The startling cell phone alarm went off at 4:35 am causing me to "bounce" out of bed. Four hours earlier I had crawled into my friend, Nancy's, sofa after a 3 hour flight delay from Boston.
Having a bit of that "it's too early" feeling, smelling like garlic from the nights ritualistically pasta dinner and not yet hungry - it was time to have my toast with peanut butter and coffee. Nancy came up to wish me luck and I left into the morning darkness unsure as to how I was going to make my way to the start.
While trying to flag down a cab at Casto & Market I hear a female voice shout "You want a ride to the race?" Looking up Market I see a woman with her head sticking out of the car. "You going to the San Francisco Marathon?" I stupidly ask as I run up to the car and hop into the back seat. "Sure!" At that point I knew the run was going to go well.
After taking care of some logistical business I made my way to my start at Harrison and Embarcadero. There I saw an older woman sitting on the curb, patiently waiting and thought to join her. Turns out she's been doing marathons and such for many, many years and has also done it through team in training. We chatted about the program, running and I relished in hearing her "back in the day" stories. We walked up to the start line together and then bid farewell. She was running and at a much faster pace than me. Our conversation helped me to stay disciplined and walked the first two minutes. Runners, race walkers and joggers all passed me by. But when it came time for my runs I'd pass them. Predictably during my walk time, they'd once again pass me.
After I felt I got the first mile creaks and complaints worked out, I started doing a two-minute run/1 minute walk. I was pleased to be able to easily hear my watch "beep" indicating time to shift gears.
The sun was rising and the clear air had a soft blue with soft pink highlights. The bay water was a clean indigo blue. It was gorgeous, I was intoxicated. The first mile came up rather quickly and was at a 12-minute mile pace. Mile two came up and I was holding the pace. I had to remind myself to look around, not to miss the beauty of the morning sun and the cloudless / fogless sky.
There were plenty of people behind me and the first 5 miles seemed rather crowded. A much better feeling than the recent L-Street South Boston 5 miler. There, it felt like I was the last one (and almost was!) I relished in the fact that I was in San Francisco, it was in the 60's with a mild breeze and beautiful!
The first hill was near the San Francisco Youth hostel, just after Fisherman's Wharf. It's the hill that separates the wharf from the Marina at Fort Mason. I was in the "walk" cycle up this short but very steep hill. At the crest it was amazingly beautiful with the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay peaking through the trees that have been blown sideways from the wind. I could not help but exclaim some sound of awe. The couple next to me agreed and we chatted a bit about the view and how it was our first ½ marathon. Taking advantage of the downhill into the Marina, I chose to speed up a bit.
Prior to going over the Fort Mason hill I needed to pee, but there was a line at the port-o-potties and I didn't want to wait. As I made my way down the Marina Green I realized that I definitely need to go before I made my way up to the Golden Gate Bridge. I started to feel like one does when they're jet lagged and haven't slept enough. Time for the GU.
At the end of Marina Green, before going into Crissy field I spied one lone port-o-potty. Watching from afar one gentleman went inside and by the time I reached it, there was only one person in front of me. He became impatient with the person inside (it had been a while) and left. After a total of 3 minutes of waiting (one counts these minutes when in a race) I was able to empty my bladder. 4 or so minutes were lost and as I ran back into the race I found myself seeing people I had already passed earlier. Honestly, I was kind of bummed to have to re-pass these folks, but can't fight when "nature calls".
After Crissy field there we turned on to Lincoln and made our way up a pretty good hill to the Bridge. It was my run time during this grade and felt pretty good. There was a couple to my left that was running together and the woman was slower than the man. She seemed pretty winded. He kept asking her if they could start running? She kept answering, "No, not till we're at the top of the hill." He was clearly disappointed; "but the hill's not going to end any time soon." Ah, the things that distracts you as you put your body under this kind of stress.
