to come and pick me up.

{the amazing volunteers who helped me out}

Shortly there after Kerry came by; when I saw her I started to get choked up again, but she gave me a big hug and offered words of encouragement. It made me feel a lot better and I told her to just continue on.

My ride came and chauffeured me back to the Start Line where I met up with Jessica, 5th place Overall Female!, and RoadBunner’s BF. We watched RoadBunner finish strong, and then met Todd, a fellow Daily Miler! Then Kerry, RoadBunner, RoadBunner’s BF and I went out to brunch. I had dry whole-wheat toast and bacon, which still made me feel queasy.

I didn’t have any appetite for the rest of the day, but managed to have some soup for dinner. Physically, I’m feeling a lot better now. At the race I was completely fine with my DNF and even texted to my running coach that “there will be other races.” But as the day progressed, I began to feel pretty crappy about it.

I’m supposed to run the Half Moon Bay Half Marathon next Sunday, but I’m having mixed feelings about it. I’m not sure if I’m up for another race. I still want to run it, because it is such a beautiful course, but I’m contemplating dropping down to the 5 or 10K. I guess we’ll see how the week progresses and go from there.

As for the Moo Cow Race itself, it was a feel-good one. Sure the course was tough (RoadBunner says it’s the toughest half she’s ever run – harder than Nike!), but the spirit and energy of the race was just so “homey.” I definitely would recommend it and run it again. In fact, I do plan on running it again – I need redemption, and that cowbell medal (the whole reason I ran this race to begin with)!

This weekend 2 favorites of mine converged – running and baseball = The Giant Race. Here’s how the weekend went.

Friday

ART
I visited my chiro for an ART session. If you’ve ever had an ART session, you know that they are very intense, but fairy short, usually 15 minutes or so. This particular session was at least 45 minutes, if not longer. Dr. Eva started to work on my right hamstring, but it was pretty tight and almost sore to the touch. She had to massage it for a while to loosen it up before she could really get started with the ART. It was so intense that I broke out in a sweat.

Next she worked on my piriformis, which actually wasn’t too bad at all. She did hit a couple of tight spots but it was more relieving than anything else. She had me stand up to do a forward fold and could tell that something was still pulling on my right side so she decided to work on my upper calf. I didn’t think I was having any calf issues but once she started working on it, I realized it was pretty tight too. Funny how the chiros can always find the spots that torture you the most. I left the feeling a little abused but overall, much better.

Orange Friday
The game the night before the race is called “Runner’s Night”. We had the opportunity to buy game tickets, which are usually in the upper deck, in the worst area of the park. Having experienced this last year, Karin and I ditched those tickets and sat in our friend’s Club Level seats.

We had a little bit of an adventure getting into the park, but once we did we spent most of the time combing the club level for “carb-loading” food. I had my usual baked potato (with pulled pork, grilled corn, broccoli, mushrooms, bacon bits, salsa, etc). But you can’t be in the Club Level and not have dessert. So we decided to split some gelato and strawberry shortcake – yum!

Personally, I wish Runners Night was held the game after the race. I had to leave the game early so that I could get a full night’s sleep and be well rested for race day. I was home and in bed by 11 pm but found myself wide-awake at 2:30 am. I was paranoid that I wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep and started having all kinds of doubts float through my mind. I started to feel bruising from my ART session and seriously considered skipping the race and just being a spectator. But I paid a lot of money for this race (it’s quite pricey for a half) and didn’t want to let it go to waste.

Saturday

Pre-Race
I was up at 5:30 am and realized I didn’t have anything to eat for breakfast. I barely had enough cereal to fill a bowl. I had meant to make some oatmeal the night before but forgot to. I found one last English muffin so I threw it in my bag, along with a Gatorade and was out the door by 6 am. Although the race didn’t start till 8 am, I wanted to make sure I got parking in Lot A (closest to the Start Line and ballpark).

