The Marathon: Cheering on a Friend

Last weekend I ran my 9th half marathon in San Francisco – my hometown and my favorite city! I had given up half marathons as a waste if time, training, and entrance fees a few years back (with my full marathon nose tipped up into the air… haha) but ran a couple with David over the past two years and also ran one on my own earlier in the year. After running the Surf City Half Marathon back in February, my friend Christina pointed out that this race was part of the California Dreamin’ Series, and if I also ran the San Francisco Half (or full – NO way) and the Long Beach Half .. I’d get a special medal and race jacket from the series. I was leery of signing up for another race in San Francisco given my hatred of hills, but really liked the Long Beach course and figured running the race in San Francisco would be a nice excuse to go home, so I said what the heck, let’s do it!

 

Relentless Hills on the Course

  

Christina had been training with a group in the city for a while and was originally set to run the SF Half Marathon. She then ran the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in June here in San Diego and had started to run the 13+ distances with the group, and was flirting with the idea of running the full marathon. She then ran 18 miles and felt okay, and I thought WOW, she can do it! I didn’t want her to rush herself but was so excited to hear that she was on a steady track to a full marathon. A few weeks before the race she was able to switch from the half to the full race, and she was set to go! 

 

At the Expo - "The Race Even Marathoners Fear"

  

I hadn’t run the course since 2006 when I ran the full marathon as my second marathon in SF (1st one was the Nike Women’s Marathon) and suffered on the endless hills and swore to never, EVER run a race in SF again. I guess I ate my words! :o)

My trip and race in SF ended up falling at an unfortunate time in my traveling calendar. I had a tradeshow in Vegas for work, followed by a week in Paris visiting my mom, immediately followed with a flight up to SF where I’d be running the race the next day. I got back to Phoenix (where my dear friend Diane was watching my dogs) around 6pm on Friday night, and then 10am Saturday morning flew up to SF, and got up at 4am the following day to run the race, and after the race and a nice meal it was back on a plane back to Phoenix, and then 4am the next day (Monday) I drove back to San Diego with the dogs, dropped them off, and went to work. WOW what a trip.

Christina was kind enough to pick me up from the airport in her environmentally friendly Prius, and we went straight to the marathon expo to pick up our numbers and check out all of the goods. For those of you runners, a few exciting things we saw were that Race Ready (whose shorts I wear in every distance race) now makes a running skirt, eGel was there and seems to be growing their presence (they’re my favorite gel, more about it here), and the race was totally green! Our race/gear check bags were reusable drawstring backpacks! How awesome is that??

 

Marathon Expo Photobook

(Leg Air Guitar, Last Picture)

  

At the expo Christina bought a Race Ready running skirt, I bought a car sticker that says “26.2 Been There. Run That.” Along with several cute coasters with the sayings:

I know, I know – I said I’d NEVER do this again.

Some girls chase boys. I pass them.

Toenails are for sissies.

That night we met up with our friend Jenny and went to dinner at Unicorn (an Asian Fusion restaurant – my fave!) and carbo loaded on yummy, rice heavy dishes. The next morning it was an early wake up call – 4 am! Yuck! The race started at 6:30am and we had planned to leave around 5:15am. Its funny how quickly the time can fly by between 4am and 5am. Before we knew it the cab had arrived and it was time to go.

 

 Cool Ceiling at Unicorn - Copy of Bellagio?

We got to the race about 15 minutes later (after some drama with our crazy and crabby cab driver) after picking up two of Christina’s running friends along the way, and suddenly we were at the start line! There aren’t many things that I like more about distance running than the community that builds around a race start line. During all of those months training and getting up early to run weekend after weekend, at some point I’d start to wonder if I was crazy, and if I was alone in my craziness. As soon as I arrive at a start line and see the tens of thousands of people all waiting there to do the same thing I’m there to do, but all with different goals, standing around in the dark at the crack of dawn, I feel at home. We’re a crazy family of distance runners, and I love it!

I was in an earlier corral than Christina and was off and running about 30 minutes before she was. I had thought prior to the race about giving her some last words of encouragement, or possibly writing them on a little card for her. Well, none of that happened. I blame my travel schedule. :oP I wanted to give her some last words of encouragement and advice but wasn’t sure if I could without crying, and with the flurry of activity going on around us it just didn’t seem suiting. So off I went, and a bit later so did she!

