Nike Women's Marathon

I got up at 5 to get on the bus to cross the bay. The bus terminal in San Francisco is about a mile from the race start, which is in Union Square. I decided to walk. I got to about 3 or 4 blocks from the square and it was a mad house. Of course that was just when I started to have to use the restroom. So I ducked into the Marriott (thanks JW!) and used theirs before heading over to the Square to line up in my corral.

Like I said before, my corral was 7:30 - 9:00 and actually they were letting the faster corral in at the same place, so they had to go in and then fight their way to the front of all of the people in my pace group. It was a bit of a mess. Everyone had pace bracelets, so you could tell when they weren't supposed to be in that corral, and there were several that weren't.

Once the race started, it seemed like it took forever to cross the starting line, but once I got my results, I realized it was really less than a minute. My Garmin was having a bad day and it kept telling me I was running a 3 minute mile. I was passing a lot of people (trying to get around everyone) but I don't think I was that fast! For the first mile or so, it was a lot of bobbing and weaving, but luckily I had rudely pushed myself to the front(ish) of the start line, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I can't imagine what it was like in the 9:00 - 10:00 group, which was pretty far behind us. I checked out some of the people who came in near the end, and their chip time and gun time were a half an hour apart!

The course was great; miles 3 - 6 were on one of my favorite routes, through Crissy Field, where normally there is an awesome view of the Golden Gate bridge. However, it was quite foggy and there was a view of nothing. I felt kind of bad for the out of towners who came for the views. At this point I started to fuel. I had decided earlier that morning, in a split second decision (dumb maybe) to try dried apricots as fuel. They went down fine with a little chewing, and at about 15 calories each are about the same as a Gu Chomp. Mile 1 - 6: 6:50*, 6:19*, 7:26, 7:34, 7:27, 7:39 (*these may have been Garmin error)

After Chrissy Field, it started to go up, and up, and up, and down and up and up! Basically miles 7 - 11 were about a thousand feet total elevation gain according to the Garmin. This is where I had a lot of trouble. I can run up the hills, but it sure is hard. I could feel my face getting redder and redder. At this point it was kind of misty raining, which was a blessing! Somewhere around mile 11 the marathon and half marathon split up. They went toward the finish and we went toward the park. This made a HUGE difference! All of a sudden, I was running alone. It was great!  Mile 7 - 11: 8:19, 7:37, 8:11, 7:57, 7:15

Uphill, chug, chug

Miles 12 - 17 were all in Golden Gate park and were flatter than the coast, although not flat by any means. They were just more gradual, and more up, up, up and then down, down, down (rather than up, down, up, down). According to Garmin, this was another 900 ft gain/loss. It was fun running this section, as the park is beautiful and I got to see my friends, the Bison. There was also a huge jumbo-tron here. Check out this video  of the 10k, 15k and finish line. You can look at my waddle. All I can say about that is...I run funny! We also met back up with the halfers around mile 16 (their mile 13) and it was a crazy mess for about a half a mile before I popped out into the solitary confinement of the Great Highway. Mile 12 - 17: 8:01, 8:18, 7:58, 7:45, 7:50, 7:32

Miles 18 - 20 were along the Great Highway which goes along side Ocean Beach. I was really looking forward to seeing my family, as I was getting pretty tired at this point. The road was a chip and seal rather than a nice smooth asphalt and it was killing my feet! Also, I just needed a smiling face, which is funny because as I was scanning the crowd for my parents, a person jumped out of the crowd and hugged me! It was my new running buddy! I gave her a high five and kept on. Then there they were, the Parentals and grandma, right near mile 18. Seeing them gave me the boost I needed to keep going. Mile 18 - 20: 7:49, 7:52, 8:11

The Great Highway

Miles 21 - 24 were around Lake Merced. If I would have known how bad this section was going to be, I would have asked the Parentals to be over here. It was dead. I was tired. It was raining on me. There were a lot of cars. The lake was nice though. At one point this guy came out of nowhere and was running right next to me for about a mile. Then he just stopped. I am not sure what that was all about. Maybe I looked tired? Like I needed a push? Well it worked; I was trying so hard to get away from him and to have a little space between us that I picked up my pace by a few seconds. Mile 21 -24: 8:14, 8:13, 8:09, 8:06

Miles 25 to the end were back along the Great Highway. This part was fun, because all the runners behind me were coming the opposite direction. I had a few friends running and I looked for them, but never saw them. Also, I saw two guys that had ridden my bus into the city that morning! What a small world it was shaping up to be! Mile 25 - 26.2: 8:08, 8:15, 7:59

Still feeling good!

Then I was at the end. Almost. First I had to muscle my way through a bunch of walk/jogging half marathon people who were sharing the finish line (and the 200 feet or so leading up to it) with me! Then I was over the line, and this cute fireman in a tux gave me a little blue box. I could have hung out with him longer; why is the box giving portion so short and the run so long? It should be the other way around.

And then I was done. I was wet and cold and hungry but I felt great!

Final Time: 3:29:16
Overall: 46/4452
Gender: 30/4051
Age: 9/837

A few fun facts: *Dried Apricots = good fuel! This may be my new favorite! * I did not pee once. * Total elevation gain (according to Garmin) = 5000 ft (can that be right?) * Elevation loss = 4860 ft *Fastest time = 2:56 (M) and 2:59 (F) * From my loose calculations, about 3% of the people in this race BQ (compared to 35% in the Santa Rosa Marathon) *

Tell me how you feel about firemen. What is your favorite type of dried fruit? Have you ever seen footage of yourself running?