I sat in my car for about 45 minutes eating my breakfast. I still wasn’t feeling very motivated until PunkRockRunner reminded me that he was racing an Ironman on Sunday. That was enough to get me over my pity party and I headed over to the start area where I met up with Courtney, Aron and Audrey…

…and my friend Mark.

I lined up in the very crowded starting corrals with Audrey, eating a GU right before the race started.

Race

The GU was a nice pick-me-up; once I started running, I felt quite energized. I needed it too because the first few miles were spent weaving through people. I expected this for the first couple miles because the group I was assigned to was “Group B” which was for 9:00+ min/milers and walkers. But at Mile 3 I was still weaving through walkers.

Though the weather conditions were perfect – foggy and breezy, I still double-fisted through every aid station because I wasn’t sure where or how many they were. Turns out, there were 4, which you hit twice on the out-and-back course. I managed to run up most of the Fort Mason hill and took another GU during Mile 4.

I was cruising down along the waterfront at the Marina, enjoying my playlist when I came upon a large group that was causing a bit of a commotion. I looked up and saw Brian Wilson, All-Star closer for the SF Giants! I whipped out my phone from my belt and threw to the first guy I saw and ran up to him to take a photo.

Apparently he was there for quite a while high-fiving and taking photos with runners. How awesome was it to have a Giant out on the course supporting runners of their own race?! I was stoked and had a permanent smile on my face for the rest of the race!

I continued onto Crissy Field still with a huge grin on my face. The course looped at Mile 7, closest to the GGB. See how foggy it was? You can’t even see the span of the GGB.

{thanks Mark for the photo}

On the way back I started to get tired and this time walked back up the Fort Mason Hill while eating my last GU. One way or the other this darn hill owns me. Actually everyone around me was walking up it as well, until a girl came on by and started cheering us on and telling us to keep going. It was a nice little pick-me-up so I picked up the pace and thanked her for the motivation. We kept passing it each for the last 5K.

Ideally, this would have been a nice race to PR at because the course was mostly flat and the weather conditions were ideal. But after the Brian Wilson encounter where I stopped for a few minutes, I kinda gave up on that idea. But at Mile 11 I ran into Mark. I told him that if I pushed hard I could be close to a PR so he told me that we should at least try.

Unfortunately, the last few miles were spent weaving around the 10K walkers. I understand in a race like this the participants are likely to be more fans of the team than fans of running, but I wished they knew a little more about race etiquette – like how about moving to the side and not walking 10-people wide? Especially if you have strollers. I was seriously hating the strollers.

I crossed the Finish line at 2:15:59, missing a PR by 55 seconds. Had I not stopped for the photo op, I would have had it, but I don’t regret it. Meeting Brian Wilson was well worth a PR. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Best race photo ever!

Post-Race

Up until this point, the race experience was great. Then we got to the Finish Line where I could barely cross it because it was so backed up. It was horrible. HORRIBLE! The same thing happened last year and I was hoping they would have fixed this, but they didn’t. (Check out Aron and Courtney’s race reports for photos of the ugly mess.)

I hopped over the rope just so I could stretch and walk around to bring my heart down. The ushers yelled at me at get back over. I told them that this is how people get injured. I had to push my way to a corner where there was a little room for me to circle around and do a little stretching.

The line slowly moved forward where we were handed bottled water and medals. We crossed by home plate but there was no photo op this year. I eventually met up with Audrey…

…and had to climb the stairs (more cruelty) to get to the bobble head line. If you’ve been to the park, here’s some context to what it was like:

- Finish Line was in front of Left Field bleachers
- Got smushed walking down the 3B line to home plate
- Followed the line along the 1B side and climbed the stairs to the main level along Right Field

It was packed and slow moving. My legs had already stiffened up on me. We proceeded on the Promenade Level back towards the home plate area where we were handed a bag with the typical race expo coupons and flyers.

The line continued along the Promenade Level (so we’re circling back along the 3B line towards Center Field. Along the way we were given bagels, bananas and Safeway shopping bags. That was cool.

