San Francisco Marathon - The Big #14

This past weekend was incredible fun and special. The Cliff Notes version:

• I got to go home to San Francisco for a long weekend
• I got to run the San Francisco Marathon as an Ambassador (aka running royalty)
• This race marked my 14 full marathon (whoo hoo!)
  
• I got to complete another race with David and Christina
• I beat my 2006 time by the skin of my teeth (43 seconds)
• I ran the *entire* marathon for the first time ever! 
• Even though I only did one run longer than 12 miles (18 miles) I felt better than I ever have before
• I beat my SoleMates fundraising goal and ended at 106%
• I had a really fun post-race BBQ and REAL running royalty came! (Bart Yasso)

The Weekend Begins

On Friday morning David and I packed up the car, loaded in the dogs, and hit the road for San Francisco. I was hoping we'd leave around 8am but go figure, I was running late. I squeezed in one more final run that morning before we left just to get some energy out before we sat in  car for 9 hours. The goal was to get to SF by 6pm, drop off the dogs, and then head to the Ambassador meet and greet dinner at the Mars Bar across the street from the marathon expo. 

Safeway Has its own Wind Turbines!

We made pretty good time and would have arrived in town just in time to make the dinner in time ... but as soon as we got to my dad's I realized I'd grabbed the wrong set of spare keys. D'oh! I took my Arizona keys, not my San Francisco keys. (Why do I even have Arizona keys anymore?! I need to throw those out.) Luckily I was able to track my Dad down at a friends house where he was having dinner, so we drove across the Sunset, got the keys, and came back to drop off the dogs and change.

Mika Checking out the Traffic

We finally got to the Ambassador meet-up a bit late, but it was a pretty casual affair so it wasn't a big deal. It was a lot of fun to meet all of the other Ambassadors that I'd emailed, facebooked, and tweeted with over the past several months. (Ambassador profiles here)

San Francisco Marathon Ambassadors

The Marathon Expo

All of the Ambassadors were splitting up shifts at the race expo which ran Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. I had signed up for the Saturday AM shift so we'd have Saturday afternoon free to hang out. Working the expo was a ton of fun! I've worked a million tradeshows over the past seven years for my day job, and those expos are never as much fun as running expos! (Not surprising, I mean how fun is it to talk about periodontal disease, oral cancer, and wrinkles? haha)

Ambassadors Working the Tech Center

At the expo I bumped into several friends I knew who were running, I got to meet three of the winners of my Gu Giveaway (more info here), and I also met one of my fellow Glam Runners who was going to be running the race in the same style tutu as me!

Glam Runner Elisabeth

Fellow GOTRSD Coach Karin

Long-Time Friend Tamara & her Mini-Me

The four hours at the expo came and went pretty quickly (well, probably not for poor David who had to wait around for me), and after the expo we had a quick lunch and then went to go see the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love. That movie is hilarious! Go see it!

David & the Original Glam Runner Girls

Marathon Eve

David and the dogs and I were moving from my Dad's place Friday night to Christina's Saturday night since she lived closer to the start and would also be running the race. We met up with Christina at her favorite carbo-loading location Unicorn. She and I had eaten there last year before the SF Marathon and I loved it.

After dinner we went to pick up David's brother Ken at the airport who would be flying in to watch us run, and would then head down to San Diego with us for a week's vacation to escape the heat of DC. We got Ken, hit the grocery store for some breakfast items, went back to Christina's where we all laid out our gear .. and crap before you know it we looked at the clock and it was already 11pm! Um, we were all getting up at 4am.

Race Outfit With/Without Tutu

Race Day

Unfortunately 4am came way too quickly, and it was soon time to get up and get ready to head to the start line. We left the house a bit later than we had planned, but with Ken dropping us off and us not hitting any traffic, we got to the start line only 15 minutes later than we had wanted. David and I wished Christina good luck and parted ways and headed to the VIP area at Perry's. The VIP Party BTW was AWESOME! Luckily we got in for free since I was an Ambassador, but we both agreed that it would have been worth it even if we'd each had to pay $100. No line for the restrooms, a private bag check, a pre and post race breakfast spread. Awesome.

