When I registered for this race in April, I wasn’t planning
for it to be a “goal race”. I was not very fit at the time, but my friend,
Sarah, just moved to San Francisco and I had never been there. This would be a
nice opportunity to catch up with Sarah, explore SF, and run a race for fun.
However, May, June and July were very good training months for me. I was able
to bump my mileage to 45-50 miles/week and had some outstanding workouts. As a
result, I decided to “go for it” in SF.
My primary goal was to break my PR from 2013 which was
1:28:05. I was in very good shape back then, so I would have been thrilled with
anything under 1:28 in SF. However, deep down, I felt as though I had the
potential for something big. I thought MAYBE I could break 1:27.
After a 3.5 hour delay and a 6.5 hour flight, I made it to
San Francisco. Sarah was a gracious host and an outstanding tour guide. On
Saturday we ran across the Golden Gate Bridge, ate brunch at Sweet Maple, and
went to the market at the Ferry Building. For dinner we met up with Steve, JD
and Chrissie at Foreign Cinema in Mission. I hadn’t seen them since moving to
NY in December, so it was great to catch up with them. JD and Chrissie also ran
the half.
Sunday morning Sarah drove me to the race start as I battled
a nervous excitement. I did a 1.5 mile warm-up and it felt terrible! I
was sluggish and clunky. I just tried to shake it off and headed to the
start. In the start corral I bumped into Miguel and Caroline, 2 running friends
from Chicago. It’s amazing how small and close-knit the running community is.
Any time you show up at a big race, you’re certain to bump into some running
friends.
The gun went off and start of the race was an uphill climb for 3 miles. I
probably didn’t do enough of a warm-up, because the sluggishness carried over
into the start of the race. While the uphill climb ended up being not as severe
as I had anticipated, I still felt heavy and out of sync in the first 3 miles.
Nonetheless, I was able to maintain a 6:40-6:50 pace during that time.
Fortunately, by mile 4 I hit my stride. The course flattened
out and I started to feel smooth and relaxed. I started clicking off 6:30 miles
and was surprised by how comfortable I felt at that pace. It was still a “hard”
pace, but the intensity was relatively low.
At mile 6 there was a MASSIVE downhill. I’d never run down
anything this steep in my life. I tried to keep Coach Chris’
advice in mind about not losing control on the downhills. But the decline was
so steep that I ended up flying down it and had to work to stay upright without
tumbling down. I ended up with a 6:07 mile over that segment.
At mile 7 I saw Sarah who was on the course cheering for me.
I gave her a quick high-five and kept plugging away. The course was scenic, but
I found it difficult to appreciate the surroundings because I was so
focused on the race. The crowd support was decent, but nothing extraordinary. I
did notice that many of the course marshals directing traffic were part of a
biker gang. The race must have hired the Sons of Anarchy to direct the runners.
Between miles 7-11 I just tried to maintain a rhythm and keep
a steady focus on tempo. I ran 6:28 and 6:27 for miles 10 and 11. While the
fatigue was intense, I still felt strong. I realized
I was on pace for a huge result. As long as I could hang on, I would PR (and
then some).
With 2 miles to go I was ready to push. I didn’t have enough
energy to shift into high gear, but I could still press a bit. I didn’t get
passed by any runners in the 2nd half of the race.
With 1.5 miles remaining I reached the point in the race
where the pain was searing. While it was some of the most miserable and excruciating
agony I’ve ever felt, I thrive in this stage of a race. These are the
defining moments, the point where my body is screaming at me to stop, but I have to dig deep and keep pressing. Where many people would submit to the
pain and back off, overcoming it and pushing harder is incredibly empowering.
With 1 mile remaining, I made my move and broke away from a guy and girl I'd been running with. I didn’t have a monster kick or a huge sprint, but it was a
good shift. I may have made this move a bit early because the last half mile
was BRUTAL and seemed to last forever. I passed AT&T Park, and the finish
line came into sight. I sprinted with everything I had and crossed the line
with a huge first pump in 1:26:32. I was elated.
I clutched my knees for a good 30 seconds, got light headed,
and stumbled around for a bit. But I regained my composure quickly. Sarah spotted me as I was
walking away from the finish line. I gave her a big sweaty hug in return for all her support.
After the race I reconnected with Miguel, Erica, Leslye,
Lisa, Caroline and Wendy. We went out to brunch and had a great time
catching up. After brunch Sarah and I saw the Painted Ladies (Full House houses!), went to Fisherman’s Wharf, hung out in Golden Gate Park, and had
dinner in Mission. It was a packed weekend and everything I could have asked
for.
Here are my splits. They ended up being relatively consistent
despite the hilly course. I couldn’t be happier with where my fitness is at
right now. In 2 months I improved my half marathon time from 1:32:30 to 1:26:30. While I’ve put in some great work for this race, I know that there’s
so much more work to be done. I’m excited to see what the future holds as the
training continues to build.
Mile 1- 6:38 (uphill)
Mile 2- 6:51 (uphill)
Mile 3- 6:49 (uphill)
Mile 4- 6:28
Mile 5- 6:30
Mile 6- 6:37
Mile 7- 6:11 (downhill)
Mile 8- 6:07 (downhill)
Mile 9- 6:35
Mile 10- 6:28
Mile 11- 6:27
Mile 12- 6:22
Mile 13- 6:19
0.1- 0:35
FINISH- 1:26:32 (6:36 avg)