Finally, by 1B we picked up our Timmy Lincecum bobble heads, then had to continue on to get our Nike Dri Fit shirts. I actually really like the shirt – I think it’ll still chafe me, but at least it’s much better than last year’s shirt. And to their credit, they didn’t run out like last year.

After getting my shirt and bobble head, I was ready leave. Instead, we were forced to pass by the “expo booths” all the way to Center Field. It was chaotic. The ushers were upset and yelling, “This is so unorganized!” Yes, it was. I wasn’t happy that we were forced to walk through it and not have the option to just leave.

We finally made it to the Marina Gate where we had to walk down the stairs (even more cruelty).

Courtney had patiently waited for Audrey and I. We headed to lunch at Momo’s where I had my traditional burger and fries. I sometimes think the only reason I run races is for the fries, since I only allow myself to eat them after a race.

All in all, there were some nice things that were improved from last year:

- Not running out of shirt sizes
- Giving us a real bobble head and not a mini Lou Seal one
- Mailing us our race bibs and chips
- Parking in Lot A

I still think they need to fix the Finish Line debacle, the whole “forced expo” exit and walkers merging with runners. But overall, it was a fun experience (mostly because of the Brian Wilson sighting) and I think we got a new Giant fan out of it!

Half-Marathon #14 is in the books!

Next up is the Moo Cow Half on Sept 18th!

I have the personal belief that half-marathon race reports should only be half as long as full marathon race reports well, because you only ran half the distance, right? That being said, I have a lot to say about SFM so this one is going to be a little longer than it should.

Last year I ran the First Half and signed up to run it again.

{got this photo from the SFM Facebook page. i love the sea of humanity on the GGB!}

But having hurt my foot in June, I decided to switch to the “easier” (I use that term loosely) 2nd Half instead.

{2nd Half Marthon course}

Since the First Half starts at 5:30 am, I had reserved a hotel room in the City for the night before the race. After switching races (the 2nd Half doesn’t start until 8:30 am), I was going to cancel it, but my friend Wendy said she’d join me in the City so we checked in to the Hyatt Embarcadero on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday Dinner

We met Audrey, Sandra and Sandra’s BF for dinner on Nob Hill. We did what any runner typically does before a race – carb-loaded on Italian food. It was soooooo good, but I have come to the conclusion that carb-loading is overrated – at least for me. Why do I think this?

I ate a bunch of rosemary bread and pasta. I rarely eat bread and pasta so eating it before a race is just not a good idea. The rest of the evening and next morning I felt sluggish and bloated. Next time I will just stick to eating the type of carbs that I usually eat.

Sunday AM Pre-Race

My natural body alarm clock woke me up at 3:30 am. My first 2 thoughts were:

1. I’m up so early I could go and spectate the start of the Full and 1st Half races (that didn’t happen).
2. The last thing I want to do is run today (feeling sluggish and bloated).

Before checking into the Hyatt, I received an email notifying me of a pre-race pasta dinner for $22 and a “Grab and Go” race morning continental breakfast with no price listed. So with the cost for one meal listed and no cost for the second meal, wouldn’t you assume that the second meal is free?

Well, I did so I didn’t bring or buy any food for breakfast. So I was really annoyed to find out that there was no free continental breakfast. There were granola bars and pastries for purchase.

Luckily, there is a Noah’s Bagels around the corner so I picked up a bagel there, then we made our way to Mission St where the shuttles were waiting to bus us to the start of the 2nd Half Marathon in Golden Gate Park.

It was a typical San Francisco morning – cool and foggy, but the temps in GGP were about 10 degrees cooler than downtown.

{wendy and i at the starting area}

We got to GGP just in time to see the 3:00 Full Marathoners racing by. It was perfect timing because I knew that a couple of friends should be passing by shortly after that. A decent sized crowd had gathered and it was so much fun for cheer. It helped me get over that “I don’t want to run” feeling.