Nike Womens Marathon: Pros & Cons

Marathon #3 is behind me now! It was nice to run a race so close to home. Thanks to Yurbuds, who sponsored me for this race, as well as Fitfluential, who got set it up! Now, here are the pros and cons of the race! The recap is coming shortly!

The Start Line @ 7 am

Pros: 

- Good snacks at the end. Luna bars, bagels, bananas, coconut water, frozen fruit (yum), Ghirardelli chocolates and water.

- The race shirts are made from recycled plastic bottles.  (*however, they did not hand them out until after the race)

- All the money from this race goes to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I think I heard someone say that they had raised over a million dollars.

- The spectators and volunteers were awesome. They were very cheerful, cheered for everyone and were so encouraging and helpful.

- There were plenty of aid stations. I don't know how many, but there must have been one about every 2-3 miles. The fuel was Clif shot blocks, which were opened for you already.

- The firemen in tuxes handing out necklaces at the end. And the necklace is pretty cool as well.

- The weather. It was overcast / misty / foggy the entire time.

- The TNT coaches (pacers). They cheered for everyone, not just the Team in Training folks. Also they were very inspiring because they would run with any TNT person who was having trouble. I watched a few of them really get their partner going again when they were lagging.

- Free bras. I am not sure whether to put this as a pro or con because at mile 6 you could exchange your old bra for a free new nike sports bra. However, I wasn't clear as to HOW.  Do I take off my bra I am wearing, in the middle of a run, and change if for a new one? Or am I supposed to carry an old ratty bra for 6 miles and then carry a new bra for the remaining 26? I don't get it.

Cons: 

- You could sign up to have automatic posts to your FB wall, which is pretty cool. I did sign up; none of my posts got posted. I spoke with a friend who said she had the same problem.

- I had to pass a bunch of walkers who were in the way of the runners. I think they started the walkers earlier, which is fine. I just wish they would have reminded them to keep to the right and not to walk 3 (or 5. My dad said he saw one group walking 5!) abreast.

- There were no spectators on the hardest part. They used buses to get the spectators from place to place. They should have had a drop off at mile 20 or 21. Miles 19 - 24 were dead and hard and boring.

- The hills. They kicked my butt.

- The start line. It was a mess. I saw a lot of 10 minute mile people (we had bracelets) in my pace corral. Also, my corral was 7:30 - 9 minute miles. That seems a bit broad to me.

- The crowds. I have said it before and I will say it again: I prefer small races. The start and end and the expo were all extremely crowded. It really did not make me want to hang out AT ALL. I got my bib, shirt and food and got out of there each time. (I did try to find my results, which took me nearly a half an hour!)

- The half marathoners. This race has about 25,000 people. I am not entirely sure about this year, but last year only 4700 of them were marathoners. I really wish they had started the half marathoners later, and given them a separate finish section. At the end I was trying to dodge and weave around them to cross the finish line!

- Their website. They only have a FB page, no actual website. It's a pain. For a company so big and a race so big, I think they can afford to design a REAL webpage! 

All in all it was pretty good. Luckily I got pretty close to the start line, since a lot of the reviews I read complained about having a hard time getting around people in the beginning. I still like the smaller races better, so I probably won't do this race again, but I did have a lot of fun doing it this time!

A few fun facts: * The Nike Women's Marathon is not just for women, despite the name.  * Last year 10% of the runners were male.

Do you ever go and spectate a race just for fun? Would you rather run in rain or heat?

Change of Pace

Before the Santa Rosa Marathon, I was feeling a little unmotivated to run. I think it was due to several factors. I had some things going on in my personal life and it was affecting my running. I was pretty busy and I was having a hard time juggling life and running.

So I decided that after the marathon, I would take a break. I would lower my weekly mileage; I would take time to read, relax, hang out with friend, and do yoga. The day after the marathon, I found a Groupon for Bikram yoga in a studio near my house. I was getting a great start on my new plan!

But then...

...thanks to Fitfluential, of which I am an ambassador, I got an entry into the Nike Womens Marathon, which you may have heard of? It's in San Francisco. It's got hills. It's 26.2 miles long. 

So I decided to try a new tactic.

That Sunday, I met up with a runner I found on Meetup. She had posted that she was going to be doing her last 22 mile run before her marathon on the 23rd. I thought it wouldn't hurt me to try it. 4 girls, including me, ended up running together. We all ran at about the same pace. It was great. First of all, it was a route I had never run before, so it was nice to have a change up in that aspect. Second, it was nice to have company for three hours. It was a little nerve wracking at first. It's a little weird, meeting up with people you don't know, and putting yourself in a position where you have to spend the next three hours together. You could totally hate each other. They could run too fast or too slow. They could be mean or horrible.

But we didn't hate each other. They didn't run too slow. And they weren't mean or horrible, not in the least.

I am not a convert. I am not going to start running with someone every time. I like to run when I want to, as fast or as slow as I want to. I don't want to drive somewhere to go running after work. I am picky about that. However, it is nice once a week or once every two weeks, to have someone to while away a few hours together, someone to socialize with that doesn't involve work or food or booze.

PM run around Lake Merrit

I met up with one of the girls again this weekend. We ran 20 miles around Oakland. We started at 6 in the morning. By 9 a.m, we were done. It was perfect. It's nice to have someone to motivate you to keep going, to get up early, and to keep up the pace (we ran it at an 8:30).

Something even better? Is that she and one of the other girls got into Boston. We are planning a get together where we can talk Boston and details and where we can get excited and giddy and be running nerds together. I can't wait.

So far this training cycle (all 5 weeks of it) is going well!

What's the closest together you have ever run two marathons? Have you ever joined a social group online? Have you ever had a blind date or a time when you met up with people you had never hung out with before?