Ready to Run!

Ken Looks Nervous for David

Because of my nervous bladder and dawdling a bit, I missed my start wave and we ended up starting about 30 minutes late. I wasn't really concerned since we had timing chips, and I was really amused when a girl I met in the bathroom's eyes almost popped out of her skull in shock when I said I didn't really care that my wave had left. I mean it really wasn't that big a deal. Sure we'd have to dodge slower runners, but I was planning on taking the race easy and when it comes down to priorities, my bladder comes first! 

Me & My Running BFF Christina

The First Half

When it was finally time for us to start the race David and I started off together but I thought we'd part pretty quickly. He was running the first half and I was running the full, but we had never planned on staying together since I was going to be running a slightly faster pace then him. After the first mile or two I noticed that he was sticking to me so I realized we could probably run the fist whole half together. Yay! We managed to stick together mile after mile, and even though we were going about 30-45 seconds slower than I would have gone on my own, it was totally worth it to have him by my side. 

This is How Excited I Am!

This is How NOT Excited David Is - Ha ha!

We ran along the Embarcadero, Fisherman's Wharf, the Marina, and finally got to the Golden Gate Bridge. If you have never run across the Golden Gate Bridge - you're missing out. Its incredible! Granted its super crowded and we were packed tight like sardines and it was near impossible to pass slower runners, but hey, it was worth it. 

Pushing Up the Hills

Does the Tutu Make my Butt Look Fat or Fast?

I had calculated that several people I knew would probably be a few miles ahead of me, and figured we'd most likely see them on the out and back on the bridge. I stayed on the inner side the whole time we were running the race and was so excited when I saw several of our fellow Glam Runners, a few other Ambassadors, my friend Karin, and my Glam Runner partner Tara. When I saw Tara I screamed and put out my hand in a high five and she did the same. (Her husband who was running next to her was zoned out running when he suddenly heard his wife screaming and for a second thought she was hurt. haha)

 Glam Runners!

 

After the bridge we ran through the Presidio and into Golden  Gate Park. David and I were sticking to a pretty steady pace and I got sad when I realized we'd soon be splitting ways and he'd be finishing and I'd have to continue on by myself. 

The Second Half

Thirteen miles came and went, and there went David towards the finish line.  Boo hoo. Thirteen more miles by myself, oh well, I felt good and knew I could do it. In all of my previous marathons I've felt great until mile 18, I've slowed down a bit after that, and by 22 I'm usually hurting and need to start walking and running. I anticipated this happening but planned on running as much as I could. 

Eying the Hills in the Park

As the miles ticked by I started to worry about my poor preparation. For several reasons I hadn't trained as hard as I had wanted to. I missed long runs right and left because of work travel, vacation, triathlon training, triathlon races, and a short-term injury to my hamstring. For a while I had thought about switching to the half, but in the end I decided to go for the full. Go big or go home!

Passing the Conservatory of Flowers

As mile 18 got closer I checked in with my body and was surprised by how good I felt. Soon after mile 20 approached where I thought I'd see David. Unfortunately he just missed coming to mile 20 by a couple minutes (I was running faster than we'd thought) so I didn't get to see him. :o(  I love whoever decided to put mile 20 at the bottom of a hill. Flying by the mystical "wall" feels GREAT! After 20 passed I got to 21, 22, 23 .... Hey wait, I was still running! I have NEVER run an entire marathon before. Ever! I couldn't believe it and decided to just listen to my body and keep going. I was afraid if I stopped I'd instantly succumb to run/walking, so I just ran and ran.

Excited to be on the Home Stretch

There were several spots on the course where they routed runners one way or another to manage traffic. I got to one road block where they had just opened the direction I was running in, so I was the first running to enter the street. Err... I was the ONLY runner for several blocks before I caught up with the group ahead of me. Yes, I was running alone down the middle of the street in a tutu. At least we were in San Francisco and even on a normal day that might not look too weird. haha. Somewhere around mile 23 I bumped into Elisabeth, my tutu twin! We ran together for a bit and chatted. Its the little things on a course that keep you going and getting to talk to Elisabeth for a while totally perked me up. :)

As I approached the final couple miles of the race I thought to myself OMG .. I'm about to run the whole race!