First I saw a guy running with the Japanese flag. It got me all choked up. Then, right on cue, I saw Katie flying by! She looked so good and was pumping her arms to get the crowd to cheer louder! I knew that Sandra, Audrey and Layla were cheering further in the park so I quickly texted them to let them know that Katie was on her way.

Shortly after Katie, Alyssa came running by. She had told me what she was going to be wearing so I spotted her right away and started yelling her name. I was so happy she saw me. She trained so well for this race and I knew it was going to be her day.

By that time Kerry (who also ran the 2nd Half) arrived so I left the spectating area to meet her.

We chatted for a while, and then I went off to the potty lines (my 5th or 6th time of the morning) and then dropped off my bag. It was time to start our race.

The Race

The 2nd Half started on JFK Drive and headed toward Ocean Beach before turning left and up MLK Drive. This is essentially where Sandra had me run the Sunday before and I was so glad that I did.

Most of the hills in the 2nd Half, especially the tougher ones, are all in GGP so I knew what to expect. While that didn’t make it any easier, I mentally accepted it and just embraced the hills. For the most part. After a few miles of continual climbing, turning and climbing, the hills got old really fast.

I saw Audrey and Layla just before Mile 3 and was so happy to see them. They started yelling and jumping up and down when they saw me and I ran over and high-fived them. It was a real pick-me-up!

{best sign ever!}

Approximately the first 6 miles of the 2nd Half ran through GGP and with every step I kept thinking m*f’ing hills! And I also mentally drafted an open letter to Mayor Lee telling him that he really needs resurface much of the park. Too many uneven surfaces and potholes!

For this race I had planned to drink a Generation UCan drink before the race, take a GU mid-way and just drink water at the aid stations. The UCan drink instructs you to drink it 30-minutes before you run, but since I had to pee so many times before the race started, I was afraid it was going to make have to stop during the race to pee and I didn’t want to do that. So I ended up drinking about .25 of it then taking a GU every 4 miles. Since I ran (for the first time) without a fuel belt, I double-fisted my way through every aid station, just drinking water.

Somewhere around Mile 6 we finally exited the Park. It felt so liberating!

We ran through The Haight (i.e. Haight/Ashbury), which was my most favorite part of the race! It felt great to run down an empty Haight Street. There are so many interesting sights and sounds and I just tried to take it all in – I even smelled brunch!

Around this time I first glanced at my watch and thought that I really should slow down. But The Haight was the start of some serious down hills that were just as tough as the up hills. I really tried to, but it was tough to slow down.

The miles just ticked by and before I knew it, I was in the Mission. I remember thinking to myself, “Wait, this race is going by way too fast.” Some of the best crowds were in the Mission! They had a nice vibe going and really kept the energy up.

It was around this point that I noticed the motorcycle guys (in addition to SFPD the course security/support was a motorcycle gang) changing the course. All morning I had been so confused by runners merging from other streets, but then I remembered Aron explaining that there were alternate routes to allow for traffic. Made sense.

Eventually I got to Mile 10, which is around Potrero Hill. It leads to the industrial area behind AT&T Park. I ran through this area for last year’s Giant Race and I hate it. It is so ugly and desolate. This is where I started to struggle. My legs felt fine, but I started to have a hard time breathing – like I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs.

I took my first walk break, which would be the start of a few during the last 2 miles. I’d pick a street sign or marker to walk till then start running again. It was not fun.

But then I saw the Lululemon cheer squad. THEY. WERE. AWESOME! They had a ton of people cheering with music blasting. I high five’d all of them as I ran by. I don’t think people understand how much it means to have someone there cheering for you. Even if you only see them for 5 seconds, it’s a huge mental lift to know that someone is there waiting for you; you just need to get to them. It really does make all the difference in the world.

The last 2 miles were really tough. I felt bad for the full marathoners. Most of them looked like they were just over it. SFM is crazy hard and I applaud all of them for running it. But seeing them walking made me feel like it was okay to walk too. So I did.