The Golden Gate Bridge was beautiful. Much to my surprise it was not closed to cars. The far two westbound lanes handled traffic. By the time I got there, the center lane was empty (a buffer?) as I made my way back into San Francisco I watched the crew start to breakdown the equipment that was used for the race. Yes, there is an advantage to being toward the end, I get entertained by the roadies...
There were 3 folks running together that were going more my pace but looked like they should have already finished the race. They were snapping photos of each other with the iconic art deco towers as a backdrop. I really wished I had a friend there to snap a photo of me running this most visible representation of San Francisco. I jokingly told them I was jealous and they took some photos of me as well. Turns out they'd be the ones I would run in front and behind with for the rest of the race.
A third of the way over the first part of the bridge I started to feel pain in my ankles and muscles above my knees. Between my ankles feeling like my bones were knocking against each other and the pain I had on each side of my knee cap made wonder if I was going to be able to make it to the end. My walk recoveries were just as bad. Then I heard behind me a woman ask another if she was okay. She responded that she was in a fair amount of pain and that she would try to work through it. I've since concluded the bridge is a beautiful but rotten road to run.
Shortly after getting off the bridge we had a bit of a hill up Lincoln. It felt good to work a different group of leg muscles and soon I forgot the bridge pain. Along the Lincoln route the organizers had trivia signs posted for us to read as we went up hill. Who was the athlete that was hit by a car a week before the marathon, and won the Olympic gold? What Chinese treat was invented in San Francisco? Etc. Nice distraction. There were pockets of supporters here and there cheering everyone on. One guy had a yellow afro-wig in a skirt and was jumping into the race and running about 2 feet and turning around (he made me laugh).
As we made are way towards 27th avenue I started to feel a stinging sensation under my arm tell tale signs of chaffing. As I approached the water station I saw a sign reading Vaseline. As I got closer I realized it read: "NO Vaseline" Bummer, mental note carry a small tube for the marathon.
Miles 11 to 12.5 were a blast. We ran 27th Avenue, a roller coaster of a street, from Lincoln into Golden Gate Park. Policemen stopped cars at Geary Street with horns honking (impatient or supportive motorists, I don't know). Cops and local residents sitting in their doorways cheered us on. Suddenly two of the threesome came up behind me and started to chat for a short bit till they took off to get to the finish line. I ran past my friend, Margaret's, home and yelled her name "Stella style". Turns out she never heard my calling, as she was getting ready to cheer me on at Lincoln thinking I was maintaining my earlier pace. Thanks to the downhills, my time improved, but was disappointed to miss her along the route.
As I made my way into the park the 3rd person of the threesome joined up with me. We chatted about our times, injuries and goals and then she ran ahead. I probably ran the majority of 27th avenue. It was too fun not to and I was almost at the finish line. Once I saw the finish line I speed up. I came in at 2 hours, 53 minutes. 7 minutes earlier than hoped and about 12 minutes earlier than expected. I lost about 4 minutes with the bathroom stop and definitely slowed across the bridge.
Interestingly, the woman who won the FULL Marathon had the exact same time! (only she ran twice the distance!)
After crossing the finish line I didn't see any family or friends. Turns out everyone believed my time predictions and arrived at the expected finish time. It didn't take long for us all to connect (thanks to cell phones) and we made our way to Louie's for breakfast.
It was an intoxicating experience - chemically (the endorphins), visually, and of course - being home. What a gift. Admittedly I have concerns for doubling the mileage - but choose to think about it later. It doesn't get much better than this.
Two days later was the Tufts 10K (6.2 miles) (http://www.tuftshealthplan.com/tufts10k/) There were over 7,000 women! (photo above). I went back and forth about how I should "do" the run. (a "should" vs. "want" thing.) All came clear when the rubber met the road... It was a good day and it was not going to waste! While still slow for some, I did my personal best with a pace of 11:56. I placed 4,550 out of over 7,000 and it took me 1 hour 14 minutes and 05 seconds (but who's counting?)