I had been good about not paying too much attention to my finish time since I wanted to just run and enjoy the race, but I realized around mile 24 that there was a good chance I could beat my 2006 time. I didn't want to speed up and burn out, so I just kept running steadily and hoped that my math meant what I thought it did. 

OMG I DID IT!!

For some reason the last two miles of a marathon feel like 10, and every time I get to mile 26 I think UGH... point two?!?! I saw my friend Tamara right around mile 26 who screamed out and cheered for me. That gave me a last boost of energy and a big smile as I approached the finish line. Coming into the finish chute I scanned the crowd for  David but didn't see him. Over to the right I did see fellow Ambassador Joe standing with Bart Yasso who was MC-ing the race. As Bart saw me he put his hand out in a high five and announced "Here comes Ambassador Monika from San Diego". WHO HOO!!! Yes, I felt like a celebrity for a minute. haha. Video here.

High Five with Bart Yasso

 

I came across the finish line at 4:23:43, a 34 second improvement over my 2006 time! This works out to a 10:04 pace but if you count the distance I actually ran per my Garmin (26.63) I averaged a 9:50 pace. The running splits for my running nerd friends are below.   

Course Elevation (click on the image for a bigger view)

 Proud Finisher

 

Post Race

After the race I met up with David, we found Ken, and then we hung out at the VIP party and waited for Christina to finish. Did I mention already that the VIP party rocked? Sitting in a comfortable restaurant eating real food and relaxing was the best thing ever after a hard race. 

With Ambassadors Nick & Sarah

With Ambassador Libby & Bart Yasso

Christina Completing her 2nd SF Marathon
(Joe & Bart off to the side)

After Christina crossed the finish line (in her blue tutu!) we headed back to shower and change and prepare for my post-race BBQ. I normally would have headed back to San Diego on Sunday, but because of the busyness of the marathon festivities I hadn't had a chance to really hang out with my Dad or SF friends, so I wanted to get together after the race when it was stress free.

Garley my Bestie, Logan, My dad

SF Friends Jared, Tom, Christina

Philly Phriends Justin & Joe

It was so nice to just kick back and relax after the race! I was able to hang out with my Dad, my SF friends, my SD friends who were in town for the race, and my new marathon friends Ambassador Joe, his friend Justin, and omg Bart Yasso! Joe and Bart are friends from Philly and Bart came by later on to join the BBQ. Bart is super cool and easy to talk to and it was fun to hear about races he's been to and the crazy schedule of races he attends each year.

Once a Cheerleader, Always a Cheerleader

Chillin' with Bart

My Dad & the Allen Boys

Heading Home

The plan was to head back to San Diego early Monday morning. I had aspirations of 4am but that turned into 6am. We made pretty good time heading back and got back in SD in about 9 hours. I wasn't as sore as usual after the race but I think sitting in a car for so long made things worse. Each time we stopped for gas or food my legs felt stiff. My wonderful boss let me stay home on Monday and luckily by Tuesday I felt pretty normal again. And ... I felt good enough to run by Wednesday!

Its now Friday and I can't believe all of this happened just a few days ago! I loved the whole Ambassador experience leading up to the race, the weekend was a ton of fun, I love the SF Marathon course, and I had a great time meeting a lot of new people. I also think I've learned a key lesson to finishing a marathon strong .. start out slower than you want!!

San Francisco Marathon Medals

(2006 full, 2010 half, 2011 full)

Next Up

I'm giving myself this week to relax and recover, but next week I will start training for my next marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30th. David's running with me again! Yay! We ran this race in 2009 as his first marathon, and I'm excited to be returning not only with David, but my friend Christina as well. 

Between now and then I also have a number of shorter races:

• Aug 21 - America's Finest City 5K
• Sep 10 - Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon
• Oct 16 - She Rox Triathlon

In case you are interested in running the San Francisco Marathon, you can sign up now with early bird pricing! I'm totally tempted to run the race again but am planning on passing next year since its the same weekend as Barb's Race which is a Half-Ironman. Can I swim, bike, and run 70.3 miles? I guess we'll see!