Then I looked at my Garmin and did some calculations in my head (it took me a while since I am not good with numbers) and I realized that I could be close to a PR. I got a little excited since I wasn’t even trying to PR.

So I started running again and willed myself to keep going.

I knew it would be close but I just kept telling myself each step brings me closer to the Finish Line.

But where the hell was it?!? I lapped my Garmin at 13.1 miles and cursed another course that ran long.

When I crossed the Finish my Garmin read 13.37 miles in 2:14:41, which would have been a 25 second PR. But with the problems I’ve been having with my Garmin since I did the software upgrade, I still wasn’t quite sure.

Immediately after crossing the Finish Line, we were forced to come to a full stop. The line was backed up for medals and photos. I immediately felt my legs start to cramp up because there was no place to move. This is the only thing I would recommend changing about this race. Move the medals and photos much farther down the Finish Line chute – like after the food.

Speaking of food, after about a 10-minute wait in the medal line (I skipped the photos) I was handed a bag of scones, fruit and granola bars (the bag made it so much easier to carry everything), and then free Jamba Juice! And then free Zico coconut water!

I waddled my way over to the official results tent and learned that my official time was 2:15:21 aka missing a PR by 7 seconds. I was sad for about 10 seconds then just shrugged it off. I wasn’t trying to PR and was really happy with the way the race went so there was nothing to be sad about.

I collected my Half-It-All Challenge medal, which just happens to be the best medal ever! If you ran each half in consecutive years you qualified for this medal. I am so, so, so glad I decided to switch races. It is so beautiful and I love it so much!

Post Race

Aron arranged a post-race lunch so we all made the mile walk down the Embarcadero to Pier 23 where we ate, drank and shared our race day stories. I *LOVE* these people – they make running in the Bay Area so much fun!

Wendy and I had to check out of the hotel by 2 pm so we left shortly after 1 pm. As we began our shuffle back to the Hyatt, I could feel blisters on my feet and told Wendy that we were taking the first Pedi cab that came by. And we did. It was the best $10 ever spent.

Final Thoughts

- I realize that I am in the minority, but I love the 2nd Half way more than the First Half.
- Thank you to everyone who came out to cheer and volunteer.
- The Half It All Challenge Medal is the best medal I’ve ever received.
- SFM is one of the best-organized races that I’ve run and it makes me love San Francisco more – if that’s even possible.
- Congrats to everyone who ran SFM, especially the full marathoners – running in San Francisco is the real deal!
- Thank you Sandra and BF for taking such great photos and sharing them with us!
- I highly recommend adding the Beastie Boys to your running playlists!

I have lived in the Bay Area since 1998 and not once have I ever had the desire to participate in Bay to Breakers. While it’s amusing to watch the debauchery, it’s never fun to be in it.

After realizing that last year was the 99th running of this race, I decided that I would have to participate in it’s 100th anniversary. I mean, how many opportunities would I have to be in the 100th running of any race? And to top it off, for the very first time, there would be Finisher medals. Isn’t it all about the bling?!

In the days leading up to the race I found myself getting a little nervous. Not about having to run the race, but about the mass humanity expected at it. I hate huge crowds and there were 55,000 people registered for it. In total, 100,00+ were expected, as most people bandit this race. I had heard way too many crazy stories over the years of people puking, peeing, grabbing you, etc. so I decided to carry pepper spray with me. I would be armed and ready!

Expo

Apparently I don’t read the fine print very well and missed the opportunity to have my bib and timing chip mailed to me. This meant I had to venture to the expo that was held at the San Francisco Design Center, which is in the most inconvenient part of the City.

Although the expo opened on Friday, I couldn’t make it there till Saturday afternoon. There is no parking in that area and traffic was a mad house. Thankfully, I had someone drop me off and circle the block while I ran in to pick up my packet.

