2011 San Francisco Marathon - Worth the hurt!

"Worth the Hurt" is the tag line of the San Francisco Marathon.  The Wall Street Journal has been quoted in saying that the San Francisco marathon is "the race even marathoners fear."   So was it worth it?  Hell yes!  The 2 days of muscle soreness in my quads and calves was worth the experience of running over (and back) the Golden Gate bridge in the early hours of the morning, through Golden Gate Park, and along Haight St.  This was probably one of the best course that I have run (I think, even slightly edging over the NYCM), in my not so lengthy marathon career.

The WSJ had one thing right, the SF marathon was certainly one that I had feared the most.  Not because of the hilly route or the early start time, but because I had felt that I was truly unprepared and improperly trained for it.  Between the SD RnR and the SF marathon, I only logged in one 20 mile run, and ran 2 to 3 times a week and those runs usually felt very blah at best.  A few days before the race date, I was seriously thinking of not running it and opting to cheer Joe on on the sidelines.  I was scared shitless.

Up until race morning, I was bouncing between the idea of not running it.  My wave did not start until 6:22am (the first wave starting at 5:30am!  Joe's started at 5:52am).  After a few more minutes of arguing with myself, I decided to get corralled up with my wave.  I was going to run, have fun, and just enjoy the course and the enthusiasm of both runners and spectators alike.

I was expecting the course to be hilly (after all, it IS San Francisco), but not as hilly as it actually was.  SF's idea of "rolling hills" is much different than what I had in mind.  After a while, I didn't mind the hills so much because I told myself that I could stop and walk if I needed to once I reached the top.  Once I got to the top, however, I felt that I could keep going and didn't really stop to walk during the course until about mile 22 or during the water stations.  My favorite parts of the course was running across the Golden Gate bridge and passing the waterfall within the Golden Gate Park.  It was an absolutely phenomenal experience.

Official time is 4:29:32 - barely making my goal time of under 4:30!
2011 SF Marathon Garmin Stats

Glacial Speed Running

I know there's a running group out there called "Snail's Pace."  I wonder if there is one called "Glacier's Pace."  If not, I really should start one as the past 3 runs seemed to have earned me the head of this group.  

The days have been warm the past 3 runs.  Sunday was a long run (20 mi Tour de San Diego Garmin Stats); the longest run we've gone on since the SD RnR at the beginning of June.  We started later that we had anticipated (10am instead of 8am) and spent WAY too out there.  I had anticipated a long day (lots of stopping to rest), but did not think that my legs would feel extremely tired by the end of the run.  The route was not that hilly, but when it was, there were some pretty challenging hills (ie going through Point Loma Nazerine). The last few miles of that course led us up 6th Ave which is pretty wicked after 16+ mi of running.  We made it through, slowly, but surely.

Took a 3 day hiatus from running (not really planned, no excuses really) and went for a medium run yesterday after work.  8 mi run down Pershing Dr. and through Balboa Park proved to be another hot and challenging run for me.  Legs were feeling heavy and uncooperative.  I knew it had to get done though and didn't mind too much that it was slow, I was just happy that I finally got my butt out there after 3 days of not running.  Surprisingly, I still felt I had the energy to go to the gym.

I woke up this morning with surprisingly sore/tired legs.  I had done that 8 mi route before, so I wasn't expecting my legs to be feeling so lethargic.  It didn't bode very well for the 5 mi run today (5 mi run - Balboa park Garmin stats).  Tired legs + warm morning = glacial speeds.  I had to stop a few times along the run today, partly to let my legs rest for a bit and also because Lilo kept plopping down whenever there was cool concrete in the shade.

Lilo after our 5 mi run today

I'm a little disappointed with the less than stellar speeds I have been running, but I also realize that I have been doing a lot of running since November really (I may have run 3 marathons for 2011, but I have run 4 within 8 months).  Next  year, I'm going to cut down the number of marathons to 2 at most because I'd really like to train and get that sub 4 marathon that I had been striving to achieve since forever.  Maybe even throw a triathlon in there. =)

Ahhhhh.......

Looks like my little wah post earlier encouraged me to run a not-so-bad 5 miler this afternoon.  *Almost* a sub 9 min/mi pace, I blew my load (saying borrowed by Alison ;) ) during the first 3 miles and had to slow down the last 2 miles.

I enjoy running with Joe because he pushes me to run faster (even when he's not trying to).  Sometimes, it gets the better of me and my competitive side kicks in and then kicks me in the butt.  Today, he kept pace with me and it turned out to be a pretty good run.  Thanks, Joey. <3

5 mi run - Balboa Park Garmin stats