Start Line - Bay Bridge in the Background 

As I started running the race I thought about how much I love running, racing, and racing in a beautiful city. Running all around the city that I grew up in and seeing the sights by foot is pretty fun. In this race and in the previous races I’d run in SF, I noticed that I  felt a rush of memories from my time growing up in the city as I went from one neighborhood to another. I could have lived without having to experience San Francisco's trademark hills by foot, but otherwise I enjoyed the course and the run down memory lane.

 The Race Across the Bridge

The SF Marathon gives you the choice to run the first half or the second half of the full marathon course. I chose the first half for two reasons – I’d get to run over the Golden Gate Bridge, and I’d finish in Golden Gate Park near Christina’s house where I could run back to shower and change and meet my cheering crew. The first half course was tough (notably tougher than the second half), but I powered through it and finished in 2:05. Not a great time, but decent considering.

 Running on the Bridge

After finishing the race I walked (2 miserable windy miles) back to Christina’s place where I showered and finished up some “Team Luini” signs that I had prepared for her. As luck would have it, mile 20 went by two block’s from her house! I had assembled my crew of high school and college friends (Jenny, Deirdre, and Tom) for Christina, armed them with signs, and we marched out to mile 20 to wait for her to come by. Luckily Christina had signed me up for text alerts for her runner tracking so I had a good idea of when she started, and knew that she was keeping a steady pace up to the half marathon mark. Like clockwork, she appeared right when we thought she would for mile 20! She ran down the hill and laughed at our signs, fueled up from her pre-prepared support bag that she set out for me to bring (extra socks, Muscle Milk, energy bar, gel, etc), took a few pictures with us, and then she was off for the last six miles!

Christina Approaching our Cheer Station

In Memory of Anne Moor - Christina's Grandmother

I had never cheered someone on for a full marathon before and was so excited to do so. I’ve always wondered if my friends and family who have watched me race have found waiting for me here and there to be annoying. Well, I didn’t find out because I totally loved being there to support one of my friends!

 

TEAM  LUINI!

We drove downtown and managed to park pretty close to the finish line! (This race is one of the most accessible races I’ve ever run! It is a breeze to get to the start and finish line!) We took our Team Luini signs and headed to the finish where I had predicted that Christina would be coming by in the next 5-10 minutes. We watched anxiously for several minutes .. and then there she came! 

 Team Luini - At the Finish!

She was in such a zone and was staring straight ahead and almost missed our mad screaming and sign waving, but finally she saw us before she flew by to the finish. I’ve never watched a friend finish their first (or any) full marathon, and it was emotional for me to watch just thinking of how I felt on my first time, and every time after that.

 With Christina at the Finish Line!

After Christina finished we rushed over to find her and as soon as she saw us she started choking up. (Actually, it turns out she said she cried right before the finish line too!) As soon as I saw Christina I started to cry too! Omg.. I’m about to cry right now! What an accomplishment! Getting to the point where you decide to do a race, going through months of training, and pushing through hours of running are a big deal! Crossing the finish line is an amazing feeling, and I was so happy and proud to see my friend cross!

 Marathon Finisher w/Her Chupa Chup Reward

We hung out in the finisher’s area for a short while after the race and then headed straight to dinner. My kind of racer! We had lunch at Tropisueno downtown, and had my favorite post-race meal … Mexican! Yummy, carb and protein loaded, and full of salt? Yes please!

Unfortunately soon after the race I had to head back to the airport. Christina was kind enough to drive me back (to San Jose no less!) and I was on a plane back to Phoenix, and then the next day back to San Diego for the first time in two weeks.

  

Overall the race was great! Not my favorite course to run, but it was still enjoyable to run in my home town, and the chance to cheer on a close friend as she ran her first full marathon was worth the trip on its own.

Full vs Half Marathon Medals

Congratulations Christina! I’m so proud of you and hope you are now reaping the emotional awards that a marathon brings. For anyone who hasn’t run a marathon before, I really recommend you try if you can. To quote the movie “The Spirit of the Marathon”, “the marathon will change your life forever”. It really will! I’m a happier, more self-confident, and more determined person today thanks to the character building that marathon training and running has brought me. A lot of you think I’m crazy for running like this, but once you do it you’ll understand. Its amazing.