Surprisingly, there were no lines for packet pick-up or to purchase shuttle tickets for rides from the Finish back to the Start Line. There was a line, however, for T-shirts but it moved quickly. Being that the title sponsor was Zazzle, and given how expensive the race fee was (for only a 12K!), I expected a little more pizzazz out of the race shirt. Instead, we got this:

{the cheapest, plainest shirt ever}

I was in and out of the expo in record time, but was able to snap this photo of Dean Karnazes, the Ultra Marathon Man!

Race Day

As per usual on race week, I obsessively tracked the weather, and there was a 70% of rain showers expected in the City on Sunday morning. So for the first time, I cut out a trash bag to wear to keep me warm and dry before (and possibly during) the race.

After considering all possible transportation options to the Start Line, I decided that BART was the best option to take. BART had special schedule just for B2B and I was able to catch a 5:30 am train that dropped me off on the Embarcadero, just a few blocks from the starting corrals.

I easily found Audrey and Sandra and we amused ourselves by observing all of the creative costumes.

Once inside the corral area (by the way, they did check our bibs to make sure we entered the coral that we were assigned to) we had to wait a few more minutes before the race began.

During this time we saw flying tortillas (I still don’t understand the meaning behind them)…

…and people disrobing to run naked (behind us):

I won’t blind you with the actual naked photos of them. They were not people you would want to see naked and my eyes are still burning.

Once the race started, things moved pretty quickly and we crossed the Start Line shortly after the gun had gone off.

Not thinking of this as a race, and having no goal time, we decided to take it easy and run together. Since this was my one and only Bay-to-Breakers, I wanted to just take in the experience.

And for the first time ever I ran the entire race WITHOUT music! This was huge for me folks. Previously, the longest I’d ever run without music was the 4-miles I ran with Layla before the Oakland Running Festival. This would top that and be the longest distance ever without any tunes. And you know what? I rather enjoyed it.

I socialized with random people during this race, more than any other race I’ve run. I even ran into the other 3 people who were on the BART train with me that morning!

{stopping to take photos along the course}

The rest of the race was pure entertainment:

{my personal favorite}

The spectators and crowd support were just as entertaining. Throughout the course, residents came out of their homes to watch and cheer, many even setting up speakers in their doorways and windows to blast music and contribute to the party.

{running through Golden Gate Park}

If there’s one thing to love about this race it’s the feeling of community it brings out in the City. Bay to Breakers definitely has more local support than the San Francisco Marathon. (Soapbox: I wish SFM would engage the community more to build a connection between the City and the race.)

As the ocean came into view I knew the Finish Line was near.

This time, as I crossed the Finish Line I looked up at the cameras instead of looking down to turn off my Garmin because for once, time didn’t matter.

As we were shuffled through the Finish area we searched for the medals. They weren’t there but there were areas to take your Finisher’s photos. Isn’t that weird, to have Finishers photos with no medal?!

We had to walk what I swear was about a half mile to where the medals were being handed out.

{with our bling!}

I had so many friends that ran the race who I would have loved to have hung out with at Footstock (post-race festival), but the weather in Golden Gate Park was cold. There was no gear check so we didn’t have any dry clothes to change into. I put my trash bag back on and we headed to brunch.

{still wearing the trash bag at brunch}

Overall, I ended up enjoying the race much more than I expected I would. But it mostly had to do with the company that I was with. Many thanks to Audrey and Sandra for running with me!

Now I can check this off my bucket list and never have to run it again. For the cost of the race and the logistical challenges, it’s not one that I’ll be doing again.

{course map}

{course elevation}

{race medal}

Many thanks to RoadBunner for sharing her photos with me!

Pre-Race Stuff
I registered back in December and over the past 4 months, the race organizers did a great job of sharing updates through emails, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. I prefer races that keep participants engaged – it keeps me energized and excited for the event.

Their web site was also freshly updated with important information like:

• Detailed course maps in both miles and kilometers that included the course elevation, aid station locations, spectator points, etc. They also posted a video of the course, something I always enjoy watching.

• Recommended hotels, each denoting the distance from the Finish Line. This was key in helping me decide where to stay. And each hotel had a discount available for race participants.

• An online chat feature. This didn’t really work for me, but I did email them with questions to which they responded right away.

I did feel like a lot of the communications were geared toward local runners only, however, I have no idea how many of the runners were from out-of-town.

Expo

I visited the expo twice – first on Friday afternoon, then again on Saturday afternoon. It was more crowded on Saturday, but still not bad at all.

What I liked:

• Upon entering the expo, we were handed blue running gloves from the BMO (Bank of Montreal – title sponsor) booth. I liked the gloves so much that I went back for more and now have 3 pairs. ☺

• The packet + bib + timing chip pick-up process was very organized and efficient. The lines were organized by race (8K, Half or Full), then bib number. If you didn’t know your bib number you could look it up on lists posted on the wall.

US participants had to sign a medical waiver. This was sent to us ahead of time, but if you didn’t bring it with you, they had forms available to sign. The whole pick-up process couldn’t have taken more than 5 minutes.

While the chips were disposable, they weren’t the typical D-tag chips. They were these circular ones that you had to weave into your shoelaces. They also had stations where you could test your chip to make sure it had your correct information. I did see someone whose chip was tagged with someone else’s data so this was key to have.

• The goodie bag were reusable shopping bags that included race info, coupons and a luggage tag. It was sparser than other goodie bags I’ve had, but I usually end up wasting half the items that are in them.

What I Didn’t Like:

• I didn’t think the vendors were that great. Maybe it was because I already owned similar products. However, Lauren did purchase an iFitness belt.

• The one thing that I did want to purchase was a piece of merchandise from the race, but they were all Saucony-branded and cost more than I cared to spend.

• The full marathoners received a long-sleeve tech t-shirt. While they had gender-specific sizes, they also had a weird 3-point neckline. I don’t really like the way the shirt fits and probably won’t wear it.

Race and Course

I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but I overheard someone say that the full marathon had 4000 participants and the half had about double that. No idea how many ran the 8K race. As large as those numbers were, they didn’t have starting corrals. Everyone just kinda lined up at he start.

I was a little worried about this, but for the full marathon, it wasn’t a problem at all. I personally didn’t have to do any of the dodging that normally happens in a larger size race. That being said, Lauren did say she experienced that at the start of the half-marathon.

I was also worried about the signage, since it would be in kilometers versus miles. I actually ended up liking it more. Since the kilometers are shorter distances than miles, I felt like I was making faster progress ☺.

The aid stations were phenomenal! There were plenty of them and they were well staffed. They served GU Brew and Brita Water, which were sectioned and labeled well at each station. And I never experienced a back up at any station.

Some aid stations, particularly those that were shared with the half-marathon only had pitchers available. Since I ran with a fuel belt, this wasn’t a problem for me; I just had them refill my bottles. But it was complicated for those who ran without any bottles. I saw some runners having drinks from the pitcher poured directly into their mouths.

Not only were the volunteers at the aid stations efficient, they were also extremely supportive in cheering us on and giving us encouragement when we needed. I can’t say enough good things about them.

The course ran through industrial areas, the scenic Stanley Park (best part of the course), along the beach, over a bridge and through residential areas. You pretty much see it all. It kept things interesting – I liked it.

{Burrard Bridge – the one we ran across}

There were also 2 out and backs – at the beginning and end of the race. Normally I don’t care for out and backs, but I truly did not mind it this time.

The course also had rolling hills, but nothing too strenuous; it also kept things interesting.

The only thing I didn’t like about the course was all the turns on the return of the last out and back. It seemed like it took forever to return to the Burrard Bridge. However, I did hear that the course is changing next year to not have as many turns.

The race had plenty of spectators cheering you on through out most of the course. Our bibs had our names printed on them so people could call out your name and cheer you on – which they did. It’s a huge pick-me-up, especially on the last few miles of the course.

All in all, this race was a great one to participate in. It was just a fun and happy experience. Two thumbs up from me!